Seems to be, I have to stress.

It does seem that way, as the DNC seems to be making excuses in advance of the actual admission -- but the admission is, technically, not yet here.

So: Here is lefty buffoon Greg Sargent hot off the phone with his paymasters at te DNC, relaying the DNC's defense: Hey, Sen. Cornyn's site grabs emails from his website too!

It would be very odd if the DNC was making a you-do-it-too defense without in fact having done it themselves.

Incidentally, at Red State, you'll see Erick making hash of the DNC's argument (not that they're admitting anything...). Cornyn collected emails from people intentionally giving them their emails because they wanted to be contact.

Obama's Snitchline was set up to get the emails of people who wanted no contact with him, but whose emails were snitched over to him by leftist political narks.

Posted by: Ace at 01:12 PM | Add Comment
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Above the fold update....a Beck staffer (not with Fox) says the vacation has been planned for some time.

Is he on "Double Secret Probation or something?

Tipsters inside Fox News tell us Glenn Beck's vacation this week from his Fox News show was not planned. We hear Beck was told to take this week off to let some of the heat surrounding him die down. That heat began July 28 on "Fox & Friends" when Beck said he thought Pres. Obama has "a deep-seated hatred for white people," adding, "This guy is, I believe, a racist."

The leftwing agitated advertiser boycott seems to had some effect with 20 or so companies pulling ads from the show. (Or maybe not. Thanks to Tami in the comments for the heads up.)

Fox says it's just a vacation.

So being one of the most popular cable networks period (not just news networks) isn't enough for Fox? Really?

FTR- I'm not a fan of Beck's but I don't think what he said was that big of a deal (though I don't agree with it) especially when you consider the filth thrown at Bush every night by Olbermann and the gang at MSNBC.

It seems all Presidents are equal, some are just more equal than others.

How On Earth Could Someone Say President Prissypants Has Some Kind of a Problem with White People? [ace] It's just nuts, that's what it is.
more...

Posted by: DrewM at 09:40 AM | Comments (6)
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Not sure how true this is.

I assume Ridge is not lying. But I also assume he needs some hot facts, or even "facts," to sell a book.

Best case for Bush and Cheney: There was an elevated risk and Ridge was wrong; Ridge was too worried about the appearances of raising the level, whereas Bush and Cheney didn't care about appearances.

Second-best case for Bush and Cheney: As people tend to do, they viewed the data with their own best interests in mind, and thus arguable, on-the-line data was seen by them --- honestly, but wrongly, due to the powerful agent of subconscious self-interest -- as warranting a heightened threat level.

Bad case scenarios: I think the lefty blogosphere should have these well-covered.

See Wikipedia for the timing.

In addition, the alert has been raised to High on a select or partial basis three times:

August 1 – November 10, 2004, for specific financial institutions in northern New Jersey, New York, and Washington, D.C., citing intelligence pointing to the possibility of a car or truck bomb attack, naming specific buildings as possible targets.[20][21]

July 7, 2005 – August 12, 2005, for mass transit systems only. The DHS secretary announced the level after the 7 July 2005 London bombings despite the absence of "specific, credible information suggesting imminent attack" in the United States.[22]

August 10, 2006 – present, for all domestic airline flights and all international flights to or from the United States, with the exception of flights from the United Kingdom to the United States. Flights from the United Kingdom to the United States had been under a severe alert, but were downgraded to a high alert on August 14, 2006.[19]

That seems like a pretty good reason to raise the alert level to me, but that assumes, I guess, a fair amount of confidence in the intelligence.

It also seems to me that by this point, many people, including Ridge himself, believed the color-coded terror alert system had outlived its usefulness. Indeed, that position seems to have prevailed; you never hear about it anymore.

So this seems to have occurred at a point when some people, like Ridge, were becoming convinced the system was pointless, and other people (presumably Bush and Cheney) thought it was valuable.

That right there suggests ample enough reason for disagreement.

Posted by: Ace at 09:23 AM | Comments (1)
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Let me be clear: As I have always said, any issue that I'm trying to vote present on is a distraction.

In a late Wednesday conference call with several left-wing faith groups that supported his presidential bid, President Barack Obama claimed it is a "fabrication" and "distraction" to say abortion funding is included in the health care reform plans pending in Congress.

He said it is false to suggest that the government-run health care plan he favors would result in "government funding of abortions," and that this is "untrue."

