The Discerning Texan

Excellent visual journey through the 'Cult of Iconography', courtesy of Bill Whittle.

iowahawk GOLD: Lion of Leinenkugel laid to rest.

Great read here about the cesspool of lies and corruption that Rep. Charles Rangel is swimming around in.

Once upon a time men like Dan Rostenkowski could not get away with this kind of illegality, even in a partisan Democrat administration. But that was then.

Is real justice a thing of the past in this 'era of Obama'? Is "political justice" (i.e. justice for thee but not necessarily for me) all that remains? Before you answer those questions, answer this one: just which one of Barack Obama/Eric Holder's US Attorneys do you think will be "greenlighted" to go after Rangel full bore?

I hate to say this, I really do: but from here this borders on sociopathic behavior; for what morality can there be where a purely political end justifies any means used to get there?

We are there. How do we get out?

Airbrushing (out) Mary Jo: a Mark Steyn "must read":

You can’t make an omelette without breaking chicks, right? I don’t know how many lives the senator changed — he certainly changed Mary Jo’s — but you’re struck less by the precise arithmetic than by the basic equation: How many changed lives justify leaving a human being struggling for breath for up to five hours pressed up against the window in a small, shrinking air pocket in Teddy’s Oldsmobile? If the senator had managed to change the lives of even more Americans, would it have been okay to leave a couple more broads down there? Hey, why not? At the Huffington Post, Melissa Lafsky mused on what Mary Jo “would have thought about arguably being a catalyst for the most successful Senate career in history . . . Who knows — maybe she’d feel it was worth it.” What true-believing liberal lass wouldn’t be honored to be dispatched by that death panel?

You will want to read the entire thing.

What works (and what doesn't).

An absolutely sensational exploration into morality, economics, and political theory. This is a must read.

Props to Tim Pawlenty for issuing two of the best lines I have heard in a while (emphasis mine). I think these should be added to the repertoire of every Republican on the stump:

Minnesota GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty took an aggressive line against President Barack Obama’s proposed health care overhaul Friday and insisted that a rejection of the Democratic plan could usher in a Republican resurgence.

“It appears that President Obama is making great progress on climate change, he is changing the political climate in the country back to Republican,” ears Pawlenty said during a speech to the second annual GOPAC conference in Chicago.

“He went around the country last fall promising ‘change we can believe in,’ but now we see it’s about changing what we believe in,” said Pawlenty, an anticipated 2012 Republican presidential contender. “We need to be calling out the flaws and misguided decisions of the Democrats in Congress and the Obama administration.”

I'm glad I am not the only one who gets irked by this stuff. Message to the GOP: Elections are serious matters; is it too much to ask the Republican Party to treat its potential donors seriously?

Ah, sweet irony.

Introducing Eugene Green: Texas Democrat who voted against a law that would require a valid Photo ID to vote for him--as I recall it was something about making sure all those constituents who were "too poor" to "afford" photo ID (translation: ACORN members voting in multiple districts and/or Illegal Aliens...) could exercise their "right" to vote...

All well and good, but do not think that you are ABOUT to get into one of his Town Hall meetings to actually express your concerns about his Health Care vote without...a valid photo ID.

The naked desperation of the flailing Dems is like blood in the water... The earth is moving; don't let up now.

Why allow the "newly-formed Stasi" the pleasure of turning us in to flag@whitehouse.gov when we can write our own "confessions"; and this particular case in point may be a worthy example for all.

Iowahawk: a Public Service Message from your Federal Government Mob Watchdogs.

Mark Steyn: the Mob is restless.

Even as the Obama Administration was busy trying to create a sequel, i.e. "The Lives of Others II: Taking Names" -- or something along those lines, their propensity to continue to conduct business "the Chicago Way" apparently has brought the White House afoul of the law:

The Obama White House may be breaking the Privacy Act of 1974 by asking citizens to report “fishy” political speech.

On Tuesday, Macon Phillips, President Obama’s Director of New Media, wrote on the White House blog asking citizens to rat out fellow citizens who are spreading “disinformation” about Obama’s plans for more government control over the health care system. Phillips wrote:

There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.

One wonders, what constitutes “fishy” speech or “disinformation”? Is it anything that runs counter to what the White House wants you to think? And what, precisely, is the White House planning to do about someone who’s speech has been “flagged”?

It turns out, even asking for citizens to report on each other may be illegal. According to the Department of Justice, “the purpose of the Privacy Act is to balance the government’s need to maintain information about individuals with the rights of individuals to be protected against unwarranted invasions of their privacy stemming from federal agencies’ collection, maintenance, use, and disclosure of personal information about them.”

Further, anything is considered a “personal record” if it identifies an individual (an e-mail address would qualify), and “federal agency” specifically includes “the Executive Office of the President.”

I’m no lawyer, but it sure sounds like the White House is violating the law by asking people to snitch on their friends and neighbors for engaging in “fishy” political speech. Anyone want to try this one in court?

In the meantime, I’m going to report myself. I’m obviously not thinking the way our Dear Leader wants...

Just when you think you have seen it all, THIS comes out today on the WHITE HOUSE BLOG:

There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.

So what is next? Gestapo roundups in the middle of the night of anyone who dissents with Der Fuhrer? This guy really does think he is Al Capone--or Ahmadinejad, Castro, Chavez or Putin... The arrogance and narcissism of these people is beyond belief... and very dangerous.

Next they will be teaching kids in school to rat out At what point do the United States become one totalitarian a police state? It sounds crazy, I know; on the other hand I am beginning to believe that there is almost nothing that this "regime" would not resort to hold onto power. For example, if we are so unfortunate that is a large scale terror attack on the US, do not expect Islamic Jihadists to necessarily be the first to "disappear" under martial law.

This is so infuriating, so counter to EVERYTHING this country is about... I believe in the end that it is going to be stunts like the White House pulled today that will arouse the public to even greater LAWFUL activism against the Statists.

There are very good reasons why a large majority of the public is (and should be) turning against the President on this proposal. But I am guessing that this veiled threat on the White House blog will not help. Thus far, the only misinformation I have seen recently seems to be coming from the White House and the Socialists in Congress.

As for "end of life care", what say you try this on for size as an example of what is coming soon to a clinic near you if these Marxist Statists get their way on health care.

We must defeat this bill. And we must defeat these traitors to the First and Tenth Amendments at the ballot box. The noblemen who drafted our Constitution intended that our Government should be responsible to We the People, not the other way around. The American Revolution occurred to rid the Continent of tyranny, not to empower it. Wars have been fought by better men than us and blood has been shed by many to keep it that way. Do we not now owe all those who came before us our own resolve and determination to fight for what is rightfully ours?

Mark Levin nails it quite well.

It is high time that we show our Representatives, Senators--and even the White House--who reports to whom here.