Is this that "new civility" we've been hearing about?

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That took a lot longer than expected. Two and half weeks after the President's revealing statist-centric "You didn't build that" comments, supporters of the President are responding to his critics with... well, you tell us.

Here's Jonathan Chait:

Mitt Romney’s plan of blatantly lying about President Obama’s “you didn’t build that” speech is clearly drawing blood. But what makes the attack work so well is not so much the lie itself but the broader subtext of it.

The key thing is that Obama is angry, and he’s talking not in his normal voice but in a “black dialect.” This strikes at the core of Obama’s entire political identity: a soft-spoken, reasonable African-American with a Kansas accent. From the moment he stepped onto the national stage, Obama’s deepest political fear was being seen as a “traditional” black politician, one who was demanding redistribution from white America on behalf of his fellow African-Americans.

Speaking in a "black dialect"? Harry Reid would be so disappointed.



The President wandered off the teleprompter reservation, spoke what is truly in his heart, he was called out on it and now for doing so, those critics are accused of suddenly remembering he is a "traditional" black politician.



Leslie at Temple of Mut uses this graphic from The Princess Bride to sum up perfectly our feelings on the left's knee jerk reacton to criticisms of the President's policies

We guess we shouldn't be surprised but we are so often caught off guard by the level of vitrol and, well, hatred that is leveled at conservatives and libertatrians for holding views that have not been vetted by the political class.



Totally related to the blow-back from "You Didn't Build That" criticism, here's KT at the Scratching Post opining on the Chick-fil-A/gay marriage dust-up in a post titled The People You Hate Aren't Here:

I'm a Eucharistic Minister at our church. Last Sunday while distributing the Body of Christ, a couple of women who were almost certainly lesbians came up to receive the Host. They were given the Sacrament with as much love as everyone else. That happens all the time and the meaning of the action is totally lost on the progressives who long to hate us.

In Catholicism, there is nothing that compares to the Body and Blood of Christ. Nothing even comes close. Because we oppose gay marriage, we're frequently accused of hating gays. We don't. Not even a little. If we did, how could we share our most sacred thing with them? When we distribute Communion, it doesn't come with a lecture to each person or even a stern look. It comes with love and solemnity, not hate. Come and see who we are and you'll understand.

We believe in the traditional definition of marriage but if we were asked to vote on a Prop. 8-like measure again, we would most likely abstain from voting. Our own "evolved" thinking is that the government should not be in the business of dictating the terms of a sacred vow that is taken before God and man.

Besides, we'll cop to not really having the stomach for it. Our traditional marriage belief is not strong enough for possibly inviting being a target for the hatred and scorn we have seen heeped upon the Chick-fil-A organization for doing nothing visibly beyond serving fried chicken in neighborhoods across this country.

Instead, we have an atmosphere out there that is so toxic, the left is just this short of issuing scorecards to judge the political suitability of private enterprises its followers may wish to do business.

And this toxicness has now become so one-sided it had emboldened elected officials to act not as stewards of the rule of law in a constitutional republic rather as commissars in a totalitarian state. This is the most troubling aspect of all this: beliefs outside that which has been officially sanctioned by the ruling class are effectively criminalized.

A Republic if you can keep it, indeed.

You Lie! (UPDATED... Again!!!)

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(As promised, we are re-running this post from just over two years ago to remind everybody of just what an odious sham were the auto bailouts and in specific the manner in which the TARP funds (funds, by the way, that were never intended for the auto industry in the first place - remember, they were tabbed for the financial sector, only) were paid off. The thuggish history of this administration and its enablers needs to be recalled as often as possible prior to the November elections.)





(Please scroll to bottom for update)



So, General Motors and its folksy CEO, Ed Whitacre, have paid off GM's TARP bailout money? What an incredible turnaround. If by "turnaround", though, you mean paying off your Visa card debt with your Mastercard.

All evidence points to the fact that GM is using a separate TARP line of credit to pay off its primary TARP debt.

During an April 20 hearing on Capital Hill, Sen. Tom Carper, (D-Del.) asked some pointed questions of Neil Barofsky, the “special watch dog” on the Wall Street Bailout, aka, TARP.

