Full on abdication of leadership and responsibility and all-in on government by lie.

Since Obama's planning to not pay debt interest, anyway, I guess there's no problem if we refuse to raise the debt limit, huh?

To justify the administration claim [of narrowing deficits], Lew said the administration was merely referring to "primary balance" -- or federal spending minus interest payments. Lew sought to forgive the public for their confusion.

"The terminology that we use in Washington of primary balance is a little confusing," Lew said.

"It's because I believe it's dishonest," Ensign shot back.

Republicans were understandably befuddled....

If the government does what the Obama administration is recommending, net interest payments will go from about $200 billion this year to $844 billion in a decade. That's more than the country spends now on Social Security.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, at his first official press briefing on the job, used the credit card analogy Wednesday and acknowledged interest rates "have to be contended with."

"But the first important step in dealing with this issue is getting your regular spending and income in balance so that you're no longer adding to the problem," he said. "And interest payments are a major portion of our long term debt problem that we need to address. But it is not an inconsequential deal."

Yet President Obama and Lew neglected to explain this point in their initial statements. Lew, in an interview Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union," said: "Our budget will get us, over the next several years, to the point where we can look the American people in the eye and say we're not adding to the debt anymore. We're spending money that we have each year, and then we can work on bringing down our national debt."

I looked up "primary budget" and it is a real term; so it has some kind of usefulness in discussing budgets, I guess. But it's sure not what we talk about when we talk about budget and balancing budgets.

Bonus points for the Obama Administration "forgetting" to mention they were only talking about "primary budget" when they seemed to be talking about the budget.

Obama As Fletch: Apparently, as a commenter suggests, Obama just plans on floating the crushing debt on the Underhills' tab.

The problem with that is that Underhill noticed a couple of lobster Thermadores and a couple of bottles of champagne. I think he's going to get suspicious when Bam-Bam lays a $8 trillion charge on his account.

Posted by: Ace at 12:15 PM | Comments (193)
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I wouldn't tell anyone this if it happened to me. I have to imagine Brown feels that way too, but he's opening up about it because other abused kids feel that way. Feel that (like any rape victim) that someone else's outrage makes them unclean.

Not a fun story.

"It was certainly, back then, very traumatic," Brown said in a clip released by CBS today. "When people find people like me at that young, vulnerable age who are basically lost, the thing that they have over you is they make you believe that no one will believe you."

More: Further quotes at the Boston Herald.

He says he was also physically abused by "more than one" stepfather, but I think he means beaten, not sexually abused. Because, if he means the latter, wow.

Posted by: Ace at 11:00 AM | Comments (284)
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In just five minutes he's supposed to take the stage at a sold-out AEI conference. It can be seen here.

The topic? Taking on federal spending as he's done in New Jersey. It sounds like he's going to be a spokesman for entitlement reform, but maybe I'm overreading it.

Like Christie himself, the message he’ll deliver Wednesday at the conservative American Enterprise Institute is unorthodox and straightforward: he accuses both parties, Democrats and Republicans alike, of “timidity” in the face of the coming fiscal calamity.

“It’s hard, but it can be dealt with,” Christie said of his speech, previewed for POLITICO, which will focus on his battles with the state’s teachers unions. “I’m a little mystified as to why they’re not doing it, on either side. Because what we’ve shown in New Jersey is that the public is hungry for this.”

Coulter... continues making the case for Christie -- and she doesn't care if he's running or not. It doesn't matter if he wants to run, she says -- the country needs him, period.

I like how she thinks. Not necessarily about Christie (who really does not seem to be running, or even willing to consider it), but her basic point that we can't do what we did in 2008 and eliminate stronger candidates due to imagined deviations from orthodoxy -- that is how John McCain wound up winning. Not because of "RINOs" (RINOs wanted either Giuliani or Romney), but because any strong candidate was disqualified for this or that and we were left with the guy who on paper was supposedly a conservative but we all knew wasn't.

"There You Go:" "We have to reform Social Security because it's bankrupting us. We have to reform Medicare because it's bankrupting us. We have to reform Medicaid because not only is it bankrupting the federal government it's bankrupting every state government. I just said these things and lightning didn't come through the window and strike me dead. There you go."

