Michelle Malkin

Really. I don’t know what else to call it. But in just seven brief, fleeting seconds, Charlie Crist manages to show us what the rock bottom of political lame-assery looks like: Smug mixed with deer-in-the-headlights fear mixed with vulgar, instinctive political calculation, topped with a sickly orange glow.

Just watch. With an empty stomach, of course:

“No reaction” to the Arizona immigration enforcement ruling.

Dear Florida: Please, please deliver the proper reaction to the execrable Crist at the ballot box and wipe that orange smirk off his face.

**Written by Doug Powers

Fresh from the “who really controls the programming on television” file we find this:

CBS will introduce more gay characters on its scripted programs in response to recently receiving a failing grade from GLAAD, CBS President Nina Tassler said Wednesday.

“I’m very disappointed in our track record so far,” Tassler said at the Telvision Critics Association fall previews. “We know and we will do better.”

MTV, CW tops GLAAD’s gay-friendly programming survey; CBS fails again

Tassler said The Good Wife will introduce the gay brother of Julianna Margulies’ Alicia in the new season. She also added that there would be a recurring gay character on S#*! My Dad Says and that Jeff and Audrey (Patrick Warburton and Megyn Price) will choose a lesbian surrogate on Rules of Engagement.

“Once you come out of your pilot development season disappointed with yourself, you go into the current series season and look for every opportunity we can to improve the numbers we have represented in the cast,” Tassler said. “We’re going to do that, and we’ll continue to focus on that as we go into development season. We’re not happy with ourselves.”

“Not happy with ourselves”? Last week, CBS was tops in average number of primetime viewers in the 18-49 demo — and that includes gay viewers… at least I think it does.

Right on the heels of this announcement is word that CBS has started production on “CSI: Fire Island.”

Look for CBS to cave to pressure from other interest groups and air programs like these:

–S#*! My Mullah Says

–The PETA Principle

–Jake and the No Trans Fats Man (starring Michael Bloomberg)

–Love, Undocumented American Style

–Electric Car 54, Where Are You?

–Walker, Land That Rightfully Belongs to Mexico Ranger

I’m also told that a former vice president and climate huckster will be given a slot on the CBS Evening News, where he’ll feature “good news” stories in a segment entitled “Al Gore’s Happy Endings.”

Additionally, the network is expected to appease the atheist lobby with the new spiritual drama, “Touched by a Figment of Your Imagination.”

**Written by Doug Powers

Twitter @ThePowersThatBe

**Written by Doug Powers

Rush Limbaugh will be pleased that the money he spent to Fed-Ex Joy Behar a pair of kneepads in time for President Obama’s appearance on The View didn’t go to waste.

From Media Bistro:

“You’ve really done a lot, I think,” Joy Behar, who now has her own talk show on HLN, said. “You’ve signed 200 plus laws since you’re in office, financial reform has taken place, you’ve got health care, two women on the supreme court… and yet the right wing, through Fox News and other outlets, seem to be hijacking the narrative. Where on your side is the narrative? Where is your attack dog to come out and tell the American people, listen, this is what we did?”

“Joy, that’s your job,” the president joked, to which Behar shot back, “I do it! But I’m only one woman!”

And Katie Couric is only one woman! And Diane Sawyer is only one woman! And Chris Matthews is only one woman!

Obama has a point, though. The left-leaning press and select View dingbats were supposed to be his attack dogs, and they’re failing miserably — mainly because they don’t seem to be able to successfully complete their unenviable assigned chore of convincing Americans that what they’re being forced to buy is something they wanted in the first place.

In a separate “Obama on The View” note, if any other president had said this, watch out.

**Written by Doug Powers

Twitter @ThePowersThatBe

Last week, Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans demanded a hearing on the New Black Panther Party shenanigans of the Obama Department of (Social) Justice.

Sen. Pat Leahy has replied. Cliff Notes’ version: Blame Bush. Hide behind Abigail Thernstrom. Wait for Eric Holder’s next spin cycle. Read the response right here:

7-29-10 PJL to Sessions Re – NBBP

Speaking of Thernstrom, Andy McCarthy responds to her latest weak sauce at NRO — and her own obstructionist refusal to get to the bottom of the NBPP case:

On July 16, her colleagues on the Commission gave her a chance to put her money where her mouth is. They voted to ask the Justice Department for the testimony of Christopher Coates, the guy Thernstrom told NRO readers she’d “love to hear first-hand” from. The request is set forth in a letter sent yesterday to Attorney General Holder, signed by Commission Chair Gerald Reynolds. This short letter can be read in its entirety here, and Jen Rubin has posted the relevant parts of it at Contentions. But to put the letter’s requests in the words Thernstrom used, the Commission would like to ask Coates (a) “what Deputy Assistant Attorney General Julie Fernandes actually said about the Civil Rights Division’s enforcement priorities” (remember, that’s the thing Thernstrom told NRO readers “the world deserves to know”); and (b) “whether the Obama DOJ has a policy of offering protections for black voters but not white ones.”

