We tried something new today. A Rocky Patel II-XXVI. A bit too bold for our tastes, but better than no cigar.
We're reading Family of Spies by Pete Earley. It is the full story about the John Walker Jr. spy ring that went on for 17 years. Walker Jr. and his comrades did untold damage to the US on behalf of the Soviets. As destructive as they were, this book will shock you with the horrible family life within the Walker family. Some people shouldn't be parents is all we're going to say.
We learned this week that all calls, emails, texts are monitored by the NSA. That every letter sent through the socialist postal system is photographed front and back. That this is all in the name of "protecting us from terrorism" in the war on terror that ended years ago.
We feel like the party-favor boy working the swing shift at Chicago's Man's Country, only a shower and sitting on a bag of ice won't stop this pain.
The only solution is to cut the NSA budget to the point that they only have the resources to watch international communications.
Actually, the quote of the Orwellian/full-citizen-surveillance era.
Cavuto:
Drop the liberal thing.
Cut his damn mic.
Stein:
It's a police state situation.
Media Standards, or lack thereof
It has been long overdue for those in the old media to call bullshit on these LiberalProgressive Communist propagandists.
We'll continue to do so in the new media until our domain is confiscated. For the old media, Cavuto is leading the way.
We'll cc the NSA here
NSA staffers are welcome to leave a comment explaining the following:
1) None of this week's news about full surveillance is true.
2) There isn't more surveillance than what we've already discovered this week.
3) That it is impossible to have a single NSA staffer access a citizen's data for political purposes.
4) That privacy of US citizens is more important than their salary or pension.
5) That if ordered to release/share a citizen's data, they will resign and go public.
Until then, please understand the official Ushanka position with regards to our betters who are apparently watching everything we do:
On the bright side
Comrade Obama is demanding an investigation into how full surveillance has occurred on his watch who leaked the information of the deliberate intrusion into American citizens' lives.
Stalin called these people "wreckers." We call them patriots.
There must be at least one patriot embedded in the system.
Until we know the name - and we hope we never do - we'll call him Nathan Hale.
Sarah Murnaghan is the 10 year old girl waiting for a lung transplant. She became news this week because our betters in the Obama Administration have set policy that has limited Sarah's chances of survival. The policy states that Sarah only has access to a lung from a child donor and not an adult.
Congressman Lou Barletta (R-PA) to Senior ObamaCare Death Panel Administrator, Kathleen Sebelius: I'm begging you. ... She has three to five weeks to live. Please suspend the rules.
Her response: Some people live, some people die.
We are not sure if she is quoting Mao or Stalin here - two leaders who also oversaw universal healthcare organizations.
This is the "Change" part that our electorate voted for in 2008. Get used to it.
Now, we're not going to hammer on Sebelius here. We think it is unfair to bring single cases to bear in a high-level policy meeting or in testimony to congress. These distractions are a tactic of the left to grab headlines and distract from solving problems. Liberals are the ones that say empty phrases like "if we can save just one life" or "it is for the children." These comments are not meant to improve policy, but to appeal to the Obama electorate and derail the conservative agenada.
The case points up the tragic and, despite efforts to the contrary, inherently arbitrary nature of organ allocation. As long as there is an absolute shortage of organs, giving one person a transplant means denying it to someone else.
We think celebrating this pickle that Sebelius has found herself in is counter-productive. It might be fun, but there is a family with a little girl who are desperately clinging to hope.
Having said that.... we are not going to censure or judge the others who are hammering on this early and prescient ObamaCare Death Panel decision.
HotAir reports, via Doug Ross, that Big Brother has tapped Verizon to be the first telephone company to hand over all call records of their customers.
Since April, the following Verizon data has been turned over to our government:
- Numbers of both parties in every call,
- Time of call,
- Call duration,
- Location (presumably of caller).
The optimistic view: Of the five abuses of power above, this one touches enough citizens to generate the necessary momentum to bring real change to DC, either now or in 2016.
The pessimistic view: The abuses of power are so many, and have been allowed for so long, that this is the new reality for American citizens.
The Past - Remember this guy?
The Present - Summarized by Oklahoma congressman Jim Bridenstine.
The Future - You can be surprised, or you can read the book.
Read more at Legal Insurrection. Apparently Al Gore is upset about this.
From hat-wearing comrade Andrea Shea-King on FB, regarding yesterday's behavior of the first lady when she was heckled by a lesbian protester:
I worked with plenty of Michelle Obama's when I was at NASA... arrogant, the world owes them, and you'd better bend over backwards for them or else you're a bigot and racist. They were protected by Civil Service, did NOT a lick of work and got away with it because their bosses were scared to death of them. They ruled the roost.
And when Michelle Obama came on the scene, I knew immediately what she was. A bully who carry that "Black Chip" on her shoulder like a badge of courage. And don't you DARE challenge her. She'll kick you across the room like you were a football.
Women (and men) like her never take responsibility for their own shortcomings -- everything is blamed on the "other" (you and me) who is "racist"...obviously.
It's infuriating.
Yes. It. Is.
Just because your residence was once honored with the presence of ladies like Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush, and Laura Bush, does not confer that respect and honor to you, Michelle.
One thing we still do not know: Was Michelle Obama's entitlement unlady-like behavior at the podium in response to the message of the heckler, or the heckler's skin color?
Two testimonies today from the victims of the IRS.
Karen Kenney:
Becky Gerritson:
Did you notice?
1) The victims are from our side of the political spectrum. When was the last time you saw that?
2) The victims were actually selected by their political philosophy, unlike other so-called victims that have only themselves to blame (ie. Occupy, Feminists, etc.).
U/T: FB friends who shared these videos with us.
UPDATED 8pm:
NiceDeb has more videos of today's testimony and of energized GOP representatives.
A hearty Ushanka Tip to Congressman Issa's committee for pursuing the truth in the IRS scandal.
News this weekend:
1) 88 IRS staffers are named as possible participants in the tax deferment abuse of over 500 tea party groups (there are other abuses such as Romney donors and yours truly, and we expect more to come out)
2) IRS Staffer testimony, as reported by Daily Mail:
'[The] allegation has been made, I think as you have seen in lots of press reports, that there were two rogue agents in Cincinnati that are sort of responsible for all of the issues that we have been talking about today.,' the investigator noted. 'What do you think about those allegations?'
'It's impossible.,' the employee replied. 'As an agent we are controlled by many, many people. We have to submit many, many reports. So the chance of two agents being rogue and doing things like that could never happen.'
---
'[W]e didn't do anything wrong,' the agent said, according to the partial transcript. 'We followed directions based on other people telling us what to do.'
Did those directions came from Washington, D.C.? the investigator wanted to know.
'I believe so,' was the answer.
More interviews with more IRS staffers are scheduled for this week. We'll be watching for two key developments. Either:
1) More IRS staffers taking the 5th to avoid self-incrimination, and/or
2) One or more whistleblowers contact Congressman Issa directly.
Whistle Blowers. Don't count on any.
One comment about whistleblowers in this government - You'll recall that exactly 2 whistleblowers came forward out of the ATF with information on Fast and Furious, the ATF program that has funneled weapons to the Mexican cartels and has led to over 300 murdered Mexican citizens and 2 US agents.
That is two whistle blowers in a department of 5000 agents. We've been part of organizations of that size, and know from first-hand experience that shenanigans like the Fast and Furious operation are both known by many and known to be illegal. 0.004% of the ATF came forward then.
