Awww, Is Widdle Empewow Feewing a Dwaft?

Perhaps another MSM birdie is fleeing the wire.

A new CNN/Opinion Research poll out Wednesday shows that despite nine solid days of blanket media coverage from overseas with Barack Obama cheered by adoring throngs of Germans and parlez-vousing with the French, making a three-point shot in the Middle East and standing outside No. 10 Downing Street, the freshman Illinois senator is stuck right where he was in the polls before he left.

Or maybe this is just whining that translates: We did our best to campaign for him, but the rubes aren’t buying it!

Look, if touring Europe made one qualified for office, we’d be electing tourists. Maybe touring Europe just makes you look like a tourist.

Water!

As rumored, it has been officially found on mars.

“We have water,” said William Boynton of the University of Arizona, lead scientist for the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer, or TEGA. “We’ve seen evidence for this water ice before in observations by the Mars Odyssey orbiter and in disappearing chunks observed by Phoenix last month, but this is the first time Martian water has been touched and tasted.”

And, as a bonus, there’s also a beach on Titan.

The Church of Obama

He is a symbol of all that is good, but there is some splintering among his adherents.

*Southern Obamaists: This is the chief fundamentalist sect of Obamaism.  Their most important tenets are that every word spoken by Obama is to be taken literally and that there are no contradictions in anything he has ever written.  They also believe that the world was created 46 years ago.

*Evangelical Obamaists: This denomination is hard to distinguish from the Southern Obamaists politically, but in appearance its members are less dour, put more focus on spreading the word of Obama, and will often sway to the music at Obama rallies (hips not included).  They are often referred to as Born Again Barackites, as they have voted for other candidates from different parties in the past, but have been baptized by re-registering.

Read the whole thing.

I made it to the third sentence.

See if you can do better.

Quick: How Many Presidents on the Dollar Bill?

Hint: None of them look like Obama.

Even generously allowing that he meant all U.S. bills he still comes off as a race-baiter no better than Je$$e Jackson. Just why does he get to call himself “black” anyway? Does anybody else see the racist political correctness in identifying only with his father’s race? It’s even a little misogynistic when you think about it. And why should it make a whit of difference? It’s the color of his politics to which I object.

At some point Americans have to start noticing what a shallow jerk he is. Maybe some have, because in spite of the fact he’s running a poor, at times juvenile campaign, McCain stays even with him in the polls. (Or ahead, if you count “likely voters”.)

Update:

Oh. He wasn’t talkin about his race. He was talking about his ears.

1, 2, 3…

A, B, C.

[HT: Kaus via Instapundit]

Update:

Andrew Brietbart on the Enemy of the State.

The Audacity of Arrogance

Had your fill of this charming windbag yet?

That’s OK, because he’s already held the election without you.

Along the way, he traveled in a bubble more insulating than the actual president’s. Traffic was shut down for him as he zoomed about town in a long, presidential-style motorcade, while the public and most of the press were kept in the dark about his activities, which included a fundraiser at the Mayflower where donors paid $10,000 or more to have photos taken with him.

Untangling the Brain

I hope this pans out: A new drug is being hailed as the biggest advance in Alzheimer’s treatment in a hundred years.

‘We have demonstrated for the first time that it may be possible to arrest progression of the disease by targeting the tangles that are highly correlated with the disease. This is the most significant development in the treatment of the tangles since Alois Alzheimer discovered them in 1907.’

Pop Quiz

Peter Kirsanow has a quiz for reporters. First question is this:

Sen. Obama: “I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions.”

Simple assignment for the press corps: ask the senator to name three specific traditions to which America will return upon his election and why his election will prompt their return. No teleprompters allowed.

State of Nirvana

You know, where you’ll find Utopia State University.

The Chosen One, careful as he has been not to leave a paper trail, left one as Professor Obama. Credit where credit is due: The New York Times dug this up.

Look especially at the 2003 final exam (PDF). KLO calls it “Christmas in July.” I call it “a tough sell in Peoria.”

Update:

About that credit being due… NYT still gets credit for running it, but not for being first. Not by a long shot.

Big Fish?

Bob Owens reports that Al Qaeda’s “Mad Scientist” may have been sent to his 72 raisins. Let’s hope so.

Heller, Take 2

Heller is filing a new complaint, and he has Stephen Halbrook on his side.

The Globe Reverberates With Laughter

I hope this is right. Although the Lefties will just find a new excuse to control our lives once AGW is widely regarded as false.

I still remember global cooling, overpopulation, nuclear winter, and the “hole” in the ozone. And a lot of other stuff you really shouldn’t worry about.

A Grain of Salt

Remember this when you cite Wikipedia.

Caveat lector.

Beware the Charismatic Young Man

Drawing parallels between the Obama and Castro seems likely to credit Fidel with too much charm and Barack with too much substance. Yet let’s let Manuel Alvarez, Jr. have his say. It’s not like there’s a lot of daylight between Marxists and Stalinists.

