I usually don’t write about particular candidates in Congressional races, but this one really caught my attention, not only for the fact that New Jersey really does not need any new taxes, but also because the state itself could use a third generation small business owner who also happens to be a strict Constitutionalist and a politician who actually understands science enough to see through the obfuscations of global warming alarmists.

David Larsen is a man who recognizes cap-and-trade for what it really is – just another power grab and wealth redistribution scheme. If you want real change, then on Tuesday, June 8th say yes to Republican David Larsen and no to Representative Leonard Lance, who currently occupies the seat. You see Leonard Lance is what we call a RINO – that sort of squishy Beltway Republican who will often surprise you by doing something inane like voting for cap-and-trade. Voting for cap-and-trade is not the act of a fiscally responsible representative, especially given the current climate – pun intended – of the now unestablished science of global warming. When political agendas collide with science it is the people – you and I – who pay the price. And a hefty price it is. The only warming these days is in the anthropogenic global warming science community. It is there you will find a great deal of hot air.

Remember climategate? If not, here is refresher of many posts from American Thinker on the subject. The bottom line is how so-called scientists were exposed as biased hacks when emails were leaked that explicitly described how data was fudged to fit the climate scare narrative.

Today Al Gore, self-appointed leader of the Global Warming scare is being sued by The Weather Channel & 30,000 scientists worldwide. That has not stopped the winner of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, obviously awarded for the explicit demonstration of incompetence in a given field in which the recipient possesses no expertise, from continuing his crusade for your money. At least he has that invention of the internet thing going for him.

And guys like Leonard Lance are all too happy to join the previous Vice President in absconding with our hard earned cash, all under the guise of discredited science.

So serious is the climategate scandal it has also prompted another lawsuit from Peabody Energy Company (PEC) against the EPA; a suit which may lead to criminal prosecution.

One would think that with such overwhelming evidence the books have been cooked and the lid torn off exposing one of the greatest political tainting of science in its entire history, that politicians would be rushing away from cap-and-trade back into the reality-based world. The fact they are not says one of two things. Either they are completely ignorant of the scientific process and climategate cover-up or they are agenda driven hacks. As both cases would shed a negative light on any candidate, it is clear that anyone who voted for cap-and-trade does not deserve to hold elected office. As New Jersey’s elected representative for the 7th district last year Leonard Lance voted for cap-and-trade legislation in the House. Here is what his vote means to those of you in not just New Jersey but the rest of the country as well.

Visit the website of David Larsen for Congress to find out more about cap-and-trade. The bottom line is that some in your government are prepared to basically burden you with a tax while not calling it a tax, and they will do so under the umbrella of junk science and in the name of power and money. The Heritage Foundation estimates the total cost of living per average household in the U.S. will increase by $3,000 per year or more; in New Jersey the cost of living could increase by as much as $6,000.

Here is a nice little video outlining the issue of cap-and-trade and the position of Representative Leonard Lance who voted to put his hand in your pocket last year because a bunch of agenda-driven scientists provided him the cover to do so:

Of course, our story would not be complete without the gratuitous backpedaling that politicians like Leonard Lance are famous for. If I were Dan Rather – which thank God I am not – I might be tempted after watching the following video to come up with a useful metaphor. Perhaps something along the lines of “Leonard Lance is tap dancing faster than a barefooted Michael Flatley on a hot bed of coals”. Yeah, I think I like that one.

Watch Leonard Lance dance, wiggle, and attempt to spin his way out of his vote for cap-and-trade.

The die has been cast. The question is clear. Who has dibs on your money? You, or a bunch of bureaucrats and politicians using scientists as political fodder to get their grubby hands on more of your money? It’s not a hard choice. On June 8th vote for a man of reason and fiscal sanity. Vote for David Larsen.

If you want to go fast – go alone. If you want to go far – go together.

With the explosion of ClimateGate, who better to tell the truth about the global warming hysteria than Ian Plimer (see below). Mr. Plimer’s schedule should be booked for the next year if anyone is truly serious about getting to the truth and bypassing politics to see the real science and the actual data.

Cap-and-Trade, it’s next on the list so lets start thinking about it now. For an excellent background see Could Australia Blow Apart the Great Global Warming Scare? and A Tax on Thin Air.

These two links concern what happened in Australia. Ian Plimer’s book Heaven and Earth, Global Warming: The Missing Science, is a blockbuster that explodes the global warming myth. It turned the tide in Australia. I am sending a copy to my Representative and Senators. The more books we can send the better. Call your Senator and Representative and demand that Ian Plimer be allowed to testify in front of the Congress. The country deserves a balanced debate on the issue.

Anyone remember the television series Jericho? This show was about a devastating nuclear terrorist attack on the US (multiple cities) and one small Kansas town dealing with the aftermath. The show promoted family values, the power of communities, and the harsh reality that millions of Americans would face if such an event were to ever occur.” I loved the show and so did millions of others. When CBS decided to cancel the show, a grassroots movement began to keep the show on the air. The campaign involved sending crates of nuts to CBS. Nuts you say? Why would anyone possibly want to do that?

