Battleground Berkeley

January 29th, The Berkeley City Council voted 8-1 to tell the U.S. Marines that its Shattuck Avenue recruiting station "is not welcome in the city, and if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders."

The Marines have been in Berkeley for a little more than a year, having moved from Alameda in December 2006.

Code Pink has been protesting in front of the station since October '07.

Move America Forward:

“It is disgraceful that in the birthplace of the Free Speech Movement, anti-military activists would attempt to silence the same military men and women who serve this country and give their lives to protect the free speech rights of all Americans, including these ungrateful and despicable people on the Berkeley City Council,” said Melanie Morgan, Chairman of Move America Forward.

   Not everyone in Berzerkeley is a Code Pinko supporter.

Berkeley Gives Marines the Boot

Councilman Gordon Wozniak :
"There's a line between protesting and harassing, and that concerns me. It looks like we are showing favoritism. We have to respect the other side, and not abuse their rights. This is not good policy."

 

           Michelle Malkin:

"Every member of the California delegation should be pressed to state where they stand on Berkeley’s troop-bashing actions–starting with Nancy Pelosi and Sens. Boxer and Feinstein."

    Not only that, but since the moonbat citizens of Berkeley do not want the USMC in their city, perhaps they should not receive the benefit of federal funds.

Happy Birthday, VRWC!

Today is the 10th anniversary of Hillary Clinton's creation of the term:

"Vast Right Wing Conspiracy" .

Bruce Walker of 'The American Thinker':

VRWC:Ten Years Young

On Sunday, January 27, 2008, our nation celebrates an important political anniversary. Ten years ago Hillary Clinton (then the First Lady) went on television with Matt Lauer and said:

"This is the great story here for anybody willing to find and write about it and explain it is this vast right-wing conspiracy that has been conspiring against my husband since the day he announced for president."

Thus was born the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy. Hillary expected serious Americans to believe that the Whitewater convictions (which put a sitting Arkansas governor in prison), the suicide of the Deputy White House Chief Counsel under mysterious circumstances, the unconscionable firing of the White House travel staff, Hillary's strange acumen in predicting the cattle futures market, an allegation of brutal rape against her husband, the perjury of Bill Clinton in a federal grand jury proceeding, his affair with a White House intern, and the countless other moral debauches of the Clintons were created by some cabal with power greater than the president, the Democratic Party and the huge phalanx of media flacks, fawning Hollywood starlets, militant activists and nihilistic academicians.


... What is the VRWC? It is the heart, soul and minds of millions of muzzled Americans speaking freely after the muzzle has been removed. It is the communion of these millions across lines of religion, race, gender and age who are bound by a common notion of what the American dream really means. The VRWC, unlike the monolith of Leftism, does not march in lockstep but rather as free souls brought together by the values of truth and decency. Happy tenth birthday, fellow members of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy!

The Rotten Apple Award: Chelsea Clinton

They say that apples don't fall far from the tree.

Apparently that's true of rotten ones, too.

Back in December while campaigning for her mother in Iowa, Chelsea Clinton declined to answer a reporter's question.

The reporter was 9-years old.

Fox News:

"Sydney Rieckhoff, a Cedar Rapids fourth grader and “kid reporter” for Scholastic News, has posed questions to seven Republican and Democratic presidential hopefuls as they’ve campaigned across Iowa this year.

But when she approached the 27-year-old Chelsea after a campaign event Sunday, she got a different response."

“Do you think your dad would be a good ‘first man’ in the White House?” Sydney asked, but Chelsea brushed her question aside.

“I’m sorry, I don’t talk to the press and that applies to you, unfortunately. Even though I think you’re cute,” Chelsea told the pint-sized journalist.

Then at Stanford U in January, in an event publicized to the five sororities in the Inter-Sorority Council but not to the general public, Chelsea fielded questions about her mother’s presidential bid before an audience of more than 100 young women. This followed a smaller round table discussion.

Chelsea: “We are just trying to make my mom’s campaign more accessible to people.”

'Accessible' to carefully chosen attendees.

Chelsea does indeed take after her mother.

