Peggy Noonan: What Happened?

Former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan wrote a piece on Governor Sarah Palin and questioned Palin's conservative credentials. The piece speaks more volumes on Noonan than it does Palin.

Part of what Noonan wrote:

For seven weeks I've listened to her, trying to understand if she is Bushian or Reaganite — a spender, to speak briefly, whose political decisions seem untethered to a political philosophy, and whose foreign policy is shaped by a certain emotionalism, or a conservative whose principles are rooted in philosophy, and whose foreign policy leans more toward what might be called romantic realism, and that is speak truth, know America, be America, move diplomatically, respect public opinion, and move within an awareness and appreciation of reality.

My feeling is that Noonan seems to have disconnected with heartland conservatives. Peggy Noonan's speechwriting work for President Reagan will always be cherished by me. I enjoyed her memoirs of those days. But something seemed to have happened to her recently. She calls herself a conservative, but she seems to have been taken in by Obamatron talking points. Maybe she's been in the Manhattan cocoon too long or some liberal there spiked her drink at the last cocktail party.

Sarah Palin's political hero is Ronald Reagan. Michael Reagan sees a lot of his dad in her. (Would Peggy dare to question Michael Reagan?) Who is she to question whether or not Palin is a Bushie or Reaganaut?

I feel very sad for Peggy. I hope she takes a month-long vacation (the sooner, the better) and spends the time in the heartland of America to re-connect with conservatives and get her political soul back.

Repeal The Community Reinvestment Act!

The 1977 Community Reinvestment Act, signed by Jimmy Carter (that was beefed up by Bill Clinton), is at the root of the current Mortgage Crisis/Wall Street Debacle.

While most of the attention is on the current credit freeze and bailout, one thing is getting little notice: The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).

It was through this Act that the subprime mortgage loans were made to people who didn't qualify for a conventional loan (with downpayment, fixed rate, adequate income, etc.). What's to stop this problem from occurring again or continue to occur unless the Community Reinvestment Act and all other subprime loan mandates are repealed?

So far, I've seen no action in Congress in ridding us of these mandates. We all know who controls Congress, don't we?

Obama: Yes We Can Commit Credit Card Fraud

Someone is committing credit card fraud on Barack Obama's behalf.

Tom Brown received a strange email from Discover. Their monitors noticed that Mr. Brown's account rang up a strange charge: $2,300 to Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

From KSDK:

"My wife said, 'Oh my God!' Right away, she called Discover to cancel the card," Brown said. "I talked to Discover about it, and they said it looks like it was keyed in from Chicago."

Specifically, the e-mail indicated the charge came from Obama for America Chicago Illinois. The Browns were able to get the charge refunded by Discover.

"It was under his name. Under 'merchant,' it read 'Obama for America.' And we basically would not give a politician $2,300 dollars. We would not give any politician, probably, a dollar. And I really, basically, don't know who's at fault, for this, or who did what," Brown said. "But someone out there is trying to hit people's charges and collect money."

Other people have noticed this and contacted their credit card companies and the Obama campaign. When they contact the Obama campaign, they try to pursuade the cardholder to allow the charge. If refused, the do cancel the charge. (Source: A call to the Hugh Hewit Show from another Obama credit card scam victim.)

Michelle Malkin posted another case:

A North Kansas City couple has been left scratching their heads after they became the victims of a political scam.

Steve and Rachel Larman say a strange credit card charge appeared on their statement this month — a $2300 donation to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. The Larman’s say they don’t want this to be about their political affiliation, but they say they’re not about to give the Obama campaign any help from their pocketbook.

They said they notified Chase, their credit card bank, to report the fraud.

“(They) said that they had seen-they were familiar with this,” said Steve Larman. “It was fraud, they believe through telemarketing but they were going to be doing some more investigations.”

The Larman’s don’t want their politics to enter into what is essentially just a fraudulent charge. But they say that the charge involves the Obama campaign adds insult to injury for the registered Republicans.

“They (Chase) kept on asking me ‘are you sure you wouldnt have gone to a site in support of Obama’,” said Rachel Larman. “And I repeatedly said ‘Im voting for McCain - I would not be going to an Obama site’.”

Chase dropped the charge from the Larman’s card. The couple is thankful thay they caught the charge on the card, but worried that others may not see that type of fraud on their own credit cards before it’s too late.

It appears that either the Obama campaign or someone working for them has a massive credit card campaign to scam donations to Obama. Keep in mind, if elected, Obama would bring into the federal government over 3,000 appointees to various departments and agencies. Do you want these kinds of people with your data at their fingertips?

Obama's Newspaper Endorsements: Gee, What A Surprise!

The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times have all endorsed Senator Barack Obama for president. There really isn't any surprise there. Each of them have promoted the campaign by stealth in their stories of the campaign.

The New York Times has been the most egregious of the bunch, so there'd be no surprise if they join the ranks of the endorsers for Obama. Now they are publishing a hit piece on Cindy McCain.

It is interesting to look at the editorials containing their endorsements.

The Los Angeles Times, in their editorial to be released tomorrow says, "He is no lone rider." "He is a consensus builder, a leader. . . . He represents the nation as it is, and as it aspires to be."

Consensus builder?! A leader?! Obama hasn't lifted a finger to work with the GOP on anything. He hasn't ever bucked his own party on any issue. Obama is product and part of the Daley Chicago machine. He never reformed anything. That is just plain laughable.

The LA Times boasts that they haven't endorsed a Democrat for president ever. Their last presidential endorsement was in 1972 for Richard Nixon. This also isn't the same Los Angeles Times. Back then, the paper was owned by the Times Mirror Company (I used to work for them) of the Chandler Family. It is now owned by the Chicago Tribune. No doubt there's some big Chicago influence there, if you catch my drift.

The Washington Post's endorsement is not surprising either since it is well-known to be a pro-Democrat liberal newspaper. But its editorial is telling.

"The choice is made easy in part by Mr McCain's disappointing campaign, above all his irresponsible selection of a running mate who is not ready to be president," says the Post.

Right. Obama has had no executive experience, has no notable achievements in any elected office and cavorts with leftists and Black Liberation Theology loons. Sarah Palin is arguably more qualified as Obama.

It described Obama as "a man of supple intelligence, with a nuanced grasp of complex issues and evident skill at conciliation and consensus-building."

Here we go again, "consensus-building." Sorry, the evidence does not support this. In fact, it is quite the opposite.

"Mr Obama has the potential to become a great president," wrote the Post. "Yes, we have reservations and concerns, almost inevitably, given Mr Obama's relatively brief experience in national politics. But we also have enormous hopes."

They have "reservations and concerns" on Obama, yet they diss on Sarah Palin. Some had high hopes about Jimmy Carter, but we know what a disaster he was. Such hypocrisy!

The fortunate thing nowadays is that newspaper endorsements don't carry the weight as they once did. People don't make up their minds on choosing a candidate based on what a newspaper says. Their editorial slant during the campaign can easily tell one who they're backing. It is not transparent.

But it is still laughable to read of their reasoning for supporting Obama.

UPDATE 10/24/08:

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Times endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for U.S. president on Thursday, saying he had "met challenge after challenge, growing as a leader and putting real flesh on his early promises of hope and change."

The Times posted its endorsement on its Internet site on Thursday evening and was to publish it in Friday editions of the newspaper.

Earlier this year, the newspaper endorsed New York Sen. Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, but it said Obama had long ago erased the reservations that led it to make that decision.

"He has drawn in legions of new voters with powerful messages of hope and possibility and calls for shared sacrifice and social responsibility," the Times said. "He has shown a cool head and sound judgment. We believe he has the will and the ability to forge the broad political consensus that is essential to finding solutions to this nation's problems."

The newspaper declared that the choice between Obama and Republican John McCain was easy.

"Mr. McCain, whom we chose as the best Republican nominee in the primaries, has spent the last coins of his reputation for principle and sound judgment to placate the limitless demands and narrow vision of the far-right wing," it said.

