op ed review 6/20

THIS WEEK’S NEWS

Obama Approval Falls to New Low: 42%

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll

ELECTION POLL: Re-elect D incumbent? 34 percent; Re-elect R incumbent? 49 percent...

https://preview.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127834800&live=1

Sharron Angle has bounced to an 11-point lead over Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in Nevada’s closely-watched U.S. Senate race.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2010/election_2010_senate_elections/nevada/election_2010_nevada_senate

A Gallup poll shows 49% of Americans believe that the Democrats are “too liberal.” This is only slightly below the all-time high of 50%, recorded in 1994, when Democrats suffered their worst defeat in congressional elections since 1946.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Gallup-49-say-Democrats-are-too-liberal96291558.html

The middle class is abandoning President Barack Obama, according to data released by the Gallup Poll. The only income bracket among which a majority still says they approve of the job he is doing as president are those earning $2,000 per month or less.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/67763

President Obama did not attend the May 25 memorial service in Jackson, Mississippi for the workers who died in the Deepwater Horizon explosion because he was en route to a fundraiser for Sen. Barbara Boxer.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/06/11/president-headed-to-fundraiser-during-gulf-memorial-service/?fbid=tHvH04AbXlE

Most Americans support the new Arizona law that gives police there the power to check the residency status of suspected illegal immigrants

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/17/AR2010061700008.html?hpid=topnews

Hispanic voters nationwide haven't shifted their congressional voting preferences since the signing of Arizona's new immigration law on April 23. Their preference for the Democratic candidate over the Republican candidate, 61% to 32%, in April 23 to June 8 interviewing almost identically matches the 60% to 32% margin recorded between March 1 and April 22.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/139751/Hispanic-Voters-Preferences-Unchanged-Post-Arizona-Law.aspx

Tea party shows its strength at Washington State GOP convention

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012102443_gop13m.html

Republicans have an excellent chance to win [Washington state's] 3rd Congressional District race this year and state Rep. Jaime Herrera would command a big lead in the Republican primary contest if it were held today,

http://www.nationalreview.com/campaign-spot/230058/gop-42-democrat-35-washington-state

President Obama has a solution to the Gulf oil spill: $7-a-gallon gas. That's a Harvard University study's estimate of the per-gallon price of the president's global-warming agenda. And Obama made clear this week that this agenda is a part of his plan for addressing the Gulf mess.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/gallon_gas_9GlF3o1xIcIBelOV3k0RsK#ixzz0rJTYnGBh

Elena Kagan, Obama’s most recent Supreme Court nominee, is no friend of gun rights. In 1996, Kagan apparently tied the NRA to the KKK while debating the Clinton administration’s position on a bill.

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NGFkY2E5Zjg1OTFmYjMwODY1ODhlNDVkNTQ0OTdhOTI=

Another round of documents from Elena Kagan's time in the Clinton White House was released Friday afternoon, giving further evidence of her decidedly liberal legal and policy positions. The release comes as a Rasmussen poll shows that support for Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court has fallen to 33% while opposition to her nomination has risen eight points to 41%.

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=37490

This is why we don’t want bureaucracy running anything important like healthcare: Eight days ago, Louisiana Gov. Jindal ordered barges to begin vacuuming crude oil out of his state's oil-soaked waters. They have been ordered shut down for several days now by the Coast Guard because they haven’t verified the proper number of fire extinguishers and life vests on board.

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/bp-oil-spill-gov-bobby-jindals-wishes-crude/story?id=10946379

And this: three days after the Gulf oil rig explosion, the Netherlands offered to send in oil skimmers to pump oil off of the surface of the ocean. The Obama Administration turned them down because they were not 100% efficient and small amounts of oil would be pumped back into the Gulf with the excess water. EPA regulations do not allow for residue water to contain any oil. So rather than use equipment that was not 100% efficient the Obama Administration chose to let all of the oil run into the Gulf.

http://biggovernment.com/jhoft/2010/06/16/change-53-days-later-obama-administration-decides-to-accept-dutch-offer-to-help-with-spill/

Rep. Darrell Issa, the conservative firebrand whose specialty is lobbing corruption allegations at the Obama White House, is making plans to hire dozens of subpoena-wielding investigators if Republicans win the House this fall.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/38697.html#ixzz0rDY3jZqJ

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit was quoted as saying during an appearance on Nile TV that, "The American president told me in confidence that he is a Muslim."

http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=166905

Applicants for a Washington state driver's licenses no longer need to bring proof of a valid address to licensing offices. “The spokesperson said the DOL is confident repealing the paperwork requirement would not create an increase in fraudulent licenses.”

http://www.nwcn.com/news/State-no-longer-needs-physical-proof-of-address-for-drivers-license-96321354.html

Nancy Pelosi’s district office in San Francisco costs the taxpayer $18,736 a month -- the highest rental paid by any member of the Congress. Her spokesman says this is amply justified because the new office is “greener.”

