Should Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Receive Full Constitutional Rights?

By William Teach April 24, 2013 – 3:05 pm

There’s been a debate since Tsarnaev’s capture as to whether he should be offered a Miranda Warning and whether he should be declared an “enemy combatant”. Essentially, should be be given the full due process and protections offered under the law and the Constitution? Two of the biggest cheerleaders for designating him an enemy combatant have been Lindsay Graham and John McCain. I’ve also witnessed, both on the Internet and TV news, people from both sides of the political aisle say yes and no. Let’s consider a few important facts

  1. Dzhokhar was in this country legally, and supposedly a naturalized US citizen
  2. The bombing occurred on domestic soil
  3. Dzhokhar was captured on American domestic soil
  4. He was captured by civilian law enforcement

As much as we’d like to trot him off to a detention center and ring him dry, he deserves the full range of protections offered by the Constitution and The Law. The Constitution is not supposed to be something that is adhered to “at will”. This is a Nation Of Law, not a Nation of Men. It’s a slippery slope when we simply take a US citizen (or even those here legally) and ignore their Constitutional Rights for expediency. If an American citizen is overseas and has joined a group against the US, that’s one thing. The four points I listed above are another.

Besides, I want him testifying in civilian court, where all of America will get to hear exactly what radical Islam is about. People have forgotten in the years since 9/11 just how dangerous, insidious, and evil the threat is.

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If All You See…

By William Teach April 24, 2013 – 1:00 pm

…is an evil clothes dryer causing the world to boil, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Raised On Hoecakes, with a post on Obama not needing no stinkin’ Congress.

(Regarding the clothes dryer thing, see here, here, and here. And ask all your AGW believing friends if they have given up their dryers in favor of clotheslines)

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Most Back Keystone XL Over “Climate Change”

By William Teach April 24, 2013 – 11:58 am

And the Warmists lose yet again

(Yahoo News) A new poll released this week by Nik Nanos, a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, revealed that the majority of Americans and Canadians feel that the energy security that could be provided by the Keystone XL pipeline is more important than concerns over climate change.

* According to the poll, 63 percent of Americans think that having North America free from importing oil from outside the continent is more important than reducing greenhouse gases. Thirty percent of respondents felt that reducing greenhouse gases was the priority of the two issues.

* In Canada, 55 percent selected freeing North America for imported oil as more important, while 38 percent chose addressing greenhouse gases.

* Seventy percent of Americans and 60 percent of Canadians are favorable to the idea of the Keystone pipeline, Nanos’ poll revealed, with 74 and 68 percent respectively stating that they support or somewhat support proceeding with the project.

And for the percentage that feels that dealing with hotcoldwetdry is more important, ask them what they have done within their own lives. Have they given up fossil fuels? Only buy local? Stopped using hairspray? Take 2 minute showers? Etc? Expect some serious babble as an answer.

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Obama Officials Knews Fisker Was Failing. Also, Another Stimulus Backed Solar Company Going Down The Tubes

By William Teach April 24, 2013 – 7:24 am

The CBS article is entitled WH knew electric car maker Fisker was faltering: AP. Not sure that they can say that the White House knew, the provide no information on that, but the DOE certainly knew

Newly obtained documents show the Obama administration was warned as early as 2010 that electric car maker Fisker Automotive Inc. was not meeting milestones set up for a half-billion dollar government loan, nearly a year before U.S. officials froze the loan after questions were raised about the company’s statements.

An Energy Department official said in a June 2010 email that Fisker’s bid to draw on the federal loan may be jeopardized for failure to meet goals established by the department.

Despite that warning, Fisker continued to receive money until June 2011, when the DOE halted further funding. The agency did so after Fisker presented new information that called into question whether key milestones — including the launch of the company’s signature, $100,000 Karma hybrid — had been achieved, according to a credit report prepared by the Energy Department.

In the June 2010 email, Sandra Claghorn, an official in the DOE’s loan program office, had written that Fisker “may be in limbo due to a lack of compliance with financial covenants” set up by the Energy Department to protect taxpayers in the event of default. Another document, from April 2010, listed milestones that Fisker had not yet met.

Despite the knowledge that Fisker was not meeting the milestones, they were still provided with taxpayer funds to build EVs that virtually no one would or could buy. The DOE pissed away $192 million on Fisker before pulling the plug. Fisker has payed back $22 million, but, surprise!, they’ve missed their latest loan repayment window. Of course, the DOE is attempting a bit of CYA, as are Fisker officials, who place part of the blame on the collapse of A123, another Stimulus recipient, who would have made the batteries.

