There’s brazen, and then there’s “break into an LAPD police car in bold daylight on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, pull out a laptop, then set it up and start typing” brazen.
Another view:
Notice that Superman and Darth Vader weren’t any help at all…
Not the Perfect Crime
February 15th, 2014Hillary Clinton | Victor Pinchuk | Viktor Yanukovych
February 14th, 2014Well, this is interesting.
Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton have built a sprawling network of powerful friends around the globe, one that could aid Mrs. Clinton’s chances were she to seek the presidency. But those relationships often come with intersecting interests and political complications; few people illustrate that more vividly than the Ukrainian oligarch Victor Pinchuk.
A steel magnate and major contributor to the former president’s foundation, Mr. Pinchuk was in frequent contact with Mrs. Clinton’s State Department, at meetings arranged by a Clinton political operative turned lobbyist, Douglas E. Schoen.
Is Mr. Pinchuk politically collected in Ukriane? And how.
Mr. Pinchuk’s image is not without blemish: His father-in-law is Leonid Kuchma, who was president of Ukraine from 1994 to 2005 and led a government criticized for corruption, nepotism and the murder of dissident journalists. As president, Mr. Kuchma privatized a huge state steel factory and sold it to Mr. Pinchuk’s consortium for about $800 million, which competitors said was a laughably low price.
And who did Mr. Pinchuk’s father-in-law appoint Prime Minister?
That’s right: Viktor Yanukovych, current President of Ukraine and Putin toady.
Do Pinchuk and Yanukovych know each other?
I think that’s a safe assumption.
Pinchuk backed Yanukovych in the 2004 election, but since then he appears to have broken away from Yanukovych and is a EuroMaidan backer. Maybe Pinchuk is on the side of the angels (even if only for business reasons). That Tablet piece also notes his Jewish roots and says he’s the second richest man in Ukraine.
But I thought it was a connection worth noting. Mr. Pinchuk is an interesting figure, and it’s interesting that he’s in Hillary’s circles of associates. And I’m not sure it’s a good thing for potential presidential candidates to pal around with foreign oligarchs…
The Deep, Deep Gun Control Convictions of Unite Blue Head Becky Carrizales
February 13th, 2014Is there any better example of the steadfast political convictions of liberals than Unite Blue chief Becky Carrizales’s convictions on gun control?
Twitchy and @eriContrarian shed initial light on the subject, but a closer look at Carrizales’s Twitter account gives definitive evidence of her deep, principled gun control advocacy:
Have we forgotten Newtown already?Why are we letting the NRA win http://t.co/mN12YRGi0i We the People need to take our lives back! #Gunsense
— Becky Carrizales (@bcarrz) September 16, 2013
@JeffersonObama #NRA gun sellers & makers are truly disgusting sick animals who want to get guns to younger kids!?
— Becky Carrizales (@bcarrz) January 27, 2013
She also tweeted this, which gives an extra dose of irony:
(◔‿◔)⁀* Excellent Job @bcarrz ŦЩΞΞTING directly to those cowards that put the NRA and self interest Before common sense & the poor victims
— Maverick™ (@spooney35) April 18, 2013
She also seems to know all about setting a high-minded, respectful tone for debate:
Lovely, a Woman fighting against our girls! FukOff you Jerk–>@JillStanek @girlscouts @alovelily
— Becky Carrizales (@bcarrz) February 12, 2014
@copperbird7 what an incompetent, fukin idiot you are! Only deserving
a$$es receive this treatment. Go hang w/ the RightWingers! #Blocked
— Becky Carrizales (@bcarrz) February 12, 2014
And now? Naturally the Unite Blue director would be outraged at Wendy Davis standing with those “disgusting sick animals” at the NRA and pushing for open carry, right?
Eh, not so much.
All I can say is Grow Up! This is why Dems in TX lose! Not every Dem will think like you! Vote #TeamWendy! @JimmyPrinceton @eriContrarian
— Becky Carrizales (@bcarrz) February 6, 2014
. @bcarrz Wow! You're fine with Wendy Davis putting politics before the lives of children? My donations and volunteer time are OVER.
— L (@OrwellForks) February 6, 2014
But Carrizales does realize one important truth: Wendy Davis has always been at war with Eurasia.
Woman Famous For Filibustering Bill Banning Abortions After 20 Weeks Open To Banning Abortions After 20 Weeks
February 12th, 2014Wendy Davis is trying to make my head hurt.
Wendy Davis said Tuesday that she would have supported a ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, if the law adequately deferred to a woman and her doctor.
In other news, LeBron James announced he was “open” to banning basketball, and Michael Bay announced he was protesting “loud, brainless action movies.”
As Ace of Spades HQ puts it: “Wendy Davis apparently just realized that she’s running for Governor of Texas and not New York.”
Evidently Davis never heard the phrase “You’ve gotta dance with them that brung ya.” The only reason Davis is the overwhelming favorite to win the Democratic nomination for governor of Texas is her pro-abortion filibuster. Davis is essentially saying to her national pro-abortion donors: “Thanks for all that money. Now I’ll just set this bucket full of your water down here on the steps, and you can carry it your own damn self.”
