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Washington DC considers $250K Insurance Policy for Gun Owners

by Rodan ( 85 Comments › )
Filed under Democratic Party, Fascism, Liberal Fascism, Progressives, Second Amendment, The Constitution at May 17th, 2013 - 11:30 am

Despite Obama and OFA’s spectacular defeat at the hands of the NRA, The Progressives have not given up on Gun Control. They are enacting laws at the local level to restrict American’s Constitutional civil rights to bear arms. Washington DC is now looking to add another hurdle to Gun ownership. They are contemplating forcing gun owners to get a $250,000 insurance to own a gun. The average person can not afford this, thus an end run around the Supreme Court’s Heller case.

WASHINGTON (CBSDC/AP) — Two D.C. councilmembers said Thursday that they support some form of mandate that gun owners carry liability insurance, but they would have to overcome the objections of Mayor Vincent Gray for the District of Columbia to become the nation’s first jurisdiction to require such coverage.

Councilmembers Vincent Orange and Mary Cheh said after a hearing Thursday that any bill they pursue would likely be narrower than Cheh’s initial proposal, which includes a requirement that gun owners insure themselves against intentional as well as accidental shootings

At least a half-dozen states are considering insurance requirements for gun owners, although none of the bills has made it past the hearing stage.

[....]

The district has some of the strictest gun-control laws in the nation. Handguns were banned outright in the nation’s capital until a landmark 2008 Supreme Court ruling, and since then, about 2,000 people have legally purchased firearms. The 13-member council includes 11 Democrats and two left-leaning independents, potentially making the city fertile territory for those pushing an insurance mandate.

This is a disturbing development and end run around people’s Constitutional Rights.

Republicans should be careful about overreaching on the Obama scandals

by Rodan ( 130 Comments › )
Filed under Barack Obama, Corruption, Cult of Obama, Democratic Party, Eric Holder, Progressives at May 17th, 2013 - 7:00 am

The trifecta of Benghazi, IRS and AP scandals has in the early stages some limited damage to Obama. He still has not suffered major damage in the polls yet, but he is clearly wobbled. That said, the normal political rules do not apply to Obama. This man is a cult figure and has weathered problems that would have destroyed another politician. The best bet is to see where the chips fall.

Sadly, many Republicans are giddy and are already counting Obama out. Many think that now the 2014 and 2016 elections are a walk. They forget Obama has an emotional hold on the public and has gone through political crisis before. The danger in this overconfidence among Republicans is that they may overreach and give Obama a lifeline for a political comeback.

Republicans are worried one thing could screw up the political gift of three Obama administration controversies at once: fellow Republicans.

Top GOP leaders are privately warning members to put a sock in it when it comes to silly calls for impeachment or over-the-top comparisons to Watergate. They want members to focus on months of fact-finding investigations – not rhetorical fury.

“We have to be persistent but patient,” Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus told us. “I think where there’s smoke, there’s fire. If we present ourselves to the American people as intelligent, we’re going to be in a great place as far as showing that this administration is not transparent, is obsessed with power, and hates dissent. But you don’t call for impeachment until you have evidence.”

It is important to remember that there is no evidence any of the specific controversies directly link to President Obama himself. No one knows what the various congressional probes will turn up, but until there is a direct connection to the president, the best Republicans can probably do is use the three episodes to illustrate what they see as the dangerous reach — and pervasive incompetence — of the Obama government.

Meantime, the incentives for the incendiary are strong, as the PPP polls show: It helps Republicans raise money, get on Fox, and excite conservatives. It also provides an easy way for someone like Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) to show skeptical conservatives that he is one of them – and therefore should not be challenged in an upcoming GOP primary. This is true for most House Republicans: redistricting has left them far more threatened by a primary challenge from the right than by a general election challenge on the left.

[....]

Republican leaders privately say the best and only way to avoid a public backlash is by using their congressional powers to aggressively investigate each matter – and let the facts carry the news, rather than stunts or rhetoric. “We have stuff here that’s real, so you don’t need the distraction of politics to give people an excuse to say we’re being silly,” said a House Republican leadership aide involved in the investigations. “Everyone is keenly aware of the overreach risk.”

