NRA OPENLY FLOATS A
HARRY REID ENDORSEMENT
By Erick Erickson

July 13, 2010 (Red State) - The NRA's lobbyist, Chris Cox, claims that Chuck Schumer would be Majority Leader were Harry Reid gone (note the NRA's implicit expectation of a Democratic Senate majority). But here’s the thing -- Chuck Schumer could not get anti-gun legislation through the Senate and what’s more, Schumer, when head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, recognized the damage to the Democrats being anti-gun was having. Many of the Democrats in the Senate the NRA loves were people supported by Chuck Schumer.

So they have gone from denying they would endorse Harry Reid to "not tamping down speculation".

After its membership pushed back, the NRA dropped Mr. Reid. But the scotched possibility -- the mere possibility an NRA endorsement -- helped Mr. Reid's comeback win over favorited Sharron Angle (50.3%/44.6%).

Mr. Reid, with 2010 behind him and 2016 in his fond political future, gets busy with the Democrat guns agenda, which is to say the banning of guns.

REID: I WANT TO
'GET SOMETHING DONE
ON GUNS'

February 3, 2013 (Politico) - The Nevada Democrat said in an interview aired Sunday on ABC's "This Week" he still supports the Second Amendment, but will look at proposals on everything from the ban on assault weapons to limiting gun magazine capacity. He also said "we need to increase" background checks and do more on mental health issues.

"He still supports the Second Amendment." How very [We strain at the mot juste.] Constitutionally big of him. Oh. Wait.

SENATE MAJORITY LEADER HARRY REID
CALLS WEAPONS BILL 'ANTI-GUN LEGISLATION'

WASHINGTON April 16, 2013 (TWT) - In what Sen. Ted Cruz is calling a Freudian slip, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid referred to the gun-control bill he brought to the Senate floor as "anti-gun legislation".

"On the anti-gun legislation before the Senate, we are making good progress on the effort to schedule a series of votes on amendments to the anti-gun-violence legislation before the Senate," he said on the floor of the chamber Tuesday.

Freudian slip? Sen. Harry Reid calls bill "anti-gun legislation" youtube.com/watch?v=pHj6KA…

— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) April 16, 2013

I will vote for assault weapons ban because maintaining law and order and saving lives is more important than preventing imagined tyranny.

— Senator Harry Reid (@SenatorReid) April 17, 2013

"Imagined tyranny".

Freedom Minute: Under no circumstance should Congress undermine our constitutional right to keep and bear arms: youtube.com/watch?v=1rFRGR…

— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) April 16, 2013

The NRA was wrong about Mr. Reid. Its membership saved it from an embarrassing political blunder. [Pause.] Here's a pro tip for the NRA. Keep principles first and let the politics follow. With that in mind, your man is Senator Cruz (R-TX) -- not Harry Reid.

CHOPE.

Harry Reid, for the Second Amendment before he was a'gin it.

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"EN FRANCE, TOUT LE MONDE PORTE DES RAYURES..."
[Picture source: Cédric Villain/YouTube]

We no longer post at Pave France, but Carine sent this along (Merci ! ) and it is too good not to share.

This little film is a desktop production made entirely in Adobe Creative Suite and Cédric Villain has done a masterful job.

This is not a French polemic. The material is handled cleverly, oft times affectionately. There is an edge, but it is tempered by a forbearing wit. M. Villain is having a laugh on you by laughing with you. And Cliché looks good. The character and frame designs are fun and beautifully executed.

Funny is all about timing and M. Villain's edit never fails his droll script. At one point following a slow windup and pitch in pétanque, the announcer says, "Let's see the action again -- in slow motion." The replay begins and just as you dispair the longueur will be repeated even more slowly M. Villain cuts away to the next segment. Neither too soon nor too late, just the right cut to play the joke.

At the Cliché Web site there are a making-of short, wallpapers, prints, and postcards.

Enjoy.

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TAKE IT TO THE BANK:
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN WANTS
TO RAISE MINIMUM WAGE TO
$22 PER HOUR

WASHINGTON March 18, 2013 (TWT) - Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Democrat, suggested raising the minimum wage to $22 per hour is only logical if you look at the numbers. Ms. Warren, at a Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on "Keeping up with a Changing Economy: Indexing the Minimum Wage":

If we started in 1960, and we said [that] as productivity goes up … then the minimum wage was going to go up the same … if that were the case, the minimum wage today would be about $22 an hour.

The current minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. Ms. Warren wondered, in a YouTube video of the hearing posted by her staff: "What happened to the other $14.75?"
She answered her own question: "It sure didn’t go to the worker."

It's about fairness. It's about doing what's right. Workers should be compensated in tandem with the good fortunes of their employers. Huh? Wait a minute.

Elizabeth Warren pays interns $0 per hour nblo.gs/Kcakl

— Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) April 11, 2013

Say what?

ELIZABETH WARREN PAYS
INTERNS $0
What Happened To The Other $22?
By William A. Jacobson

BLOG April 11, 2013 (Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion) - Elizabeth Warren has gained notoriety recently for complaining that the minimum wage would be $22 per hour if it kept up with worker productivity gains over the past several decades.

Warren's analysis was fundamentally flawed because it did not measure increased productivity of minimum wage unskilled workers or justify paying $45,000 per year as a minimum regardless of worker skills. Moreover, Warren cherry-picked the $22 number, ignoring other much lower numbers in the study on which she relied based on other measurements.

If the minimum wage was so important to Warren, we wondered what she paid her interns. ... Warren actively is seeking interns for her Senate offices.

We checked today with Warren's Senate office, and were told that "all internships are unpaid". When asked whether they had any paid internships, the office responded, "We do not."

Warren is not alone. Unpaid internships in Congress are the norm and appear to be legal because that's the way Congress wrote the law.

We also researched internships Warren's Senate campaign offered.  Warren's campaign made very effective use of "internships" as a lure to get students to work on campuses and elsewhere for the campaign. The internships were both part and full time and were unpaid.

I don’t blame Warren for making liberal use of students hammered by a bad job market, even though she raised over $40 million.  Nobody built a campaign on their own.  Nobody.

The use of unpaid interns does, however, raise questions whether Warren's rhetoric meets her reality considering she so publicly has lambasted private sector employers for not paying $22 per hour. Warren could have gone above and beyond what the law required.

Yes, but we are sure Ms. Warren pays what she can.

ELIZABETH WARREN SHOPPING
A BOOK PROPOSAL ON HER EXPERIENCES
FIGHTING WALL STREET IN WASHINGTON

WASHINGTON March 19, 2013 (Boston Globe) - Senator Elizabeth Warren plans to start shopping a book proposal to publishers, seeking to enhance her national political stature while promoting what she considers the cause of her public and legal career: protecting the middle class from abusive financial practices. The book's working title is “Rigged".

... While she has not placed a proposal in any publisher's hands, it is conceivable the freshman senator could command a seven-figure contract. Ms. Warren:

Look at the title: the working title is "Rigged". It refers to how the economic system's too often rigged against families who work hard and play by the rules -- and how it's loaded in favor of those with money and power.

Do tell.

Democrats beat the "fairness" and "shared sacrifice" drums but don't dance to the beat (and here and here and here and here and here and here and here, to link but ten). Ms. Warren, like all progressives fat and happy on the bounty of capitalism, wants to improve the world for you, trusting prole, for you, beguiled rube -- at no cost to herself.

CHOPE.

Rigged.

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MILITARY ARCHDIOCESE OBJECTS
TO CATHOLIC 'EXTREMIST' LABEL
U.S. Army Reserve Training Brief Listed Catholics
Alongside 'Violent And Extremist' Groups.

WASHINGTON April 4, 2013 (NCR) - The Catholic Archdiocese for the Military Services has said it is "astounded" at a U.S. Army Reserve training brief that listed Catholics alongside "violent and extremist" groups.

"The archdiocese calls upon the Department of Defense to review these materials and to ensure that taxpayer funds are never again used to present blatantly anti-religious material to the men and women in uniform," the archdiocese said April 4.

... The presentation, titled "Extremism & Extremist Organizations", discussed religious extremism in a presentation that covered militias, neo-Nazis, Islamic extremism, terrorism and gangs. One slide, titled "Religious Extremism", listed Catholicism and evangelical Christianity, along with groups including al Qaeda, Hamas and the Ku Klux Klan. The presentation described extremism as a "complex phenomenon" defined by beliefs, attitudes or feelings "far removed from the 'ordinary'". It said religious extremism is not limited to any religion, ethnic group or region.

Defining something as everything is the covering lie. We would note that "religious extremism", by definition, is limited to religions. Ethnic- and regional-based extremism are thrown into the mix for that smug latitudinarian feel.

The presentation cited sources such as the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League, and some of its language appeared to be taken from the website Wikipedia. The Army removed the slide after complaints.

A U.S. Army spokesperson told The Washington Times that the presentation was produced by an individual without the knowledge or permission of anyone in the chain of command. The person who created the presentation "was not a subject-matter expert and produced the material after conducting Internet research," the spokesperson said.

The Army is a bootstrap educational institution. It recruits, trains, and credentials its own educators from among its ranks. The Army standardizes instructional materials, but where standardized materials are lacking, Army specialists are charged with developing same.

The archdiocese said it and the Chaplain Alliance told the Army that it "can and should take steps to prevent such incidents in the future." The Archdiocese for the Military Services has endorsed priests at more than 220 U.S. military installations in 29 countries, serving an estimated 1.8 million Catholics worldwide.

Here is an example of Catholic extremism in the Army ranks, smoked out by Mike Pompeo (R-KS, 4th):

What do we mean when we talk about a good man? Do we mean a friendly person? Or do we mean someone who sees his own life as a conduit through which some higher power might do His work? One such good man was born in Pilsen, Kansas, and later became an ordained priest in Wichita in 1940.

That good man, a fellow named Father Emil Kapaun, first served as a military chaplain during World War II, and then, in September 1948, he entered the Korean battlefield with his unit, the 3d Battalion of the 8^th Cavalry Regiment, of the 1^st Cavalry Division.

