Synod Shenanigans

In an earlier mention of the utter crapola contained in the "interim report" on the Synod, a commenter stated that reports of 'manipulation' (and fabrication) were not true.

Well, there's a Bishop (the Bruskewitz of Kazakh) who differs from our commenter.

During the Synod there had been moments of obvious manipulation on the part of some clerics who held key positions in the editorial and governing structure of the Synod. The interim report (Relatio post disceptationem) was clearly a prefabricated text with no reference to the actual statements of the Synod fathers. In the sections on homosexuality, sexuality and “divorced and remarried” with their admittance to the sacraments the text represents a radical neo-pagan ideology. This is the first time in Church history that such a heterodox text was actually published as a document of an official meeting of Catholic bishops under the guidance of a pope, even though the text only had a preliminary character. Thanks be to God and to the prayers of the faithful all over the world that a consistent number of Synod fathers resolutely rejected such an agenda; this agenda reflects the corrupt and pagan main stream morality of our time, which is being imposed globally by means of political pressure and through the almost all-powerful official mass media, which are loyal to the principles of the world gender ideology party. Such a synod document, even if only preliminary, is a real shame and an indication to the extent the spirit of the anti-Christian world has already penetrated such important levels of the life of the Church. This document will remain for the future generations and for the historians a black mark which has stained the honour of the Apostolic See. Fortunately the Message of the Synod Fathers is a real Catholic document which outlines the Divine truth on family without being silent about the deeper roots of the problems, i.e. about the reality of sin. It gives real courage and consolation to Catholic families.

Umnnhhh, yah.  That "gender ideology party" has a firm grip on the US--for the present.  But they tend to be childless, either by nature or by choice, so this, too, shall pass.

As usual, the question is "....how long, O Lord?"

Visiting Chicago Soon? Here's a Landmark

Y'all recall that the NYSlimes published the home address of Darren Wilson.

Well, you can find a Slimes reporter-ette at:

5620 N Wayne, #2
Chicago, IL., 60660

Yup.  THAT reporter-ette.

Pot=Kettle=Teh SCOAMF!!

Vox notes that the US mouthpiece is full of......ahhh......well, you can read this yourselves.

Happy Thanksgiving, and Blessed Advent!

May all of you have a happy Thanksgiving.  You know what you should be grateful for--and there's plenty.

And--beginning Sunday--have a blessed Advent.  Yes, it IS penitential.

The first words of the first Mass of Advent are these:

Ad te levavi animam meam: Deus meus, in te confido, non erubecam: neque irrideant me inimici mei: etenim universi, qui te exspectant, non confundentur. (Psalm) Vias tuas, Domine, demonstra mihi: et semitas tuas edoce me.

(Not that you'll hear that in 95++% of Catholic churches; at best, you'll get "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel".  That's because 95++% of Catholic priests these days don't understand the Roman liturgy.)

But for those of us who take text seriously, because text is "word" and Word, here's the English:

To Thee I lifted up my soul: in Thee, O my God, I put my trust, let me not be ashamed: neither let my enemies laugh at me: for none of them that wait on Thee shall be confounded. (Psalm) Show, O Lord, Thy ways to me: and teach my Thy paths.

And of course, we are 'shown His ways' beginning on Christmas.

How To Prevent Looting

There's a very simple method of looting-prevention, available to near everyone in the US.

Works every time it's tried!

HT:  BearingArms

Too Many Noonans Here?

Kaufman writes to point out Peggy Noonan's enduring naivete about Teh SCOAMF.

...In this she is not alone. Much of America ignored (and many still ignore) the evidence before their eyes, which is now irrefutable. Obama’s destructiveness is deliberate, and his goals are the remaking of American in a leftist image, and permanent power for the left. This continuing denial on the part of many Americans is one of the main reasons he may succeed.....

Three comments:  1)  the hard Left is not a part of the naif-group.  They understand, facilitate, and applaud SCOAMF at every turn and in every step.  Note, e.g., that Schumer's criticism of Obozo vis-a-vis ObozoCare was on its timing, not its existence.  2)   The hard Right is also not a part of the naif-group.  We may have thought he was merely stupid, or a tool of others, for a couple of years.  But the Jewish proverb about 'fool me once' was sufficient for us.  3)  The Congress is useless.  Most of them are not naifs--not at all.  But they understand Obozo and would love to emulate him in re-making America--except that each one believes that HE/SHE should be atop the pile.

Great.

National Security: Not Really

Let's just hit the highlight graf from this essay:

...The short, and painful, answer is that Snowden was far from the first bad apple to have “beaten” the [Intelligence Community]’s security clearance system, and he surely won’t be the last. Like so many things across the Federal government, and particularly the Department of Defense (DoD), a great deal of once-critical missions have been outsourced since the 1990’s, leading to gross incompetence and corruption by for-profit companies. (Outsourcing is a fully bipartisan boondoggle that nobody inside the Beltway wants to look into very deeply, since so many cash in on it, one way or the other.) In Snowden’s case, the firm that handled the collection of data for his clearances, USIS, stands accused of fraud on a truly massive scale, having simply faked 665,000 background investigations between 2008 and 2012. It’s little wonder that Snowden’s clearances were handled poorly....

The essay's summary:  it's not "if", it's "when."  And it's not just outsourcing contractors; it's "influential people" in Gummint (read:  politicians) whose ne'er-do-well relatives and/or big-donor's chilluns who are placed in Intel and kept there, regardless of warning signs or conclusive evidence that they should be shot at dawn.

Think a (R) Congress will fix it?

Really?

EPA's Latest Bullshit

You've all seen the presstitute reports on the EPA regs upcoming--the ones which will destroy coal mining and most Upper Midwestern state economies, which are dependent on coal-fired electrical generation.  Those reports are direct quotes of EPA's bullshit about "saving lives."

Yah, well.  Here's the facts.

Epidemiology. EPA admitted in federal court that its epidemiologic studies on PM2.5 prove nothing by themselves. In 2012 litigation in which EPA attempted to justify its experiments on humans with PM2.5, EPA admitted doing the experiments because: “epidemiologic studies do not generally provide evidence of direct causation.”

