Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to "recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 04:56 AM | Comments (70)
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Good grief. It's astonishing that people are being treated this way in this country.

But what ultimately happened is that I was subjected to search so invasive that I was left crying and dealing with memories that I thought had been dealt with years ago of prior sexual assualts. Why? Because of my flannel panty-liner. These new scans are so horrible that if you are wearing something unusual (like a piece of cloth on your panties) then you will be subjected to a search where a woman repeatedly has to check your "groin" while another woman watches on (two in my case - they were training in a new girl - awesome). So please, please, tell the ladies not to wear their liners at the airport (I didn't even have an insert in).

She provides some biographical background:

I'm a strong, confident woman; I'm an Army vet (which is why those camo liners crack me up), I work full-time and go to graduate school full-time, I have a wonderful husband, and I don't take any nonsense from anyone. I don't dramatize, and I don't exaggerate. I'm trying to give you a sense of who I am so you won't think that this is a plea for attention, or a jumping on the bandwagon about the recent TSA proposed boycott.

Every time we hear one of these stories, John Pistole runs for the cameras and reassures us that this isn't what is supposed to happen; that no one should be treated in this fashion or made to cry; that it shouldn't be regarded as a common occurrence or used as the basis to judge the whole program or the TSA; that they listen and are always adjusting their policy, and that--most importantly to him--we all must put up with these "enhanced searches" to keep terrorists from bringing down airplanes. And then it happens again. Each time, he circles back around to tough-talking bluster with that asinine, barely-disguised "everyone's a perp" mentality.

Does John Pistole strike you as a little psycho at this point?

"We need to see your vagina clearly."

All women travelers should wear panty liners in protest. Link via BoingBoing.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 11:46 PM | Comments (135)
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Wazzup Moron Nation! CDR M back on the ONT BattleWatch! Hope you all are ready for the most magnificent eating day of the year and for those of you traveling, hope the TSA didn't manage to mishandle your stuff, so to speak! Without further ado, I present to you, the ONT:

The Screw You Nebula
Remember this picture?

Posted by: Open Blogger at 05:11 PM | Comments (890)
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The United States Commission on Civil Rights released findings today that were highly critical of the way the Department of Justice handled the voter intimidation case that was brought against members of the Black Panther Party.

Lack of cooperation:

The report says the DOJ's "lack of cooperation" raises questions about the government' decision to dismiss most charges against the anti-white fringe group who wore military clothing as they stood outside a polling place in a black Philadelphia neighborhood in November of 2008. The document says the department did not completely address "serious accusations" made by former DOJ staffer J. Christian Adams and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Coates, the former chief of the Civil Rights Division Voting Section, about opposition in the DOJ to taking up voting rights cases against minorities.

Cover-up:

The implications found within the 144 page report issued by the non-partisan U.S. Commission on Civil Rights regarding the investigations into the New Black Panther voter intimidation case from 2008 appears to strongly indicate a cover up initiated by figures within the Obama Department of Justice, and quite possibly the White House itself. Within the context of this cover up, are found accusations of intimidation and non compliance within the Department of Justice throughout the comprehensive investigation.

Institutional racism:

At the heart of the investigation are allegations the Department of Justice aggressively prevented some within its own department from fully and fairly investigating the Black Panther voter intimidation case filed shortly after the 2008 presidential election. Page 85 of the report indicates members of the Obama administration felt the DOJ should primarily focus on charges brought on behalf of minorities, not against them – in essence, an institutionally approved and promoted form of reverse racism. When some DOJ officials raised concerns over this, they were, according to the details of the report, subjected to intimidation and marginalization by their superiors within the Obama Justice Department.

Congressman Darrell Issa's House investigation will undoubtedly uncover more of the details, but there is no guarantee he will get all of them. There remains a problem with executive privilege, the power of the president and members of the executive branch that stems from constitutional separation of powers. In this case, executive privilege could be used to resist subpoenas and the coercion of testimony. In fact, this has been at the heart of the DOJ's lack of cooperation all along.

Perhaps a good argument for the reauthorization of the Independent Counsel Act. Here is the full report (PDF).

Question: How is it that the independent, bi-partisan Commission on Civil Rights released its report on the ultimate Friday news dump day?

Posted by: Open Blogger at 04:29 PM | Comments (81)
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Dear Bill,

Happy Birthday.

We have had a rough patch here State side lo these past 22 months with the besting of America by the incorrigible voices of progressive liberalism; some call them democrats, but most now, bastards. And why not, I say.

For the progressive troika of politicos, talking heads to the intellectually stunted executive branch, have perfected their fevered goose-steps toward Government, Inc. USA. The Italian patron of fascism, Benito Mussolini himself would be proud of the troikaÂ’s hard left turn and the merging of state and corporate powers laced with the threat of congressional investigations and governmental retaliation.