It would be a surprise if the New York Times endorsed McCain considering the trashing (disguised as "journalism") they've given him.

Krauthammer: Who's Playing The Race Card?

Charles Krauthammer has a new article:

Who's Playing The Race Card?

It certainly isn't John McCain!

Obama Camp In A Panic Thanks To Joe The Plumber

You can tell when the Obama campaign is in a panic when they viciously attack a critic. This occurred with Stanley Kurtz and Jerome Corsi. Now they and the MSM are attacking Joe the plumber.

Michelle Malkin posted:

Six-term Sen. Joe Biden’s got some nerve going after citizen Joe the Plumber. But the entrenched politician from Delaware, who fancies himself the nation’s number one Ordinary Joe, had no choice. Obama-Biden simply can’t tolerate an outspoken citizen successfully painting the Democratic ticket as socialist overlords. And so a dirty, desperate war against Joe Wurzelbacher is on.

Wurzelbacher never claimed to be making $250,000 a year. He told Obama that he might be “getting ready to buy a company that makes about $250,000, $270,000″ a year. His simple point was that Obama’s punitive tax proposals would make it more difficult to realize his dream.

Obama’s followers couldn’t handle the incontrovertible truth. Left-wing blogs immediately went to work, blaring headlines like “Not A Real $250k Plumber!” Next, they falsely accused Wurzelbacher of not being registered to vote (he’s registered in Lucas County, Ohio, and voted as a Republican in this year’s primary).

Next, they called him a liar for identifying himself as undecided. Only registered Democrats and fake Republican tools used in mainstream media stories and YouTube debates are allowed to use that label, you see.

Next, award-winning liberal blogger Joshua Marshall cast Wurzelbacher as some kind of rabid freak for calling Social Security a “joke” – as if no working-class Americans could believe that the federal government’s entitlement programs were a rip-off unless they were bought and paid for by the McCain campaign.

Then, suddenly, the journalists who wouldn’t lift a finger to investigate Barack Obama’s longtime relationships with Weather Underground terrorist Bill Ayers and Jeremiah Wright sprang into action rifling through citizen Joe Wurzelbacher’s tax records.

The media has been camped out in the front yard of Joe the plumber's home and published articles decrying that "he has no plumbers license" (he works for a plumber who does), has debts (who doesn't?) and has a property tax lien (is that unusual?). They've called his dream to own his own plumbing business "a fantasy."

The issue isn't Joe himself, it is what Barack Obama said to Joe last weekend that he wants to "spread the wealth." Because Obama was caught in an unguarded moment (and on videotape), he exposed himself for the neo-Marxist he is. Small wonder he refused McCain's challenge for ten townhall debates.

The recent major (and credible) polls show a 3-2 point difference between John McCain and Obama. The Democrats are in a panic. Now they are running ads claiming that McCain wants to cut Medicare.

They hoped to coast along the final three weeks before the election. But they can't since the polls are so close. Now they are embarking on throwing everything but the kitchen sink at McCain.

Sarah Palin is still drawing huge crowds. She continues to electrify the GOP base and is drawing blood in her attacks on Obama. The tide is turning and the Obamatrons are hysterical.

Good. Let them panic. That's when more missteps are made. Obama's inexperience will cause him to make more.

UPDATE: The Rosett Report has a good post on the attacks on Joe the plumber called First They Came For Joe The Plumber

Christopher Dodd: The Crook Put In Charge Of The Investigation

The Associated Press reported today the following:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Arthur Levitt, the one-time chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, blamed his former agency Thursday for failures he said helped cause the financial meltdown.

A resource-strapped SEC allowed confusion and reckless risk-taking to dominate financial markets, Levitt, who led the agency from 1993 to 2001, told the Senate Banking Committee.

"As the markets grew larger and more complex — in scope and in products offered — the commission failed to keep pace. As the markets needed more transparency, the SEC allowed opacity to reign. As an overheated market needed a strong referee to rein in dangerously risky behavior, the commission too often remained on the sidelines," Levitt said.

His testimony came at a hearing on the roots of the economic crisis.

The SEC says the agency's enforcement staff levels are higher now, and the commission has taken many more enforcement actions, than was the case in the 1990s.

An SEC spokesman said he had no direct comment on Levitt's testimony, but noted that as chairman, Levitt hadn't sought the kind of regulations that he's now faulting the SEC for failing to impose.

Indeed, Levitt acknowledged that in 1998, he opposed imposing rules on a type of obscure and extremely complicated financial instrument — known as credit default swaps — that are increasingly being blamed for igniting the crisis. He instead called at the time for establishing a clearing facility to keep better track of the swaps, but didn't seek to mandate one.

"I wish that I had probed further. I wish that I had asked for swaps and derivatives to be given the transparency," Levitt said.

In the thick of the meltdown last month, current SEC Chairman Christopher Cox called for the swaps to be regulated as part of a broader financial overhaul Congress plans to tackle next year.

Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., the panel chairman, blamed unscrupulous lending practices for the meltdown, saying the tactics "will be remembered as the financial crime of the century."

He said regulators "willfully ignored the abuses taking place on their beat."

This would be a laugh, but nobody's laughing. Dodd investigating the mortgage mess is like a robber being put in charge of investigating the robbery. Christopher Dodd, Barney Frank, Maxine Waters and other Democrats are responsible for this economic mess. They fought more regulations on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and disregarded Republican warnings of impending disaster. Dodd should look in the mirror.

On October 10, the Wall Street Journal wrote:

The Connecticut Senator has been out front denouncing the "companies that form the foundation of our financial markets," for "their insatiable appetite for risk." He has also decried "reckless, careless and sometimes unscrupulous actors in the mortgage lending industry" and he has proclaimed that "American taxpayers deserve to know how we arrived at this moment." To that end, we propose he take the stand -- under oath.

Former Countrywide Financial loan officer Robert Feinberg says Mr. Dodd knowingly saved thousands of dollars on his refinancing of two properties in 2003 as part of a special program the California mortgage company had for the influential. He also says he has internal company documents that prove Mr. Dodd knew he was getting preferential treatment as a friend of Angelo Mozilo, Countrywide's then-CEO.

That a "Friends of Angelo" program existed is not in dispute. It was crucial to the boom that Countrywide enjoyed before its fortunes turned. While most of the company was aggressively lending to risky borrowers and off-loading those mortgages in bulk to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Mr. Feinberg's department was charged with making sure those who could influence Fannie and Freddie's appetite for risk were sufficiently buttered up. As a Banking Committee bigshot, Mr. Dodd was perfectly placed to be buttered.

In response to the charge that he knew he was getting favors, Mr. Dodd at first issued a strong denial: "This suggestion is outrageous and contrary to my entire career in public service. When my wife and I refinanced our loans in 2003, we did not seek or expect any favorable treatment. Just like millions of other Americans, we shopped around and received competitive rates." Less than a week later he acknowledged he was part of Countrywide's VIP program but claimed he thought it was "more of a courtesy."

Mr. Feinberg, who oversaw "Friends of Angelo" from 2000 to 2004, begs to differ. He told us that as the loan officer in charge he was supposed to make sure that the "VIP" clients knew at every step of the process that they were getting a special deal because they were "Friends of Angelo."

"People are referred into that department as 'very important people.' You're told that your loan is priced from Angelo. As the 'Friends of Angelo department,' [the department] has to give them a sense of importance and explain the reduction of fees and the rate as a result of being a 'Friend of Angelo,'" he says. According to a report by Dan Golden in Condé Nast Portfolio in August, other VIPs included Senator Kent Conrad. Mr. Golden reported that "Countrywide also offered special discounts to congressional staffers involved in housing issues."