Yet, at the July 16 hearing, Dr. Thernstrom refused to support the Commission’s request for this testimony. As Pete Kirsanow wrote in his post, replying specifically to Thernstrom’s claim that she would “join [her] colleagues in welcoming further testimony” from Coates and others with relevant knowledge of DOJ’s civil rights enforcement policy:

This is news to the other members of the Commission. On July 16, a majority of Commissioners approved a motion to once again request that the Justice Department produce the very witnesses that Thernstrom now claims she is interested in hearing from. The motion was crafted in a manner to circumvent the Justice Department’s year-long refusal to produce such witnesses.

Thernstrom refused to support the motion. [Emphasis in original.]

I find this jaw-dropping. I do not know Dr. Thernstrom — we’ve been introduced once, I think — but I have always admired her work. Consequently, it pains me to note that her responsive essay, which NRO published on July 27, was obviously written several days after the July 16 Commission meeting at which she would not support the motion to ask DOJ for the pertinent testimony.

Wow.

Scroll for updates…

Much more coming today as the House ethics committee prepares to release its treasure trove of charges against corruptocrat Charlie Rangel, but I had to call your attention immediately to this maudlin, sycophantic paean to Rangel from WaPo’s Dana Milbank. It’s titled “Charlie Rangel: Fallling with Grace.” (“Grace?!” Guess he missed this and this.)

Get out your airsickness bag:

The moment Charlie Rangel walked into the ballroom for a luncheon with the National Urban League on Wednesday, he was surrounded by reporters and cameras.

Politely, as ever, Rangel declined to answer questions, until Devlin Barrett of the Wall Street Journal asked, “How are you feeling, sir?”

The embattled lawmaker flashed a million-dollar smile and tucked his thumbs in his lapels. “How do I look?” he replied.

Rangel looked great: The 80-year-old Democratic congressman from New York had a rose-colored handkerchief in his pocket and a pink necktie over a gold collar bar and a textured two-tone shirt, all brought together by a black pinstriped suit that accented his silver hair and mustache. But beneath that dapper exterior was a man in turmoil, a politician who had mere hours to choose between two grim options.

Let’s skip to the ending:

An aide put a hand on Rangel’s back and tried to lead him away, but the mob followed him down the convention-hall stairs, some calling out questions and a few stumbling on the steps. Outside, his staffers tried frantically to locate Rangel’s driver, while the congressman pulled out a cellphone and pleaded, “I have to make a couple of calls, and at some point it would be very nice if I could say, ‘Thank you, see you later.’ ” Finally, a silver PT Cruiser pulled up with New York plates saying “NYREP15″ and Rangel climbed in.

“Excuse me, who was that?” a young woman on the sidewalk asked the reporters.

That was Charlie Rangel, who took 36 years to climb to the top, only to lose it all in an instant.

“[O]nly to lose it all in an instant?” Spare us. Rangel didn’t take “an instant” to abuse his office, exploit his entrenched incumbency, escape accountability, flout the rules, and thumb his nose at taxpayers.

His long ride down has taken years — stretched out far too long thanks to the indulgence and protectionism of his corruption-enabling colleagues on the Hill.

Stay tuned for more caterwauling, MSM apologias, and the inevitable race-card refrains.

All together now: Boo-freaking-hoo.

***

Previous Charlie Rangel posts.

***

The Rangel subcommittee hearing begins at 1pm Eastern. C-SPAN 3 will be televising.

Cue the world’s smallest violin. ABC News previews Rangel’s “Bad Day:”

Embattled New York Rep. Charles Rangel says he hasn’t had a bad day in 60 years. But “today I have to reassess that statement,” he told reporters on Capitol Hill.
Congressman Charles Rangel talks to press about ethics meeting today.

The 40-year House veteran and former Ways and Means Committee chairman, accused of a slew of ethics violations, faces a panel of his peers this afternoon when the details of the charges will be revealed.

Rangel and his lawyers have been negotiating with the Ethics Committee to avoid a public trial but have yet to reach a deal. Many observers say Rangel, 80, would likely have to admit at least some culpability.