Obama is a more than a politician, he’s a cultural symbol and sadly too many Americans have emotional feelings towards him. The GOP should proceed with a death by 1000 cuts strategy and slow bleed Obama. Every fact that makes Obama look bad, helps weaken the hold he has on Americans. The Right should not pop the champagne cork. They need to be patient and play their cards right and let Obama self destruct.

Too many Republicans still don’t know what they are up against with Obama. They continually underestimate him and do not realize that his a symbol.

GOP FILES BILLS LIMITING IRS OVERSIGHT OF OBAMACARE

by huckfunn ( 11 Comments › )
Filed under Barack Obama, Corruption, Cult of Obama, Democratic Party, Economy, Eric Holder, government, Headlines, Health Care, Misery Index, Politics, Progressives, Regulation, Socialism, taxation, Uncategorized at May 16th, 2013 - 10:28 pm

 

Here we go! Enforcement of the  monstrosity known as Obamacare falls primarily to the IRS. The IRS is expected to hire 16,000 (at a cost of $5 to $10 billion) enforcement agents to ensure that you are in compliance with Obamacare. A vision of Dawg Teh Bounty Hunter kicking down my door and demanding my “papers” just flashed before my eyes. At any rate, GOP Congressmen just filed a bill which would block the IRS from enforcing Obamacare.

In the wake of IRS admission that it targeted tea party and conservative organizations, Republican lawmakers have introduced legislation to block the agency from implementing ObamaCare. Under current law, the IRS is tasked with collecting billions in new taxes, designing rules for subsidies and tax credits and enforcing the individual mandate. The new legislation would block what one member described as IRS “bullying.”

Legislation introduced by GA Rep. Tom Price would block the IRS from implementing or enforcing any part of the ObamaCare law. ”When it comes to an individual’s personal health care decisions, no American should be required to answer to the IRS — an agency that just forfeited its claim to a reputation of impartiality,” Price told The Hill. “It has always been an untenable and unacceptable scenario, and we ought to take this common sense step to take the IRS out of healthcare.

Separate legislation filed by VA Rep. Randy Forbes would prevent the IRS from hiring the estimated 18,000 new agents it needs to enforce the health care law. ”The IRS would be better to police its own than to police the millions of Americans who believe this healthcare law to be bad for their families and bad for our businesses,” Forbes said. NV Sen. Dean Heller is working on similar legislation in the Senate.

The unfolding IRS scandal shows an agency taken over with a political agenda. The repercussions of IRS action in these events was somewhat limited, though, because it only impacted organizations seeking non-profit, tax-exempt status. Unless current law is changed, the agency will have greater powers over the lives of every American. Under this Administration, the IRS can’t be trusted to keep political calculations out of their work. So, it should be kept out of ours.

Here is the link to the article. Hat tip – Breitbart.

Democrat Gun Control Bill inspired by James Bond

by Rodan ( 109 Comments › )
Filed under Democratic Party, Progressives, Weapons at May 16th, 2013 - 6:00 pm

The Democrats are really reaching with gun control.  Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.) is now proposing a bill that would only allow guns to be produced that can be used by the owner only. He got this idea from the latest James Bond film, Skyfall.

A House Democrat inspired by the last James Bond movie has offered legislation to produce handguns with “personalization technology.”

The idea is to produce guns that can only be used by the gun’s owners. Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass.) cited the latest James Bond movie, Skyfall, as inspiration for the bill.

“In the most recent James Bond film, Bond escapes death when his handgun, which is equipped with technology that recognizes him as its owner, becomes inoperable when it gets into the wrong hands,” Tierney’s office said in a statement introducing the bill. “This technology, however, isn’t just for the movies — it’s a reality.”

These clowns are delusional, but dangerous.

Chris Matthew’s tingle is gone

by Rodan ( 112 Comments › )
Filed under Barack Obama, Cult of Obama, Progressives at May 16th, 2013 - 11:00 am

The Charles Johnson of cable news, Chris Matthews has been a fanatic Obamabot. He accuses any opposition to his god-king as racism. He even agreed that Obama was a god and the perfect man. Now after the IRS and AP scandal stories come out, he has soured on his icon.