Toxicology. No laboratory animal has ever died from PM2.5 in an experimental setting — even though animals have been exposed to levels of PM2.5 as much as 100+ times greater than human exposures to PM2.5 in outdoor air. 

Clinical studies. EPA has tested a variety of air pollutants — including very high exposures to PM2.5 — on over 6,000 human volunteers. Many of these volunteers were elderly or already health-compromised — the very groups EPA claims are most susceptible to dying from PM2.5 exposures. EPA has admitted that there have been no deaths or any dangerous adverse events clearly caused by these PM2.5 exposures. PM2.5 exposures in these experiments have been as high as 21 times greater than allowable by EPA’s own air quality rules.....

Should Boehner and Ryan ever find their cojones, there's a helluvalot of savings to be found by simply eliminating EPA from the budget.  Nuke 'em, ya'know?

AllahPundit Doesn't Get It

Allahpundit still doesn't get what's important here.

That's ironic, given his nom-de-plume's weight and significance in the world of political punditry.

See, "Allahpundit" is symbolic.  And symbols are (generally) very important.  We know that $$$$$ means lotsa-money; we know that a green-and-gold football-shaped "G" means football success, and we know that golden horns set on a purple field mean ......a losing team in the Far North.

Ahem.

So back to symbols:  should Boehner dis-invite SCOAMF from "the people's house" because of SCOAMF's egregious and repeated abuse of immigration and healthcare law, prosecutors, IRS, and the Constitution?  Yes, it would be just "symbolic."

But it would be symbolic of manhood-in-defense-of-the-nation--something that it behooves Boehner to display once in a while.

"I don't care" is not an option any more, Allah.  Might be the case when deciding to purchase Vikings tix...but not when the National Interest is in play.

BONUS:  from Hayward's column, a parallel is found:

...Not even the strongest civilization can go very long without facing challenges from within and without its borders. These challenges must be answered. The strength of a civilization is measured not by the issuance of challenge, but by the response; not by the presence of barbarians at the gates or in the streets, but by how those entrusted with the defense of society deal with them...

The barbarian happens to be pResident--at this time.  

Selfish-Babe-Wants-to-SHOP! Rant

Classic case of "I WANNA" from some NY Postie who hasn't a clue about the real issue.

...Would it be nice if we had one magical day when our e-mail was quiet, we spent the day ensconced with a loving family and 100 percent of Americans didn’t have to go to work? Sure.

It’s just not realistic — and harping on about shopping on Thanksgiving isn’t going to return anyone to an idyllic time before big-box stores came along and made our convenience their priority....

I don't often agree with unions, and I know that their blather about Thanksgiving is mostly posturing, targeting WallyWorld with their Two Minute Hate-of-the-month.

But in fact, Christmas sales-dollars will be constant whether or not stores are open on Turkey Day.  The selfish-babe-wanna-shop-NOW will find a way to shop tomorrow, trust me.

What the retailers are really doing is improving their cash-flow by one day (or, if you like, reducing days' inventory by one.)  Impressive for the accounting types, not so much for anyone with common sense. 

Remember that both Scrooge and Mr. Potter were accounting types. 

That's not a co-incidence, people.

Allahpundit v. Jindal

We now encounter "Allahpundit"--who writes for a Malkin site--dissing Gov. Jindal.

He first cites a Politico piece which outlines a Pubbie "plan" for dealing with King Obozo's naked immigration play.  (ObozoCare, reviled by a majority of Americans, is no longer an issue.)

Two of the ideas are:  1)  dis-inviting pPresident Pissypants from Congress for the State of the Union address.  He can deliver that from any golf course so why bother to have him in the House chamber?: and 2) "shut down" the Gummint.

A week ago, Bobby Jindal suggested that it would be Obozo, not Congress, who shuts down the Gummint, because Obozo wields ...ahhh....the pen-of-veto.

Of the two, which one has a better grasp of Government:  Jindal, or Allahpundit?

Yah.  We kinda think Jindal, no contest.

Oh, Yah. It Will Be Single-Payer

On the road to single-payer (Gummint) health insurance (the one RoJo won't fight.)

...The mandate to provide health insurance to employees kicks in for large employers on January 1st and applies to smaller companies the following year. Surprisingly, firms that are large enough to self-insure (and pay employees’ medical expenses directly) can satisfy the mandate without covering hospitalization. They can also avoid paying for mental health care, the services of specialist doctors and even emergency room visits....

Bet you didn't know that!

But here's something we've mentioned before.  (RoJo thinks this is just fine-and-dandy, I guess)

...Whether or not they are self-insured, all employers can charge the employee a premium equal to 9.5 percent of annual wages for the employee’s coverage and 100 percent of the cost of dependent coverage.
Employees earning $30,000 a year, for example, can be required to pay $2,850 for their own coverage. If a family plan costs $15,000, the employee can be asked to pay $12,150 in premiums (more than one-third of the employee’s income).

Under the law, these plans are considered “affordable.” If the employees turn down the offer, they and their families are ineligible for subsidized insurance in the health insurance exchange....

It should be obvious, even to the deliberately obtuse, that ObozoCare, as written, will lead to a revolt.  That's a feature, not a bug, because it can be "fixed" with single-payer.

That was always the plan (the one RoJo kinda likes now.)

The Community Organizer Economy

Stuff the MSM doesn't bother to mention, but which is ideal for a "community organizer":

...According to a new analysis by the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the decline in incomes has hurt millions of workers, but especially young adults who were forced to work part-time when they couldn’t find full-time employment and were paid less. In a nutshell, their wage disparity was broader than we imagined.

Since 2009, when the recession deepened, median weekly wages for full-time male workers have declined by 3.5 percent when adjusted for inflation.

But nearly 7 million Americans (6.8 million) who are looking for full-time jobs have been forced to take part-time work. And they fell further beneath the wage disparity line as employers cut wages of newly hired workers.

