Well, what a turn-up for the books. Those same liberal circles which flayed the neo-cons alive for pursuing the apparently ludicrous idea that democracy could ever come to the Arab world are now hailing the current upheavals in that same Arab world as .. a democratic awakening. Maybe it will be so. For sure some at least of the elements involved want true freedom and human rights.

The UK Spectator has more from the erudite and brainy Melanie Phillips here.

From Noel Shepard at Newsbusters.org

From Newsmax.com 

Slideshow: Egypt in Revolt

Special: The Islamic States of America, Read the Report

Armed Gangs Free Muslim Militants From Jails

Fighter Jets Swoop Over Cairo in Show of Force

Egyptians Angered by 'Ridiculous' Obama Response

ALERT: Will Obama's Legacy Be the End of the American Supremacy?

  All,

   I have received some tender, heartfelt messages for First Lady Nancy Reagan (who is now 90 years of age) on the upcoming observance (Feb. 6) of President Reagan's 100th birthday.

Though the deadline was midnight ET Friday night, I am giving you a last opportunity to share your thoughts with her on this very special occasion.  Thinking that we may not have her with us much longer, this would be a lovely way to once more tell her of the high regard in which we hold her and President Reagan.  (Especially in these times...)

Please dash off a quick note and hit the reply button.  I will include yours with the many others that we've received.  We'll be sending them to her via our friend -- and hers -- author Burt Boyar of Los Angeles (biographer of Sammy Davis Jr.), who will be spending the special observance celebrations at the Reagan Presidential Library.

Send them no later than 6 p.m. ET Saturday, please.

Thank you.  ~~ Andrea

Example:

Mrs Reagan,

President Ronald Reagan was a good and decent man, who made us proud to be American. We miss him, as we know you do, and we remember him today on what would have been his 100th birthday. We were very lucky to have him as our President.

Thank you, Mrs Reagan, for your and your husband's service to our country.

--

THE ANDREA SHEA KING SHOW

Weeknights  @ 9 pm EST

The Radio Patriot l Big Hollywood l Big Government l Big Peace

Surfin' Safari @ World Net Daily

Twitter.com/RadioPatriot l Facebook

VOICE of LIBERTY Podcast Network

. . . .

Photoshopped by Politico

While President Ronald Reagan’s name and visage is being invoked to sell Socialist policies (something that must have him turning in his Simi Valley grave), his own son writes that his father had Alzheimer’s disease while still president.

Poor Nancy.  This must be developing into an annus horribilus.

Here’s one way we can let her know that we hold her late husband in higher esteem than this.

Send me your personal birthday message to Mrs. Reagan on the occasion of her “Ronnie’s” special day — his 100th birthday observance coming up on Feb. 6th. We’ll print your messages on patriotic stationery and include it in a package wrapped with a red, white, and blue bow and send it to Reagan family friend Burt Boyar who will hand deliver it to Mrs. Reagan.

Because this is RR’s 100th, I’m sure you’ll want to make this a memorable moment for First Lady Nancy Reagan.

But hurry!  DEADLINE to send your birthday wishes is tomorrow night at midnight — THIS FRIDAY, Jan. 28.  Send your comments to me at [email protected]

. . . . .

--

THE ANDREA SHEA KING SHOW

Weeknights  @ 9 pm EST

The Radio Patriot l Big Hollywood l Big Government l Big Peace

Surfin' Safari @ World Net Daily

Twitter.com/RadioPatriot l Facebook

VOICE of LIBERTY Podcast Network

Ron Paul (not my favorite dude) but credit where credit is due -he is going to audit the FED.

Yessssssssssss!

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) introduced a bill to audit the Federal Reserve Wednesday, a move he’s made for decades.

But this year he's got more momentum. He chairs the Financial Services subcommittee that oversees the central bank, a perch that will help him drum up support for his measure. So far he has 56 co-sponsors

“I was very pleased that so many of my colleagues were willing to stand up for transparency and accountability in government by cosponsoring HR 1207 in the last Congress,” Paul said in a statement Wednesday. “I am optimistic about our prospects for a full and complete audit in the 112th Congress.”

The Texas Republican’s bill would require the Government Accountability Office to do a thorough review of the Fed’s finances, and to then report its findings to Congress. Currently, the GAO doesn’t have the power to do a complete audit.

Paul’s attack on the Fed made it through the House’s version of financial reform legislation last year, only to get stripped out of the measure in the Senate. This year, he’s got at least one supporter in the Senate, his son, freshman Republican Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), though the measure would face a steep climb in the upper chamber.

Paul has long railed against the Federal Reserve for improperly inflating the value of the paper dollar. He introduced a similar measure in 1983, but only garnered 18 co-sponsors then.