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/06/14/pelosis-new-district-office-reportedly-costs-month/

It looks like Al Gore has been having an affair with a Hollywood actor’s ex-wife — for the past two years!

http://www.starmagazine.com/al_gore_laurie_david_affair/news/16986

Internal White House documents reveal that 51% of employers may have to relinquish their current health care coverage by 2013 due to ObamaCare. That numbers soars to 66% for small-business employers.

http://tinyurl.com/28cv267

The DNC, aided by White House fundraising, has sliced into the RNC's traditional financial edge before congressional midterm elections in November. The RNC, rocked by party infighting and questions about its spending, collected $127.9 million to the DNC's $124.5 million.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2010-06-13-parties-fundraising_N.htm

“City of Seattle Adopts New Policy to Protect (illegal) Immigrants.” Under the new policy, the maximum sentence for a gross misdemeanor will be 364 days, “so that ICE agents won’t be immediately tipped off that someone might have questionable immigration status...”

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/publicola/~3/Ey5njhpEq9Y/

The FBI released over 2,000 pages from their files concerning the late Sen. Edward Kennedy. The files further solidify Teddy’s image as a promiscuous, immoral, trembling blob of sexual excitement.

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=37583

Planned Parenthood Federation of America's (PPFA) audits show the organization spent just $657.1 million between 2002 and 2008 from federal government grants and programs, but the abortion behemoth's own annual reports show that it took in $2.3 billion from government grants and programs during the same time period. Where did th4e money go?

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jun/18/planned-parenthoods-missing-millions/

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THIS WEEK’S FEATURED COLUMN

Cal Thomas, 6/3/10

Three modern myths have been sold to the American people: the promise of a transparent administration (President Obama); the promise of a more ethical Congress (Speaker Pelosi); and the myth of "global warming," or climate change. The first two are daily proving suspect and now the third is sinking with greater force than melting icebergs, if they were melting, which many believe they are not.

After spending years promoting "global warming," the media are beginning to turn in the face of growing evidence that they have been wrong. The London Times recently reported: "Britain's premier scientific institution is being forced to review its statements on climate change after a rebellion by members who question mankind's contribution to rising temperatures."

It gets worse, or better, depending on your perspective. Newsweek magazine, which more than 30 years ago promoted global cooling and a new ice age -- and more recently has been drinking the global warming Kool-Aid -- headlined a story, "Uncertain Science: Bickering and Defensive, Climate Researchers Have Lost the Public's Trust." Newsweek does its best to cling to its increasingly discredited doctrine, but the growing body of contrary evidence only adds to the public's disbelief.

In Canada, the polar bear -- which has been used by global warming promoters to put a cuddly face on the issue -- is in danger of not being endangered any longer. CBC News reported that the polar bear's designation as a "species of special concern" has been suspended "while the government reviews the polar bear's status and decides whether to renew the classification or change it."

The New York Times recently lamented "global warmism's loss of credibility" in a story about hundreds of "environmental activists who met to ponder this question: "if the scientific consensus on climate change has not changed, why have so many people turned away from the idea that human activity is warming the planet?" The "consensus" never was a consensus. Most of us may not have gotten an "A" in science, but we can sense when we are being bamboozled.

The German online news magazine "Focus" recently carried a story, "Warm Times Will Soon Be Over!" Commenting on the "new NASA high temperature record," which may be set, the magazine blames it on El Nino. Meteorologists, like Joe D'Aleo of The Weather Channel, are publicly distancing themselves from the false doctrine of global warming. D'Aleo says, "We'll have La Nina conditions before the summer is over, and it will intensify further through the fall and winter. Thus we'll have cooler temperatures for the next couple of years."

Remember the scare ignited in 2007 by supposed melting Arctic ice caps? The Star Canada says a new analysis shows that the apparent change was the result of "shifting winds," while an expedition last year to the North Pole discovered the ice "100 percent thicker than expected." Much of this information -- and more -- is available at the useful Website www.climatedepot.com.