The flip-flop is an obvious pander, but how on earth could Davis or her camp think it a remotely effective pander? It’s like PETA announcing they’re considering opening a steakhouse.
It’s a brazen, shameless, dishonest, and ineffective ploy. Of course, all of those are pretty good adjectives to describe Davis’ gubernatorial campaign, if not her entire political career.
No wonder, as Perry vs. World notes, her campaign logo looks like a sinking ship:
Texas vs. California Update for February 11, 2014
February 11th, 2014Meant to put this up at lunch, but Stuff. And Things.
LinkSwarm for February 10, 2014
February 10th, 2014These LinkSwarms tend to get pushed back to days when there’s not a big story jumping up and requiring my attention. It seems like the Olympics have created a bit of a news lull
Heartening, but I can’t help but notice that some of the same people appear in this video as the one from that town hall meeting in December. Makes it hard to gauge just how widespread black America’s dissatisfaction with Obama is…
Slovenia Hit by Several Feet of Global Warming
February 8th, 2014Mainly linking to this story for the amazing photos. As if living in an Ex-Communist country wasn’t bad enough, a winter storm just dumped several feet of ice on them.
“Walking in a Winter Wonderland” takes on quite a different meaning when the weight of the ice brings forests worth of trees crashing to the ground.
Driving doesn’t look like much fun either, though the frozen landscape looks amazingly alien.
Another video (skip ahead a minute to omit getting out of the parking garage):
All this should make you feel better about your current weather….
ObamaCare News Roundup for February 7, 2014
February 7th, 2014Another week, another week of bad ObamaCare news.
First off comes the National Small Business Association survey that shows that health care costs for small businesses have doubled since 2009. The “Affordable Care Act” turns out not to be affordable for anyone…
The new CBO report also paints a devastating picture of how ObamaCare will damage our economy through 2024, including:
Another bomb in the CBO report: ObamaCare subsidies are structured in such way that earning $1 more costs an extra $13,572 per year.
And the first CBO-based attack ad is already out (this one aimed at North Carolina’s Sen. Kay Hagan):
Another attack ad targets Florida Rep. Joe Garcia:
And here are some workers finding out that ObamaCare makes their insurance unaffordable:
“The ACA has been an unmitigated disaster since its passage.”
It doesn’t help that the ObamaCare enrollment numbers are grossly inflated.
Things aren’t much better in the state exchanges, either. Covered California 2013: “Sure your doctor is covered!” Covered California 2014: “Suckers!”
She’s not the only one. But it sucks when you have Stage Four cancer and suddenly your doctor is no longer covered:
There is one solution to this problem: Full repeal of ObamaCare.
Too bad there appears to be no limit to the damage (or deaths) Democrats are willing to let happen to avoid that…
John Boehner and “Trust”
February 6th, 2014“House Speaker John Boehner on Thursday joined the Senate’s top Republican in suggesting an immigration overhaul this year is unlikely, citing a lack of trust among the GOP toward President Obama.”
I’m sure the GOP doesn’t trust Obama, but that summary overlooks another glaring trust issue, namely that the constituents of House Republicans don’t trust GOP reps not to cave on illegal alien amnesty. And they especially don’t trust you, Speaker Boehner.
The Republican establishment and their big business donors have gotten it into their head that illegal alien amnesty is just a swell idea, and widespread and near universal rejection of amnesty by actual voting Americans doesn’t seem to be able to dislodge this idee fixe.
If you ask actual Americans how important immigration reform, it’s not the first, or fifth, or even tenth priority. People are much more concerned with the lack of jobs in the Obama Economy, and how ObamaCare is raising their premiums or ending their coverage entirely.
Want to earn voters trust? Stop trying to sneak in illegal alien amnesty by the backdoor or in smoke-filled rooms. There should be no immigration legislation until Obama is out of office and current laws are enforced. Period.
John Boehner is right. We don’t trust Obama. But we also don’t trust him, or the rest of the Republican establishment, not to sell out their constituents for a pocketful of promises.
Pull The Other One, Wendy
February 6th, 2014Normally I would applaud a member of the Democratic Party supporting Second Amendment rights. But Wendy Davis supporting open carry?
Right. Pull the other one.
After all, this is the same Wendy Davis who voted against concealed carry by authorized CHL holders on college campuses, keeping Texas campuses fictive “gun free zones.” She also tried to do what Austin is trying to do: force gun shows to impose additional background checks on private citizens.
The fact that Davis hasn’t been universally opposed to gun rights may be explained by the fact that she’s a state senator in Texas, one with significant suburban and rural constituents and who only won her last election with 51% of the vote and thus one for which a hard-left gun control position would be a career-ending exercise. It’s also possible that, like Arlen Specter, another former Republican, she may have no fixed political positions whatsoever beyond the belief she should hold political office (or perhaps none beyond support for unlimited abortion).
Davis’ open carry pander is the worst kind of pander for a politician: a ham-handed, ineffective and incompetent one. Since Davis is already running as a liberal darling, and Abbott has already embraced open carry, there’s no chance this move will win her real converts among single-issue Second Amendment supporters, but a very real chance it will alienate her national liberal fundraising base.
Wendy Davis is a credible leader on Second Amendment rights the way Danny DeVito is a credible NBA center.