Archive for July, 2011
Fast and Furious just got more interesting
Kenneth Melson
I know I’ve been doing a lot of posting on the Fast and Furious scandal and some of you might not be as enthralled as I am with it but I think this is heading downhill quickly for the DOJ (and thus Eric Holder) and I can’t wait to see where this will all end up. It’s like a great mystery movie where you watch and watch and wait to see “who done it”. We all know “who done it” here but will they get away with it and will it eventually end up in Obama’s lap?
Breaking news out late yesterday afternoon is that Kenneth Melson, Director of the ATF, is singing like a little bird and his song isn’t exactly music to the DOJ, ATF or the FBI’s ears. Melson was scheduled to meet next week with Rep. Issa and Grassley, who are heading up the investigation by the House Oversight Committee. Next week’s meeting would also have included lawyers from the DOJ (so they could keep an eye on him and do some damage control). Instead, Melson opted to have a secret meeting with Issa and Grassley so he could say what was really on his mind….and there was a lot on his mind.
Here’s a brief little summary of things discussed in the July 4th meeting…
So several other government agencies were also doing concurrent operations involving gun sales to Mexican thugs? Doesn’t the DOJ oversee the ATF and the DEA? Apparently the Arizona US Attorney Dennis Burke (an Obama appointee) is up to his eyeballs in the scandal because his office provided legal advice to the ATF during Fast and Furious. No matter which way you go with this fiasco….all roads lead back to the DOJ and Eric Holder.
I would love to be a fly on the wall in Holder’s office when he is discussing what the DOJ will do next.
Wouldn’t Project Gunrunner make a great movie? Starring Denzel Washington, Harrison Ford and….who else?
Thursday Open Thread: July 7th, 2011
Today in History: July 7th
1928 – Sliced bread is sold for the first time by the Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicothe, Missouri
1930 – Industrialist Henry J. Kaiser begins construction of the Boulder Dam (now known as Hoover Dam).
1953 – Ernesto “Che” Guevara sets out on a trip through Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador
1954 – Elvis Presley made his radio debut when WHBQ Memphis played his first recording for Sun Records, “That’s All Right.”
1958 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Alaska Statehood Act into law.
1980 – Institution of sharia in Iran.
2002 – A scandal breaks out in the United Kingdom when news reports accuse MI6 of sheltering Abu Qatada, the supposed European Al Qaeda leader.
2005 – A series of four explosions occurs on London’s transport system killing 56 people including four alleged suicide bombers and injuring over 700 others.
So…what’s on your minds this Thursday?
What are people talking about in your part of the world?
Mexican officials want US officials behind Fast and Furious tried in Mexico.
Mexico is pissed….and with good reason. The more that is known about the Fast and Furious fiasco, the more apparent it is that the US screwed up and allowed 2500 assault rifles and revolvers to be transported into Mexico by thugs. These guns were supposed to be traced to high level mob-type gun traffickers (and drug cartel members) but for some reason….ATF agents just sat back and let the bad guys be bad guys and in the process, numerous people were murdered with these weapons (including a US border patrol agent…RIP Brian Terry ). Now Mexican officials want the ones responsible for Operation Fast and Furious (aka Project Gunrunner) to not only be tried in the US but also in Mexico.
Ay caramba! This could get very interesting…especially with 2012 right around the corner.
The investigation should go as far up as Obama himself but we all know that “The One” is bubble-wrapped and probably won’t be touched. At the very least, Eric Holder’s name should be listed at the top of the page of usual suspects. Holder remains eerily silent lately….trying to fly below the radar. I bet he hasn’t slept much lately.
Will Obama throw Holder under the bus? My guess is yes.
I hope Holder likes tequila and tacos.
Thoughts on Casey Anthony
Caylee Anthony
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you should know by now that Casey Anthony has been found not guilty in the murder of her daughter Caylee Anthony. I know this isn’t a political subject but it has been bugging me and I would love some opinions. I watched a good bit of the trial and watched the closing arguments and was convinced that Casey was guilty and would be convicted. What did I miss? I know I wasn’t the only one that wanted Casey to pay for the murder of her precious little girl but…did she really kill Caylee? Am I being swayed by the way Casey behaved after Caylee went missing. What kind of mother would party and romp around when her daughter has disappeared? The jury obviously felt like the prosecution did not prove their case. I should have more faith in our justice system.
I am most definitley not a legal expert…nor do I want to be.
What are your thoughts on the trial and the verdict?
One thing is for sure…sweet little Caylee is dead and someone is responsible.
What now?
Wednesday Open Thread: July 6th, 2011
Today in History: July 6th
1917 – World War I: Arabian troops led by T. E. Lawrence (“Lawrence of Arabia”) and Auda ibu Tayi capture Aqaba from the Ottoman Empire during the Arab Revolt
1933 – The first Major League Baseball All-Star Game is played in Chicago’s Comiskey Park. The American League defeats the National League 4–2
1939 – Holocaust: the last remaining Jewish enterprises in Germany are closed.