This year, dozens of new House Republicans who campaigned against centralized government are expected to throw their support behind the legislation

Last night's State of the Union Speech left me, or I should say I left it. I walked away from the TV screen and headed into my office to tidy up. You know it has to be a bad speech!

ABC News is making a small effort to be politically honest and presents a fact-check of the Obama speech here. Operative word is small.

Instapundit cross posts the WaPo take on Obamacare.

WASHINGTON POST: Rep. Paul Ryan 1, ObamaCare 0. “The most important thing said [by Foster] today: in so many words, moving toward defined contribution health care has more potential than price controls to bring about real efficiency gains and higher productivity in the health sector, and slow the pace of rising costs. That’s a very big deal.”

You debate, we'll snigger.  Have fun, folks!

http://www.politico.com/arena/

One of the worst things about liberals is their wholly dishonest lunge at the intellects of conservatives.  Breaking through that propaganda, i.e, "liberals are smart; conservatives are dumb," can sometimes be just downright exasperating.

In no sphere has this propaganda been more infuriating than in the prime-time cable news duel between Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann.  Every liberal I know actually thinks O'Reilly is a stupid hack Fox News pulled from under a dunce cap somewhere in flyover country, while far-left potty-mouth, Keith Olbermann, is a veritable genius.

Nothing could be further from the truth and I've laid it all bare in my "Don't Cry for Olbermann" column in today's Pajamas Media.  While O'Reilly has masters degrees from both Boston University and JFK's school of government at Harvard, Olbermann was nothing but a lightweight ex-sportscaster, who never even set foot on an athletic field, much less in a high-brow classroom.  The dueling duo was never any contest, so it's no wonder MSNBC finally had it with Olbie's demands for more and more money -- especially with ratings going further into the gutter with every passing season.

Read this column and arm yourself for the next time you're made to feel part of the "dumb" side of the political divide:

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/dont-cry-for-olbermann/

Liberals are smart?  Oh, please.  Only the dimmest bulbs in the basement could watch the crumbling socialist democracies in Western Europe and continue to believe in that Marxist snake oil.

Arizonans are employing their constitutionally available Recall mechanism and putting it to good use - ridding themselves of a horrible, vitriolitic left-wing nut.

"Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik has never lost an election, but that was before his remarks assigning blame for the deadly Tucson, Ariz., shooting to political "vitriol" and calling Arizona "a mecca for prejudice and bigotry."

Now it's Sheriff Dupnik who finds himself on the public-opinion hot seat. A group opposed to illegal immigration has begun an effort to recall the sheriff in a special election. Meanwhile, a Pima County tea party group is planning on holding a "Dump Dupnik" rally next week outside his office.

"I haven't been a fan of Dupnik's for a long time, but this really was the straw that broke the camel's back," said Tom Rompel, co-owner of Black Weapons Armory in Tucson. "He's law enforcement. We expect 'the facts, ma'am,' not his opinion. He leans far left, always has, and frankly, people have had enough."

Not that the sheriff should worry about turning in his badge just yet. Sheriff Dupnik has won election eight times, and he's a Democrat in a Democrat-majority county. While some constituents were appalled by his comments, others have applauded his forthright indictment of the state's political climate."

The pear bottomed lady is gone from the airwaves - no, not Nancy Grace.

Keith Olbermann.

It seems that Keith wanted more money.

Imagine that. A no talent MSNBC host whining about his salary.

What?! I'm not contributing to the era of civililty? Well, screw that. Yes, it is true -  

Send help fast! California is going bankrupt!

Jerry Brown, California’s governor, declared a state of fiscal emergency on Thursday for the government of the most populous US state to press lawmakers to tackle its $25.4 billion budget gap.

Getty Images Los Angeles, CA

Democrat Brown’s declaration follows a similar one made last month by his predecessor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former Republican governor.

Democrats who control the legislature declined to act on Schwarzenegger’s declaration, saying they would instead wait to work on budget matters with Brown, who served two terms as California’s governor in the 1970s and 1980s.

Brown was sworn in to his third term early this month and has presented lawmakers with a plan to balance the state’s books with $12.5 billion in spending cuts and revenue from tax extensions that voters must first approve.

Brown has said he wants lawmakers to act on his plan by March.

His fiscal emergency declaration is meant to underscore that target, an official said.

Brown’s declaration, which is largely procedural, says it affirms Schwarzenegger’s December declaration, giving lawmakers 45 days to address the state’s fiscal troubles.

2.5 trillion in spending cuts? Now that's what I'm talking about!

Rock on, Congress Critters.

Moving aggressively to make good on election promises to slash the federal budget, the House GOP today unveiled an eye-popping plan to eliminate $2.5 trillion in spending over the next 10 years. Gone would be Amtrak subsidies, fat checks to the Legal Services Corporation and National Endowment for the Arts, and some $900 million to run President Obama's healthcare reform program. [See a gallery of political caricatures.]

