It’s Monday, December 9th, 2013, but before we begin, two quick items. First, courtesy of Jim Gleaves, and particularly in light of what we experienced on our way to church Sunday morning, we celebrate the joys of Winter!
Second, another terribly memorable personal moment shared with America by Douchus Rex:
“Today, with solemn pride and reverence, let us remember those who fought and died at Pearl Harbor, acknowledge everyone who carried their legacy forward, and reaffirm our commitment to upholding the ideals for which they served.”
Wait until March 6th; it’ll be “Remember the Obamo”. What an egotistical ass!
Now, here’s The Gouge!
Since we’re on the subject of habitual hypocrites and perpetual prevaricators, here’s the latest from a man who’s both…and then some:
Some Reid staffers exempt from Obamacare exchanges
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, one of Obamacare’s architects and staunchest supporters, is also the only top congressional leader to exempt some of his staff from having to buy insurance through the law’s new exchanges. Reid is the exception among the other top congressional leaders. GOP House Speaker John Boehner, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell have all directed their staffs to join the exchange, their aides said.
In the charged atmosphere surrounding Obamacare, Reid’s decision only gives Republicans more ammo to attack Democrats already suffering politically from the law’s botched rollout.
In September, Reid told reporters, “Let’s stop these really juvenile political games — the one dealing with health care for senators and House members and our staff. We are going to be part of exchanges, that’s what the law says and we’ll be part of that.”
That’s true. Reid and his personal staff will buy insurance through the exchange. But it’s also true that the law lets lawmakers decide if their committee and leadership staffers hold on to their federal employee insurance plans, an option Reid has exercised.
Reid spokesman Adam Jentleson emphasized, “We are just following the law.”
Seems to us that excuse has been tried before; but instead of “just following the law”, they were just following…
…orders!
As for Der Obafuhrer’s claims his “signature legislative achievement” is up and running, James Taranto suggests it’s just another of in his long list of lies:
The Time Thief
Obama steals past the Nov. 30 deadline.
NBC’s Michael O’Brien had some fun yesterday paraphrasing President Obama’s latest infliction on the ears of America: “Obama said his signature health care reform law is going nowhere as long as he’s in office.”
“Going nowhere” could mean either “here to stay” or “unable to progress.” A look at the text of the president’s remarks makes clear, as if you have any doubt, that he means it in the former sense: “We’re not repealing it as long as I’m president, and I want everybody to be clear about that. . . . We’re not going to walk away from it.” I’m not a crook. I did not have sexual relations with that woman.
At least in the very short term, he appears to be right. National Journal reports that although “House Democrats are hardly ready to pop the champagne for HealthCare.gov . . . tensions eased Tuesday after White House officials briefed them on the site’s progress.” Party leaders “said they were ‘pleased’ with improvements in the site’s user experience, and declared that they were back on offense over the Affordable Care Act.”
The Nov. 30 deadline was followed by a spate of news stories, editorials and columns attesting that the “website”–which, of course, is only the tip of the iceberg that is ObamaCare’s computer system–had been “fixed,” or at least “improved.” The former is plainly not true; even the latter, highly dubious.
Charles Ornstein of ProPublica.org watched “a glowing news conference” Sunday, and on Monday “decided to log . . . and take the Web site for a test drive.” It wasn’t going anywhere: Ornstein experienced “long delays loading pages, an endless circle of tasks (some already completed) and ultimately an error message.” He supplies screen shots and a transcript of a live-chat help session that goes on for nine minutes before a customer-service rep called “Kassie” tells him to try back later. When he does, “I couldn’t even log on.”
Reader Alan Auerbach–who is actually trying to purchase insurance, not just test the system–sends along his own live chat (quoting verbatim):
[2:19:35 pm]: Thanks for contacting Health Insurance Marketplace Live Chat. Please wait while we connect you to someone who can help.
[2:19:39 pm]: Please be patient while we’re helping other people.
[2:20:15 pm]: Please be patient while we’re helping other people.
