USA Today Poll: 65% Say They Want Not Obama Policies And Programs

By William Teach May 5, 2014 – 4:41 pm

Yay, Year Of Action!(?) (via Jim Geraghty)

(USA Today) By more than 2-1, 65%-30%, Americans say they want the president elected in 2016 to pursue different policies and programs than the Obama administration, rather than similar ones. (snip)

By more than 2-1, Americans are dissatisfied with the direction of the country. They remain downbeat about the economy. They aren’t persuaded that the Affordable Care Act is going to help them and their families. Even the president’s supporters worry he is a political liability for fellow Democrats. The president’s job approval rating remains anemic in the new survey, at 44% approve, 50% disapprove. (snip)

Voters say the most important issue affecting their vote for Congress this fall is the jobs situation, cited by 27% of those surveyed. Health care is first for 21%, followed by the federal budget deficit, named by 19%. Only education and national security also break into double digits. (and Obama is supposed to be pivoting to “climate change”) (snip)

Though economists report an economic recovery is underway, most people say they aren’t feeling its benefits. By more than 2-1, 40%-17%, they assess the nation’s economic conditions as poor, not excellent or good. That’s essentially unchanged from a year ago. (snip)

Most of those surveyed say their own families aren’t prospering: 39% rate their financial situation as “only fair” and 23% call it poor. They do see a bit of hope on the horizon. Looking ahead, 59% say things are getting better for them, though most say only a little better. One in four say things are getting worse.

All those numbers and perceptions lead to a generic ballot lead of 47-43% for the GOP. And Obama is a major drag for Democrats

What’s more, 26% say they think of their vote as a vote against Obama; 16% as a vote for him. The president looms as more of a drag on Democrats than he was four years ago, when Democratic setbacks cost the party control of the House. Then, by 24%-20%, people saw their vote as a vote for Obama.

Fortunately, Obama’s foreign policy is so much better….oh.

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Man With World’s Largest Carbon Footprint Is Supposedly Refocusing On Climate Change

By William Teach May 5, 2014 – 3:30 pm

I’m not sure why the Washington Post’s Juliet Eilperin is so excited about this: Obama pivot’s do not last very long

The satellite images viewed by President Obama before a meeting with eight Western governors were stark, showing how snowpack in California’s mountains had shrunk by 86 percent in a single year.

“It was a ‘Houston, we have a problem’ moment,” recalled White House counselor John D. Podesta, one of two aides who briefed the president that February day. Obama mentioned the images several times as he warned the governors that political leaders had no choice but to cope with global warming’s impact.

Yeah, how about the massive, and in many cases, record breaking, snow throughout the heartland to the east coast?

After years of putting other policy priorities first — and dismaying many liberal allies in the process — Obama is now getting into the weeds on climate change and considers it one of the key components of his legacy, according to aides and advisers.

So his legacy will be one of causing the energy costs of Americans to artificially increase, meaning the price of everything else will rise?

And while he routinely brings up climate change in closed-door meetings with world leaders, according to his aides, he also discusses it in his private life, talking about global warming’s implications with his teenage daughters.

“This is really real for him, in terms of what he’s leaving,” said Cecilia Muñoz, who directs the White House Domestic Policy Council and has helped coordinate federal investment in climate-resilient infrastructure projects. “This is personal for him.”

Is this a White House press release, Juliet? Anyhow, let’s not forget that Obama is a serial climahypocrite, casually jetting off around the country for brief speeches followed my lots of fundraising appearances. This is a guy who sent his dog on a separate vacation flight. Whose family routinely takes separate fossil fueled flights for vacations. Who heads off to play golf on a constant basis in large fossil fueled motorcades. Who had to be shamed to put the solar panels (which are mostly superficial and ornamental) back on the roof of the White House. Obama’s carbon footprint is calculated to be around 41,000 metric tons. The average CF for American citizens is a bit over 19 metric tons. Another do as I say not as I do liberal.

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If All You See…

By William Teach May 5, 2014 – 1:00 pm

…is a horrible beer that is causing the seas to rise (in a horribly racist advertisement), you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Raised On Hoecakes, with a post on perception of racism.

