Bryon York has an article up this morning in the Washington Examiner that details the ignorance of the Portland Oregon's City Council going back to 2005. The Council, working with the ACLU and angry with the Bush Administrations 'conduct on the war on terror', decided that Political Correctness out weighed the safety of their citizens and banned their law enforcement teams from working with the FBI on any Joint Terrorist Task Force.
Fast forward to 2010 where we have the Towns People gathered for the celebration of Annual Lighting of the Christmas Tree at the Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square. Meanwhile,Mohamed Osman Mohamud, a Somali-born naturalized U.S. citizen and unknowingly working with undercover FBI agents, had dreams of a jihad dancing in his head.
In the Mohamud case, it appears that Portland's anti-law enforcement stand might actually have influenced Mohamud's decision to undertake an attack in the city. According to the FBI affidavit, the undercover agents asked whether he worried that law enforcement would stop him. "In Portland?" Mohamud replied. "Not really. They don't see it as a place where anything will happen. People say, you know, why, anybody want to do something in Portland, you know, it's on the west coast, it's in Oregon, and Oregon's, like you know, nobody ever thinks about it."
And how does the current Mayor Portland Oregon feel about a Joint Terrorist Task force today?. "[Adams] stressed that he has much more faith in the Obama administration and the leadership of the U.S. Attorney’s office now than he did in 2005." You got that.. It's Bush's Fault.
Read More here at The American Spectator: Portland's Mayor Goes Into Politically Correct Mode
You really got to love our 'Main Stream Media". They must have a dedicated staff solely for the purpose of catching Governor Palin in a verbal gaffe. Sarah was on Glenn Becks Radio show this past week where is had misspoke regarding the 'Korea's'.
From CBS: Sarah Palin Mistakenly Calls N. Korea an "Ally" From ABC: Sarah Palin: 'We Gotta Stand With Our North Korean Allies'
Of Course our ever so lovable Sarah is not one for allowing the "Mainstream Media" to control the offense on the field. She took to her Facebook pages early this morning reminding our friends in the Press that her gaffes seem to make headlines while another political gaffer(s) is barely mentioned.
From her Facebook page: A Thanksgiving Message to All 57 States
Make sure that you read the rest of her entry here. There isn't enough paper in the world nor internet space to cover all of the gaffes that Biden has made and as she points out, even some of our news anchors are not exempt from the gaffe-o-matic meter.
The Detroit News is reporting that Governor-Elect Rick Synder has endorsed Robert Schostak as Chairman of the MIGOP. Amused by the headline of this article "Schostak endorsement rankles GOP right: Donations to Dems by Snyder-backed Schostak worries some in chairman race"
Some party members are concerned about thousands of dollars in campaign donations Schostak has made to Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former Vice President Al Gore, Gov. Jennifer Granholm, U.S. Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, and U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick.
Funny how the Paul Egan of the Detroit News Lansing Bureau forgot to mention another Democrat that Robert Schostak's Family PAC donated to.
I also found it a bit troubling to see that the Finance Chair for the MIGOP also held a fundraiser for Tim Walberg with Rocky Raczkowski's adversary during the Primary, Paul Welday.
The would've, should have, could have's of the November Election is all water under the bridge. But, one has to wonder if Rocky had received nearly as much support that Scholstak provided to Walberg, would have the results been different? Did Schostak have a conflict of interest in the Michigan 9th district race. After all, he did contribute $1,000 to Peters for Congress and that was after the Stimulus Bill and Cap & Tax had already passed through Congress.
The 2012 race will include one of Michigan's Senators. A Senator that Schostak has donated to in the past. Only one question needs to be answered as we head into the the next election season, Where does Schostak's loyalties lie? Hopefully Michigan will find a candidate for MIGOP Chair that will remove all doubt.
UPDATE: It appears that Schostak PAC donated $3150 to Rocky. Thank you Rotti for providing the link. But, (there is always a 'But') what is his justification for the Contribution to Peters?
Congress is dragging their feet on the extension of the "Bush Tax Cuts" which expire on December 31st. What this will cause is a massive tax increase that will cripple the economy further. Per the Wall Street Journal this past July:
For a typical single filer with adjusted gross income of around $40,000 it might be about $400 a year.
For someone on $80,000, about $1,600.
How about married couples filing jointly? They'd get hit with higher tax rates and a lower standard deduction. (It was raised in 2001).
A couple earning $80,000 a year in adjusted gross income might pay about $2,200 extra. A married couple on $160,000 a year: Maybe $5,500 extra.
If they have children it would be more, as the child tax credit would revert from $1,000 to $500. Ouch.