What's more, the "Spending Reduction Act of 2011" proposed by members of the conservative Republican Study Committee, chaired by Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, would reduce current spending for non-defense, non-homeland security and non-veterans programs to 2008 levels, eliminate federal control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, cut the federal workforce by 15 percent through attrition, and cut some $80 billion by blocking implementation of Obamacare. [See a slide show of the top Congressional travel destinations.]

Some of the proposed reductions will surely draw Democratic attack, such as cutting the Ready to Learn TV Program, repeal of the Davis-Bacon Act, the elimination of the Energy Star Program, and cutting subsidies to the Woodrow Wilson Center. [See editorial cartoons about the GOP.]

Here is the overview provided by the Republican Study Committee:

FY 2011 CR Amendment: Replace the spending levels in the FY 2011 continuing resolution (CR) with non-defense, non-homeland security, non-veterans spending at FY 2008 levels. The legislation will further prohibit any FY 2011 funding from being used to carry out any provision of the Democrat government takeover of health care, or to defend the health care law against any lawsuit challenging any provision of the act. $80 billion savings.

Discretionary Spending Limit, FY 2012-2021: Eliminate automatic increases for inflation from CBO baseline projections for future discretionary appropriations. Further, impose discretionary spending limits through 2021 at 2006 levels on the non-defense portion of the discretionary budget. $2.29 trillion savings over ten years.

Federal Workforce Reforms: Eliminate automatic pay increases for civilian federal workers for five years. Additionally, cut the civilian workforce by a total of 15 percent through attrition. Allow the hiring of only one new worker for every two workers who leave federal employment until the reduction target has been met. (Savings included in above discretionary savings figure).

"Stimulus" Repeal: Eliminate all remaining "stimulus" funding. $45 billion total savings.

Eliminate federal control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. $30 billion total savings.

Repeal the Medicaid FMAP increase in the "State Bailout" (Senate amendments to S. 1586). $16.1 billion total savings.

More than 100 specific program eliminations and spending reductions listed below: $330 billion savings over ten years (included in above discretionary savings figure).

So much for civility ....Democrats hurling the N-word at Republicans who successfully voted to repeal Obamacare in the House today.

N stands for Nazi.

Nice talk.

ABC News Jonathan Karl reports:

The newfound civility didn’t last long.  Political rhetoric in Congress doesn’t get much nastier than the words of one House Democrat during the debate on repealing the health care law.

In an extraordinary outburst on the House floor, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) invoked the Holocaust to attack Republicans on health care and compared rhetoric on the issue to the work of infamous Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels.

“They say it's a government takeover of health care, a big lie just like Goebbels," Cohen said. "You say it enough, you repeat the lie, you repeat the lie, and eventually, people believe it.  Like blood libel.  That's the same kind of thing. And Congressman Cohen didn’t stop there.

“The Germans said enough about the Jews and people believed it--believed it and you have the Holocaust.  We heard on this floor, government takeover of health care.  Politifact said the biggest lie of 2010 was a government takeover of health care because there is no government takeover," Cohen said.

Cohen made his comments late last night, but they have attracted no attention because his speech was made to a virtually empty House chamber with no reporters around to watch.

The Bob Hope Classic begins today in the desert of southern California. But this isn't a post about a golf tournament; it's a post about Bob Hope and our fighting men and women.

When the time came to boost the morale of our military, Bob Hope was present and accounted for. Hope was on the job from the early '40s to the early '90s. It's no wonder that Bob Hope acquired the nickname, G.I. Bob.

Now that we're fighting wars both overseas and here at home, I sometimes wonder if we're paying enough attention to those in harm's way. It's easy to get caught up in the political battles here at home and drop the ball on troop support. We can always do better. I know I could. These brave warriors depend on our support--after all, there's no longer a Bob Hope leading the way when it comes to entertaining and supporting our GIs. We can never do enough, so we should always strive to do better.

The video below highlights the many decades of Bob Hope's troop shows. And no, "We haven't lost HOPE," because there's a little Bob Hope in each of us. Please keep Hope alive by supporting Move America Forward:

{youtube}L-HeETwJSUc{/youtube}

Jerry Brown is doomed.

That's one way to read his new budget to eliminate the $25 billion deficit with equal parts spending cuts (primarily social services) and tax increases. The governor wants voters to reimpose on themselves for five more years the 2009 tax hikes – the same taxes they overwhelmingly refused to extend for two years. Mindful of that outcome, Brown has embraced blackmail: Renew the tax hikes, or school spending will be slashed.

