If Benghazi is a "Side Show" Harry Reid and Jay Carney are the Clowns

Bing West at National Review has a very compelling piece on Benghazi in response to former secretary of defense Bob Gates who on Sunday launched a defense of the Obama administration's lack of response to Benghazi.

The administration is sticking with its "Benghazi is just a circus put on by the Republicans" line, right down to Sen. Harry Reid who today continued to claim that the Republicans are only interested in giving Obama a black eye and taking shots at Hillary Clinton which is why they are trying to find out why four Americans were killed and nobody has been brought to justice.  Reid also continued to blame the Republicans for refusing to fund embassy security, a lie which has been totally debunked by Charlotte Lamb and also here in this Heritage Foundation report.

If Benghaz is a side show, Harry Reid and Jay Carney are the clowns.

On Sunday, Mr. Gates claimed that sending the military in "without having any intelligence in terms of what is actually going on on the ground would have been very dangerous."

From Mr. West's post:

Let’s do a quick review: The CIA did send in seven fighters; four special-forces soldiers in Tripoli were ordered not to pitch in; the Marines on Sigonella wanted to help; and there was nothing more to face than a mob inspired by a video (accoridng [sic] to the administration). But for the Pentagon, the risk was just too great. 

Message to those who were already fighting on the ground in Benghazi: You are on your own. SecDef believes it’s “very dangerous” to go into combat.

I'm not sure what more intelligence was necessary besides the real-time video they had at the Defense Department combined with Greg Hicks on the phone with Hillary Clinton at 2:00 reporting that Ambassador Stevens said they were "under attack."

Are we to assume that our military is no more flexible than that?

What signal does that send to the world?  Go ahead and attack wherever you like because the military needs time to prepare a response, so you can attack freely, or as Jay Carney might say, in an "unfettered" manner.

Any military veterans out there care to respond?

Pathetic.

Read the whole thing.

Huntsman and Harry

Seems like Jon Huntsman's campaign would be a little more credible if he just ran as a Democrat.  Between his praise of Obama and Harry Reid's endorsement of Huntsman, you'd think that would be bad enough for the former ambassador, but now we find his family has made generous financial donations to Harry Reid.

Just run as a Democratic challenger to the incumbent, already.

On the Budget Battle and Shutdown

I'm both fascinated and disgusted by the looming government shut down and the budget battle.  More disgusted than fascinated, actually.  To see Harry Reid stand up on the Senate floor and blast Republicans for this current situation is ...  well, the most bizarre thing I've seen lately.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this a problem created by the Democrats?  Didn't they have full control of Washington before November and didn't they opt out of passing a budget?  They just bailed on it.  Kicked the can down the road.  And now they're bitchin'?  Seriously?

Meanwhile, weeks after the fact, Putz in Chief decides to vent his ire over the whole situation and become "involved" (between vacations, trips, golf, and campaign stops). 

Yes, I'd say more disgusted than anything, but it is fascinating to watch.  Like a bug.

Both Republicans and Democrats Guilty in Loading Crap Sandwich Omnibus

I'll be perusing the Ever-Loving-Crap-Sandwich-Lobotomy-Inducing-Piece-of-Bovine-Excrement Omnibus bill throughout the day, as many others will be doing, and as I do, I'd like to point out that it's not just Democrats, of course, who have loaded this piece of junk with earmarks.

Several "Republicans" had added their two cents worth as well, including Mitch McConnell who has included a request for "$650,000 for a genetic technology center at the University of Kentucky."  Sen. Lindsey Graham "has a $379,000 earmark to study port dredging in Charleston."

Fox News mentioned two "Republicans" who have over 200 earmarks apiece in this thing, but I didn't catch who they were.  I'll find them today.

As egregious and offensive as the earmarks from BOTH sides, Harry Reid's insistence that it be passed immediately is even worse.  He's learned nothing from the November elections and the voices of the people who clearly insisted that proposed legislation actually be read by those voting on it, be debated, amended, and transparent to the people.  Words fail me at his audacity.  Fail.

What are the bets now that should Congress work through the Christmas break on this thing that Obama goes on to Hawaii anyway?

Follow the aggravation aggregation on Memorandum today.

The Ever Loving Crap Sandwich Lobotomy Inducing Piece of Bovine Excrement Omnibus Bill

You should never , EVER blog when drunk or furious.  Ever.

Considering that my head is about to explode and that I should definitely be drinking, I probably shouldn't even be typing my name right now, much less attempting to read the Proof-That-Harry-Reid-Has-Lost-His-Mind Crap-Laden-One-Way-Ticket-To-The-Loony-Bin-For-Life Omnibus bill.

No, I'm not drunk, but I oughta be to get through this piece of bovine excrement spending bill.

Is he freakin' CRAZY?  Don't answer that.
Is he KIDDING here?  Don't answer that, either.