***

Update 1:10pm Eastern: Wheeling and dealing and CYA…

Rep. Charles Rangel reportedly has struck a deal with the congressional panel investigating alleged ethics violations as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stood by her pledge to “drain the swamp” in the House and said she would let Rangel’s chips “fall where they may.”

The CBS affiliate in New York reported the deal was in the works — though any arrangement would have to be approved by the subcommittee hearing the case, the full ethics committee and potentially the full House of Representatives.

If there is an arrangement, it could be discussed at the ethics hearing set for Thursday afternoon.

AP reporting that Rangel says he’s not aware if there is a deal.

Nan Pelosi is the world’s worst cleaning lady.

Update 1:30pm Eastern: Tick, tick, tick. Hearing is 30 minutes overdue. Wrangle, tangle, wheel & deal…

A Hill source says the Democrats called an hour-long series of votes to give him time to accept the deal.

***

2:32pm Eastern update Subcommittee hearing adjourned. The 13 charges contained in the statement of alleged violations are here and more here via Jamie Dupree.

More:

A House ethics panel met briefly Tuesday on possible charges against New York Rep. Charles Rangel as the longtime lawmaker said he’s done nothing wrong to warrant an adjudicatory subcommittee’s review of 13 allegations of misconduct.

But Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, ranking member on the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct , said Rangel was given an opportunity to settle charges during the investigative process, and that time has passed.

“Let me be clear that Mr. Rangel under these rules was given opportunities to negotiate a settlement during the investigation. Let me be clear that I did not participate in any attempts to cut a back room deal behind closed doors,” McCaul said at the start of a hearing on possible corruption charges.

Rangel clings to delusion:

Despite the meeting, Rangel said there is “no inference of corruption” in his dealings, a contention that flies in the face of the meeting taking place by the adjudicatory subcommittee, which was asked to “prove” the allegations.

“The good thing is that no matter how this thing ends, corruption and dishonesty have never been on the table,” he said.

**Written by Doug Powers

Politics 101: If you’re trying to convince hard-working Americans — many of whom are holding down multiple jobs — to support their tax dollars going towards extending unemployment benefits to people who have allegedly fallen on hard times, your “grounds-of-compassion” example should not be a criminal.

By way of Ed Morrissey at Hot Air:

Many of the OOTD entries have to do with poor research informing statements from Barack Obama, but today’s is perhaps the most embarrassing. Obama wanted to get a photo opportunity with a real, live, unemployed person — only no one bothered to check why Leslie Macko lost her job:

Leslie Macko was once employed at ACAC in the Albemarle Square Shopping Center. In 2009, Macko was convicted of prescription drug fraud, at which point she lost her job as an esthetician in the spa at ACAC.However, on July 19, Macko was seen standing next to President Barack Obama as his example of the needs to extend jobless benefits.

“We need to extend unemployment compensation benefits for women like Leslie Macko, who lost her job at a fitness center last year, and has been looking for work ever since. Because she’s eligible for only a few more weeks of unemployment, she’s doing what she never thought she’d have to do. Not at this point, anyway. She’s turning to her father for financial support,” Obama said in his speech.

The White House is spending record amounts of money these days, so you’d think at least a little of that would go toward background checks.

Video from WCAV:

**Written by Doug Powers

Twitter @ThePowersThatBe

Well, this is quite a striking contrast to the Arizona ruling today protecting illegal aliens and the feds from “burdensome” ID checks. The government is creating a national registry/fingerprint database for mortgage brokers in the U.S.

Priorities:

Mortgage loan originators will have to be fingerprinted and sign up to a central registry to do business in future, according to final rules issued on Wednesday by the Federal Reserve and other regulators.

The rules are part of the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008, also called the S.A.F.E. Act.

They were issued by the Fed, Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, Office of Thrift Supervision, Farm Credit Administration and National Credit Union Administration.

Mortgage brokers came under tough scrutiny in the wake of the 2007-09 financial crisis, with some lawmakers and regulators sharply critical of underwriting standards and practices that were seen as so loose they helped foster a housing price bubble.

The S.A.F.E. Act specifies that mortgage brokers who are employees of agency-regulated institutions must register with the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry,

“As part of this registration process, residential mortgage loan originators must furnish to the registry information and fingerprints for background checks,” a joint release from regulators said.

“Undocumented” mortgage brokers would presumably get sanctuary status…

**Written by Doug Powers

So far all I’ve read on this is a Twitter post from CBS Radio:

What “parts” are blocked is still unknown.

**Written by Doug Powers

Twitter @ThePowersThatBe

***

Update (by MM):

Fox reporting that the “lion’s share” of the law will go into effect tonight.