In the final episode of “Jericho,” the town is under siege from a neighboring community.

When asked to surrender, lead character Jake Green, played by Skeet Ulrich, has a one-word response: “Nuts.”

The response is in reference to Gen. Anthony McAuliffe, a U.S. Army general who in World War II was surrounded by Germans demanding his surrender.

His response: “Nuts.”

The campaign worked and a second season was aired. Ian Plimer’s book is our “nuts” campaign, as in your nuts if you think we are going to buy into this hype and pseudo-science. In a “this would be funny if it were not so serious moment”, Ian Plimer exposes one of the climate experts referenced in the International Panel on Climate Change as – you’re not going to believe this – an expert in fossil faeces. It’s like asking the weatherman on your local TV channel to perform your colonoscopy. Somebody’s getting it in the end and I think it’s supposed to be us – but not anymore. Australia did it and so can we.

The previous strategy would make a huge difference in turning the tide against global warming hysteria and could stop cap-and-trade dead in its tracks. Ian Plimer’s book that blows the lid off the man-made Global Warming myth and does such a good job that the book changed the mind of a leading global warming hysteric – Paul Sheehan (see his comments below). It changed the course of the debate in Australia and lead to the death of climate change legislation as the tide turned in public opinion.

One of the most remarkable changes brought about by Plimer’s book occurred on April 13, when leading global warming hysteric Paul Sheehan—who writes for the main Sydney newspaper, the Sydney Morning Herald, which has done as much to hype the threat of global warming as any Australian newspaper—reviewed Plimer’s book and admitted he was taken aback. He describes Plimer, correctly, as “one of Australia’s foremost Earth scientists,” and praised the book as “brilliantly argued” and “the product of 40 years’ research and breadth of scholarship.” What does Plimer’s book say? Here is Sheehan’s summary:

Much of what we have read about climate change, [Plimer] argues, is rubbish, especially the computer modeling on which much current scientific opinion is based, which he describes as “primitive.”…

The Earth’s climate is driven by the receipt and redistribution of solar energy. Despite this crucial relationship, the sun tends to be brushed aside as the most important driver of climate. Calculations on supercomputers are primitive compared with the complex dynamism of the Earth’s climate and ignore the crucial relationship between climate and solar energy.

To reduce modern climate change to one variable, CO2, or a small proportion of one variable—human-induced CO2—is not science. To try to predict the future based on just one variable (CO2) in extraordinarily complex natural systems is folly.

In response, this is Sheehan’s conclusion: “Heaven and Earth is an evidence-based attack on conformity and orthodoxy, including my own, and a reminder to respect informed dissent and beware of ideology subverting evidence.” This cannot be interpreted as anything but a capitulation. It cedes to the global warming rejectionists the high ground of being “evidence-based,” and it accepts the characterization of the global warming promoters as dogmatic conformists.

It is time to stop the nonsense of wealth distribution in the guise of a scientific farce visited upon the American people by psuedo-science. It is time to open the curtain and take a peak at the real agenda of global warming fear mongers.

Cap-and-Trade, it’s next on the list and looks like it has a chance at passing the Senate. Read Energy Bill’s Proponents Prepare Counterattack and What did I tell ya? Lindsey Graham signs on to cap-and-tax.

Two recent articles at Real Clear Politics tell the unbelievable story of how a country awoke from the dark ages, making the transition from Global Warming hysteria and faux science to actual science:

Could Australia Blow Apart the Great Global Warming Scare?

‘A Tax on Thin Air’.

These links outline the sequence of events that occurred in Australia, a country that exploded the anthropogenic global warming myth and won the battle against their own version of job killing, tax raising cap-and-trade. Of import is Ian Pilmer’s book Heaven and Earth, Global Warming: The Missing Science.

Ian Plimer’s is the catalyst and pivot point that blew apart and exposed inconvenient truths that finally turned the Australian public against hysteria and back towards actual science. The book does such a good job that it changed the mind of a leading global warming hysteric – Paul Sheehan (see his comments below). It changed the course of the debate in Australia and lead to the death of climate change legislation as the tide turned in public opinion. In short, it is a myth de-bunker extraordinaire.

One of the most remarkable changes brought about by Pilmer’s book occurred on April 13, when leading global warming hysteric Paul Sheehan—who writes for the main Sydney newspaper, the Sydney Morning Herald, which has done as much to hype the threat of global warming as any Australian newspaper—reviewed Plimer’s book and admitted he was taken aback. He describes Plimer, correctly, as “one of Australia’s foremost Earth scientists,” and praised the book as “brilliantly argued” and “the product of 40 years’ research and breadth of scholarship.”

