Tuesday, November 29, 2011

“Mad Maxine” Waters To Head House Financial Services Committee After Franks Retires

The Intertoobs are abwaze wiff the news that emerged fwom the Commonwealth of Massachusetts today as we wearned that Bawney Fwank will not wun for we-ewection in 2012.

He claims that gerrymandering his congressional district played a role in his decision, but I’m not so sure.

On August 13, 2009, Judicial Watch launched an investigation into a $12 million TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) cash injection provided to the Boston-based OneUnited Bank at the urging of Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank.

Slate reveals the nature of Judicial Watch’s concerns from an email it obtained:

“That isn't quite the end of the story, because OneUnited needed not just the ability to get money, but the money itself. To do this, it needed leniency from the FDIC. On Oct. 17 King Mueller, deputy assistant secretary for banking and finance, wrote to others at Treasury that he had just spoken to an aide in Frank's office. "This is about One United Bank. … Maxine Waters is interested in the bank as well. … [Frank] is interested and may call [Paulson] again about this. … FDIC [has] … gotten similar interest from [Frank's] staff. The bank is worried about call report data that goes public on Oct 30th, concerned it could lead to a run if they don't have a [capitalization] plan in place by then. Obviously want to use TARP and likely will request much more than is set out in the term sheet—[Frank] will point to the Considerations language (Sec 103, subsection 6). …"   A few days later, Treasury's Mueller wrote again: "I got another call from BF's office about this. They continue to express concern about the Oct. 30th date. …"

Congresswoman Maxine Waters was caught helping arrange a taxpayer bailout for a bank where her husband was a former board member and had a significant financial interest.

An ethics hearing for Waters was to have taken place on November 29, 2010 but was indefinitely postponed due to the discovery of new documents connected to the charges.  A report from outside counsel on the matter is due January 2, 2012.

Waters is next in line to head the House Financial Services Committee and her allies are vowing “Armageddon” if her seniority does not land her the top slot. She is next in line after Frank on the panel but faces a potential challenge from Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY).

It’s an easy leap to make that if Waters does ascend to the chair of the committee that the issue of the $12 million dollar TARP funds for OneUnited Bank, Frank’s direct involvement in the cash infusion and Waters’ ethics charges would, somehow, magically be swept under the rug.

Corruption begets corruption.  Let’s hope Judicial Watch is successful in prosecuting its case against Frank and thereby creeks “Mad Maxine” in the process.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Thanksgiving: America Coming Home


Let me begin this post with my sincerest wishes that you are surrounded this Thanksgiving with friends and family.

As we gather together to share in our holiday feast, I hope you will remember our brave military servicemen and women who are far from hearth and home serving our nation in harm’s way.  I hope you offer a prayer to those whose tables will have an empty chair that would otherwise have been filled by someone they’ve lost during the year.

Year after year nothing really changes on Thanksgiving does it?  We give thanks that we live in the freest nation on earth.  The baby that was brought into the world since the last Thanksgiving is proudly shown off and the fabric of the American family is stitched together again as the bountiful meal is shared.  America has come home.

Pictured here is the November 24, 1945, Saturday Evening Post cover featuring Norman Rockwell’s "Home for Thanksgiving” where a GI still in his uniform happily helps his mom peel the potatoes for the feast they will enjoy. 

The tradition in my home includes watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.  The parade travels down Central Park West and ends at 34th Street.  That sets the stage for watching, for the umpteenth time, the classic movie Miracle on 34th Street.

The movie stars little Natalie Wood as Susan Walker, who in her young life, has doubts about childhood’s most enduring miracle. She learns through Kris Kringle, played by Edmund Gwenn, that faith is believing in things when common sense tells you not to.

Then comes the football games where everybody finds a spot around the TV and undoes their pants to ease that stuffed-to-the-gills feeling.
 
Here’s wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving.


Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Tell Pelosi To Resign Over Corrupt VISA Deal



Gleefully pinched from Lee Stranahan

"Chew Bacca"


The White House doctor declared him to be “tobacco-free”, but the Presidebt was spotted at the G20 summit in Cannes, France chewing on nicotine gum.  Seems the results of his physical exam may not have given the whole picture.

He was photographed removing a piece of gum from his piehole on November 19, 2011 at the East Asia Summit.  He just can’t get the monkey off his back.

Hat Tip Moonbattery

Monday, November 21, 2011

The Hellish Panic Of The Left


Pat Caddell and Doug Schoen have written a fantasy piece in the Wall Street Journal. 

In the piece entitled, “The Hillary Moment”, the former Carter and Clinton pollsters pine for Hillary Clinton to come to the rescue of the Democratic Party.

“He [Obama] should abandon his candidacy for re-election in favor of a clear alternative, one capable not only of saving the Democratic Party, but more important, of governing effectively and in a way that preserves the most important of the president's accomplishments. He should step aside for the one candidate who would become, by acclamation, the nominee of the Democratic Party: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.”

