I have been following former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee’s campaign, and he’s been coming on strong in Iowa.  He’s a supporter of the Fair Tax, which pretty much skyrocketed him to #1 on my preference list.

However, the more I read about him, the less I like him.  He looks like Jorgé W. Bush redux, especially on the criminal immigration issue.

NumbersUSA, a group who really rallied the opposition to Bush’s and the Senate’s amnesty plan this year (and helped to kill it), calls Huck “an absolute disaster“ on illegal immigration.  Huck has been unapologetic, touting (though in some cases, lying about) his record of giving college scholarships to criminal aliens.

More disturbing details of his record are here.  Throw in some tax-and-spend-and-tax-some-more policies, and Huck doesn’t cut the mustard.  I’ve had almost seven years of “compassionate conservatism” (aka “Nanny State Lite”), and I’m afraid I can’t handle much more.

Trust me, my friends…this CNN-plant debacle isn’t going away any time soon.  From Instapundit:

But we learn that CNN did use Google:

He said CNN never spoke to Kerr and had Google, which owns YouTube, bring the retired general and about a dozen other questioners to the debate because their videos were likely to be used, although no final decision had been made.

Using Google for plane tickets is okay. But next time, try using them for… Googling. As a commenter at Kurtz’s observes: “What should be noted about this issue is that CNN probably has a whole army of interns and low-level producers who could vet the possible questioners. They ‘could spend hours Googling everybody’, while the top level hacks concentrated on choosing the ‘best’ questions.” 

Six known plants, and CNN couldn’t bring themselves to Google a single one of them in their “vetting” process?

Howard Kurtz has a funny take:

So let me get this straight… in the Democrat YouTube debates, the “undecided questioners” are Democratic activists and in the Republican YouTube debates, the “undecided questioners” are Democratic activists.

Well, at least they’re consistent.

Aren’t they, though?  LOL!

A British teacher in the Sudan had a teddy bear in her class in the Sudan.  The students named the bear “Muhammed”, after one of the students in the class.  The predictable happens:

Hundreds of protesters brandishing swords and sticks gathered outside Khartoum’s presidential palace Friday to vent their anger against a British teacher jailed for allowing children to name a teddy bear “Mohammed.”

An undated amateur photo of Gillian Gibbons, who has been found guilty of insulting religion.

About 600 Islamic demonstrators piled out of mosques, chanting: “By soul, by blood, I will fight for the Prophet Mohammed.” Some of the protesters demanded the teacher’s execution, according to The Associated Press.

The agency reports that some chanted: “No tolerance: Execution,” and “Kill her, kill her by firing squad.”

Got that?  Naming your child “Muhammed” is A-OK, but naming a toy bear “Muhammed” is grounds for appearing before a firing squad.  It doesn’t take much to get the camelhumping weirbeards’ bloodlust flowing, does it?

I don’t know how many of you guys will agree with me or not, but I’m not on Rudy’s side here.  I think it’s pretty shameful.  From CBS News:

Was it routine expenses, or is an apparent skeleton in Rudy Giuliani’s closet really coming out to haunt him? CBS News anchor Katie Couric sat down with the national frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination Thursday.

A report posted on Politico.com Wednesday said that at the time when Giuliani was beginning an extramarital relationship with Judith Nathan, who eventually became his third wife, he billed obscure city agencies thousands of dollars for his police security detail covering trips to visit Nathan.

But Giuliani insists that everything was done in the open, “honestly, honorably, above board.”

With all due respect, Mayor Giuliani, there is nothing “honest” or “honorable” about anything you did here: the fooling around OR the misuse of taxpayer funds. 

Is this story a media “hit job”?  Possibly, if not probably.  However, the story is still most certainly newsworthy, and I really think Giuliani ought to be ashamed of himself.  But judging by the comments above, he’s not repentant in the slightest bit.

Despite being a Shrillary supporter, former mayor Ed Koch echoes my sentiments:

“I found it strange that his lady friend was given protection,” said the long-time New York politico. “That was bizarre. She’s not the city’s responsibility. Rudy is the city’s responsibility. Your wife and his children get protection, and that’s understood. But certainly not your lady friend.” 

I don’t want to hear libs complain about Rudy’s philandering, since they had no problems when Bubba was doing it (and commiting perjury over it).  However, the complaint about Rudy using taxpayer-subsidized police protection or taxiing of his mistress is, in my view, a legit complaint.  I am disappointed by his cavalier attitude about it.

UPDATES AT THE END THIS POST.

Shrill-ary, Shrill-ary, positions contrary, how does your garden grow?