Talks about "studying an issue" is government-talk for "letting an unsustainable program die due to natural causes (bankruptcy) because we don't want our fingerprints on it because we don't want to be seen as murdering it."

These are close paraphrases; it's not exact.

Talks up Andrew Cuomo, at a 77% popularity rating, even though all he talks about is cutting including popular entitlements. Says politicians are thinking the in the past and not grasping that the situation has changed.

Hear, Hear: "I love when people talk about American exceptionalism (sort of sarcastic tone). The idea of American exceptionalism must include the idea that we have the courage to do the right thing, not just that that because we're exceptional we trust that everything will work out for us."

I sort of sniped at that idea -- American exceptionalism as meaningless pablum flattery, as opposed to a call to actually be exceptional -- like yesterday.

It reminds me of Michael Keaton's speech near the end of Gung Ho, where he says, basically, the last three speeches I gave you were all this flattery about being the best workers in the world, but guess what? You want the truth? We're getting our asses handed to us and if we want to be the Great American Labor Force again we have to go out there and be that, and stop just saying we are.

Absolutely Rules Out Presidential Run: "I'm not stupid. I see the opportunity. But that's not a good enough reason to run, the opportunity."

Good, But Deceptive, Answer on the ObamaCare Lawsuit: Remember when Giuliani was sniped as saying nothing but "9/11," a verb and a noun?

Well Christie's doing this with the fiscal issue.

His answer on ObamaCare: He wants New Jersey to be free rider on this; he wants the New Jersey taxpayer to get the benefit of the decision ("if it's unconstitutional in Alabama, Florida, and Virginia it's unconstitutional in New Jersey") without having to pay money he doesn't have to fight the suit.

This is a pleasing answer but it is bunk. He could have joined the suit for almost no money; other states would have covered him. They wanted Christie on board even if New Jersey didn't contribute anything except Christie's imprimatur. (This is speculation, not fact, but it is undoubtedly correct.)

The real reason? Because he's already in a big fight over a matter he's all-in on and he's in a liberal, Obama-voting state as it is. He doesn't need the political damage from it while he's trying to rally support for the one thing he can definitely change. Plus, when this started, the whole suit seemed unlikely to succeed -- it is STILL unlikely, but has gone from longshot to underdog.

It's a cute answer, but it's false. I do not hold that against him; clever dishonesty must be in a politician's skill set.

He does make it clear he opposes ObamaCare and says "It's no secret I'm not a fan." He lists various things he doesn't like about it, including straight-jacketing governors with fresh mandates.

Slams Obama's SOTU For Cowardice. "I was hoping he would stand up and challenge me, and say 'Now is the time we must fix these problems.'"

Makes a joke about Obama's laundry list and notes that many of them are "good things," like high speed internet access -- "No one says, you know what, I wish my internet was slower." But these things do not exist in a vaccuum; they must be viewed comparatively.

He doesn't elaborate on that but that is a crucial, crucial point for Republicans to make and everytime they don't make it they lose. Republicans must always present this as a choice -- would you like $40 billion in spending for high speed internet access now, or would you like your children relieved of $100 billion of debt (initial cost plus interest)? Or would you like $40 billion to go to our nation's solvency?"

He didn't lampshade it like that, and he should have. Every Republican, always, should play the comparison of goods game. Sure, high speed rail is good. But would you rather have high speed rail or your children to have a functioning, vibrant economy in which they can actually get a job?

Always, always go into specifics on these stupid spending initiatives. Don't just talk about blocking spending; talk in concrete terms about what is being LOST when we spend our way to oblivion.

Overall: It is really, really too bad Christie is not running. He is a very effective spokesman. He has something crucial, too: Even though I know he is a politician and I know he therefore deceives for political gain and even though I know he plays to the camera for YouTube videos -- he seems like he's not running for anything. He seems like he's just hear to tell you the facts and not bullshit you at all.

Combine that sort of personal profile with his obvious total command of the higher-brain math and budget issues, and you've really got something.

You've got authority. Which is ultimately what "gravitas" is. Authority, command.

Ah well. I guess we're jacked for 2016. Christie/Rubio (or Rubio/Christie; who cares?).

Posted by: Ace at 08:58 AM | Comments (426)
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"All of you are white -- go to hell. Go to hell. Go to hell.... You too, fatboy."

