So Some In Hollywood Are Worried About The Barrage Of Obama Celebrity Fundraisers and the possibility that they may backfire.

Some of the president's most ardent entertainment industry supporters quietly tell The Hollywood Reporter that while they realize he needs to deploy all of his weapons to compete with deep-pocketed Republican super PACs (Ed-What? There aren't any Democrat super PACs???), they fear the increasing reliance on stars and celebrity contests could backfire with swing voters and mobilize the right.

"After he took office, he ignored everyone here," gripes one L.A. donor, "and now we feel like we're being used."

Ah poor babies. You are being used. You are Obama's ATM machine. Without you out of touch, Hollyweird types, Obama's fundraising would be taking a big hit. Without your cash, you are nothing to him. And just as you state above, you will be ignored again until he needs cash again. Which will probably be all the way thru the election 'cuz the Prez is hitting the rest of us to forego birthday and wedding gifts and instead give donations to him which I really don't see adding to his coffers all that much.

By the way, I got news for you celebritard types. It's not just the fundraisers where you blow $40K a plate for someone who hasn't done dick for the economy that is hurting your image or as you say mobilizing the right. It is also stupid stuff like this: Morgan Freeman Blathering About How ID Check Disenfranchises Minorities. Or maybe it's Spike Lee Going After Zimmerman? Or maybe Steven Spielberg Helping Obama On The Failed Bain Attacks? Or maybe Sean Penn Stating That The Tea Party Wants To Lynch The President? Or Megan Fox Ripping On Middle America? Why you guys insist on pissing off half of your potential audience is beyond me but go ahead, knock yourself out.

Perhaps instead of forking your money over to Obama's election, how about some of y'all just pay your damn taxes?

Baker points to other celebrities who spout the Obama message about taxes and fairness. For example, singing star Lionel Richie owes the IRS upwards of $1 million. Others who are having tax problems include singer Roberta Flack, actor Lindsay Lohan, Country music star Willie Nelson, comedian Sinbad (real name: David Adkins), singer Robin Thicke, and actor Robert Downey, Jr., all vocal supporters of the Obama agenda.
And then there's Nicolas Cage, who paid the IRS over $6 million in back taxes and may still owe millions more, and celebrity skier Lindsey Vonn, who owes the IRS taxes, as well as several other high-profile celebrities, such as the members of The Blackeyed Peas.

Posted by: CDR M at 06:24 PM | Comments (470)
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One of those verdicts where nobody is surprised

What a monster.

442 years on 45 counts.

*correction* He hasn't been sentenced, he faces that.

It ain't enough.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 06:20 PM | Comments (148)
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Realized I started these too late in the week and wanted the final with leaners included before week's end, so here is part four:

Post-Wisconsin I've been working with JohnE on expanding the Decision Desk to 50-state coverage. In the meantime, I've kept my eye on polling data and will continue to reveal the current projection of the Presidential race.

Finally, we introduce the swing states, those which may show the most activity jumping between the President and Romney. The lean Obama, lean Romney, and toss-up states make up the largest bloc of electoral votes outside the solids. They are, as their name implies, the most volitile. In most if not all of these either contender enjoys at best a five-point edge over their opponent, in several (Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Colorado) we are talking a point or less.

With this final category (split into three groups) added, President Obama enjoys a 263-253 edge over Mitt Romney, with 22 electoral votes as tossups.
Map below the fold. more...

Posted by: CAC at 05:24 PM | Comments (153)
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He now says no US Attorney should take the contempt charge to a grand jury.

Guess what he said when Harriet Miers was found in contempt of Congress?

e contempt statute refers such matters to “the appropriate U.S. attorney, whose duty it shall be to bring the matter before the grand jury for its action.”

It is “unambiguous,” said Peter Shane, an Ohio State law professor who is an expert in executive privilege.

One thing he's definitely an expert in is donating to Democratic candidates and Moveon.org.

(Actually there are pages of donations -- it definitely is not just those five -- but I can't seem to get Open Secrets to cough them up now. If that link doesn't work, try punching in SHANE, PETER of Ohio into OpenSecrets.org.) [Update - Andy: I updated the search link and think I got the bigger list Ace was looking for, image below the fold]

Which is something CNN failed to note when introducing him/bio'ing him. How about calling him what he is, a strong Democratic supporter?

There is no point in noting it for the millionth time, but Republicans and conservatives are identified as such, while MoveOn.org members are called merely "experts."

more...

Posted by: Ace at 04:57 PM | Comments (67)
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From @rdbrewer4's massive sidebar entry of funny stuff, a cockatoo rocks out to AC/DC.