... You might expect a chaplain to provide comfort in a foxhole, lead religious services for his men, and pray with those whose hearts are swept with fear. Father Kapaun did that, but he also did much more.

He saved hundreds of lives on the battlefield and in a POW camp, nourishing the physical and spiritual health of fellow prisoners. He nursed the wounded, stole food for those being starved, and provided emotional strength to those who were weak. He was a champion of those poor souls left for dead by their captors, daring to do what our enemy would not: Feed the hungry, tend to the sick, and lift the fallen. Through these efforts Fr. Kapaun secured for his brethren what he ultimately could not secure for himself: Survival.

Doing good for others was this very good man’s lifeblood. It was all he knew to do. But when the enemy realized the strength Kapaun gave his compatriots, they led him away from the camp and isolated him. Within days, sick and alone, he succumbed to the harsh conditions of his confinement.

Tomorrow, President Obama will finally bestow upon Father Kapaun, this very, very good man, the Medal of Honor he so richly deserves.

Over the past 60 years, his fellow POWs never forgot his sacrifice and heroism, and they pushed tirelessly for this Medal of Honor. They learned from him that the gifts he gave -- compassion, love, mercy -- was precisely the answer to the war they’d been fighting.

... You can watch the ceremony at 1:10 CDT on Thursday, April 11, at the White House by going to this website: www.army.mil/medalofhonor/kapaun. A few minutes before the event occurs, a link will appear directing you to the live stream from the White House, so you may have to refresh the page. The Pentagon’s ceremony will be at 1:00 CDT on April 12, and you can view it from their website: www.pentagon.mil.

Oh my yes. Don't want this sort of extremism in the Army.

The gorilla in the room of politically polite conversation is terrorism by Islamites. (Check E-N!'s Islamic terrorism ticker in the right column.) But if you say Islamites are blowing up people, Muslims get mad. So in order to talk about Islamites blowing up people, polite conversation pretends everyone blows up people. Look at those Catholic extremists! Look at those hateful tweets! Beware of extreme Popery!* It's, it's unpatriotic!

CHOPE.

Extremist!

------------------------------------
* And this and this and this and this and this and this.

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SUN'S QUIET CORONA
CAPTION: The current conditions of the quiet corona and upper transition region of the Sun, April 9, 2013.
[Picture source: NASA/SDO]

The corona is the Sun's flaring outer atmosphere. It is hot, sustaining temperatures of one to three million kelvin (1,799,540.33° F to 5,399,540.33° F). It quietly moils in the freezer of space.

Most of the world's energy resources are from the conversion of the sun's rays to other energy forms after being incident upon the planet. Some of that energy has been preserved as fossil energy, some is directly or indirectly usable; for example, via wind, hydro- or wave power. The amount of energy is measured by satellite to be roughly 1368 watts per square meter, though it fluctuates by about 6.9% during the year due to the Earth's varying distance from the sun. This value is the total rate of solar energy received by the planet; about half, 89 PW, reaches the Earth's surface.]

The estimates of remaining non-renewable worldwide energy resources vary, with the remaining fossil fuels totaling an estimated 0.4 YJ (1 Yottajoule = 10²⁴J) and the available nuclear fuel such as uranium exceeding 2.5 YJ. Fossil fuels range from 0.6 to 3 YJ if estimates of reserves of methane clathrates are accurate and become technically extractable. The total energy flux from the sun is 3.8 YJ/yr, dwarfing all non-renewable resources.

At any given moment the Sun is outproducing all human potentialities. Put Obamacare or QE3 up against the quiet work of the Sun and you are on your way to grasping the transience of political power, which expends tremendous heat but produces very little work that endures. To think that Mr. Obama or liberals -- or conservatives -- exercise true power is a mistake of scale. Vexatious to be sure, but still a mistake of scale.

Coincident with our find, Jon Gabriel tweeted the perfect soundtrack for the amazing picture above.

boards of canada "in a beautiful place out in the country": youtu.be/FZgM4TNz0mA

— Jon Gabriel (@ExJon) April 10, 2013

CHOPE.

Politics, properly scaled.

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NOT FOR TURNING
The Woman Who Saved Britain
With A Message Of Freedom.

April 8, 2013 (WSJ) - Thatcher died in London Monday, at age 87, having earned her place among the greats. This is not simply because she revived Britain's economy, though that was no mean achievement. Nor is it because she held office longer than any of her predecessors, though this also testifies to her political skill. She achieved greatness because she articulated a set of vital ideas about economic freedom, national self-respect and personal virtue, sold them to a skeptical public and then demonstrated their efficacy.

Consider economic policy. Britain in 1979 had a double-digit inflation rate, a top income tax rate of 83% and rising unemployment. Public expenditures accounted for 42.5% of GDP. There were price, dividend, currency and wage controls, although the last of these were flouted by trade unions on whose support the Labour government depended.

... Most British policy makers of the time had no real grasp of economics: no idea what caused inflation; no idea how to run state-owned enterprises (much less that government shouldn't run businesses at all); no idea—beyond increasing civil-service rolls—how to create jobs.

... Thatcher was different, an "instinctive conservative" whose economic philosophy drew from her father's observations of stocking a grocery. Her memoir recalls her youthful wonder at "The great complex romance of international trade which recruited people from all over the world to ensure that a family in Grantham could have on its table rice from India, coffee from Kenya, sugar from the West Indies." She had also, with her cabinet colleague Keith Joseph, spent years transforming those instincts into practical theories for governance.

And so it went for the next 11 years, as Thatcher and her government stopped printing excess money to kill inflation, cut marginal tax rates to unleash private incentives, privatized public housing so the poor could own their own homes, did away with currency, price and wage controls to eliminate the distortions they imposed on the economy, curbed runaway spending and sold off one state asset after another so they might be competently and profitably managed.

All this was done despite sharp short-term economic shocks and in the teeth of immense resistance, particularly from trade unions. In 1984, the coal miners union of Arthur Scargill went on strike for nearly a year. Similar strikes had brought past governments to their knees, but Thatcher, in a feat of immense courage and political skill, remained immovable and eventually won public opinion to her side. As she had famously said of herself a few years earlier (without being believed), "the lady is not for turning."

... Deeper than this was Thatcher's sympathy with what is best in America: freedom, enterprise, opportunity, optimism and the urge for self-improvement. No doubt this reflected Thatcher's background as a grocer's daughter who'd risen on her own talent and effort.

A full biography can be found here. From the NR Archives, this 1989 tribute by Ronald Reagan, the "second most important man" in her life. (Mr. Reagan returned the compliment, calling Mrs. Thatcher the "best man in England".) Deadline New York plumps out its spare obituary with the actresses who have played Mrs. Thatcher, an important gauge of Mrs. Thatcher's place in history.

Sidebar: In the Westminster system of the United Kingdom, there is the institution of "Question Time". This entails an hour-long appearance by government ministers before the Parliament to field questions from the seated members. "Questions to the Prime Minister" is a half-hour session, reserved every Wednesday between noon and 12:30. Although both the party in power and the party in opposition try to script questions and answers, there is a great deal of extemporaneity. Mrs. Thatcher was formidable. Watch to the very end.

"YOU CAN WIPE THE FLOOR WITH THESE PEOPLE!"
Mrs. Thatcher's Last House Of Commons Speech
LONDON November 22, 1990
[Picture source: YouTube]

Formidable. No teleprompter. No "ahs", "ums", no stumbles. Clear, amazingly articulate, on point, on her feet. Solid answers long rehearsed in an abiding political philosophy, not shaped by coaches, handlers, spin consultants, or pollsters. It is inconceivable that our sitting president could manage such feat.

The less than great cannot abide the great and were quick to advertise their disdain.

Okay, what did the #ironlady do to advance Great Britain and the world? Did she leave lasting footprints for women in politics? #justsayin

— Donna Brazile (@donnabrazile) April 8, 2013

Ah-um, maybe check in with the boss, Donna.

Obama on Thatcher "she stands as an example to our daughters that there is no glass ceiling that can’t be shattered." 

— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) April 8, 2013

When the left is not being stupid about Mrs. Thatcher, it is busy being vicious, enjoying its advantage of the quick over the dead.

We have closed comments on every #Thatcher story today - even our address to email tributes is filled with abuse

— Tony Gallagher (@gallaghereditor) April 8, 2013

Hundreds celebrate Thatcher's death at street party in Brixton. twitter.com/jdpoulter/stat…

— James Poulter (@jdpoulter) April 8, 2013

We leave the last word to Charles C. W. Cook, at the National Review:

To be fair to the hard Left, Mrs. Thatcher didn't let them run the country into total oblivion so we don't yet know if that works.

— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) April 8, 2013

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JOE BIDEN RUNS UP BILL OF $585,000
FOR JUST ONE NIGHT IN FIVE-STAR PARIS HOTEL
(AND TAXPAYERS WILL PICK UP THE TAB)

March 22, 2013 (Daily Mail) - When Mr Biden and his hefty entourage stayed in Paris for an evening in early February...it cost $585,000.50 for that single night. The Vice President likely rented out more than 100 rooms in the Hotel Intercontinental Paris Le Grand, though they must not have gotten a group discount rate.

... Because the hotel doesn't offer a Vice Presidential suite, Mr Biden likely enjoyed a title bump as he probably stayed in the two-room Presidential Suite which goes for 2,975 euros per night. The 1,851-square foot suite features an interconnecting entertainment area, marble bathrooms and 'upscale' linens.

Still no WH tours, but VP Biden's recent trip to Europe racked up $1mil in hotel room bills bit.ly/14cmzVZ bit.ly/10t0AXy

— Randy Neugebauer (@RandyNeugebauer) March 22, 2013

For some reason, the pound must be at a better level than the euro as his hotel bill for one night at the Hyatt Regency in London was only $459,388.65, more than $100,000 less than his night in Paris. The contract for the London trip specifies that the Vice President’s crew required 136 hotel rooms for the evening, so it is fair to assume that they needed a similar -- if not the exact same -- number in Paris for the next leg of the trip.