America has been operating in a fog of late, not quite sure where to step but always reminded of the bellowing of the all powerful state run fog horn; the fog horn operator is AmericaÂ’s 22 month old president whose advancement from community organizer to half term U.S. Senator to President is what slick packaging and smoke and mirrors buys these days.

But alas, America has awakened - awakened to the shock and the horror of allowing itself to be duped by the talkers of smooth.

America is demanding the state stand down and release its grip. We had a midterm election a few weeks back and America spoke loudly and clearly. Power was taken away from the liberals and returned to the people with the election of 63 conservative republicans to congress along with 6 new conservative republican senators and over 600 conservative republicans elected to state and local office throughout the country.

As you can see Bill, we ainÂ’t letting the bastards wear us down.

Oh, and tell Buchwald that the guy f/k/a Barry Soetoro is president, and was recently in India dodging coconuts and apparently Americans.

ThatÂ’s all for now + requiescat in pace,

-J

Posted by: Open Blogger at 03:52 PM | Comments (64)
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Yeah, yeah, it's more like the Jay Leno Show's Lead-In of Death to the Overnight Open Thread at this point. Plus I delayed posting it because of the DeLay news (how meta!). I was at an early Thanksgiving family thing, sue me. Pretend you're in California. Unless you are in California, in which case I'm sure you'd rather pretend you were anywhere else.

Wicket Misses His Friend

The Furball Far, Far Away called, said he has a message. I'm not sure what it means; I'm just the middleman.

Meanwhile, If You'd Rather Interact with Slightly Less-Sentient Life Forms

I'm quite obviously on a late-70s/early-80s kick lately. If you've looked out the window any time in the last couple years, you ought to be, too.

Besides, you may need this information tomorrow if your turkey starts giving you any lip.

After the jump, how you could actually get cash this weekend just for reading this blog. Maybe. Conditions apply. But you're tempted now, aren't you? Click ... cliiiiiiiiiick!

(There's also actual political commentary inside, too. If you're into that sort of thing.) more...

Posted by: Open Blogger at 02:30 PM | Comments (111)
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Thanksgiving came a day early for liberals.

DeLay was charged with money laundering and conspiracy to commit money. He faces a possible sentence of 5-99 years in prison and a maximum $10,000 fine on the money laundering charge, and 2-20 years in prison and a possible $10,000 fine on the conspiracy charge.

Prosecutors earlier said they believe the DeLay case is the first such criminal charge ever filed over TexasÂ’ century-old prohibition on corporate contributions in state political races.

Delay, a Republican who was nicknamed “The Hammer” because of his heavy-handed style, was accused of conspiring to funnel $190,000 of corporate money through the Republican National Committee, which sent $190,000 in campaign donations to seven GOP candidates for the Texas House.

State law prohibits corporations from giving donations to candidates directly or indirectly.

Sucks for DeLay but on the whole, it's kind of meh news. He's been out of office for a number of years and with the Republican wave this year and a new generation of leaders it just feels so old and from another era, mostly because it is.

Still, liberals will enjoy their moment and no one will care come Monday.

It'll be interesting to see how this all shakes out once the appeals are through.

Thanks to tmi3rd for the heads up.

Just a reminder...DeLay had the best mugshot ever.

Added: In case you're mourning the fall of a great conservative leader, don't forget that in 2005 Delay said the federal government was small enough and the GOP was pretty much done cutting spending. Now, we'd all like to go back to the 'good old' days of only 300+ billion dollar deficits and 16 TRILLION in unfunded liabilities but that's only because of how insane things have gotten since then.

DeLay may have had a lot of good qualities as a Congressman but being a small government, cost cutting conservative wasn't one of them.

Posted by: DrewM at 02:07 PM | Comments (64)
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Take Hallucigenia

Mate it with Opabinia

And you get a multi-tentacled monstrosity: more...

Posted by: CAC at 01:13 PM | Comments (52)
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Barack Obama's healthcare bill was supposed to be the pinnacle of the Democratic Party's achievment in this new century. Finally, after decades of trying, a mandatory and centralized healthcare regime had become law. We could all breath a sigh of relief because after 234 years our unfair society was finally just.

Well, not quite. Richard Epstein over at Forbes has a great article on the unintended consequences of Obamacare and how the waivers have made a bad situation worse.

Please go read the whole thing.

One great point is how this will affect small businesses:

Economically, the high fixed costs of administrative compliance drive small firms to seek takeover by powerful larger firms whose deeper purses and better political contacts help them weather the storm.

I'm not telling anyone here anything they didn't know, but clearly this bill not only benefits Big Business, who has the extra cash laying around to comply with such laws, but the waiver system also gives them a competative advantage.

The only companies receiving waivers are those with lobbying power and political influence. Obamacare, like almost every other law passed by congress, continues to help the big and established companies at the expense of the small and start up companies. And these people wonder why unemployment is still hovering at 10%.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 11:50 AM | Comments (66)
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Sounds like someone plans on sipping Slurpees for the next two years.

Via CNS News. Cross-posted.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 10:38 AM | Comments (83)
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