Full-time workers between the ages of 16 and 19 earn 7.9 percent less than people made in 2009, according to the BLS study. And young adults between 20 and 24 earn 6.1 percent less.
The news media ballyhoo the job-creation numbers, but do not tell you that many of these are part-time jobs in the lower-paying retail and food sectors. Nor do they tell you that since 2006, the number of workers needing full-time work, but taking these part-time jobs, has increased 65 percent....

Lots of idle time, not enough money.

What more could a "community organizer" want??

Schumer: "Barack WHO?"

Yup.

Obama is toxic.  ObamaCare is toxic.  ObamaEPA is toxic.

Now, to the (D) Party, Obama will be a non-person.

Buh-Bye, RoJo!

There are a couple of possible explanations for RoJo's infidelity.  Let's not speculate.

...For a man who was elected during the tea-party wave of 2010 on a platform of drastically reducing federal spending and overturning the Affordable Care Act, Johnson's tone is notable. He says he is no longer looking to repeal the health care law. He is pushing back hard against conservative voices calling for a shutdown over the president's immigration policy....

RoJo knows what this really means:

...Johnson would like to get back to "real America" eventually, Todd said, though he emphasized that he had not discussed any retirement plans with the senator....

It's coming soon, Ron, you jerk.

This the Best You Got, Scott?

Scott Walker calls for Boehner & Co. to sue Obama over the immigration matter.

Really, Scott?

Let's suppose that Boehner & Co. actually win that suit.

Who, exactly, will enforce SCOTUS' decision, Scott?

One can conclude that Gov. Walker is throwing foo-foo dust at his faithful, hoping they won't notice.

You can smell the Presidential Fever.

Obozo's Next "Screw the Allies" Tour Begins!

Well, he's back to his usual inane attacks on our allies.  This time in the far East.

...Obama defied the ­advice of his embassy in Canberra to deliver a stinging attack on the Abbott government’s climate policies in Brisbane last weekend.

The US embassy, under the leadership of ambassador John Berry, advised the President, through his senior staff, not to couch his climate change comments in a way that would be seen as disobliging to the Abbott government, sources have revealed. . . 

It is normal practice when the US President makes an overseas visit that the ambassador in the country he is visiting is consulted about the contents of major speeches. It is unusual, though not unprecedented, for an embassy’s advice to be ignored....

... Despite repeated Australian requests, White House officials refused to provide a text of the speech to their Australian hosts in advance, and did not provide a summary of what would be contained in the speech.

Mr Obama’s repeated references to the climate change debate in Australia, his accusation that Australia was an inefficient user of energy and his repeated references to the Great Barrier Reef, which has figured heavily in the climate change debate, have led observers to conclude that the speech was a deliberate swipe at the Abbott government.

Historians of the US-Australia relationship are unable to nominate a case of a visiting president making such a hostile speech for the host government....

Yah, well, historians will be unable to nominate a case of another anti-American President, either.

'S OK mateys:  He'll be gone as soon as we can elect ANYBODY to replace him.

HT:  PowerLine

Starting the Week Right!

To kick off this week, an Oleg Volk:

There.  Makes everything look a little better when you're looking through the scope, eh?

HT:  Claire

The Obozo Reverse Option

PowerLine posts a fascinating comment from an immigration attorney.

...The proposed executive action on immigration (or whatever name you want to give it) will allow [illegal aliens] who have US citizen or green-card children and who have been here for five years to apply for some kind of quasi-status and open market work authorization. That would allow them to work for a period of time at any employer, the authorization presumably renewable until they decide to leave or have an option for US permanent resident status (green card status). This, the administration tells us, is fair and just and Biblical – yada/yada.

But this option is explicitly NOT available to those in the US in a valid legal status. There are millions of people in the US who have temporary status – as students or temporary workers or researchers or as investors (lots of Koreans own businesses with E-2 investor visas, for example). These people – many of them have US citizen children and have been here five years. These people who have been here legally and not violated their immigration status – these people are explicitly NOT eligible for open market work authorization, renewable indefinitely.

You must be in violation of the law to benefit from this provision....

Obozo's homeboyzzzz, hey.

Crimes Illegals CAN Commit--and Remain Here!

We all know that Obozo has banned 'criminal background checks' for immigrants de facto through a variety of administrative rules imposed on Immigration Officers.

Now he has decided that there are some crimes--committed in the USA--which just aren't important enough to warrant tossing the perp back into the Gulf of Mexico their home country.

...On the tough side, the president wants U.S. immigration authorities to go after terrorists, felons, and new illegal border crossers. On the not-so-tough side, the administration views convicted drunk drivers, sex abusers, drug dealers, and gun offenders as second-level enforcement priorities. An illegal immigrant could spend up to a year in prison for a violent crime and still not be a top removal priority for the Obama administration....

So.  If your daughter or son is raped by an illegal, or killed by a drunk illegal (lots of that goin' on, by the way), they'll stay at Rancho Ironbar for a while and jump right back in to society.  Near your daughter.  Again.

What were we saying about "SHUT IT DOWN"?

Not to worry!  Plenty of us will handle criminals the old-fashioned way while Obozo's US Marshals are at home on unpaid vacations.

 

The Strategy: Shut Down Obozo

It really shouldn't take too much thinking on the part of (R) "leadership" to come up with a preamble to cutting off funding for Obozo.

It's already been written, and I quote, in part:

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good;

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice;

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments......

Get the drift, Speaker Boehner?  Leader McConnell?

Hello!!

After all 300++ of you MC's and Senators read portions of The Declaration, announce that you will cut off funding.  No shilly-shallying, no ifs, ands, buts...just DO IT.

And--as Governor Jindal mentioned--when Obozo shuts down the Gummint by refusing to sign your budget, hold him to it.  Gather all the 300++ again, read the above again, and firmly state that you WILL NOT fund his follies.

Grow a pair.

Drew's Excellent Idea

This is outstanding.

...There's one idea I'd like to add that is in many ways symbolic but that would focus the nation on the seriousness of this problem, do not invite Obama to address a joint session of Congress to deliver the State of the Union address. 