And also this:

Also on the receipt was $321,665 for a limousine company... The vice president's office referred CNN to the State Department, which said the costs are "nothing out of the ordinary".

If that's the price of security, well, so be it. But Mr. Biden's trip was little more than a photo-op romp, happy snaps of Mr. Biden shaking hands. How were America's national interests substantively advanced? These expenditures are suspiciously of a piece with this spendthrift administration, an administration that denies itself nothing.

AS VP, BIDEN HAS BEEN FLYING
TO DELAWARE ON THE WEEKENDS

BLOG March 23, 2013 (WHD) - Vice President Biden has been flying home to Wilmington, Delaware most weekends at enormous expense to taxpayers, even though he has an exclusive government-provided residence in Washington.

... The cost of flying Air Force Two, a military version of the Boeing 757-200, amounts to about $8,800 per hour, according to the most recent federal data.

The distance between Washington and Wilmington is only about a hundred miles, but it’s safe to assume that between flying time and the time spent on the takeoff and landing, the total flight takes at least 45 minutes. That would amount to a roundtrip cost to taxpayers of about $13,200.

This price still is conservative, though, because it doesn’t include the cost of transporting Biden to and from the plane, both in Washington and Delaware.

Biden, who rode Amtrak trains back and forth to Wilmington on weekends for years as a senator, said he was forced by the Secret Service to use air transport instead of the train when he became vice president.

Sidebar: Suddenly -- magically -- the sequester makes the train safe enough.

The looming sequester is forcing the veep to once again take the train -- as opposed to military aircraft -- to his weekend trips home to Delaware. Biden said Wednesday he initiated the change, calling it the one thing about the sequester that's working to his "benefit."

Mr. Biden:

I was able to say, 'Look guys, I've got to take the train now -- it's cheaper than flying.' So I get to take the train again.

Because, you know, until the sequester the nation's finances had been flush.

But it’s not at all clear why, given that he no longer represents Delaware, he must return there so frequently. Biden has family in Delaware and reportedly also likes to golf at an exclusive club there. But in an era of soaring debt, he had been making a choice to spend thousands of taxpayers dollars to accomodate a personal predilection.

Thanks for getting it, Joe!

BIDEN NOT GIVING BACK PAY,
AT LEAST FOR NOW

April 5, 2013 (Politico) - Vice President Joe Biden won't be following the president's lead and returning some of his pay to the Treasury, but may if his staff faces furloughs.

"The vice president is committed to sharing the burden of the sequester with his staff," his office said in a statement Friday.

... Biden's net worth has been reported as less than $1 million. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano also has a net worth in that range and committed Thursday to give five percent of her salary to charities that benefit department personnel, who are already facing furloughs.

In a party of political phonies, Mr. Biden may come across as a lesser phony. Admittedly competition is tough, but we rank Joe Biden as a big phony.

CHOPE.

Getting it.

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What we putwith:WhyObama's White House is open to the rich and closed to the poor via @telegraph soa.li/8IVt25M

— lou dobbs (@loudobbsnews) March 17, 2013

Desperate White House sequesterados take Iowa 6th graders hostage bit.ly/XZpZpY

— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) March 8, 2013

More sequester fallout: Michelle Obama can only get Adele and Beyonce to sing at her birthday party dailycaller.com/2013/03/11/mor…

— Jim Treacher (@jtLOL) March 11, 2013

Th-the HUMANITY!

Still can't afford White House tours, but Obama motorcade takes him to play golf round 118 at AAFB today.

— Emily Miller (@EmilyMiller) April 6, 2013

Pres Obama spent about 4 1/2 hrs at the golf course and is now back at the WH.

— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) April 6, 2013

But there have been sacrifices.

BREAKING! SACRIFICE!
Seven Minutes On Mr. Obama's Dime!
[Picture source: Americans For Prosperity/YouTube]

IN A BUDGET GESTURE,
OBAMA WILL RETURN 5%
OF HIS SALARY

April 3, 2013 (NYT) - Word of the president’s decision came a day after Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter disclosed that they would return a share of their salaries commensurate with the pay lost by the department’s civilian employees who are expected to be furloughed for 14 days before the end of the fiscal year.

The president makes $400,000 a year, so a pay cut of 5 percent for the whole year amounts to $20,000; an administration official said Mr. Obama would pay back that amount, compressing the total over the remaining months of the fiscal year. The president’s salary is set by law and cannot be changed during his term, so he will write a check to the government starting this month, the official said.

Or maybe not $20,000.

The voluntary move would be retroactive to March 1, the official said, and apply through the rest of the fiscal year, which ends in September.

Five percent of monthly salary over 7 months is only $11,667. But even twenty large doesn't pass spread-it-around muster with liberal columnists at WaPo.

OBAMA'S INSULTING SALARY STUNT
By Richard Cohen

April 4, 2013 (WaPo) - I once had a boss who was independently rich, and when I asked him for a raise, he turned me down, adding that he, too, had forsaken a raise that year. A surge of anger, resentment and sheer hatred welled up in me, and were it not that I needed the job, I would have gone for his throat. His unthinking and unthinkable attempt to make common cause with me brought to mind Anatole France's observation that "The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread." Now it brings to mind Barack Obama.

Mr. Cohen goes on to describe Mr. Obama's salary, expense accounts, and amenities, which we have done in greater detail here.

Obama was once poor -- although young and poor is not the same as old and poor -- so I know he can appreciate what that 5 percent can mean. The president was apparently responding to the symbolism of him living like a pasha while asking others to sacrifice. I understand. But his taking a wee haircut on his salary is just a PR stunt from the White House that’s more insulting than it is empathetic.

OBAMA’S FEEBLE SALARY 'SACRIFICE'
By Dana Milbank

April 5, 2013 (WaPo) - Federal workers face unpaid furloughs because of the automatic spending cuts known as sequestration. That's a serious economic hardship for many middle-class families, and whether or not Obama intended for it to happen, it's a direct result of a bill he signed into law.

... Obama and his wife reported income of $8 million in his first three years in office, largely from royalties on his memoirs, which were best-sellers because of his political fame. And the Obamas will soon go from rich to filthy rich. Bill Clinton earned $89 million in speaking fees in his first 11 years out of the White House, according to an analysis of disclosures done last year by CNN. Clinton received an average of $189,000 per appearance -- a record that Obama will be in a good position to match after his presidency ends.

For a man worth millions and soon to be worth tens of millions of dollars, $20,000 is not much of a sacrifice.

This should matter a great deal more than jump shots for Obama, who won reelection largely by beating Mitt Romney in the empathy department. In exit polls for the 2012 election, people who said they were primarily voting for the person who "cares about people like me" chose Obama over Romney, 81.2 percent to 17.6 percent. Obama lost among voters who were primarily seeking the traits of "strong leader", "vision for the future" and somebody who "shares my values".

Mr. Obama plays the percentage not the pain.

CHOPE.

Awful. Awful. Awful.

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Time's arrow, first term.

ROBERT L. JOHNSON, BET FOUNDER,
GIVES PRESIDENT OBAMA PASS
ON UNEMPLOYMENT

April 4, 2013 (HuffPo) - In recent weeks BET founder, Robert L. Johnson, has voiced his opinion over the unemployment gap between African-Americans and Caucasian Americans. Johnson extended his campaign during a recent appearance on "The O'Reilly Factor", where he touched on reasons behind President Obama’s receiving continuous support in spite of the nation’s current unemployment statistics. Mr. Johnson:

African-Americans have immense pride in President Obama as a president. They see it as a major accomplishment in this country and embracing an African-American leader. And they're positive and hopeful, probably, more than anything, that his leadership will make their lives better.

Second term.

BET FOUNDER: 'THIS COUNTRY WOULD NEVER TOLERATE
WHITE UNEMPLOYMENT AT 14 OR 15 PERCENT'

WASHINGTON March 29, 2013 (CNS News) - Black Entertainment Television (BET) founder Bob Johnson at the National Press Club:

This country would never tolerate white unemployment at 14 and 15 percent. No one would ever stay in office at 14 or 15 percent unemployment in this nation, but we've had that double unemployment for over 50 years. ... Thirty-four million African-Americans are not going to leave this country, millions of African-Americans who don’t have jobs. Somebody’s going to have to pay for them. Somebody's going to have to take care of them, and if somebody's going to have to take care of them, that money's got to come from somebody. And whoever's paying for it is going to be upset about it, and they're going to start looking for somebody to blame.

Third term.

CBC CHAIRMAN:
AFRICAN AMERICANS WOULD
'MARCH ON THE WHITE HOUSE'
IF OBAMA WASN’T BLACK

January 24, 2012 (TDC) - Following his appearance at Republican Rep. Allen West’s Black Conservative Forum, [Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO, 5th)] elaborated on his past comments about Obama's image in the African American community:

The point I was making is that black people hold the president in such high esteem, that they would not dare march on the White House even though unemployment is at 15 percent and higher and if there was a white president we would do that because we've had white presidents since George Washington. ... The point was that if we had anybody else in the White House, with this level of unemployment, that you know, you would see a lot more African Americans, African American organizations and retro organizations speaking out against it. But because he is revered, you know, he gets I guess the benefit of, you know, understanding that the situation was terrible when he came in. So, we're not doing that.

(We do the carve-up on Mr. Cleaver here.)

Fourth term.

UNDER OBAMA, AFRICAN-AMERICAN UNEMPLOYMENT UP;
WEALTH, WAGES, POLITICAL INFLUENCE DOWN

January 24, 2012 (TDC) - [T]he percentage of adult African-Americans in poverty rose from 19.8 percent in 2007 to 23 percent in 2010, according to the Census Bureau. The percentage of African-American children in poverty rose from 34.5 percent to 39.1 percent in 2010. African-Americans’ formal unemployment rate jumped from 9 percent in June 2007 to 14.5 percent this August.

And the reality is worse: The percentage of African-Americans in the workforce fell from 58.6 percent in June 2007, down to 52.8 percent in August 2012. Less than half of young African-American men have full-time jobs.