President Obama “obviously likes giving speeches more than he does running the executive branch,” Chris Matthews said tonight.

[....]

“What part of the presidency does Obama like? He doesn’t like dealing with other politicians — that means his own cabinet, that means members of the congress, either party. He doesn’t particularly like the press…. He likes to write the speeches, likes to rewrite what Favreau and the others wrote for the first draft,” Matthews said.

Obama’s godhood status is starting to crumble. Republicans would be best serve by just staying out of the way and see how this plays out.

Washington Democrats might be turning on the god-king

by Rodan ( 244 Comments › )
Filed under Barack Obama, Cult of Obama, Democratic Party, Progressives at May 15th, 2013 - 3:00 pm

Obamacrumbles

Obama whether Conservatives like it or not, is a cultural icon. No matter what he does, the American people support him and trust him. But recent scandals are turning many Democrats in Washington against him. Obama’s arrogance and cult following never sat well with many Establishment Democrats. Now that scandals are occuring, some of them might be turning on the god-king.

The town is turning on President Obama — and this is very bad news for this White House.

Republicans have waited five years for the moment to put the screws to Obama — and they have one-third of all congressional committees on the case now. Establishment Democrats, never big fans of this president to begin with, are starting to speak out. And reporters are tripping over themselves to condemn lies, bullying and shadiness in the Obama administration.

Obama’s aloof mien and holier-than-thou rhetoric have left him with little reservoir of good will, even among Democrats. And the press, after years of being accused of being soft on Obama while being berated by West Wing aides on matters big and small, now has every incentive to be as ruthless as can be.

This White House’s instinctive petulance, arrogance and defensiveness have all worked to isolate Obama at a time when he most needs a support system. “It feel like they don’t know what they’re here to do,” a former senior Obama administration official said. “When there’s no narrative, stuff like this consumes you.”

Republican outrage is predictable, maybe even manageable. Democratic outrage is not.

The best thing Republicans can do is just let the facts come out and let the chips fall where they may. If they start with hyperbole and hysteria, the public will tune out these scandals. Jon Stewart going after Obama has more impact on the public than Rush Limbaugh ranting. Death by a 1000 cuts is a better strategy than an attempted knock out blow that too many Conservatives think they will achieve.

Obama is NOT a normal politician. He’s a cultural icon and has a hold on the majority of Americans whether we like it or not. Its best for the Right to let the Regime self destruct as they appear to be.

The Stark Reality Of A Governing Philosophy

by Flyovercountry ( 61 Comments › )
Filed under Barack Obama, Cult of Obama, Democratic Party, Progressives at May 15th, 2013 - 11:30 am

Political Cartoons by Jerry Holbert

The alternate headline would be, “see what happens GOP professional campaign idiots when you actually take this man child President on and apply a little pressure.”

I read this at Hotair today. While I usually have a decent amount of respect for Allahpundit’s articles, which means, I’m a fan, he missed the point here, completely. He got it right that the Bamster returned to his familiar and comfortable ground of setting up the straw man that Rush Limbaugh, from his broadcast booth in South Florida somehow manages to control not only the entirety of the Republican Party, but also the thoughts of all who consider themselves conservatives, and then destroying said straw man in a debate where no answer to his charges can be given. He also got it right that this retreat into that familiar territory was fomented by the plethora of breaking scandals that should have plagued him much sooner than they did. Here’s where he got it wrong:

“What’s blocking us right now is a sort of hyper-partisanship in Washington that I was, frankly, hoping to overcome in 2008,” Obama said today, according to the pool report. “My thinking was when we beat them in 2012 that might break the fever, and it’s not quite broken yet. But I am persistent. And I am staying at it. And I genuinely believe there are Republicans out there who would like to work with us but they’re fearful of their base and they’re concerned about what Rush Limbaugh might say about them“As a consequence we get the kind of gridlock that makes people cynical about government,” he told donors. “My intentions over the next 3 ½ years are to govern. … If there are folks who are more interested in winning elections than they are thinking about the next generation then I want to make sure there are consequences to that.”