Both female Clintons select the questions and the audience they respond to.

Their definitions of “open” and "accessible" is definitely not what is in any dictionary.

BTW, Chelsea, age 27, a history major with no financial experience, is employed as a big-time hedge fund trader for Avenue Capital Group, a huge fund that manages about $12 billion in assets.

 

BTW, Federal records show that the owners of the company have contributed thousands of dollars to Hillary’s campaigns as well as other Democratic lawmakers.
Perhaps Chelsea's reported six-figure salary is a way to contribute beyond federally mandated limits.

Or maybe it's merely white collar welfare.

In May 2006, at a US Chamber of Commerce Convention, Hillary blasted young people for not wanting to work hard and expecting everything to be handed to them on a silver platter;  that kids, for whatever reason, think they’re entitled to go right to the top with $50,000 or $75,000 jobs when they have not done anything to earn their way up.

I guess Chelsea doesn't count. She's a Clinton.

Bubba's Purple Fits

Bubba's Temper Tantrums

Mr. Clinton’s temper has been an issue for him as long as he has been in public life. But it has played an unusual role during the current campaign, his face turning red in public nearly every week, often making headlines as he defends his wife and injects himself, whether or not intentionally, into her race in sometimes distracting ways.

... Last week, for instance, a clearly agitated Mr. Clinton told Dartmouth students that it was a “fairy tale” for Mr. Obama to contend that he had been consistently against the war in Iraq. And in December he said that voters supporting Mr. Obama were willing to “roll the dice” on the presidency.

Somebody needs to tell the obnoxious EX-POTUS to STFU.

I've been saying this for years, seven to be exact.

Leading Democrats To Bill Clinton: PIPE DOWN

... There is little precedent for a former president's engaging in intra-party attacks.

... But in 2000, former president George Bush declined to attack his son's GOP primary opponent, John McCain. Clinton is undeterred by the criticism and will likely keep hammering Obama if he thinks it helps Hillary. "History will judge the impact on the Clinton legacy, not daily or weekly political reporters," says Matt McKenna, Bill Clinton's press secretary.

Horndog Bubba has caught the scent of the White House and is not about to give up the hunt - Obama, party, and country be damned.

Jay Grodner (Fool Lawyer) Goes to Court

Troop-hating, car-keying, weasel-shit lawyer, Jay Grodner had his day in court after vandalizing US Marine Sgt. Mike McNulty's car on the eve of his deployment.
 

(Original story HERE ).


John Kass, Chicago Tribune:

Jay Grodner, the Chicago lawyer who keyed a Marine's car in anger because the car had military plates and a Marine insignia, finally got his day in court last week.

Grodner pleaded guilty in a Chicago courtroom packed with former Marines. Some had Marine pins on their coats, or baseball jackets with the Marine insignia. They didn't yell or call him names. They came to support Marine Sgt. Michael McNulty, whose car Grodner defaced in December, but who couldn't attend because he's preparing for his second tour in Iraq.

Grodner was late to court for the second time in the case. Grodner called Assistant State's Attorney Patrick Kelly, (Marine Corps/Vietnam 1969-1972), informing Kelly that he would be late to court.

"He wanted to avoid the media," Kelly said Friday. "So he's coming a half hour late."

"I don't run my courtroom that way!" responded Judge William O'Malley, ordering Grodner be arrested and held on $20,000 bail when he arrived.

Finally, Grodner strolled in. A short man, wide, wearing a black fedora, dark glasses, a divorce lawyer dressed like some tough guy in the movies.

Grodner told me he'd describe himself as a "radical liberal" who's ready to leave Chicago now with all this negative publicity and move to the south of France and do some traveling.

Judge O'Malley has also traveled, but in his youth. He was a police officer on the West Side during the riots before law school. And before that, he performed another public service. Judge O'Malley served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1961-1964.

During the proceedings, the judge described the offense as anger rose in his voice, especially as Grodner started balking on a plea arrangement he'd made with prosecutors.

"Is this what you did? Yes or no," Judge O'Malley asked Grodner.

"Without knowing, yes," Grodner said, sticking to his I-might-have-done-it-but-didn't-really-mean-it defense.