As to Mr. Dodd, Mr. Feinberg says he spoke to the Senator once or twice and mostly to his wife and that like other FOAs Mr. Dodd got "a float down," which means that even after he had a preferred rate, when the prevailing rate dropped just before the closing, his rate was reduced again. Regular borrowers would pay extra for a last-minute adjustment, but not FOAs. "They were aware of it because they were notified and when they went to the closing they would see it," Mr. Feinberg says, adding that he "always let people in the program know that they were getting a very good deal because they were 'Friends of Angelo.'" All of this matters because Mr. Dodd was one of those encouraging Fan and Fred to plunge into "affordable housing" loans made by companies like Countrywide.

One indicator of his influence is the $165,400 in campaign contributions -- more than to any other politician -- that Fan and Fred have given him since 1989, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. These contributions are legal. But favors like those Mr. Dodd is alleged to have received may not be. Mr. Feinberg says he went public with his story because when he heard Senator Dodd on TV talking about predatory lending, he felt it was "hypocritical" and he says, "I just thought, 'This is wrong.'"

Mr. Dodd hasn't yet released his copies of the mortgage documents, though he promised to do so more than two months ago. His office told us this week they'd get back to us on that. Meanwhile, presumably the Justice Department can have Mr. Feinberg's Countrywide documents, if it's interested.

Dodd has much to answer for on Countrywide, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. His sweetheart deal with Countrywide amounts to kick-backs.

As Jonah Goldberg wrote in National Review Online:

The biggest dose of poison entered the financial bloodstream through Washington. And some people warned us. In 2005, Fannie Mae revealed it overstated earnings by $10.6 billion and that it didn’t really know what was going on. The Bush administration pushed for reforms, but those efforts were rebuffed by Congress, with Democrats Barney Frank and Christopher Dodd taking point, because Fannie and Freddie have spent millions in campaign contributions.

In 2005, McCain sponsored legislation to thwart what he later called “the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system and the economy as a whole.”

Obama, the Senate’s second-greatest recipient of donations from Fannie and Freddie after Dodd, did nothing.

Meanwhile, Raines, the head of a government-supported institution, made $52 million of his $90 million compensation package thanks in part to fraudulent earnings statements.

But, ah yes, the greedy criminals responsible for this mess must be somewhere on Wall Street.

Senator, if you really want to find the criminals responsible for this mess, the best place to find them is on Capitol Hill.

Obama "Kill Him" Charge Bogus

The Obama campaign, fed by false stories carried by the MSM, accused the supporters of Sen. John McCain of inciting hatred at their political rallies when shouts of "terrorist" and "kill him" at the mention of Obama's name.

Only it never happened.

Andrew Seder of the Times Leader writes:

SCRANTON – The agent in charge of the Secret Service field office in Scranton said allegations that someone yelled “kill him” when presidential hopeful Barack Obama’s name was mentioned during Tuesday’s Sarah Palin rally are unfounded.

The Scranton Times-Tribune first reported the alleged incident on its Web site Tuesday and then again in its print edition Wednesday. The first story, written by reporter David Singleton, appeared with allegations that while congressional candidate Chris Hackett was addressing the crowd and mentioned Obama’s name a man in the audience shouted “kill him."

News organizations including ABC, The Associated Press, The Washington Monthly and MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann reported the claim, with most attributing the allegations to the Times-Tribune story.

Agent Bill Slavoski said he was in the audience, along with an undisclosed number of additional secret service agents and other law enforcement officers and not one heard the comment.

“I was baffled,” he said after reading the report in Wednesday’s Times-Tribune.

He said the agency conducted an investigation Wednesday, after seeing the story, and could not find one person to corroborate the allegation other than Singleton.

Slavoski said more than 20 non-security agents were interviewed Wednesday, from news media to ordinary citizens in attendance at the rally for the Republican vice presidential candidate held at the Riverfront Sports Complex. He said Singleton was the only one to say he heard someone yell “kill him.”

“We have yet to find someone to back up the story,” Slavoski said. “We had people all over and we have yet to find anyone who said they heard it.”

Hackett said he did not hear the remark.

Slavoski said Singleton was interviewed Wednesday and stood by his story but couldn’t give a description of the man because he didn’t see him he only heard him.

When contacted Wednesday afternoon, Singleton referred questions to Times-Tribune Metro Editor Jeff Sonderman. Sonderman said, “We stand by the story. The facts reported are true and that’s really all there is.”

Slavoski said the agents take such threats or comments seriously and immediately opened an investigation but after due diligence “as far as we’re concerned it’s closed unless someone comes forward.” He urged anyone with knowledge of the alleged incident to call him at 346-5781. “We’ll run at all leads,” he said.

Well, it appears that the media (who is in the tank for Obama) lied again.

UPDATE: Newsweek reports that Obama knew the "kill him" report was false, yet he used it in the debate with McCain last Wednesday:

"During a heated moment in his final presidential debate with Sen. John McCain, Sen. Barack Obama noted the anger of some supporters at rallies for McCain's running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. "All the public reports suggested," Obama said, that people shouted "things like 'terrorist' and 'kill him'." Making a death threat against a presidential candidate can be a crime. But even before Obama cited "reports" of the threats at the debate, the U.S. Secret Service had told media outlets, including NEWSWEEK, that it was unable to corroborate accounts of the "kill him" remarks—and according to a law-enforcement official, who asked for anonymity when discussing a political matter, the Obama campaign knew as much. Now some officials are disgruntled that Obama gave added credence to the threat by mentioning it in front of 60 million viewers. At this point in the campaign, said one, candidates will "say anything to make a particular point."

McCain Rescued By Joe The Plumber

Last weekend, Joe the plumber told Barack Obama that if he raises taxes, he would be badly hurt.

Senator Obama replied, "It's not that I want to punish your success. I just want to make sure that everybody that is behind you, that they have a chance for success too." Obama added, "I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody."

Again and again, John McCain hit Obama over the head with Joe the plumber's wrench during last night's debate. Obama was flustered, angry and could not handle the onslaught directed at him.

When Obama told Joe the plumber that his intention was to "spread the wealth," it was one of the rare occasions in this campaign that Obama told the truth. I am sure he regrets it now. It exposed him for the Marxist radical that he is.

McCain was at his best last night and clearly punched Obama good and hard. Why didn't he punch like this during the previous two debates? He dove in on Obama's ties to Bill Ayres and ACORN. Obama was reduced to sputtering his talking points.

When Obama tried to compare McCain to President Bush, McCain said, "If you want to run against George Bush, you should've ran four years ago!" Obama couldn't recover from that and stuck to his talking points for the remainder of the debate.

Maybe now people will finally see what a fraud Obama is and vote for McCain.

The Drudge Report has McCain winning the debate 74-25 percent.

Obama Tax Plan Would Screw Small Business

Sunday in Ohio, Senator Obama canvassed neighborhoods and encouraged residents to vote early.

"Your new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn't it?" plumber Joe Wurzelbacher asked, complaining that he was being taxed "more and more for fulfilling the American dream."

"It's not that I want to punish your success. I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they've got a chance for success too," Obama responded. "My attitude is that if the economy's good for folks from the bottom up, it's gonna be good for everybody ... I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody."

On Monday, Rush Limbaugh reviewed Barack Obama's tax plan. Obama says that if someone makes over $250,000, they will get a tax increase. And he also said that the number of small businesses earning over $250,000 is small. The facts speak otherwise. On Monday, Rush detailed the Obama plan to screw the middle class and cause job losses:

RUSH: Those of you out there, forget what party affiliation that you have. Forget your ideological orientation. Those of you who own small businesses and those of you who work at small businesses, I want to speak to you directly and in a pure business fashion right to your heart, here. Obviously throw some politics in because lies are being told by the Obama campaign through and through, not corrected by the Drive-Bys, about small business. That figure of $250,000 is key. It is everywhere Obama speaks. It's used all the time when he talks about tax policy. Well, what is a small business in America today? Obama says that most small businesses do not earn over $250,000 a year. That is clearly a lie.