And what in the HELL is wrong with these "Republicans" who are thinking about going along with this crap-sandwich?

Did they learn NOTHING from the November election?  Let me suggest that this is way, WAY out of the scope and function of a lame duck Congress.  Way way.  There is no freakin' way that this thing should go through as is.  Who in the hell is going to read a 2,000 page piece of crap like this ever, much less right now when they're all trying to get out of there for Christmas?

Talk about waking up in some parallel universe...

Okay.  Well let's just look at some of the tasty tidbits in this thing, shall we?

Red State has posted the following earmarks as posted on Twitter by Senator John McCain:

$247,000 - Virus free grapes in Washington State
$413,000 - Peanut research in Alabama
$125,000 - Fishery equipment for the Guam Fisherman’s Cooperative Association
$349,000 - Swine waste management in North Carolina
$277,000 - Potato pest management in Wisconsin
$246,000 - Bovine tuberculosis treatment in Michigan and Minnesota
$522,000 - Cranberry and blueberry disease
$500,000 - Oyster safety in Florida

There's more:

$165,000 for maple syrup research in Vermont
$400,000 for solar parking canopies and plug-in electric stations in Kansas


Read the bill here, because you know your Senator won't.

How about the formation of a fact-finding Commission to study  and investigate the Federal government's detention and holding of some 2,300 Latin Americans of Japanese descent during WWII?  (p. 231)

How about $1,000,000 to watch water evaporate in the desert? (p. 450).  How in the hell do I get THAT job?

I'll keep digging through this.  Feel free to join me and post whatever you find.

Keep in mind, Harry Reid wants to smack this crap sandwich down on your Christmas table right next to your turkey and your (lame) duck dinner.  He wants no discussion, no reading, no analysis, no transparency.

Thanks so much, Nevada, for re-electing this buffoon.

(More reaction  at Memeorandum)

Update  $2,600,000 for an agricultural pest facility in Hawaii.  (p. 89).

The Great Debate

I didn't get to watch the Reid/Angle debate last night, but from most accounts she cleaned his clock.  Did you watch?  What did you think?

Oh what joy to be able to show Harry the door in November!  Oh I hope, I hope, I hope!

"Centrist" Democrats Like Their Abominable Bill Just the Way it Is

After 25 straight days of "the longest Senate debate in recent history," our senators are now off work until after the first of the year. Meanwhile, the health care bill that we had to hurry up and pass because "people are dying!" sits on a lonely desk somewhere waiting for more changes, revisions, and debate. That won't happen until January, although no doubt the back room deals and bribes are still underway.

The Hill reports this morning that there is "very little wiggle room" in the upcoming talks to merge the two bills. Nearly two dozen "centrist" senators, including Mary Landrieu, who don't favor changing their version of the bill very much. (Although how anyone can call Mary Landrieu a "centrist" escapes me.)

They don't want a "bill that imposes a tax surcharge on the nation’s highest income earners or reduces the tax burden on so-called Cadillac health insurance plans, which are held by many unionized workers." They also don't want a public option included in the final bill.

Landrieu is adamant about keeping that provision that taxes those "Cadillac" plans because she's concerned about cost-containment. If she's so worried about cost-containment, she should refuse her $300 million bribe, but that's beside the point.

Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska says he won't support the bill if it taxes those making over $500,000.

Do either of those two people have any credibility left?

These senators that were bought off, Landrieu, Nelson, and all the others, try to excuse this action by saying that it's just politics; it's done all the time! If you don't understand that, you don't understand politics! Mary Landrieu said, “Those who have dubbed this provision the ‘Louisiana Purchase' know little about lawmaking and even less about my views on health-care reform." Business as usual. Got it.

I'm sure back room deals are, in fact, part of how Washington works and I'm sure it's been that way for a long time. Doesn't make it right. And it especially doesn't excuse passing bad legislation. If you make a back room deal to get something for your state, at least try to be sure the rest of the country isn't getting totally screwed in the meantime.

At any rate, the poor, overworked senators are all back at home (call them!) as are your representatives (call them, too!). They'll mosey on back to Washington in January, all the while patting themselves on the back for their "historic" achievement, and begin the final task of driving the nails into the heart of the American heath care industry and economy.

Historic, indeed.

(H/T: Memeorandum)

Obamacare Forever

Today is our last day of finals at school, then I'm off until after the first of the year and we'll start a new semester when we return! Yay!

While I'm giving finals this morning, and figuring grades, you might like to read this nugget from Red State (or this from Weekly Standard) about the provision in Reid's bill to prevent future Congresses from repealing Obamacare:

Section 3403 of Senator Harry Reid’s amendment requires that “it shall not be in order in the Senate or the House of Representatives to consider any bill, resolution, amendment, or conference report that would repeal or otherwise change this subsection.” The good news is that this only applies to one section of the Obamacare legislation. The bad news is that it applies to regulations imposed on doctors and patients by the Independent Medicare Advisory Boards a/k/a the Death Panels.

