Forget the princes

This on Yahoo. American Thinker takes a look too.

Forget the liberal fairy tale, we want the American Dream.

And Sarah Cinderella makes her own winning way.

Related posts here, here.

Slots at O'Hare?

Chicago Breaking News. [Updated] And so it comes to pass, presumably.

Going for broke under Mayor Rahm.

Chicago makes my skin crawl.

...Casinos to support this.

More. Oh, yeah they gave up on pension reform.

An Idyllic Setting, A Stoning

Via the Daily Caller. The Ukraine is a fertile region, an independent country, the murdered girl a beauty contestant. Daily Mail. Of course, she is not the only one, is she, but it's more shocking when it occurs outside of the Middle East.

More. The rape jihad. Creeping sharia.

More exciting news. Creeping Iran:

Based on reports received by the Green Experts of Iran, the range of the missiles, produced by the Ministry of Defense Industries, has also been boosted and can now travel a distance of 2,000 miles. Simultaneously, a joint military-industrial project with Iran, Pakistan, China and the Ukraine has begun to produce nuclear warheads, including the first manufactured nuclear-capable warheads. These are now in the possession of the Revolutionary Guards.

Looks like Ukraine has gone to the dark side.

Palin Schools "Reporters":)

Sarah in Philly.

She makes them work:)

She makes them mad, and looks good in a helmet, unlike Mike Dukakis. Rush was all over this today. [Here's the clip] And don't ever think Charlie Cook is non-partisan ""She's making more money now than God ever intended her to make"

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

He's a class-envy ruling class guy who's miffed Sarah Palin's more of a success than he is--and she's earned every bit of it.

Hey self-appointed gatekeepers, we "barbarians" are at the gate--and newsflash--we're the ones who are going to save American civilization. Not you.

Prepare to be schooled.

P.S. Knocked it out of the park. RCP has the in:) Palin: Eliminate all energy subsidies...as for loving motorcycles, she's not alone among Western women.

Founding Father fans split their votes three ways, and Reagan pulled out the win

The young upstart.

Who will win Iowa? Will the TEA party be the key to victory, much as young new voters flooded the caucus for Obama? When I canvassed for Romney back in 2008 I found Obama literature at Republican primary voters' homes. Clearly Obama made a successful play for those disaffected from 8 years of President Bush--but after only 2 are people tired of him?

The 2012 campaign has just begun, but if we're at dead in the water levels of growth, young new voters now jobless grads may join independents to go GOP around the country. Housing is suffering a double-dip, exacerbating the grim unemployment picture.

In the meantime, who will be our young upstart--who will best exemplify the limited government virtues of our founding fathers, not the ossified oldsters who have led us to this financial and cultural abyss. Count Mitt among them.

Who has the integrity, the vision, the courage.

Pawlenty's the un-Romney, the Sam's Club Republican who stood up to a Blue State legislature, cut spending, and contested the president on ObamaCare as governor.

His fellow Minnesotan, Rep. Michele Bachmann, rallied the TEA party at home, in nearby Iowa and especially on the Hill, where the message most needs to be heard. A former tax-attorney, small-businesswoman, mother, and foster-mother, Bachmann is grass-roots personified.

Herman Cain is the un-Obama, the decisive private sector success who worked his way up from humble roots, understands how to create jobs and achieve the American Dream--the way we always have. Cain hails from flyover country, not elitist, leftist, anti-American enclaves.

In the wings there's Gov. Sarah Palin, who upends the conventional wisdom wherever she goes, but holds true to the American spirit with a gift to go to the heart of the matter--drill baby drill, death panels, endorsing early the roadmap to American prosperity-- a citizen and a leader.

...And then there's Paul Ryan.

We the people will decide.

More. Look at where housing values are the worst:

Blitzer told CNBC that the decline in prices, though fairly widespread, has become more prevalent in geographic pockets—the Southwest and Southeast as well as the Michigan and Ohio manufacturing regions.

Obama won Michigan and Ohio last time but there are Republican governors there now, and in Florida.