Not only has Her Highness had a problem by planting questions at her own debates, but now she’s resorted to using plants at the other party’s debates.  From Townhall:

It turns out that Keith Kerr, retired Colonel., U.S. Army; retired Brigadier General, California National Reserve, who submitted a YouTube question about gays in the military, is actually a member of Hillary Clinton’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transexual Americans For Hillary Steering Committee.  He’s also part of a film production crew trying overturn the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

CNN’s retort?

In the final seconds of the post-debate coverage, Anderson Cooper acknowledges that CNN messed this up and states that CNN did not know that Kerr has a position within the Clinton campaign and that had they known, they would have disclosed the association. 

Uh-huh.  Just an honest mistake, I’m sure.  It’s not like CNN has been embarassed before for not “weeding” before debates.  Oh, wait…yes, they have.

CNN’s “vetting” process allowed many more “undecided” questioners in.  By “undecided”, I mean “people who are already campaigning for Obama or Edwards”…you know, that kind of “undecided”?  Nope…no liberal media bias!

UPDATE (11/30/2007 - 07:39 a.m. EST): This thing keeps getting progressively (pun intended) screwier and humiliating for CNN.  We’re now seeing that a CNN producer last week swore that the GOP debate would have leftist plants weeded out, and that he wanted the debate to be a debate of the GOP party…which, as Allah puts it, would “explain the six different Democrat questioners”, right?  Yep…two more Democrat plants!

As if that weren’t bad enough, CNN then admits that they never should have used General Limpwrist’s question (on account of him working with the Shrillary campaign).  But if they really felt that way, why then did they get defensive thusly?

“It’s interesting to see our critics really focusing on the questioners, but not really focusing on the questions. You haven’t heard them say that these were not useful questions.”

Dude, make up your freakin’ mind, already!  If the questions are legit and the questioners irrelevant, why say that you never should have used General Cornholer’s question?

As to the question of “Does it matter who asks the questions, if the questions are legit?”,  Allah puts it best:

As I said, it matters when they’re affiliated with a campaign and the affiliation isn’t disclosed because then you’re left to wonder (a) if they were there secretly at the campaign’s behest to try to force an issue into the other party’s nominating process for political advantage, and (b) what CNN’s motive might be in not vetting and disclosing the affiliation. All they had to do with Kerr was mention he was with the Clinton campaign. 

But why would they want to do that?  That would require journalistic competence and integrity, both of which are sorely lacking at CNN.  No wonder Fox News continues to kick their pinko #sses.

UPDATE (11/29/2007 - 01:35 p.m. EST): Byron York makes an excellent point here.  Remember when the Dems refused to debate on Fox News due to charges of bias?  If anyone should have boycotted a network’s moderation of a debate due to bias, it should have been the GOP boycotting the Clinton News Network…

Democrats would not even appear for a debate on Fox News, where they would have been questioned by experienced and respected journalists like Brit Hume and Chris Wallace.  But Republicans went ahead with the CNN/YouTube show, where they were questioned by…well, some questionable characters.

As Ace quips:

It made for sharp questioning and good drama. But if that’s the name of the game, let me suggest to CNN that they allow a paralyzed veteran with limbs missing due to an IED attack similarly grill the Democratic candidates on whether they support the Democratic Congress’ determination to choke off all monies needed for the military’s anti-IED program. Give him the mic, live, and let him harangue the Democrats on the viciousness of IEDs, and the viciousness of them putting soldiers’ lives, and limbs, in jeopardy to appease their netroots base.

UPDATE (11/29/2007 - 12:30 p.m. EST): How about this?  This queer general (Kerr) that CNN supposedly didn’t know was part of the Hillary camp was flown to the debates, put up in a hotel room, and given free transportation to and fro…by CNN!

According to General Limpwrist, Kerr told FOX News that CNN “never asked” him if he is a Clinton supporter so he “never told.”  I thought dude was against “don’t ask, don’t tell”?

I agree with MSNBC host Joe Scarborough: CNN’s contention that they “didn’t know” about Kerr (or any of the other plants) is “total crap”!

Courtesy of the Freepers (via Moonbattery), here is the Hillary nutcracker:

As my friends at The Nose On Your Face satire site would say, “News so fake you’ll swear it came from the Mainstream Media”! Well, it’s that fake. From Gateway Pundit:

Reportedly, on Sunday 11 close family members of Jordanian-based Baathist reporter Dia al-Kawwaz, who runs the online anti-Iraq newspaper Shabeqat Akhbar al-Iraq, were slaughtered in Baghdad. The attack occurred in the Al-Shaab neighborhood shortly after 7 a.m. Shia militia men shot dead two of Kawwaz’s sisters, their husbands and their seven children, aged 5 to 10. They then exploded the house on their way out.

