As I say to my liberal friends, "I told you if we elected Obama we'd be getting a hard left ideologue. And I was right!".

One idea the administration is considering...not recognizing the results of the upcoming elections if their ideological comrade Zelaya isn't returned to power.

Obama is also about to cut off all aid to Honduras.

U.S. State Department staff have recommended that the ouster of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya be declared a "military coup," a U.S. official said on Thursday, a step that could cut off tens of millions of dollars in U.S. funding to the impoverished Central American nation.

The official, who spoke on condition he not be named, said State Department staff had made such a recommendation to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was expected to make a decision on the matter soon.

Contrast this with his "See no evil, speak no evil" policy on the sham Iranian elections.

It's despicable that our government is behaving this way and that it's getting so little attention.

You should check out Dave in Texas' post on Honduras from the other night if you haven't seen it already. It's filled with snarky goodness.

Posted by: DrewM at 09:47 AM | Add Comment
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A former Crist campaign manager who lost his first and only run in elective politics, Crist was taking no chances. Not only is he someone he feels he can trust, he's someone he feels he can easily beat if it turns out his trust is misplaced.

This is sorta standard political positioning, but it doesn't sit well with me. It doesn't help that Crist is not only a squish, but pretty proud of that, and trying to create a brand of "Charlie Crist Republicans," which I guess are like Meghan McCain Republicans minus the tattoos, biker rallies, and Oasis mix tapes.

Posted by: Ace at 08:59 AM | Add Comment
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I know I've been missing these emails. I will be looking for them now.

If you have been "banned," it's almost certainly an accident. The software bans people almost randomly.

If you have been banned by the software, you should have gotten a message like this:

"Your IP address (68.XXX.XXX.XXX) has been banned. If you feel this is in error, please contact the blog owner by email."

Please let me know what that IP address is, and put "BANNED" in the subject line so I can easily search and find it.

If you're not getting that message, but still can't comment, the problem is likely on your end, that your computer is treating my site as unsafe or something or you're blocked at work or that sort of thing.

I'm sorry so many of you have gotten banned inadvertantly, and that it takes me so long to undo the problem. Please let me know and I'll get it taken care of.

Oh, my email is aceofspadeshq.

Which, in order to keep bots from picking up the address from the web, I am leaving unfinished until I put some more space between the beginning and the end of the email.

My address is @gmail.com

Posted by: Ace at 08:34 AM | Comments (1)
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Well, then! Yesterday I thought maybe we were being mean spirited "haters." It turns out we were providing the ghost of Ted Kennedy with his favorite topic of lighthearted mirth!

The right-wing noise machine strikes again, peddling a myth posted here by DrewM, noted by The Corner, originally noted by Jules Crittendon, and, um... actually reported by (presumably arch-liberal) former Newsweek and Times reporter Ed Klein on the presumably arch liberal Diane Rehm show (guest hosted by the quite liberal Katie Kay).

Among the various questions I have: Apparently this is something he did with reporters, freely, openly.

And yet reporters hid this from us until Ed Klein accidentally left the cat out of the bag.

Fifty years later and reporters still act as if it's their sacred duty to lie on behalf of the Kennedys and hide their transgressions from the public.

I don't know if you know this or not, but one of his favorite topics of humor was indeed Chappaquiddick itself. And he would ask people, "have you heard any new jokes about Chappaquiddick?" That is just the most amazing thing. It's not that he didn't feel remorse about the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, but that he still always saw the other side of everything and the ridiculous side of things, too.

Here's the full audio. The bite occurs at 30:15.

The claim is that he liked these jokes as they came "at his own expense." Really? At his expense? Would he guffaw at some of the rib-ticklers about manslaughter we were so enjoying yesterday?

YouTube clip via Ed Morrissey.

What's blue and white and wet all over?

Mary Jo Kopechne's cold, cyanotic corpse.

I got a million of 'em.

Dating Myself: Robert Chambers, the "Preppie Killer" who strangled Jennifer Levin in Central Park in 1986, also enjoyed "jokes" about the woman he murdered.

In the beginning of this clip, we see Robert Chambers strangling a Barbie doll in a "joking" fashion.
more...

Posted by: Ace at 07:55 AM | Comments (8)
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Obama and his team apparently thought so much of this Mark Lloyd guy they created a job for him, "Chief Diversity Officer".

I'm not sure if it's his admiration for Chavez or willingness to disparage freedom of speech they liked the most

"It should be clear by now that my focus here is not freedom of speech or the press. This freedom is all too often an exaggeration. At the very least, blind references to freedom of speech or the press serve as a distraction from the critical examination of other communications policies.

"[T]he purpose of free speech is warped to protect global corporations and block rules that would promote democratic governance."

Check out the full Newsbusters' story on this guy.