More. Via Memeorandum, Palin eludes reporters at Gettysburg:

CNN was soon tipped off that Palin was long gone

Haha CNN fooled and they call her bus flashy. You know, her name is small on her bus. She gets it.

More. Romney panders on ethanol. Pawlenty's narrative. Geraghty on Palin and a CNN poll on the TEA party. I think the poll shows TEA partiers are mainstream and sometimes too nice for their own good:) You know, Aunt Bea.

The children don't do fire drills, they do live-fire drills

Drug shootout near a kindergarten in Monterrey. Video.

Related posts here and here.

Memorial Day U.S.A

U.S.A

Slut is Ok for The View?

Seriously? This is the position they want to take?

This is what leftist feminists have come to?

One more time--their leftism always trumps their feminism. Always.

So let's look at issues on the merits, not through the broken prism of "feminism".

Related post: Conservative Women Citizen Legislators

North Shore IL Dems Stick it to Us

Karen May, Daniel Biss, a sorry pair on pension reform:

Under this bill, taxpayers alone absorb the $85 billion by which the state pension system currently is underfunded. But this huge liability for citizens and employers can't continue to grow unchecked. Going forward, lawmakers need to behave as if they were enacting a new pension system. What would those pension benefits cost? And how would taxpayers and employees — together — pay for them? 

Decades of reckless pension giveaways now overload that responsibility on taxpayers and threaten virtually every other function of government.

Grow up. Save your state.

When Blago met Patti

Rod Blagojevich admits he sounds like ‘effin’ jerk,’ later chokes up

Apparently Patti is the only good thing in his life.

Sigh.

Now we get humility from Governor Big Guy. He must be really worried about the jail thing. Some things stay the same though:

 He recalls his days as a college student and as a recent graduate: “Those were the days when your hairbrush was an extension of your hand.’’

Sigh.

Tribune on his finally getting around to the actual charges here...

P.S.

Emanuel was a political ally, said Blagojevich, who recalled accompanying Emanuel to view the Oval Office when Blagojevich was running for office in 1996. 

“It’s a lot smaller than it is in real life –- I mean on TV,” Blagojevich said.

Previous post here.

Mama Grizzlies, Saudi Style. Road Trip, New Media--Sarah Style

Manal al-Sharif, Latest Saudi Woman Arrested for Driving, Sparks Protest Fury. The Village Voice:

 Last week, a Saudi Arabian woman named Najla al-Hariri drove for four straight days "to defend her belief that Saudi women should be allowed to drive," but was eventually arrested anyway. "I don't fear being arrested because I am setting an example that my daughter and her friends are proud of,'' she said. This week, Manal al-Sharif did the same, filming her efforts (above) and plotting a June 17 "drive-in" protest. On Sunday, al-Sharif was arrested, too, thus mobilizing the protest movement even more.

They're keeping her in jail now and threatening her with beatings. WaPo:

But blogger Nafjan is less surprised by the response. “Regarding the whipping, that was completely expected, that happened even 20 years ago,” she said over the phone from Riyadh. 

“It used to be that we would protest, and there was just one platform. The religious establishment and newspapers would only put out the official story, which would only be against the woman. The difference now is other platforms can be used,”she said.

Social new media. Going over the heads of a biased, oppressive establishment. What a concept.

Back in the U.S.A. premier Mama Grizzly Sarah Palin starts her road trip this Memorial Day weekend.

More. Cain was favorite at Pottawattamie GOP dinner, but Palin took surprising 2nd. In absentia. Assuming she runs, and I'm betting she will, Palin will be a powerhouse in Iowa, most likely pulling everyone except diehard elitist Romney voters, and a few tea party loyalists to the other charismatic candidates Cain and Bachmann. I'd say she may be the only Romney-stopper for the long haul.

As for our President Barack Obama, I don't imagine he'll be bleating about the middle class on this run.  Food prices, gas prices and jobs are less than ideal, and those issues are right up Palin's alley.