This story was carried by dozens of media outlets around the world.

Even Reporters Without Borders reported the shocking news
…
About that horrible slaughter…
It didn’t happen!!
It was just a hoaxer that Reporters Without Borders failed to fact check.

** The Iraqi Interior Ministry emphatically said, “Kawwaz is lying.”
** The police in Baghdad have not confirmed the attack.
** Talisman Gate reported that Al-Iraqiyya TV has “categorically dismissed reports over the murder of Dhia al-Kawwaz’s family in Sha’ab City.” (Thanks, BG!)
** The Multi-National Force Iraq wrote me and reported that they had found no evidence to back up the fantastic story:

Jim,

We continue to check into this, but we have not received any reports of
this incident.

V/R,
MNF-I Press Desk

** Agence France Press is now reporting that the Iraqi government denies the attacks.
** Now… This morning this latest news reported by the Journalist Freedoms Observatory (based in Baghdad) and Voices of Iraq (Aswat Al-Iraq) News confirmed that the story is bogus…

The BBC has photos of the safe family.
Boo-Hoo! …A faked funeral!

Mr Kawwaz (r) held a public wake for relatives he said had been killed. (BBC)
…
Reporters Without Borders and the other media outlets got pwned.
How sad.

Sloppiness or bias? You tell me.

Good news on the Iraq front…thus, relegated to appear on page A10.  From Newsbusters:

The Pew Research Center finds there has been a dramatic, double-digit jump in the percentage of Americans who believe that the military effort in Iraq is going well. You are the Washington Post. How do you play the story?:

a. You run a front-page story headlined “Study Finds Surge in Positive Public View of War Effort”; or

b. You run a story on page A10 headlined “Military Progress Doesn’t Make War More Popular.”

A dead giveaway, wasn’t it, saying “you are the Washington Post”? Of course the correct answer is “b.” As Ed Morrissey at Captains Quarters noted, WaPo managed not only to bury the story, but to put a gloomy headline on the news. Observes Ed:

When the rise in opposition to the war got reported before, the numbers made front page news. Their decline gets mid-section commentary, spun with economic speculation. Anyone see an agenda at play here?

Jules Critteden details how MSNBC spins the Pew story in similar fashion, and observes:

18 points. Double-digit increase. That’s a 60 percent uptick from February’s numbers. Nearly half of all Americans think things are going well.

Both organizations are marching in the proud MSM footsteps of the New York Times. When earlier this month news came that the US-led MNF had successfully routed al Qaeda completely out of Baghdad, the Times buried the story fathoms deep . . . on A19. 

Nope…no liberal media bias!

I’d like to send this Seattlestan moonbat asshat a lump of coal, just to piss him off.  Via Michelle Malkin:

Via Orbusmax, KVI talk show host Kirby Wilbur in Seattle heard from a listener who attended Mayor Greg Nickels’ Christmas holiday tree-lighting ceremony. All religious references are discouraged by the local government–except if the religion is environmentalism. So Nickels used the event to preach the evils of global warming to the kids in attendance. He warned the children that if they don’t use energy-efficient light bulbs (Gore bulbs), Santa and the reindeer will perish amid melting icecaps. 

Global “warming” = humbug.  These eco-tards are shameless and pathetic.

Not to be outdone by Silky’s totalitarian health care tactics, Barry O wants to fine parents who may have a slight problem with government health care.  From ABC News:

The issue of mandates for health care has driven the debate between Clinton and Obama for the past few weeks. Obama says he would enforce his mandate for health care for all children by fining parents if they refused to allow health care coverage for their children.

“I am happy to be very clear how we enforce mandates for children, and the reason is because children don’t have an option.”  

“Mandates” for the children?  What, has Barney Frank taken a liking to kids now?

Not only do children not have an option, but if Barry O or Silky Pony get their way, parents won’t have one either.  Funny how the left is all about “choice”, isn’t it?  Orwell was ahead of his time.

Bubba now:

During a campaign swing for his wife, former President Bill Clinton said flatly yesterday that he opposed the war in Iraq “from the beginning” — a statement that is more absolute than his comments before the invasion in March 2003.