Each year I get to celebrate Independence Day twice. On June 30 I celebrate my independence day and on July 4 I celebrate America’s. This year is special, because it marks the 40th anniversary of my independence.
On June 30, 1968, I escaped Communist Cuba and a few months later I was in the United States to stay. That I happened to arrive in Richmond on Thanksgiving Day is just part of the story, but I digress.

I’ve thought a lot about the anniversary this year. The election-year rhetoric has made me think a lot about Cuba and what transpired there. In the late 1950s, most Cubans thought Cuba needed a change, and they were right. So when a young leader came along, every Cuban was at least receptive.

When the young leader spoke eloquently and passionately and denounced the old system, the press fell in love with him. They never questioned who his friends were or what he really believed in. When he said he would help the farmers and the poor and bring free medical care and education to all, everyone followed. When he said he would bring justice and equality to all, everyone said “Praise the Lord.” And when the young leader said, “I will be for change and I’ll bring you change,” everyone yelled, “Viva Fidel!”

But nobody asked about the change, so by the time the executioner’s guns went silent the people’s guns had been taken away. By the time everyone was equal, they were equally poor, hungry, and oppressed. By the time everyone received their free education it was worth nothing. By the time the press noticed, it was too late, because they were now working for him. By the time the change was finally implemented Cuba had been knocked down a couple of notches to Third-World status. By the time the change was over more than a million people had taken to boats, rafts, and inner tubes. You can call those who made it ashore anywhere else in the world the most fortunate Cubans. And now I’m back to the beginning of my story.

Luckily, we would never fall in America for a young leader who promised change without asking, what change? How will you carry it out? What will it cost America?

Would we?

Up Teaser Up

Just wanted to be able to say that.

At the half: Savage 0, CAIR 1

A judge tossed Michael Savage’s lawsuit against the Saudi-funded, pro-terrorist group called CAIR.

Savage sued the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, for copyright infringement and racketeering lawsuit late last year, claiming the group violated his rights by using a segment of his “Savage Nation” show in a letter-writing campaign to get advertisers to boycott the program. In the broadcast used by CAIR, Savage also called the Muslim holy book “a throwback document.”
In her ruling Friday, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston said people who listen to a public broadcast are entitled to use excerpts for purposes of comment and criticism. She also said no evidence was presented to show that advertising on the show’s broadcast was affected by CAIR’s actions.
The racketeering element of the lawsuit alleged that CAIR was not a civil rights group, but a political organization with ties to terrorist groups. CAIR denies those claims, saying it opposes terrorism and religious extremism.

Can’t argue much with Savage’s description of that so-called “holy book”, but it seems the judge was correct to throw out the suit. Excerpting should be allowed. The funny part is that CAIR’s attempted boycott failed so miserably that it didn’t affect Savage’s ad revenues. Savage can be a dead-on provocateur, but he’s also unstable and prone to muddled thinking, so I don’t know how good the racketeering charges are, but I’m glad his attorney is going to file a new racketeering suit. I hope CAIR  gets hit with a lot of those since CAIR is obviously not a civil rights group and obviously is a political organization with ties to terrorist groups.

Obama in Afghanistan Sez

“This is not the Blackwater I knew.”

Understatement OTD

Glenn Reynolds says “The NGO sector could probably use a bit more scrutiny.“

Sweet Nothings

Peter Robinson, who knows a thing or two about presidential speeches in Berlin, recommends reading Andrew Ferguson’s piece on Obama’s load of post-holes and sailboat fuel.

So do I.

Don’t Blame the Speculators

I’m going to find a way to send this article to the AOPA. It’s a good read for anybody who thinks “speculators” are a bad thing.

Executive summary: They’re a very good thing.

Update:

Here’s why speculators actually make oil cheaper.

Even the comments to that article are instructive:

If you replace “speculation” with “forward-looking price” it will help resolve some of the intentional confusion Harry Reid and other disingenuous persons have been spreading. Actually, when an airline sells tickets for a plane flight, it is speculating on actual future demand for those seats. It often overbooks, speculating that not everyone will show up and demand will be slightly less than what has been signaled through the initial orders.

Often, this works and the airline has reduced the risk of flying with 15% less passengers due to the expected last-second cancellations. They’ve provided passenger liquidity and have hedged their risk. Had they been prohibited by Congress from speculating on the market for seats, they would have no choice but to pass that cost directly on to you. Curious, how speculation is always bad when it’s someone else, but it’s ok for an airline CEO, or for that matter, all of us.

I’m liking this Hoekstra guy

Bringin’ it to the Chicoms.

Some are Worthy

Others less so, but JibJab gets them all to do the Star Spangled Banner together.

Waiting for Apologies from CAIR and the ACLU

Their poster boy has kidnapped his own kids.

Stupid Reporter Tricks

I’ve about had it with the coverage of the recent Qantas incident.

Qantas flight QF30, with 300 passengers and crew on board, plunged 20,000ft after the faulty door caused an “explosive” depressurisation.

The Boeing 747 had just taken off from a stopover in Hong Kong when the incident happened. As the plane dropped from 30,000ft to 10,000ft, oxygen masks fell from the ceiling.