 The Constitution simply requires that "He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient." Nothing requires that he do so in person....

Not only dis-invite the asshole.

Don't even acknowledge his missive.  Ever.

One of the Big Lies

Right here in the WaPo:

...conservatives inside and outside Congress want to use the budget process as a battleground to wage war against Obama and his immigration program. The proposed gambit raises the specter of another government shutdown, akin to the one that damaged Republicans last year....

Utter crap.

A +8 in the Senate and the strongest (R) majority in the House in 50 years is "damage"?  Control of 35 States is now (R) "damage"?

As Erickson remarks, we'll be played by the spineless (R) twits infesting Congress.  They'll pretend to stop Obozo, as they've pretended to stop ObozoCare for years.

The only question those Congress-slimes have to ask themselves, every night, is this one:  which other Federal laws are now....ahhh....."in play"?   I'm looking at you, Paul Ryan--and you, Duffy.  As to you, Sensenbrenner:  pay attention to the under-vote in Wisconsin.

Boehner Gruberizes Us Now

The Speaker of the House beclowns himself--again--and now attempts his own Gruberize trick, defining "Gruberize" as the industrial-strength version of 'throwing foo-foo-dust into your eyes.'  Boehner's is not nearly as well-executed as pResident Pissypants' Gruberization, of course.  That's because Boehner has no principles.  At least Pissypants has those, (albeit every one of them malignant.)

I am with Power Line’s Paul Mirengoff on the too-clever-by-half choice by Speaker Boehner to retain leftwing law professor Jonathan Turley as counsel in the House’s long-delayed lawsuit against President Obama. In the end, I don’t think it will matter. As Paul points out, judges tend to decide cases based on the merits....

... the lawsuit is frivolous: The Framers gave Congress its own powers to deal with a rogue president and would have been appalled at the thought of the powerful first branch asking the “least dangerous” third branch to do its heavy lifting. Moreover, as I recounted in Faithless Execution, Obama pays no more attention to court decisions against him than to statutes he dislikes. Since judges have no power to execute their rulings (they need the executive branch for that) a decision against Obama would have no effect – which makes it even less likely that a judge would agree to hear the case, in which the House already faces a daunting challenge to establishing legal standing to sue....

In short:  Boehner has spent a lot of taxpayer money to hire a good lawyer to get absolutely ZERO results.

But it's foo-foo-dust.  Deception.

Typical old-pol behavior.  What a waste of oxygen this man really is!

Senator Coburn Warns Obozo: The Reality of "Social Justice"

Sen. Tom Coburn attempts to warn pResident Pissypants:

“Instead of having the rule of law handling in our country today, now we’re starting to have the rule of rulers, and that’s the total antithesis of what this country was founded on,” Coburn says. “Here’s how people think: Well, if the law doesn’t apply to the president … then why should it apply to me?”  --quoted at HotAir

Yes.  Well.

We are seeing the logical outcome of "social justice", which is not "justice" and which is surely anti-social, for if "justice" is to mean anything at all, it is applicable only to individuals, not "classes." 

The class-warfare of Marx, Alinsky, and Obama, disguised as "social justice," has now devolved to its natural state:  no justice for anyone at all.

Thus Coburn's measured wisdom:  this will have consequences which will be deleterious and perhaps widespread.

State Retiree Health Plan Funding Is VERY Short

What you do NOT read about regarding Wisconsin's public-employee retirement provisions is this:

The study assesses the state's health insurance program's actuarial accrued liability at 29 percent.

Yes, that single line was buried, middle of the story, and it's deliberately unclear.  Let me clarify:

The Wisconsin taxpayer has only put away 29% of the funds necessary to cover the State's obligations for healthcare for retired public employees.  That is, the State will have to come up with more than 2/3rds of the healthcare obligations--in cash--in the next 20+ years.

That's a Big Honking Pile of Money.

ObozoCare Turns Killer

Not that we are surprised--but ObozoCare is poised to kill off a lot of small businesses.

Next year.

...When these businesses were notified that the health plans they offered their employees were not compliant with Obamacare, many of them sought to avoid dumping their employees on the exchanges. At the time, insurance vendors, based on a colorable reading of the law, encouraged many small businesses to work with them to either provide so-called section 105 plans where the employer would reimburse a broker for the cost of coverage bought by the employees, or to encourage their employees to buy their health insurance directly from brokers and to reimburse them for the purchase of this healthcare coverage. All year long, the Department of Labor allowed this practice to continue, only to declare at the 11th hour that this arrangement would be treated as noncompliant with Obamacare and thus subject employers to a penalty....

The objective, of course is to pump up ObozoCare enrollments, no matter what.  So small businesses which used S.105 are liable for penalties of up to $36,500/year/employee....

Just roadkill.  Who cares?

The Revolt of the Middle Class

Mid-length but interesting item here.  In brief, the (D) party lost the 'burbs by a ton across the country, except in (you guessed it) California and metro D.C.  This is very important, for as any historian will tell you, revolutions are led ONLY by the middle class.

...Barack Obama, running as a conciliatory pragmatist in 2008, did even better with some 50 percent. This performance was aided by the growing proportion of racial minorities, including African Americans, who had moved to the suburbs.

But as Obama’s administration took shape, suburban support began to ebb. In 2012, Obama lost the suburbs to Romney  by a two-point margin. In this year’s congressional elections the GOP edge grew to 12 points in the suburbs, which accounted for a majority of the electorate. The  Democrats won by 14 percent in the more urban areas, but these accounted for barely one-third of the total vote. The result was a thorough shellacking of the Democratic party from top to bottom....

There's a reason for this.

...the political obsessions of the Obama Democrats largely mirror those of the cities: climate change, gay marriage, feminism, amnesty for the undocumented, and racial redress. These may sometimes be worthy causes, but they don’t address basic issues that [a]ffect suburbanites, such as stagnant middle class wages, poor roads, high housing prices, or underperforming schools. None of these concerns elicit much passion among the party’s true believers.

"Obsessions" is the very best word to describe Democratic Party memes.  See, e.g., "Shirtstorm."