Headbangs. It's cute. more...

Posted by: Ace at 04:24 PM | Comments (43)
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Shocking? Only if you haven't been paying attention.

Instapundit points to some fun people had on Twitter, suggesting further Obama Gift Registry Slogan ideas.

This is weird, right? The creepy emails pretending the Obama's are your bosom pals who desperately want to have dinner with you, the newest one suggesting Obama is essentially your husband... It's a very weird and very Stalinist conception of the president not as a worker you hire (and, sometimes, fire) but as a member of your family -- the most important member of your family, of course.

Meanwhile, another bit of similar creepiness -- ads have been on blogs (including this one!) noting that it's Elizabeth Warren's birthday, and won't you sign her birthday card?

Why would I do that? Why would a supporter do that? We don't know her. When did Elizabeth Warren join the family?

The GOP had some fun with this. They sent her a paid account with Ancestry.com, so she can find some documentation for her "family lore" about her sometimes on sometimes off Cherokee background.

This strikes me as similar to stalking. Stalkers believe they have a personal connection with people they often haven't even met. There's a strange hallucination of some deep relationship with the target.

In this case, the "targets" are actively encouraging such a false belief, and the attention they seek is a positive one, rather than the typical stalker's negative one. ( Though most stalkers do start out sounding rather positive, too. It's only when their targets fail to respond that they become menacing.)

This just seems very weird to me, and worth some kind of sociological study. What sorts of lonely people are being targeted here, to imagine they have some kind of personal, nearly familial connection with politicians they've never met?

And-- is it fair to target the sort of people who'd actually fall for this? It's like a steeply progressive tax on desperation for human contact.

I suppose the targets here are the Bitter Enders, those who really believed Obama was a Lightworker, an actually religious figure, and so in a real way their fortunes (and the world's, and all the souls on earth) are tied to Obama.

As Obama's political career comes to a painful end, I find old angers being replaced by pity. Pity for this man, whose legacy will be of catastrophic failure, and pity for those who sought something like the transcendence afforded by God Himself, and thought they would find it by voting for a shifty Chicago politician.

Thanks to Dr. Spank. more...

Posted by: Ace at 03:30 PM | Comments (354)
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Usually genuine victims would encourage the media to take a look.

Usually the rule is "if it bleeds, it leads."

Usually the press is interested in massive, supposedly unauthorized covert operations to send armaments to bad actors (such as drug barons).

But of course the press is still in Palace Guard mode, so only people at FoxNews (and CBS' lone real reporter Sharyl Attkisson) are interested in their story.

For the rest of the media, Brian Terry is simply an UnPerson, one of those many eggs which must be broken for the omelet.

more...

Posted by: Ace at 03:11 PM | Comments (95)
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He's a member of Egypt's parliament now.

Did he come to the US to swear he renounced terrorism?

Nope!

The group was banned under former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, and is now a recognized Islamist political party. Its spiritual leader, Omar Abdel Rahman—also known as the “blind sheik”—was convicted in 1995 of plotting attacks on New York City landmarks and transportation centers, and is serving a life sentence in a North Carolina federal prison....

In his meetings with senior Obama administration officials, Eldin says, he asked Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough about transferring Abdel-Rahman to an Egyptian prison. He said his request was declined.

I don't want to rag on the State Department or Obama too much, but what is the point of granting him a Visa? So he can come to the US and plead to let the guy who first tried to take down the Twin Towers escape to Egypt?

I understand "diplomacy." But what diplomacy is possible with this guy?

He's a terrorist, come to argue on behalf of another terrorist. Deny him entry. Let it be known we don't treat with terrorists.

Posted by: Ace at 02:29 PM | Comments (115)
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Post-Wisconsin I've been working with JohnE on expanding the Decision Desk to 50-state coverage. In the meantime, I've kept my eye on polling data and will continue to reveal the current projection of the Presidential race.

Today, we introduce the favored states, those which will go to their respective party unless the "leaning" states begin to cascade in one direction or the other.

With this category added, Romney leads 206 to Obama's 194 electoral votes, as Romney gains no states but Obama gains Washington, Minnesota, and Maine. How do the remaining states fall? The swing states (leaners and tossups) will be pinned down in the final thread.

Map below the fold. more...

Posted by: CAC at 01:51 PM | Comments (61)
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The nonstop litigation in the unending case of Brett Kimberlin vs. The Whole Wide World might be coming to an end.

Not the beginning of the end, perhaps, but the end of the beginning.