We have traced the flight of time's arrow back through Mr. Obama's abysmal record of black betterment. Here is its point of release.

Terminus.

BREAKDOWN OF DEMOGRAPHICS
REVEALS HOW BLACK VOTERS SWEPT
OBAMA INTO WHITE HOUSE

November 5, 2008 (Daily Mail) - 95% of black voters went to the ballot for Obama and only 4% for McCain.

In 2012 Mr. Romney did only slightly better with the black vote (6%) against Mr. Obama (93%).

We find it disingenuous that black politicians and businessmen fret over the plight of black Americans but give Mr. Obama a pass because he is black. Mr. Obama was hired to fix these problems. He ran for office assuring black Americans that he would. He hasn't. Blacks can continue to revere Mr. Obama, which gets them nothing, or they can demand he do the job he was hired to do.

CHOPE.

Self-imposed racism.

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Tolerance brigade calls Ben Carson 'token,' 'Uncle Tom' and 'Oreo' after CPAC speech twitchy.com/2013/03/16/tol…

— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) March 16, 2013

No one plays the race card better. RT @therightsphere MSNBC Host Asks If Dr. Ben Carson is Just a Black Sarah Palin bit.ly/12nq5J8

— Sean Agnew (@seanagnew) April 5, 2013

Black liberals step in to do the hatchet work.

I don't think I realized Ben Carson was conservative until last month. Shame he's becoming the right wing's go-to black token.

— Deen Freelon (@dfreelon) March 16, 2013

More on assistant professor Freelon here. Then there is the left wing's go-to black token, Touré:

My MSNBC video essay about the GOP's lame attempt to reach out to Blacks & their new Black friend Dr. Ben Carson - video.msnbc.msn.com/the-cycle/5129…

— Touré (@Toure) March 22, 2013

Touré: Ben Carson Is The GOP’s ‘Black Friend,’ Enjoying GOP’s ‘Affirmative Action’ And ‘Assuaging Their Guilt’ bit.ly/ZGit3G VIDEO

— Mediaite (@Mediaite) March 23, 2013

A little perspective, please.

Here's the thing. Ben Carson was the first surgeon to separate co-joined twins successfully. @toure wrote a book about Prince.

— Jay Caruso (@jaycaruso) March 27, 2013

The left is fearless at race-baiting because they pay no penalty. None. In the linked examples black liberals are paid to race-bait by networks, invariably run (and here and here and here) and dominated (and here) by white liberals. It never occurs to black liberals that they are the tokens, that they are the tools of white liberals, the "black friends" of a white liberal establishment. They are paid to do the dirty work of white liberals, who approve but, for the sake of appearance, do not practice defaming errant blacks. As we remarked here:

Ms. Harris-Perry's wild suppositions are not original to her. They derive from the liberal worldview. A worldview reinforced at every stage of professional ascent. It opens doors. It pays well. Ms. Harris-Perry is not an unintelligent woman, but she embraces stupidity because it makes her more successful. Stupidity as bigotry is a paycheck. And in this economy who is so stupid as to turn away a paycheck for unremunerative integrity? Enough paychecks and you don't even notice the bigotry anymore.

Dr. Carson has stepped into all of this. [Pause.] And he has something to say about all of this.

Q: Well, you're right. They don't want a conversation, do they? They don't want us to engage.

No, they want to shut us up completely. And that's why the attacks against me have been so vicious because I represent, you know, an existential threat to them. They need to shut me up, they need to get rid of me. They can't find anything else to delegitimize me. So they take my words, misinterpret them, and try to make it seem that I'm a bigot.

Q: And you're attacked, in many respects, because of your race, because you're not supposed to think like this and talk like this. A lot of white liberals just don't like it, do they?

Well, they are the most racist people there are because they put you in a little category, a little box. You have to think this way. How could you dare come off the plantation?

Dr. Benjamin Carson
MARK LEVIN SHOW
April 1, 2013 (RCP)

CHOPE.

Truth to power.

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45 years ago tonight after 6:01 local time, Martin Luther King, Jr., is borne from the balcony of the Lorraine Motel: twitter.com/BeschlossDC/st…

— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) April 4, 2013

RT @cbseveningnews: From the archives: Walter Cronkite covers the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. WATCH: cbsn.ws/ZBfO8u

— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 4, 2013

Today his legacy is poorly honored among the people he fought for and people he sought to reconcile.

If MLK were alive 2day, he’d be appalled at black unemployment & black-on-black crime. We must reengage & fight harder to restore his dream.

— Allen West (@AllenWest) April 4, 2013

"We are working on making the world a better place for generations yet unborn" - Martin Luther King III #WeDay

— Free The Children (@freethechildren) March 27, 2013

Activists like to co-op MLK. It makes them feel good and look good. It suggests a connection with moral greatness. But oddly not a word on the Free The Children site about this:

"DEATHS OUTNUMBER LIVES"
[Picture source: The National Black Prolife Coalition/YouTube]

MLK did dangerous work. Violence and death were always near. For years he suffered the former and denied the latter. In Memphis the night of April 3, 1968 he put death on notice:

And then I got into Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers? Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind.

Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!

And so I'm happy, tonight.

I'm not worried about anything.

I'm not fearing any man.

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

The next day he was murdered. God bless. God rest.

CHOPE.

"How stands the Negro today?" — Frederick Douglass, April 1883

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From here....

North Korea: 1953 Armistice 'Scrapped Completely' bit.ly/XEJfKK via @newspin

— North Korea Reports (@NKoreaReports) March 12, 2013

...to here...

The moves of the U.S. imperialists to violate the sovereignty of the DPRK and encroach upon its supreme interests have entered an extremely grave phase. Under this situation, the dear respected Marshal Kim Jong Un, brilliant commander of Mt. Paektu, convened an urgent operation meeting on the performance of duty of the Strategic Rocket Force of the Korean People's Army for firepower strike and finally examined and ratified a plan for firepower strike.

The important decision made by him is the declaration of a do-or-die battle to provide an epochal occasion for putting an end to the history of the long-standing showdown with the U.S. and opening a new era. It is also a last warning of justice served to the U.S., south Korean group and other anti-reunification hostile forces. The decision reflects the strong will of the army and people of the DPRK to annihilate the enemies.

... This sacred war of justice will be a nation-wide, all-people resistance involving all Koreans in the north and the south and overseas in which the traitors to the nation including heinous confrontation maniacs, warmongers and human scum will be mercilessly swept away.

...to here, was only a matter of time.

#BREAKING: N. Korea army says it has final approval for nuclear attack on US

— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) April 3, 2013

NORTH KOREA WARNS NUCLEAR WAR
ON AMERICA COULD BREAK OUT
"TODAY OR TOMORROW"
April 3, 2013 (Daily Mirror)

Laugh?

North Korea threatens us again. It's hard to fear a country whose menacing videos use technology from 1987.

— Razor (@hale_razor) March 29, 2013

Cry?

North Korean Kids Dance With Smiling Rocket To Celebrate Lunar New Year bit.ly/ZKqwKA via @newspin

— North Korea Reports (@NKoreaReports) March 17, 2013

#DPRK radio: US "should be clear that in era of Marshal Kim Jong Un, the greatest-ever commander, all things are different from the past."

— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) March 30, 2013

With people like Obama, Kerry, and Hagel dealing with North Korea, what can even possibly go wrong? Asking for a friend.

— Ken Gardner (@kesgardner) March 30, 2013

If NoKo pulls the trigger, its offense will be all-in. There will be no turning back. In America -- forget offense -- our guy is shy on defense.

I'm always worried about using the word 'victory', because, you know, it invokes this notion of Emperor Hirohito coming down and signing a surrender to MacArthur.

Mr. Obama,
declining to define "victory" in Afghanistan
SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio July 23, 2009 (ABC News)

The NoKo war plan will exploit its one military advantage -- numbers. With 9,495,000 active, reserve, and paramilitary personnel, it boasts the largest military organization in the world. Of course how these millions swarm into South Korea is no small logistical problem. Superior manpower remains an advantage insofar as it can be effectively deployed. Bottled up or on the move without effective air cover, and it becomes a big target.

Swarming the south is the big idea from the 1950 Fatherland Liberation War playbook. But much has changed since then and its doubtful the antiquated NoKo air force could provide sufficient protective cover for mobilized columns. This is not to say the Norks may not have tricks up their sleeves. But it is wishful thinking to nuke Seoul and then sue for a quick reinstatement of an armistice. Once this begins -- and it will begin with slaughter -- the existential imperative will demand one side prevails completely over the other.

What will be determinative in the conflict is what America brings to the fight and whether it has the political will to prosecute another war.

CHOPE.

1953 denouement plays out.

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DNC CHAIR: WE'RE 'IN THE RED',
'WE SPENT EVERY LAST PENNY...AND THEN SOME'

March 31, 2013 (CNS News) - Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL, 23th)says Democrats are "in the red" because they spent more than "everything we had" to get Barack Obama and others elected last November.

In an e-mail to supporters, the DNC chair says:

We spent everything we had to spend in 2012 to win the White House, add seats in the Senate, and pick up seats in the House -- our job was to do everything we could to elect President Obama and other Democrats across the country.

... The cardinal sin in campaigns is to sit on money -- which is why we spent every last penny we had in 2012 (and then some) to make sure the election went our way.

Be assured, DWS says, she will spend every last cent you send her (and then some).* Then she will be back for more. And she will spend all of that too. Then back again to spend again. Da capo.

As we have noted on more than one occasion,* the Democrats have one solution to every problem.

SPEND MORE MONEY!

OBAMA PRESSES CONGRESS FOR BILLIONS
TO SPEND ON INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAMS

WASHINGTON March 29,2013 (AP) - President Barack Obama was promoting a plan to create jobs by attracting private investment in highways and other public works during a visit Friday to a Miami port.

The president chose to flesh out details of his proposals in a speech at the port, which is undergoing $2 billion in upgrades paid for with government and private money.