One hopes that (R) poobahs wake up and smell the coffee in this essay.

Pope Francis: Marriage Is Man + Woman

The Pope is not confused about the nature of marriage.

Pope Francis reasserted the Catholic Church’s teaching on marriage on Monday, stressing the “complementarity” between man and woman – the two complete each other – and adding that “children have a right to grow up in a family with a father and a mother.”

“[T]he contribution of marriage to society is ‘indispensable,’” said the Pope.

He also condemns the inanity of queer "marriage" with that sentence, re-asserting the rights of children.

Finally, he condemns the culture of the temporary (which is inextricably related to the culture of relativity):

The Pope also said that marriage and family today “are in crisis” in part because we live in a “culture of the temporary,” where more and more people give up on marriage.

“This revolution in manners and morals has often flown the flag of freedom,” said Pope Francis, “but in fact it has brought spiritual and material devastation to countless human beings, especially the poorest and most vulnerable.”

A passing familiarity with the economic circumstances of single-parent families will confirm that.

The Amnesty: Even Worse Than That!

Largely due to regulations (written by Democrat rabble), the ObozNesty will allow all the illegals to collect Social Security, Unemployment Comp, Medicare, and ObozoCare benefits.

Immediately.

MIT Wiener Scored $400K From Wisconsin Stupids

Nice to know that you sent $400K to the asshole who thinks you're stupid.

Well....those who voted for Doyle ARE stupid.  So how about THEY pay the money?

So Is It Theft, or "Politics"?

Seems that a couple of "family planning" agencies have over-billed the State of Wisconsin by a few million dollars.  (Actually, they've over-billed the Feds AND the State by that amount; only 10% is a State matter.)

So--naturally--the agencies are calling it "political."

Of course.  Their Fraud?/Theft?/Incompetence?--whatever--is "political."

But a (D)-run John Doe which ripped up the lives of several dozen conservatives?  That's "justice."

Yup.

Another Day, Another Tax Increase

Some people live in remote areas and apparently are unable to purchase "encyclopedias" for their schoolchildren.

So you'll pay more to use your cellphone.

Crony Stench: ObozoInsurance

Given what we know--that Obozo is handing out cash to insurers as though it were Hallowe'en candy (yah, well....)--we're not surprised to learn that the remaining health insurance companies will fight like Hell to preserve ObozoCare.

So yah.  Your hatred of insurance companies was well-placed, then AND now.

Hey!! Governor Walker!!

Gee.

I wish I knew of a nearby (R) Governor who could say this:

...The reality is, I was elected in Louisiana to make generational changes. Look at what we've done in Louisiana. So now, we've cut our state budget 26%, cut the number of state employees 34%. We've got the best private-sector economy in a generation. Our economy has grown twice as fast as the national economy. More people working than ever before at a higher income than ever before....quoted at Althouse

Yah.  In the State which I inhabit, the most recent budget increased State F-T-E employment and ......

ahhh......nevermind.

Took a blitz-trip out of this State, bought gasoline sold with less State taxes, cigarettes sold with less State taxes....and whaddya know?  That State had highways and stuff.

Just sayin'.

Time for Krugman's Hara-Kiri

The Prime Minister of Japan is known for his economic plan:  a 20-trillion yen "stimulus" plus negative interest rates, 2% targeted inflation.........you know the drill.  It's a large version of ObozoNomics.

Yah, well, that best-laid plan has rolled over, dead.

Japan’s economy unexpectedly fell into recession in the third quarter, a painful slump that called into question efforts by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to pull the country out of nearly two decades of deflation.  --quoted at Vox Populi

An economist called "Krugman" has spent barrels of ink at the NYSlimes praising this (D) scheme.  He has an honorable course to follow.

But he won't.

The Real Message: Thanks to Jindal!!

Knowing that Republican "leaders" are utterly incapable of developing and utilizing the message, it's gratifying to note that there is one Pubbie out there who DOES know.

"I don't think the president should shut down the government to try to break the Constitution," Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal told a flustered Chuck Todd Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." 

Todd had just asked Jindal, "If the president goes through with his executive action (on immigration), do you think Republicans and Capitol Hill ought to use even the power of shutting down the government to stop him from doing it?"...

UpChuck Todd was incapable of uttering a response.  Because Jindal was right, and UpChuck was wrong.

Notice this, Paul Ryan.  Notice this, John Boehner.  Notice this, Rep. McCarthy--you witless wusses.

Still Think the Crusades Were Just Awful?

Following the execution of another American, we find this:

Damn Fools like pResident Pissypants don't like the Crusades.

Real people--especially real men--understand them very well, indeed.

HT:  Grim

Cdl. O'Malley Gets Goofy

We've all had those moments, right? 

It happens when you really don't want to simply say "no" (or "yes") to someone because it's just not.......enough.  You feel the urge to serve the spoonful of sugar to make the medicine go down---and say something incredibly stupid in the process. 

So Cdl. O'Malley joins Teh Republicans!

....In an interview with “60 Minutes” on CBS that producers said took more than a year for them to persuade him to do, O’Malley seemed troubled by reporter Norah O’Donnell’s question as to whether the exclusion of women from the Church hierarchy was “immoral.”

O’Malley paused, then said, “Christ would never ask us to do something immoral. It’s a matter of vocation and what God has given to us.”

“Not everyone needs to be ordained to have an important role in the life of the Church,” he said. “Women run Catholic charities, Catholic schools …. They have other very important roles. A priest can’t be a mother. The tradition in the Church is that we ordain men.

“If I were founding a church, I’d love to have women priests,” O’Malley said. “But Christ founded it, and what he has given us is something different.”...--quoted at Deacon's Bench

No kidding, Sherlock.

You wanted to be nice to the lady reporter, right?  And you didn't think that she would understand theology, right?  Yah, well--

The problem, Eminence, is that you didn't even TRY.

But don't feel bad, Eminence.  Republicans have exactly the same problem, and exactly the same solution.  It doesn't work for them, either.