O'Malley asked again, in a stronger voice, not that of a judge but of a cop on the street or a Marine who meant business.

"DID YOU KNOWINGLY CAUSE DAMAGE TO THIS CAR?" O'Malley asked.

Grodner bowed his head, meekly, and responded in an equally meek voice: "Yes," he said.

After the admission, came the details and Grodner was lucky, getting off with a misdemeanor and no jail time, and not a felony even though he caused $2,400 in damage to Sgt. McNulty's car. So Grodner received a $600 fine, which will go to a Marine charity, 30 hours of community service and a year of court supervision. If he doesn't pay up in a month, the judge promised to put him in jail for a year.

Judge O'Malley had something to say.
He looked out into his courtroom, at all those men who'd come to support a Marine they didn't know.

"You caused damage to this young Marine sergeant's car because you were offended by his Marine Corps license plates," said Judge O'Malley.

Grodner stood there, hands behind his back. He grasped the fingers of his left hand with his right, and held it there, so they wouldn't wiggle.

"You're probably also wondering why there was a whole crowd of people here, Mr. Grodner," said Judge O'Malley.

"I don't want to wonder," said Grodner, continuing in his new meek voice, not in his tough divorce lawyer voice, but the gentle, inside voice he'd just learned.

"That's because there is a little principle that the Marine Corps has had since 1775," the judge continued. "When they fought and lost their lives so that people like you could enjoy the freedom of this country. It is a little proverb that we follow: "No Marine is left behind.

"So Sgt. McNulty couldn't be here. But other Marines showed up in his stead. Take him away," said the judge and former Marine.

They took Grodner away, he was processed, and everyone left. The lobby was dark, quiet, except for two court deputies running the metal detector.

Then Grodner came through an inside door, put his fedora back on, the dark glasses, a tough guy again. We stood outside, in the parking lot, talking for 20 minutes.

He smoked, and I didn't. He explained that he wasn't anti-military and why he pleaded guilty. "The judge, he's the guy with the black robes," Grodner said. He could have been slapped with a felony, but Sgt. McNulty's family said they wanted to put this behind them and let it go as a misdemeanor.

Grodner showed no remorse, and I asked if he'd apologize. "Yes, I'd say, 'I'm sorry if I scratched your car.' It escalated. That's when he wanted me locked up and thrown away," said Grodner, always the victim.

Grodner tells me he plans to leave for the French Riviera and get some sun. Sgt. McNulty will get some sun, too. In Iraq.

"The Judge then, in as angry a voice as I have ever heard him use, scolded the defendant, saying that the Marine license plates the complaining witness had were not vanity plates or about ego, but the proceeds go toward the Marine and Navy scholarship fund for the children of fallen soldiers, sailors and Marines. These Marines protect his very existence "so people like you can enjoy their freedom."


He further said that the reason there were so many in the courtroom and so much public interest is that the Marines have a tradition since 1775 that "No Marine gets left behind."

Perhaps Mr. Grodner could perform his community service in a VA Hospital emptying bedpans.

Hillary's Voice

Hillary Clinton claims she has found 'her voice'.

Hopefully not the one from the Canaan Baptist Church (with racial racketeer Reverend Al in tow), when Hillary proclaimed in a strange ebonic twang:

"For the last five years, we've had no. Power. At All. And that makes a big difference, because when you look at the way the House of Representatives has been run, it has been run like a plantation. And you know what I'm talkin' about."

And then in Selma, AL commemorating the bloody 1965 civil rights march, Hillary recited from an old gospel hymn:

"Aww don't feel noways tired. I've come too faarrr from where I started frum. . . . Aww could have listened all day luung."

Listen to Kentucky Fried Hillary

It's interesting that people do not find this denigrating or racist.

Katrina Krapola-Enough Already

It's been over 2 years since Hurricane Katrina side-swiped The Big Nasty.

More than $127 billion has already been taken out of taxpayers' pockets to rebuild Mayor Idiot Nagin's below-sea level-Chocolate city.

"On a per person basis that comes to $425,000 for each of the 300,000 fools still living in that pulsating pustule on the bayou."