There’s a second one below the fold

Read More »

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Hooray! How To Convince Conservatives Christians That Global Warming Is Real

By William Teach May 5, 2014 – 10:07 am

I’ve been waiting for this all life!!!!!!!! Of course, skeptics do believe in global warming. We believe that it is mostly/solely caused be nature. We also do not believe that it is apocalyptic. Anyhow, here’s Kathrine Hayhoe building the straw man

(Mother Jones) Climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe, an evangelical Christian, has had quite the run lately. A few weeks back, she was featured in the first episode of the Showtime series The Years of Living Dangerously, meeting with actor Don Cheadle in her home state of Texas to explain to him why faith and a warming planet aren’t in conflict. (You can watch that episode for free on YouTube; Hayhoe is a science adviser for the show.) Then, Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people of 2014; Cheadle wrote the entry. “There’s something fascinating about a smart person who defies stereotype,” Cheadle observed.

Why is Hayhoe in the spotlight? Simply put, millions of Americans are evangelical Christians, and their belief in the science of global warming is well below the national average. And if anyone has a chance of reaching this vast and important audience, Hayhoe does. “I feel like the conservative community, the evangelical community, and many other Christian communities, I feel like we have been lied to,” explains Hayhoe on the latest episode of the Inquiring Minds podcast. “We have been given information about climate change that is not true. We have been told that it is incompatible with our values, whereas in fact it’s entirely compatible with conservative and with Christian values.”

Can someone remind me where skeptics are saying that it is incompatible with our values? Actually, if you believe in limited government, freedom of choice, not having government in charge of your life, liberty, well, yeah, it is incompatible with our values.What she’s trying to say is that skeptics are saying that science is incompatible with religion. So, of course, after denigrating skeptics, she has ideas on how to talk to us

1. Conservation is Conservative. The evangelical community isn’t just a religious community, it’s also a politically conservative one on average. So Hayhoe speaks directly to that value system. “What’s more conservative than conserving our natural resources, making sure we have enough for the future, and not wasting them like we are today?” she asks. “That’s a very conservative value.”

True. It is. Notice that conservatives leave the surrounding areas cleaner than when they got there, while liberals leave a massive mess. But, this has nothing to do with the fake issue of climate change/anthropogenic global warming.

2. Yes, God Would Let This Happen. One conservative Christian argument is that God just wouldn’t let human activities ruin the creation. Or, as Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma has put it, “God’s still up there, and the arrogance of people to think that we, human beings, would be able to change what he is doing in the climate, is to me, outrageous.” You can watch Inhofe and other religious right politicians dismissing climate change on biblical grounds in this video:

This is just getting beyond silly. Besides, if we want to go down this road, then God has let the climate change on a constant basis. It was warmer during the Medieval Warm Period.

3. The Bible Does Not Approve of Letting the World Burn. Hayhoe agrees with the common liberal perception that the evangelical community contains a significant proportion of apocalyptic or end-times believers—and that this belief, literally that judgment is upon us, undermines their concern about preserving the planet. But she thinks there’s something very wrong with that outlook, and indeed, that the Bible itself refutes it.

Seriously, what do liberals know of the Bible? They do all they can to block it. Furthermore, the world is not going to burn from a tiny increase in the average world temperature.

4. Even If You Believe in a Young Earth, It’s Still Warming. One reason there’s such a tension between the evangelical community and science is, well, science. Many evangelicals are Young-Earth creationists, who believe that the Earth is 6,000 or so years old.

Of course, going down this road insults the beliefs of these evangelicals. And even if it is warming (there’s been no warming in 17 years and 8 months), it doesn’t prove anthropogenic causation.

5. “Caring for our environment is caring for people.” Finally, Hayhoe thinks it is crucial to emphasize to evangelicals that saving the planet is about saving people…not just saving animals.

True, but, again, this has nothing to do with “climate change”.

If you want to truly convince me that Mankind is at fault, you Warmists can simply change your own behavior. Give up fossil fuels, live in tiny homes, make your life carbon neutral. Right now, though, there is this big push on “how to talk to/convince skeptics”. All while insulting them.