It’s good news in that they’re reducing their debt,” Barofsky said of the accelerated GM payments, “but they’re doing it by taking other available TARP money.”…

“It sounds like it’s kind of like taking money out of one pocket and putting in the other,” said Carper, who got a nod of agreement from Barofsky.

“The way that payment is going to be made is by drawing down on an equity facility of other TARP money.”

Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) went off on the Obama administration and the TARP shell game in a letter sent to two-time tax cheat and tax collector-in-chief, Tim Geithner using Barofsky's testimony to level the credible claim that GM was not using GM earnings to pay off TARP debt but rather TARP funds from an escrow account at Treasury to make the debt repayments.

From the letter:

When these criticisms were put to GM’s Vice Chairman Stephen Girsky in a television interview yesterday, he admitted that the criticisms were valid:

Question: Are you just paying the government back with government money?

Mr. Girsky: Well listen, that is in effect true, but a year ago nobody thought we’d be able to pay this back.

Unbelievable. Dude actually wants some sort of recognition that GM was able to pay off tax payer-funded debt with... tax payer funds.

This is the first acknowledgement that we are aware of a shadow TARP. As if the publicly-known TARP wasn't bad enough there is a subterranean TARP that is backing the initial TARP.

This simply re-enforces our sentiment that we will never in our lives purchase a GM or Chrysler product. These people are straight-up gangsters. There is no other word to describe them and their actions to deliberately deceive and forcibly misuse U.S. tax payer dollars.

We believe this instance provides sufficient cover to get your hate on.

H/T: Hot Air


(UPDATE #1): This time, we lie! Much like GM's false claim that they have paid off its TARP debt with actual earnings, there is no actual update.

We originally posted this over the weekend, when readership is down a bit but we wanted to resurrect it during the week to highlight the sheer audacity of General Motors. The federal government is entirely complicit in what we can only tag as gangster capitalism. The government takeover and bankruptcy proceedings that screwed over the secured creditors in favor of the labor unions was executed in a thuggish manner and now the GM/federal government partnership openly displays their contempt for the American public by running an ad during the NBA playoffs patting itself on the back for a job well done.

We may re-run this post again next week. And the week after that. Whatever we have to do to ensure that we never forget what little regard this administration has for your interests and your tax dollars.

Frank Rich, Paul Krugman and the rest of the intelligentsia of this country may disagree with the politics of those who have opposed the bailouts but that they cannot at least understand where this anger may be coming from, again, speaks to a widening disconnect in this country between the taste-makers and those who are actually footing the bill for this fiasco.


(UPDATE #2): Reason TV's Nick Gillespie takes about as much time to explain the shell game that is General Motor's "paying off" its TARP debt as the GM commercial.




Again, the sheer gall that Government Motors has in running this outright lie will compel us to update this regularly or repost from time to time whether or not there is an actual update.





(UPDATE #3): The nation's paper of record is now on the beat.

AS we inch closer to a clearer understanding of the products and practices that unleashed the credit crisis of 2008, it’s becoming apparent that those seeking the whole truth are still outnumbered by those aiming to obscure it. This is the case not only on Wall Street but also in Washington.

Truth seekers the nation over, therefore, are indebted to Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, who in recent days uncovered what he called a government-enabled “TARP money shuffle.” It relates to General Motors, which on April 21 paid the balance of its $6.7 billion loan under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

G.M. trumpeted its escape from the program as evidence that it had turned the corner in its operations. “G.M. is able to repay the taxpayers in full, with interest, ahead of schedule, because more customers are buying vehicles like the Chevrolet Malibu and Buick LaCrosse,” boasted Edward E. Whitacre Jr., its chief executive.

G.M. also crowed about its loan repayment in a national television ad and the United States Treasury also marked the moment with a press release: “We are encouraged that G.M. has repaid its debt well ahead of schedule and confident that the company is on a strong path to viability,” said Timothy F. Geithner, the Treasury secretary.

Taxpayers are naturally eager for news about bailout repayments. But what neither G.M. nor the Treasury disclosed was that the company simply used other funds held by the Treasury to pay off its original loan.

The CBO estimates we will lose about $30 billion on the GM bailout. And in the article, GM officials are outrageously outraged that anybody would suspect that they are doing anything untoward with taxpayer money. Not that they are specifically denying doing anything untoward.