And, speaking of other Stimulus recipients

A company that was touted as “the next wave of Oregon’s solar manufacturing industry” plans to shut down its North Portland plant and cut jobs.

SoloPower was supposed to bring more than 450 good paying jobs to Portland. Instead the company will end up cutting the few jobs it had created here, according to a mandatory public notice of pending layoffs.

“As a result of a significant downturn in business and the need for a major reorganization, SoloPower is planning to suspend its operations on June 17,” wrote Julian Biggs, SoloPower’s chief legal officer, in a letter to the state.

They’re cutting 29 jobs, because the 450 good paying jobs never materialized, which seems to be a consistent pattern with “green energy” companies which received stimulus funding. They would have received up to $200 million from the DOE and $40 million from Oregon. And SoloPower was supposed to be a “safe bet”, with little concern that they would close the plant and take it overseas. At least that’s what the contract said, with a requirement that they stay in the US for 10 years.

More: The First Street Journal discusses Fisker in a tale of two auto companies.

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Boston Bombing “Suspects” Sound Eerily Like Liberals In Their Motivations

By William Teach April 24, 2013 – 7:01 am

Let’s see: both liberals and Islamists became radicalized. Both engage in or attempt to engage in violence (though Islamists typically try and kill lots of people more often for their beliefs). Both like to Blame The United States. And…

(Washington Post) The 19-year-old suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings has told interrogators that the American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan motivated him and his brother to carry out the attack, according to U.S. officials familiar with the interviews.

Rather, the officials said, the evidence so far suggests they were “self-radicalized” through Internet sites and U.S. actions in the Muslim world. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has specifically cited the U.S. war in Iraq, which ended in December 2011 with the removal of the last American forces, and the war in Afghanistan, where President Obama plans to end combat operations by the end of 2014.

Hmm, take out the radicalized Islamic notion and you have a political left person. Of course, the WP immediately tries to protect Obama a little bit

Obama has made repairing U.S. relations with the Islamic world a foreign policy priority, even as he has expanded drone operations in Pakistan and other countries, which has inflamed Muslim public opinion.

Like most of his policy priorities, chalk that one up to a big fail. The Muslim world hates the US more than during the Bush years, even as Obama built lots of strawmen arguments.

The WP also spends lots of time attempting to build a lone gunmen scenario, saying the trip to Russia and Russia’s concerns were meaningless. This is the narrative the Leftist media will build, that this has little to do with radical Islam, people who have essentially declared war on the United States. Imagine had the brothers been TEA Partiers, we’d be hearing about how the whole movement is at fault. Instead, what we really learn is that the brothers appear to hold liberal views.

Oh, BTW, we also learn that the ATF is having a tough time tracing the guns used, because the serial numbers were filed off. Hey, isn’t doing that illegal? I’m seriously disappointed that a homicidal criminals are failing to follow the law.

Finally, make sure you view the comments at the story, which bring out the typical liberal blame America folks, with hits such as

I don’t remember where I read/heard it, but I’ve heard that for every terrorist that we kill, we’re creating 20 more. It makes sense; drone strikes recently and guided missiles earlier in the Afghan/Iraq wars led to thousands of civilian deaths.

“Radical Islam” doesn’t hate us for our freedoms or Constitution or any of that. They hate us because we kill them. They hate us because we kill their children.

It seems almost like breeding terrorism is the desired goal of our foreign policy, so that we can ensure there are pretexts to further American hegemony in the world, and so that the bloated military industrial complex can continue to grow because it is “needed”.

Can we now call them OCT? Obama Created Terrorists?

Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU.

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Solar Industry Is Pretty Much Workfare

By William Teach April 23, 2013 – 3:16 pm

As Steven Milloy points out

Grist reports that solar workers now outnumber coal miners.

Coal provided 42% of U.S. electricty needs in 2011.

Solar provided 0.2% of global electricity needs in 2011.

You do the math.

The math says that coal provides 210 times more power with fewer employees. The math also says that the high cost of solar is increasing the cost of consumer power. The math also says that the solar industry wouldn’t really survive without all the federal and state subsidies, tax breaks, handouts, and “loans”.

Not that I’m against solar, it just seems to be good for everyone but the consumer as it is being implemented.

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If All You See…

By William Teach April 23, 2013 – 1:00 pm

…is an evil fossil fueled vehicle sitting in a field perfect for a wind farm, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Scared Monkeys, with a post showing the latest anti-gun fervor from Diane Feinstein.