What’s all this about “dropping”, “plummeting” and “plunging”? And doesn’t 10,000 feet ring a bell with anybody? (Hint: You don’t need supplemental oxygen at that altitude, and it’s easy to read on an altimiter.) Is it too much to ask a reporter or editor somewhere to look up emergency descent? (Took me all of five seconds.) Or phone, you know, a pilot somewhere?

Just remember: Pretty much everything you learn about aviation from the popular press is wrong.

Speaking of Awakenings

Something has stirred McCain from his slumber. He has just whacked Obama upside the head with a bucketload of facts.

Senator Obama told the American people what he thought you wanted to hear. I told you the truth.

Fortunately, Senator Obama failed, not our military. We rejected the audacity of hopelessness, and we were right. Violence in Iraq fell to such low levels for such a long time that Senator Obama, detecting the success he never believed possible, falsely claimed that he had always predicted it. … In Iraq, we are no longer on the doorstep of defeat, but on the road to victory.

Senator Obama said this week that even knowing what he knows today that he still would have opposed the surge. In retrospect, given the opportunity to choose between failure and success, he chooses failure. I cannot conceive of a Commander in Chief making that choice.

Read the whole thing. If McCain keeps this up he may find more of his “lesser of two evils” vote becoming “enthusiastic“.

Sudden Backbone Outbreak in Senate

What’s this? Republicans acting like, well, Republicans?

Harry Reid not only went unstable with a bunch of reporters afterword, he and the democrats have just handed the Republicans a winning issue to run on all summer. Will the Repubs get used to walking erect and using their opposable thumbs long enough to take advantage of it?

If so, the “inevitable” Democratic sweep of Congress in November may not materialize. And once people get a better look at The Chosen One, his down-ticket coattails may shrink a bit.

I think now that November is either a squeaker of a win for the young Marxist, or a decisive one for the old Socialist. But if Congress doesn’t swing as far left as feared it could ameliorate the damage a little.

TSA = Mob

The incompetent, unionized, kabuki theatre operator known as the TSA is acting like the mob.

Jeffrey Denning was originally praised by the Federal Air Marshal Service for his work. He conducted surveillance on a man in an airport who turned out to be on the terrorist watch list. Denning was given an award. “I left FAM Service on good terms,” Denning explained, “but the reason I left was because the agency was grossly mismanaged at the expense of the traveling public. I felt I could better serve elsewhere.”

After leaving the Federal Air Marshal Service, Denning spoke out. Now, more than a year later, he’s the target of a federal investigation. Could the mob be right? Is revenge really best served cold?

Maybe they can’t find a terrorist, but they sure can attack their critics. Michael Chertoff and all of his miserable goons need to be thrown out on their collective, well-padded asses.

Disband the TSA. Before it gets someone killed.

Not Mere Brass

Chief Warrant Officer David Cooper’s are made of titanium.

On the afternoon of 27 November 2006, Chief Warrant Officer 5 David Cooper of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment—the “Night Stalkers” —was leading a formation of six helicopters north of Baghdad. The formation comprised two AH-6 Little Bird attack helicopters (one flown by Cooper), two MH-6 troop-carrying Little Birds, and two MH-60 Black Hawks carrying Special Operations soldiers. When the formation was 50 kilometers from Baghdad, Cooper heard his wingman shout “Mayday!” An insurgent had hit the helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade, severing the tail rotor. Despite the damage, Cooper’s wingman was able to land his helicopter without sustaining major injuries, and the other helicopters in the formation landed to assist.

The Black Hawks soon evacuated the downed pilots, leaving behind 20 special operators and the Little Bird pilots to set up a perimeter around the disabled helicopter. Forty minutes later, eight enemy anti-aircraft gun trucks approached the crash site, and Cooper took off in his Little Bird to investigate. He immediately came under attack by the enemy force but stayed in the air to draw fire away from the exposed U.S. soldiers on the ground. Meanwhile, two more trucks unloaded enemy forces into a house about 800 yards away, where they began to set up mortars and machine guns.

Cooper immediately began attacking the numerically superior force using his Little Bird’s miniguns and rockets. When his helicopter ran out of ammunition, Cooper landed and the men on the ground quickly unloaded the rockets from the downed helicopter and put them on Cooper’s, despite intense enemy fire. Cooper took off and again started to pummel the enemy despite the bullets that were striking the helicopter inches from his face. When low fuel forced Cooper to land again, the soldiers on the ground used a Leatherman tool to remove an auxiliary fuel tank from the disabled helicopter and attach it to Cooper’s Little Bird. Cooper went back into battle a third time, finishing off the trucks and mortar positions once and for all.

For Chief Warrant Officer 5 David Cooper’s “complete disregard for his personal safety and extreme courage under fire,” he became the first Night Stalker to be awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. “I just happened to be the guy there that day,” Cooper said. “Any one of the Night Stalkers that’s in this formation would have done the same thing I did.”

Randy Pausch is gone

Sad, but not unexpected news.

(Watch the video if you haven’t yet. It’s on the page linked above.)