[2:20:22 pm]: Welcome! You’re now connected to Health Insurance Marketplace Live Chat. Thanks for contacting us. My name is Dipika. To protect your privacy, please don’t provide any personal information, like Social Security Number, or any other sensitive medical or personal information.
[2:20:36 pm]: Dipika Welcome to the Health Insurance Marketplace Live Chat, my name is Dipika, how may I help you?
[2:21:20 pm]: Alan Since Sunday, I have been unable to logon. I am certain that I am using the correct Username and Password. I have cleared the browsing history and cookies. I have rebooted. I have tried using three different computers and five different browsers with three different operating systems. Each time I select Log In, I am sent right back to the Log In page.
[2:22:37 pm]: Dipika I apologize for the inconvenience.
[2:23:20 pm]: Alan Thank you. How may I log into my account?
[2:25:15 pm]: Dipika Our website was under maintenance. So may be that was the reason you were not able to log in. It is working fine right now but I am not sure why its not letting you log in if you have used every troubleshooting measures.
[2:26:11 pm]: Alan Is it under maintenance now? I have been trying to log in for the last hour. I keep getting returned to the log in page.
[2:27:13 pm]: Alan Yesterday, I read in the newspapers that the problems with the site were fixed so I have been trying to access my account. I have failed many, many times.
[2:28:58 pm]: Dipika Yes the site is functioning well now but I apologize that its still giving you glitches. If you like, we can help you complete a Marketplace application right now over the phone. And you can try getting back to your account sometime later today.
[2:30:50 pm]: Alan I have done that twice (plus the account I created online) and been promised letters and/or calls within two days or two weeks. In seven weeks, I have received neither. Doing that again seems a waste of time. Better if I could access my account. Can you help with that?
[2:31:19 pm]: Alan Time is running out for me.
[2:31:56 pm]: Dipika I completely understand your frustration.
[2:32:31 pm]: Alan I am not frustrated. I am simply trying to move forward. All I want to know now is whether you can help with that.
[2:33:31 pm]: Alan Can you answer either yes or no so that I can do other things?
[2:33:41 pm]: Dipika If you have already tried clearing browser history and cookies and also used different browsers, there is nothing I could do to help you at this moment.
[2:34:03 pm]: Alan OK. Thank you. Goodbye.
[2:34:26 pm]: Dipika But we are available to help you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can reach us toll free at 1-800-318-2596 and we can’t continue with your application.
That “can’t” in the signoff message must be a typo. Or maybe a Freudian slip. It appears Auerbach’s efforts aren’t going anywhere.
Incidentally, your humble columnist received a phone call from ObamaCare yesterday. We arrived at home to find a message on our answering machine that began: “Hello, this is an important message for you from the Health Insurance Marketplace Call Center. We need more information to complete your application . . .”
At first we thought it was a telemarketing scam, but it appears to be legit (though maybe that’s a false distinction). The “calling” number was in fact 800-318-2596. We then remembered we’d called the number a few times in October just to see if we could get through. When we finally did, we got someone on the phone and spent a few minutes asking her questions such as how many people she’d signed up and whether people were actually completing the process of getting insurance via phone (the answer to the latter question was no).
We didn’t give her any personal information, including our phone number, so they must just have been logging all calls using caller ID and now are doing mass callbacks. That seems both inefficient and a bit creepy.
Now we must confess, political events around ObamaCare are moving a bit more slowly than we’d expected. We thought that as the Nov. 30 deadline approached and it became clear that the system would not even be technically functional, congressional Democrats would panic and all hell would break loose.
Instead, the administration seems to have bought–or stolen–itself a bit more time. It did so by gradually scaling back its promise from fully functional to kinda functional for many during off-peak hours. Not that it met even the latter standard, but the lower standard was by definition easier to meet, while its vagueness made it much more difficult to say definitively that it hadn’t been met.
Enough journalists are still willing to act as shills for this administration (even if their submission is not quite as abject as Paul Waldman and Tim Noah would like) that the “meeting” of the “deadline” generated a spate of positive stories. That allowed congressional Democrats–or at least House Democrats from safe districts–to declare themselves “back on offense,” as National Journal reported.