“Never before has there been such an obvious potential successor—one who has been a loyal and effective member of the president's administration, who has the stature to take on the office, and who is the only leader capable of uniting the country around a bipartisan economic and foreign policy.”

Have these two forgotten that their party screwed the pooch when it sabotaged her run for the Oval Office in favor of The Errand Boy Sent By Grocery Clerks?

The liberal elites made their choice and are now tethered to this stuttering clusterfuck of a miserable failure (SCoaMF).  It is crystal clear that with the SCoaMF becoming ever more unelectable, placing their hope for redemption of the party in Hillary Clinton signals a palatable sense of doom.  They are in a hellish panic.

It is more than fair to say that Hillary Rodham Clinton has a well-documented series of ethics problems.  In March 2007, Judicial Watch filed an ethics complaint against then-Senator Clinton for filing false financial disclosure forms with the U.S Senate.  Norman Hsu, a top Clinton campaign contributor, was exposed as a felon and a fugitive from justice.  Records show he pleaded guilty to one count of grand theft for defrauding investors as part of a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme.

She defended her permanently erect husband during the Monica Lewinsky scandal and vigorously blocked the release of her office White House records relating to her role in the Rose Law Firm, Whitewater and Travelgate.  Let’s also not forget when she lied about coming under sniper fire while visiting Bosnia.

At one point during the Clinton presidency, WH Press Secretary Mike McCurry said that Bill Clinton wanted to punch a columnist in the nose for writing that the “First Lady is a congenital liar.”

Presidebt Present cannot run on his record and Hillary cannot jump in and save the party so, as Caddell and Schoen fretfully point out, “…he will need to wage the most negative campaign in history to stand any chance.”

Didn’t see that coming.  Meanwhile, our allies are distrusting of this administration and our enemies, well, they chuckle to themselves.

Tweety’s Pom Poms Are Drooping: There’s Nothing To Root For

“What are we trying to do in this administration? Why does he want a second term? Would he tell us? What's he going to do in the second term? More of this? Is this it? Is this as good as it gets? Where are we going? Are we going to do something the second term? He has yet to tell us. He has not said one thing about what he would do in the second term. He never tells us what he is going to do with reforming our healthcare systems, Medicare, Medicaid, how he’s going to reform Social Security. Is he going to deal with long-term debt? How? Is he going to reform the tax system? How? Just tell us. Why are we in this fight with him? Just tell us, Commander, give us our orders and tell us where we’re going, give us the mission. And he hasn't done it.”

Where are we going?  Down the road to serfdom.

Presidebt Present’s water carrier seems to have a leaky bucket and that’s not good.  Not good at all.

Video Hat Tip Breitbart TV


Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Coach K: Alone At The Top


John Wooden, Bob Huggins, Jerry Tarkanian, Lute Olson, Lefty Driesell, Adolph Rupp, Dean Smith and Bobby Knight—all storied coaches with phenomenal records in men’s collegiate basketball.

Mike Krzyzewski, known as Coach K, passed his mentor Bobby Knight as the winningest coach of all time last night at Madison Square Garden.

This is Coach’s 37th season.

With Knight sitting across the court at the ESPN broadcast table, and with several former players in the stands, Krzyzewski moved to the top of the list in front of a sellout crowd of 19,979.

At the final buzzer, Krzyzewski went right across the court to Knight.  They were cheek to cheek in a hug. Krzyzewski, tears in his eyes, broke away and Knight pulled him back, hands on his shoulders, then one final slap of the shoulder.

"I just told coach I love him," Krzyzewski said. "I wouldn't be in this position without him. It's a moment shared. I know he's very proud and I'm very proud to have been somebody who's worked under him and studied him and tried to be like him."

What a class act.


Sunday, November 13, 2011

Joe Pa And Penn State: Ruin And The Path To Transformation


In what can only be described as a week of upheaval at State College in Pennsylvania, Beaver Stadium was the epicenter of emotions for more than 108,000 fans and students who came to see their beloved Nittany Lions play the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Many have called for the university to cancel the rest of its football season.  I don’t agree with that notion.

Saturday’s game was Senior Day.  It is not the players who should be made to pay for the child sex scandal that has rocked the university.

I tuned into the game out of shear curiosity because three days earlier, when Penn State officials fired Joe Pa, thousands of students rioted in the streets tearing down light poles and overturning a TV news van kicking in its windows.  Rocks and bottles were thrown.  A photographer was struck by one of those rocks.

Tom Osborne, Athletic Director for the Cornhuskers, cautioned Nebraska fans traveling to Happy Valley for the game to leave their Cornhusker gear at home—so as not to be a target—so concerned was he for their safety.