He offered up this racist remark when a fellow commissioner kept referring to him as "Chief Mullah" due to his role in ousting a government employee.

Now, "Chief Mullah" ain't civil either -- let's not pretend on that one. On the other hand, "Chief Mullah" really doesn't invite back the open declaration "All of you are white -- go to hell."

What makes this story special is this asshole's defense -- see, you're the racists. You drove him to this. How? Um, you called him "Chief Moolah" (it was mullah, not moolah) and he claims that "Chief Moolah" is an old-time racial slur.

What?

However, in open court today, after every considerate attempt to discuss the matter further, one of the speakers shot off a racial slur. “Chief Moolah” has its roots in a slang that was used against Italian immigrants and was later used by the same to defame or discredit African Americans. The speaker continued to use terms like “tribal” and his intent to make race an issue was obvious. “Nigger” is “Nigger,” spoken overtly or incognito.

My history and record will reflect that I am one whose tolerance is limited or non-existent when it comes to racial slurs. The comments were bad enough, but to have them hurled by a member of the Tea Party, known for their racial insensitivity, was more than I plan to absorb.

I like how this Make Believe Media source uncritically repeats this asshole's claim about "Chief Moolah" being an old-time racial slur, without bothering to check any source to see if this is in any way true. Based on common knowledge and a quickie Google search, it's not -- as far as I can tell, "Chief Moolah" entered the Black Book of Unforgivable Racial Slurs exactly at the moment a Democratic hack claimed it had always been a racial slur.

They don't bother to see if there's even a drop of truth in this. They just report it. It's Price's best defense; best not to undermine him, or confuse angry white Tea Party into a killstorm.

He is telling the truth about one thing, though: He has no tolerance for racial slurs of any kind. Including the term "black hole" -- he believes the term "white hole" should be used in its stead. For the sake of tolerance.

Posted by: Ace at 08:29 AM | Comments (145)
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Fellow, but not gentleman.

Real-time communication is a trap for the vicious. Give an asshole an outlet with no editor and he'll do what assholes do when they're not being monitored.

"Lara Logan had to outdo Anderson," Rosen tweeted, referring to the CNN correspondent, who was reportedly punched in the head multiple times while covering the recent demonstrations in Egypt.

Rosen went on, insisting it would be humorous if Anderson too had been sexually assaulted.

"Yes yes it's wrong what happened to her. Of course. I don't support that. But it would have been funny if it happened to Anderson too."

From there, his posts only got worse.

The tweet, "Jesus Christ, at a moment when she is going to become a martyr and glorified we should at least remember her role as a major war monger," was followed by, "Look, she was probably groped like thousands of other women."

Anger Is Not Your Friend.

He offered his resignation, which I have to imagine wasn't an offer so much as an acquiescence to a demand.

A woman at NYU's "Law and Security" Center (which sounds like a MiniTruth sort of name to me) wrote:

Nir Rosen is always provocative, but he crossed the line yesterday with his comments about Lara Logan. I am deeply distressed by what he wrote about Ms. Logan and strongly denounce his comments. They were cruel and insensitive and completely unacceptable. Mr. Rosen tells me that he misunderstood the severity of the attack on her in Cairo. He has apologized, withdrawn his remarks, and submitted his resignation as a fellow, which I have accepted. However, this in no way compensates for the harm his comments have inflicted. We are all horrified by what happened to Ms. Logan, and our thoughts are with her during this difficult time.

Guy was getting his yucks over a gang-rape because he was still angry about Logan once saying nice things about US troops' protecting Iraqi citizens (and her assertion they were saving lives). Overall, checking out old clips, her reportage and take seem to be what we'd call "standard liberal" (although I have to say her defense of the media for reporting the "bad news" in Iraq and not the "good news" was more sensible than most), so Nir Rosen was basically attacking a fellow liberal journalist who'd been raped over one or two off-message reports. She deviated from The Narrative once or twice, and that's enough to call her a war-monger.

Posted by: Ace at 08:12 AM | Comments (125)
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Or so they say, anyway. Somehow, I doubt their sincerity.