Brown's budget is a doomed half-measure that confirms he is a conventional liberal. The spending cuts are significant but insufficient, and in the unlikely event voters renew the tax hikes, the damage to our anemic economy virtually guarantees the promised revenue won't materialize.

A recent study of how governments cope with deep deficits and debt found those that successfully restored their fiscal house employed budget solutions consisting, on average, of 85 percent spending cuts (including 22 percent from government wages and salaries). The typical failed solutions were 50-50 tax hikes and spending cuts – Jerry Brown's formula.

Most revealing is what the budget doesn't do: tackle the pension time bomb and the bloated state payroll. Given the magnitude of our chronic deficits, the state payroll should be rolled back to at least 2000 levels, yet Brown's budget merely extends Schwarzenegger-era pay cuts to a few segments of the state work force.

Why target welfare recipients instead of state employees? Welfare recipients don't have a union. Public employee unions spent $40 million on Brown's behalf, and they expect a return on their investment. On his first day in office, Brown replaced seven pro-charter school reformers on the State Board of Education with status quo educrats – including the lobbyist for the state teachers union.

The hard truth is restoring California's fiscal health requires dramatically downsizing the number of state employees and their unsustainable pensions and benefits. That would require Brown to turn on the public employee unions that elected him – an act of political audacity that would make Nixon going to China seem like a Sunday school picnic.

Thus the horns of Brown's dilemma: His present course will produce continued economic stagnation and budget deficits, and impatient voters will toss him out in four years. On the other hand, taking on the unions guarantees a political Armageddon that would sunder the California Democratic Party.

Hence the opportunity for prostrate California Republicans. It used to be that "As California goes, so goes the nation," but the state now looks more like a lagging political indicator than a leading one. We're just entering what the rest of country went through in 2009-10: an era of complete liberal Democratic dominance. There were no Republican fingerprints on President Barack Obama's Great Leap Leftward, and American voters responded by handing the GOP historically huge gains. If Brown maintains his present course he'll be more unpopular than during the Rose Bird recall and spark a similar backlash.

Granted, Brown took office amid a mess – but one in large measure the handiwork of the government unions that put him in office. His budget doesn't go far enough to stop California's slouch to insolvency. The further cuts will send union members into the streets, earning Brown their hostility but no offsetting credit with voters. Brown will never be re-elected if he allows California to become even a shadow of Greece. He is doomed unless he breaks the power of the government unions.

In 2012, the budget will still be in the red. Overregulation and over taxation will keep the economy feeble, unemployment high and state revenue down. Public perception of government employee unions is at an all-time low. States like Mississippi and Wisconsin are demolishing the myth of Brown's "green economy" by using tax incentives to lure solar manufacturing and jobs out of California. There'll be no Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to tarnish the GOP brand. The lowered budget threshold allows Democrats to enact radioactive budgets without a single Republican vote. Brown and the Democrats will be solely responsible for the state of the state.

Assembly and Senate Republicans have already stated that no GOP legislator will vote to put Brown's tax hikes before the voters – which will force Brown to cut more deeply. If unified Republicans present voters with principled alternatives, they'll be in a position to gain seats thanks to an honest redistricting. And as long as Brown avoids the necessary steps to restoring economic prosperity and government solvency, it is Republicans' sober duty to do everything they can to ensure this is Brown's last fling in politics.

© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/01/16/3325293/browns-half-and-half-budget-is.html#ixzz1BPeU8ajb

The White House has been caught with it's agitprop showing - again.

Andrea Shea King has collected the proof with the help of her peeps and El Rushbo himself.

"...Remember the t-shirts on the back of chairs at the memorial for Tucson shooting victims? Rush Limbaugh found proof that the text on the shirts “Together We Thrive,” comes from the “Organizing for America” website – Barack Obama’s election website, now turned over to supporters. Does it get any smarmier than this – memorializing the dead with an election t-shirt? See video and hear all the details below.

Obama Slogan - Tucson Memorial T-Shirt

From Rush:

One thing on the pep rally-disguised-as-a-memorial on Wednesday night.  I happened to, as I have been told, anger a lot of people yesterday by saying that the president delayed the memorial while waiting for the polling data to come in and the T-shirts to get printed.

(Flickr)

Well, guess what?  I was right on both counts.  The polling data shows, as you know, that the American people do not associate conservative rhetoric with what happened out in Arizona.  In fact, there’s a Quinnipiac poll out that shows a majority of America don’t think that; but that 54% of Americans think that the worst of the political rhetoric comes from the left, comes from Democrats.  The second thing was they had to wait to get the T-shirts printed.  And that’s true.  Not only that, they had to wait to get a new logo for the T-shirts.  It was a pep rally.