Let's Just Say It: Romney Stole Your Money

The current buzz for another Romney candidacy--so far contained to East Coast Eggheads and Romney camp-followers, should be put into its well-deserved grave soon.  There are a number of reasons, beginning with the fact that Romney lost to the most beatable incumbent in history.

But another one surfaced just last week:  the fact that Romney, as Governor of Massachusetts, colluded with The Swimmer to steal taxpayer money.  Not too surprisingly, we find "conservative" sites being somewhat parsimonious with that bit of information--but the video is here, and a little text, too:

...Gruber salutes the late Senator Ted Kennedy for finding clever ways to rip off the American taxpayer (yes, he used the words “rip off”) to the tune of $400 million a year, to keep ObamaCare v1.0 afloat in Massachusetts....

Kennedy pulled off that heist because Romney desperately needed the money.

One thing is certain:  Romney has chutzpah.  But that (as we have learned over the last 6 years) isn't a qualification for the Presidency.

Chaos and Collapse: Obozo's Plan

After pResident Pissypants illegally and un-Constitutionally acts to "amnesty" another 5-10 million illegal immigrants, there will be fiscal consequences.

That's because the CURRENT immigrants--legal and illegal--are quite expensive.

Immigrants and their U.S.-born children make up more than 40 percent of new Medicaid recipients at a cost of $4.6 billion, according to an analysis of government data....

This will be paid for through more debt, of course, and at some point in time, there will no longer be willing buyers for T-bonds.

That will effect Part Two of the Pissypants Agenda:  collapse.

Romney's Gift to the Senate: Another Anarchist

As we all know, Mitt Romney managed to lose an election that was, frankly, his to lose.

There was another effect in Wisconsin:  Tammy Baldwin.  As it turned out, Wisconsin voters couldn't stomach Romney's mini-me Tommy Thompson, either--and for the same reasons.

So by default, and (R)-Establishment-fault, we have another anarchist in the Senate.

...U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin says that if Congress won't act on immigration reform, President Barack Obama should do it by himself....

... “We have a broken immigration system that needs to be fixed. And I think that unless the House proves that it wants to do something in the next couple of weeks of our lame duck, that the president is well within his authority, but also, ought to act.”...

We note that no "authority" for President Pissypants' action is cited.  That's because there IS no "authority" for anarchy in the Constitution.

Thanks, Mitt!  Thanks, Tommy!!  And Thanks!! to the (R) Establishment!!!!

Pieper Pooper Power!

There's a commercial manure digester operation in Waunakee which has.......ahhhh........had some problems.

...The Clear Horizons LLC facility was cited in connection with three spills totaling 400,000 gallons of manure, failing to remove enough lake-fouling phosphorus from the dairy animal waste before it is spread on farm fields and violating monitoring requirements, the state Department of Natural Resources said in a letter to the company....

The plant generates electricity by burning methane from nearby dairy operations and processes cow poop for spreading onto farm fields.  All very nice, unless you're downstream when several hundred thousand gallons of poop pop loose.

Turns out that the diarrhetic plant is owned by what used to be called Pieper Power.  I have suggested a new name for the company above.

Another Boehner Lawsuit? That'll Do It!

It seems that President Pissypants will continue to use his oath of office as toilet paper.  Another 5-10 million amnesties are coming up, and EPA is about to close down electric utilities.

We're too stupid to notice, right?

Opposition 'leadership' Boehner & McConnell have already fired one round into their foot by declaring that there will be no Gummint shutdown over any moves by Pissypants.  (Clearly, Prof. Gruber was right about "teh stupids" in at least two cases.)

So maybe Boehner will sue Pissypants?  Worked real well last time.

Why Annie Coulter Was Cancelled in Milwaukee

You may recall that Little Annie Coulter was scheduled to make an appearance in Milwaukee several months ago.

You may also recall that said appearance was cancelled.

There's a reason:  Little Annie is, in her dotage, a Big Gummint Gal.

Laylah: Gang Initiation Victim?

There's a fascinating 'net rumor that Laylah was shot as part of a gang-initiation requirement--that two black "men" simply walked up to the home and poured high-speed lead into it.

So.  When does the Milwaukee "press" get onto this?

Alaska Dumps Begich

The next Senator from Alaska will be Republican Dan Sullivan.

Louisiana remains in play.

Obozo's "Jobs" Report

We all heard the chest-thumping when Golfer-in-Chief yapped about the October jobs report.

Uh-huh.

For the second month in a row, a majority of the new jobs added were low-quality positions, existing below the median wage level. The lowest wage category alone accounted for nearly one-third of the new additions listed in the jobs reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is clear evidence that we are still in the grips of a low-wage recovery.  

Digging deeper into the numbers, we see that food service and drinking places (the main component of the lowest wage category) accounted for the largest employment gains last month. This sector, which pays an average hourly wage of just $12.57, added nearly 42,000 positions, representing approximately 20% of all the October jobs.  Unfortunately, low-wage jobs like these do not provide enough income to boost consumer spending or encourage more borrowing, so their overall impact on the economy is negligible. 

In total, 55% of the jobs added in October fell below the median wage level....S. Geradot/Dent Research

That's barely taxable income, folks.

MU Prof Bans Intellectual Discussion

Not that long ago, one went to college to have intellectual discussions in class, beginning with stuff like "first principles" and "laws of nature" and--in some colleges--"laws of God."

Well, at Marquette University, such silly, arcane, old crap has been eliminated in the Philosophy (!!!!) Department's Ethics branch.

A student we know was in a philosophy class (“Theory of Ethics”), and the instructor (one Cheryl Abbate) was attempting to apply a philosophical text to modern political controversies. So far so good.

She listed some issues on the board, and came to “gay rights.” She then airily said that “everybody agrees on this, and there is no need to discuss it.”

The student, a conservative who disagrees with some of the gay lobby’s notions of “gay rights” (such as gay marriage) approached her after class and told her he thought the issue deserved to be discussed. Indeed, he told Abbate that if she dismisses an entire argument because of her personal views, that sets a terrible precedent for the class....