What does Plimer’s book say? Here is Sheehan’s summary:

Much of what we have read about climate change, [Plimer] argues, is rubbish, especially the computer modeling on which much current scientific opinion is based, which he describes as “primitive.”…

In response, this is Sheehan’s conclusion: “Heaven and Earth is an evidence-based attack on conformity and orthodoxy, including my own, and a reminder to respect informed dissent and beware of ideology subverting evidence.” This cannot be interpreted as anything but a capitulation. It cedes to the global warming rejectionists the high ground of being “evidence-based,” and it accepts the characterization of the global warming promoters as dogmatic conformists.

I am sending a copy to my Representative and Senators and faxing each to demand the Ian Plimer be allowed to testify in Congress as a representative of clear-headed thinking and a champion of real science. Should my Representative and Senators refuse, I intend to work tirelessly to ensure they are unceremoniously shown the door.

Blast an email and link to this post. Sent it to friends, as well as local and national tea party organizations. If possible, raise enough money to send hundreds if not thousands of copies to each Senator and Representative. And fax – don’t call – your states Senators and your district’s Representative. A hand written fax is worth 100 emails. If you wish to also call, certainly it can’t hurt. Keep those fax machines running day and night. KILL Cap-and-trade.

In other news and opinion:

Looks like the Brits are figuring it out now: BBC notices that the world is not getting warmer.

Nobel Appease Prize fireworks: North Korea launches more missiles, Iran scoffs

DNC humor czar condemns Nobel Prize jokes

Video: White House communications chief whines about Fox News, media for nine minutes

Ian Pilmer’s book Heaven and Earth, Global Warming: The Missing Science, is a blockbuster that explodes the man-made global warming myth. It is a powerful fact-based assault on the truth challenged alarmists in our midst. After reading this book, anybody who denies the truth that global warming is not man made will rightfully be compared to a Holocaust denier. The shoe will be on the other foot.

The book turned the tide in Australia. I am sending a copy to my Representative and Senators. Tea Parties across the nation should send a copy to their Representative and Senators, perhaps even news organizations and well known alarmists. This strategy would make a huge difference in turning the tide against global warming hysteria and could stop cap-and-trade and turn all the other associated nonsense concerning global warming on its head.

One of the most remarkable changes brought about by Pilmer’s book occurred on April 13, when leading global warming hysteric Paul Sheehan—who writes for the main Sydney newspaper, the Sydney Morning Herald, which has done as much to hype the threat of global warming as any Australian newspaper—reviewed Plimer’s book and admitted he was taken aback. He describes Plimer, correctly, as “one of Australia’s foremost Earth scientists,” and praised the book as “brilliantly argued” and “the product of 40 years’ research and breadth of scholarship.”

What does Plimer’s book say? Here is Sheehan’s summary (emphasis mine):

Much of what we have read about climate change, [Plimer] argues, is rubbish, especially the computer modeling on which much current scientific opinion is based, which he describes as “primitive.”…

The Earth’s climate is driven by the receipt and redistribution of solar energy. Despite this crucial relationship, the sun tends to be brushed aside as the most important driver of climate. Calculations on supercomputers are primitive compared with the complex dynamism of the Earth’s climate and ignore the crucial relationship between climate and solar energy.

To reduce modern climate change to one variable, CO2, or a small proportion of one variable—human-induced CO2—is not science. To try to predict the future based on just one variable (CO2) in extraordinarily complex natural systems is folly.

In response, this is Sheehan’s conclusion: “Heaven and Earth is an evidence-based attack on conformity and orthodoxy, including my own, and a reminder to respect informed dissent and beware of ideology subverting evidence.” This cannot be interpreted as anything but a capitulation. It cedes to the global warming rejectionists the high ground of being “evidence-based,” and it accepts the characterization of the global warming promoters as dogmatic conformists.

Also read: Chu spanks Americans who dissent from global warming hysteria. Hey Chu, it’s not called dissent – it’s called science. Remember science? You know, hypothesis, test, verification, repeatability. Repeat after me Mr. Chu – science is not about your opinion, it is about established facts, you know, those inconvenient truths you and the rest of the global warming empty heads are missing – in droves. Now I would not go and call you a teenager – nope, that would be to kind. A child is a better descriptive for you, Mr. Chu. Now go suck on your thumb and let the grown ups do the real work.

More here.

I find it interesting the Department of Homeland Security deems it necessary to warn of rightwing extremists, as they ignore the fact of leftwing extremism. As a point of fact, making its rounds within the United States is a little book titled The Coming Insurrection. From the product description on Amazon:

The Coming Insurrection is an eloquent call to arms arising from the recent waves of social contestation in France and Europe. Written by the anonymous Invisible Committee in the vein of Guy Debord—and with comparable elegance—it has been proclaimed a manual for terrorism by the French government (who recently arrested its alleged authors). One of its members more adequately described the group as “the name given to a collective voice bent on denouncing contemporary cynicism and reality.” The Coming Insurrection is a strategic prescription for an emergent war-machine to “spread anarchy and live communism.”