Walker v. Kimberlin Complaint and Motion
for Emergency Preliminary Injunction
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 22, 2012 – The Law Office of Bruce Godfrey, in professional cooperation with Dan Backer, Esquire, of leading Washington, DC, campaign finance and political compliance law firm DB Capitol Strategies PLLC, has today filed a Complaint and Motion for Emergency Preliminary Injunction on behalf of plaintiff and attorney Aaron Walker, Esquire against activist Brett Kimberlin in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, Greenbelt Division.

Pending the imminent formation of a legal defense fund, the Law Office of Bruce Godfrey is participating in this litigation pro bono publico on behalf of Mr. Walker, due to the paramount constitutional principles at stake in the dispute outlined in the Complaint and Motion for Emergency Preliminary Injunction. No further discussion of the merits of the case would be appropriate here at this time, out of respect for the rights of Plaintiff Walker and Defendant Kimberlin to a fair and unbiased jury trial, which the Complaint requests on issues so triable.

But that's only part of it. Dan Backer, of DB Capital Strategies has teamed with RightSolutions to protect free speech and create a Bloggers Defense Team.

But the "Defense Team" will not be purely defensive, as today's filing demonstrates. Brett Kimberlin has made the courts his home-away-from-home for far too long; he's now going to find the courts exist to protect people from people like him, not further his endless campaign of harassment, intimidation, and lawfare.

Bloggers Defense Team

Help Preserve Conservative Free Speech!

Defending Free Speech Against Lawfare And SWATting

DB Capitol Strategies, in partnership with RightSolutions, a 501c3 public charity, is building a nationwide team of lawyers to fight those who would silence online free speech. Our first salvo in that effort has been to file a federal lawsuit today against Brett Kimberlin, seeking, in part, an injunction to prevent the state from ever again arresting Mr. Aaron Walker, an American citizen, for exercising his right to free speech, and to release him from any prior censorship restrictions imposed by unlawful judgements.

This is only the first step in what we call the "Bloggers Defense Team." We are firmly committed to exposing and combating the efforts of Brett Kimberlin, otherwise known as the Speedway Bomber, and his well-funded allies on the left (like George Soros and Barabara Streisand) who will use any means of harassment to silence political opposition.

No citizen of the United States should ever be arrested merely for blogging – especially not for blogging about the crimes of the notorious Speedway Bomber Brett Kimberlin.

This is an issue that should cross all party lines and divisions. Free speech is what makes our country great, and we must all forever defend it – or forever lose it.

JOIN US in this fight by contributing to the Right Solutions Bloggers Defense Fund Today!

...

Kimberlin styles himself a progressive activist and has started two leftist nonprofit groups: Justice Through Music and Velvet Revolution. Justice through Music allegedly helps young people become activists through music and voter registration while Velvet Revolution is currently supporting the “Occupy” movement and other leftist causes. These two organizations have attracted over $1.8 million in recent years from major left-wing funders; Kimberlin donors include the George Soros-funded Tides Foundation, the Barbara Streisand Foundation and the (Teresa Heinz-Kerry helmed) Heinz Foundation. But while his nonprofits are prolific fundraisers, they seem to do little else. According to a report by Fox News, the only thing these organizations do well is spend lots of liberal dollars – but it’s not clear on what.

Instead of “advocacy”, Kimberlin seems to spend his time and resources harassing his critics with frivolous lawsuits and baseless accusations. This has no place in a vibrant Republic. His vicious shenanigans have resulted in two arrests on questionable charges resulting in at least one victim having lost his job and he has even harassed the families of his foes. Kimberlin’s use of “lawfare” targets more than just Conservatives; he will pursue anyone who inquires into his past and his organizations.

The Real Brett Kimberlin

What kind of person is capable of such vile, pernicious, hyperactive and ongoing harassment? A look at who Brett Kimberlin really is sheds some light.

Brett KimberlinÂ’s sordid story begins over thirty-five years ago in Indiana. While still in high school he was convicted on a federal charge of perjury, and soon after graduating he was suspected of running a major marijuana-trafficking operation out of a vegetarian restaurant. However, that was just the beginning of KimberlinÂ’s path to infamy. While at the restaurant, he met and began dating Sandra Barton. BartonÂ’s mother, Julia Scyphers, became increasingly concerned with the inordinate amount of attention Kimberlin began showing her preteen granddaughter, Sandra BartonÂ’s daughter, Jessica.