“Together We Thrive” is about “revolution” and “diversity,” (racism), according to John Berry IV blogging at Organizing for America on February 11, 2008: (snippets)

What I see in Obama is a chance for a revolution. A chance for every group to participate and be heard; A chance to live the American dream that has been denied to so many…In a previous career, I was the global leader of Diversity for a global fortune 500 corporation, I have studied the affects of diverse groups working together and the results can not be denied. Together we Thrive!!!!!!!!!!!"

Rush Limbaugh: Tucson Memorial T-Shirt an Obama Slogan (video)

...but one that I can't resist anyway. The inner entertainment reporter in me rises again.

CBS News has a new poll out this morning confirming what any four-year old can figure out about the will of the American people: don't raise our  taxes, cut spending instead.

CBS News Poll analysis by the CBS News Polling Unit: Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus and Anthony Salvanto.

A new CBS News poll finds that Americans strongly prefer cutting spending to raising taxes to reduce the federal deficit. While 77 percent prefer to cut spending, just nine percent call for raising taxes. Another nine percent want to do both.

Yet most Americans could not volunteer a program they'd be willing to see cut in order to reduce the deficit - only 38 percent could name a program they would support cutting. The top responses were military/defense (six percent), Social Security/Medicare (four percent) and welfare/food stamps (four percent).

However, Americans are more willing to consider cuts when presented with specific ideas, as the chart above illustrates. The most popular ideas for reducing the deficit are to reduce Social Security benefits for the wealthy, reduce the money allocated to projects in their own community, reduce farm subsidies and reduce defense spending. More than 50 percent supported reductions in each of those programs.

Michelle Malkin has a refresher on how the Left has fueled this white-hot hatred of conservatives.

Please read here.

Image via Zazzle

The leftwing Daily Kos on June 25, 2008, called for putting a “bull’s-eye” on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’ district. The Kos called it a “target” list that included Mrs. Giffords, who now fights for her life after an attempted assassination on the Second amendment champion. The author of the “target” list on Kos goes on to say that perhaps Giffords should be “primaried.” In other words, Giffords was a traitor and should face a primary challenge to take her out. “Not all of these people will get or even deserve primaries, but this vote certainly puts a bull’s eyeon their district," the Kos publication reported.

Then, two days before a nutcase attacked Giffords, the Daily Kos printed the words:  “My CongressWOMAN voted against Nancy Pelosi! And is now DEAD to me!” The eerie writing referred to Congresswoman Giffords who had voted against Nancy Pelosi as minority leader in the House.

The Daily Kos scrubbed these writings from its website, but Screen copies of the offensive screeds remain, thanks to quick-thinking readers.

So what are we to make of these rants in the face of the tragedy in Tucson that left the congresswoman with a bullet-wound to her head and an uncertain future, and six innocents dead: Judge John Roll ,63; Dorthy Murray, 76; Dorwin Stoddard, 76; Christina Greene, 9; Phyllis Scheck, 79; and Gabriel Zimmerman, 30? Should we blame the Daily Kos and others who used their First Amendment rights to criticize Giffords at one time or another? Should we look toward ways to shut down the Daily Kos and others who publish outrageous and sometimes untrue diatribes? In a Democratic Republic like our own, the resounding answer has to be “no.”

Though we have every right to rant and rave about others and point our fingers following a senseless attack like that which injured Mrs. Giffords, such banter is destructive and painful. More importantly, blaming folks who didn’t pull the trigger is outrageous and nonsensical. The blame lies with one person, Jared Lee Loughner, 22, a lone wolf who no doubt had serious mental problems.

Politicos from all sides have looked at various facts about Loughner to attempt to prove their point that fault lies with either the left or right in this country. That Loughner loved the “Communist Manifesto” proves he was a lefty, right? The proof of this young man’s illness is the blood left in the Safeway parking lot and the upcoming funerals of innocent Americans, including a 9-year-old girl who wanted to learn more about government in her trip to visit Rep. Giffords.

It is dead wrong and offensive that some spend their time and the public’s airways to look for culprits when, as far as law enforcement is concerned, the suspect is in custody. I have been blamed for the shootings by leftists. I wouldn’t mind the lies and innuendo if it didn’t detract from what we should be doing as country: Every one of us should be on our knees and praying for the victims instead of flinging filthy mud.

Bloggers decided it was newsworthy to attack me with quotes that misquoted me to prove I was a demon who infiltrated Loughner’s sick gray matter and influenced him to shoot those folks outside of Safeway. What’s next? I suppose some losers will swear that you can play my radio shows backward and hear Mephistopheles himself goading sickies to kill, KILL, KILL.

Following Loughner’s attack, people have written all kinds of goofy and untruthful things about me and blamed me for the nastiness that drove Loughner to kill. What did I do? According to some know-nothing, I was “fired for saying about Pelosi, ‘We've got a bull's-eye painted on her big, wide laughing eyes.’” Not true. I did say that Pelosi was being targeted – but certainly not for physical violence but for political change like we just saw as she lost the speakership. Secondly, I was not fired for anything. I lost my job because of budget cuts. Period.