Awaiting reaction from Gov. Brewer.

Via Ed Morrissey at Hot Air:

Federal judge Susan Bolton has issued a temporary restraining order against the most controversial portions of the Arizona immigration-enforcement law, while keeping much of it in place. The requirement for police to check immigration status has been suspended, however, pending a full review by the court at a later date..

…This point seems key. On page 14, Bolton says that the law as written would require law enforcement to check immigration status on everyone arrested or held, not just those with “reasonable suspicion” of being illegal immigrants. That would create a huge burden on both law enforcement and on legal immigrants, Bolton writes.

Also, on page 17, Bolton appears to buy the argument that a large influx of referrals from Arizona to the ICE would have the effect of pre-empting federal policies on national security and immigration:

Here’s the Fishwrap of Record’s coverage.

***

Here’s the PDF link for the ruling.

Mark Krikorian is right: This is a bonanza for the Soros-funded open-borders litigation industry.

Update II (DP):

Governor Brewer’s statement is here.

**Written by Doug Powers

Here’s something I recently ran across from Kathryn Jean Lopez at NRO that somehow slipped by me late last week.

Are you wondering what you can do to support the re-election campaigns of House Democrats? Me neither, but designer Diane von Furstenberg is, and has found a way to help.

From SF Weekly:

Renowned fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg, apparently not content with leaving the wrap dress as her lasting contribution to the progress of humankind, has entered the political arena this season with a bold new act of haute couture: a tote bag inspired by, and intended to raise money for, House Speaker and San Francisco Democrat Nancy Pelosi.

As Furstenberg explains in a mass e-mail sent out today, proceeds from sales of her “limited edition tote bag” will go to “support Speaker Pelosi and courageous House Democrats who are under increased attack by those who wish to take our country back to the policies of former President George W. Bush.”

Here’s the banner ad for the tote:

At only $65, it makes the perfect gift for somebody who’s going to immediately vomit when they see the present you got them.

As is the case with anything bearing the name of Nancy Pelosi, you’ll have to buy it first in order to find out what’s in it.

**Written by Doug Powers

Twitter @ThePowersThatBe

My column today puts the DISCLOSE debacle in the broader context of the Democrats’ reign of darkness. Underscoring the theme of theme of the column: The story from Fox Business on how the “financial reform” bill championed by Obama exempts the SEC from FOIA requests. The transparency farce continues.

Always look under the Astroturf mat.

Hide-and-seek hypocrites on the Hill
by Michelle Malkin
Creators Syndicate
Copyright 2010

You know when a politician starts a sentence with “frankly,” he’s about to lie to your face. The same principle applies to campaign finance legislation dubbed the “DISCLOSE Act.” The voter’s instinctive reaction should be: What are they trying to hide now? Drafted out of public view with left-wing lobbyists and rammed through Congress after bypassing committee hearings, this bum bill would have been better named the CLOSEDDOOR Act.

At a Rose Garden press conference on Monday, President Obama decried the influence of “shadow groups” on elections and urged the Senate to pass the “reform” sponsored by N.Y. Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer. But the loophole-ridden package exempts large nonprofits with 500,000 or more members. Behemoth labor unions get preferential treatment. Bradley Smith, former Federal Elections Commission chairman, noted that the law places radical speech-squelching restrictions on companies’ ability to run independent political ads: “(I)f you’re a company with a government contract of over $10 million (like more than half of the top 50 U.S. companies) or if you’re a company with more than 20 percent foreign shareholders, you can’t even mention a candidate in an ad for up to a full year before the election. … There are no similar prohibitions for unions representing government contractors or unions with foreign membership.”

GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell put it more starkly during Tuesday’s debate before the Senate cloture vote on the bill: The DISCLOSE Act, he said, is a “transparent attempt to rig the fall elections.” At bottom, McConnell diagnosed correctly, this is a jobs-protection bill for entrenched incumbents more interested in protecting their hides than protecting the Constitution. While the cloture vote fell three votes short of the needed 60 on Tuesday, Schumer vowed to resurrect the issue “again and again and again until we pass it.”

In attacking Republicans who oppose this campaign finance Kabuki, Obama audaciously feigned alarm over the proliferation of fake grassroots groups with innocuous-sounding names. Special interests, he complained, “can hide behind a name like ‘Citizens for a Better Future,’ even if a more accurate name would be ‘Companies for Weaker Oversight.’” Let me supply some more examples that won’t appear on Obama’s teleprompter anytime soon:

How about “Consumers Organized for Reliable Electricity”? That’s the front group White House senior adviser David Axelrod formed to shill for a massive utility tax hike championed by Commonwealth Edison in Chicago.