Written in the wake of the riots that erupted throughout the Paris suburbs in the fall of 2005 and presaging more recent riots and general strikes in France and Greece, The Coming Insurrection articulates a rejection of the official Left and its reformist agenda, aligning itself instead with the younger, wilder forms of resistance that have emerged in Europe around recent struggles against immigration control and the “war on terror.”

Hot-wired to the movement of ’77 in Italy, its preferred historical reference point, The Coming Insurrection formulates an ethics that takes as its starting point theft, sabotage, the refusal to work, and the elaboration of collective, self-organized forms-of-life. It is a philosophical statement that addresses the growing number of those—in France, in the United States, and elsewhere—who refuse the idea that theory, politics, and life are separate realms.

I eagerly await the Department of Homeland Security’s admonitions of the dangers of leftwing extremism.

Our own Declaration of Independence – a bit more eloquent – was used as a preamble to describe the abuse of power by Great Britain and subsequent call-to-action for independence. The beginning is a generalization of the human condition under any form of tyrannical government:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government.

Civilization is a thin veneer that separates us from the hardships of raw survival. While western civilization has provided us with the opportunity to enjoy the more heady pursuit of philosophy, our love affair with the mind and its capacity for abstract thought often precludes us from noting the ephemeral nature of civilized discourse. Such is the blessing and the curse of living in a society such as ours. In our ignorance of the transient nature of civilization we are freed from a constant anxiety visiting itself upon us, blinding us to a harsher reality that peeks from just around the corner – that mass violence can, and has, occurred in America.

The start of the Revolutionary War did not come about through “light and transient causes”, but through “a long train of abuses and usurpations”. Historians estimate that approximately 40-45% of the colonists actively supported the rebellion against England, 15-20% of the population of the thirteen colonies remained loyal to the British Crown, and the remaining 35-45% attempted to remain neutral. While hard to gauge how many males would support violence as a means to secure liberty from oppression, I believe the number not to be small. How many of these would consider it their duty “to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security”? I am of the impression, given my arguments below, that any such action taken by the citizenry of this country would quickly escalate, swelling the numbers of those opposed to a power grab by a centralized government and willing to take up arms to settle their grievances. If one believes I am a fear-monger, think of this: America has enjoyed one of the longest stretches of peace within our borders than almost every other nation on this planet. There were those who thought something like 9/11 could not happen here. They were wrong. Given the current supercharged political climate and the blistering pace at which standard pillars of American society are falling, I do not belong to the “it can’t happen here” crowd. I do, however, hope it does not happen here. Unfortunately, the signs I see do not point me in a direction of comfort concerning this matter. Many whom I have spoken to share the same sentiments. Unless the current administration changes course and desists in usurping the personal rights held dearly since the birth of this nation, it is my belief that a great violence shall overtake our nation.

Continued at the Wolves of Liberty

In other news and opinion:

The cartoon jihadists never forget

Just say no to jihadi-dumping in your backyard

Cone of Shame Award: Democrat Rep. Melissa Bean

ACORN Watch: What happens in Vegas…

MSNBC: Guys Carrying Guns to Rallies Are Racists, Especially This Guy Whose Skin Color We Will Now Proceed to Hide from Your View

Detonating the narrative: MSNBC and the gun-guy at the Obama rally

McCain: You might be seeing the beginning of a peaceful revolt in America.

If you want to go fast – go alone. If you want to go far – go together.

What a bad month for Obama. After working with the House to jam Cap-n-Tax down our collective throats, it looked like nothing could derail the Obama express. Already, ObamaStimulus, well under way – or not – showed signs of not working. So much so that His Highness found himself forced to invent new wording to describe his failed stimulus philosophy – jobs saved or created. Like we would fall for that one.

After ObamaCap-n-Tax, Captain America along with his first mate Nancy Pelosi, rubbed their hands together in unbridled excitement, sensing the fruition of liberal wishes all across the great land of Obamatopia. Certainly the Greek Gods smiled down upon them. Soon they would be replaced by The One. Then came the bad news. Not so fast Captain Disaster.

For some reason, liberals hate reading. They don’t read bills, they don’t read the Constitution – I am not sure they are aware of the document – and they don’t read the American people. When a Gallup poll showed America shifting towards conservatism – they wrote it off, ignored it, tried to explain it away; anything but admit it. Liberals everywhere found it inconceivable and beyond imagining that the sheeple of this country found their way of governing to be – well – distasteful and undesirable. They were “shocked” at the Tea Party protests, and “shocked” as they found themselves outnumbered at their own planned venues designed to fill our hearts will love for the social engineering of medicine. Outnumbered by conservative vermin- sometimes at a ratio of 10-to-1.