What's Chavez been up to lately? Not much, just shutting down media outlets and throwing people in jail for "media crimes".

Venezuela has revoked the licences of dozens of radio stations as part of a wider crackdown which could jail people deemed guilty of "media crimes" for up to four years.

At least 13 stations went off the air over the weekend and another 21 were expected to follow soon in an effort by President Hugo Chávez to extend his socialist revolution.

The move followed last week's introduction of a draft law to jail journalists and broadcasters who "harm the interests of the state", "cause panic" or "disturb social peace". Critics denounced the moves as a recipe for censorship. "What we are witnessing is the most comprehensive assault on free speech in Venezuela since Chávez came to power," said Jose Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch.

Seems the press has a dog in this particular fight and that they might want to ask Obama or Lloyd if they think this kind of stuff is and interesting idea and if they plan on subscribing to Chavez's newsletter. More likely they will ignore it figuring they won't be eaten at all or at least last by this particular alligator.

Between his support for every tyrant he can find, a willingness to abandon friends fighting for freedom and appointments of wannabe dictators like this guy Lloyd, you might start to get the idea that Obama is a radical leftists with very little respect for American traditions or values.

Heck of a job 52%! Heck of a job!

Posted by: DrewM at 07:45 AM | Comments (7)
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I realize there are plenty of shameless lying shills tossing whatever lingers of their reputations out the window to support the Obama, but Paul Krugman astounds. He has an article today explaining that while $9 Trillion in debt may sound like a lot, it's not a big deal and we'll all be fine. No reason to panic or stop shoveling money out of the Treasury on socialized medicine and other gargantuan spending debacles. Just follow the savior and we will reach the progressive promised land.

So new budget projections show a cumulative deficit of $9 trillion over the next decade. According to many commentators, that’s a terrifying number, requiring drastic action — in particular, of course, canceling efforts to boost the economy and calling off health care reform.

The truth is more complicated and less frightening. Right now deficits are actually helping the economy. In fact, deficits here and in other major economies saved the world from a much deeper slump. The longer-term outlook is worrying, but itÂ’s not catastrophic.

Well a principled brainiac like Krugman has obviously believed in the healing power of deficits for a long time right? Hmmm let's go back to those thrilling days of yesteryear when the evil chimp W ruled and every dime he wasted was a tragedy.

TONY JONES: Well, the US is not just labouring under a record trade
deficit, there are warnings tonight that its budget deficit could
precipitate a Latin American style financial crisis.

Influential
economist Paul Krugman says the US will face a severe downturn before
the end of the decade unless the $500 billion fiscal debt is rectified....

PROFESSOR PAUL KRUGMAN, PRINCETON ECONOMIST: Well, basically we have a
world-class budget deficit not just as in absolute terms of course -
it's the biggest budget deficit in the history of the world - but it's
a budget deficit that as a share of GDP is right up there.

It's comparable to the worst we've ever seen in this country.....

So, if you take a look, the only thing that sustains the US right now
is the fact that people say, "Well America's a mature, advanced country
and mature, advanced countries always, you know, get their financial
house in order," but there's not a hint that that's on the political
horizon, so I think we're looking for a collapse of confidence some
time in the not-too-distant future.

What a fucking douche. I fail to comprehend how this jackass continues to be looked on as smart. Is he not aware that what he says can and will be used against him in the court of common sense. The left's only principle is that they are right.

Posted by: Uncle Jimbo at 07:32 AM | Add Comment
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What could possibly go wrong?

Section 431(a) of the bill says that the IRS must divulge taxpayer identity information, including the filing status, the modified adjusted gross income, the number of dependents, and "other information as is prescribed by" regulation. That information will be provided to the new Health Choices Commissioner and state health programs and used to determine who qualifies for "affordability credits."

Section 245(b)(2)(A) says the IRS must divulge tax return details -- there's no specified limit on what's available or unavailable -- to the Health Choices Commissioner. The purpose, again, is to verify "affordability credits."

Section 1801(a) says that the Social Security Administration can obtain tax return data on anyone who may be eligible for a "low-income prescription drug subsidy" but has not applied for it.

Over at the Institute for Policy Innovation (a free-market think tank and presumably no fan of Obamacare), Tom Giovanetti argues that: "How many thousands of federal employees will have access to your records? The privacy of your health records will be only as good as the most nosy, most dishonest and most malcontented federal employee.... So say good-bye to privacy from the federal government. It was fun while it lasted for 233 years."

"Health Choices Commissioner"? Doesn't that sound like such a friendly, helpful person? Just someone looking out for your health, wanting to make sure you have choices? And oh yeah, give them complete access to your personal information. Or else.

As Mark Steyn has repeatedly said, turning your health over to the government reconfigures the relationship between the state and the individual. Once the state is responsible for your physical well being, there is simply no aspect of your life that is off limits.