It is impossible. It cannot be true. Your own instinct tells you that. You in small business know full well it can't be true. Now, the employees of a small business might believe it. Most employees don't get to see the books. But if you're an employee of small business, and there are five or six other employees in your small business (and that's a small business) just add up your combined salaries and find out if your small business has enough to pay them. If you're making $50,000 a year at a small business and there are five of you, that's $250,000 right there. If there are three of you and one's making 30, one's making 70, one's making 60, you can see how just the number of employees will get you close to what Obama says is the top of most small businesses.

That $250,000 is key because he wants all of you who don't make that amount of money to think you're not going to get a tax increase. Now, remember, Obama has this new coalition of voters, the 30% to 35% who pay no income tax in this country. Not only do they not pay income tax, they want you to pay more. They have seen the benefits of no income taxes. They've been told they're the backbone of America. They've been told they're getting shafted. They've been told the rich are getting all the tax cuts. They have been told that all that wealth and prosperity out there is being denied them by the rich. They pay no taxes, no income taxes. Federal income taxes. So they're thinking they've been screwed, that they've been shafted. Obama's playing to them, and he's telling them, "Because you've been shafted for so many years by Bush and so many years by Reagan, we're going to get even with the people who shafted you."

That's that magical figure of $250,000, and he's using it in a way that is an out-and-out lie. They have been saying that most small businesses do not earn over $250,000 a year, but the Small Business Administration has a different view. I have a post here from October 7th of this year from Patterico's Pontifications, and it's entitled, "Obama's Tax Plan and Small Business." The genesis for Patterico putting this all together was Obama at the town hall presidential debate saying this about his tax policies, and it's according to a CNN transcript. Quote: "Only a few percent of small businesses make more than $250,000 a year. So the vast majority of small businesses would get a tax cut under my plan." Now, "The US Small Business Administration (SBA) defines a 'small business' according to its average annual receipts or the number of its employees."

I know numbers are hard to follow, but this will not be. I want you to keep sharp in your head the number $250,000, because that's the operative number that Obama uses. Remember Obama: "Only a few percent of small businesses make more than $250,000 a year. So the vast majority of small businesses would get a tax cut under my plan." Okay. Here. Let's look at the maximum average annual receipts by industry that a business can have and still be classified as small business by the SBA. "Crop production of all types: $750,000." Keep that $250,000 figure in mind because every business that I'm going to list here, every small business is far larger than $250,000 in receipts. Yet Obama says most small businesses do not make over $250,000. "Crop production of all types: $750,000. Animal production except for cattle & chicken/eggs: $750,000. Cattle feedlots: $2.5M. Chicken/egg production: $12.5M."

These are small businesses, according to the SBA. "Forestry & logging: $7M. Fishing: $4M." Did you know that forestry and logging has as many operators that are small businesses? It's a $7 million definition of a small business by the SBA. "Fishing: $4M. Irrigation, sewage, water supplies: $7M." These are various areas. The size of your business -- for example, if you're in housing construction and you're a business is under $33.5 million, you're considered a small business by the SBA. Now, keep in mind, Obama says the vast majority of small businesses don't earn more than $250,000. Let me keep going. "Heavy and civil engineering construction: $33.5M. Dredging and cleanup: $20M. Concrete, framing, and other housing contractors: $14M. Car dealers: $23-29M."

Do you know some car dealers are small businesses? Those of you who work at them do. If you own a dealership or series of dealerships valued in your receipts (these are annual receipts) between $23 and $29 million, you're a small business. "RV, motorcycle, & boat dealers: $7M. Furniture, hardware, clothing & sporting good stores," if your receipts are under $7 million a year, you're considered a small business. "Electronic stores..." They're not talking the Circuit Citys, the Best Buys and all this. If you're a mom and pop electronics store, $7 million is the cutoff line for you to be called a small business. "Supermarkets, gas stations & department stores: $27M." Anything over that, and you're not a small business; anything under it, you are. "Pharmacies: $7M."


Now, keep in mind, 250 grand. Obama in the presidential town hall debate said, "Only a few percent of small businesses make more than $250,000 a year. So the vast majority of small businesses would get a tax cut under my plan." The truth is that if he's going to implement a plan that people over 250 grand personally or small business, Subchapter S filing under a personal return, if he's going to have a tax increase on anybody more than 250 grand, 99% of small business is going to get a huge tax increase! The very little guy that Obama claims to want to help is the very guy that's going to get clipped here, because once these taxes go up the first instinct of the small businessman or woman is to survive as a small business.

If your taxes go up and you have an economy like this and you cannot grow for a little while because people don't have a whole lot of disposable income because their taxes are going up, too, what are you going to do? You can't keep paying people if your business is going down. Your job is to have your business survive because you have to go through the up and down cycles. You're going to have to lay people off. The business cannot purposely lose money for humanitarian reasons, for a very long time. If it does, it will go out of business and nobody will get anything from it. I listed for you -- one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, 11, 12, 13, 14 -- 17 categories of small business. Not one of them would qualify for a tax cut under Obama's plan. There are probably some small businesses that are under $250,000, but they are so tiny.

They are so small. They might be sole proprietorships. Now, there are a whole lot more examples. We're going to post all this at RushLimbaugh.com. There are a whole lot more examples at the link. Most of the industries in the table, such as manufacturers of food, beverages, apparel, print, oil, gas, plastics, plumbing, machinery, computers, on and on and on are considered small businesses based on their total number of employees instead of average annual receipts. Now, in those industries, the cutoff between small and large businesses range from 500 to 1,000 employees per business or industry. Now, I'm going to tell you what. If you have a small business with anywhere between 500 and a thousand employees, I will guaran-damn-tee you your annual receipts are higher than $250,000 --and you, too, are going to get Obama's took us increase.

It is going to be a personal income tax rate increase, for those of you that file on your personal form, Subchapter S, on your personal return. You're going to get your own marginal tax rates go up. You're going to have to a capital gains tax increase. And it's likely that at some point down the road Obama will shore up and raise corporate taxes, in the midst of an economy that all the time all the so-called experts say is going to take a while for it to rebound here. Now the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up almost 600 points now. It's at 581. We're over 9,000 at 9,032, and of course it's (clapping) but why? Because the feds and everybody else has taken over all these banks! So the supposed free marketers on the Street here are getting all happy about socialism and nationalization.

Don't forget, in the midst of all this, we've got Pelosi and Reid and Hoyer planning a special session after Obama wins to start this process of tax increases going to eliminate their lifting of the ban of weeks ago on offshore drilling. They think they've got this in the bag. Obama is running around using this $250,000 figure for every tax increase he's planning because he figures 99% of the people in this country are employees, and they will also believe that their business will not get a tax increase because, "Obama is smart. Obama is suave! Obama is smooth. Why, it's so nice to have finally a smart guy that will be leading and speaking for America." He's lying through his teeth. Now, forget politics here, folks. We're talking about it as if this ever happens, if this actually happens, with 95% or more of all small businesses and the corporate tax, too, going up, we're talking about your standard of living.

We're talking about your quality of life. We're talking about your ability to save. I don't care whether you buy stock or you've decided to put the money in the mattress, you're going to have less of it, and eventually the oil price is going to rebound and go up. It's going to happen. There's something awfully suspicious about that dropping from 130 to 80 bucks two weeks or three before an election. But it's what it is, and of course everybody's putting out this news, "Largest single drop in the gasoline price in history!" It's thirty cents, from 3.80 to 3.30, average across the United States. Now, I have even more on this small business stuff. These numbers get even harder to translate on radio, but it is from the Census Bureau, and it's the receipt size of firms. It's the latest, most recent data we have for this are 2002, receipt size of employer firms.