Ah, you foolish yout'!!  "Gay rights" is settled science, just like Global Warming.  (See this week's weather forecast for details....)   You paid $16K to MU so that you could learn that, Dummy.

....Abbate explained that “some opinions are not appropriate, such as racist opinions, sexist opinions” and then went on to ask “do you know if anyone in your class is homosexual?” And further “don’t you think it would be offensive to them” if some student raised his hand and challenged gay marriage? The point being, apparently that any gay classmates should not be subjected to hearing any disagreement with their presumed policy views....

...She further said she would “take offense” if the student said that women can’t serve in particular roles. And she added that somebody who is homosexual would experience similar offense if somebody opposed gay marriage in class. ...


Umnnhhhh...I'd love to see Abbate 'serve in the role' of a man in the .....ahhh.......procreative act.......for example.  But that would be a "Law of Nature" thing which--as the student learned--is not subject to discussion, I guess.

Barbara Crabb and Dick Posner v. the Sixth Circuit

While the 6th Circuit's opinion upholding State bans on same-sex marriage does not name any names, it behooves me to mention a couple of excerpts from the ruling which........ahhhh......are pointed.

A dose of humility makes us hesitant to condemn as unconstitutionally irrational a view of marriage shared not long ago by every society in the world, shared by most, if not all, of our ancestors, and shared still today by a significant number of the states.

Yah, well.  Neither Crabb nor Posner could be sullied by the adjective "humble," could they?

There are also some fatal weaknesses in the argument of the "pro-gay-marriage" claque:

... “if it is constitutionally irrational to stand by the man-woman definition of marriage, it must be constitutionally irrational to stand by the monogamous definition of marriage. Plaintiffs have no answer to the point.”...

You heard that before, from Scalia.  Funny thing about What Is True:  it doesn't change over time.

As to the self-beclowned Posner:

... As the court rightly notes, the Supreme Court decision that struck down bans on interracial marriage, Loving v. Virginia, “addressed, and rightly corrected, an unconstitutional eligibility requirement for marriage; it did not create a new definition of marriage.”...

As to the Supremes, some useful advice:

...The court argued that it “is dangerous and demeaning to the citizenry to assume that we, and only we, can fairly understand the arguments for and against gay marriage.”...

So.  Which four members of SCOTUS actually have a humility-quotient greater than zero?

Tune in next June.

Joni Ernst, Tim Morrissey, and Dad29

Tim Morrissey, a nooz-savant/consultant, (and certifiable Lefty) was displeased with political advertising.  On that point we can all agree, and it makes no difference which side you're coming from.  The lies, innuendos, and character-assassinations coming from One Wisconsin Now, the Democrat Party/Wisconsin, and Big Labor were horrific, X-rated TV.

Unfortunately, Tim doesn't like hard-fact news stories, either, such as the revelation that Mary Burke, the "business success", was fired from her father's own company for her failures in Europe.  There were only 4 or 5 sources with direct knowledge, which apparently was insufficient for a nooz-savant/consultant.

But Tim did manage to trip me up on the question of the Second Amendment.  He was in near dead-faint over Joni Ernst's remarks:

....Ernst’s campaign speeches often include a line about her military background, and how she’s got a gun and knows how to use it “in case the government comes after my rights”.....

...to which I made a semi-erroneous riposte that the 2A was not written for duck-hunters (etc.)

As we are reminded today, that was an error on my part, so I apologize to Tim for having misled him.

Here's the correct narrative:  (note, please, that Tim's hysteria seems to carbon-copy Paul Begala's mockery of Sen-Elect Ernst.)

What did Ernst say to prompt Begala to treat her like—using Alinsky’s carefully-chosen words—“the enemy”?

“I do believe in the right to carry, and I believe in the right to defend myself and my family—whether it’s from an intruder, or whether it’s from a government, should they decide that my rights are no longer important,” she declared.  (Cited here.)

The author, David Codrea, continues:

...the Bill of Rights gives and grants no rights. It merely defines some, but not all rights, which the Founders correctly viewed as preexisting to the government they were establishing. That understanding was further solidified in the 1875 Cruikshank decision (and repeated in the 2008 Heller decision), when the Supreme Court noted, “The right to bear arms is not granted by the Constitution; neither is it in any manner dependent upon that instrument for its existence.

...The Second Amendment does not “give” us the right to rebel against civil and military authorities. Focus on the word “give”. But now, to really make the critics mad, let me add that such language does not appear within its text, or within the definitions of Constitutional purposes for “calling forth the militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions.”...

He's right.  The right appears where no Lefty would dare go:  the Declaration.

 “[Wh]enever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government,” they wrote in the Declaration of Independence.

...The proper question is not where Americans get the right to “dissolve the political bonds … and to assume… the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them.” The Declaration answers that one....

Yah, well, that stuff about "Laws of Nature and Nature's God" is like a silver crucifix to Lefties.  It's why they really, really, really don't like that Declaration thing and insist that it's merely an editorial piece, paid for by the Koch Brothers, ya'know.

ObozNesty Is Already Operative

Well, yes, "amnesty" is already operative.  You don't know it because the MSM hasn't bothered to mention it.  So Limbaugh's theory--that Obozo will simply cease deportations--is correct; except it's already in force.

...As a practical matter, Obama is not deporting anyone at the moment. So we are currently in a period of temporary amnesty -- a politically unacknowledged period of temporary amnesty.

Obama currently is imposing a temporary amnesty without having to face up to the public over this policy.... 

...All he can do is temporarily refuse to enforce the immigration laws.

Which he can do until January 2017.

And he's already doing that -- without catching the public heat for that, because the public doesn't know he's doing that.

Remember, his claim is that he's deporting more people than ever.

That's a lie, but the media transmits it eagerly for him.

So all the (R) bunch has to do is make it a LOT more public.

What's Going On in Rome, Part II

Cdl. Burke, inter alia, has been sounding an alarm about the goings-on in Rome--specifically, the goings-on in the recent Synod, where several Bishops have proposed what will be, in effect, a schism between doctrine and discipline surrounding the sacrament of marriage.  It would be similar to retaining the law prohibiting first-degree murder while at the same time eliminating any penalty for the crime.  (Please don't bring up "nuance" here.  This is a blog, not a theological journal.)