Sidebar: Presumably proposals for American jobs. Oops.

American flag flies off crane at Obama event in Miami. It was apparently covering a Chinese company logo. PO-49FR on BitCentral.

— CNN Newsource (@CNNNewsource) March 29, 2013

White House Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Alan Krueger told reporters traveling with Obama that the initiatives being touted Friday will come to $21 billion, not including the $40 billion for Fix it First. Krueger said any increased spending associated with the proposals would not add to the deficit.

Yeah. Like Obamacare (and here and here).

If for some odd reason that doesn't work, plan B kicks in.

SPEND EVEN MORE MONEY!

Look, when I say "balanced" budget, I mean "balanced" in the sense of "more tax increases and permanent deficits": ccwc.me/Y8WU9m

— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) March 12, 2013

House Dem budget has $1.2T in new taxes, $200B in new spending bit.ly/135aDFX by @elwasson

— The Hill (@thehill) March 18, 2013

SENATE DEMOCRATIC BUDGET
ADDS $50,000 IN DEBT
TO EVERY HOUSEHOLD
March 20, 2013 (WaEx)

The DNC's rush to impoverishment is America's spending problem writ small. The difference, aside from scale, is that the cardinal sin in government is thrift, thrift in any form (and on and on and on).

CHOPE.

Q.E.D.

------------------------------------
* DWS is new to austerity. Th-the HUMANITY!

** And here and here and here and here and here -- and this.

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We received this in the mail yesterday.

OBAMA DECLARES APRIL 1
'FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY DAY'
By Scott Ott

April 1, 2013 (Scrappleface) - In a White House ceremony this morning, surrounded by young children of Wall Street bankers, and of staffers at the Federal Reserve, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, President Barack Obama signed an executive order designating today as 'National Fiscal Responsibility Day'.

The president said the declaration would both "recognize the Herculean efforts of members of Congress and the Executive branch in paring down the federal budget to its core essentials, as well as issue a challenge that still more can be done to achieve the dream of my personal hero, President Calvin Coolidge."

Of course Scrappleface is a satirical site and Scott Ott is a satirist spoofing on April Fools' Day.

Then we saw this.

OBAMA PROCLAIMS
APRIL THE MONTH
TO TEACH YOUNG PEOPLE
'HOW TO BUDGET RESPONSIBLY'

April 1, 2013 (CNS News) - President Barack Obama, who has increased the national debt by $53,377 per household, has proclaimed April "National Financial Capability Month", during which his administration will do things such as teach young people "how to budget responsibly". The official proclamation released Friday:

I call upon all Americans to observe this month with programs and activities to improve their understanding of financial principles and practices.

My Administration is dedicated to helping people make sound decisions in the marketplace.

Together, we can prepare young people to tackle financial challenges -- from learning how to budget responsibly to saving for college, starting a business, or opening a retirement account.

The irony is achingly, completely lost on Mr. Obama.

When Obama was inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2009, the total debt of the federal government was $10,626,877,048,913.08. As of the close of business on March 28, 2013, the total debt of the federal government was $16,766,988,432,792.62 -- an increase of $6,140,111,383,879.54 since Obama took office.

That means that under Obama the federal debt has increased $53,377 for each one of the 115,031,000 households the Census Bureau says there are now in the United States. The president is required by law to submit a budget proposal for the next fiscal year by the first Monday in February.

Thus far, Obama has not submitted his budget proposal for fiscal 2014.

We do not know if Mr. Ott got wind of Mr. Obama's proclamation, but the proclamation is as good as the spoof.

Only a special kind of con man can tell folks to 'budget responsibly' after having his own budgets voted down 0-414 and 0-97. #tcot

— Razor (@hale_razor) April 2, 2013

"Special" is not the word we would use, but that's us.

CHOPE.

"Life imitates art far more than Art imitates life." — Oscar Wilde, The Decay Of Lying: An Observation, 1891.

Follow @DamianBennett

I wonder if this Easter headline was deliberately disrespectful of Christians. nytimes.com/2013/03/31/opi…

— James Taranto (@jamestaranto) April 1, 2013

And this.

Can't make this up: NYT issues correction on Easter, a holiday about which they apparently weren't that familiar: nationalreview.com/corner/344374/…

— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) April 1, 2013

Here's the story...

POPE CALLS FOR
'PEACE IN ALL THE WORLD'
IN FIRST EASTER MESSAGE
VATICAN March 31, 2013 (NYT)

...and the correction.

Correction: April 1, 2013

An earlier version of this article mischaracterized the Christian holiday of Easter. It is the celebration of Jesus's resurrection from the dead, not his resurrection into heaven.

Christ ascended into heaven forty days after His Resurrection.

CHOPE.

Layers and layers of editors and fact checkers.

Follow @DamianBennett

EDUCATION DEPARTMENT POSTS,
THEN REMOVES QUOTE BY MAO ZEDONG

March 24, 2013 (TWT) - The Department of Education pulled a "Quote of the Day" by Chinese dictator Mao Zedong from its children's website Friday after a screenshot of the quote went viral. The website, Kids' Zone by the National Center for Education Statistics ("NCES"), featured the quote

Our attitude towards ourselves should be 'to be satiable in learning' and towards others 'to be tireless in teaching'.

After a slew of backlash mostly from conservatives, the website replaced the quote with one from Abraham Lincoln’s first political announcement. Then the quote was removed completely with a peculiar message reading, "Sorry there is no quote of the of day today."

THE LITTLE RED SCHOOLHOUSE
"Hey, Kids Of Imperialist Lackeys!
Do You Know My Quotable Pal Joe Stalin?"
(See below for word balloon quote.)
[Picture source: BuzzFeed]

Moe Lane at RedState points out the obvious.

NOTE TO THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION:
MAO ZEDONG MURDERED 65 MILLION PEOPLE.
By Moe Lane

BLOG March 22, 2013 (RedState) - This is the estimated number is from The Black Book of Communism: if some people consider that number suspect, there's also Frank Dikötter's estimate* of 45 million killed during the "Great Leap Forward". Even the New York Times thinks that 30 million died in that atrocity, while noting that the ChiComs admit to 16 million murdered by the state** during that time period. In short: Mao Zedong was a ruthless dictator who killed on a scale equivalent to Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin.

------------------------------------

* Mao’s Great Famine: The History of China’s Most Devastating Catastrophe, 1958-1962

** Oh, pardon me: "died in a famine".

Is there such a dearth of quotes that NCES could only find a mass murderer who had anything meaningful to say about learning?

Let's take another look at the quote itself:

Our attitude towards ourselves should be 'to be satiable in learning' and towards others 'to be tireless in teaching'.

[Pause.] "To be satiable in learning" is to have learned your fill, scil., to have learned enough. "To be tireless in teaching" is to continually instruct others, scil., to use your sated learning to annoy everyone.

Dennis Briscoe, the press secretary for the Department of Education, offered an apology Friday evening for the "poorly chosen quote", which was intended "to highlight the importance of teaching and learning".

Good pick, NCES!

CHOPE.

NCES, bringing you the next generation of MSNBC punditry.

------------------------------------
Word balloon quote: 没有正确的政治观点，就等于没有灵魂 = "Not to have a correct political point of view is like having no soul." [On The Correct Handling Of Contradictions Among The People (February 27, 1957); 1st pocket ed., pp. 43-44.]

------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE 04.03.13: China scoffs at thin-skinned America.

UPROAR OVER MAO QUOTE SHOWS
U.S. 'NARROW-MINDEDNESS', CHINA SAYS

April 2, 2013 (CNS News) - The recent furor over a Mao Zedong quote appearing on a U.S. government website for children reflects American insularity and intolerance, a Chinese newspaper opined this week. Communist Party-affiliated Global Times:

The U.S., which prides itself in freedom of speech, can't even tolerate a quote from Mao. It shows how narrow-minded the American political system is in the face of the diversity of global culture. ... Mao was a pioneer of the new global geopolitics. Americans will acknowledge this man sooner or later when they overcome their narrow-mindedness.

The Global Times of course criticizes not from the high perch of tolerance, but from the wallows of hurt. The NCES quote was a little bow, its removal is a little hurt. The NCES has hurt the feelings of the Global Times and the Global Times wants you to know.

What the Global Times misses are the differences between free speech, appropriate speech, and accountable speech. Free speech is all speech. Appropriate speech is speech constrained by purpose and situation. Accountable speech is speech subject to criteria and censure. We seriously doubt that there would be no controversy were the Global Times to print an exemplary quote by "Douglas MacArthur, an anti-communist general" because the Global Times is accountable to the Communist Party, which -- we are guessing here -- would find the compliment inappropriate.

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Bookend:

My opponent and his running mate are new to foreign policy, but from all that we've seen and heard, they want to take us back to an era of blustering and blundering that cost America so dearly.

Mr. Obama,
himself new to foreign policy, skating right over the irony
DNCC ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
CHARLOTTE September 6, 2012 (ABC News)

FALKLANDS REFERENDUM: VOTERS CHOOSE
TO REMAIN UK TERRITORY

March 12, 2013 (BBC) - Of 1,517 votes cast in the two-day referendum -- on a turnout of more than 90% -- 1,513 were in favour, while just three votes were against.

It follows pressure from Argentina over its claims to the islands, 31 years after the Falklands War with the UK. The UK government welcomed the result and urged "all countries" to accept it and respect the islanders' wishes.

Ninety-nine point eight percent, a real squeaker.

Nigel Haywood, governor of the Falkland Islands

Obviously it is a major principle of the United Nations that a people have their right to self-determination, and you don't get a much clearer expression of the people's self-determination than such a large turnout and such a large 'yes' vote.

Dick Sawle, a member of the island's legislative assembly, said it was an "absolutely phenomenal result which will send out the strongest possible message to the rest of the world about our right to self-determination -- a right that was fought for in 1982, and which we have honoured tonight."

The inhabitants are unequivocal. The UK has expended blood and treasure to successfully defend its claim (held since 1833). The United States sided with Britain in the 1982 conflict over the claim affirmed by the referendum, so a no-brainer. Oh. Wait.