It is a given that America needs new sources of energy. Environmentalists have inhibited efforts at exploration by supporting policies that have forced some domestic exploration too far offshore (thus increasing chances of an ecological disaster as is occurring in the Gulf of Mexico).

Instead of trying to sell us a dubious doctrine at an estimated cost of $100 billion a year worldwide (so far), environmentalists would have done themselves and the world more good had they chosen a different strategy, such as not sending oil money to countries that want to destroy us. This would have increased our patriotic spirit and had the additional benefit of not only diversifying our energy supply, but also depriving our enemies of money they use to underwrite terrorism.

Watch for the hardcore "global warming" cultists to continue clinging to their beliefs; but also watch increasing numbers of scientists and eventually politicians to abandon this once "certain" faith and to look for other ways to control our lives. In that pursuit, the left never quits. Rather than acknowledge their error, they will go on to make new mistakes, knowing they will never be held accountable.

http://townhall.com/columnists/CalThomas/2010/06/03/sinking_climate_change?page=full&comments=true

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FROM OTHER COLUMNS

"Many Americans are beginning to pick up the strange vibe that for Barack Obama, governing America is 'an interesting sociological experiment'. ... He's the first president to give off the pronounced whiff that he's condescending to the job -- that it's really too small for him, and he's just killing time until something more commensurate with his stature comes along."

-Mark Steyn

"We have become accustomed to [Barack Obama's] management style -- target a scapegoat, assign blame and go on the attack. To win health care legislation, he vilified insurance executives; to escape bankruptcy law for General Motors, he demonized senior lenders; to take the focus from the excesses of government, he castigated business meetings in Las Vegas; and to deflect responsibility for the deepening and lengthening downturn, he blames Wall Street and George W. Bush. But what may make good politics does not make good leadership. And when a crisis is upon us, America wants a leader, not a politician."

-Mitt Romney

"I noticed recently that Barack Obama was holding out an olive branch to the Taliban. He claimed to recognize that some of them were not as radical as others. I find it odd, though, that he can somehow spot nuances in terrorists 7,000 miles away, but every member of the Tea Party looks like a thug and a racist to him."

-Burt Prelutsky

"This energy bill of goods, as dangled before us by the administration since the 2008 campaign, obscures practical and economic realities. To wit, trucks and cars don't run on sunlight or wind, and coal is our second cheapest form of energy, next to oil and gas, at 25 cents per megawatt. Nuclear power is $1.59. And how much, according to the energy department, is wind power? Oh, $23.37 per megawatt. Solar power? A whopping $24.34. Green jobs, anybody?"

-Bill Murchison

"President Obama announced [Tuesday] that he wants to use the oil spill to move America toward green energy. I have a crazy idea. Maybe he should use the oil spill crisis to fix the oil spill."

-Jay Leno

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BOOKS

“The Overton Window” by Glenn Beck. “After five back-to-back #1 New York Times bestsellers, national radio and Fox News television host Glenn Beck has delivered a ripped-from-the-headlines thriller that seamlessly weaves together American history, frightening facts about our present condition, and a heart-stopping plot. The Overton Window will educate, enlighten, and, most important, entertain--with twists and revelations no one will see coming.”

http://www.amazon.com/Overton-Window-Glenn-Beck/dp/1439184305/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276625626&sr=8-1

Looking for a good suspense-mystery novel, should you go with Stephen King or Dean Koontz? Dean is a conservative republican (and a dog lover), King is a liberal democrat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Koontz

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LEFTIST & ATHEIST WATCH

The Freedom From Religion Foundation plastered signs on 75 Chicago buses this week encouraging Chicagoans to skip church and sleep in on Sundays.

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/religion_theseeker/2010/06/bus-ad-campaign-urges-riders-to-skip-church-sleep-in.html

California atheist attorney and physician Michael Newdow filed a petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to try to stop Chief Justice John Roberts from using the phrase "so help me God" when he administered the oath of office to then-President-elect Obama.
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/67764

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez intends to inject new urgency into his socialist and anti-imperialist revolution, claiming "capitalism is destroying the world

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/hardtalk/8732857.stm

Can't get enough of a brutal dictator responsible for substantial human rights atrocities including millions of deaths, all in the name of a failed ideology? Developer Eigthart, Ltd. presents the iStalin: FREE Communist Posters for the People iPhone/iPad application. "The people can choose between different styles and papers that were approved by the communist party or place a photograph of Stalin or the symbols of the industrial proletariat - the hammer and sickle," the Web site says. "There are some celebrity appearances including the comrades Lenin and Che. Last but not least, the people will be able to add different soviet slogans that tovarish Stalin personally picked."