Bubba then (2004):

On whether Bush was right to invade Iraq
…
That’s why I supported the Iraq thing. There was a lot of stuff unaccounted for. So I thought the President had an absolute responsibility to go to the U.N. and say, “Look, guys, after 9/11, you have got to demand that Saddam Hussein lets us finish the inspection process.” You couldn’t responsibly ignore [the possibility that] a tyrant had these stocks. I never really thought he’d [use them]. What I was far more worried about was that he’d sell this stuff or give it away. Same thing I’ve always been worried about North Korea’s nuclear and missile capacity. I don’t expect North Korea to bomb South Korea, because they know it would be the end of their country. But if you can’t feed yourself, the temptation to sell this stuff is overwhelming. So that’s why I thought Bush did the right thing to go back. When you’re the President, and your country has just been through what we had, you want everything to be accounted for.

I mean, that he’s a liar is clearly not a surprise to anyone.  But you figure the dude would come up with a system of being a little more organized so he can better remember his lies and avoid public humiliation like this.

And for the third time this year!  From Breitbart/AP:

Rhode Island Hospital has been fined $50,000 and reprimanded by the state Department of Health after its third instance this year of a doctor performing brain surgery in the wrong side of a patient’s head.

“We are extremely concerned about this continuing pattern,” health department director David R. Gifford said in a statement Monday. (Ya don’t say? - Ed.)

The hospital issued a statement saying it was re-evaluating its training and policies, providing more oversight, giving nursing staff the power to ensure procedures are followed, among other steps.

Hey, isn’t Rhode Island one of the bluest, most liberal states in the union?  Just sayin’.

What a shocker.  From AP:

Arms embargoes imposed by the United Nations since 1990 have been effective in only about a fourth of the cases, according to a new study.

The report, compiled by The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute and the Uppsala University Special Program on the Implementation of Targeted Sanctions, said U.N. arms embargoes have had limited impact on both the compliance of targeted countries and the arms that flow to them.

The study looked at 27 U.N. arms embargoes imposed between 1990 and 2006, including the cases of Iraq, Iran and Taliban-controlled Afghanistan as well as African countries such as Liberia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone.

“There appears to be a correlation between the imposition of a U.N. arms embargo and improved target behavior in only a quarter of the annual observations made for the 27 mandatory U.N. arms embargoes studied,” it said.

This was in spite of the arms embargo being “one of the most frequently used forms of sanctions” to maintain international peace and security, it said.

In other breaking news, water is wet.

Not one of the more flattering national headlines from my hometown.  From Dan Riehl:

Three cross dressing Black males have been arrested after an assault on the staff of a Memphis McDonald’s. According to reports, after not getting a clerk’s attention by tapping on a drive up window, the men took off their earrings and high heels, picked up a tire iron and went inside to confront the employees.

McBrawlers

Three cross-dressing customers who attacked a McDonald’s staff late Sunday evening have been, um, dragged off to jail after police captured them yesterday afternoon. (If you somehow managed to miss this Memphis moment, get the details here.)

Dacorian Greer, Danny Mitchell, and Lynn Gillespie, all in their late 20s, were charged with assault and damage of property over $500 after their unladylike behavior, which included smashing the drive-thru window and peeling off accessories to better teach the workers a lesson in customer service.

As any good cross-dressers would, the three began to kick off stiletto boots (to better keep their balance while swinging), remove hoop earrings (no danger of having them yanked out), and take off their jackets (less restriction of movement) in order to deliver a McWhoopin’ on the staff.

Next time, get the queens their Big Macs post haste!  “Two snaps up in a circle!”

From one of Michelle Malkin’s readers:

From Ace:

Wow.

On Thursday the eggheads will revise the 3rd quarter GDP snapshot of the country’s economic growth. It was preliminarily called at 3.9% — already a pretty sizzling number — and may be revised up to 4.5% (smokin’ up your kitchen) or even 5% (inferno, grab the cash from the icebox and evacuate the premises).

The Deciders, however, are entirely unimpressed:

In normal times, a U.S. recession would be a distant prospect. The biggest piece of economic data this week is the revision of third-quarter U.S. GDP growth rate, probably to a far-from-recessionary 5%. But these are not normal times.

By “normal times” I’m pretty sure they mean “periods in which a Democratic President is in office.”

Newsbusters comments:

If (emphasis “if”) Thursday’s actual result is 4.9% or higher, it will be the best GDP growth since the third quarter of 2003, and the second-best since the second quarter of 2000.

The second quarter of 2000? Doesn’t that mean the GDP growth would be higher than at the end of Clinton’s term? And the other big quarter — the eyepopping 6+% rate in 2003 — was also not hit during Clinton’s presidency.