According to the book Citizen K, for three consecutive summers Kimberlin took little Jessica on vacation alone and even referred to the child as his “girlfriend.” Unsupervised, the two traveled to Disney World, Mexico and Hawaii. Mrs. Scyphers suspected Kimberlin was “grooming” the preteen to be his wife. In fear for her granddaughter's safety, On June 23, 1978, Mrs. Scyphers, visited the office of her daughter’s apartment complex to have the locks changed to keep Kimberlin away from her granddaughter. Her concern was not unfounded. On July 29, 1978, a little over a month after requesting the locks be changed in Barton’s apartment, Mrs. Scyphers turned up dead with a gunshot wound to the head. No one was ever charged in that murder, but police began investigating Kimberlin because of the sordid and obvious family connection. While police were gathering evidence in the heinous murder, they soon had bigger crimes to solve: a domestic terrorist was on the loose in Suburban Speedway, Indiana.

In the late summer of 1978, Brett Kimberlin began a reign of terror that Indianans vividly remember to this day. Branded the “Speedway Bombings,” Kimberlin was responsible for a week-long bombing spree that caused extensive property damage, including the destruction a police cruiser. But it was his last bomb, exploding on September 6, 1978, that caused the most damage. Kimberlin planted a bomb inside a duffle bag at a high school football game and unknowingly, Vietnam veteran Carl DeLong picked up the bag and it exploded. The bomb severely injured DeLong’s left leg and right hand, and shrapnel punctured his wife’s leg. DeLong’s injuries proved so debilitating that he eventually committed suicide. His wife subsequently won a civil judgment against Kimberlin for $1.6 million dollars.

Still, KimberlinÂ’s criminal streak had not come to a halt. According to the Indianapolis Star, he next surfaced in Texas, where on Feb. 16, 1979 he and his drug-running compatriots cleared a runway in the brush where they expected to receive an airplane shipment of 10,000 pounds of marijuana. When the police caught up to Kimberlin they found a TASER, pistols with silencers, AR15 rifles, poison tipped bullets, and makeshift security guard uniforms.

All told, Kimberlin was sentenced to 51 years on a bonanza of charges -- bombing, drug running, impersonating a federal officer (one ploy was to pretend his drug planes were top-secret military planes, to avoid inconvenient questions when getting refueled). A few minor charges were dropped.

...

Kimberlin was eventually paroled in 1994, but after failing to pay back the civil judgment against him for the death of Carl DeLong he was re-incarcerated until 2001. In debt for millions of dollars, he now lives with his mother, who also has won a $150,000 civil suit against him.

Since his release, Kimberlin has attempted to portray himself as a reformed “social justice” advocate. Yet, his actions speak louder than his phony public image. The social good he claims to be generating through his nonprofits, is a disguise to deter the public from bringing to light what appears to be his real passion: destroying lives. Kimberlin and his “associates” have succeeded in silencing critics through ruthless harassment and vile intimidation methods, but he will not be victorious forever.

The Future

These legal filings are only the first of many steps in "The Bloggers Defense Team." Obviously, it would not be prudent to divulge everything that we plan on doing. We do, however, believe it is wise to let our supporters and allies know some basics.

We plan on spending less than twenty percent of contributions on administration costs. The remainder will be spent on legal fees, lawyers, researchers, and investigators.
* In the coming days, we will create a website dedicated specifically to the effort to provide important news and information, copies of filings, and more.
* Provide monthly statements on expenditures and contributions on that website.
* Form a publicly disclosed "advisory panel" of bloggers, and disclose the methods and reasonings for that panel and those that have been included (we will also welcome suggestions).

DB Capitol Strategies and RightSolutions are committed to defending the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech against the continued “lawfare” and harassment of Brett Kimberlin or others. If nobody stands up to these tactics, the list of victims will continue to grow, and so will those who would silence dissent through fear and intimidation. With the support of donors to the "RightSolutions Bloggers Defense Fund," we will provide extensive legal defense to Kimberlin’s victims, and fight back against his corrosive abuse of the Courts.

And, by the way, Patterico has some interesting emails.

This post is also interesting, as is this one, in which Neil Rauhauser states in an email (which seems genuine, but we don't know for certain) that he thinks the SWATter is one of his "beandogs" (the twitter harassers he recruited).

What's also amusing about that email is that he wonders if he can sue Patterico -- the victim of one of his beandogs' SWATtings, he suspects -- to get $10-20 thousand out of him, to avoid discovery.

Patterico gets SWATted by one of Rauhauser's "beandogs," he says, and where does his mind go? Let's sue Patterico.

For what? Surviving the SWATting? Failure to get murdered by cop?

That may seem astonishing, but it's all of a piece.

Posted by: Ace at 01:18 PM | Comments (92)
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