Of course those weren’t the Democrats anyone expected to defect. Rather, the ones to watch are the ones in the Senate, especially those up for re-election next year, and especially those from states Mitt Romney carried. We did a Google News search for “ObamaCare” with the name of each of the four senators who meet all those criteria–Mark Begich of Alaska, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Kay Hagan of North Carolina–and it appears mum’s the word for all four.
Why? For the same reason each of them cast the deciding vote in favor of ObamaCare. Because while supporting a monstrous and unpopular policy is politically risky, so is dissenting from the party line. By defining down its deadline and taking advantage of the still-servile subset of the press corps, Obama heightened the immediate risks of dissent and made assent seem the safer course.
For the moment. There are more deadlines to come, and, in both senses, ObamaCare is going nowhere.
Or, as Jonah Goldberg puts it at the LA Times, courtesy of AEI...
And yes, we emphasized “at all“…because it’s reality.
For more on the subject of Liberals’ continued denial of reality, we turn to Tales From the Darkside, courtesy today of The Washington Times, and this recent report on the hottest game to hit the Black “community” since Powerball:
Elderly woman is New York City’s 10th ‘knockout’ victim
A 76-year-old New York City woman is said to be the latest victim in the dangerous “knockout” game spreading across the country, in which black youths single out a stranger, in most cases a woman, and hit the person in hopes of knocking them out with one blow.
Yvonne Small was walking in the Brooklyn borough at about 11:30 a.m. EST Saturday when an unidentified black man in his 20s or 30s punched her in the back of the head, the Daily Mail reported. Surveillance footage of the attack has been released as police try to nab the suspect.
Takes a real man to sucker-punch a 76-year-old woman! Then again, given the sterling character of the average male denizen of the Hood, there’s no shortage of “real” men. Meanwhile, the ostriches at the New York Times and other Liberal “news” outlets continue to deny this particular bit of depravity even exists.
In a related item, writing at Commentary Magazine, John Podhoretz details how the recent Socialist ascension to power in the Big Apple promises more, and much worse, to come:
One interesting aspect of Bill de Blasio’s landslide victory in the New York mayoral race last month is that it leaves the city with very little electoral life outside the Left. The City Council speaker will almost certainly be someone as left-wing as the mayor; the new public advocate hails from the same left-wing political machine (the Working Families Party) as de Blasio; and most of the newly elected members of the City Council are doctrinaire as well. So the question immediately arises: Who will stand against Leftist infamies when they occur? We will find out in the next day or so, because the first major one has just happened.
There is a new City Council member from the neighborhood in Brooklyn called Crown Heights, which is ethnically the city’s most interesting—a mix of blacks mostly of Caribbean origin and ultra-Orthodox Jews mostly from the Lubavitch Hasidic sect. Her name is Laurie Cumbo, and this week she decided to take to Facebook to express some thoughts about the recent spate of violent “knockout game” attacks in which passers-by find themselves being struck hard in the face by someone’s fist for no reason. She reports that at a community meeting called to discuss the violence, she said this:
Many African American/Caribbean residents expressed a genuine concern that as the Jewish community continues to grow, they would be pushed out by their Jewish landlords or by Jewish families looking to purchase homes. I relayed these sentiments at the forum not as an insult to the Jewish community, but rather to offer possible insight as to how young African American/Caribbean teens could conceivably commit a “hate crime” against a community that they know very little about.
Her insight into why a thug would punch a 19 year-old Hasidic kid in the face in the middle of her district while his friends watched, in other words, boils down to Jewish money. Cumbo knows she is treading on delicate ground here, so she attempts to mitigate the damage: “I respect and appreciate the Jewish community’s family values and unity that has led to strong political, economic and cultural gains.” And then she went all in: “While I personally regard this level of tenacity, I also recognize that for others, the accomplishments of the Jewish community triggers feelings of resentment, and a sense that Jewish success is not also their success.” (Unlike the success of…other ethnicities?!?)
Cumbo hastens to make clear she is against such crime–against it! “If one person attacks another, regardless of the motivation, there is no justification for such an action. We should never blame a victim, or try to explain away any wrongdoing. The issue of race or religion is but a red-herring one when it comes to crime.”