1942 – Anne Frank and her family go into hiding in the “Secret Annexe” above her father’s office in an Amsterdam warehouse.
1947 – The AK-47 goes into production in the Soviet Union
1957 – John Lennon and Paul McCartney of the Beatles are introduced to each other when Lennon’s band the Quarrymen performs at the St. Peter’s Church Hall fête in Woolton.
1989 – The Israeli 405 Bus slaughter in which 14 bus passengers are killed when an Arab assaulted the bus driver as the bus is driving by the edge of a cliff.
2006 – The Nathula Pass between India and China, sealed during the Sino-Indian War, re-opens for trade after 44 years.
So…what’s on your minds this Wednesday?
What are people talking about in your part of the world?
Ronald Reagan is honored as an American hero….in Great Britain
A ten foot high bronze statue of President Ronald Reagan was unveiled near the American embassy in London yesterday. On hand was Condoleeza Rice who was there representing not only the US but also former First Lady Nancy Reagan. British Foreign Secretary William Hague spoke at the ceremony…
“Statues bring us to face to face with our heroes long after they are gone. Ronald Reagan is without question a great American hero; one of America’s finest sons, and a giant of 20th-century history. You may be sure that the people of London will take this statue to their hearts.”
Hague also read a message from former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher…
“Ronald Reagan was a great president and a great man—a true leader for our times. He held clear principles and acted upon them with purpose. Through his strength and his conviction he brought millions of people to freedom as the Iron Curtain finally came down.”
But London wasn’t the only place honoring the great Ronald Reagan. On Friday, Prague renamed a street in his honor and on Wednesday, Budapest also unveiled a statue honoring the great American hero. All these celebrations are honoring Reagan’s 100th birthday (which was on February 11, 2011). Apparently, there will be other ceremonies taking place all over the world during this year long celebration.
What a wonderful thing to do for such an amazing leader.
Think Obama will rate this kind of attention when he turns 100?
Considering one of his first acts as president was to return the bust of Winston Churchill to Great Britain…a bust that had a long honored history in the White House, I don’t think the Brits will waste their money on Obama.
A little post-Independence Day humor.
(h/t Moonbattery)
Holy Cow! I really want to laugh at this video but it so damn sad.
Some of these people aren’t exactly young. Have they smoked too much weed? Have they killed off most of their brain cells? At least a few of them knew it was England that we wanted independence.
These people get to vote.
Very scary.
Tuesday Open Thread: July 5th, 2011
Today in History: July 5th
1937 – Spam, the luncheon meat, is introduced into the market by the Hormel Foods Corporation.
1950 – Zionism: the Knesset passes the Law of Return which grants all Jews the right to immigrate to Israel.
1962 – The Late Late Show, the world’s longest-running chat show by the same broadcaster, airs on RTÉ One for the first time.
1971 – Right to vote: the Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 years, is formally certified by President Richard Nixon.
1975 – Arthur Ashe becomes the first black man to win the Wimbledon singles title.
1989 – Iran-Contra Affair: Oliver North is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell to a three-year suspended prison term, two years probation, $150,000 in fines and 1,200 hours community service.
2009 – Roger Federer wins a record 15th Grand Slam title in tennis, winning a five set match against Andy Roddick at Wimbledon.
So….what’s on your minds this Tuesday?
What are people talking about in your part of the world?
The Declaration of Independence…it’s what today is all about.
Today we celebrate the 235th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Here’s a little history lesson…during the American Revolution, the legal separation of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence. This resolution had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia. After voting for independence, Congress then needed to write a Declaration of Independence, which would explain their decision. This statement had been drafted by a Committee of Five, with Thomas Jefferson as its main author. Congress debated and revised the Declaration, finally approving it on July 4.
Here’s the transcript of the Declaration of Independence:
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of
America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to
dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to
assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which
the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the
opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel
them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among
these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these
rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from
the consent of the governed, –That whenever 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, laying its foundation on such principles
and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to
effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that
Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient
causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more
disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by
abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of
abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to
reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to
throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future
security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is
now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of
Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of
repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment
of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted
to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the
public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and
pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should
be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to
them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large
districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of
Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to
tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual,
uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the
sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has
dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his
invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after
such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative
powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for
their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers
of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to
prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws
for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their
migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of
Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his
Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges
dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and
payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and
sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their
substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without
the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military
independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others
to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged
by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For
Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a
mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the
Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the
world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in
many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas
to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English
Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government,
and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit
instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering
fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own
Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us
in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us
out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas,
ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to
compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with
circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous
ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained
our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their
Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall
themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us,
and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless
Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction
of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the
most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated
injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a
Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have
warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an
unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances
of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice
and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to
disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and
correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of
consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces
our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War,
in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in
General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the
rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good
People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United
Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they
are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political
connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be
totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power
to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do
all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the
support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine
Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our
sacred Honor.
Our Founding Fathers were so damn smart.
Open Thread: July 4th, 2011
Happy Birthday America!
What are you doing to celebrate our great nations birthday?
What’s on your minds today?
