Cut. Jib. Newsletter.

The clashes followed a protest Friday in which thousands of Libyans marched through the city demanding the dissolution of militias that have ruled the countryÂ’s streets since a revolution ended the 42-year rule of Moammar Gaddafi.

Many Libyans have blamed extremist groups for the attack on the U.S. consulate here last week that left four Americans dead. The groups have operated with relative impunity in the security vacuum that has prevailed since GaddafiÂ’s ouster and death last year.

After nightfall Friday, hundreds of protesters stormed the base of Ansar al-Sharia, the extremist militia that many have accused of leading the consulate attack, forcing the retreat of Ansar al-Sharia fighters.

The protesters then turned their rage on other militias, storming the base of Rafallah al-Sahati, an influential Benghazi militia with conservative Islamist leanings, which until recently had controlled the cityÂ’s airport. The confrontation sparked a firefight, and Libyan television broadcast footage of injured men being rushed to hospital emergency rooms.

The groupÂ’s leader, Ismail Salabi, was lightly injured, according to his brother-in-law.

There's a fight on for the soul of Libya, let's hope we're smart about how we help the right people.

Posted by: DrewM at 08:00 AM | Comments (568)
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Well the Baylor Bears dodged a bullet last night against that monster Louisiana Monroe team, winning it late 47-42. The strategy appears to be "keep scoring on these mofakus or they'll bury you." Next week the Bears get to go to Morgantown for an education/welcoming from a new Big 12 member.

I predict, pain.

Top ten interesting games means I ignore Alabama. LSU (2) vs. Auburn, Oregon (3) vs. Arizona (22), Fl. State (4) against Clemson (10) should be good, Georgia (5) vs. Vandy, Oklahoma (6) and K State (15), South Carolina (7) vs. Mizzou, W. Virginia ( and Maryland, Stanford (9) is idle.

It's a great weekend. Don't violate any terms of your probation. As far as parolees, I try not to give them any advice.

Here, here's a Florida State wind farm or something.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 07:00 AM | Comments (123)
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Froggy over at Blackfive attended the funeral of Tyrone Woods, one of the two former SEALs killed in Benghazi. It's a must-read.

Posted by: andy at 03:38 AM | Comments (233)
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So Distrust In Media Hits New High. Not a surprise. It's not like they are actually practicing their trade craft. They are now essentially Democratic Operatives With A Byline pushing false narratives. In a time where embassies are under siege, Americans killed or in harms way, the economy in the gutter the top stories focus on Romney. His taxes. A video. Anything and everything but anything negative about Obama. It's not like there is a dearth of bad Obama stories. Why you have The Democrats False Narrative On The Auto Industry. How about The President Falsely Claiming Fast And Furious Program 'Began Under Bush'? Or what about Obama's Embassy Cover Story Dissolves? But somehow WaPo Declares Romney 'Had The Worst Week'.

Why, pray tell, did Romney have a worse week than President Obama, whose Department of Justice was implicated in the Fast and Furious scandal and coverup, and was linked to far-left Media Matters in targeting conservative commentators; whose Secretary of Health and Human Services was ensnared in a Hatch Act violation; whose Secretary of State was embroiled in controversy about a cover-up over the murder of our ambassador to Libya; who was himself enmeshed in controversy about snubbing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to tweet pictures with pirates and hang with David Letterman; who spent the week bashing a YouTube filmmaker and cutting ads apologizing for the First Amendment to Pakistani Islamists; whose economic news was borderline disastrous?

I could go on and on but it is literally amazing that with all the so-called journalists out there, they all seem to miss out on stories that are essentially what they dream about coming across when they first thought of being a journalist. If a story hurts Democrats, they bury it or deflect attention from it. I bet we wouldn't know who Bob Woodward is today if Nixon had been a Democrat.

You know, for the media types and liberals that went bat-shit crazy over the Bush lied theme, where's the outrage here? It's sad that Univision, not a major network in the traditional sense, is the one that asks questions that got Obama to drift out of his comfort zone. The funny thing is, the questions asked SHOULD have been in his comfort zone. They weren't hard hitting questions. His gaffes in his answers let you know why Obama has been avoiding the press and only showing up for Letterman and Jay-Z and The View. They don't ask hard questions. Pretty sad that the President of the United States fears his own media Democratic Operatives With A Byline. more...

Posted by: CDR M at 05:48 PM | Comments (684)
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@verumserum was just discussing this film. It just played on TCM -- but you can actually watch the whole thing below.

It's... creepy.

Gabriel was the brainchild of media titan William Randolph Hearst, whose "yellow journalism" helped start the Spanish American War. By 1933, Jonathan Alter explains in "The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope," "Hearst believed that the country needed a dictator but he wasn't sure FDR knew how to fill the role." So with this film, Hearst "set out to show Roosevelt the way."

Gabriel's fictional president, Judson C. Hammond, begins as an unflattering amalgam of Warren Harding and Herbert Hoover, a party hack more interested in bedding his comely assistant than in dealing with his country's economic woes.

But after Hammond is gravely injured in a car crash, the archangel Gabriel visits him in the hospital and imbues the comatose chief executive with the holy spirit of presidential activism. Hammond awakens as a man transformed. "I think, gentlemen, that you forget I am still the president of these United States," he tells Congress, "and it is within the rights of the president to declare the country under martial law!"

Hammond dissolves Congress, forcibly implements a ban on foreclosures, and creates an "Army of Construction" giving a job to every unemployed American.

He authorizes a special army unit to fight gangsters, several of whom are convicted via military tribunal, then shot by a firing squad with the Statue of Liberty visible in the background. "We have in the White House a man who's enabled us to cut the red tape of legal procedures," the presiding general notes approvingly.