Rorate brings another dimension to the discussion, focusing on 'synodizing' v. the infallibility of the Pope.

...the Church is not a democratic assembly, but a monarchical and hierarchical one, divinely established on the institution of the Papacy, which symbolizes the irreplaceable stone. The progressivist dream of “republicanizing” the Church and transforming Her into a permanent synodal state is destined to infringe upon the constitution Pastor Aeternus of Vatican I which defined not only the dogma of infallibility, but primarily the full and immediate power of the Pope over all the bishops and the entire Church....
...In the discussions of Vatican I, the anti-infallibility minority, echoing the conciliarist and Gallican theses, affirmed that the authority of the Pope did not reside only in the Pontiff, but in the Pope being united to the bishops. A small group of Council Fathers asked Pius IX to affirm in the dogmatic text, that the Pontiff is infallible with the testimony of the Churches (“nixus testimonio Ecclesiarum”), but the Pope revised the schema in the opposite sense...to clarify definitively, that the assent of the Church did absolutely not constitute the condition of infallibility. On the 18th July before an immense multitude crowded in the Basilica, the final text of the apostolic constitution Pastor aeternus was approved with 525 votes in favour and 2 against. Fifty five members of the opposition abstained. Immediately after the vote, Pius IX, solemnly promulgated the Apostolic Constitution Pastor aeternus as a law of faith.

That doesn't mean that there will be no problems.

...The infallibility of the Pope does not mean in any way that he enjoys unlimited and arbitrary power in matters of government and teaching. The dogma of infallibility, while it defines a supreme privilege, is fixed in precise boundaries, allowing for infidelity, error and betrayal......the betrayal of Peter is the example of possible infidelity which has loomed over all of the Popes through the course of history, and will be so until the end of time. The Pope, even if he is the supreme authority on earth, is suspended between the summits of heroic fidelity to his mandate and the abyss of apostasy which is always present.

These are the problems that the First Vatican Council would have had to deal with if it hadn’t been suspended on the 20th of October 1870, a month after the Italian army had entered Rome. These are the problems that Catholics bound to Tradition must study in-depth today. Without in any way denying the infallibility of the Pope and his supreme authority in government, is it possible (and in what way) to resist him, if he fails in his mission, which is to guarantee the unaltered transmission of the deposit of the faith and morals consigned by Jesus Christ to the Church?

You may submit your essay-responses below.  Footnotes required.

Ebola? "Shut Up!" He Said

Turns out that Obozo told the Press not to talk about suspected Ebola cases--which is why you haven't heard that there are 134 suspected cases 357 people "under active monitoring"  in New York City ALONE.

Kevin McCarthy Needs Brain Transplant

No surprise that Kevin McCarthy (R) is from California--the land of fruits and nuts.

(Kelly, FNC):  I'm trying to get an answer on whether you are going to press for another vote to repeal Obamacare in the House and push for one--”

McCarthy then said,  “I would press for one when we have the ability to replace it at the same time. But the first thing I am going to start on is the economy to getting it moving again.”

Kevin, you dumbass:  "the economy" is for crap because ObozoCare 1) imposes financial burdens on employers and employees the extent of which is still unknown; 2)  imposes financial burdens on NON-employed people who are now required to get a health-plan and pay dearly for it; 3) rips earnings away from workers who have suddenly become part-time due to ObozoCare regulations.

Is ObozoCare the only problem with the economy?  Nope.

Is ObozoCare the best immediate target?  Yup.

Are you a two-timing political slut?  We'll know soon, eh, Kevin?

Congrats to Ryan and Sensenbrenner. Now Listen Up!

Andy McCarthy is correct.

...Republicans will be toast with the people who have empowered them if they now turn around and agree to fund Obamacare, the Homeland Security’s immigration agencies and the Justice Department that refuse to enforce the laws, the IRS that colludes with Democrats to intimidate the Left’s ideological opponents, and all the rest of it. The prattle from GOP leaders that they must show the country they can “govern” is ridiculous. It is not possible for them to “govern” when the chief executive does not faithfully execute the laws they enact. Besides, voters did not elect them to govern – they elected them to stop Obama.

If Republicans join the Democrats who have just been swept out of office to fund the government for the next year, they will be forfeiting the power of the purse. Before it even gets started, the incoming Republican-controlled Congress would be stripped of its last tool to stop executive maladministration....

Can't say you weren't told.  I expect that you will fold like a cheap suit, of course--but then, that's your basic M.O.

No Happy-Dance for Reince

Remember when Ron Johnson ran for the Senate, excoriating ObozoCare every step of the way?

That was then.  *Crickets* is now. 

RoJo is not running this year, but ObozoCare has been left out of (R) campaigning, by and large. Illegal immigration?  Now and then, here and there--but really, the GOP doesn't care.

There's a reason for all that, of course:  the (R) BigWigs have decided that ObozoCare and unrestricted immigration are here to stay.

...there's absolutely nothing wrong with the GOP welcoming more and more Hispanics into a Right-leaning fold. In fact, it needs to do that. Unfortunately, there are few if any across the GOP's traditional - and much broader - rank and file supporters who still believe they'll do it with anything other than something amounting to trying to be better Democrats than the Democrats themselves....

Republican Mike McFadden tried that in his bid to oust Al Franken in Minnesota. He's currently down by a Real Clear Politics average of ten points....the growing lack of enthusiasm and numbers across what was once a vibrant GOP base as they continue to try may indeed signal bad years ahead for a national party increasingly out of touch with their own past supporters around the nation....

It takes a special brand of stupid to lose by TEN POINTS to a fat clown, no?  Or are actual Conservatives refusing to eat the BushRoveRomneyChristie sandwich?      Hmmmm????????

If Reince thinks a 6-seat pickup in the Senate is really an accomplishment, he should check the contents of his Kool-Aid, not do a happy-dance.

2016 is coming soon.