It illustrates here quite readily that the... Just take this, the 100 to $499,000 figure that I mentioned earlier, there are 2,387,780 firms, there are two million establishments, there is about 8.8 million workers. The annual payroll total is... Well, forget those numbers. If you look at this breakdown and you add up all the firms and all the revenue and all the employment, there is no way that the vast majority of small businesses have only receipts of $250,000 a year! There are a total of 5,697,759 firms (we're discussing here small business), 1.2 million of them have less than a hundred thousand dollars in receipts which makes them sole proprietorships; 2.3, almost 2.4 million are between 100 and $500,000. And then as you go higher, the numbers decrease. But when you add them all up, you find that... No matter how you look at it, is the point -- whether you look at it as number of employees, whether you look at it as receipts -- there's no way Obama's even close to the truth on this.

My cousin works for a medical company while her husband owns a garage door business. The mortgage crisis hit his business hard this year. But in a normal year, they combined could potentially make over $250,000 per year and under Obama's plan, they would be hit hard with new taxes.

Of course, Obama plans to redistribute the wealth as he told Joe Wurzelbacher over the weekend. He plans to confiscate money from individuals and small businesses to give "to the poor" as a modern day Marxist Robin Hood.

We may be in a recession now, but Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid would plunge this country into a depression if Obama is elected and the Democrats increase their numbers in the Congress.

Joe Wurzelbacher recognizes Obama's plan for what it is: SOCIALISM! (He has been recently interviewed and said so!)

"From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs." - Karl Marx.

To see the Rush Limbaugh's full transcript, go here.

'McCain - Palin Tradition' By Hank Williams Jr.

Hank Williams, Jr. has unveiled a new campaign song for McCain Palin called "McCain-Palin Tradition." It is set to his hit "Family Tradition." Here's the lyrics:

'McCain - Palin Tradition'
By Hank Williams Jr.

The left wing liberal media have
Always been a real close knit family
But, most of the American People
Don't believe em anyway ya see
Stop and think it over
Before you make your decision
If they smell something
They're gonna come down strong
It's a McCain - Palin tradition

Now this old Union's got problems
That is plain to see
The Democrats bankrupted Fannie Mae N Freddie Mac
Just like 1, 2, 3
The bankers didn't want to make all those bad loans,
But Bill Clinton said you got to
Now they want a bail out, what I'm talking about
Is a Democrat liberal who doo

CHORUS
John N Sarah tell ya
Just what they think
And they're not gonna blink
They don't have terrorist friends
To whom their careers are linked
Yes, John is his own man
And Sarah fixed Alaska's broken condition
They're gonna go just fine
We're headed for better times
It's a McCain - Palin tradition

I am very proud of our country's name
But no society is perfect
And we have had our stains
If I'm down at the coffee shop and
Somebody starts to give our flag friction
We say please move on
Cause we're standing strong
That's an old John McCain tradition

CHORUS
John N Sarah tell ya
Just what they think
And they're not gonna blink
And they're gonna fix this country
Cause they're just like you N ole Hank
Yes John is a maverick
And Sarah fixed Alaska's broken condition
They're gonna go just fine
We're headed for better times
It's a McCain - Palin tradition

Some are bound to tell you I'm
Preaching to the choir
And that is very true
And we are going even higher
Like a mama bear in Idaho
She'll protect your family's condition
If you mess with her cubs
She's gonna take off the gloves
It's an American female tradition

CHORUS
They all want to know Sarah
Why do you hunt
John why do you fish
How could she be so smart and savvy
Such a 'hey good-lookin'' dish
Yes John is his own man
And Sarah fixed Alaska's bad condition
They're going to get it right
We're going to see the light
It's a McCain - Palin tradition

To see Hank perform "McCain-Palin Tradition," here's the video:

Obama Is Modern Day Robin Hood

Source: Fox News.com

Barack Obama's socialism slipped out when he answered a plumber's question on taxes. He is definitely for redistribution of wealth.

Fox reported:

Barack Obama told a tax-burdened plumber over the weekend that his economic philosophy is to "spread the wealth around" -- a comment that may only draw fire from riled-up John McCain supporters who have taken to calling Obama a "socialist" at the Republican's rallies.

Obama made the remark, caught on camera, after fielding some tough questions from the plumber Sunday in Ohio, where the Democratic candidate canvassed neighborhoods and encouraged residents to vote early.

"Your new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn't it?" the plumber asked, complaining that he was being taxed "more and more for fulfilling the American dream."

"It's not that I want to punish your success. I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they've got a chance for success too," Obama responded. "My attitude is that if the economy's good for folks from the bottom up, it's gonna be good for everybody ... I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody."

Nothing like robbing the middle class to give to the poor. This is simply socialism or Marxism.

Although Robin Hood was considered noble and stood for the underdog, and no matter how much lipstick you put on him, he was still a thief.

Obama Funded Afrocentrists Sharing Rev. Wright’s Anti-Americanism

Stanley Kurtz has a new article on the relationship between Obama and other radical elements in Chicago and is a must read!

Wright 101
Obama funded extremist Afrocentrists who shared Rev. Wright’s anti-Americanism

By Stanley Kurtz

It looks like Jeremiah Wright was just the tip of the iceberg. Not only did Barack Obama savor Wright’s sermons, Obama gave legitimacy — and a whole lot of money — to education programs built around the same extremist anti-American ideology preached by Reverend Wright. And guess what? Bill Ayers is still palling around with the same bitterly anti-American Afrocentric ideologues that he and Obama were promoting a decade ago. All this is revealed by a bit of digging, combined with a careful study of documents from the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, the education foundation Obama and Ayers jointly led in the late 1990s.

John McCain, take note. Obama’s tie to Wright is no longer a purely personal question (if it ever was one) about one man’s choice of his pastor. The fact that Obama funded extremist Afrocentrists who shared Wright’s anti-Americanism means that this is now a matter of public policy, and therefore an entirely legitimate issue in this campaign.

To read more, go here.

NY Times E Clampus Vitus Article

Sid Blumner, XSNGH, photo above, at left, was quoted in article.

Much as I am not fond of the New York Times, there is a good article on the Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus. I have been a member since 1984 and two years ago, the Los Angeles Chapter, Platrix No. 2, partnered up with the Godzilla Society of North America to erect a plaque commemorating the studio where Raymond Burr's scenes for Godzilla, King of the Monsters! were filmed.

Here's a quote from the article:

Whether a historical drinking society or a drinking historical society, the Clampers claim tens of thousands of members in 40 chapters across seven Western states, though nowhere are the group’s strange ways more alive than in California, where members are said to have included Ronald Reagan; John Huston, the film director; and Herb Caen, the famous San Franciscan master of the three-dot journal. Some Clamper membership claims, of course, can be suspect. It is true, however, that many noted historians have been members, as is the current director of the State Office of Historic Preservation.

To read the article, go here.

Democrat Rep. Tim Mahoney: Sex, Hush Money Cover-up Scandal!

ABC News is reporting that Florida Congressman Tim Mahoney had a mistress and paid hush money and Rep. Rahm Emmanuel is also involved in the cover-up:

Freshman Democratic lawmaker Tim Mahoney of Florida won his congressional district in 2006 after incumbent Republican Rep. Mark Foley resigned weeks before the election. ABC News had found that Foley had sent inappropriate online communications to teenage males in the House Page program.

Now, just two years later, ABC News is reporting another scandal just three weeks before Election Day, this time involving Mahoney.

According to the investigative report released today, Mahoney paid a previously undisclosed $121,000 settlement to a former staffer, who was also his mistress, in order to stop her suing him for sexual harassment.

ABC reports that senior Democratic lawmakers, including Rep. Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, were aware of Mahoney’s personal troubles and were working to keep the matter quiet before Election Day, Mahoney staffers said.

However, a spokeswoman for Emanuel disputed that account and said there was only one brief conversation between the two lawmakers in 2007 when rumors of the affair reached Emanuel. The spokeswoman said re-election prospects were never discussed. “Upon hearing a rumor, Congressman Emanuel confronted Congressman Mahoney, told him he was in public life and had a responsibility to act accordingly and appropriately, and urged him to do so. They had no further conversations on this topic,” said the spokeswoman.

The affair reportedly began in 2006, when Mahoney, who is married, was running for Congress. Mahoney fired her in January 2008, and she began legal proceedings in February that concluded with a settlement in March.