Disinformation, they protested. His Highness jumped on board – claiming the Republican’s disinformation campaign concerning his beloved health care was “destroying my presidency”. Interesting that he also admitted, along with many members of the House and Senate, that he was unaware of most of the aspects of the bill. In short, he had not read it, or even bothered to have someone read it for him. The argument of “I don’t know the facts, but I conclude the other side is distorting them”, falls flat on an American public that – surprise! – possess a great deal more smarts than the elites in the Washington liberal establishment and their fellow pirates at MoveOn, Daily Kos, and most of the media outlets give them credit for. Of course, Obama is well aware the scaffolding of the bill serves the purpose of killing private insurance and forcing everyone onto the “public plan”. The real disinformation campaign is by Obama and the liberals on the Utopian ship to Nowhere. Only a liberal could look you in the face, claim you are lying, and know who the real liar is. If not a liberal, then someone very neurotic – but then they are the same, are they not? But I digress.

Some not so liberal Democrats, their heads screwed on straight after suffering through the backlash on Cap-n-Tax from their constituents, noticed they had a backbone and were not the puppets of Madam Pelosi and His Highness. A crack in the wall appeared.

Then came the plummeting poll numbers for Obama’s policies, and the latest Rasmussen poll that has Obama’s approval index at -11. The recipe for disaster is almost complete. Martha Stuart would be proud:

• Add one measure of cap-n-tax passed by the House.
• Add an element of surprise to many representatives at their constituent’s anger for the rushed passing of the debacle that is cap-n-tax
• Add a few level headed Blue Dogs democrats to the liberal mix
• Let boil for a couple of weeks as health care is debated
• Add enough rope to the roiling stew to allow His Highness to hang himself at a presser pushing socialized health care
• Add more rope to allow His Highness to hang himself with additional controversial statements concerning a certain police officer and a teacher at Harvard. Proclamtions our Dear Leader predicated on the statement he possessed none of the facts. Sound familiar?
• Add plunging poll numbers and a missed August deadline for health reform
• Add an entire congressional recess for the public’s intelligence to be further insulted by liberal advertisements touting how well the government runs things and sound the praises for the gift that is socialized health care without actually calling it socialized health care. Watch in amazement as they keep trying to tell us that we can keep our current plan if we like it. Nothing about pushing out private insurance on an exchange where it is forced to compete with the “public option”. Nothing to see here, just move along.
• Simultaneously add in advertisements that show the truth of liberal diversion and legislative tactics concerning said socialized health care and what “the public plan” really means. Higher costs, rationing, and the death of ingenuity. Not to mention control over when you will die. Thanks a lot for the hard work grandma, but the sad fact is, your just too darn old and not worth saving, so perform your duty for the collective and just die already will you. Government as God.
• During this month, mix in an earful of complaints and outright anger directed at representatives and senators who suddenly find the fear of God a constant companion as their re-election in 2010 hangs in the balance.
• Lastly, mix in additional plunging poll numbers for His Highness, especially given that The Obama-conomy: “It’s worse than you think”

  Let it all stew and watch Obama’s liberal castle crumble around his ears. This is not to say His Most High can’t do any damage in the 3 1/2 years remaining, even with the slaughter for liberalism that will be the 2010 elections. His Highness will drag this country through the mud as often as possible, but we have weathered worse. It will take a long time to get rid of the taste of the ObamaNation.

  In closing, I had the opportunity to watch Zach Galifianakis, of “The Hangover” fame in a film titled “Visioneers”. An odd little movie to be sure, but with many poignant points. In this world of the future, dreams are considered bad. Both in the literal sense – as when sleeping – and in the figurative sense – such as possessing them. Having either or both types of dreams can lead to one exploding – in the literal sense (I told you the movie was a bit odd). I won’t give away the plot, but there is one scene in the move when the protagonist is told that in order to get rid of dreams, it is important to kill that which is most important to you. For most of us, this would be our family or a loved one. In the context of this country, that would be life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, or as my Naval friend says, “Life, liberty, and the happiness of pursuit”.

  Then it struck me. That is exactly what socialism is – what liberalism is. It is the overt and often covert attempt to level the playing field by making everyone as miserable as everyone else. No more excellence allowed in this utopia. If you succeed, we will punish you and take away the fruits of your labor. Anyone found possessing ambition or passion will be trampled upon, ridiculed, pilfered, and outcast. No dreams allowed, except those provided for by the state. Do not think for yourself, do not think for others; do not think, period. Mediocrity and blandness are the order of the day and we will all be equal, not under God, but under the clenching fist of Government, for Government is now your God, and that other god is no longer allowed, for there is only one true God, known as “The State”.

  For now, just call Him Obama.

  In other news and opinion:

  Jonah Goldberg hits the proverbial nail on the head: None dare say rationing:

  Let us for a moment adopt the proposition that health care is in fact a “right,” as pretty much every liberal politician has told us.

  Now let us consider how President Obama’s health-care bill would work. An official body – staffed with government doctors, actuaries, economists and other experts – will determine which treatments, procedures and remedies are cost-effective and which are not. Then it will decide which ones will get paid for, and which won’t. Democrats call this “cost-controls.” But for the patient and the doctor, it’s plain old rationing.