I believe that there are two phrases in that quote from the Washington Examiner story
which should have us all hopping mad, and not just those of us who are conservative, but all citizens in general.

“What’s blocking us right now is a sort of hyper-partisanship in Washington that I was, frankly, hoping to overcome in 2008,” Obama said today, according to the pool report. “My thinking was when we beat them in 2012 that might break the fever, and it’s not quite broken yet. But I am persistent. And I am staying at it. And I genuinely believe there are Republicans out there who would like to work with us but they’re fearful of their base and they’re concerned about what Rush Limbaugh might say about them.”

snip

“As a consequence we get the kind of gridlock that makes people cynical about government,” he told donors. “My intentions over the next 3 ½ years are to govern. … If there are folks who are more interested in winning elections than they are thinking about the next generation then I want to make sure there are consequences to that.

Elected representatives should be mindful of their voting base. That’s the whole point of a representative republic. These people who make up the Legislative Branch were not sent to our nation’s capitol solely for the purpose of acquiescence to the President’s demands. They were sent there by a base of voters who want their interests represented. In the case of the Republican lawmakers, they were sent to Washington on behalf of people who want the President’s agenda stopped dead in its tracks. For those of you with learning disabilities who make up the main stream media, that does not mean coming together in some sort of grand compromise which will ultimately decide the best way forward with the President’s plan to fundamentally transform America into Amerika, which will exist somewhere to the left of the European style of Socialism that plagues Greece, France, and Spain. It means that we sent them there as a cease and desist order, to inflict gridlock upon a federal behemoth run amok.

Even more chilling is the concept that Barack Obama is comfortable with the concept of our government acting in direct opposition to the will of the people. In fact, according to this rare candid glimpse of this mans thoughts, he feels as though this is preferable to the more antiquated notion that representatives should actually live up to their campaign promises and legislate according to the wishes of those who sent them to do that task.

It’s not very often that we get to see and hear the real thoughts of our President, who spends more of his time lying to us than anything else, (formidable when you consider the amount of time he spends playing golf, partying with show people and such.) The reason for this of course is that he is finally facing a minimal amount of pressure from the consequences of his malfeasance. Right now, Mitt Romney should be throwing darts at the mug of which ever genius adviser told him not to take this man on during the campaign, that this would be viewed as mean spirited and petty, (especially considering the amount of mud flung in Romney’s direction during the months of September and October.)

The other phrase missed of course is the second one that I have highlighted. Somehow, our President has gotten it into his head that his job is to punish Americans in general should he not get his way. Our Legislators made the correct decision to let the Sequestration go ahead and happen, and our President has used that slowed growth of wasteful spending as a tool with which to inflict pain on anyone he could. Here too, he has allowed, however accidentally, that rare glimpse into his true thoughts, and what has been revealed is that he intends to punish all those who will not simply go along with his whims as our nation’s ruler. Those law makers who place the wishes of their constituents above the wishes of Dear Leader will face his wrath, which apparently means some formal consequences. The public airing of one of those aforementioned scandals, which happens to be some of those consequences for the crime of opposing Dear Leader, the IRS inflicting conservative groups with heightened scrutiny, and the lesser talked about targeting of Romney donors with unwarranted audits, has apparently rattled the man to the point where he’ll admit his most closely held ambitions.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but this emotionally broken product of a dysfunctional upbringing seems to be truly convinced that he was elected to the position of Emperor of the United States of America. Unfortunately for the Bamster, there is no such office. In America, we have a President, an office that is constrained by the consent of the governed. Fortunately for us, his fundamental transformation of America into Amerika has been at least so far, temporary. What he has done, can still be undone. The damage he has wrought can be repaired. We just need to win one hell of a lot of elections in order to make that a reality.

Cross Posted from Musings of a Mad Conservative.