This is far worse than what Mark Foley ever did. All Foley ever did was to send suggestive emails to congressional pages. The Democrats are circling the wagons around Mahoney. This sleazebag should be tossed out of office immediately!

UPDATE: FoxNews.com is reporting a second affair.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A married congressman who faces accusations that he had an affair with a former aide and paid her to keep quiet about it also was having an affair with a second woman around the same time, a person close to his campaign told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Details of the second affair came hours after Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney held a news conference to address a story, first reported by ABC News, that he had been involved with the former aide. Mahoney acknowledged he had caused "embarrassment and heartache" to his family but denied doing anything illegal.

Mahoney, 52, won his seat in 2006 while promising to return morals and family values to Washington in the aftermath of the resignation of former Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Foley. Foley stepped down when it was revealed he sent lurid Internet messages to male teenage pages who had worked on Capitol Hill. Foley was later cleared of criminal wrongdoing by state and federal authorities.

Mahoney's seat was already considered to be one of the more competitive House races, and he has been facing a tough challenge in a district that traditionally leans slightly Republican. He faces former Army officer Tom Rooney, a lawyer whose family owns the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Markets Recover; So Do Campaigns

Hugh Hewitt, unlike Bill Kristol, is optimistic about John McCain's chances in this election. But he is also a realist.

Here's what Hewitt says what an Obama Administration means:

McCain is down in the polls right now, but not out as Walter Shapiro
notes. McCain's best arguments have the additional advantage of being true, to steal an old line from Henry Kissinger:

1. Obama has a history of terrible judgment when it comes to friends and allies --Ayers, Dohrn, Rezko, Wright and ACORN to name just a few-- and he must staff 3,000 senior jobs in the federal government that will touch almost every aspect of every American life;

2. He doesn't understand the war and will imperil the fragile stability and emerging victory in Iraq;

3. Allied with Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, the most left-wing government in American history will do enormous damage to both the short term and the long term economic growth of America via soaring taxes and protectionist anti-trade policies, precisely at the time when a robust growth agenda is necessary to recover from the financial panic; and

4. The American military will be defunded and demoralized as under Carter and Clinton;

5. The Obama-Pelosi-Reid troika will target the estates of the Greatest Generation via a renewed death tax.

If those aren't enough to scare you, nothing will. To read Hewitt's full article, go here.

Bill Kristol, Shut Up!

Some of these so-called conservative pundits are really starting to annoy me.

In today's New York Times, Bill Kristol wrote the following:

What McCain needs to do is junk the whole thing and start over. Shut down the rapid responses, end the frantic e-mails, bench the spinning surrogates, stop putting up new TV and Internet ads every minute. In fact, pull all the ads — they’re doing no good anyway. Use that money for televised town halls and half-hour addresses in prime time.

And let McCain go back to what he’s been good at in the past — running as a cheerful, open and accessible candidate. Palin should follow suit. The two of them are attractive and competent politicians. They’re happy warriors and good campaigners. Set them free.

Provide total media accessibility on their campaign planes and buses. Kick most of the aides off and send them out to swing states to work for the state coordinators on getting voters to the polls. Keep just a minimal staff to help organize the press conferences McCain and Palin should have at every stop and the TV interviews they should do at every location. Do town halls, do the Sunday TV shows, do talk radio — and invite Obama and Biden to join them in some of these venues, on the ground that more joint appearances might restore civility and substance to the contest.

Since when has Kristol ever run a campaign? If he ever ran any, how many did he win? How many did he lose?

Firing the campaign staff, shutting down the rapid responses, pulling ads and running half-hour townhall coverage and "start over" is not the way to go (who's going to watch anyway?). Those would be sure acts of desperation. And you can bet that the MSM will be playing that up! What lunacy!

Give the media "full access"? Oh, please!

Kristol and other so-called conservative pundits need to shut the hell up. They are only giving the Obama campaign fodder to use against McCain. Plus, this would only cause GOP voters to dispair and stay home saying, "Why bother?" These comments only breed dispair.

Kristol and co. need to grow a pair!

Insane Rage?! Democrats Should Look In The Mirror

The Democrats and the Obama campaign are crying over some despicable shouts at recent McCain rallies. They claim that the rage expressed by a few loudmouths has no place in our political system. Well, they're right. However, these pale in comparison at what the Left has been hurling during the past eight years at President George W. Bush and, recently, at John McCain and Sarah Palin.

Michelle Malkin has a good article, complete with pictures of the insane rage the GOP has endured over the past eight years and in this campaign. Here is a sample:

This is insane rage — deranged left-wing photographer Jill Greenberg sabotaging an Atlantic magazine photo shoot of John McCain and defacing the pictures on her website:

But, as Glenn Reynolds notes, they’ve looked the other way at the last four years of anti-Bush assassination chic — a subject I covered extensively in Unhinged and on this blog:

To see more examples of Democrat/Leftist hate (including mugshots of Leftist suspects), go to the link above.

The Democrats should look in a mirror before whining about so-called GOP hate.

G-FAN #85

G-FAN #85
Nakajima Tribute Issue


G-FAN #85 is now here to entertain you for your free moments between homework or your job, and you don’t need a government bailout to enjoy it! The issue contains goodies that include:


News reports including G-FAN’s inclusion in the Chicago Tribune’s “Fifty Favorite Magazines,” other fanzine news and Guilala’s X-citing comeback.

News on Mechagodzilla 1974 radio-controlled toy from Bandai.

Kawakita Signature Edition Godzilla Toy (4 ft. tall).

J. D. Lees reflects on the Trib’s tribute to G-FAN.

Lots of letters this issue!

Non-kaiju works of Koichi Kawakita article by Kenju Shimomura.

Brett Homenick interviews Roland Emmerich. Was that really supposed to be J.D. in Tri-Star’s “Godzilla” (1998)?

Robyn Bliley is interviewed by Brett Homenick.

Special Section: “Tribute To Haruo Nakajima.” Includes photos from G-FEST, his years as a suit actor, interview and other goodies.

Allen Debus looks at monster folklore in “Monster Mythology.”

Brett Homenick interviews Yuriko Hishimi.

What do Godzilla’s innards look like? Check out Timothy Lee Elliott’s “The [Fictional] Science of Godzilla.”

Mike Bogue has two retrospectives on the same character: Glenn Manning, also known as “The Amazing Colossal Man” and “War of the Colossal Beast.”

Brett Homenick interviews G-actor Jeff Berglund.

Episode 3 of “Tales of King Komodo” by Mike Bogue & Todd Tennant.

Latest toy news by Steve Agin.

And a whole lot more! For more information on G-FAN, go to www.g-fan.com. See you in 3 months for a review of the winter issue (#86).

McCain Letter Demanding Action on Fannie/Freddie Released

A 2006 letter signed by John McCain and other Republican U.S. Senators demanding action on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has been released. Note that no Democrat senators signed the letter. Click on the image to see the full size.

Possible RICO Investigation of Obama and ACORN!

BREAKING: Possible RICO (anti-racketeering) investigation for voter fraud ties between ACORN and the Obama Campaign. It is said that federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has begun a RICO investigation for voter fraud activities in ten states involving ACORN. Obama used to work for ACORN in Chicago and an investigation may find ties between Obama's campaign and ACORN.

RICO stands for Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organization.

I've heard this rumor days ago, but it seems to be getting more traction. We'll see as things develop.

Tasergate (Troopergate): Nothing But B.S.

Tasergate (or Troopergate as the MSM and Obamatrons prefer) is much ado about nothing.

The "investigator's" findings are all over the place and contradict its own points as Bill Dyer aptly points out in an article over at Townhall.com:

Democratic state senator and staunch Barack Obama supporter Hollis French of Alaska boasted in early September that he would provide an "October Surprise" which would upset the McCain-Palin campaign. Indeed, he originally planned to time it for October 31, four days before the election, for maximum impact, until other legislators forced him to abandon that particular strategy.