She pegged the ObamaCare death panels early on, and has been a staunch supporter of Israel all along--key concerns of the day. As for going wobbly on the Ryan plan, she was the first prominent Republican to endorse it, back in December.

Related post:Palin Hatred Explained: They're intellectuals, aren't they? Do not confuse them with facts

Previous post: Another Killer Look for Michelle

Another Killer Look for Michelle

Another blooper, and it's not even her hair this time. If it's not the sofa it's the plant.

If it's not the look it's the look, intentional or otherwise.

FLOTUS is taking a pass on France and heading home.

...perhaps wear a hat next time to fight off any encroaching atmospherics.

...maybe she was going for the New Yorker look.

Previous post: The most devastating takedown of an Obama speech ever

The most devastating takedown of an Obama speech ever

And it came from the other side of the pond. I especially like the part where our new tone president was politely described as polite.

Read until the end.

Since the speech is the man...

P.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) this morning in a video op-ed.

More. Obama dumped by big Dem donor The hug Hamas speech has consequences.

Ryan Budget Gets 40 Votes in Senate, Obama Budget Gets 0 Where's your budget, Dems, Mr. President?

Stubborn Jobless Claims Still Keep On Climbing Higher Economy in the dumpster. "Unexpectedly!"

Tim Pawlenty, not too spendy

Minnesota, come to Cato.

Talking turkey

Not too flashy

Is Tim the man for the times?

(Indulge me:)

Will there be a Pawlenty girl?

What's your weather...more travels with Barry & Michelle

Serene above, stormy weather below. At least we have no volcanoes rumbling nearby. Keep your family close, folks, and an eye to the sky and water.

Then there are man-made disasters... Like California. Illinois. Dems. Some silver lining to the clouds.
While over there Michelle...

P.S. And France.

...some blowback from the Brits...and Hillbuzzers catch another one: matching dress and sofa alert.

...California.

Epic Palin:) New Palin Epic Set for Iowa

June is bustin' out all over!:) RCP:

When it premieres in Iowa next month, the film is poised to serve as a galvanizing prelude to Palin's prospective presidential campaign -- an unconventional reintroduction to the nation that she and her political team have spent months eagerly anticipating, even as Beltway Republicans have largely concluded that she won't run.  

Bannon, a former naval officer and ex-Goldman Sachs banker, sees his documentary as the first step in Palin's effort to rebuild her image in the eyes of voters who may have soured on her, yet might reconsider if old caricatures begin to fade. The film will also appeal to staunch Palin supporters who have long celebrated her biting rhetoric and conservative populism yet know little about her record in Alaska and have perhaps written her off as presidential material. 

"This film is a call to action for a campaign like 1976: Reagan vs. the establishment," Bannon told RealClearPolitics. "Let's have a good old-fashioned brouhaha."

They kept a low profile in Alaska.

High profile time.

I still remember her speech at that convention. It changed my life too.

P.S. She who shall remain nameless?

The president's counterproposal, splashed out in a rambling partisan attack in April, essentially reintroduces the whole "death panels" debate, albeit at a macroeconomic level, by empowering 15 presidentially appointed members of the Independent Payment Advisory Board to take the blame for throwing grandma off a cliff.

Jonah, who better to take on Obama than the woman who coined the phrase--and was right.

Related posts: Obama Doubles Down on his Anti-Israel Policy, Establishment Sweetheart Daniels Out, Palin Hatred Explained: They're intellectuals, aren't they? Do not confuse them with facts, But will anyone actually vote for the guy in the primary, If Obama wants class warfare, who will fight it, Chicago Goons Go to Madison to Shut Sarah Up

Michelle O Does Marilyn Monroe Imitation

The other day the hair, today the dress. And the hair. The Daily Mail photo commentary:

Sartorially similar: It's never a good idea to dress like an 85-year-old but Michelle Obama and the Queen both wore pale blue floral print dresses

State dinner dress? The long version. MonrOe.

P.S. The president quoted Churchill. Ya think he wants the bust back?  ...oops. An explanation:

The president should have followed the Queen's example - a few words, the National Anthem, then the toast. He segued into the toast without waiting for "God Save the Queen" and the orchestra had no choice but to play over him.