American Digest

Now Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu wants another $250 billion.

For what? Where did the first $127 billion go?

Lawrence Kudlow:

Well, the White House fact sheet says $24 billion has been used to build houses and schools, repair damaged infrastructure and provide victims with a place to live. But isn't everyone complaining about the lack of housing.

The fact sheet goes on to say that $7.1 billion went to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to rebuild the levees; that the U.S. Department of Education spent $2 billion on local schools; and that the Laura Bush Foundation for America's Libraries has awarded more than $2.5 million (the pikers). The administration also provided $16.7 billion as part of the largest housing-recovery program in U.S. history.

So the billion-dollar question becomes: Where did the rest of that money go?
Think of this: The idea of using federal money to rebuild cities is the quintessential liberal vision. And given the dreadful results in New Orleans, we can say that the government's $127 billion check represents the quintessential failure of that liberal vision.

Hillary Clinton calls this sort of reckless spending "government investment".

And that's just what's in store for America if she wins the White House next year.

A NEW Campaign for '08

Are you as tired of the same old faces as I am?

Are you fed up with the lip service from the current candidates?

The promises = the lies?

The Flip-Flopping?

Here's a thought:

And why not?

We had a clown president (Carter, 1977-1981),
aka Goober, That Peanut farmer from Plains;

An actor president (Reagan, 1981-1989),
aka Ronnie Raygun;

A sex-addict liar president (Clinton, 1992-2001)
aka Bubba, The Bill we'll be paying for Years, Commander in Thief, Willy the Weasel, Slick Willy;

And a decider president (Bush '43', 2001-2009),
aka Dubya, Con Artist-In-Chief, Commander Craptastic, Smirky McStumbletongue and Chimpy McClusterfuck.

So why not two wizards who defeated the most powerful evil ever - no, not the Hildabeast ... and I do hope that's Hermione G. Weasley (and not Ron).

Farewell, G'Kar

Andrew Olmsted Killed In Iraq

Andrew Olmsted -

active duty soldier,

Husband, son, and brother,

blogger,

Babylon 5 fan (hence the G'Kar),

and writer for the Rocky Mountain News –

was killed January 3, 2008 in Diyala Province, Iraq.

His friend and blogosphere colleague Hilzoy at Obsidian Wings has published

his last words.

"I will see you again, in the the place where no shadows fall."
-- Ambassdor Delenn, Babylon 5

I don't know if there is an afterlife; I tend to doubt it to be perfectly honest.
But if there is any way possible, Amanda, then I will live up to Delenn's words, somehow, some way. I love you."

Read Major Olmsted's blogs: From the Front Lines

Requiescat In Pace, Soldier

Hillary's Sour Grapes

It didn't take long.

Hillary Clinton's opening remark on the first day of New Hampshire campaigning:

“Iowa doesn’t have a good track record in determining who’s going to be the presidential nominee”.

Hillary certainly didn't say THAT to any Iowa voters before the caucuses.

She did call Iowa a "special burden", which was probably taken out of context by the VRWC, because, you know, Hillary is such a world-class genius and would never insult potential voters (at least before the last vote is counted).

Iowans didn't fall for the fake, forced smile; the insincere laugh/cackle; the lip service; or the cold, scripted personality.

No doubt New Hamshire voters will receive the same sour grapes insult if they reject her, too.

The Faking Imams

Remember November 20, 2006?

Six Muslim imams were removed from US Airways Flight 300 in Minneapolis after several passengers and crew members, became alarmed by what they felt was suspicious behavior : asking for unnecessary seatbelt extenders -which they then did not use, but placed on the floor in front of them; refusing to sit in their assigned seats- they fanned out in the cabin, sitting in pairs close to the front, middle and rear exit rows; and shouting slogans Arabic.

In other words, deliberately provoking a reaction amongst the non-Muslim passengers.

Ahmed Shqeirat, Mohamed Ibrahim, Didmar Faja, Omar Shahin, Mahmoud Sulaiman and Marwan Sadeddin claimed the police officers' actions were motivated solely on discrimination based on race, color, religion, ethnicity and filed a lawsuit for unspecified damages, citing "fear, depression, mental pain and financial injury".