7 Chemical Engineers From Pakistan and Saudi Arabia Caught Trespassing at Boston Resevoir

by huckfunn ( 12 Comments › )
Filed under Al Qaeda, Breaking News, CAIR, Crime, Cult of Obama, government, Headlines, immigration, Islam, Islamic Invasion, Islamic Terrorism, Islamists, Janet Napolitano, Jihad, Leftist-Islamic Alliance at May 15th, 2013 - 9:44 am

If theses people aren’t U.S. citizens, they should be deported immediately. Committing any crime above a traffic ticket should be grounds for expulsion for any non-citizen. When are we going to stop coddling the people who would kill us? The people who are sworn to protect and defend this country and her people are not doing their jobs.

BELCHERTOWN (CBS) – Shortly after midnight Tuesday, seven people were caught trespassing at the Quabbin Reservoir.

State Police say the five men and two women are from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore, and “cited their education and career interests” for being in the area. The men told police they were chemical engineers and recent college graduates.

The Quabbin, in Belchertown, is one of the country’s largest man-made public water supplies. Boston’s drinking water comes from the Quabbin and the Wachusett Reservoirs.

State Police say there were no warrants or advisories on any of the individuals and “there was no evidence that the seven were committing any crime beyond the trespassing.”

All seven were allowed to leave and will be summonsed to court for trespassing. The FBI is investigating and routine checks of public water supplies have been increased following the incident.

The seven individuals currently live in Amherst, Cambridge, Sunderland, Northampton and New York City. Police have not released their names because a court date has not been set.

Read the entire article here. 

The Press Can’t Quit Lying

by Mars ( 123 Comments › )
Filed under Anti-semitism, Censorship, Free Speech, Hamas, Hezballah, Israel, Judaism, Political Correctness, Progressives at May 14th, 2013 - 12:14 pm

Once again a member of the press got caught red handed faking photos in an attempt to make Israel look bad.  Back before the swamp became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Muslim Brotherhood things like this got caught and analyzed a lot quicker.  The worst part is that this dirtbag got an award for his blatant attempt to smear Israel and the Jewish people.

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/155617-how-the-2013-world-press-photo-of-the-year-was-faked-with-photoshop

2013 World Press Photo of the Year: Gaza Burial, by Paul Hansen

 

 

It turns out that the 2013 World Press Photo of the Year — the largest and most prestigious press photography award — was, in actual fact, a fake. The World Press Photo association hasn’t yet stripped the photographer, Paul Hansen, of the title, but presumably it’s just a matter of time. Rather than discussing the politics of photo manipulation, though — is it faked, or is it merely enhanced? — we’re going to look at how Hansen managed to trick a panel of experienced judges with his shooping skillz, and how a seasoned computer scientist spotted the fraudulent forgery from a mile off.

The photo, dubbed Gaza Burial, was purportedly captured on November 20, 2012 by Paul Hansen. Hansen was in Gaza City when Israeli forces retaliated in response to rocket fire from Palestinian rocket fire. The photo shows two of the casualties of the Israeli attack, carried to their funeral by their uncles. Now, the event itself isn’t a fake — there are lots of other photos online that show the children being carried through the streets of Gaza — but the photo itself is almost certainly a composite of three different photos, with various limbs spliced together from each of the images, and then further manipulation to illuminate the mourners’ faces.

This revelation comes from Neal Krawetz, a forensic image analyst. There were two main stages to the analysis: First an interrogation of the JPEG’s XMP block, which details the file’s Photoshop save history, and then pixel-level error level analysis (ELA). To begin with, the XMP data shows that the original, base image was converted from Raw format and opened in Photoshop on November 20, 2012 (the same date that it was taken). Then, on January 4, 2013, the XMP block shows that a second Raw image was opened and added to the original. An hour later, a third image was spliced in. Finally, 30 minutes later the photo chimera was actually saved to disk. The January 4 date is interesting because it shows that the final photo was only edited a couple of weeks before the January 17 submission deadline, not soon after original photo was taken in Gaza — in other words, it was edited specifically for the contest.