Today, however, in an episode of political theater that would make Josef Stalin blush, French gave it his very best shot: The investigator he hired and directed, Steve Branchflower, has labored mightily and given birth to a bloated and redundant 263-page report which boils down, for purposes of the ongoing presidential campaign, to two paragraphs that completely contradict one another. And the one of them that's unfavorable ignores the most important — indeed conclusive — evidence on point, but goes on to provide Branchflower's guess as to whether Gov. Palin has done anything improper.

Please understand this, if you take nothing else away from reading this post: The Branchflower Report is a series of guess and insupportable conclusions drawn by exactly one guy, and it hasn't been approved or adopted or endorsed by so much as a single sub-committee of the Alaska Legislature, much less any kind of commission, court, jury, or other proper adjudicatory body. It contains no new bombshells in terms of factual revelations. Rather, it's just Steve Branchflower's opinion — after being hired and directed by one of Gov. Palin's most vocal opponents and one of Alaska's staunchest Obama supporters — that he thinks Gov. Palin had, at worst, mixed motives for an action that even Branchflower admits she unquestionably had both (a) the complete right to perform and (b) other very good reasons to perform.

Dyer continues:

The Branchflower Report is a series of guess and insupportable conclusions drawn by exactly one guy, and it hasn't been approved or adopted or endorsed by so much as a single sub-committee of the Alaska Legislature, much less any kind of commission, court, jury, or other proper adjudicatory body.

Finding 2 of the report:

I find that, although Walt Monegan's refusal to fire Trooper Michael Wooten was not the sole reason he was fired by Governor Sarah Palin, it was likely a contributing factor to his termination as Commissioner of Public Safety. In spite of that, Governor Palin's firing of Commissioner Monegan was a proper and lawful exercise of her constitutional and statutory authority to hire and fire executive branch department heads.

Yeesh, nothing like talking out of both sides of your mouth.

This comment by the fired Monegan should have laid to rest the need for any kind of investigation:

"For the record, no one ever said fire Wooten. Not the governor. Not Todd. Not any of the other staff," Monegan said Friday from Portland. "What they said directly was more along the lines of 'This isn't a person that we would want to be representing our state troopers.'"

Either something is or it isn't. This is just a political witchhunt that's just full of hot air.

Obama: Questions of Character

Charles Krauthammer nails Barack Obama again. These are the opening paragraphs of his latest article on Obama:

Questions of Character
Obama's radical pals shed light on his cynicism, his ruthlessness, and his tolerance for the obscene.

By Charles Krauthammer

Convicted felon Tony Rezko. Unrepentant terrorist Bill Ayers. And the race-baiting Rev. Jeremiah Wright. It is hard to think of any presidential candidate before Barack Obama sporting associations with three more execrable characters. Yet let the McCain campaign raise the issue, and the mainstream media begin fulminating about dirty campaigning tinged with racism and McCarthyite guilt by association.



But associations are important. They provide a significant insight into character. They are particularly relevant in relation to a potential president as new, unknown, opaque, and self-contained as Obama. With the economy overshadowing everything, it may be too late politically to be raising this issue. But that does not make it, as conventional wisdom holds, in any way illegitimate.

To read the full article, go here.

Chucko the Birthday Clown

Another bit of childhood memories and the Golden Age of Los Angeles television has passed on.

If you were a kid growing up in 1950s and 1960s Los Angeles, no doubt you watched the Chucko the Birthday Clown show.

From the Los Angeles Times:

Charles M. Runyon, who as Chucko the Birthday Clown was a popular Los Angeles children's TV show host in the 1950s and '60s, has died. He was 86.

Runyon died Saturday of respiratory failure in an assisted-living facility in Grants Pass, Ore., said his son, Randy Runyon.

On KABC-TV Channel 7 from 1955 to 1963 and on KTTV Channel 11 from 1963 to 1964, Runyon's Chucko the Clown was a familiar -- and welcome -- sight to thousands of young Southern California viewers.

The jovial and genteel clown wore a spinning merry-go-round hat with his name on it, a half red and half red-and-white-striped clown suit with a fluffy Elizabethan-style collar and cuffs, and white gloves; and he had arching blue eyebrows on a white face with a rhinestone-tipped nose and an upturned red smile.

His live, hourlong show included cartoons, special guests and games with his studio audience, which consisted of two children celebrating their birthdays and their young friends.

At the end of the show, the camera would show a large birthday cake, and Chucko would sing: "Here's a hap, hap, happy birthday from me (that's me), to you (that's you). . . ."

During his heyday, Runyon's Chucko would open the television coverage of the annual Santa Claus Lane Parade by jumping through a bass drum head.

"They'd say, 'And now from Hollywood, the Santa Claus Lane Parade' -- and BOOM! -- he'd bust through the drum and usually bow and salute," recalled Randy Runyon, who said his father spent most of his time during the parade outside the car that was provided for him and danced along with the marching bands.

Chucko also made countless personal appearances at supermarkets and shopping centers. "He'd pull into, say, the Topanga Plaza or whatever and there'd be thousands of people as far as you could see," his son said.

For his personal appearances, Runyon created a circus wagon -- a converted delivery truck with a stage on top.

I remember seeing Chucko and his circus wagon in the early 1960s at the Food Giant market at Western Ave. and Imperial Highway in Los Angeles. Back in those days, color television was extremely rare, so seeing Chucko's colorful costume and make-up was something to behold!

After leaving television, Chucko performed birthday shows at the Jungleland wild animal amusement park in Thousand Oaks until it closed in 1969.

He later retired to Oregon.

Thanks, Mr. Runyon for the memories.

"Ayres" Mc Cain Ad

The McCain campaign has released a new political ad:

"Ayres"

McCain's Mittens: My Debate Reaction

I was only able to listen to last night's debate on the radio. One word sums up last night's townhall-style debate between McCain and Obama:

Dull!

McCain did a little better than in the first one, but did nothing to produce a game changer. Obama stuck to talking points.

McCain said previously that he'd "take the gloves off" Tuesday night. It was more like putting on some mittens.

Update: G-FAN Travel Guide To Kaiju Japan

I checked with J. D. Lees on the progress on the G-FAN Travel Guide To Kaiju Japan and his reply is as follows:

"Still working on getting it together. I was devoting full time to G-FAN 85 the past few weeks."

We're getting there!   We hope to get an announcement out in an upcoming issue of G-FAN. 

RNC Unloads File On Obama-Ayres

The Republican National Committee has unloaded their file on the Barack Obama-William Ayres relationship:

Source: Republican National Committee

The Relationship Between Barack Obama And Bill Ayers Is Much More Extensive Than Obama's Campaign Is Willing To Admit

Obama's Top Campaign Staff Have Attempted To Downplay The Relationship Between Obama And Bill Ayers:

Obama Spokesman Robert Gibbs Said That Obama And Ayers Weren't Close And That Obama Was Only 8 Years Old When Ayers Was Bombing Buildings. Robert Gibbs: "If you read the article ... it says these two men weren't close, this man isn't involved in our campaign. Bill Ayers is somebody that Barack Obama said his actions were despicable and these happened when Barack Obama was 8 years old." (FOX News' "FOX & Friends," 10/6/08)

Gibbs Has Also Limited The Relationship Between Obama And Ayers To Serving On Two Boards Together. John Roberts: "Barack Obama knew Bill Ayers and had contact with him between 1995 and 2005. Exactly what was the nature of the relationship?" Robert Gibbs: "Well, John, as The New York Times reported this weekend, they served on two boards together during that time period." (CNN's "American Morning," 10/6/08)

Even Obama Has Previously Referred To Ayers As "A Guy Who Lives In My Neighborhood" And Not Someone He Exchanges Ideas With "On A Regular Basis." Obama: "George, but this is an example of what I'm talking about. This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood, who's a professor of English in Chicago who I know and who I have not received some official endorsement from. He's not somebody who I exchange ideas from on a regular basis. And the notion that somehow as a consequence of me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was 8 years old, somehow reflects on me and my values doesn't make much sense, George." (Sen. Barack Obama, ABC Democrat Candidates Presidential Debate, Philadelphia, PA, 4/16/08)