The economy was strong under Clinton. That is not arguable, except, I guess, by lunatics. But the lunatics in the MSM are determined to pretend that when Bush’s presidency consists of quarter after quarter of solid-to-strong growth and low unemployment, we’re in a fucking recession, or we are just barely dodging a recession, or we will be in a recession next week.

I don’t think they’ve pined for anything quite as strongly except perhaps the long-anticipated Iraqi Civil War. Their longing for both demonstrates an obsession bordering on the sexual. 

Nope…no liberal media bias!

Th’ Man is willing to throw the country into a recession/depression, so long as he gets to keep Th’ Brutha Man down.  From Chicago’s fishwrap:

The Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. on Monday demanded City Council hearings and plans a Dec. 10 march on LaSalle Street to shine the light on a mortgage foreclosure epidemic he warned could trigger a “sustained depression” as early as next year.

Jackson accused “unscrupulous lenders” of targeting minorities for high-cost loans in a “form of redlining and racial profiling.” He pointed to a study by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition that shows African Americans of all income levels in the Chicago area were more than twice as likely as whites to receive the subprime and ballooning adjustable interest rate mortgages that can be a prelude to foreclosure. The City Council has no power to bring about the solution that Jackson is seeking: a freeze on both adjustable rate mortgages and home foreclosures, and restructuring in favor of repossession. But, City Council hearings can apply political pressure. 

Does anyone other than me get a kick out of Jesse “Babydaddy” Jackson calling anyone “unscrupulous”?  Pots and kettles are coming to mind.  Oh, wait: pots and kettles are both…black!  I must be racist.

I’ll be the first to admit that I (and many of you) are prone to ignore or poormouth a poll that results of which we are suspicious.  In that regard, Her Highness and her dog washers are not different.  I’ll also admit that Zogby has gone from a once-reliable poll source to a hopelessly biased one (dude actually said Kerry was leading in TN in 2004…he lost the state by 14%).  So piling on Zogs is not that newsworthy.

But Her Highness’ handlers appear to be in a quasi-panic mode, despite the fact that the first primary is over a month away.  In political terms, that’s a lifetime.  Anywho, check this out from Zogby:

All is fair in love and war, the centuries–old proverb states. Politics is not included, but given the way the game is played in modern–day America, maybe it should be. That’s the sense I had again this morning watching Mark Penn, the chief political strategist for Democrat Hillary Clinton, denigrate our latest Zogby Interactive survey simply because it showed his client in a bad light (Link to Latest Poll Number). Penn made the contention on the MSNBC morning news program hosted by Joe Scarborough (Link to Video)

Penn mischaracterized this latest online Zogby poll as our first interactive survey ever – a bizarre contention, since we have been developing and perfecting our Internet polling methodology for nearly a decade (Zogby Intreractive Methodology), and since Penn’s company has been quietly requesting the results of such polls from Zogby for years. We always comply as part of our pledge to give public Zogby polling results to any and every candidate and campaign that asks for them. What is interesting is that no other campaign has made as many requests for Zogby polling data over the years than Penn has made on behalf of Clinton.

Because Mark Penn is a quality pollster himself, we chalk up his contention that our poll is “meaningless” as a knee–jerk reaction by a campaign under pressure coming down the stretch. Several other polls – Zogby surveys and others – have shown her national lead and her leads in early–voting states like Iowa and New Hampshire have shrunk. This is not unusual. These presidential contests usually tighten as the primaries and caucuses approach. 

Shrillary’s mouthpieces are either lying or woefully uninformed, and considering the level of dishonesty inherent to Her Highness and those around her, I’m leaning towards the former.  At any rate, I still suspect she’ll win in Iowa, though I must admit that I’m taking extreme pleasure in watching her squirm like this.

He will be dictator for the rest of his life, and you Venezuelans will like it!  From Breitbart/AP:

Rallies for and against constitutional changes proposed by President Hugo Chavez surged Tuesday as the Venezuelan leader declared that a weekend referendum on the proposed charter “cannot fail.”

Such gatherings have increased tensions ahead of Sunday’s referendum on reforms that would allow Chavez indefinite re-election, increase presidential terms from six to seven years and help the Venezuelan leader establish socialism in Venezuela.

While Chavez appeared before supporters to urge Venezuelans to approve the referendum and “open the path to a new nation,” opponents held at least two protests and one of his ex-wives even held a press conference to urge voters to reject the slate of changes.

In Caracas, about 300 placard-waving students gathered outside the Catholic University Andres Bello, occupying a highway for four hours and causing rush-hour traffic jams, to urge Venezuelans to vote “no” on Sunday. The students contend the new constitution would give Chavez authoritarian powers.