Or how about “Americans for Stable Quality Care”? That was the government health care takeover-promoting special interest coalition funded by Big Pharma, the AARP, AMA and the Service Employees International Union. The group pitched in $150 million for pro-Obama health care ads to create the illusion of grassroots support.

Or how about “Health Care for America Now”? That’s the 1825 K Street-based “grassroots” lobbying conglomerate funded by radical liberal sugar daddy George Soros and the brass-knuckled, purple-shirted bosses of the SEIU.

Or how about “American Rights at Work”? That’s the far-left, pro-Big Labor lobbying group that Obama’s labor secretary, Hilda Solis, served as treasurer for while a congresswoman — a position she failed to disclose while lobbying for the Big Labor card-check bill she was sponsoring at the same time.

Or how about the “American Public Policy Committee”? That’s the umbrella group for Beltway-based union and progressive lobbyists run by D.C. money-shuffler Craig Varoga, who is now harnessing Washington bucks to attack tea party activists.

It’s the president’s biggest donors and advisers who perfected the art of Astroturf. Don’t be so modest, man.

Team Obama and their allies on Capitol Hill have some nerve gnashing their teeth about transparency after two years of backdoor kickbacks, secret Big Labor deals, C-SPAN camera evasion, White House disclosure-ducking coffeehouse meetings, and sunlight-shirking holiday and midnight floor votes. And while they preached about America’s right to know and posed as crusaders for open access, Democratic leaders in both the House and Senate continued to stonewall on public hearings for health care rationing czar Donald Berwick — Obama’s recess-appointed head of Medicare and Medicaid.

A White House spokesman called the battle over the DISCLOSE Act a “defining moment for the public.” Nah. It’s just another example of the Democratic majority’s endless hide-and-seek hypocrisy.

On June 29, I shared an outraged e-mail from an L.A. government worker lambasting the SEIU for using worker dues to organize a pro-illegal immigration bus ride to protest Arizona’s immigration enforcement law. SB1070 goes into effect this week. Flashback:

I am a member of SEIU because, as an employee of Los Angeles County I have to be, and today I received an email from their office detailing how I can get a free seat on a bus from L.A. to Phoenix…to protest SB 1070. I am furious over this and wrote an email back to them to tell them so. I forget to mention to them I am especially upset over them using my dues to pay for this bus and the trip. I fully support the intent of SB 1070, all the efforts of Gov. Jan Brewer, and the efforts of “Stand with Arizona”…I believe our borders should be firmly closed, and Mexicans should stand in line with all other would-be emigres from all other countries, get a passport and visa like everyone else, and come here legally…Further, we are the only country in the world that has wide-open borders and lets in criminals along with elderly women who only want to be maids. What on earth are we thinking? This will ruin our country! Thanks for all you are doing.

Well, just as my reader indicated, the purple shirts and reconquistas will soon be hitting the road. And masses of them will be bused into Arizona funded by worker dues.

The L.A. Times confirms:

As a judge weighs whether to halt Arizona’s controversial immigration law, hundreds of Los Angeles union members and activists are planning a bus caravan to Phoenix on Thursday — the day the law is set to take effect.

More than 550 people plan to ride on 11 buses to Arizona to stage a protest and launch a partnership with Arizona groups to boost voter registration. During the one-day trip, sponsored by the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, participants will meet with Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris, march to the state Capitol and hold a vigil. The participants represent 32 unions.

Just remember: For every shamnesty-shilling union worker you see on the streets, there are untold union workers like my reader who object.

Come on, Democrats. What are you so afraid of? Earlier this month, President Obama circumvented the Senate and recess-appointed health care rationing champion Don Berwick to head the Medicaid and Medicare programs. Democrats on Capitol Hill refuse to bring Berwick out for public hearings. Which closet at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue have they locked Berwick in?

It’s time to start a campaign: FREE DONALD BERWICK!

More hide-and-seek games from the most transparent Democrat reign ever. Steven Ertelt at Life News and Connie Hair at Human Events:

Like their counterparts in the Senate, House Democrats are refusing to hold a hearing on the recess appointment of rationing advocate Donald Berwick, whom President Barack Obama named to become the director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Obama appointed Berwick without a hearing or vote in the Senate and, even though he complained about that, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus will not put together a hearing.

Now, Connie Hair of the conservative newspaper Human Events reports House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sander Levin won’t hold one either.

Both top Democrats are denying public hearings on Berwick even though he will be charged with helping lead the implementation of the new national health care plan Obama signed into law that concerns pro-life groups on abortion and rationing issues.