  Now, imagine if the government had a body of experts charged with figuring out what your free-speech rights are, or right to assemble, or worship. Mr. Jones, you can say X and Y but not Z. Ms. Smith, you can freely assemble with Aleutians, Freemasons and carpenters, but you may not meet in public with anyone from Cleveland or of Albanian descent. Mrs. Wilson, you may pray to Vishnu and Crom, but never to Allah or Buddha, and when you do pray, you cannot do so for longer than 20 minutes, unless it is one of several designated holidays. See Extended Prayer Form 10-22B.

  Michelle Malkin: “The siren call of judicial activism”. Here is to hoping that, one day, a majority of our federal legislature suddenly decides that judicial activism is grounds for impeachment. If judges are allowed to continue to invent law from the bench, then the constitution is nothing but a piece of paper. We already have a group of people to do that – Congress. Remember that strange concept called separation of powers? It is not a hurdle to be overcome – it is written in the very fabric of this land.

  Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey: New Dem strategy on ObamaCare: Ignore the evidence and just trust us!. No thanks. I would sooner trust a used car salesman or a snake oil peddler.

  Call it faith-based economics. Just forget all of those people who make a living at looking at balance sheets, cost projections, and legislative analysis — trust us! For a party that screeched about returning science to its “rightful place” in policymaking, they seem highly enamored of tarot cards and entrail-reading when it comes to their own fiscal policies.

  Glenn Reynold’s on Michelle Malkin’s Culture of Corruption: Obama and His Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks, and Cronies. Read it, buy it for a loved one, pass it on.

  Emperor Misha I eviscerates in the usual fascinating fashion, exposing Obama and his Latin American advisor. Kinds of puts things in perspective. Read Pieces Coming Together.

  The CNN political ticker reports: RNC commits nearly $1 million on health care campaign. Now that’s change put to good use. More of the same, please! See the story for a list of the Democrat targets. I don’t think CNN will allow the trackback to my story – as they have in the past. Fair and balanced? I think not. Puppets who like to have their strings pulled – you betcha. Am I surprised? Come on, take a guess…

  

I guess in politics you also reap what you sow. From The Hill:

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is paying a price on healthcare reform for the arm-twisting she did on the climate change bill last month.

Democratic House members were rankled by how the climate bill passed — and stunned by the criticism they got at home.

Those memories are fueling a revolt among conservative Blue Dogs and a drive among freshman lawmakers to drop plans for a surtax on the wealthy in healthcare reform.

An aide to one conservative Democratic lawmaker said the climate bill was “really rammed down our throats.”

And there’s a general sense of unease among others members of the caucus.

“I think the well’s a bit poisoned,” said Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.). “A lot of people went home and got beaten up on climate. Now they want to make sure they understand it before they vote on it. People still want to do it. It’s just going to be a little bit harder.”

Many centrist Democrats pushed Pelosi and the Democratic leadership to put off the climate change debate and pass a healthcare overhaul first, giving members more time to work through the issues and get comfortable with the complex issue.

And what still rubs many members raw is that if the climate bill ever comes back from the Senate, it’s likely to be significantly weaker. So they voted for tough and expensive regulations that will likely never become law.

The fresh memory of the difficult vote has hit the Democrats’ plan to pass a healthcare bill before August like a Mack truck.

It also looks like other sections of the Democratic Congress are just a little concerned:

Despite a massive listening campaign organized by Pelosi and other leaders, the objections to the healthcare bill are coming from diverse parts of the caucus.

Freshmen are circulating a letter calling for the surtax to be eliminated because they believe it will unfairly hit small businesses.

“Republicans called the last one a tax increase and it wasn’t. But this one really is,” said an aide to one Democratic freshman lawmaker.

Blue Dogs have a host of complaints, starting with irritation that the bill doesn’t wring enough cost savings out of the healthcare system and leaves Medicare reimbursement unfairly low in their rural districts. They launched a formal protest last week that delayed the rollout of the House bill.

But after Pelosi introduced it with great fanfare Tuesday, Blue Dogs complained that few, if any, of their concerns were fixed.

The conservative Blue Dog’s have a strategy:

So the Blue Dogs on the House Energy and Commerce Committee have banded together to change the bill. They’ve warned they have the votes to stop the bill in at least one committee if those changes aren’t made

This tactic is designed to weaken the divide-and-conquer strategy used in the climate bill. However, leadership aides note their own parties opposition members are not so much against a bill; the previous climate bill arm twisting and subsequent backlash in their own backyards gives angry Blue Dogs a chance to flex their muscles and demand changes necessary to alter the bill to one they can support. The elephant in the room is whether these markups avoid dooming America to sub-standard health care and unsustainable debt. The only way to avoid disaster is to do away with the public option in any form.

Even a public option that is allowed to compete with private insurance on an exchange (as the current bill is written), would push out private insurers and drive them out of business. Nobody can compete with a non-profit government capable of printing money when deemed necessary. The current bill is implicitly designed to destroy private insurance. I’m from Canada – trust me, you don’t want that system.