The next step is error level analysis. ELA basically compares the error level of pixels that have been modified by the JPEG compression algorithm (low amounts of change), and pixels that have been modified with photo manipulation (higher change). In the image above, which has been subjected to ELA, we see clear markers that are consistent with the photo’s spliced-and-manipulated history. Regions that have only been subjected to normal JPEG compression should have faint red/blue patches, while white patches show areas that have been subject to other forces. The bright white edges are caused by Photoshop’s sharpening algorithm — but the other bright white regions are likely due to extensive manipulation. Take a look at the man on the far left, carrying the child’s feet — his magically, digitally illuminated face is clearly shown on the ELA map. In fact, almost every face in the picture has been brightened, as have the children’s shrouds.

The final nail in the coffin is good ol’ shadow analysis. At the time the photo was taken — 10:40am, in the winter — the sun should be fairly low in the sky. The shadows on the left wall are consistent with a sun location (shown below) that should cast deep, dark shadows on the mourners’ right sides — but, as you can see, those magical light rays seem to be at work again.

Basically, Hansen took a series of photos — and then later, realizing that his most dramatically situated photo was too dark and shadowy, decided to splice a bunch of images together and apply a liberal amount of dodging (brightening) to the shadowy regions. For what it’s worth, Hansen claims that the light in the alley was natural — and to be fair, sometimes magical lighting does occur. I think most of you will agree, though, that the photo simply feels fake — there’s just something about the lighting that sets off a warning alarm in your brain. As for why World Press Photo didn’t forensically analyze the photo using freely available, advanced, accurate analysis tools such as FourMatch or FotoForensics… who knows.

Oh, I forgot to mention the best bit: Hansen was meant to provide the Raw file for his winning photo, as proof that he didn’t significantly modify the final image — but so far, he hasn’t.

 

At the least this scum needs stripped of his award.  I however, don’t predict any further punishment since the press agrees with any attempt to slander Israel.

 

The Crime Was Far Worse Than The Cover Up.

by Flyovercountry ( 103 Comments › )
Filed under Al Qaeda, Barack Obama, Islamists, Progressives at May 14th, 2013 - 7:00 am

Political Cartoons by Robert Ariail

For those of you who voted for Barack Obama, I sincerely hope you’re proud of your vote. I hope you find the bag of, “free,” goodies was worth the cost that America can not only ill afford, but also the hidden costs inherent in electing the emotionally broken narcissist produced by a dysfunctional family to our nation’s highest office.

The crime committed by our President is that in two separate instances that we know of so far, Barack Obama put his keen and penetrating mind to the task of performing some political calculus, and determined that it would be better for American citizens to die so that the failures of his policies would go unnoticed just prior to an election. (The other instance of our President performing this calculus and finding murder to be an acceptable part of political expediency was the Fast and Furious scandal. With that little gem of an operation, he decided that a few dead bodies would be useful if they helped him with his gun control legislation.)

While politicians doing bad things in the game of political expediency was not something invented by Barack Obama, he does stand as the first President in our history to make this leap. He is the first President who’s belief that his destiny to fundamentally transform our nation to match his vision gives him license to shirk his duty to protect and defend our Constitution, and actively allow citizens to be killed, so that we might not ever learn that Al Qaeda is not on its heels, and projecting American weakness abroad has indeed wrought a frightful consequent harvest.

In this video, Judge Jeanine Pirro does an excellent job of not only parsing the facts, but in placing the importance and relevance of the accompanying timeline. In short, anyone who still believes that Obama is anything other than a national disgrace is either brain dead, or willfully obtuse. Those who voted for him in 2012 are complicit in his crimes against this country. Those who stayed home or lodged a protest vote are guilty of lesser crimes, but are complicit as well.

The cover up, which included some of the worst lies told to the American Public by any administration during my life time, the arrest, incarceration, and usurpation of a citizen’s first amendment rights, for producing what must be the worst youtube video ever produced, and some of the most egregious witness intimidation ever seen by our 230 year old republic, has not stooped to the level of murder, at least not yet. Make no mistake about it, that was one of the real crimes committed by our President, Barack Obama, his Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and her Director of Central Intelligence, Leon Panetta. I would include an, “et al,” here, but quite frankly, there are just too many of them complicit on this one. This is the stuff angry mobs wielding torches and pitch forks are made of. This is the Obama Administration in its purest form.

Cross Posted from Musings of a Mad Conservative.