Rep. Dave Camp, a pro-life Michigan lawmaker who is the leading Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, responded to Levin’s refusal to hold a hearing.

“Apparently, House Democrats are really taking Speaker Pelosi’s ‘we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it’ style of governing to heart. Now, we have to hand the reins at CMS over to Dr. Berwick first so we can later find out what direction he will take Medicare and Medicaid,” he said, according to HE.

“At a time when Democrats have implemented the most radical changes ever to the nation’s health care system, they are refusing to conduct the proper and necessary oversight required by the Committee,” Camp said.

Commenter Rogue Cheddar: “They’re just rationing his public appear[a]nces, you know, to make the heart grow fonder.”

***

Free Donald Berwick: A Disclose Act we can believe in!

How, um, thoughtful. First Lady Michelle Obama is gathering card signatures for her husband’s upcoming birthday. Presumably, this will make up for Mrs. Obama’s absence on hubby’s birthday. She won’t be there to celebrate because, as you know, she’ll be vacationing (again!) on your dime in Spain. (Laura Ingraham, whose Obama Diaries tops the NYTimes best-seller list this week, is right: You can’t discern Obama fact from fiction anymore.) Sasha will be accompanying her mom. Daughter Malia will also miss Dad’s birthday. She’s away at camp.

Dios mio.

Here’s the Organizing for America invitation from Michelle Obama that arrived in my email box this morning:

Friend –

Feel free to send your condolences to Lonely Barry.

The union-friendly, loophole-ridden, Orwellian-titled DISCLOSE Act comes up for a cloture vote in the Senate this afternoon. It appears doomed. But take nothing for granted.

It passed the House in June.

This is a relief: Squishy GOP Sen. Susan Collins announced she’s a no vote:

The legislation exempts some politically powerful, large membership groups like the NRA and the AARP, a move that Collins’ spokesman blasted, on behalf of the senator.

“Senator Collins also believes that it is ironic that a bill aimed at curtailing special interests in the election process provides so many carve outs and exemptions that favor some grassroots organizations over others. This too is simply unfair,” Kelly said.

Yesterday, Prince of Transparency-Underming Darkness Barack Obama had the chutzpah to complain about “shadow” groups holding sway over politics (video here).

Snort. Take your disclosure-evading complaints about Astroturfing to David Axelrod, Mr. President.

***

Background on DISCLOSE Act’s First Amendment assault here.

***

Update: The Hill’s Michael O’Brien reports via Twitter that squishy GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham will also oppose the bill.

Update: Snowe is a no, too. Lieberman is going to miss the vote, via Ed Morrissey.

Looks dead. For now.

***

Update 2:51pm – McConnell on Senate floor now blasting DISCLOSE as “transparent attempt to rig fall elections.” Written “behind closed doors” with help from lobbyists. “Unions don’t need carve-outs, because they got exemptions.”

“Unions are the ultimate victors under this bill.”

Mocks carve-outs for AARP, NRA, and other large non-profits.

There’s no asterisk by 1st Amendment only protecting favored special-interest speech, McConnell continues.

Great closing line from McConnell invoking Founding Fathers and fundamental duty of lawmakers: “We’re here to protect the Constitution, not our own hides.”

****

Update 3:55pm Eastern Cloture vote falls short, DISCLOSE Act fails 57-41.

Schumer won’t let go:

Sen. Charles Schumer, the sponsor of the stalled campaign finance bill, promised Tuesday that Democrats would hold round-after-round of votes on it until it passes.

Schumer (D-N.Y.) spoke to reporters following the weekly caucus luncheons, slamming Republicans for holding up the response to the Citizens United Supreme Court case, which allowed unlimited political spending by corporations and unions.

“And we will go back at this bill again and again and again until we pass it,” he said. “It’s that vital, not to Democrats, not to Republicans, but to the future of people’s faith in the functioning of this government.”

Actually, the failure of this bogus bill went a long way toward restoring faith in the functiong of this government.

**Written by Doug Powers

Plans are continuing for a birthday fundraiser for Charles Rangel on August 11th, and attendance might hinge on the outcome of a House ethics hearing this week:

Another issue for many of New York’s top officeholders: a scheduled Aug. 11 campaign fundraiser for Rangel at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, hosted by outgoing Gov. David Paterson and chaired by most of the state’s Democratic party elite, including Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, the Democratic candidate for governor, and Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Republican-turned-independent, was listed as a co-host as well.

The only thing more challenging than trying to figure out who the most crooked person in the room is will be to get Bloomberg to stop measuring the salt content in the hor dourves.