Several pro-life organizations were quick to pick up on the comments and expose how the health care bills could result in the greatest expansion of abortion funding since the 1970s.

"Obama deliberately misled the American people by dismissing the concerns of millions of Americans who have deep moral objections to their tax dollars paying for abortions," Family Research Council president Tony Perkins said. "With this President, you must look at his actions because his rhetoric doesn't match his deeds."

Perkins said Obama "knows very well that pro-abortion House and Senate Committees rejected every single amendment to keep abortion funding out of the health care overhaul."

"Instead, the House Energy and Commerce Committee adopted the Capps Amendment, which allows abortion coverage in the public health plan, and subsidizes health plans that cover abortion," he added.

Perkins told LifeNews.com if objections to the taxpayer-financed abortions in the health care bill are a "distraction" that Obama should end it by calling on Congress to amend the bills so they result in no abortion funding.

I wonder if Douglas Kmiec, a guy I frankly never heard of at all until, like Kathleen Parker, he started being hailed as an "important conservative voice supporting Obama," has second thoughts. He's always claiming, apparently, that Obama's kinda pro-life or something.

This is obvious, but it's one thing to expect pro-life people to tolerate a law that permits (and even encourages) a procedure they find morally repugnant and a kissing cousin of murder. It's a whole new level of arrogance to insist they also support this with their own money, making them unwilling partners in the abortion industry.

Obama has a thoughtful, nuanced, handsome answer to this: "I won."

Which part of the "I won" didn't you understand, the "I," the "won," or the implicit "die in a fire"?

Let Me Be Clear, As I Have Always Said, Abortion Funding is Not in My Health Care Plan, and, As I Have Also Always Said, Abortion Funding is "At the Center and Heart of" My Health Care Plan: In a question specifically about abortion funding, at Planned Parenthood, he says "reproductive care" which will provide "all essential services" is "at the center and heart" of his plan.

Thanks to Michael in MI.

Posted by: Ace at 08:54 AM | Comments (1)
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Nobody is buying this right?

The White House and Senate Democratic leaders, seeing little chance of bipartisan support for their health-care overhaul, are considering a strategy shift that would break the legislation into two parts and pass the most expensive provisions solely with Democratic votes.

The idea is the latest effort by Democrats to escape the morass caused by delays in Congress, as well as voter discontent crystallized in angry town-hall meetings. Polls suggest the overhaul plans are losing public support, giving Republicans less incentive to go along.

...In recent days, Democratic leaders have concluded they can pack more of their health overhaul plans under this procedure, congressional aides said. They might even be able to include a public insurance plan to compete with private insurers, a key demand of the party's liberal wing, but that remains uncertain.

...The idea of using reconciliation angers even such moderate Republicans as Ms. Snowe. "At a time when we need to bolster the public's confidence in whatever we do with health care, I don't think the reconciliation process will serve the purpose of providing affordable health security for all Americans," she said.

This is a bluff and they've got a tell bigger than Teddy KGB's in Rounders....they didn't do it already.

Remember Obama, Reid and Pelosi all wanted a bill before the August recess. They knew what was coming, maybe not to the extent it did but they all saw what happened in '93 and that the clock was ticking on Obama's stratospheric poll numbers. If they were going to push it through come hell or high water, they would have done it when the numbers were higher.

Now we are supposed to believe they are going to bite the bullet and pass the most expensive parts first all by themselves? In this political environment? Yeah, sure. more...

Posted by: DrewM at 08:12 AM | Add Comment
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Tipped by several people (CDR M, Dave @ Garfield Ridge, Ogre Gunner). It's James Cameron's new full-CGI movie (though the actors are real, just altered a bit for that CGI look).

A split in geek reaction. CDR M says it looks like what Aliens would have looked like if Cameron had advanced technology, Dave says it's "HALO in Ferngully." (I'm not sure what that means but it's not good.)

I don't know. I'm not big on CGI.

Posted by: Ace at 08:05 AM | Add Comment
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I hope he had fun at the club the night he shot himself, he's going to be paying for it.

Justice Michael H. Melkonian of State Supreme Court accepted the guilty plea. Along with the two-year prison sentence, Mr. Burress, 31, will be sentenced to two years of post-release supervision.

As bad as the federal pen must have been for a guy like Michael Vick, New York State prison is likely much, much worse.