But hey, we should do it for Teddy!

I'm very late getting around to reading Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism but it strikes me this would be the perfect symbol for the office of "Health Choices Commissioner"

Posted by: DrewM at 07:10 AM | Add Comment
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Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 06:16 AM | Add Comment
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You see, she wasn't killed as much as she was a good liberal who took one for the team or something (safe link to NRO).

We don't know how much Kennedy was affected by her death, or what she'd have thought about arguably being a catalyst for the most successful Senate career in history. What we don't know, as always, could fill a Metrodome.

Still, ignorance doesn't preclude a right to wonder. So it doesn't automatically make someone (aka, me) a Limbaugh-loving, aerial-wolf-hunting NRA troll for asking what Mary Jo Kopechne would have had to say about Ted's death, and what she'd have thought of the life and career that are being (rightfully) heralded.

Who knows — maybe she'd feel it was worth it.

I put the Matt Cooper thing in the headlines before Ace posted it and I said it was the "dimwitted quote of the day, so far". Never in my wildest dreams however did I think it would be topped in such spectacularly stupid and disgusting fashion. I'm not ready to call it the worst yet or that we are likely to see before it's all said and done. We've still got two days until the guy is buried.

It never ceases to amaze me that liberals, especially liberal women, who look to Democrats to vindicate their feminist ideas are willing to put up with sexual abuse, offer themselves up sexually or even think women might be happy to die for them.

This is their idea of what political heroes should be? Sick stuff.

Somewhat related...there's a debate whether opponents of health care reform should acquiesce to the Democrats new idea of calling it "KennedyCare". I say fine.

First, Kennedy is not nearly as popular outside of liberal salons as they think.

Second, when a lot of people think of Kennedy they think of three things: dangerous behind the wheel, bloated and dead. Strikes me that's a perfect metaphor for Obama-Kennedy Care or whatever we wind up calling it.

UPDATE: If launching Kennedy's career to a whole new level wasn't enough, I'm sure Mary Jo Kopechne would be happy to know she provided a lifetime of humor (for him, not her obviously).

Yeah, I'm pretty much not feeling bad about joking about this SOBs death.

Posted by: DrewM at 07:13 PM | Comments (3)
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I know everyoneÂ’s still in mourning about yesterdayÂ’s grim events. Like all of you I was heartbroken over the tragic lack of kittehÂ’s in last nightÂ’s ONT, but we must soldier on in these dark times. ItÂ’s how Teddy would want things to be. So to make it up to you, IÂ’ve posted several hundred kitten pics below the fold to cheer you up. From somewhere, Teddy is looking up and smiling upon us.

Not sure if this got posted recently (or at all), but it cannot be seen enough times. In this video clip from 1979 we see an exchange between a sheer genius and a blithering idiot as they discuss economics. I think it should be obvious to any impartial observer that Mr. Friedman was served his own head on a platter due to the eloquent and irrefutable arguments made by his opponent in this debate. Clearly this was a mismatch:

Clip courtesy of Dori MonsonÂ’s Olde Tyme Smooth & Groovin Radio Talk Show. (While there, be sure to view the mugshot of the guy who caught on fire after being tasered by cruel and heartless police officers. No laughing. Really, I mean it. I'm very serious about this.)

Meanwhile, IÂ’m happy to present our new sister blog (like sister cities, except that weÂ’re not cities) called Zug.com. Hopefully weÂ’ll be able to maintain this relationship, at least as long as they continue cranking out useful articles such as The Cheap Booze Taste Test. Of course, once we've wrung them dry we have a nice warm spot for them under the AoS bus. Here's the scenario:

The economy might still be in shambles, but that doesn't change the fact that you've still got financial obligations to meet. You need a reliable car. You need comprehensive health insurance. You need to be able to get blind drunk, and you need it on the cheap.

That's where I and my panel of objective, dedicated judges come in. We're rating the best-tasting cheap booze across the three main branches of alcohol: beer, wine, and malt liquor. We'll taste for quality, but more importantly we'll rate for price.

The quest begins:

"Since we were tackling all three types of hooch at once, I took some time to acclimate myself to the store (which, sadly, frowned on my camera). The place smelled like a nursing home: cigarettes and stale urine. The fluorescent light accented the bags under everyone's eyes. While I stood at the door to the fridge eyeing my options, a line four deep formed behind me. "Oh, sorry guys, have at it," I said as I ducked aside. I tripped as I stepped on someone's two-year-old. I immediately apologized to the little guy. "He's fine," his obese mother/guardian/possible abductor told me. She handed him a few 40 oz bottles to carry, and they were off."

That's all you know and all you need to know. Go read the rest on your own. Below the fold is a veritable garden of kitteh delights awaiting you...
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Posted by: Open Blog at 05:45 PM | Add Comment
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