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John Kerry: Hotcoldwetdry Science Is “Screaming At Us”

By William Teach April 23, 2013 – 11:07 am

Though I reckon it’s screaming “you’re a moron and a hypocrite. We’ve seen a .08C (.14F) increase in global temperature from 1997 and .16C (.28F) increase since 1990. Oh, and you take lots of fossil fueled flights, own multiple high “carbon footprint” homes, and won lots of fossil fueled vehicles. The science is screaming that it is mostly or solely natural”

(Washington Times) U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry vowed during Earth Day remarks to deal with climate change, one of the world’s foremost “clear and present danger[s].”

He also said, in honor of Monday’s Earth Day message: “The science is screaming at all of us and demands action. From the far reaches of Antarctica’s Ross Sea to tropical wetlands in Southeast Asia, we have a responsibility to safeguard and sustainably manage our plant’s natural resources, and the United States remains firm in its commitment to addressing global environmental challenges.”

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Support For Gun Control Slips Further

By William Teach April 23, 2013 – 9:27 am

As the USA Today reports, this is supposedly partly due to the emotional slippage of time, as we move further and further away from actions of Adam Lanza. We can also presuppose that Americans realize that the laws offered (and in some cases, passed) will do little to nothing to stop the perpetrators. And that most of the legislation is aimed at law abiding citizens and their 2nd Amendment rights

Four months after the shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School, a USA TODAY Poll finds support for a new gun-control law ebbing as prospects for passage on Capitol Hill seem to fade.

Americans are more narrowly divided on the issue than in recent months, and backing for a bill has slipped below 50%, the poll finds. By 49%-45%, those surveyed favor Congress passing a new gun-control law. In an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll in early April, 55% had backed a stricter gun law, which was down from 61% in February.

Meanwhile, Barack Obama and the “independent from Obama” (snicker) group Organizing for Barack Obama Action are still pushing the discredited “90% want it” meme. And, look, I’ve said before that there are a few things I would support, including requirements to expand background checks to private transactions. The problem, though,  is that lawmakers are doing what they typically do: overreach, go overboard, and barely touch the root cause(s). Do you want to stop a good chunk of gun violence? Make the punishment harsh. How about corporal punishment and/or requirements to do “hard time” (this could apply to quite a bit of crime, too)? Sure, it won’t stop all gun crime, but it might make some think twice.

But, the liberal push for gun control is not about the criminals, it is about disarming the public at large, regardless of the consequences. See “Chicago” for the end results. They want Everyone Else disarmed (interestingly, liberals generally refuse to give up their own guns, if they have one).

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Posted in 2nd Amendment, Current Affairs | 22 Comments | Trackback URL

Mother Jones Offers 11 Mystifying Things The Boston Bombers Did

By William Teach April 23, 2013 – 9:08 am

This makes me wonder: are they wondering how bat guano Islamist jihadis could do crazy things, or are they going conspiracy theory

(Mother Jones) Dzhokhar and Tamerlan’s motive—or motives—is still unclear (um, no: they were motivated by “religious fervor“, ie, the Religion of Peace.) But that’s not the only unknown. Many of the Tsarnaevs’ actions last week seem baffling in retrospect. Here are some of the most confounding things they did:

  1. Wear a backwards hat and no sunglasses.
  2. Not react to the explosions.
  3. Leave the car in the shop.
  4. Stay in Boston.
  5. Kill an MIT police officer.
  6. Run out of cash.
  7. Not understand how ATMs work.
  8. Confess to the hostage.
  9. Stop for snacks.
  10. Keep the hostage’s phone.
  11. Bring a BB gun.

Most of those “mystifying things” revolve around stupidity, and we all know just how smart Islamists are, right? Some were for bragging rights. Some because radical Islam isn’t particularly peaceful, and killing the infidel is super awesome! Was this a case of “hey, y’all, watch this” or “it seemed like a good idea at the time”?

Reading the full article, I can’t decide whether Mother Jones, which usually tried to shoot down, gently, 9/11 Trutherism, is attempting to “just wonder” whether the two Tsarnaev brothers did it and were idiots or are being set up by The Government.

But, these questions are small change. There are much bigger ones, like

  1. Was it linked to a bigger Islamist group (so far Dzhokhar has said no)
  2. What’s the deal with the Saudi?
  3. Why did the FBI ignore the Russian warning?
  4. Were there more people involved
  5. Does this mean The Government (and I’m referring to Dems and Republicans here) will push for more draconian and overbearing surveillance of the public?

I’m sure you can come up with a few more.

Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU.

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