“We students will keep coming out onto the street to demand freedom and democracy,” said Roberto Diaz, a 21-year old law student at the university. Dozens of police and national guard monitored the demonstration that ended Tuesday evening without incident.

At the same time, about 5,000 mainly female Chavez supporters gathered in a stadium west of Caracas to back the referendum campaign. Participants in the “Women for Yes” rally, many dressed in Chavista red, waved posters with images of Chavez and Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
…
In a speech Tuesday, Chavez said Venezuelans will vote “yes.”

“On Saturday, the final attack begins, and Sunday … it’s written: the people will vote and will say ‘yes’ to the call we’re giving to open the path to a new nation,” Chavez said, alluding to the referendum that aims to modify 69 of the 530 articles in the constitution.

“We can’t go backward, we cannot fail! (He means that literally. With the voting rigged, he cannot fail. - Ed.) We’re obliged to win, to continue triumphing. This is a battle of world proportions,” Chavez said.

Still, according to recent polls, the “no” could give Chavez his first defeat at the polls since he first won office in 1998.

Of course, Chavez is threatening opponents of his reforms in a Mugabe landgrab kinda way.  But not to worry, folks.  I’m sure Jimmy the Dhimmi Carter will go down there to make sure the “vote” is on the up-and-up!  For those of you on the left, the prior sentence was sarcasm.

In Edwards’ eyes, you deserve a “health care choice” if you’re going to kill your baby.  Otherwise, you get no health care choices of any kind.  Silky Pone Pone on your own non-infanticide health care:

“I’m mandating healthcare for every man woman and child in America and that’s the only way to have real universal healthcare.”

“Evertime you go into contact with the helathcare system or the govenment you will be signed up.”

During a press avail following the event Edwards reiterated his mandate:

“Basically every time they come into contact with either the healthcare system or the government, whether it’s payment of taxes, school, going to the library, whatever it is they will be signed up.”

When asked by a reporter if an individual decided they didn’t want healthcare Edwards quickly responded, “You don’t get that choice.“ 

Silky on your other “health care choice”:

Q: What is your view on the decision on partial-birth abortion and most of the public agreeing with the court’s holding?

A: This decision by the Supreme Court is a perfect example of what’s at stake in this election. The kind of people that will be appointed to the US Supreme Court by the next president will control whether a woman’s freedom, freedom to choose, make her own health care decisions will be made by her or will be made by the government or by some men sitting on the US Supreme Court. 

Totalitarian in all aspects, though the benevolent dictator will give you the option to suck your baby’s brains through a vacuum.  Mighty big of him, don’t you think?

What a shock, huh?  From LAT:

Tom Selders is still baffled at how quickly the city he served for years turned on him.

The two-term mayor of this conservative farm town had been a political fixture for nearly two decades. A businessman who prided himself on bringing efficiency to city government, Selders infuriated his constituents after jumping into the national debate over illegal immigration. In May he spoke at an open forum in Washington about the effects of last year’s immigration raid on a meatpacking plant here, which led to the detention of 262 undocumented workers. (Can’t you MSMers just call them what they are…illegal immigrants? - Ed.)

“Many families and children were devastated by parents being arrested and detained,” Selders said. “Children — citizens of the United States — were left without parents.”

The reaction in Greeley, whose Latino population has nearly tripled since 1980, was swift and furious. Selders, who was seeking a third term as mayor, was overwhelmed with angry calls. He became a regular target on local talk radio. A mailer linking him to illegal immigrant gang members flooded mailboxes.

Earlier this month Selders was ousted from the nonpartisan post, losing to a retired police officer by a 3-2 margin.

“I really feel betrayed by my community,” said Selders, 61. “There’s a big contingent of people in this community who are just full of anger and hate about illegal immigration, and that anger and hate has been transferred to me.”

You arrogant, egocentric windbag!  You feel betrayed?  The people of your community feel betrayed by you, and they voted your open borders tush out of office.  How’s that amnesty thing working for you now?

When they’re not busy savagely punishing the female victim of a gang rape, our pals in Saudi Arabia are letting our mortal enemies out of prison.  From the NY Sun:

On the eve of the Annapolis summit on the Middle East conflict, the Saudi royal family released 1,500 members of Al Qaeda from prison, requiring them only to promise to refrain from jihad within the Arabian Peninsula.
…
The story first broke over the weekend in the Saudi newspaper Al Watan. In an interview with the newspaper, a member of a special committee to reform jihadists in the kingdom, Muhammad al-Nujaimi, said the newly released prisoners had been reformed.