...

Then, with his work on Earth done, the president ascends into Heaven.

FDR was delighted and wrote to Hearst that "I think it is an intensely interesting picture and should do much to help."

@verumserum says it's as weird and creepy and prog-porn as it sounds -- he says he kept waiting it for it to get less weird (I guess-- to explain late in the film that fascism is not, in fact, a panacea) but it never does.

The column I linked above notes the "unholy" fusion of secular religion and progressive politics.

Good thing we're more enlightened than that, now.

I haven't watched it yet; I don't know if I can devote 1:25 to this piece of fascist shit, even as a curiosity.

This curiosity, though, does demonstrate how close we are to fascism at any time. It's such a temptation for those without an appreciation of The American Way.

But, again: Thankfully we're more enlightened than that now.

more...

Posted by: Ace at 03:22 PM | Comments (573)
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Well, that's about what he said. He's concern-trolling the right, as usual, over Michelle Malkin's staunch defense of the candidate that David Frum actually told us we were intolerant stupid-heads for not supporting in the primaries.

So, we did that -- we voted for Mitt Romney -- and shock of shocks, now he hates Mitt Romney.

And Michelle Malkin.

And everyone on the right.

This dude's an angry guy. Angry, emotional, self-satisfied, egotistical, smug, and generally nasty to everyone who ever once agreed with him.

He's going to lecture me on emotion and hate? No thank you sir.

I think it's pretty obvious that Frum's transition is in its final stages. The final move is just securing that MSNBC contract.

After all, he's not going to be making much money as a novelist.

Posted by: Ace at 02:39 PM | Comments (217)
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And not, say, Obama's near-confession (by refusing to answer) that he did nothing to safeguard US diplomats in Benghazi, despite clear warnings. (Including from Chris Stevens himself!)

Instead, they're enjoying September Christmas.

ABCNews "reporter" Rick Klein -- he of the 7th grade poetry -- is pushing the story that Romney has disqualified himself from the presidency, by paying more. See, when asked earlier if he took deductions and such, Romney defensively answered, approximately, well of course, if I paid more than I owed, I wouldn't be qualified to be President.

Well, it turns out he didn't take every last deduction, and Rick Klein thinks that's the big story.

And not, say, the complete demolition of the Democrats' four month attack line lie.

The left is furiously trying to recover something, from this.

Toure is hardly the brightest star in the liberal firmament but we'll take his words as representative:

“He would have actually paid 9 percent if he didn’t artificially inseminate the number,” said Touré.

Posted by: Ace at 02:00 PM | Comments (290)
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Really?

Posted by: Ace at 01:30 PM | Comments (207)
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But here's a firebreathing essay.

You see [the media] are desperate. The reality of Barack Obama has brought them to their knees. If he loses in November, the mainstream media will be shown for what they are -- shills for what they wanted and pretended to be true, and not tellers of truth.

What is left for them when there is no more Barack?

Will anyone take seriously the relentless attacks on President Romney they will be sure to prosecute? No one but the most committed progressive will ever believe a word they say again, especially after they not only gave Barack Obama a free ride for all of his years in office, but unconvincingly attempted to redefine his every failure as success.

There was a time when the mainstream media dictated the conversation while hiding behind the veneer of impartiality, and Americans deferred to their wisdom. And despite having always been partial, at least in the past they made some pretense of neutrality.

A defeat for Barack is a defeat for them. No longer will they be the exalted press -- the arbiter of truth and justice. After the debacle that is Barack Obama, they will be seen for what they are: publicity agents for progressivism.

And this is a good piece about the newest no-account Kennedy running for office based on no qualifications other than partying and laying about.

Posted by: Ace at 12:52 PM | Comments (216)
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He gave 30% of his income to charity in 2011.

- In 2011, the Romneys paid $1,935,708 in taxes on $13,696,951 in mostly investment income.

- The RomneysÂ’ effective tax rate for 2011 was 14.1%.

-The Romneys donated $4,020,772 to charity in 2011, amounting to nearly 30% of their income.

-The Romneys claimed a deduction for $2.25 million of those charitable contributions. The RomneysÂ’ generous charitable donations in 2011 would have significantly reduced their tax obligation for the year. The Romneys thus limited their deduction of charitable contributions to conform to the Governor's statement in August, based upon the January estimate of income, that he paid at least 13% in income taxes in each of the last 10 years.

Joe Biden, by comparison, gave an average of $369 per year before people started noticing. I think he might have upped this to the low thousands, just to avoid people noting that his "heart" is not nearly as large as he claims.

You know what liberals are claiming now? That he paid too much in taxes, deliberately, to keep his effective rate up.

Here's his certified summary of his taxes for the past twenty years:

- In each year during the entire 20-year period, the Romneys owed both state and federal income taxes.

-Over the entire 20-year period, the average annual effective federal tax rate was 20.20%.

-Over the entire 20-year period, the lowest annual effective federal personal tax rate was 13.66%.

-Over the entire 20-year period, the Romneys gave to charity an average of 13.45% of their adjusted gross income.

-Over the entire 20-year period, the total federal and state taxes owed plus the total charitable donations deducted represented 38.49% of total AGI.

-During the 20-year period covered by the PWC letter, Gov. and Mrs. Romney paid 100 percent of the taxes that they owed.

Oh: I want to whine about this. I have been sick all week and it's now hit a crescendo today. My head is just an egg filled with mucous.

And yet I soldier on, unbowed, and only slightly whining.

Spin: Reuters is pretending this is just awful for Romney. See, it must be awful; he released it on a Friday.

But note, not at Friday night, idiots. It's after Close of Business when Obama, for example, lets out his bad news.

Posted by: Ace at 11:13 AM | Comments (464)
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