Rangel has to run for re-election and win in order to keep raising campaign cash to pay his legal bills. So no matter what happens Charlie can be fairly certain his lawyers will be voting for him.

Rangel’s campaign has released a video promoting this year’s fundraiser using some footage from last year’s party just to remind everybody that they like him and still do, dammit:

After the party it’s off to one of Charlie’s rent-stabilized apartments for cocktails and conversation.

(h/t Salon)

**Written by Doug Powers

Twitter @ThePowersThatBe

**Written by Doug Powers

Several reporters caught up to John Kerry and asked him about keeping his newest yacht in Rhode Island instead of Massachusetts — a move that just by happenstance allows Thurston and Lovey to avoid a $500,000 Bay State luxury tax.

Kerry’s claim is that the boat is in Rhode Island for repair work. Everybody who’s ever been to Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, Cape Cod and the general Boston area knows there’s a tremendous shortage of businesses that perform boat repair:

For the record, Kerry shouldn’t just fess up and pay the extra Massachusetts tax. Kerry should admit that the exorbitantly high taxation he helps promote chases people away to other states — states bright enough to realize that lower taxes collected from more taxpayers, including wealthy out-of-staters like John Kerry who are running from the results of their own policies — is a boon to private businesses not to mention the government coffers.

If Massachusetts luxury taxes were, say, half of what they are, not only would the state have a quarter-million or so in luxury tax money, but an in-state company would be performing the alleged repair work on Kerry’s boat and paying taxes on that income to Massachusetts instead of Rhode Island.

John Kerry is swift-boating his own state.

(h/t Dittos Rush)

**Written by Doug Powers

Twitter @ThePowersThatBe

**Written by Doug Powers

The president’s family is feeling a hit like most Americans these days:

He says he and first lady Michelle Obama took a hit like everybody else when the economy nearly collapsed, telling ABC that a college fund for daughters Malia and Sasha has gone “up and down” with the stock market.

Obama says the first couple is “not that far removed from what most Americans are going through.”

Not far removed, but far enough so that the First Lady can reserve 30 rooms at a five-star hotel in Spain next month:

Michelle Obama has reserved about 30 rooms for herself and her daughter, their friends and bodyguards at a five-star hotel in Benahavis near Marbella, hotel sources said.

Not far removed, but far enough to spend ten days on Martha’s Vineyard next month:

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is taking his family back to Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., for summer vacation next month.

The White House announced the vacation plans on Friday, one day after disclosing that the Obamas would overnight somewhere along Florida’s oil-threatened Gulf Coast on the weekend of Aug. 14.

The Obamas are scheduled to arrive on the Massachusetts island on Aug. 19 and return to the White House on Aug. 29.

Bo Obama is scheduled to arrive on Bark Force One shortly after the rest of the family.

Somebody please tell the president that if he wants a ride on Massachusetts Senator John Kerry’s new $7 million yacht, he’ll have to go to Rhode Island.

Last year, the president called on all Americans to buckle down, give up some things and share in the misery until we get through this financial mess. Can you imagine the scale of the vacations if the Obamas weren’t chipping in their share of sacrifice like the rest of us?

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go shoe my polo pony.

(h/t Gateway Pundit)

**Written by Doug Powers

Twitter @ThePowersThatBe

WaPo water-carrier E.J. Dionne does Team Obama’s dirty work for them in his column today smearing DOJ whistleblower J. Christian Adams.

Read all about it from Quin Hilyer at the American Spectator here. An excerpt:

…the worst thing Dionne does is smear the whistle-blowing attorney Christian Adams without ever talking with Adams and without checking the record. He says Adams is not to be taken seriously because he is supposedly a “Republican activist.” Oh? Adams volunteered for Bush ballot security in 2004. Does that make him a perjurer not to be taken seriously? What about his long record of winning awards at DoJ? What about his work on behalf of black voting rights in a major case in South Carolina? What about the fact that just in April, the Obama-Holder Justice Department gave him a promotion, and that he has sterling performance reviews throughout his entire career at DoJ?

Then Dionne writes this passage that amounts to one big lie:

Now, Adams is accusing the Obama Justice Department of being “motivated by a lawless hostility toward equal enforcement of the law.” This is racially inflammatory, politically motivated nonsense — and it’s nonsense even if Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh talk about it 1,000 times a day. When an outlandish charge for which there is no evidence is treated as an on-the-one-hand-on-the-other-hand issue, the liars win.