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/istalin-free-communist-posters/id345308304?mt=8

Wilder Publications, a small publishing company based in Redford Va., is offering on Amazon.com a rather unusual compendium of The Constitution, The Declaration of Independence, and the Articles of Confederation. The Wilder edition of our country’s founding documents comes complete with a warning label: “This book is a product of its time and does not reflect the same values as it would if it were written today. Parents might wish to discuss with their children how views on race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity and interpersonal relations have changed since this book was written..”

http://bigjournalism.com/gopelka/2010/06/14/to-save-the-constitution-liberals-must-first-destroy-it/

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GLOBALONEY

The Senate undermined its constitutional role last week with a vote that allows the EPA to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. The 53 senators favoring this huge delegation of authority to the executive branch disregarded the principle of separation of powers. The low quality of the debate that preceded the vote, as well as its result, should put an end to the Senate's reputation as the world's greatest deliberative body. The EPA is now clearly the mightiest agency in government. It has overstepped its bounds to impose its control over the economy - and the Senate has been too craven, feckless, partisan and ideologically blinded to stop it.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jun/14/the-senates-global-warming-circus/

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ACTIVISM

Reader Lois Gustafson has been coordinating support for an army trauma team in the Hindu Kush Mountains of northeast Afghanistan. A very special request has come from two of the nurses: Domestic animals aren't allowed on US military bases due to disease, they're destroyed for the safety of the troops. However, trauma nurses Nancy and Mari have adopted Sophie, a puppy they fell in love with. In return for their care, Sophie has given unconditional love and comfort in their times of distress and sorrow. The commander gave permission to keep Sophie on base as long as they actively seek a means of getting her home to El Paso, Texas. They're working with a rescue group in Kabul but the transportation cost will be $4,000.00. Leaving Sophie behind is not an option. PLEASE HELP SOPHIE GET HOME!

http://helpsophiegethome.blogspot.com/

Donations can be made through PayPal or by check sent to Lois, as explained on the blog.

Lois Gustafson

5024 268 Ave NE

Redmond, WA 98053-2732

More about the base:

http://prt-kunar.blogspot.com/

The third annual RightOnline Conference will bring together grassroots activists from across the country for important online activism training. We will be joined by top conservative leaders such as Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, Congressman Mike Pence, The Wall Street Journal's Steve Moore and John Fund, Fox News Contributor Jim Pinkerton, RedState.com's Erick Erickson, HotAir.com's Ed Morrissey, Talk Radio Hosts Roger Hedgecock, Herman Cain, Curtis Sliwa, Guy Benson, Conservative Comedian and Frequent Fox News Commentator Stephen Kruiser, and many others. Click here for a full list of speakers and the RightOnline agenda.

http://rightonline.com/

Sarah Palin has endorsed Republican John Koster in his attempt to unseat Democratic Rep. Rick Larsen in Washington's 2nd Congressional District.

http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/sarah-palin-endorses-john/2010/06/13/id/361847

And Mama Grizzly endorses three more:

“Cathy McMorris Rodgers is running for reelection to serve in Congress. She knows the value of hard work. She grew up as a farmer's daughter and was the first in her family to attend and graduate from college. Her roots in eastern Washington go back generations. Cathy is a pro-family, pro-business fiscal conservative who has an honest, direct plan for action in Congress, which she calls her “Patriot Pledge.” It's a 10-point agenda focused on fiscal health, tax reform, and other common sense solutions.”

“I'm proud to endorse Star Parker for California's 37th Congressional District. Star has an incredible story and a passionate commitment to her community and our great nation. Rising up from being a single mom on welfare, Star worked hard to build a non-profit network that seeks to reduce poverty and create a brighter future for America by promoting free market solutions and personal responsibility.”