Cumbo just can’t leave it there, because she feels the “system” is rigged and so she is being compelled to argue for something that makes her unhappy: “I feel torn because I feel apart of [sic] the very system that has caused the destructive path that so many young people have decided to take while I am simultaneously demanding that they be arrested by that same system.”
Gee…”it’s all the fault of the Jews”; where have we heard THAT…
…before?!?
So here we have it. (I am indebted to Sonja Sharp of DNAInfo for exposing the story.) Jews are crowding out black people in Crown Heights, they are stoking resentment because of their financial success, and while there can be no justification for acts of violence, it’s a terrible pain for someone like Cumbo to say those perpetrating the violence should be arrested because they are victims too. Such textbook apologetics and excuses for crime hearken back to a different and far worse time for New York City, as does the nauseating stench of Cumbo’s classic anti-Semitic stew.
It was in the very neighborhood Cumbo now represents that the worst anti-Jewish event in modern American history took place: A three-day riot in 1991 following the accidental killing of an African-American child by a limousine driven by a Hasidic man. Two men were killed, stores were looted, and homes were targeted by Molotov-cocktail throwers through spotting the mezuzot on the doorfames. It was a shattering event for the city, not least because the mayor at the time, David Dinkins, seemed to feel as though he was powerless to act as the riot spread. His conduct during Crown Heights was so shameful it came to be one of the key reasons Rudy Giuliani ousted Dinkins from City Hall—even though the election took place two years later.
One thing New Yorkers knew in the wake of the Giuliani election was this: Acts of violence were going to be addressed, not excused; and anti-Semitic conduct would be greeted with roars of protest and outrage from City Hall. Eight years of Giuliani stilled and calmed the city; 9/11 created a new era of good common feeling; the perpetuation of Giuliani policies under Michael Bloomberg helped keep the urban peace. Now, only a month before the inauguration of DeBlasio, something ugly and evil is rearing its head. Who is there to speak out against Cumbo’s words? De Blasio?
It sure as hell isn’t Laurie “Kristallnacht” Cumbo.
Next up, Commentary Magazine‘s Jonathan Tobin explains…
…But the main question members of the liberal mainstream media are asking today is the same one they will be posing in 10 days when we get to the first anniversary: why didn’t the disgust Americans felt at this atrocity lead to the enactment of stricter gun-control laws? But while they wonder how it is possible that the liberal media offensive didn’t buffalo politicians last winter, they’re even more perplexed as to why Newtown didn’t change public opinion on the issue. Indeed, as a new CNN/ORC poll reveals, a majority of Americans today oppose stricter gun-control laws.
…But the answer to their question isn’t much of a mystery. The majority of Americans understand not only that more legislation won’t stop lunatics from shooting people with legal or illegal guns, but they also don’t trust the government to enforce stricter laws fairly or to respect the constitutional rights of gun owners.
Probably because, as this next item courtesy of Ruth Marcus and the WaPo details, neither guns nor gun control really had anything to do with the Newtown tragedy:
…To read the state’s attorney’s report on Sandy Hook is to simultaneously admire Lanza’s fierce efforts to help her troubled child and to seethe at the stupidity of her decision to allow him access to — indeed, encourage his interest in — the weapons he used to murder 27 people.
As the one-year anniversary approaches, unanswerable questions remain — questions that the report can resurface but not resolve. Not only about Adam Lanza’s motives — for an act so irrational and heinous no explanation can suffice — but about his mother’s behavior.
Few parents have to deal with the likes of Adam Lanza. Many parents, perhaps most, have to learn to find the balance between devotion and denial, empathy and enabling. Nancy Lanza failed at that task. Searching her house after the shootings, they found a check she had made out to Adam. It was dated Christmas Day, and designated to buy a CZ 83 pistol.
In a related item…
A Chicago benefit concert to help first responders to last year’s Sandy Hook massacre was canceled due to low ticket sales, it was announced Wednesday. The event, scheduled for Sunday at Untitled, 111 W. Kinzie St., was set to feature performances by local musicians and the Chicago Children’s Choir and a silent auction.