Greg Martin, a G.M. spokesman, said the company had made no misrepresentations about its repayment. “The bottom line is, our strong business performance has put us in the position that we don’t need these funds,” he said, referring to the cash in the escrow account. “G.M. is performing much better than anyone expected and that does represent a significant milestone for the company.”

And Ron Bloom, senior adviser to Mr. Geithner, bristled at Mr. Grassley’s criticism. “The Treasury Department has tried to be as straight as humanly possible,” he said in an interview. “We have never not been clear about exactly what we paid, exactly the terms of the investment. I’m finding it hard to find anyone obfuscating about this.”

(italics, ours)

They don't need the (TARP) funds... except that they need the funds to pay off the TARP debt.

We'll spare you the righteous indignation this time around because it's all there in black and white. A nice big F-you from General Motors leadership to the U.S. taxpayers.

And you all thought Enron was bad.

Blog headline of the day

When is this stuff going to stop?

Pimply 17-Year Old Boy Rejected by Cheerleader; Climate of Hate Blamed

Young Billy is a 17-year old boy who enjoys math riddles, glee club and has plans to run for student body President. All that changed in an instant.

Last week Billy asked popular cheerleader Shannon to the prom. He was rejected. In a cold-blooded utterance that can only be described as “terroristic in intent” Shannon told Billy that he “wasn’t her type.”

Now a devastated Billy stays in his room playing online video games, occasionally taking time out to mow the lawn or read the Bible.

The backlash against Shannon and her hate-filled rejection of Billy is intense. Many local residents blame talk radio.

As it was Reagan who was in office when we were in high school, this goes a long way towards explaining our abject dating failures at that time.

Go to the link above to read more of the of the incivility of our times at Conservative Hideout 2.0.

So about that whole civility thing?

This probably explains why that Coffee Party never got off the ground.




So, just what is it with libs and their infantile obsession with cursing and in particular, acts of reproduction?

Back in July, a gathering of "angry" libs put together a video to raise money for an something called Un-F**k the Gulf.

Now some Democratic party operatives and heavies have launched the "Fu*ck Tea" project as a way to counter the tea party movement and advance liberal, excuse us, progressive causes.

As you can see, the spelling of the operative verb of this group is slightly different from that of the Gulf oil spill group but we are positive you will find their respective M.O.s mind-numbingly redundant.

Hey, look. They've even got their own video:

"We hate what you do and we hate your whole crew."



Again, seething hatred and F*ck-ing or F**k-ing represents the sum total of what these people know/do.

Stay classy.

Everybody draw Mohammed Day

We totally forgot... we're playing catch up.


Relax, jihadists. You all and you're bass-ackwards and intolerant 8th century anti-liberal, anti-semetic, sexist and homophobic ways aren't in our cross-hairs today, it's so-called champions of free speech of the West like Comedy Central and now Apple that fold like a cheap lawn chair when it comes to "the religion of peace".

In what is sure to raise a ruckus, comedian / filmmaker / app developer Emery Emery recorded a phone call with an Apple App Store rep when his iSlam Muhammad app was pulled from the App Store after one day. The highly entertaining conversation in its entirety can be heard by watching the "video" above.

iSlam Muhammad apparently depicted images of the prophet Muhammad (forbidden by Islam) and outlined disturbing passages from the Qur'an. It's surprisingly similar to BibleThumper, a Christian-bashing app that remains in the App Store.

Just a couple of days ago, we blogged about Apple denying an app for a Congressional candidate that simply stated Henry Waxman's voting record. And now this. Pathetic.

If, in the name of equality, Apple also pulls BibleThumper that's only exacerbating the problem as Apple will give tacit approval to the notion that any criticism of any religion is off limits. Of course, Apple is certainly free to do what it wants just as are the consumers.

The older we get, the more stridently free speech we become. We're not sure whether this is a reaction to what we see as increasing restrictions on speech or, to borrow a favorable phrase used for pols in D.C. who drift leftward over time, "growing in office". Probably a little of both.


H/T: Hot Air

Of censorship and speaking out against actual threats to peace.