P.P.S. AP dutifully calls Michelle a "trendsetter". The Telegraph gives some tips.

Previous post: O's Priorities: Waste, Fraud and Abuse

O's Priorities: Waste, Fraud and Abuse

Stimulus contractors owe millions in back taxes This is CNN.

Where were you when this slush fund was being set up? Quite a setup.

How about CBS, with their Obama talking points at the end:

 The Obama administration has said that cracking down on waste, fraud and abuse of tax dollars is a priority. 

I guess, like--now ousted--Dem Speaker Nancy Pelosi, they felt Congress needed to pass the bill before we found out what was in it.

Look, we know cracking down on waste, fraud and abuse is too much to expect of this administration--it defines it. Especially the abuse part.

All we ask is a priority on JOBS. Meanwhile we're still going broke. What are the Dems up to these days?

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) gently mocked Senate Democrats on Tuesday for so far failing to produce a fiscal year 2012 spending plan. 

“They [Democrats] say they prefer the ideas the President outlined in a speech he gave last month,” McConnell said. 

“Well, unfortunately we can't vote on a speech ... but if that's what it takes to get Democrats engaged in this debate, maybe we should revisit the rules so we can actually vote on a speech,” said McConnell. 

McConnell was referring to a address Obama made last month in which he laid out his vision for reducing the budget deficit by $4 trillion over the next 12 years. 

“More than two years have passed since Democrats have produced a budget of their own,” McConnell pointed out.

And our President is off somewhere. Momentarily in between speeches. Looking around for Waste and Fraud I presume.

Obama Drinks in Ireland, Wrecks Car

Jim Treacher's header for the new Obama Ministry of Truth.

This brings up another tipple of the day to day--affirmative action, and its evil twin the race card.

Now that Norah O'Donnell has blarneyed all over the bar in Moneygall about our President Barack Obama's "ancestral visit", Chris Matthews swooned (not that Kennedy) and Barry O'bama has rolled out a brogue, can't we all agree? Can't we all get along? Ah yes:

 "WHAT do we do while it settles?" the prodigal great, great, great grandson asked.

Someone said: “Sing.” As the bubbles rose in his glass, the first black President of the United States assured the bartender that he would pay his own tab, and a fiddle started to play.

One of seven Irish Obama cousins in a semi-circle under the low ceiling of Ollie's Bar took her own pint of Guinness and wiped a tear from her eye.

We are all Irish now. Give me a minute, then, I'll just be wiping a tear from my eye.

...and can ye spare me a vote?:)

More. Marc Thiessen, WaPo: Richard Milhous Obama? Enemies list.

 Political contributions should never be considered by any procurement officer when making contract decisions — so why would the Obama administration want to require businesses to disclose those contributions to procurement officers when applying for government contracts? Unless Obama is trying to bring the Chicago “pay-to-play” culture to Washington, his order makes no sense. Or perhaps the president who believes in “punishing enemies” wants to know who is backing independent groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Crossroads GPS that have been so effective in opposing his agenda in Washington. 

I'll just be wiping a tear from my eye.

Previous post: Their effective pay for that 76-minute meeting was about $7,800 each

Their effective pay for that 76-minute meeting was about $7,800 each

St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

The March 17 monthly meeting of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board began at 10 a.m. in Springfield. 

The board members approved the minutes of the previous month's meeting. They discussed labor disputes from several school districts. They issued orders in several cases. They heard staff reports. They moved the date of the next monthly meeting. They took six votes (all unanimous), including the adjournment vote, which came at 11:16 a.m

They're politically connected appointees, naturally. This is Illinois. The chairman is married to my state Senator, Jeff Schoenberg.

One of those boards is the Illinois Health Facilities Review. Obama's buddy Tony Rezko went to jail over that one--but it still exists.

HT Steve Bartin.

