Something happened when this post got rescheduled yesterday so here is the video entitled “The Obama Legacy”.
I apologize for the vanished video.
savage
Archive for July, 2011
Let’s try this again, shall we?
by savage ( 165 Comments › )Filed under Barack Obama, Cult of Obama, Democratic Party, Economy, Election 2008, Elections 2010, Elections 2012, Health Care, Politics, Progressives, Regulation at July 6th, 2011 - 5:30 pm
Another Wonderful Israeli Invention: Israeli Emergency Elevator System
by Eliana ( 8 Comments › )Filed under Headlines at July 6th, 2011 - 5:05 pm
This is wonderful!
Rick Perry Breaks With George W. Bush
by Mojambo ( 92 Comments › )Filed under Elections 2012, George W. Bush, Republican Party at July 6th, 2011 - 2:30 pm
Outside of both being from Texas, I see little in common (beyond the superficial) between George W. Bush and Rick Perry. Although I feel that George W. Bush is a fine man and infinitely better then Al Gore or John Kerry (I happily voted for him twice and would do it again if I had the same choices)) I am glad that Perry is calling him out for his lack of fiscal restraint. I wonder if the Bush family prefers Barack Obama wining a second term (and basically destroying this country) rather then Perry become POTUS. As a commenter wrote “I love W. Bush & appreciate how he handled 9-11 BUT on his best day no one could call him Conservative.”
by Jim Rutenberg and Jeff Zeleny
Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican contemplating a presidential run, shares many attributes with the last man who ran for president from here, his predecessor and onetime patron, George W. Bush. He has the same straight-legged Texas swagger; the down-home, clipped speaking style; the desert-baked conservatism.
But in recent years, Mr. Perry has broken politically with Mr. Bush, questioning his credentials as a fiscal conservative, accusing him of going on “a big government binge” and playing down some of Mr. Bush’s accomplishments in Texas in light of his own.
Mr. Perry’s public statements exposed a long-simmering rivalry that had been little known outside of the political fraternity here but underscores the rightward drift of the Republican Party since Mr. Bush was president. More acutely, Mr. Perry’s criticism holds potential peril and benefit for him should he decide to mount a presidential campaign, allowing him to establish an identity distinct from Mr. Bush but risking a guerrilla campaign against him by the former president’s inner circle.
[…]
On government spending, immigration and education, Mr. Perry’s criticisms of Mr. Bush have given him cachet with conservatives, especially with Tea Party voters who blame the former president for allowing spending and the reach of government to grow rapidly.
Those criticisms have burnished the Perry image as less prone to ideological compromise or a fuzzy “compassionate” brand of conservatism, an appealing trait to those Republican primary voters seeking purity in their nominee. And they have helped Mr. Perry escape the shadow of Mr. Bush, whose sponsorship, along with that of his chief political strategist, Karl Rove, was critical to Mr. Perry’s rise.
But it antagonized Mr. Bush’s old team, many of whom endorsed Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison in her unsuccessful primary challenge to Mr. Perry last year. Some are indicating that they will oppose Mr. Perry should he join the presidential race with an anti-Bush message.
One close associate of the former president, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid a personal confrontation with the governor, warned Mr. Perry against establishing his own conservative bona fides by criticizing Mr. Bush, saying, “If you’re really trying to be the nominee and want to go the distance, you just don’t want the former president of the United States and his people working against you.” Another, speaking anonymously as well, said, “He’s going to need all the help he can get from all the Republicans he can muster, so he ought to be prudent about that.”
The rivalry has become lore in the state capital, at times bordering on urban legend. “An eight-foot alligator in the sewer,” said Mr. Perry’s chief political strategist, David Carney. Stressing that the two men were friends with more similarities than differences, Mr. Carney said, “They are in the same church, different pews.”
Neither Mr. Bush nor Mr. Perry would be interviewed for this article, and people close to both said the rivalry existed far more between their aides than between them personally.
The relationship between the camps includes a rich mix of political differences, class distinctions, loyalty questions and perceived slights of campaigns past. And it is a uniquely Texan story, opening in the Western dust bowl where both emerged — Mr. Perry as a conservative Democratic state lawmaker from a modest farming family, Mr. Bush as a failed Republican Congressional candidate of famous New England stock.
[…]
Read the rest: Perry breaks with a fellow Texan: Bush
UPDATE: NEW DETAILS; ATF Director Says Department of Justice Obstructing Fast & Furious Investigation
by huckfunn ( 20 Comments › )Filed under Barack Obama, Headlines, Second Amendment, Weapons at July 6th, 2011 - 12:48 pm
On July 4th, acting ATF Director Kenneth Melson told congressional investigators that the DOJ is obstructing the probe of Operation Fast & Furious. DOJ is actively seeking to rid themselves of Melson but he refuses to go. Another recent development in this case was the revelation that U.S. taxpayer dollars were used to purchase guns that later found their way to Mexican drug lords. It also turns out the main target of Operation Fast & Furious was, in fact, an FBI informant who was a former drug dealer and had been previously deported.
This story gets dirtier every day.
The Justice Department is obstructing the congressional investigation of a U.S. law enforcement operation intended to crack down on major weapons traffickers on the Southwest border, according to the embattled leader of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Ken Melson, the acting director of the ATF, lobbed the accusation when he sneaked in for an interview with congressional investigators on July 4, two days ahead of his scheduled interview with the inspector general about the operation known as “Fast and Furious,” Fox News has learned.
FILE: Soldiers stand guard near seized weapons during a news conference at the Defense Headquarters in Mexico City.
“If his account is accurate, then ATF leadership appears to have been effectively muzzled while the DOJ sent over false denials and buried its head in the sand,” Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said in a letter Tuesday to Attorney General Eric Holder. “That approach distorted the truth and obstructed our investigation.”
In a separate development, congressional sources have learned that not only was U.S. taxpayer money being used to buy guns that were later sent to Mexico, but the main target of the investigation was actually a FBI informant and former drug dealer who had been deported years ago.
UPDATE:
Melson claims he was directed by Justice Department officials to avoid cooperating with Congress. “If his account is accurate,” Issa and Grassley told Holder, “then ATF leadership appears to have been effectively muzzled while the DOJ sent over false denials and buried its head in the sand. That approach distorted the truth and obstructed our investigation.”
Melson’s testimony confirmed the dark suspicions of Congressional investigators that Operation Fast and Furious was never intended to work the way it was advertised. “Specifically, we have very real indications from several sources that some of the gun trafficking ‘higher-ups’ that the ATF sought to identify were already known to other agencies, and may even have been paid as informants,” Issa and Grassley stated.
In other words, this was never about letting American guns “walk” to shadowy Mexican drug kingpins, leaving a trail of bullets that ATF could follow. Also, this means agencies other than ATF were involved in the Gun Walker outrage… which means the Acting ATF Director’s potential usefulness as a firewall to protect superiors, such as Eric Holder, has just about come to an end.
Read the rest here: http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=44671