"WE TAKE NOTE OF THE RESULTS"
"Don'T Ask, Don'T Tell" At State
[Picture source: DOS/YouTube]

Transcript, Daily Press Briefing, March 12, 2013:

VICTORIA NULAND, DOS spokesperson: All right. Happy Tuesday, everyone. I have nothing at the top. Let’s go --

Q: Really?

NULAND: -- to what’s on your minds.

Q: You don’t have anything to start off about the awesome referendum in the Falkland Islands?

NULAND:> I was hoping you would ask, Matt. Was there a question in there?

Q: Yeah. What do you think about the results of this? Do you think that the three people who voted against should get their way and that you should -- you’ll start encouraging the Brits to hand over the islands to the Argentines, or what do you think?

NULAND: Well, we take note of the results of the recent democratic referendum in the islands, where the residents voted to retain the islands' current political status as a British overseas territory. The residents have clearly expressed their preference for a continued relationship with the United Kingdom. That said, we obviously recognize that there are competing claims. Our formal position has not changed. We recognize the de facto U.K. Administration of the islands, but we take no position on sovereignty claims.

Q: So you don’t think that this referendum enhances the -- or augments the British claim?

NULAND: What we have said is that the residents have clearly expressed themselves and expressed their will, but we also acknowledge the competing claims.

Q: Well, I’m sure, but you do agree with the principle of self determination? You do agree with that, correct?

NULAND: Let me say it one more time, that the residents have expressed their clear preference. We acknowledge that there are conflicting claims, and we recognize the U.K. de facto administration.

Q: Can you explain to me why it is that on this issue you refuse to give the Brits any leeway? I mean, they are your closest ally, arguably. And you’re just -- you've just refused to -- all they’re asking for -- they’re not asking for much here. They’re just asking you to recognize the vote. And if you do agree with the principle of self determination, I don't understand why it wouldn't -- this wouldn't affect your policy.

NULAND: And as I said, we've been very clear about what we see in this referendum and the will that's been expressed by the people of the island, but that doesn't change the fact that there are competing claims. Our own legal position has not changed.

Q: So are you going to now take a look at your position and perhaps review it going further down the line?

NULAND: Again, I think I just stated where we are. I don't have anything further to announce.

Q: So no change in the U.S. position?

NULAND: As I said, conflicting claims, but we recognize the de facto U.K. Administration of the islands. We don't take any position on sovereignty claims. We do think it's important for the parties to continue to have -- to be constructive in their approach and focus their own efforts on a resolution.

Q: So would you consider this referendum a failure then? Because part of the reason for holding it was to demonstrate to the world that the people who live in the Falkland Islands want to remain British and to validate that position before international bodies and other governments. If the United States, which, as Matt said, is the closest ally of Britain, is not going to change its longstanding neutrality on this position, then by definition the referendum has failed to convince you of that.

NULAND: Well, as I said, we have been very straight up here about acknowledging what happened in this referendum, which is that the residents have expressed their preference. But with regard to our legal position, it is as I stated.

Said.

BARACK OBAMA CALLED
'A HYPOCRITE AND A COWARD'
OVER FALKLANDS BETRAYAL --
BBC AUDIENCE APPLAUDS'
By Nile Gardiner

March 28, 2013 (Telegraph) - Harry Cole, news editor of the Guido Fawkes' blog, was interviewed earlier this week on BBC Three's Free Speech show. Asked about the Falklands issue by host Rick Edwards, Harry blasted President Obama’s refusal to recognise the Falklands referendum, describing him as "a hypocrite and a coward". After all, as Cole pointed out, it doesn't look good when the leader of the free world can’t even bring himself to support the right to self-determination, the very principle upon which the United States itself is founded.

... What is most striking about Cole's interview is the loud applause which comes from a large section of the audience of mostly young Brits. There was no booing or hissing of his forthright attack on Barack Obama, which you might expect from a BBC -- assembled crowd -- quite the opposite in fact. There appears to be a growing realisation among the wider British public that President Obama really doesn't like Britain very much, and that his knife in the back over the Falklands, and his hectoring, lecturing tone on Europe, isn't very helpful for British interests. As I've noted in previous pieces, Barack Obama is the most anti-British US president in modern times. When even a BBC audience turns against the insulting policies of the White House, the Obama administration should understand that it has a real problem on its hands when it comes to relations with America's closest ally.

Bookend:

One of the proudest things of my three years in office is helping to restore a sense of respect for America around the world -- (Applause.)

Mr. Obama
REMARKS AT CAMPAIGN EVENT
LOS ANGELES February 16, 2012 (White House)

CHOPE.

Winning Losing friends among our friends.

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Today's post comes courtesy of indispensable correspondent Duncan.

TURIN SHROUD 'IS NOT A MEDIEVAL FORGERY'

March 28, 2013 (Telegraph) - Experiments conducted by scientists at the University of Padua in northern Italy have dated the shroud to ancient times, a few centuries before and after the life of Christ.

Many Catholics believe that the 14ft-long linen cloth, which bears the imprint of the face and body of a bearded man, was used to bury Christ's body when he was lifted down from the cross after being crucified 2,000 years ago.

The analysis is published in a new book, "Il Mistero della Sindone" or The Mystery of the Shroud, by Giulio Fanti, a professor of mechanical and thermal measurement at Padua University, and Saverio Gaeta, a journalist.

... Scientists, including Prof Fanti, used infra-red light and spectroscopy -- the measurement of radiation intensity through wavelengths -- to analyse fibres from the shroud, which is kept in a special climate-controlled case in Turin. The tests dated the age of the shroud to between 300 BC and 400AD. The experiments were carried out on fibres taken from the Shroud during a previous study, in 1988, when they were subjected to carbon-14 dating.

Those tests, conducted by laboratories in Oxford, Zurich and Arizona, appeared to back up the theory that the shroud was a clever medieval fake, suggesting that it dated from 1260 to 1390. But those results were in turn disputed on the basis that they may have been skewed by contamination by fibres from cloth that was used to repair the relic when it was damaged by fire in the Middle Ages.

It's all about the science you like.*

Scientists have never been able to explain how the image of a man's body, complete with nail wounds to his wrists and feet, pinpricks from thorns around his forehead and a spear wound to his chest, could have formed on the cloth. Mr Fanti said the imprint was caused by a blast of "exceptional radiation", although he stopped short of describing it as a miracle.

He said his tests backed up earlier results which claimed to have found on the shroud traces of dust and pollen which could only have come from the Holy Land.

... The Vatican has never said whether it believes the shroud to be authentic or not, although Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI once said that the enigmatic image imprinted on the cloth "reminds us always" of Christ's suffering.

And so it does.

If you have faith, the science is irrelevant. If you do not, the science is your faith.

------------------------------------
* Radiocarbon dating boosters like to affirm carbon dating by beating down Young Earthers, who crowd the whole of creation into 6,000 Biblical years. They do so because it's easy and carbon dating is incidental to the disproof. However the scientific community openly recognizes the limits of and best-guess assumptions behind carbon dating.

exiit iterum Pilatus foras et dicit eis ecce adduco vobis eum foras

... et baiulans sibi crucem exivit in eum qui dicitur Calvariae locum hebraice Golgotha

ubi eum crucifixerunt et cum eo alios duos hinc et hinc medium autem Iesum

... postea sciens Iesus quia iam omnia consummata sunt ut consummaretur scriptura dicit sitio

vas ergo positum erat aceto plenum illi autem spongiam plenam aceto hysopo circumponentes obtulerunt ori eius

cum ergo accepisset Iesus acetum dixit consummatum est et inclinato capite tradidit spiritum

*      *      *      *      *      *

Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him.

... And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:

Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.

... After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.

Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth.

When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

John 19:4, 17-18, 28-30 (Vulgate/KJV)

A safe and holy Holy Day to all.

HOW COMPLICATED IS IT TO FIRE
A FEDERAL EMPLOYEE?

WASHINGTON March 28, 2013 (FNC) - Working for the federal government traditionally meant a trade off: lower salaries but high job security. Today, salaries are high and so is job security.

One analysis found the federal government fired only one half of one percent of its workers in fiscal year 2011 -- about five times fewer than the private sector.

The answer to the headline's question is pretty near impossible:

Another GSA executive, Paul Prouty, who was fired in the Vegas conference scandal, was re-instated with 11 months back pay.

Then there was the case of an employee who was reprimanded for what supervisors called "excessive flatulence". Five pages of meticulous notes documenting his 61 infractions were catalogued over 17 days last December. He was notified that he had a right to a written grievance, to union representation, and to a civil rights complaint. Last January, after all that, the reprimand was withdrawn.

Senator Tom Coburn of the Senate Finance Committee:

You can't manage an organization if you can't control who works and who doesn't because of the office of Personnel Management rules and also the union contracts.

MILLIONS SPENT ON AWOL, 'STANDBY' WORKERS
WHILE OTHERS BRACE FOR FURLOUGHS

March 27, 2013 (FNC) - While the federal government prepares to furlough workers in critical agencies starting next month, it's spending millions of dollars on employees who are "absent without leave" or simply showing up to work on "standby". In other words, complains one senator, workers "being paid to do nothing".

At least these employees are among the quick. That's an improvement.

RT @drudge_report: AWOL Gov't Employees Result in 9,000 Years of Lost Workdrudge.tw/ZCRdDu

— WhiteHousePressCorps (@whpresscorps) March 28, 2013

No surprise that a work force replete with slackers is also replete with delinquents.

HEY, WHAT IF WE FIRED FEDERAL EMPLOYEES
SERIOUSLY DELINQUENT ON TAXES?
DEMOCRATS: NAH.
By Mary Katharine Ham

You'll want to start here.

Citing figures indicating that more than 100,000 federal employees owe more than $1 billion in federal taxes, a House committee on Wednesday approved legislation that would require the firing of government workers who are "seriously tax delinquent".