The Blue Dogs have the fate of the country in their hands. On their death beds will they remember their lives with fondness, pride, and a swelling sense of dignity, or know they have sold out the souls of countless millions and doomed them to an inkling of an existence? Will they uphold the spirit of our forefathers and preserve liberty and dignity? History, the cruelest judge of all, remembers. If they are principled enough to change the course of disaster set by Obama and avoid the destruction of the greatest of countries, they will be remembered as heroes; men and women of honest disposition, worthy of great praise. As for the other option – sellouts, crooks, pirates of liberty, spineless and unprincipled hacks – these words will describe the men and women who vote against principles of common sense, even though each and every one of these labels provides for a loftier descriptive for such lowly scoundrels.

Further Reading: Even The NYT Won’t Avoid The Truth – Socialized Healthcare Stinks

In related news and opinion:

Michelle Malkin: Inside the monstrous Obamacare bureaucracy. Also check out, Putting a face on the casualties of Obamacare.

Sister Toldjah: CBO pours cold water on Obama admin’s claims about “savings” from ObamaCare. Heh.

Stop the ACLU: Snowe Dampens Dems Healthcare Ardor and Polls Begin to Turn

John Aravosis at America Blog writes NASA’s chief climate scientist states Obama’s climate bill “less than worthless” and that health care is unraveling too. It still sounds to me like Dr. James Hansen is till on the side of anthropocentric global warming – a farce which is being exposed as I explain in part one of this series.

A friend of the great physicist Wolfgang Pauli once showed him a paper written by a young physicist and asked for Pauli’s opinion, to which Pauli remarked:

That’s not right. It’s not even wrong

The same is true of global warming – the theory does not even deserve serious consideration and the retort “not even wrong” is perfect in shedding the existing theory in a the negative light it deserves. The fact is we are currently experiencing a cooling trend, so not even non-anthropocentric global warming is occurring.

In other news and opinion:

Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey on why the Democrats as a party might shortly enter panic mode.

Update (7/9/2009): Thanks to Michelle Malkin, who spearheaded efforts to kill Cap-n-Tax in both the House and Senate, we are given the good news that the Pressure’s on: Senate Dems put cap-and-tax on ice. Obama and the liberals attempt to rush the legislation is a strong indicator they are very aware that Obama’s numbers are slipping and the faster they acted, the better the chance of pushing this farce through, further damaging the U.S. economy in the short term and all but wreaking it long term. While I fully believe passage of this bill faces more difficulty as time passes, as Michelle warns about the public pressure, “keep it up”. It has got to feel good to know you have made a difference. Thanks to Michelle and everyone else who called, emailed, blogged, attended tea parties, or screamed from their rooftops. The backs of the enemy now face us and we triumphantly give chase. From Richard Cohen at the Washington Post via Michelle Malkin:

The primary U.S. Senate committee responsible for writing climate change legislation will delay its work until September, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer said on Thursday.

Boxer, who earlier this week said she wanted her committee to finish writing its portion of legislation mandating reductions in carbon dioxide emissions before an early August recess, told reporters that instead, “We’ll do it as soon as we get back” in September.

The delay could be a setback to President Barack Obama, who wants quick congressional action on a climate change bill.

Best quote of the day comes from Michelle in reference to the eight GOP cap-and-traitors in the House:

Hey, GOP Cap-and-Tax 8?ers, feeling pretty stupid right about now?

Up next: health care reform.

:
Original Post (7/8/2009):
:

Cruising the internet this morning, I noted a piece in ABC’s The Note written by Rick Klein that brought a smile to my face. The tide is turning in the battle against the Obamaniacs, the enemy is in retreat, and now is the time to strike the final blow. In Economies of Sale – Obama Agenda Threatened by Economy, Mr. Klein notes:

Look what’s back.

It took a trip abroad, a few Republicans to make some other news, and maybe even one of those once-a-decade funerals that double as international events, but the economy is the big issue again.

It’s never really gone away — though $787 billion in stimulus cash was supposed to have turned things around by now.

But it hasn’t, and here we are. Give us a jobs report, a sliding Dow, a vice-presidential admission, and a presidential certainty that everything was handled right, and we’ve got a fresh dose of the issue that’s always been here — and that’s closer than ever to belonging to the Democrats alone.

(If the domestic divisions weren’t enough, let’s go international: The economy will be a main focus at Wednesday’s G-8 sessions, in Italy, where President Obama spends his day after wrapping up the Russia portion of his trip.)

(And while he’s been away — maybe a bit too much playing by his top aides? So far, President Obama has had to tidy up some mixed messaging coming from his vice president and his chief of staff; it’s only Wednesday.)

On the economy — this time, it’s not as easy to blame the predecessors. This time, the pressure to change course comes from the left and the right.

This time, there’s an ambitious domestic agenda that’s at risk of getting sidetracked.

Now, it’s the president himself on the line.

Read the rest of this entry »

Mark Twain once said of Congress,

Reader, suppose you were an idiot; and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself.