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Don’t Forget, It’s Illegal To Wear An American Flag Shirt Today

By William Teach May 5, 2014 – 8:27 am

Why? Because it’s Cinco De Mayo, an obscure holiday that is really only celebrated in the Mexican state of Pueblo, and has become an occasion to drink heavily here in the United States. Except for the illegal aliens and those who are here legally who push Mexican supremacy…isn’t that bigoted?…, returning parts of the US to Mexico, amnesty, etc. So don’t wear an American Flag shirt, at least in one California district

(Daily Caller) Students in a California school district will not be allowed to wear American flag T-shirts on Cinco de Mayo, due to concerns that such displays of patriotism would inflame racial tensions by offending Mexican students on their holiday.

The district’s policy concerned many free speech advocates, but was upheld by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

In response, Tea Party groups plan to protest outside Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill. And they will be wearing American flag T-shirts.

“They silenced a symbol of patriotism and freedom in America,” said Georgine Scott-Codiga, president of the Gillroy-Morgan Hill Patriots, in a statement to KCBS.

The practice of limiting one group’s free speech rights because that speech might cause another group to react violently is known as the “heckler’s veto.” It is understood by free speech enthusiasts to have a chilling effect on First Amendment rights.

Of course, the very liberal 9th Circuit ruled in favor of limiting 1st Amendment rights, because of the “heckler’s veto”.

Just to be clear, the situation wasn’t so black and white, as there is a history of antagonism between Hispanic and Anglo gangs in the area (wait, gangs in California? I thought it was all kumbaya?). And not all students wearing the American flag shirts were told to either turn them inside out or go home. And there was Supreme Court precedent for the shirts being banned. However, limiting Free Speech is a slippery slope. If the Hispanics were burning an American Flag, would the school administrators have stopped it because of the “heckler’s veto”? They had a little freakout over the shirts.

Perhaps we shouldn’t be celebrating a minor holiday about Mexican heritage and nationalistic supremacy, which mostly is about getting drunk, in public schools. No one freaks out about St. Patrick’s Day. But, then, true Irish don’t take to the streets to promote that America sucks and Ireland and the Irish are A#1. We don’t get stories about how not to be awful on St. Patrick’s Day. There aren’t stories about shootings during St. Patrick’s Day parades (shockingly, this was in Detroit). But, some do get out of hand, though the Irish aren’t usually pushing Irish nationalism. One has to wonder why we’re celebrating a Mexican holiday in the first place. Though, beating the snot out of larger, much better armed group of French troops is always a welcome cause for celebration. But, then, they did help the Colonies defeat the British during the War of Independence. Of course, don’t have a Mexican themed party, because that’s raaaaacist.

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Dems Really Antsy Over Release Of CIA Torture Report, Which, Dude, Was Like Years Ago

By William Teach May 5, 2014 – 7:47 am

Seriously, like, you know, the “torture” of stone cold jihadis was over two years ago. Unless, of course, Team Obama has continued the practice of rendition, water boarding, etc

(Politico) Wondering what happened to the controversial CIA interrogation report that the Senate Intelligence Committee voted to declassify a month ago? So are many Senate Democrats.

The response thus far from the Central Intelligence Agency and the White House: crickets.

Several Intelligence members are requesting updates and quick public release by the White House of the summary they voted to declassify in April. The document, which contains key findings and conclusions of a five-year probe by the committee, is expected to be highly critical of the CIA’s secret prisons and interrogation techniques used on terrorist suspects during the George W. Bush administration.

Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has urged the White House to wrest control of the declassification process from the CIA and is demanding rapid action. But, in an interview, she said she has received little feedback from the Obama administration and seemed resigned to a lengthy timetable.

“I would hope that it would be short and quick,” said Feinstein. “That may be a vain [effort].”

Sorry, DiFi, if it doesn’t have anything to do with campaigning, Obama’s just not that into Doing President. Obama might have also realized that the programs worked. Say, I wonder if the Senate Democrats will release a report on Obama’s use of drones on jihadis? Anyhow, the report itself is supposed to say that the program stopped 20+ terrorist attacks, but the report claims that those attacks could have been stopped by other means. Like brownies with ice cream, I suppose.

Abu Zubaydah was waterboarded, supposedly 83 times, and that intelligence led to capture of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. His waterboarding was said to have stopped those 20+ attacks, including one which have released an airborne pathogen on the US West Coast.