“It is with great sadness that we have to cancel the Chicago Musicians Care Performance & Benefit event … due to low ticket sales,” read a Facebook post from organizer Chicago Musicians Care, which was created in response to the shooting. Proceeds go to Sandy Hook Workers Assistance Fund, which helps teachers, first responders and other workers suffering mental health issues from the shooting.
Maybe if the concert were to benefit the families of the victims…!?! Besides, at the risk of seeming harsh, weren’t all the “teachers, first responders and other workers suffering mental health issues from the shooting” union…and thus already eligible for mental health treatmentvunder the Unaffordable Care Act?!?
And in the Environmental Moment, courtesy of Bill Meisen, as Michael Fumento notes at the New York Post…
The 2013 hurricane season just ended as one of the five quietest years since 1960. But don’t expect anyone who pointed to last year’s hurricanes as “proof” of the need to act against global warming to apologize; the warmists don’t work that way.
On the Lighter Side…
Then there’s this view, courtesy of Neil McShane, of how the Steelers’ Mike Tomlin might influence the festivities at Pamplona:
And in News of the Bizarre, a word of warning if you feel the call of nature during your Christmas shopping:
Woman Hospitalized After Being Glued To Toilet Seat at Home Depot
According to an incident report filed at the Banks County Sheriff’s Office, a woman found herself glued to a toilet seat after using the restroom at the Home Depot store in Banks Crossing last week. Someone allegedly put glue on every toilet seat in the women’s restroom. Unfortunately, the woman didn’t realize this until she was already stuck.
Emergency medical services personnel were called in to help remove the woman from the toilet. She was then transported to a Gainesville hospital where she received treatment.
The store manager found a brown paper sack in the restroom containing a bottle of Loctite GO2 glue, a product that not only boasts of durability, but also versatility.
Versatile is right!
Remember Crystal Mangum? Don’t feel bad; apparently, neither does the MSM. In what we can only describe as another titillating tale torn from the pages of the Crime Blotter meets the “MSM Bias…WHAT Bias?!?” segment, as CNSNews.com reports…
Duke Rape Accuser Got 160 TV News Stories on Accusation, 3 on Murder Conviction – See more at: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/michael-w-chapman/duke-rape-accuser-got-160-tv-news-stories-accusation-3-murder#sthash.WVhO4asj.dpuf
Crystal Mangum, who falsely accused 3 Duke lacrosse players of sexual crimes in 2006, was convicted of second-degree murder on Nov. 22, 2013. – See more at: http://cnsnews.com/image/crystal-mangum#sthash.zASiEXrs.dpuf
Crystal Mangum, who falsely accused 3 Duke lacrosse players of sexual crimes in 2006, was convicted of second-degree murder on November 22, 2013.
Guess all that coverage of the JFK anniversary sorta crowded the Mangum story out.
Finally, in the Ernst Stavro Blofeld Memorial “Welcome to Hell” segment, we’ll close with this bit of news out of Mississippi:
Abortionist who kept 36 bags of aborted babies in storage unit found dead
Now where’d I stash ‘dem dead babies?!?
Authorities say an abortionist with a history of tax evasion, botched abortions, and unusual disposal of aborted babies has died. Police found the body of Dr. Joseph Booker Jr., 69, at his home Thursday night after relatives complained they could not reach him. Investigators said Booker suffered a stroke and drowned in his shower in his Madison, Mississippi, home.
In 1999, Booker served time in prison for tax evasion. Later in the year, police learned that a local resident discovered 36 bags of aborted babies in a storage unit he purchased from Booker in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. The new owner said Booker stowed the babies there shortly before going to prison.
Tanya Britten of Pro-Life Mississippi said, “From a Christian perspective, I pray that he repented on the lives that he has taken, and that God is merciful.”
Ms. Britten’s understanding of the proper Christian perspective is correct; and it’s why we pray for The Obamao, though frankly not as often or fervently as we should.
As Peter wrote in his second epistle, the Lord is long-suffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. That being said, were we forced to put money on it, we’d have to go with…
Magoo
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