Sadly, the hope and change of Obama exposes not only Mr. BHO himself, but Congress, and the rest of our country as a nation of idiots at worse, and impulsive voters at best. After all, this country elected the guy. Don’t look at me though, he didn’t get my vote.

No, I am not saying everyone in America is an idiot. No doubt some Obama voters fit the bill, but many were bamboozled by a slick talking puppet and voted on impulse against a party that deserted its precepts, leaving them now to ask if Obama abandoned good principles, or whether he ever had any. The lesson learned – vote with your head and use common sense next time.

I am not sure whether to laugh or cry at the following tidbit. I leave it to the reader to decide. From American Thinker:

No wonder those Chinese college students fell all over themselves with laughter when Timothy Geithner assured them that Obama would never spend the United States into debt. What an idiot! They laughed because Geithner’s stupidity or mendacity was too obvious for words.

This begs the question, are we laughing at Obama and Geithner, or wasting our existence glued to the television, salivating over the latest news about Michael Jackson? Sorry, but I just don’t give a damn about an 80s has-been when my country is in a barrel heading for Niagra Falls.

Given the latest yea vote for cap-n-trade in the House – hell, lets call it what it is – cap and tax, I sit here dazed at he sheer stupidity of it all. While the rest of the world is figuring out that anthropocentric global warming is a hoax, as are many in this country, our Congress brings to the fierce struggle of politics the tepid enthusiasm of a lazy summer afternoon watching paint dry.

When asked to reconsider the science of global warming, our dear leader politely refused. Must be too busy propping up the usurper in South America, wringing his hands and agonizing over how a despotic leader who decided to ignore his own country’s constitution is rightfully shown the door. He is joined by his pals Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro, and while not personally guilty of overt threats, his two comrades are quick to portend violent action to ensure South America continues its march towards communism. Obama’s silence in light of these threats amounts to nothing less than a tacit green light to bully a country protecting its democratic constitution. Meanwhile, Iranians spill their blood half a world away as Obama twiddles his thumbs – thumbs he would have planted firmly up his hindquarters if not for the inconvenient presence of his head. If you think you are viewing a world through the looking glass, take a look around, Alice is somewhere nearby.

If Obama occasionally stumbles over the truth, rest assured he will quickly pick himself up and hurry about his business as if nothing happened. No doubt, the offending truth that caused his stumbling is quickly removed by those who grovel at his feet, all semblance of their own self respect gone, as evidenced by the brown coloring their noses.

The novice boy president, dangerous as he is, needs to understand one thing about America – we won’t tolerate his ineptitude much longer. Congress is feeling the heat from the public and the polls just are not looking good these days for the novice White House resident whose naivety is only overshadowed by his ego.

Perhaps Iran does not bother Obama because unarmed students are limited in their capacity to overthrow tyranny. It is different in Honduras – the military stepped in and stopped a coup, not started one. No matter how hard Obama and the mainstream media squeeze their eyes shut, click their heels together and wish, the American people are catching on.

Our dear leader travels far and wide in his attempt to spread apathy. Our legislature discovers new and innovative ways to defy logic and mire themselves deeper into corruption. Admiring themselves in the mirror, transfixed by their own reflections, they run about ignorant to the caricature that defines them and ignorant to a waking populace salivating to replace them with something more useful – like a toaster oven or some soft two-ply toilet paper. As they attempt to sell out this country – to destroy the livelihoods of you, me, and everyone else, while mortgaging the future to mediocrity – we watch….and wait.

While Obama shows despots his backside, we show them our face. Now it is Obama’s turn to see our faces. His veil is slipping, and the act is nearing its end. Oh, and to the Congress, you are never far from our thoughts, and in case you are too myopic and half-witted to figure it out, trust me, right now that is not a good thing.

I think Shakespeare captures the Obama way quite well. From the Tempest:

Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp’d towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.

Obama is no magician. As hard as he may try – his attempt to dissolve what is great about this country will redefine failure.

As for us, in our story – the American story – we know who the actors are and we are wide awake. Tread lightly lest you tread on me.

Today in politics:

Michelle Malkin on stopping the cap-and-tax bill in the Senate and how you can do your part.

Ed Morrissey on Obama, the Reverse Reagan.

DRJ guest writing at Patterico’s Pontifications: Iranian Clerics Defy Government.

Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler on more liberal whining. Seems like Steve McNair died because we are all a bunch of crazed hillbillies clinging to our guns and bibles.

Liberals: forever indebted to their imaginations in gathering any facts.

More evidence we live where Alice lives: Glenn Reynolds on how Obama voters will pay the price:

OBAMA VOTERS WILL PAY THE PRICE: “When Congress decides how to pay for President Obama’s signature healthcare initiative, some of his strongest political bastions may be footing a heavy bill. And in a political irony, states that went for Obama’s Republican rival, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, in 2008 are among those likely to benefit most from Democratic healthcare policies.” They told me if I voted for John McCain I’d be protecting myself from high healthcare taxes — and, apparently, they were right!