Related posts: Rezko gave him cash under the table, helped him buy his car

And here. Newsalert: Unbeknownst to the Media, Tony Rezko May Have Had Financial Ties to Barack Obama

Strauss-Kahn to maid he's attacking: Don't you know who I am

Yeah, she should be grateful. Didn't she know? Didn't she know it didn't matter who she was?

Just lie back and think of England. Uh, France. Well, maybe the IMF.

It was the junior presidential suite. What would he have felt entitled to in the presidential?

What a slime this guy was. He hurt her bloody. And the French let him get away with this for years.

Can you spare me a vote?

I've been nominated to the Top 25 Political Mom Blogs list on Circle of Moms

Vote once a day:) until June 13th. (And yes, there are leftists on the list.)

P.S. Do you think I'm being too mean to Michelle? Or Barack? I'm not kidding.

Previous post: Patrick Kennedy Compares Self to Jared Loughner, Expresses Sympathy

Patrick Kennedy Compares Self to Jared Loughner, Expresses Sympathy

"Did someone or something fail Jared Loughner?" CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta asked recovering alcoholic and former congressman Patrick Kennedy Sunday. The question came after Kennedy described his alcoholic condition as a mental disease and not a moral failure, and attributed mental illness to Loughner, the Tuscon shooter who killed six and critically injured Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) in January. When Kennedy was asked about Loughner being "failed," he issued a sweeping indictment of society. "Clearly we all failed," he said, noting that the Giffords assassin was mentally ill and was not treated for his ailments.

I'd say this was a Patrick KENNEDY Fail.

He is touting some cure for his brain. Not sure it will help.

Next up, Kennedy gets a show at CNN.

Barack O'Bama's Brogue. I'm not kidding

Jonah catches it. Video.

Good grief, I knew he went Southern gospel when expedient but to attempt this.

One wonders what he gave the Irish Prime Minister as a gift. A bulk package of Irish Spring soap?

Bring back Barry Obamski.

P.S. Will he try to ingratiate himself with the Brits? Cheerio. And wat about zee Franch?
Barry Obamski will work fine in Poland. (though not his Chicago Way behavior)

Previous post: Michelle O Goes Eurovision

Michelle O Goes Eurovision

Daily Mail. Scroll down for the windy exit from the U.S.A. photo. You know, I somehow think even Hillary may have better dress sense.

Video of arrival.

Irish Times blog.

The campaign.

Will she take a side trip?

P.S. You could call this the Obama apology tour 2.0. Except this time he's not apologizing for the eeeevil USA he's apologizing for himself since he's offended or betrayed every ally (well, the French are in a class all their own) on the trip...of course he won't apologize.

...Tweets:

 mak_78 Brian MacNamara send shamrock - interesting idea. i wonder would our bank bond-holders accept shamrock instead of cash? #obamavisit #potusIE

anspideog Eilish Burke 

@ 

@jtfaster there's one (irish) word for this: plámás #obamavisit

SuburbanWar_ Ally Daly 

My mam is sitting here saying 'when's Bono coming on?' hahaha #ObamaVisit

More. Irish designer critiques the Michelle style.

Related posts here, here and here.

Contrary to popular belief, patients with public insurance, such as Medicaid, account for a higher proportion of emergency department visits than the uninsured

Chicago Sun Times--hospitals are closing their emergency rooms despite a rise in patients.

The big government rationing of care is already here. Pay more, get less.

Repeal ObamaCare, waivers for everyone.

...Sally Pipes on RomneyCare--

"Unfortunately, he passed up the opportunity to declare the experiment a failure and detail the lessons learned.
The first is that health insurance does not equal access to health care."

Not surprisingly in blue Massachusetts, Republican Sen. Scott Brown bails on the Ryan plan. Memeorandum. Pithy commentary at NRO: Massachusetts - where all the courage got used up in the 1700's.

Dems can demagogue all they want, and they will, but even in a blue state like Illinois healthcare cost-shifting is maxing out, as taxes are through the roof--and the state is still bankrupt.

Related post: Andrea Mitchell Smitten

"Super Putin, Man Like Any Other"

Man about town, singer, co-pilot, tricycle driver. A truly mythical figure.