But Obama's Connections With Bill Ayers Are Much More Extensive Than He Or His Campaign Staff Is Willing To Admit:

In 1995, During Obama's First State Senate Campaign, William Ayers And Wife Bernadine Dohrn Hosted A Meeting Of Chicago Liberals At Their Home For Obama, Which One Attendee Said Was Aimed At "Launching Him." "In 1995, State Senator Alice Palmer introduced her chosen successor, Barack Obama, to a few of the district's influential liberals at the home of two well known figures on the local left: William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn. While Ayers and Dohrn may be thought of in Hyde Park as local activists, they're better known nationally as two of the most notorious -- and unrepentant -- figures from the violent fringe of the 1960s anti-war movement. ... 'I can remember being one of a small group of people who came to Bill Ayers' house to learn that Alice Palmer was stepping down from the senate and running for Congress,' said Dr. Quentin Young, a prominent Chicago physician and advocate for single-payer health care, of the info rmal gathering at the home of Ayers and his wife, Dohrn. '[Palmer] identified [Obama] as her successor.' ... Dr. Young and another guest, Maria Warren, described it similarly: as an introduction to Hyde Park liberals of the handpicked successor to Palmer, a well-regarded figure on the left. 'When I first met Barack Obama, he was giving a standard, innocuous little talk in the living room of those two legends-in-their-own-minds, Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn,' Warren wrote on her blog in 2005. 'They were launching him -- introducing him to the Hyde Park community as the best thing since sliced bread.'" (Ben Smith, "Obama Once Visited '60s Radicals," The Politico, 1/22/08)

From March Of 1995 Until September Of 1997, Obama And Ayers Attended At Least Seven Meetings Together Relating To The Chicago Annenberg Challenge. (Chicago Annenberg Challenge, Board Of Directors Meeting, Minutes Of The Board, 3/15/95, 3/31/95, 4/13/95, 6/5/95, 9/30/97; National Annenberg Challenge Evaluation Meeting, List Of Participants, 5/24/95; Chicago Annenberg Challenge, Chicago School Reform Collaborative Meeting, Minutes, 10/23/96)

NOTE: Bill Ayers Was Asked To Help Obama Formulate The Chicago Annenberg Challenge By-Laws. (Chicago Annenberg Challenge Board Of Directors Minutes, 3/15/95)

In 1997, Obama Praised Ayers' Book On The Juvenile Justice System. "The two men were involved in efforts to reform the city's education system. They appeared together on academic panels, including one organized by Michelle Obama to discuss the juvenile justice system, an area of mutual concern. Mr. Ayers's book on the subject won a rave review in The Chicago Tribune by Mr. Obama, who called it 'a searing and timely account.'" (Jo Becker and Christopher Drew, "Pragmatic Politics, Forged On The South Side," The New York Times, 5/11/08)

Obama On William Ayers' "A Kind And Just Parent: The Children Of Juvenile Court": "A searing and timely account of the juvenile court system, and the courageous individuals who rescue hope from despair." (Chicago Tribune, 12/21/97)
"[Obama And Ayers] Have Also Appeared Jointly On Two Academic Panels, One In 1997 And Another In 2001." (Russell Berman, "Obama's Ties To Left Come Under Scrutiny," The New York Sun, 2/19/08)

From 1999 To 2002, Obama Served With Ayers On The Board Of Directors For Woods Fund Of Chicago. "[Ayers] served with [Obama] from 1999 to 2002 on the board of the Woods Fund, an anti-poverty group." (Timothy J. Burger, "Obama's Chicago Ties Might Fuel 'Republican Attack Machine'," Bloomberg, 2/15/08)

During The Time Obama And Ayers Served Together On The Woods Fund, Ayers Was Quoted Saying "I Don't Regret Setting Bombs ... I Feel We Didn't Do Enough." "'I don't regret setting bombs,' Bill Ayers said. 'I feel we didn't do enough.' Mr. Ayers, who spent the 1970's as a fugitive in the Weather Underground, was sitting in the kitchen of his big turn-of-the-19th-century stone house in the Hyde Park district of Chicago." (Dinitia Smith, "No Regrets For A Love Of Explosives," The New York Times, 9/11/01)

NOTE: Obama, Born August 14th, 1961, Was 40 Years Old When Ayers Was Quoted. (Obama For America Website, www.barackobama.com, Accessed 10/6/08; Dinitia Smith, "No Regrets For A Love Of Explosives," The New York Times, 9/11/01)

While Obama And Ayers Were Serving On The Woods Fund Together, Ayers Posed Standing On An American Flag For An Article In Chicago Magazine Entitled "No Regrets." (Marcia Froelke Coburn, "No Regrets," Chicago Magazine, 8/01)

Obama And Ayers Are Neighbors In Chicago's Hyde Park Neighborhood. "Twenty-six years later, at a lunchtime meeting about school reform in a Chicago skyscraper, Barack Obama met Mr. Ayers, by then an education professor. Their paths have crossed sporadically since then, at a coffee Mr. Ayers hosted for Mr. Obama's first run for office, on the schools project and a charitable board, and in casual encounters as Hyde Park neighbors." (Scott Shane, "Obama And '60s Bomber: A Look Into Crossed Paths," The New York Times, 10/4/08)

Obama Spokesman Ben LaBolt Told The New York Times That Last Year Obama And Ayers "Bumped Into Each Other On The Street In Hyde Park." "[Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt] said they have not spoken by phone or exchanged e-mail messages since Mr. Obama began serving in the United States Senate in January 2005 and last met more than a year ago when they bumped into each other on the street in Hyde Park." (Scott Shane, "Obama And '60s Bomber: A Look Into Crossed Paths," The New York Times, 10/4/08)

Neighbors Have Said "It's Only Natural" That Obama Would Know Ayers, Who Often Opens His Home For Gatherings, As Obama And His Wife "Are A Part Of Our Neighborhood And Part Of Our Social Circle." "Since coming out of hiding in 1980, the couple have raised three boys in Chicago and become part of the fabric of their liberal South Side neighborhood. Neighbors said it's only natural that Obama would know Ayers and Dohrn, who often open their homes for gatherings filled with lively discussions about politics, arts and social issues. Obama and his wife 'are part of our neighborhood and part of our social circle,' said Elizabeth Chandler, a neighbor of Ayers'." (Trevor Jensen, Robert Mitchum and Mary Owen, "Bill Ayers' Turbulent Past Contrasts With Quiet Academ ic Life," Chicago Tribune, 4/17/08)

Ayers' Organization, The Weather Underground, Was A "Violent Left-Wing Activist Group":

"William Ayers ... [Was] A Founding Member Of The Group That Bombed The U.S. Capitol And The Pentagon During The 1970s." (Russell Berman, "Obama's Ties To Left Come Under Scrutiny," The New York Sun, 2/19/08)

Ayers' Group, The Weather Underground, Is A "Violent Left-Wing Activist Group." "Senator Obama's ties to a former leader of the violent left-wing activist group the Weather Underground are drawing new scrutiny as he battles Senator Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination." (Russell Berman, "Obama's Ties To Left Come Under Scrutiny," The New York Sun, 2/19/08)

The Weather Underground Produced A Manual Which Begins, "We Are A Guerrilla Organization. We Are Communist Women And Men, Underground In The United States For More Than Four Years." "The coalition was said to be a violence-prone faction inspired by the Weather Underground's ''Prairie Fire,'' a guerrilla warfare manual published in 1974. The manual begins, 'We are a guerrilla organization. We are Communist women and men, underground in the United States for more than four years.'" (Paul L. Montgomery, "2 Women In Brink's Case Identified With Weathermen From Start In '69," The New York Times, 10/ 22/81)