Meanwhile, Comedy Central — you know, the “hip,” “edgy” network with Jon Stewart, from whom “young” Americans under 53 supposedly get most of their news — just caved in to death threats. From a hateful 83-year-old widow who doesn’t like Obamacare? Why, no! It was a chap called Abu Talhah al Amrikee, who put up a video on the Internet explaining why a South Park episode with a rather tame Mohammed joke was likely to lead to the deaths of the show’s creators. Just to underline the point, he showed some pictures of Theo van Gogh, the Dutch film director brutally murdered by (oh, my, talk about unfortunate coincidences) a fellow called Mohammed. Mr. al Amrikee helpfully explained that his video incitement of the murder of Matt Stone and Trey Parker wasn’t really “a threat but just the likely outcome.” All he was doing, he added, was “raising awareness” — you know, like folks do on Earth Day. On Earth Day, lame politicians dig a hole and stick a tree in it. But aggrieved Muslims dig a hole and stick a couple of comedy writers in it. Celebrate diversity!

Faced with this explicit threat of violence, what did Comedy Central do? Why, they folded like a Bedouin tent. They censored South Park, not only cutting all the references to Mohammed but, in an exquisitely postmodern touch, also removing the final speech about the need to stand up to intimidation.

Stone and Parker get what was at stake in the Danish-cartoons crisis and many other ostensibly footling concessions: Imperceptibly, incrementally, remorselessly, the free world is sending the message that it is happy to trade core liberties for the transitory security of a quiet life. That is a dangerous signal to give freedom’s enemies. So the South Park episode is an important cultural pushback.

Yet in the end, in a craven culture, even big Hollywood A-listers can’t get their message over. So the brave, transgressive comedy network was intimidated into caving in and censoring a speech about not being intimidated into caving in. That’s what I call “hip,” “edgy,” “cutting-edge” comedy: They’re so edgy they’re curled up in the fetal position, whimpering at the guy with the cutting edge, “Please. Behead me last. And don’t use the rusty scimitar where you have to saw away for 20 minutes to find the spinal column . . . ”

Terrific. You can see why young, urban, postmodern Americans under 57 get most of their news from Comedy Central. What a shame 1930s Fascist Europe was so lacking in cable.

If there is a better poli-writer out there than Mark Steyn, please get back to us.

Ann Althouse objects to "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day" on the grounds that it might offend Muslims that had nothing to do with the death threats made against the creators of "South Park".

She likens this instance to the Piss Christ controversy back in the 80s. Funny, I don't remember any death threats made by Christian groups or individual Christians.

And perhaps if more in the Muslim community spoke out against the seemingly never-ending number of death threats and actual deaths made by the extremists of the Muslim faith, we'd be more inclined to be concerned with the sensibilities of others.

We liked reader New "Hussein" Ham's comment at Althouse's post:

I would imagine if the neo-Nazi's would start making good on some death threats, like the Muslims have done with folks like Theo Van Gogh, then discussions of the Holocaust would be "out of bounds" and "over the top" because it would offend the neo-Nazi's and needlessly hurt their feelings.

Hate and racism

Cheap, easy and completely irresistible.

From the not-too-distant past in a land where dissent was patriotic.






More specifically to the charge of racism within the Tea Party ranks, B-Daddy provides the following:

More importantly, since this meme will have to be refuted day after day for the next two and a half years, we must inculcate an intolerance for racism in the Tea Party. Since the movement is self organizing, the only way to enforce this is through peer pressure. It is important to our movement, and important that Americans start to see what liars that criers of racism really are.

We couldn't agree more. Constant vigilance towards self-regulation and marginalizing the kooks is paramount.

Evil that must be spoken out against

The following is a statement from the President regarding the shooting today at the Holocaust museum:

"I am shocked and saddened by today’s shooting at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. This outrageous act reminds us that we must remain vigilant against anti-Semitism and prejudice in all its forms. No American institution is more important to this effort than the Holocaust Museum, and no act of violence will diminish our determination to honor those who were lost by building a more peaceful and tolerant world.

"Today, we have lost a courageous security guard who stood watch at this place of solemn remembrance. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends in this painful time."

(We understand the pressure the White House must've felt to release this statement in such a hasty manner as the name of the statement's anonymous deceased security guard who gave his life in the line of duty is Stephen T. Johns, 39, of Temple Hills, Md.)

We wholeheartedly agree with the sentiments expressed by the President and would hope he is crafting similar language to honor the life of Private William Long and condemn the act of another hate-filled monster who assassinated Long a week and a half ago and which will be on display at the White House.gov site