All Putin's posing has led to this: Vladimir Putin becomes comic superhero, with Dmitry Medvedev as his sidekick

Driving a bus. :)

Like any other.

More. NRO, A Russian Rift Will Putin unleash the KGB to ensure his return to power?

Related post: Russia Jails a Person with an Idea. The show trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky

Pawlenty Finds His Voice. The Right Tone

His new ad
Pitch perfect.

No Romney.

...it reminds me of the tone of this ad, of a new TEA party Rep:) ...giving us assurance.

Previous post: Andrea Mitchell Smitten

Related posts: If Obama wants class warfare who will fight it, Lutefisking The One in Minnesota

Andrea Mitchell Smitten

@MelissaTweets:RT @DavidLimbaugh:Ryan smokes the smug David Gregory.I mean really smokes him. http://bit.ly/l5o69F

Others not so much:) with O

fivethirtyeight Nate Silver 

 by backyardconserv

This must be a first: group of anti-Obama Democrats soliciting a presidential primary challenger on craigslist. http://bit.ly/jzkrll

Obama Doubles Down on his Anti-Israel Policy

He'd already undermined Israel in his speech just prior to Prime Minister Netanyahu's visit.

Today (full text): Obama’s Three Lies to AIPAC Joel Pollak

...Robert Gates: 'If America Declines to Lead in the World, Others Will Not':

"If history – and religion – teach us anything, it is that there will always be evil in the world, people bent on aggression, oppression, satisfying their greed for wealth and power and territory, or determined to impose an ideology based on the subjugation of others and the denial of liberty to men and women," Gates said. "[M]ake no mistake, the ultimate guarantee against the success of aggressors, dictators, and terrorists in the 21st century, as in the 20th, is hard power –the size, strength, and global reach of the United States military."

P.S.  (Video.) HT Memeorandum: Sarah Palin Slams Obama on Israel, Wants ‘Redneck Woman’ to Be Her Ringtone

Hit it, ladies!:) Hard power.

Establishment Sweetheart Daniels Out

So the GOP establishment, having aided and abetted the media and the left in their vicious ad hominem attacks on Sarah Palin and her family, or just by remaining silent--have knocked Mitch Daniels out of the race.

I liked Mitch all along, his very able record next door in Indiana was a wonder, but lately I'd worried he didn't have the stomach or the political savvy for the race.

The Old Door to the Porch

Still here:) ...How you doin' out East?:) I see the Preakness is still on the air:)

Thank God for Paul Ryan:)

Paul Ryan gets boost from Catholic bishops. Politico

Paul Ryan and the Archbishop: Budgets are moral commitments. Conservative Home

Smart and reverent:)

Related post: State Priests

Surveys: Recent college grads sour on Obama, to vote GOP or stay at home in 2012

Surprise, surprise, the hopey-changey dream unrealized. I remember canvassing before the Iowa caucus and all the enthusiastic O voters I ran into:

Overall, roughly one-third of young voters have some college education, and one-half have college degrees, said Conway. Many are underemployed or unemployed, they’re worried about their debts and economic trends, and they’re worried about the value of their educations, she said. In 2012, she said, “I suspect a fair number will return to Obama, but maybe not enough, and not in the [swing] states where he needs them,” she said. 

Those states include Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Indiana, Virginia and Iowa, she said. All were won by Obama in 2008, and all were lost in state-wide elections to GOP candidates in 2010, she said.

At the time I made jokes (well, not to their faces) about youth and inexperience meeting their perfect match.

Stay at home, huh.

More of their parents may be souring as well. More from the survey:

“People have had time to reflect on how they voted in 2008, and now they’re thinking about whether they have a job or like their job,” said Maddalone. As their trust in the federal government shrinks, they’re becoming more self-reliant, as their attitude shifts from “‘yes, we can,’ to ‘yes, I can,’” he said

Yes I can vote you out.

  --thanks for the links, Pundit & Pundette. Always a buzzworthy read there...And thanks for linking Political Junkie Mom, her latest post: Delete that nude photo or else?