I heard one of the announcers at the outset of the game say that the players intended to give Coach Paterno the game ball if they won the game.  Paterno would not have deserved getting the game ball.

Ruin leads you on the path to transformation.

Since the rioting, the anger of earlier in the week has been tamped down.  Friday night, students held a candlelight vigil for the alleged victims and for the game on Saturday; the fans had a “blue out” acknowledging the victims instead of wearing the usual all white at home games.

Reading the grand jury testimony, you become sickened at the apparent cover-up.  The incontrovertible fact is that Coach Paterno failed to notify law enforcement of what he knew.  Letting only the school’s administration know what McQueary had told him about Jerry Sandusky and hoping they would take care of the problem was a betrayal of the victims.  It makes him complicit in the scandal.

Now, Penn State must purge the football program of the enablers of Sandusky.  Joe Paterno must live with the shame for the rest of his life.

Jay Paterno, Joe Pa’s son is paying a price too.  Interviewed after the Lions lost their game to Nebraska, Jay intimated that the letter he left with his father hours before the game said, “Just how proud I am of him.”  Overcome with emotion, he quickly ended the interview after adding, “Dad, I wish you were here.  We love you.”

It’s such a shame.  The program, the school and the Paterno name have been tarnished.  Just how badly and for how long depends entirely on the fallout that is sure to come.

Ruin leads you on the path to transformation.


Friday, November 11, 2011

Honor, Integrity And Sacrifice


Veterans are our neighbors, co-workers, friends, family, living heroes.  Let them know they have earned the thanks of a grateful nation.

Thank you for your service.  I am free because of you.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Perry's Swan Song


Wednesday night’s GOP debate cannot claim a winner, but there was one clear loser, Rick “Oops” Perry.

Good grief.  For someone so desperately in need of a solid debate performance, Perry blundered so horribly that I doubt he can get his campaign back on track.

When Perry gives his stump speech, he mentions three federal government agencies he would eliminate if elected president.  The problem last night was that he couldn’t remember them.

"I will tell you, it is three agencies of government when I get there that are gone: Commerce, Education, and — what's the third one there? Let's see."

He struggled hard to remember.

“The third agency of government I would—I would do away with, Education, the...,” Perry continued to try and find his answer.

Someone in the audience, trying to help the poor bastard out, shouted “Commerce.”

“Commerce and, let’s see,” Perry said. “I can’t. The third one, I can’t.  Sorry.  Oops.”

In the spin room at the conclusion of the debate, Perry sheepishly confessed he’d had a meltdown saying, "I'm glad I had my boots on tonight. I stepped in it out there."

Monday, November 7, 2011

Cain's Bimbo Eruption


Sharon Bialek has not accused Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain of sexual harassment.  Bialek is going full-tilt boogie with allegations of sexual assault.

Bialek told reporters in graphic detail of advances that he allegedly made on her in 1997.  She said: "Instead of going into the offices he suddenly reached over and he put his hand on my leg, under my skirt toward my genitals." She added: "He also pushed my head toward his crotch."

Feminista lawyer, Gloria Allred, adding sauce for the gander in an attempt to further sensationalize the growing scandal, said that Cain had been “actively lying to Americans,” and that when his accuser asked for a job, “Mr. Cain instead decided to try to provide her with his idea of a stimulus package.”

I will not pass judgment because the encounter took place fourteen years ago without witnesses and no evidence.  If it did happen as this Bialek woman alleges, this is bad for Cain.  Very. Bad.


“Just as the country finally begins to refocus on our crippling $15 trillion national debt and the unacceptably high unemployment rate, now activist celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred is bringing forth more false accusations against the character of Republican front-runner Herman Cain.

All allegations of harassment against Mr. Cain are completely false. Mr. Cain has never harassed anyone. Fortunately the American people will not allow Mr. Cain's bold ‘9-9-9 Plan’, clear foreign policy vision and plans for energy independence to be overshadowed by these bogus attacks.”

A Prayer For The Greatest Generation


Anyone living in America today owes a debt thanks to the boys of the GI Generation. They were our Greatest Generation.

They were the boys who went off to fight in World War II—what many called the “Big One.” After defeating Hitler, Mussolini and Hirohito, they came home and built our nation into an economic dynamo and a world leader. They knew the meaning of sacrifice, blood and treasure. They were humble men who never bragged about what they had done or been through.

On June 6, 1944, D-Day, General Dwight D. Eisenhower addressed the Allied Expeditionary Force before the Normandy landing saying, "Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well-trained, well-equipped and battle-hardened.  He will fight savagely.”

Back home, on the very same day, the Commander-in-Chief, FDR offered a prayer in a radio address to the nation.  It is that prayer that has stirred up a controversy.