They claim their only crime was 'flying while Muslim'.

Robert Spencer at Jihad Watch notes that “Omar Shahin, one of the imams removed from the plane, has links to Osama bin Laden and Hamas.”

US Airways filed its response Dec. 26, 2007 in the U.S. District Court of Minnesota and denied more than 200 complaints levied by the imams.

The airline is demanding that the imams provide "strict proof" on 97 of its claims and wants a jury trial.

Good.

As long as Muslims are trying to explode their shoes on Trans-Atlantic flights, planning to use baby bottles as bombs from London to New York, and smashing jets into skyscrapers, we will see more instances like this one.

The six imams might as well get used to it.

An Interesting Read

Remember those Morons Throwing Rocks For Peace?

The Olympian reports that the bill for the protests of military shipments at the Port of Olympia last month comes to $112,168.
Guess who's getting stuck with it?

City Manager Steve Hall wants the city to send the bill to the Port of Olympia... and the military.
And "others who are determined responsible for extra costs to the city".
I wonder if the rock-throwing, cement-pouring, child-using, seditious anti-military obstructionists -and- elected Councilman T.J. Johnson who participated in the protests, will be determined to have any responsibility?

Un-Bloody-Believable: Merry Christmas, Troops

Via The London Daily Mail:

Afghan heroes home for Christmas forced to change out of uniforms on freezing runway before using airport terminal ...

The Lowlights:

Scores of soldiers flying home from Afghanistan on Christmas leave were ordered to change out of their uniforms - which they had worn while risking their lives during months of intense fighting against the Taliban - before being allowed into a civilian airport terminal.

The December 23 flight, carrying 200 personnel, had been diverted from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire to Birmingham because of bad weather.

The troops were told they could either wait for buses to take them back to Brize Norton or else travel home via public transport - in which case they must change into civilian clothes before entering the terminal.

Around 50 chose the latter option and, because there was no room in the cabin, most changed outside in the freezing air.

Last night the airport authorities denied responsibility, saying: "We support our Armed Forces and whatever form of dress they choose to wear at our airport."

The MoD eventually confirmed it has a ban on troops wearing uniforms in civilian airports, claiming it was because of ... security reasons.

A Marine's Miracles

A Marine's Miracles

by
Melanie Morgan

Even in death, Lance Cpl. Travis Layfield is reaching back to his family.

The Fremont, CA, Marine was just 19 when he laid down his life in Iraq, one of 20,000 Camp Pendleton Marines fighting off murderous Islamic radicals around Fallujah and Ramadi on April 6, 2004.

...Last fall, a DNA test confirmed that Travis Layfield left more behind than his loving spirit. Diane Layfield, Travis' mother, found out that he left a young son.

... But Travis wasn't done yet surprising his family.

During my most recent trip to visit our troops in Kuwait a Marine sergeant approached me.

... "Please, ma'am, will you do me a favor? I recruited her (Mrs. Layfield's) son into the Marines, and I have carried his bracelet with me for two and a half years.

Will you give it to his mom? It would mean so much to me."

...I took the bracelet and promised him that I would deliver the remembrance of a young man who lived and died for his country.

I am going to make good on that promise today.

... It is a Christmas gift neither she nor I will ever forget.

Requiescat In Pace, Marine

                               

Hillary, World Class _____ (insert noun)

Ex-President Bubba says his wife is a "World Class Genius" when it comes to improving the lives of others.

"She's got the right vision, big plans and a proven ability to change lives for the better.''

Yes, Hillary knows how to change lives.

Ask Billy Dale (Travelgate) how Hillary helped to change his life.

Billy Dale worked in the White House travel office since the Kennedy administration.

Travelgate cost him his job, his life savings, his good name, two years of legal Hell and, until a jury acquitted him within two hours of hearing the hoked-up charges against him, his peace.

After all that, Hillary Clinton is still smearing the guy, and implying his guilt. After his acquittal. How's that for fair? And this she calls history. --Paul Greenberg

Ask Juanita Broaddrick about the difference Hillary made in her life.