“The committee has met around 5,000 times to offer counseling to 3,200 people, who were accused of embracing the takfir ideology. The committee has successfully completed reforming 1,500 people,” he said.

Just another day in the “religion of peace”, huh?

The Master of Horror is also the Master of Horrific Logic.  From Time:

…So you’ve got these things going on, which seem to me to be very substantive, that could affect all of us, and instead, you see a lot of this back-fence gossip. So I said something to the Nightline guy about waterboarding, and if the Bush administration didn’t think it was torture, they ought to do some personal investigation. Someone in the Bush family should actually be waterboarded so they could report on it to George. I said, I didn’t think he would do it, but I suggested Jenna be waterboarded and then she could talk about whether or not she thought it was torture. … 

If Jenna had some info on current or impending terrorist operations and wasn’t talking, then by all means waterboard the b#tch.  Until then, King, might I suggest you go drive Chrisitine down to the Pet Semetary to play with Cujo?  Dumb#ss.

I’m sure Allah would want everyone to share the misery (before self-detonating in his name), right?  From the Telegraph:

An Indonesian fisherman who developed tree-like growths on his hands and feet is at the centre of an international medical spat after his country’s health minister criticised doctors trying to treat him.

Indonesia’s health minister, Siti Fadilah Supari, lambasted the US doctor currently treating the 35-year-old man, who has the rare affliction caused by the Human Papilloma Virus.

Mrs Supari is angry that Dr Anthony Gaspari has taken blood and tissue samples out of the country to the United States in a bid to diagnose the illness. She claims such samples could be used in the future to make vaccines that the poor could not afford.

Because if the poor cannot afford the vaccines, then no one should have them?  “Sir, we have a cure, but some welfare leech in Memphis can’t afford it, since she spent her check on Old English 800.  I’m afraid you’re going to have to suffer.”  Friggin’ brilliant.

Here’s a little blue-ob-blue action, courtesy of Osamabamadingdong:

Obama went out of his way to belittle Clinton’s experience as first lady.

“I think the fact of the matter is that Sen. Clinton is claiming basically the entire eight years of the Clinton presidency as her own, except for the stuff that didn’t work out, in which case she says she has nothing to do with it,” Obama said, and added, referring to his relationship with his wife, Michelle, “There is no doubt that Bill Clinton had faith in her and consulted with her on issues, in the same way that I would consult with Michelle, if there were issues,” Obama said. “On the other hand, I don’t think Michelle would claim that she is the best qualified person to be a United States Senator by virtue of me talking to her on occasion about the work I’ve done.“ 

Easy, Barry O…lest ye end up like Vince Foster.

It’s hard to believe that Dewars-addled brain of his can remember anything after half a century of abuse.  From his fawning admirers at the NYT:

Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the most prominent surviving member of the Kennedy family, has agreed to sell his memoirs for an advance of more than $8 million, people with knowledge of the negotiations say.

After a six-day auction that concluded Nov. 19, Twelve, an imprint of Grand Central Publishing, bought world rights for the autobiography. Before the deal can be completed, Mr. Kennedy must clear his publishing contract with the Senate Ethics Committee.

Jonathan Karp, publisher and editor in chief of Twelve, said he hoped to publish the book in the fall of 2010. Mr. Kennedy is “walking, talking history,” (or more accurately, “stumbling, staggering history”! - Ed.) Mr. Karp said, “and there’s no limit to what he can talk about with authority and distinctive personal perspective.”

Mary Jo Kopechne was unavailable for comment.

Knock yourselves out:

 1.  “When I asked how things were back home, Al, I was talking about Tennessee, not D.C.”

2.  “Every time you fly that jumbo carbon spewer of yours, Al, I get commission checks from my old oil company.  Two can play this ‘global warming sham’ game, dude.”

3.  “The tourist with the Florida t-shirt was my idea, Al.  I can be a real #ssh0le sometimes.”

4.  “Sorry about the Marine outside giving you grief, Al.  He’s still bent about you getting his vote tossed out in Jacksonville seven years ago.”

5.  “Seriously, that dude hanging from the Oval Office chandelier is my intern Chad.  Get it?  ‘Hanging Chad’?  **Snort!**“

6.  “Dude…you farted?”

7.  They were both horrified and curiously enamored by Pelosi’s pole dancing routine.

Talk amongst yourselves.