BLOG March 21, 2013 (Hot Air) - The bill offers exceptions for those employees and applicants demonstrating financial hardship and making good faith efforts to settle up. You’d think our friends in the fair share party would be all over this, but it turns out they only like to demonize people who are already paying their taxes. Asking the bare minimum of federal employees isn’t their bag.

... Washington, D.C. radio station WTOP reported earlier this month that federal employees owe a whopping $3.5 billion.

The average government employee salary in Washington D.C. is $126,000 per year. Insane.

— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) March 26, 2013

Look to the "fair share" administration to provide the example of "patriotic" punctilious tax payment.

40 OBAMA WHITE HOUSE AIDES
OWE THE IRS $333,000
IN BACK TAXES

March 11, 2013 (IBD) - A new report from the Internal Revenue Service has just revealed that 40 of Obama's White House aides owe their employer, the federal government, a total of $333,485 in back taxes. This is the third straight year that the chief executive of the United States has been unable to get his own staff members to keep up with a citizen's legal income tax obligations. to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes owed.

... In its previous report the annual IRS audit accounting found that 36 of the Democrat's White House aides owed $833,000 in back taxes.* The year before it was 41 Obama staff members owing $830,000. In the past year Obama's teleprompter has been on automatic pilot with oft-repeated demands that Americans and profitable corporate giants pay their fair share of taxes.

A memory lane interlude:

I’ve got to own up to my mistake [scil., nominating and supporting tax cheat Tom Daschle on the heels of nominating tax cheat Tim Geithner]. Which is, ultimately, it's important for this administration to send a message that there aren't two sets of rules -- you know, one for prominent people and one for ordinary folks who have to pay their taxes.

President Obama,
admitting people might mistake nominating
tax cheats like Tom Daschle as a double standard
WASHINGTON February 3, 2009 (NBC News/MSNBC)

Yeah. [Pause.] Message received.

CHOPE.

The federal Big Easy.

------------------------------------
* More here.

Follow @DamianBennett

On the border with Chuck Schumer (D-NY), purveyor of border security.

MT @markskrikorian: Border Patrol still smaller than NYPD MT @elisefoley: Schumer on border: "Adequate manpower but not adequate technology"

— Byron York (@ByronYork) March 27, 2013

OK.

Just witnessed a woman successfully climb an 18-ft bollard fence a few yards from us in #Nogales twitter.com/SenJohnMcCain/…

— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) March 27, 2013

Where are the flying robots needed to stop this?

CHOPE.

More technology!

------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE 03.29.13: Video added.

DASH TO AMNESTY
[Picture source: ABC News]

If America legalizes illegals then illegal border crossings become irrelevant.

JANET NAPOLITANO: WE SHOULDN’T
WAIT UNTIL THE BORDER IS SECURE
TO LEGALIZE ILLEGALS
By Allahpundit

BLOG March 27, 2013 (Hot Air) - No worries. She says the border's already "as secure as it’s ever been", even though her department has given up trying to measure that. Marco Rubio recently claimed that 10 million new illegals would cross the border over the next decade if there's no new guest-worker program in place. Maybe Napolitano could quantify border control that way. Are things secure enough now to ensure that only nine million of them would make it? Eight million?

"As secure as it’s ever been." Which is actually the problem, Janet.

Follow @DamianBennett

Preprandial.

Well, a-at, I truly believe that the day I'm inaugurated, not only does the country look at itself differently, but the world looks at America differently.

Mr. Obama
NHPR CALL-IN
NEW HAMPSHIRE November 21, 2007
(BBTV/NHPR)

Improved Image Abroad №1. AFGHANISTAN

John Kerry visits #Afghanistan to repair relations with Karzai wapo.st/101IdH8

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 25, 2013

KERRY WON’T 'LECTURE OR CHIDE'
AFGHAN PRESIDENT FOR SAYING
US WORKS WITH TALIBAN

March 25, 2013 (WaEx) - Karzai claimed that the Taliban launched a terrorist attack during Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel's visit to the country because they "want longer presence of foreigners -- not their departure from Afghanistan".

[A senior administration official on background] suggested that Karzai didn't actually say that. "I mean, one has to get into what he actually said in Pashto, how it was translated in English, how it was reported, and so on," he said. "But I mean, we've gone through some level of detail in clarifying with him already. And like I said, I hope at this point we can begin to move forward and look past this."

No. Mr. Karzai is not past that.

KARZAI ACCUSES U.S. MILITARY OF ATROCITIES,
IN FRONT OF KERRY

March 25, 2013 (WaEx) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai, during a joint press briefing with Secretary of State John Kerry, reiterated his accusation that U.S. special forces have been committing atrocities in Wardak province. Kerry did not contradict Karzai, though U.S. officials have denied the charges.

John Kerry, doormat. (See update below.)

Improved Image Abroad №2. PAKISTAN

A new poll shows that 92% of Pakistanis disapprove of US leadership. And people thought we had no common ground. #tcot

— Fred Thompson (@fredthompson) February 20, 2013

US Secy. of State Kerry will not visit Pakistan. dlvr.it/37b2Th #pakistan

— Pakistan Defence (@defencepk) March 25, 2013

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Improved Image Abroad №3.TURKEY

New 'Apology Tour,' Same Old Result: Turkey Reneges on Israel Deal shar.es/eVEAG via @breitbartnews

— lou dobbs (@loudobbsnews) March 24, 2013

Turkish PM Erdoğan doing everything to make Israel regret apology: Israeli far-right leader Bennett bit.ly/ZynKe2 #Turkey #Israel

— Hurriyet Daily News(@HDNER) March 27, 2013

Improved Image Abroad №4. THE LEVANT

PALESTINIANS TO OBAMA:
"YOU PROMISED HOPE AND CHANGE --
YOU GAVE US COLONIES AND APARTHEID"

March 20, 2013 (Slate) - High hopes and low expectations. ... U.S. officials have made it clear Obama has gone to Israel to listen, and has no new initiatives to offer, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t high hopes for the trip to mend what has often been a tense relationship over the past few years.

"It is the most dysfunctional relationship in the history of U.S.-Israeli relations," former U.S. Mideast negotiator Aaron David Miller told CNN. "There is no real sense of confidence or trust. There is no capacity to give the other the benefit of the doubt."

PALESTINIANS PROTEST OBAMA VISIT:
WE WANT RPGS,
NOT CIA COLLABORATION
March 21, 2013 (Haaretz/Reuters)

RT @nypost: Obama meets with Palestinian officials hours after Gaza militants launch rockets into Israel nyp.st/162xm3s

— WhiteHousePressCorps (@whpresscorps) March 21, 2013

RT @matthewkalman: #Obama is being heckled in #Jerusalem. "I wouldn't feel comfortable if I didn't have at least one heckler"

— WhiteHousePressCorps (@whpresscorps) March 21, 2013

Note that the Palestinians lob Qassam rockets indiscriminately on the citizens of Sderot to protest Mr. Obama, while an Israeli interrupts Mr. Obama. Media story churn: Rude Jew!

Improved Image Abroad №5.IRAN

OBAMA WHITE HOUSE MAY SEND LETTER
TO UNFREEZE US-IRAN RELATIONS
January 28, 2009 (Guardian)

IRAN MOCKS OBAMA WHO 'BEGGED' FOR DRONE
Iran Is Having A Field Day Over The Latest Downed Drone,
Saying That Obama "Begs To Give Him Back His Toy Plane."
December 13, 2011 (INN)

IRAN PROVOKES AMERICAN SHIPS AFTER
SPEED BOATS 'HARASS' U.S. NAVY VESSELS
AS OBAMA FIRES WARNING NOT TO BLOCK OIL
FROM PERSIAN GULF
January 14, 2012 (Daily Mail)

OBAMA OFFERED TO REESTABLISH
FULL TIES WITH IRAN, ISRAELI PAPER REPORTS
Israel Was Told About And Opposed President's Diplomatic
Incentives Package, Initiated Soon After He Took Office,
And Iran Rebuffed It, According To Maariv
October 28, 2012 (Times Of Israel)

IRAN'S MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD
AND VENEZUELA'S HUGO CHAVEZ
TAUNT US OVER 'BIG ATOMIC BOMB'
CARACAS January 10, 2012 (Telegraph)

"Smart" power circa 1979.

Improved Image Abroad №6. EGYPT

EGYPTIANS PROTEST KERRY'S CAIRO VISIT

March 2, 2013 (Alalam) - Major protests have been held in several Egyptian cities in protest at a visit by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to the country, local media reported. ... A U.S. Senate official has also announced that security threats regarding Kerry's visit to Cairo has led the U.S. ambassador in Cairo to accept the American intelligent officer's advice to close the embassy on Sunday.

Kerry said “in America you have a right to be stupid.” No sir, in America you have a right to bear arms & sending $190M to Egypt is stupid.

— Allen West (@AllenWest) March 4, 2013

MUSLIM CLERIC CALLS U.S. AID TO EGYPT 'JIZYA'

March 18, 2013 (raymondibrahim.com) - During a roundtable discussion [on Al Hafiz TV, an Egyptian Islamic station] on the U.S. and foreign aid to Egypt, an Islamic cleric, clearly of the Salafi bent -- he had their trademark mustache-less-beard -- insisted that the U.S. must be treated contemptuously, like a downtrodden dhimmi, or conquered infidel; that Egypt must make the U.S. conform to its own demands; and that, then, all the money the U.S. offers to Egypt in foreign aid can be taken as rightfully earned jizya.

Historically, the jizya was money, or tribute, that conquered non-Muslims had to pay to their Muslim overlords to safeguard their existence, as indicated in Koran 9:29.

A longstanding American ally transformed during Mr. Obama's short tenure into a not-ally and not-enemy, whose begging bowl is now re-imagined as a religious exaction.

Improved Image Abroad №7. NORTH KOREA

NKOREA VOWS TO CANCEL '53
KOREAN WAR CEASE-FIRE

SEOUL March 5, 2013 (AP) - North Korea's military is vowing to cancel the 1953 cease-fire that ended the Korean War, straining already frayed ties between Washington and Pyongyang as the United Nations moves to impose punishing sanctions over the North's recent nuclear test.