Politics is nasty. They always have been. The Founding Fathers knew that. Their political views brought real violence. The British Navy came at them full force and colonists died due to their beliefs and words. It was not uncommon for people to duel after words were exchanged. Our presidents, senators and others in public office get all kinds of hate mail, derogatory postings on the Web, and punditry with colorful dissent. Thank the good Lord that assassinations and attacks are rare. It shows that society has become more civil, not less, since its founding.

That isn’t to say things are cordial. Lies are consistently spread about me from leftists and, yes, I’ve been stalked and have had death threats. Do I l blame the Daily Kos and other left-leaning publications for the hateful and untruthful things they’ve written about me? Nope. Political speech is specifically protected by the First Amendment to our Constitution and our Founding Fathers had it right when the protected political speech, no matter how ugly it gets.

As for the naysayers, the whiners, the blamers and the haters, give it up. No matter how hard you try, your weak arguments and blame games will not convince any sane person that I, Sarah Palin, the Tea Party or even the Communists pushed Loughner over the edge. Save your breath. Or better yet, say a prayer for the victims.

I see a crisis to be exploited and we have to pounce (?), I mean fight back (too vitriolic?), I mean hit back (too close to violent imagery?) hard to keep our freedoms, yet once again.  You’d think freedom, once given, would be so easy to keep.  Never realized it, but it’s a constant struggle to maintain them.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/01/the_tucson_massacre_witch_hunt.html

Maddening. Infuriating. TREASONOUS.

A former Clinton-era CIA agent has been indicted in connection with leaking top secrets to the New York Times reporter who made a ton of money writing about our national secrets in a book.

The Times has made a disturbing habit of doing this. And then justifying themselves with mealy-mouth words later. It's criminal.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A former CIA officer was arrested on Thursday on charges of illegally disclosing national defense information about Iran to a New York Times reporter who wrote a book.

The U.S. Justice Department said Jeffrey Sterling, 43, was charged with six counts of unauthorized disclosure of national defense information and one count of unlawfully keeping national defense information, mail fraud, unauthorized conveyance of government property and obstructing justice.

The arrest marked the latest case brought by the Obama administration charging current or former U.S. officials with leaking classified information to the news media.

It also has been investigating the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, for leaking hundreds of classified U.S. diplomatic cables that have embarrassed the White House.

Sterling, a lawyer who worked at the CIA from 1993 to 2002, was arrested in St. Louis near where he lives.

From 1998 through mid-2000, he was assigned to a classified clandestine program that conducted intelligence activities about the weapons capabilities of certain countries, the Justice Department said in announcing the indictment against Sterling.

A legal source familiar with the case said one of the countries involved was Iran.

In the same time period, Sterling also was an operations officer who handled a human asset associated with that program, according to the indictment.

Beginning in mid-2000, Sterling complained of employment-related racial discrimination at the CIA and challenging CIA decisions about his efforts to publish his memoirs.

CIA ACTIVITIES

The indictment alleged that Sterling, retaliating for the CIA's refusal to settle on favorable terms his discrimination claims, disclosed information about the program.

It said he discussed the information with the reporter in early 2003 and later in connection with a book published in January 2006.

The Justice Department did not identify the reporter.

But the dates and other details in the indictment make clear it involved New York Times reporter James Risen, whose 2006 book "State of War" revealed details of the CIA's intelligence activities involving Iran.

Click here: VIDEO Q&A: Michele Bachmann Discusses the Welfare State, the Debt, Defunding Obamacare and Planned Parenthood, and

. . . . .

I have just learned from a trusted source  - Capitol Hill insider Elizabeth Letchworth – who got it from a DC budget expert that Obama is trying to figure out a way to tap into the Medicare trust fund which has money flowing thru it via everyone’s paycheck deductions.

Also the trust fund is an entitlement and thus is treated differently by Congress as far as changing or cutting.

If he can do this thru Exec order he will fully fund the depts and agencies that will be needed to operate Obama care.

This is to protect Obama care from successful defunding Congressional efforts expected to come out of the 112th Congress.

This is why full repeal needs to pass.

The gem with getting tied into the medicare trust fund is the money stream is endless and doesn’t have to be appropriated by congress year after year like the agencies do.

However Obama care says Health Care will be run by HHS so they need to find a way to tap this life-line or they run the risk of having it dismantled by any given congress.

I am told the POTUS’ legal counsel team is working feverishly to find a way to do this.

Obama's legal team is huge -- they'll find a way.  THAT's why this bill needs to be repealed.