Something for the supporters of Shickadance to get riled up over, I’d say.  From Hugh Hewitt:

Mainstream Republican libertarians might be gung-ho for Paul’s small-government idealism, they might adopt Glenn Reynoldsish skepticism of the homeland security bureaucracy, and even John McCain has lately made a thing of ripping the military-industrial complex, but there is no way — I repeat NO WAY — they will embrace Ron Paul if he continues to blame America for 9/11 and imply that America is acting illegally in defending itself around the globe. Even if they aren’t the biggest fans of the war, most people that are available for Ron Paul on the right are by temperament patriotic and will never vote for someone who sounds like Noam Chomsky.  

Ouch!

I refuse to watch Sunday Night Football on NBC for two main reasons: (1) they’ve got moonbat extraordinaire Keith Blabberman on there; and (2) I don’t want to be subjected to junk science like global “warming” when all I want to do is watch some football.

Well, how about a third reason not to watch it (or, more specifically, not to let your kids watch it): you’ll get a dose of poor education.  When talking about why it’s a bad idea for Denver (or anyone else) to punt to Bears return man Devin Hester, Olberbat decided to mock the mental acumen of the Denver Broncos thusly:

Do not kick it Hester. Do not kick it to Hester. Do they get the highlights west of the Rockies? 

There’s just one slight problem with Magellan’s directions here: Denver is east of the Rockies, not west.  One would think that before resorting to condescension, it would be a good idea to get one’s facts straight.  Then again, one would think…and it’s clear that Olberpuss doesn’t.

This couldn’t have happened to a better guy, could it?  From New York Mag:

If he weren’t famous, he’d be mistaken for a veteran of a long-ago war: khaki safari shirt on his back, scuffed combat boots on his feet, that wiry crest of a brow, rheumy eyes under heavy lids, lower lip jutting out like an ornery fish resisting a hook.

When Dan Rather sits on a bench in Central Park to tell how his 44-year career at CBS News ended in ignominy and humiliation, he is in fact still waging a war, a bitter and personal one. And the memories of the battles that undid him are still fresh on his mind. “Monday morning, about 8:49—and I think that is the time precisely,” he says. He’s recalling January 10, 2005, when he first received the 224-page report commissioned by CBS that excoriated his infamous 60 Minutes Wednesday segment on President Bush’s National Guard service. Of that report, Rather says, “When I read through it, all I could say to myself, on each page, is, ‘What bullshit. What pure, unadulterated bullshit this whole thing is. What a setup. What a fix.’ ” He nearly spits the word fix.

Three years later, Rather cannot forget. He’s suing CBS and its former parent company Viacom—along with Viacom’s chairman, Sumner Redstone; CBS chief Leslie Moonves; and former CBS News president Andrew Heyward—for $70 million. The core of Rather’s lawsuit is a mundane contract dispute over whether he received the airtime he was promised in his final year on CBS. But like Rather himself, it’s charged with hurricane-force drama, draped in a larger tale of conspiracy and corruption. He hopes that depositions and subpoenas can complete the unfinished business of “Rathergate,” proving not only that he was right all along, that his National Guard story was accurate, but also that CBS buried him so Sumner Redstone could shield Viacom’s corporate interests in Washington from White House blowback. “My opinion,” says Rather, “is that Redstone is the heavy in this.”

This is Dan Rather’s last big story, his crusade to save his reputation as one of the late-twentieth century’s great TV newsmen. “Look, I don’t want to be some Don Quixote out here tilting at windmills, without even a Sancho,” says Rather. “I think when people hear what I was told and what I was not told by CBS executives concerning the Guard story, that they’ll understand.”

But with much unproved, Rather’s claims have left him standing alone. CBS has already fired back, motioning to dismiss his case and calling his allegations “bizarre” and “far-fetched,” his motives purely ego-driven. In launching his attack, Rather risks what’s left of his credibility: If the case makes it to trial, it could uncap the biggest media scandal ever told—or reveal Rather to be the crumpled icon of a fading era, courting madness in the twilight of public life.

I’m leaning towards the latter.

You ought to read the whole article, if you have about 10 minutes to kill.  It contains quite a bit of hilarity and sidesplitting moonbattery by a once-repsected (by many, not by me) anchorman.  Appetizer: “As the commission’s investigation dragged on through the fall, Rather began to piece together his conspiracy theory. ‘As soon as we began to see that the company was wobbling,’ says Rather, ‘I said to myself, ‘I think Redstone said to Moonves, Make this disappear. This is killing us in Washington.”. Now, everywhere he looked, he saw signs of his company’s caving to pressure from the Bush administration.“  Seriously, aside from implementing a virtual pole dancer, I can’t think of anything else after that nugget that could get you more interested to read it.