Public schools are jobs programs for adults, not educational systems for our children. A recent documentary called Kids Aren't Cars makes this point with devastating clarity. A failure of our educational system is a the root of much of what plagues our culture today -- if we really want to "fix" the myriad of things that our wrong with our nation, we need to begin at the beginning and fix the schools.

Posted by: Monty at 06:03 AM | Comments (194)
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I am standing here beside myself.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 02:54 AM | Comments (210)
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That headline is a little provocative because, at the moment, the story is that supposedly he fell asleep or blacked out.

Which is possible.

But no one seems to even mention That Other Possibility That Shall Not Be Named. No kidding, every story I call up says "police are looking into the possibility he fell asleep or blacked out at the wheel." Okay, fine; do you have a plan B? Or is that the only possibility under active consideration?

This quickie bio on Hassan isn't reassuring:

Daly is an Egyptian immigrant who worked as a doctor in his native country before taking a job driving a cab in San Diego.

...

DalyÂ’s roommate, Dan Rose, told us Hassan has been having financial and personal problems.

"Just very irregular behavior, kind of up and down, a little bit recluse, depressed type of behavior," said Rose.

Yeah. Okay, this was the night after Mubarak's abdication. Maybe just Imagine the Possibility this is Sudden Jihad Syndrome?

The crowd did:

In the moments after the accident, the crowd outside Stingaree attacked Daly. One witness said Daly was still sitting in the car when he got to the scene and that's when the crowd started to remove him from the car.

"They beat the s--t of out him," the man said. "Beat him up really bad."

One woman lost most of her leg. It was badly mangled.

If this guy legitimately blacked out I understand that. I sort of even understand the cops wanting to play this cool after the crowd seemed to decide it had enough information to act.

But part of the reason we are so suspicious of Muslims is that we now know our own government is engaged in an effort to actively lie to us about Muslim-involved violence because they think we can't handle it.

Since we cannot trust the police, FBI, or government (or even the Army's investigators) to tell us the fucking truth, we're not being paranoid: We are reacting appropriately to threats and to a fundamentally dishonest government.

Thanks to lowandslow.

Oh Wait: My bad, they are investigating other possibilities:

Investigators were also examining the taxi for evidence and possible mechanical failures, as well as continuing to interview witnesses and victims.

Oh so right there, there you go. They haven't decided it must be that he fell asleep; they are perfectly open to the possibility of a mechanical failure, too.

Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.

Oh: There's even more!

Rose [the man the Egyptian was renting from] says things have gotten progressively worse since he moved in. "It's been a very uncomfortable situation living here the last couple months."

...

Rose said he feared the 52-year-old Egyptian born cab driver. "Just very irrational behavior, um I don't know if it was necessarily a terroristic type thing or maybe he's just imbalanced."

Rose said Daly called him names and confronted him for bringing a date home. The confrontation scared him so much, he began to carry a knife with him in the house.

Rose says, "the reaction he had towards me kind of made me a little scared so I carry one with me even in my home when I'd go to the bathroom."

Rose says Daly gave him his move out notice last Friday. That the home is in foreclosure and Daly was leaving the country and heading back to Egypt.

So, got that? The two possibilities we're looking into are 1) a case of the sleepies and 2) mechanical failure.

Is there any other possibility that I, or the cops, might be forgetting? Ah, no, none. That covers it.

PS not a word of this got out into the Make Believe Media. Nice job, guys! Perfect embargo!

Posted by: Ace at 06:52 PM | Comments (196)
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Hey why not?

Posted by: Ace at 06:00 PM | Comments (37)
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The Real Formula For Coke Revealed?!

The media's making a big deal out of this but I'm sure Pepsico and other companies had quantitative chemists analyze Coke long ago and know precisely what's in it. Hell even I know - based on a book I read back in the 80s.

The unique cola taste comes mainly from orange and lemon oils, cinnamon and vanilla along with a little nutmeg and coriander. I even whipped some up as a kid and although it wasn't great, it did have a Coke-y taste. You can make your own based on the OpenCola recipe.

So why don't other companies copy Coke? Well mainly because they could never compete directly with Coke's low production costs due to their volume. So they tweak the mix in order to appeal to people's slightly different tastes. Supposedly Pepsi goes heavier on the citrus oils than Coke does.

Posted by: Maetenloch at 05:39 PM | Comments (509)
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