Nonsense? No evidence? There is Adams’ sworn testimony naming names and at times dates; unless he perjured himself, that is evidence. There are the lengthy reports of the going-away speech by Adams’ colleague Chris Coates, a longtime civil rights activist who once was a lead lawyer for the ACLU. (The only reason Coates’ own testimony is not sworn is because DoJ refused to let him testify…

Adams’ latest exposé on the DOJ’s failure to protect military voting rights is here.

Who will wage the White House bully boys’ war on the whistleblowers next?

Here is what Team Obama’s “smart” and sensitive form of diplomacy has wrought: A hero’s welcome home to Libya for the murderous Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, who was released last August claiming he had terminal cancer and three months to live. A year later, the jihadist is still alive, senators want an investigation, and The Australian reports that the Obama administration backed “compassionate release.”

HE US government secretly advised Scottish ministers it would be “far preferable” to free the Lockerbie bomber than jail him in Libya.

Correspondence obtained by The Sunday Times reveals the Obama administration considered compassionate release more palatable than locking up Abdel Baset al-Megrahi in a Libyan prison.

The intervention, which has angered US relatives of those who died in the attack, was made by Richard LeBaron, deputy head of the US embassy in London, a week before Megrahi was freed in August last year on grounds that he had terminal cancer.

The document, acquired by a well-placed US source, threatens to undermine US President Barack Obama’s claim last week that all Americans were “surprised, disappointed and angry” to learn of Megrahi’s release.

Scottish ministers viewed the level of US resistance to compassionate release as “half-hearted” and a sign it would be accepted.

LeBaron’s letter was, in essence, a shrug of the Obama administration’s shoulders. Message: Who cares?

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air blasts White House incompetence:

The letter did not give a green light to Megrahi’s parole to Libya. Nevertheless, it shows the kind of ineptitude that has plagued the Obama administration’s diplomacy from the “reset button” with Russia to this day. LeBaron’s note was a clear signal to Scotland that the US had lost most of its interest in Megrahi; recall that the US had insisted originally that any parole must include extradition to the US. The Scottish government must have presumed that we would not strenuously object to their release of Megrahi to the Libyans after LeBaron failed to raise that point and demand Megrahi’s extradition.

Also, it shows that the Obama administration lied about being surprised by Megrahi’s release. They knew it was coming, and while they may have been surprised that he went to Libya, the White House knew Scotland was going to spring Megrahi one way or the other.

Yes. Liars. You’ve been called out.

***

Previous Lockerbie posts.

(Image credit: PTG, 2006 NYT blabbermouths photoshop contest 2006)

Last week, it was the Washington Post spilling the beans on the nation’s post-9/11 top-secret infrastructure.

Today, it’s the NYTimes dutifully splashing vengeful Wikileaks’ massive document dump on our Afghanistan military strategy.

The Times tries not to break its collective arm patting itself on the back for its valiant struggle to publish the documents. As if it could resist.

Remember: From September 11, 2001 to the present, the terror-tipping blabbermouths of the New York Times have repeatedly undermined national security by disclosing sensitive/classified information about many key counterrorism programs. The paper has gone to court to force the government to release such information. The paper has shown reckless disregard for the consequences of disclosure.

The only time it has shown any restraint is when disclosure would endanger one of its own reporters.

The Fishwrap of Record: Our enemies’ favorite rag.

Commenter corkie quotes from the NYTimes’ disclaimer:

Information that is marked “secret” has been determined to be information or material that the unauthorized disclosure of which reasonably could be expected to cause “serious damage” to the national security.

So the New York Times is freely admitting that they don’t concern themselves with risking serious damage to national security.

The fact that this information wasn’t marked Top Secret allows the Times to pretend that they wouldn’t have published material that has been determined to cause “exceptionally grave damage” to the national security. It’s nice to see that they deny contributing to exceptionally grave damage while being complicit in contributing to serious damage.

Flashback: From our 2006 Blabbermouth NYTimes photoshop contest (more here)…

The Peoples Cube:

HA affiliate Sanctuary Bryan:

John McG.:

Bob D.:

Verum Serum:

Slublog:

Xardoz (hat tip –
Impacted Wisdom Truth):

Richard Pucillo:

Are We Lumberjacks?:

George Ratton:

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Supreme Court to NYTimes: Buzz off
Terrorist-tipping NYTimes wants Ruth Ginsburg’s help
Blabbermouth damage, again
When blabbermouths lie: question the timing
The newspaper of wreckage
How about a nice big glass of…
The terrorist-tipping Times
More blabbermouth posters
Messages for the blabbermouths
Backlash against the blabbermouths
NYTimes blabbermouths strike again