Tune in to my radio show tonight for more... Elizabeth will pop in with her suggestion of how we can fight this.  Please don't miss it.  Hit the link below the newspaper.

. . . . .

--

THE ANDREA SHEA KING SHOW

Weeknights  @ 9 pm EST

The Radio Patriot l Big Hollywood l Big Government l Big Peace

A British study cited by many parents of autistic children that purported to show a link between childhood vaccines and autism is definitively officially absolutely a FRAUD.

Lucianne.com has re-posted the study and an analysis of how this corrupt Doctor hoodwinked so many folks desperate for miracles.

Many words willbe written about San Fran Nan's effectiveness (or lack thereof) as the first female Speaker of the House, but none sum her up better than her own: "if people are ripping your face off, then you rip theirs off."

Allrighty then. We know she is not a lady. But she does smile a lot, for someone who blew her shot at glory.

"..She had already begun to return to her warrior ways on Wednesday, in her last public appearance as speaker before the transfer-of-power ceremony. She served notice to the audience, a meeting of the Congressional Black Caucus, that she has every intention of reclaiming her title after the 2012 election. "We all know what our role is," she said, hands on hips. "Two years from now when we come together, things will be different. Things will be different."

And that's a prediction I would put money on (if I were a wagering woman, which I am not.) But I suspect that in two years, it will not be Queen Nancy ascending to the throne again. She will be mewling among the many, pining for the days of wine and roses.

19 Democrats vote against Pelosi...

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http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47076.html

Our guys in Afghanistan continue to make us so proud. Please take a moment and read this letter from Gysgt. Will Price, after spending time the the 3/5 Darhorse Marines in Sangin. This letter came to Mike Anderson, Sr. who lost his son Mike in the early days of the fighting in Iraq via Scott and Julie Conover, also Gold Star parents.

The Darkhorse has taken a lot of heat, and casualties, especially in early October. They have since been joined by Recon Battalion and are clearing things up.

India Company, 3/5 Dark Horse Marines draw “lines in the sand”

by Gunnery Sgt. Will Price

The Marines of 3rd Platoon, India Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, with their Afghan National Army counterparts, set out on a patrol to “draw lines in the sand,” just outside Patrol Base Fulod in Sangin District, Dec. 30.

Sergeant David “Bibi” Castillo, 2nd squad leader and Rosamond, Calif. native, led a reinforced squad, of Marines, Navy corpsmen, ANA soldiers and interpreters on a dual-pronged patrol.  To conduct the mission, the squad was broken into two teams.  Cpl. Jason Albright, a 2nd squad team leader and Chicago Ridge, Ill. native, led the first phase of the patrol, which was to bring their platoon commander to meet with village elders and deliver funds to help repair a damaged mosque, and to gather intelligence on Taliban activity in the area.

“The Taliban stole the carpet inside the mosque and did damage to the façade,” said 1st Lt. Josef Patterson, 3rd Platoon, platoon commander, I. Co., 3/5.  “With funds we delivered on behalf of the district governor, the Mullah can now pay young kids to make the repairs, so the children are not seeking jobs offered by the Taliban.”

After a very successful meeting with the Allikozai village elders, the patrol continued to push down Route 611.  For nearly 300 meters of roadway, the village was filled with dozens of friendly children, smiling and asking for “Chocolate! Chocolate!”  After dispensing all of their sugar-filled ‘ammo’ to the children, the Marines left the main road into an area described as “friendly and hostile.”  As the 2nd team crossed the invisible “line in the sand,” the mood of the patrol shifted.

Children had surrounded Albright and the patrol moments before. Now they were soon no where to be found.   With Castillo and the other half of the squad already in place, Albright’s team pushed ahead with the second phase of the patrol.

“The other point of the patrol was to go into an area that we really haven’t had a foot print in and disrupt any Taliban sympathizers or Taliban themselves in that area, said Patterson, a 31-year-old native of Owasso, Okla., “And to let the local people know that they are not forgotten and that we are there with the ANA to support them in security and assist them with getting rid of IEDs and the Taliban.”

Before the two teams could reunite, the patrol had to get through a maze of mud compounds and alleyways, cross many dangerous areas open to enemy fire, stop and search suspicious vehicles, all the while keeping their eyes to the ground for the threat of stepping on a deadly IED.

The patrol also covered all doorways and windows, but were extra keen to watch for minute openings in the walls, they refer to as “murder holes.”  These punctures in the mud walls are just large enough to fit the muzzle of a rifle through.

One of the dangerous areas the teams had to pass was physically marked with two white Taliban flags, both flying over compound walls riddled with murder holes.   Patterson and his Marines took fire here recently, but today they did not take the bait.  They were able to bypass the possible ambush site and push further into “Taliban country.”