A member of the Obama Administration, Bob Abbey, Director of the Bureau of Land Management, opposes a bill that was introduced by Rep. Bill Johnson (R-OH) known as the “World War II Memorial Prayer Act of 2011.”

Citing the Commemorative Works Act, Abbey’s written testimony offers this rationale for opposing Johnson’s bill. "It is not a judgment as to the merit of this new commemoration, simply that altering the Memorial in this way, as proposed in HR 2070, will necessarily dilute this elegant memorial's central message and its ability to clearly convey that message to move, educate, and inspire its many visitors."

Dilute it?

We are losing World War II veterans at the rate of 1,000 a day.  The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that by 2015 there will only be 50,000 left.

Honor Flight Network, working furiously against the clock, transports veterans to visit THEIR memorial.  In the first year of Honor Flight’s efforts, they safely transported 137 veterans to visit the World War II Memorial in Washington, DC.  In 2010, their sixth year, they transported 22,149 veterans, all at no cost to the veterans.

The plaques that currently adorn the memorial mean something to these heroes.  The proposed plaque will give meaning to those visitors who are too young to remember the conflagration that embroiled the globe, the gravity of that “Longest Day” or the overwhelming anxiety of the President of the United States.  The plaque will help to tell the story long after the last member of the greatest generation is gone from this earth.

Read the verbatim words of FDR’s D-Day prayer and then tell me it doesn’t belong at the memorial or that it would dilute its central message.

My fellow Americans: Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.

And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:

Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest-until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men's souls will be shaken with the violences of war.

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and good will among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.

And for us at home—fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas—whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them—help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.

Many people have urged that I call the Nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

Give us strength, too—strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.

And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.

And, O Lord, give us Faith. Give us Faith in Thee; Faith in our sons; Faith in each other; Faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogancies. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister Nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

Thy will be done, Almighty God. Amen. 

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Smashmouth Football: Clash Of The Unbeatens


Tonight at 8 p.m., the “Game of the Century” will be played at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa.  The sold out 101,821 seat stadium will be filled to overflowing with a sea of Houndstooth and crimson and chants of “Roll, Tide, Roll” as the No. 1 LSU Tigers collide with the No.2 Alabama Crimson Tide.

Richard Durrett is predicting a Bama victory.  Ty Duffy believes “Alabama does not need to run over LSU, but they need to run. Their line kept the ball moving against two excellent run defenses, Penn State and Florida. They must do so here as well. Look for Alabama to use misdirection, screens, whatever it takes to get Trent Richardson the ball in space. Having the ability to go both by people and through them, he’s lethal with a head of steam. If Richardson wants to pass Luck in the Heisman race, this is his opportunity.”

LSU Head Coach Les Miles offered this, “I'm excited about the chance to play a great program like Alabama and it's our job to make sure that we honor them by giving our best effort on Saturday. Games like this—this is what college football is all about."

My dad lived and breathed Alabama football.  Just before Christmas 1975, I found out that Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant was signing copies of his book, Bear:  The Hard Life and Good Times of Alabama’s Coach Bryant.  I decided to go there and get The Bear’s autograph for Dad as a Christmas gift.

Ever the stalwart fan, Dad knew that the 1975 Sugar Bowl contestants had been selected and that Bama would face the vaunted Penn State Nittany Lions.  Because I spilled the beans about The Bear’s book signing, Dad wanted me to ask him if the Tide would come away winners.

I was a mere twenty-three years old way back then.  As I stood at the back of the very long line, the living legend seated at the table did not look to be larger-than-life.  But as I got closer and closer to the man, I began to realize just what a formidable countenance he had.

Finally, it was my turn to request that Coach Bryant sign my copy of his book to my dad.  As he was writing, “To Bill, All the best.  Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant,” I screwed up the courage to ask him if the best team in college football would win the Sugar Bowl. 

The memory of what happened next hasn’t dimmed in my mind in the thirty-six years since it occurred.

The gravelly-voiced, 6 ft. 3 giant of a man rose from his chair, reached out his hand to me and said, “Young lady, you tell your daddy that Alabama is going to New Orleans to beat Paterno’s team on New Year’s Eve.”

I am here to tell you that his hand swallowed up mine.  I looked up as he spoke; much like a small child looks up at his mom or dad, until I finally saw his gentle eyes.

Alabama was victorious by a final score of 13–6.

This game with LSU is reminiscent of the glory days of The Bear.  So much is riding on its outcome.  Fans in Alabama are certain that the Tide will whip the Tigers.  LSU fans are just as certain the Tigers will scratch and claw their way to victory.

All I know is, when victory for the Crimson Tide is in hand, I will be chanting in front of my TV along with the mighty throng at Bryant-Denny, “Hey Tigers!  Hey Tigers! Hey Tigers!  We just beat the hell outta you!”

And dad, watching the game from Heaven above, will be happy.  I wish The Bear and dad were enjoying the game together.