I can think of a few nouns to insert in the title.

Genius isn't one of them.

Unless ... you're referring to the way Ms Clinton has managed to evade prosecution for:

perjury (Whitewater), campaign fraud (Galagate), tax evasion (Cattlegate), and invasion of privacy (Filegate).

Buddy the White House Dog

In Memoriam

Buddy, Labrador Retriever
Killed: January 2, 2002

Buddy was the Clinton's White House dog, because you know, it's a sorta unofficial tradition for an American President to have a dog, and we all know how traditionally American the HillBilly Clintons are (especially in election years).
Once his usefulness to the Clintons came to an end ... coincidentally at the same time President Bubba's presidency came to an end ... good dog Buddy was discarded just like anything else the Clintons had no more photo ops use for.

Buddy was relegated to obscurity in Chappaqua.
Left alone, Buddy got loose outside, playfully chased a contractor's van down the driveway, bounded into traffic on busy Route 117 and was struck by a vehicle driven by a 17-year-old girl.

Secret Service agents rushed after Buddy, but were, alas, too late. The agents immediately took Buddy to Chappaqua Animal Hospital, where the dog was pronounced dead.
Buddy suffered the same fate as the Clinton's previous dog, a cocker spaniel named Zeke, whom Hillary reportedly did not like having in the Arkansas Governor's mansion.

Word to Seamus, the current Clinton dog: Take care of yourself because they won't.

Imperiled Martians

Mars Could be in for an Asteroid Hit!

A newly discovered chunk of space rock, Asteroid 2007WD5, has a 1-in-75 chance of slamming into the Red Planet on Jan. 30, scientists said last week.

"These odds are extremely unusual. We frequently work with really long odds when we track ... threatening asteroids," said Steve Chesley, an astronomer with the Near Earth Object Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

2007WD5 was discovered in late November by the NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona. It is similar in size — about 50 yards across — to an object that exploded over Tungaska, Siberia in 1908, unleashing energy equivalent to a 15-megaton nuclear bomb and wiping out 60 million trees.

The asteroid, which poses no threat to Earth, is closing in on the Red Planet at 27,900 mph.

Speeding along at 8 miles per second, a collision would likely blast a half-mile-wide crater north of where the rover Opportunity has been exploring the Martian plains since 2004.

"Unlike an Earth impact, we're not afraid, but we're excited," Chesley said.

Too cool ... Unless you're a Martian.

Or ... unless 2000WD5 whacks into Mars like a cue ball, sending the Red Planet caroming out of Martian-orbit and into, say ... the Moon, which in turn goes spinning towards Earth in a game of Cosmic Billiards.

Which brings to mind ...
 
When the end of the world arrives how will the media report it?

USA Today: WE'RE DEAD

The Wall Street Journal: DOW JONES PLUMMETS AS WORLD ENDS

National Enquirer: O.J. AND NICOLE, TOGETHER AGAIN

Playboy: GIRLS OF THE APOCALYPSE

Microsoft Systems Journal: APPLE LOSES MARKET SHARE

Victoria's Secret Catalog: OUR FINAL SALE

Sports Illustrated: GAME OVER

Rolling Stone: THE GRATEFUL DEAD REUNION TOUR

Readers Digest: 'BYE

Discover Magazine: HOW WILL THE EXTINCTION OF ALL LIFE AS WE KNOW IT AFFECT THE WAY WE VIEW THE COSMOS?

TV Guide: DEATH AND DAMNATION: NIELSON RATINGS SOAR!

Ladies' Home Journal: LOSE 10 LBS BY JUDGMENT DAY WITH OUR NEW "ARMAGEDDON" DIET!

America Online: SYSTEM TEMPORARILY DOWN. TRY CALLING BACK IN 15 MINUTES.

Inc. magazine: TEN WAYS YOU CAN PROFIT FROM THE APOCALYPSE

Microsoft's Web Site: IF YOU DIDN'T EXPERIENCE THE RAPTURE, DOWNLOAD SOFTWARE PATCH RAPT777.EXE.