Of course, some of the “torture” as simply making detainees uncomfortable, like with hot and cold and sleep deprivation. And listening to the Red Hot Chili Peppers! Interestingly, the report is going to be highly critical of the CIA, rather than the Bush White House, claiming that the CIA misled the WH, Congress, and the American People. Of course, it all depends on what ends up being released, and what is redacted.

Anyhow, isn’t this old news? Why do we care when this was over two years ago? Dude! Yet, strangely, the Democrats, who are whining about spending money investigating Benghazi, spent roughly $40 million, so far, on this CIA “torture” report. Also of interest, the program saved the lives of Americans from Islamic terrorism, while in Benghazi four Americans were killed by Islamic jihadis while Team Obama did nothing. They failed to listen to the danger beforehand, they failed to do anything as the attacks were forming, they failed to act while the attacks were occurring, and then they lied about even before the attacks were over.

It’s a funny dichotomy: Dems are hot to trot for a report about being mean to Islamic throat cutters, yet want to stop all investigation into Benghazi, where Americans died.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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No Statistically Significant Warming In 17 Years And 9 Months

By William Teach May 4, 2014 – 2:44 pm

Looks like we can cancle the Warmist apocalypse

As Climate Depot notes

According to the RSS satellite data, whose value for April 2014 is just in, the global warming trend in the 17 years 9 years since August 1996 is zero. The 212 months without global warming represents more than half the 423-month satellite data record, which began in January 1979. No one now in high school has lived through global warming.

Marc Morano also believes that this trend will soon end, as an El Nino even kicks in this year. Of course, we know the Warmists will blame El Nino on “climate change”, much like they’re now blaming the massive 1997 one on the same.

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If All You See…

By William Teach May 4, 2014 – 1:00 pm

…is a wonderful, wonderful wind farm turning the clock back on fossil fueled drought, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Critical Mass, with a post on answering atheist questions.

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Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

By William Teach May 4, 2014 – 9:00 am

Happy Sunday! Another great day in the Once And Future Nation of America. Time to sit back, catch some sun, and read a good book. This pinup is by Hubert De Lartigue, with a wee bit of help.

What is happening in Ye Olde Blogosphere? The Fine 15

  1. Patterico notes that the White House visitor logs showed debate prep on 9.11.12
  2. neo-neocon wonders about reaching for that steak and butter
  3. protein wisdom discusses cops searching your car
  4. America Power notes that radical feminazis have taken down Nuts magazine
  5. Capitalism is Freedom explains why Seattle’s planned minimum wage hike is a Bad Idea
  6. Cold Fury highlights real racism
  7. Defy The Narrative explains what is really important at MSNBC
  8. Director Blue features John Kerry sinking further
  9. Fire Andrea Mitchell has progressive racists going off on a Black hockey player
  10. House Of Eratosthenes explains what men really think about feminists
  11. Jammie Wearing Fools wonders why progressives hate black people
  12. Moonbattery notes Entitlement Nation
  13. Nice Deb wonders about our Coward-in-chief
  14. Powerline covers Barack The Surprised
  15. And last, but not least, The Daily Gator wonders if having legal guns in schools would save lives

As always, the full set of pinups can be seen in the Patriotic Pinup category, or over at my Gallery page. While we are on pinups, since it is that time of year, have you gotten your “Pinups for Vets” calendar yet? And don’t forget to check out what I declare to be our War on Women Rule 5 and linky luv posts and things that interest me

FYI, someone sent me an email for a link to be included. My bad, I deleted it while check email on my Droid by accident, along with a few other emails I needed. Please resend.

Anyone else have a link or hotty-fest going on? Let me know so I can add you to the list. (BTW, since someone asked, the reason I leave links for the previous week up (or you might see a *) is because they are place holders for later in the day or for next weeks. Easier than rewriting all the time. Also, the listing order has to do with how they are added over time, not how good a post is. I just copy and paste from the previous week, then edit. If you see one of the *’s, go ahead and check out the blog anyhow, see if there is an update. I cannot update with my Android during the day.