North Korea issues most credible threat to the West yet - saying it will strike at US nuclear bomber bases in Pacific bit.ly/YHY4YQ

— The Sun Newspaper (@TheSunNewspaper) March 21, 2013

NORTH KOREA PUTS ROCKET UNITS ON ALERT TO 'ATTACK US'
North Korea Has Elevated Its Artillery And Strategic Missile Forces
To "Combat-Ready Posture" And Said It Is Prepared To Strike Targets
In South Korea, Japan, Guam, Hawaii And The Continental US.
BEIJING March 26, 2013 (Telegraph)

N Korea warns of imminent nuclear war bit.ly/13wPswX via @newspin

— North Korea Reports (@NKoreaReports) March 27, 2013

DPRK is practically eating out of Mr. Obama's hand.

And that brings us to the final stop of our tour.

U.S. APPROVAL GAINS NEARLY ERASED
IN MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA
Approval Fell Significantly Between 2009 And 2010
In 6 Of 10 Countries
WASHINGTON September 30, 2010 (Gallup)

U.S. LEADERSHIP EARNING
LOWER MARKS WORLDWIDE
Forty-One Percent Median Approval
Lowest Of Obama's Presidency
WASHINGTON March 13, 2013 (Gallup)

Given the state of the world, the world's poor opinion of America is not necessarily a bad thing. However Mr. Obama's stated objective was to improve that opinion. On his watch rogue nations have become more frisky, allies less certain, and America more diffident.

Postprandial.

One of the proudest things of my three years in office is helping to restore a sense of respect for America around the world -- (Applause.) -- a belief that we are not just defined by the size of our military...but we're also defined by our values, and our respect for rule of law, and our willingness to help countries in need.

Mr. Obama
REMARKS AT CAMPAIGN EVENT
LOS ANGELES February 16, 2012 (White House)

CHOPE.

Don't be shy. Gowan, wipe them feet!

------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE 03.28.13: Know your rube.

Kerry in Kabul. Karzai's fury fit paid off, and US gave him much of what he wanted, as usual. Smiles until next time. online.wsj.com/article/SB1000…

— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) March 26, 2013

Follow @DamianBennett

ROMNEY'S 47% HAS A VENERABLE LEGACY
IN THE 1913 ORIGINS OF THE INCOME TAX
By Brian Domitrovic

March 26, 2013 (Forbes) - A century back, in February 1913, the federal government first gained the power to levy an income tax. The 16th Amendment to the Constitution was passed that month, when Delaware’s approval made three-fourths of the states in favor. ... That fall, a progressive income tax became law. Rates were all of 1% to 7%. The threshold to pay even the 1% rate was about $75,000 in today’s dollars.

... In exchange for the income tax (on high-earners), Congress would lower the tariff by 38%. ... The tariff, which had basically been around for the whole of the United States’ existence up to that point, was good at punishing every last soul in the country, rich and poor alike, indeed the poor a little more. ... In stepped the rich with a bright idea. They had been doing very well over the last fifty years of industrial revolution. They could pay a little from their surpluses via a modest income tax, and the tariff could be lowered most nicely. ... That was the consensus that gave us the income tax. The rich would pay it, nobody else would, and everyone else’s taxes would be cut and minimized.

... Last fall, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney got excoriated for his remark that 47% of the nation pays no income tax. ... Yet the question everyone forgot to ask is why that 47% number is not much higher.

... The reason, of course, is big government. You can charge government wholly to the rich so long as government is reasonably sized, which is to say small. But once government gets big, you’ve got to start dunning the middle and lower classes. Which is what we got with President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s and have lived with ever since.

... Back in 1913, the government had in its hands the option of taxing the rich exclusively. The only thing government had to do in turn was keep itself modest in size. The feds proved unable to keep to this reasonable constraint. Government soon got big and claimed the resources of the far-less-prosperous.

... If our president and those who carp about the “top 1%” were serious, their mission would be to cut down the size of government and send the entire bill to the rich.

A reminder:

An unlimited power to tax involves, necessarily, a power to destroy; because there is a limit beyond which no institution and no property can bear taxation.

Chief Justice John Marshall,
ruling in McCulloch v. Maryland
March 6, 1819

And the result -- if not the goal itself -- of unlimited tax power is unlimited taxes.

(A) But I refuse to leave our children with a debt that they cannot repay -- and that means taking responsibility right now, in this administration, for getting our spending under control.

*      *      *      *      *      *

(B) Q: At what point do we run out of money?

Well, I mean, we're out of money now.

*      *      *      *      *      *

(C) Q: There are still 69 percent who oppose raising the debt limit. So isn’t the problem that you and others have failed to convince the American people that we have a crisis here, and how are you going to change that?

Well, let me distinguish between professional politicians and the public at large. The public is not paying close attention to the ins and outs of how a Treasury option goes. They shouldn’t. ... We're paid to worry about it.

*      *      *      *      *      *

(D) We don't have to worry about [the national debt] short term.

*      *      *      *      *      *

(E) We don't have a spending problem.

*      *      *      *      *      *

(F) And, so, we don’t have an immediate crisis in terms of debt. In fact, for the next ten years, it’s gonna be in a sustainable place.

Mr. Obama,
(A) REMARKS AT FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY SUMMIT
WASHINGTON February 23, 2009 (White House)
(B) INTERVIEW
WASHINGTON May 23, 2009 (C-Span)
(C) PRESS CONFERENCE
WASHINGTON July 11, 2011 (White House)
(D) on Late Show to host David Letterman
NEW YORK September 18, 2012 (RCP/CBS)
(E) during closed-door budget negotiations,
attributed by Speaker John Boehner (R-OH, 8th)
WASHINGTON January 6, 2013 (WSJ)
(F) INTERVIEW
WASHINGTON March 13, 2013 (ABC News)

What is most disturbing about this procession of quotes is not that Mr. Obama seems wholly clueless -- though that is plenty disturbing -- what is most disturbing is Mr. Obama's insouciance. His urgent "taking responsibility right now" becomes the feckless "no worries" when he can't stomach the responsibility of cutting spending.

The National Debt (As Of 7:55P ET)

$16,761,525,761,685.40

No problem. No worries.

CHOPE.

"Tax the rich, feed the poor / Till there are no rich no more." — Alvin Lee

Follow @DamianBennett

RT @theweek: Every year Obama promises to focus on jobs, says @edmorrissey. Every year his team proves talk is cheap bit.ly/Y9nNuF

— WhiteHousePressCorps (@whpresscorps) February 12, 2013

At job creation rate of past 3 months, it will take 8.1 years to to return to pre-recession employment levels

— James Pethokoukis (@JimPethokoukis) March 8, 2013

Jobless America, it's the new normal.

In February Multiple Jobholders Rose By A Record, As Full-Timers Dropped, Part-Timers Increased zerohedge.com/news/2013-03-0…

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) March 8, 2013

All of which brings us to the CBO's latest dollop of cheer.

CBO: AMERICA WILL NEVER SEE
FULL EMPLOYMENT UNDER OBAMA

March 26, 2013 (CNS News) - The Congressional Budget Office is now projecting that the U.S. economy will never achieve full employment during the eight years Barack Obama serves as president.

That would make Obama the only American president during the post-World War II era who never presided over a year in which the U.S. economy offered full employment to the American people.

Yet another historic Obama first!

The CBO defines "full employment" to be when the national unemployment rate is at or below what it calls the "natural unemployment rate."

The natural unemployment rate, according to CBO, is the "rate of unemployment arising from all sources except fluctuations in aggregate demand. ... In a blog entry published last week, CBO Director Doug Elmendorf said "we think it will take four more years to get back close to full employment."

In fact, baseline data CBO released last month indicate that the "natural unemployment rate" will be 5.5 percent through the rest of Obama’s presidency and that actual unemployment will never drop below 6.0 percent in any quarter between now and the end of 2016.

According to CBO, unemployment will remain above 7.0 percent through the third quarter of 2015. It will then drop to 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015, and gradually decline to 6.0 percent by the fourth quarter of 2016.

... Thus, according to CBO's projections, America will never see full employment under Obama even though the CBO has increased what it considers to be the natural unemployment rate during Obama’s tenure. From the first quarter of 1999 through the first quarter of 2008, CBO calculated that the natural unemployment rate was 5.0 percent.

And the obligatory reminder of what Mr. Obama predicted his spending magic would do...

FIGURE 1
Romer-Bernstein Stimulus Pitch Chart
[Graphic Source: Job Impact Of The American Recovery
And Reinvestment Plan, January 9, 2009]

...and what it has delivered.

FIGURE 2
Not Even Close
[Graphic Source: Job Impact Of The American Recovery
And Reinvestment Plan, January 9, 2009]

And how to explain this?

Q: So that's the president's promise? I’ve not been able to get any kind of pledge. So you believe that’s the president’s promise, twelve million jobs?

That’s not a promise, that’s reality. That is what is forecasted by economists that would be created over the next four years on the path that we’re on. Now, we can do better than that, but…

Stephanie Cutter,
Campaign Barry say-anything deputy campaign manager
saying anything to advance the discussion from the present
jobless reality to a super fabulous reality-to-come
DAILY RUNDOWN
September 26, 2012 (WFB/MSNBC)

At the time, the Washington Free Beacon wrote:

This morning on MSNBC's Daily Rundown, Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter attacked Mitt Romney’s pledge to create 12 million new jobs. Cutter argued that 12 million new jobs is in line with current economic forecasts, therefore Romney’'s pledge was nothing special and Obama should not bother making the same pledge. History suggests that Obama may be passing on the pledge due to his track record of failing to meet, let alone surpass, economic forecasts.

At least Mr. Obama had sense enough not to commit to creating 12 million jobs in his second term. He may not grasp economics, but apparently he grasps the feebleness of his job policy.

CHOPE.

If you voted for Mr. Obama, you voted for this.

Follow @DamianBennett