When I first heard this talk of another ‘government shutdown’ in 2011, I figured it was just Democrats whipping it up as a cudgel for the election. Then I heard Republicans talking about it too. But I still figured it was just a way of ratcheting up their own core voters — who of course loved the first one too. But then I started looking at the contours of the growing movement to kill Health Care Reform through defunding rather than repealing. And you can start to see how both sides are going to find themselves next spring with lots of incentive to push the whole thing to the limit. I suspect it really will happen or at least they’ll go to the brink. Christina Bellantoni took a look at the guy behind the would-be pressure/whipping group on the issue, Defundit.org.
Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin, the Army surgeon who is facing a court martial for refusing to deploy to Afghanistan until President Obama shows him his birth certificate, had a key legal hearing yesterday. It did not go well. Army Judge Col. Denise Lind ruled that all witnesses and evidence Lakin wanted to raise at trial relative to President Obama’s citizenship are irrelevant to his case and therefore inadmissible.
“Women for Mejias” event cancelled after New York State Senate candidate David Mejias (D) is arrested for stalking, menacing, and reckless endangerment of his girlfriend.
This is truly hilarious. After the Wednesday debate trainwreck, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer says she’s done with debates. In fact, according to Brewer herself, not some random person trying to besmirch her integrity but Brewer herself, she only did the first debate because she thought it would help her get $1.7 million or more in public funds to campaign with.
Good that she’s for small government.
She also has a new explanation for why she said there was an epidemic of beheadings in her state even though there appear to have been none. She now says she never explicitly said she was referring to Arizona and in fact she was talking about only the worldwide background noise level of beheadings that is taking place all the time.
I would hesitate and just be too smart to try to ascribe any meaning to this or interpret it. But purely in Abbot and Costello ‘who’s on first base’ terms, I found it entertaining.
Post intel columnist Jeff Stein picks up a story by Philip Giraldi in the American Conservative which says the FBI and the CIA have become aware of increased Israeli efforts to recruit American Muslims as intelligence assets. Read More
Just not a lede you see every day. The Republican nominee for Senate in Colorado (Buck) has now recanted his support for the Republican nominee for Governor (Maes).
On so many levels I prefer fake funerals to the real thing.
But some insurance fraudsters are refining their craft to such an extent these days that they’re actually capping off their scams by holding full-fledged fake funerals, with actors in mourning, empty caskets, headstone and the works. Here’s one such scam the FBI just brought down.
Late Update: If anyone with some screenwriting experience is out there, let’s talk. Feel like this has the makings of a great movie script. Hapless funeral fakers with hearts of gold. A buddy movie, I’m thinking Will Ferrell and Owen Wilson, maybe John C. Reilly.
Robert Reich on the Great Jobs Depression and why it’s getting worse.
Various highly convincing arguments for why the push to attack Iran’s nuclear installations is beyond insane.
Actually, the authors don’t really even dwell on what is perhaps the best argument against a military strike — that it would simply delay whatever the Iranians are trying to build for a few years. If we or the Israelis did it in 2011, we’d be back at the same spot by mid-decade if not sooner. With only a major regional war and a global economic crisis to show for it.