“I respect the enemy we are fighting here in Sangin.  They are extremely aggressive and legitimate fighters,” Patterson added.  “The only problem I have with them is when they use kids to hide behind.  We refuse to shoot at kids.”

Once the squad had linked up in an Afghan compound, they identified a building to use as an overwatch position.  With daylight burning, Castillo and his lead element wanted to act fast and seize the vital compound, but something did not seem right.

“There were too many danger areas and countless murder holes,” said Castillo.  “I also had to factor in the potential need for casualty evacuations routes and it did not add up.”

After assessing the situation, Patterson and his team leaders, decided on another route to bypass the danger area.   Only moments after departing the compound, the patrol returned.  While Lance Cpl. Jordan Payton, a 3rd Platoon combat engineer, and point man on the patrol, was sweeping for IEDs, he noticed a slight difference in the texture of the dirt.  Brushing away the dirt by hand, Payton had discovered an IED!

“This IED was a directional ‘frag,’ so instead of blasting upward, it was set up to blast the length of the alleyway,” Castillo said.  “Payton’s alertness probably saved four to five lives -- an entire fire team.”

After calling in the coordinates of the IED to their Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team, the patrol had reached an impasse for the day.  Covering each other like the brothers they are, the U.S. and Afghan team members bounded back until they were safely returned to PB Fulod.

“The patrol was extremely successful. We confirmed a village elder’s credibility, found an IED, no one got hurt, and we pushed the lines in the sand further than ever -- nearly 150 meters,” Patterson said.

Castillo, Albright, Payton and all the Marines and sailors of 3/5’s Dark Horse and their ANA partners will continue to push the lines in the sand, taking away the enemies’ will to fight.  The bond of their brotherhood, forged in blood and valor, were summed up by Patterson.  “My guys are amazing. They are my family,” he said proudly.  “For 14 years, I have loved the Marines Corps. After serving here in Sangin, now I can say, ‘I love Marines!’”

Respectfully submitted,

GySgt. Will Price

1st Marine Division (Forward)

Public Affairs Chief

Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan

When Californians recalled former Governor Gray Davis, we were optimistic that somebody, anybody would be better than the corrupt politican who occupied the office. The masses were wrong.

While I personally campaigned for former state Assemblyman Tom McClintock,  establishment Republicans went with Arnold Schwarzenegger. I begged them not to - including my friend and fellow conservative Shawn Steel (and co-conspirator of the recall election.)

Sadly, AS has proved to be the diaster I predicted, leaving office with a 22 percent approval rating and the state is billions of dollars in debt. And now his cronyism will go down as a stain on the state's history as well.

Michelle Malkin has the latest outrage from a man who needs to be loved at any cost.

"...Retiring celebrity governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California was bad for the GOP in so many ways, I’ve stopped counting them.

So, how did Schwarzenegger leave office? By committing one last shameful act of back-scratching politics as usual and granting a commutation to the son of a Democrat political crony, former California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (his longtime collaborator on job-killing environmental regulations) .

Nunez’s privileged son, Esteban, was serving 16 years (already a reduced sentence resulting from a plea bargain) for his role in the vengeful stabbing/manslaughter of a college student, Luis Santos. Nunez and other defendants were involved in a conspiracy to cover up the crime, according to another member of their gang. Before he pleaded guilty, Nunez had his lawyers trying to blame the victim for his death. Oh, and there’s this damning piece of responsibility-evading crap from Nunez that was admitted as evidence before Nunez ducked trial:

“Gangsta rap made us do it.”

Schwarzenegger the movie tough guy didn’t have the balls to notify the murder victim’s family of the partial commutation, according to the L.A. Times.

For shame:

In his final night before leaving office, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger commuted the prison sentence of the son of former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez who had pleaded guilty to taking part in the slaying of a college student.

Schwarzenegger announced the move in a batch of eleventh-hour press releases e-mailed to reporters…

…Fabian Nuñez, a Democrat, grew close to the governor while speaker. The two worked together to pass the state’s landmark global warming law, which was a signature achievement of Schwarzenegger’s time in office. Fabian Nuñez is a business partner of the governor’s chief political advisor at the consulting firm Mercury Public Affairs.

“We are totally outraged,” said Fred Santos, the father of Luis Santos. “For the governor to wait until the last day in hopes it would fly under the radar is an absolute injustice.”

Santos, a software engineer in Concord in Northern California, said Esteban Nuñez “had already gotten lucky once” when prosecutors accepted a plea bargain that allowed him to avoid standing trial on murder charges, which could have led to a life sentence.

He said the family was not warned about the impending commutation and learned about it Sunday from reporters.

Arnie didn’t have time to pay the Santos family the courtesy of a heads-up. But he did have time to chum it up with Nunez at a high-powered global warming shindig in October and yuk it up together at his retirement roast last month."