MLive has a report out today that Five of our Congressional Delegation in the Metro Detroit area are Millionaires. Granted, there is nothing wrong with being a Millionaire. In fact, isn't that the American Dream? But, the average American isn't seeing that dream as they are faced with the uncertainty of what the future has in stored for them. I've listed four of the five Congressional Delegates, since they continue to hold the keys to our economy and are the decision makers on how our incomes will be impacted next year.
Americans have lost patience with the Democrats in Washington and that was proven during the November elections. We heard our President freely quote "There comes a time when you've made too much Money". How much money is too much, Mr. President? Congressman Peters? Congressman Dingell? It's time for Congress to pick up that can instead of kicking it down the road. Our economic engine has just run out of gas.
Did you ever feel that during the past 2 years the Constitutional rights of the American People were slowly being stripped away? If you don't, then you haven't been paying much attention to what is going on around you and what is being dictated to you by elected and non elected officials.
John Pistole, TSA head had a news conference this morning and stated something that just absolutely blew my mind. Forget for a moment that the scanners and bodily searches being performed daily by TSA at your local airport violates your forth amendment while we are reading Miranda Rights to terrorist. We now have a Head of a Government Agency telling us that as a US Citizen you do not have the right to fly.
“I see flying as a privilege. That is public safety issue so the government has a role in providing public safety and we need to do everything we can in partnership with the public to inform them about what their options are,” Pistole said at a breakfast with reporters organized by the Christian Science Monitor. “Passengers have a number of options as you go through screening. Bottom line is if someone decides they don’t want to have screening, they don’t have a right to get on the plane.”
It's bad enough that our Constitutional rights are being violated, but United States Codes are being ignored and violated as well. From 49 U.S.C. § 40103 : US Code - Section 40103: Sovereignty and use of airspace:
(a) Sovereignty and Public Right of Transit. - (1) The United States Government has exclusive sovereignty of airspace of the United States. (2) A citizen of the United States has a public right of transit through the navigable airspace.
Perhaps a review of our Constitution and US Codes are in order for this administration and it's agency's.
“Resistance is futile” the Borg agent told John “Don’t touch my Junk” Tyner of San Diego. “Upon buying your airline ticket, you gave up your rights and you will be assimilated.” American’s every where across this country are being assimilated by the Borg, we call the TSA, in order for them to fly off to visit loved ones across the land.
We’ve all seen little Mandy Simon, a cute little three year old, sobbing and screaming as the Borg operative patted her down for explosives.
We’ve heard the horrendous story of the retired Special Education Teacher humiliated when the Borg Agent broke the seal of his urinary bag and left him to soak in his urine.
A woman surviving Breast Cancer has the Borg searching her prosthetic breasts.
A young girl traveling without her parents is subject to the Borg’s nude screening device and a young boy is strip searched by the Borg as he goes through the security check.
A 14 year old girl that has survived brain and spinal cancer, debilitating nerve pain, and the challenging transition into life with a wheelchair is stopped and grope by the Borg because 'she uses a wheelchair".
Was it not just four years ago that our progressive friends were up in arms over the possibility that our Government was listening in on our phone calls and reading our emails? We had Senator Jay Rockefeller ‘urge’ the intelligence panel to ‘immediately start an investigation of the wiretapping”. They are violating the Law! Dana Milbank in an article back in 2006 wrote “Has President Bush, invoking his “inherent powers” under the Constitution, also authorized warrantless eavesdropping on domestic calls, opening of Americans’ mail and e-mail, and searches of their homes and offices?” Even President Obama campaigned on the promise that “Americans will be able to leave behind the era of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and “wiretaps without warrants.”
So, as far as the left is concerned listening is bad, groping is good. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) calls them ‘Love Pats’. Senator Jay Rockefeller praised the TSA official “I Think You’re Doing A Terrific Job!” President Obama just simply thinks its an “inconvenience”, and what about Dana Milbank of the Washington Post? He was so adamant that our rights need to be protected from the overreaching of Government when it came to wiretapping. Surely he must be livid with these new security measures. Right? Wrong. “This may be the post-post-9/11 era, but Pistole, a career FBI guy, is still interested in the security of the American people. Are Republicans?”
Lest we forget that this latest Borg treatment did not start with the latest terrorist plot with the undie bomber. First it was sharp objects, then shoes and then liquids. In each case the terrorist adapted to the Borg measures of Homeland Security. What is next? Will a Proctologist be assigned to each airport for additional ’security’ measures?
****** Update 1: Is the TSA giving the Borg treatment of Americans a second thought. Even Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when asked if she would submit herself to the Borg said "not if I could avoid it. No. I mean, who would?" I'm not going to put money on the fact that the TSA is going to make any changes any time soon. Update 2: The horror stories keep mounting. Last night I couldn't sleep and came across a story of a young mother's encounter with the Borg. What I read was horrifying as the TSA agents took her son.