“Mary Fallin is another strong, smart conservative who I am proud to support. Mary is running for Governor of Oklahoma, and the Sooner State is fortunate to have her offer to serve in this new capacity. Mary's another fiscal conservative with policy experience, political backbone, and real world knowledge that will serve the entire state well as she proves her mettle as Oklahoma's next CEO.”

http://thepage.time.com/note-palin-endorses-mcmorris-rodgers-parker-and-fallin-june-17-2010/

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ARTICLES

“Rush Limbaugh Describes the Happiest Weekend of His Life:”

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_061510/content/01125106.guest.html

The oil spill is an environmental catastrophe for the Gulf Coast and a political disaster for Barack Obama. It is doing significant, and possibly irreparable, damage to his presidency. That may not be fully clear now, since Obama's approval ratings have certainly not collapsed during the span of this crisis. The deeper concern for the president, I think, is that what is happening in the Gulf of Mexico right now will accrete and soon metastasize, creating negative impressions that will be durable and difficult to undo. The oil spill calamity may become a metaphor for the Obama presidency…

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/06/17/the-oil-spill-disaster-for-the-gulf-disaster-for-obama/

Governments have intervened too much in free markets since the crisis started, to the point that they are affecting the health of the world economy, Marc Faber, the author of "The Gloom, Boom & Doom Report" told CNBC Thursday. "I think that governments have become like a cancer, they have expanded in the financial system," Faber said. "I think the biggest problem is too much intervention. Whatever the government touches is usually done worse than in the private sector," he said. Markets usually give signals when something goes wrong but, if the government is to intervene, as is the case of the European Central Bank, the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England's bond buying, government intervention hides these signals, according to Faber. "I think any government intervention has unintended consequences and is negative," he said.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/37747651

Bill Gates, the younger, says to donate your wealth which minimizes the taxes you pay. Bill Gates, the elder, says to pay more taxes.

http://soundpolitics.com/archives/014056.html

“The Bad News About ObamaCare Keeps Piling Up” by Karl Rove

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704198004575310773636609374.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_BelowLEFTSecond

When you look at all the formulaic sludge that wins the Pulitzer Prize for Most Unread Multipart Series, it is striking that not one of the major newspapers has done an investigative series on the proliferation of "honor killings", not in Yemen or Waziristan but in the heart of the western world. Instead, as Phyllis Chesler writes: The mainstream media rarely covers them. More often, local media does, but even local media does so walking-on-eggshells, careful to quote from at least one apologist and one know-nothing.

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MGE1NzIwYTU4YTZhMjBhN2Y1MjkzNzYxYmQ4MzEwMjQ=

In March the Cato Institute issued a report on the cost of public schools. Policy analyst Adam Schaeffer made a detailed examination of the budgets of 18 school districts in the five largest U.S. metro areas and the District of Columbia. He found that school districts were understating their per-pupil spending by between 23 and 90 percent.. Schaeffer calculated that Los Angeles, which claims $19,000 per-pupil spending, actually spends $25,000. The New York metropolitan area admits to a per-pupil average of $18,700, but the true cost is about $26,900. The District of Columbia’s per-pupil outlay is claimed to be $17,542. The real number is an astonishing $28,170—155 percent more than the average tuition at the famously pricey private academies of the capital region.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/end-them-don%E2%80%99t-mend-them

Republicans have been engaging in some premature drape-measuring for a few months in anticipation of winning back control of the House of Representatives. Some top GOP aides privately admit that they got ahead of themselves. Turns out, not all Republicans are rooting for their own to win the House. “I want Republicans to make massive gains but I want them to fall one vote short of taking the House,” said Ari Fleischer, White House press secretary to President George W. Bush.

http://dailycaller.com/2010/06/14/some-republicans-fear-winning-back-the-house-in-2010-could-cost-the-party-in-2012/

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NOTEWORTHY WEBSITES

What took so long?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6urJsX3KX4&feature=player_embedded

The truth about climate change:

http://climatedepot.com/

What really happened on the Deepwater Horizon?

http://media.nola.com/news_impact/other/oil-cause-050710.pdf

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LATE NITE

Jay Leno: A judge has ruled that Michael Jackson’s doctor, Conrad Murray, can keep his medical license. However, he has to promise not to kill any more members of the Jackson family…… Environmentalists say that if the leak continues, some species might become endangered — such as Democrats…… The FAA is looking into pilot-less commercial flights. I guess if you take away the legroom, the blankets, and the food, you may as well take away the pilot.

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WISE WORDS

"Here comes the orator! With his flood of words, and his drop of reason."

-Benjamin Franklin