Maybe they'll have a prison football team...Plax can be the tight end.

Posted by: DrewM at 06:54 AM | Comments (1)
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Very human, very understandable, very hypocritical.

In a personal, sometimes wistful letter sent Tuesday to Governor Deval L. Patrick, Senate President Therese Murray, and House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, Kennedy asks that Patrick be given authority to appoint someone to the seat temporarily before voters choose a new senator in a special election.

Although Kennedy, who is battling brain cancer, does not specifically mention his illness or the health care debate raging in Washington, the implication of his letter is clear: He is trying to make sure that the leading cause in his life, better health coverage for all, advances in the event of his death.

In his letter, which was obtained by the Globe, Kennedy said that he backs the current succession law, enacted in 2004, which gives voters the power to fill a US Senate vacancy. But he said the state and country need two Massachusetts senators.

A couple of thoughts.

First, that 2004 law was put into place because Democrats were horrified at the thought Mitt Romney might appoint a successor to John Kerry had the latter won the presidential race that year.

Now that a Democrat is back in charge, no worries about that and no need for the people to decide anything.

Second, this is admittedly unkind but unavoidable given this letter....Kennedy's concern about the people of MA having two Senators is noble and all but it doesn't concern him enough to resign. He hardly ever shows up (for more than obvious reasons) and Democrats know one reason they can't get cloture on health care is Kennedy (and Byrd) probably won't be there to vote.

It's unseemly to point this out (though it's true) and I wouldn't but for the fact that Kennedy and his acolytes are making him out to be far more noble than he is.

The third reason this letter from Kennedy reeks is because it was clear early on that he was interested in having his wife succeed him. Obviously that would be much easier should the governor appoint a successor and give her a leg up for any special election (should they keep that feature).

Kennedy's wife apparently denies she's interested in the seat but things change. I'm sure they'll be a "popular" cry to honor Teddy this way and noblesse oblige being what it is and all, she might be persuaded.

I really rather not post this stuff. I have tried to avoid Kennedy as much as possible since he has taken ill (if you can't say anything nice and all of that) but there will be enough faux lionizing of the man when he dies, we need not start now.

If the people of Massachusetts want to elect another fool to the Senate (and no doubt they will), that's on them but they have to have the chance to do it. A US Senate seat is not a personal possession to be bequeath, no matter what the Kennedys and Democrats seem to think.

More: Liberal Wonder Boy Ezra "JurnoList" Klein says Orrin Hatch should vote for Obama Care should Kennedy be unable to. Yeah, I'm going to go with...No.

Posted by: DrewM at 06:41 AM | Add Comment
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Here's my Neanderthal thought for the day...you kill 270 people and you forfeit any clams to mercy or compassion.

Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, has been released from prison in Scotland on compassionate grounds and is expected back in Tripoli this afternoon.

Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish Justice Secretary, said that he was upholding the deepest held values and beliefs of the Scottish people in allowing al-Megrahi to go home to Libya to die.

..."Compassion and mercy are about upholding the beliefs that we seek to live by, remaining true to our values as a people, no matter the severity of the provocation or the atrocity perpetrated," said Mr MacAskill, announcing his decision at a packed press conference in Edinburgh at 1pm.

I don't think Kenny MacAskill is familiar with what "justice" and "compassion" actually mean.

On the upside, Libya has promised they won't hold a hero's welcome home for him, so there's that.

When this happened I was a sophomore in college. One of my friends had transferred from Syracuse and she was in a panic for days trying to find out if anyone she knew was on that flight (it was the Dark Age before cellphones, email, Twitter and the rest). I imagine that was a scene played out in tens of thousands of places around the country and the world. For hundreds of families, the reality became all to clear soon enough.

So no Kenny, I don't think this killer is worthy of an ounce of compassion. In fact, he should have been put down 8 years ago (after avoiding any justice for over a decade) and in a better world we wouldn't do business with an American killer like Qadaffi (but that ship has sailed...to bad Reagan didn't go back and finish the job)

The only consolation is that this piece of filth is dying. Here's hoping it's a long, slow and painful process. I suppose that's not compassionate. Too bad.

Via @jaketapper: The Times Of London snears...nothing personal just business. Dirty business but business nonetheless. more...

Posted by: DrewM at 05:54 AM | Add Comment
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Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 04:56 AM | Add Comment
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