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Politico: You Know, This Obama Guy Has A Tough Time Making Fun Of Himself

By William Teach May 4, 2014 – 7:58 am

SO, apparently, it’s not just late night and other comedians that have trouble goofing on Obama: Obama himself has an issue

Barack Obama laughs at but not with

President Barack Obama is very smart (as he could tell you). He is also very funny (and the first to laugh at his own jokes). He is a master of comic timing, has an appealing sense of the absurdities of his chosen profession and an unerring ear for the withering one-liner.

As long as the subject is someone else.

When it comes to the sine qua non of political humor — devastating self-deprecation — Obama is less skilled or at least less willing to play an A game, as this weekend’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner is once again likely to show.

Sure, Obama makes fun of himself: for his big ears, his graying hair, his sagging approval ratings, even his bad bowling (though he stepped on a joke about the last subject with Jay Leno in 2009 by adding an ill-considered ad lib about his Special Olympics-level skill, for which he was forced to apologize). And the president has proved himself a good sport, enduring Zach Galifianakis’ absurdist insults on “Between Two Ferns,” where he went to promote his health care plan.

But Obama is much more likely to reserve his sharpest flashes of wit for his adversaries, antagonists and even (in a kind of throwback Henny Youngmanesque style) for the wife he invariably portrays as hectoring.

Politico also notes that the delivery is somewhat disembodies, like a guy observing his own performance. And the notion of really making fun of others, but not himself, is meshed throughout the article

But those jokes are in fact about others — Obama’s most fervent, starry-eyed supporters, or the virulent “birthers” who questioned his American citizenship — and not really about himself. The most lethal example of Obama’s ripostes to such critics came at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in 2011, with his extended riff on Donald Trump, who was in the room and decidedly not amused.

George Bush and John Kerry really loosened up at the dinner, and made fun of themselves quite a bit. Bush’s 2007 was hilarious.

The essential ingredient of such exercises, Parvin said, “is to be good-natured and likable.”

“That is really the great benefit of these dinners, for the audience, whether in the room or watching at home, is to see a different side of you, where you let your hair down a bit more, and you can say some things with humor that you couldn’t say seriously. You can say to people, ‘I can make fun of these things, so you don’t need to worry about it, because I have the perspective that even I can make fun of it.’ So it allows you to express a certain insight that you can’t say seriously.”

I don’t want to over-sell this meme, Obama just isn’t that warm, and the humor is quite often over-barbed. Here are a few of Obama’s top 10 lines per Politico’s Katie Gluek

  1. “These days, House Republicans are actually giving John Boehner a harder time than they’re giving me, which means orange really is the new black.” (not bad)
  2. On 2016: “Let’s face it, Fox…it’ll be harder to convince the American people that Hillary was born in Kenya.” (Dude, that is like 2 years ago)
  3. On his last year: “At one point, things got so bad, the 47 percent called Mitt Romney to apologize.” (an unneeded shot at Romney)
  4. “I did notice, [daughter] Sasha needed a speaker at Career Day. She invited Bill Clinton. I was a little hurt by that.” (that was a good line)
  5. “I haven’t seen somebody pull a 180 that fast [as an Olympic snowboarder] since Rand Paul dis-invited that Nevada rancher [Cliven Bundy] from this dinner.” (eh)
  6. “Gridlock [in D.C.] has gotten so bad, you’ve got to wonder, what did we do to piss off [Gov.] Chris Christie so bad?” (eh)
  7. On his recent trip to Malaysia: “The lengths we have to go to get CNN coverage these days [because of the network’s heavy coverage of missing flight MH370]. I think they’re still searching for their table.” (eh)
  8. “If you want to get paid while not working you should have to run for Congress just like everyone else.” (more campaigning)
  9. “MSNBC’s here, they’re a little overwhelmed. They’ve never seen an audience this big before.” (We may not care for MSNBC, but that was perhaps a shot a bit too far. It was really more nasty than good natured)
  10. On Healthcare.gov: “In 2008, my slogan was ‘Yes, we can.’ In 2013 my slogan was ‘control-alt-delete.’” (eh)

But, then, Obama has never really been too into being humble or self-deprecating. Nor about being anything but hardcore on his enemies, or, as other presidents would term them, opponents.

On the bright side for Obama, apparently Joel McHale was much, much worse. And Nancy Pelosi has apparently been infected with Harry Reid’s Koch Derangement Syndrome.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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