Oh, they'll tell you that's not what it means, but they'll also tell you that this bill lowers the deficit, doesn't fund abortions, and doesn't cover illegals.

They lie.

Don't forget to send those retirement cards, and be sure to add Harry Reid to your list.

The Senate Sneaks Through the Dead of Night to Destroy Health Care

1:00 A.M. tonight. That's when the Senate will vote on cloture for the Reid-Baucus-Dodd-Harkin amendment #2376.”

What kind of Senate does business like this? Voting in the dead of night, conducting business behind closed doors, totally and completely corrupting and hijacking the legislative process, buying votes and trading favors...it smacks of corruption, lies, and dirt. One feels used, ignored and belittled as an observer in this whole process.

Cheap. Tawdry.

Harry Reid's version of Obamacare is the worst one yet. And it's about to pass the Senate. Michelle Malkin points out that illegals will be covered as federal dollars will be used to fund abortions, despite what Obama tells us. The American President is simply lying to the people.

Cheap. Tawdry. Insidious.

Mary Landrieu's vote was bought. Senator Nelson's vote was bought. No telling what else went on that we don't know about yet. Is it too much to ask that those we send to Congress actually stand up and represent what the people want? The majority of the American people don't want this health care bill. Reform, yes. This bill? No.

This bill will do nothing to reform the health care industry. It just won't. It will make it more expensive. Your own premiums, if you have insurance currently, will surely go up; meanwhile, your taxpayer dollars will be going to buy insurance for other people, some of whom don't even want coverage. They won't get a vote.

It will do nothing to lower costs of medical care. Care will be rationed and more difficult to get. You'll have to wait longer to see your doctor, that is, if he stays in practice. With the influx of millions into the system, Medicare and Medicaid will be overwhelmed.

Honestly, it's all bad. I can't find anything redeeming or good in this bill at all. I've tried. It's just not there. The pious can sit back now and say, "Oh we've done well! We're going to cover the poor and underprivileged so they, too, can have health care insurance! Equality and Coverage For All!" Bull hockey.

All you've done is degrade the system for everyone else.

You haven't improved one damn thing.

And in the dead of a cold winter's night, it's coming. Your cheap, bought-off representatives in Washington are sneaking the big one over on you. Destroying the American economy, capitalism and free enterprise. Making us like Europe, like someone we don't want to be.

If it's so great, why isn't Congress going to be covered by this abomination? Because they KNOW it's bad.

Cheap. Tawdry. Insidious. Filthy.

(H/T: Memeorandum)

I Can't Eat Crab Claws This Weekend! I've Got to Bankrupt the Country!

Via The Dead Pelican, Harry Reid, master of diplomacy, has canceled his New Orleans "Saturday brunch" fundraiser scheduled for this weekend.

Somehow, that made me giggle. Harry "nothing-can-be-more-important-than-passing-health-care-legislation" Reid backs out of his fundraiser with James Carville and Mary Landrieu which has been scheduled for weeks. Reid was all set to call a weekend recess until the Republicans called him out on his hypocrisy.

According to The Hill, Reid at first whined a little bit about people "trying to denigrate" him, but then:

"Reid said he would never admonish a fellow senator for holding a fundraiser. 'I would never, ever intentionally come to the floor and try to talk to somebody about having had a fundraiser and that's why they’re trying to get out of here,' he said. About taking the weekend off, Reid added, 'I thought it would be appropriate because we've worked pretty hard here to have a day or two off.'"

So I guess if John Boehner or Mitch McConnell had wanted to take the weekend off to go to a fundraiser, ahem, I mean, because they'd "been working so hard", it would have been cool with Reid? Would he have called a weekend recess for them?

Who is Reid fooling, anyway? He wanted a weekend off because they've "worked pretty hard"? Seriously? It had nothing to do with his scheduled fundraiser? Uh, okay.

But it's crazy because, my goodness, you know, from an organizers standpoint, I'm thinking of all the planning and preparation down the tubes! If I'm planning a big-shot brunch in New Orleans, I've ordered seafood, got a nice chef lined up, ordered flowers, caterers, decorators, valets, and other assorted staff.

Hold the phone! We've got to bankrupt the country this weekend! I can't go to any brunch! I've got to pass a bill that cuts Medicare and kills jobs! I've got to pass a mandate for every person in the country to purchase health insurance or else they face jail time! I can't be bothered with eating marinated crab claws right now!

This was a lose/lose call for Reid. But he ought to be accustomed to that.

Ah, the audacity of Harry Reid. He could almost teach Obama a thing or two.

"An Air Space in the Cellular Tissue of Plants"

Sort of like Andrew Sullivan, but not really, I'm taking a short "lacuna." Am I digging through Going Rogue in search of Trig stories? Am I digging through Sarah Palin's memoir for more salacious gossip on the wardrobe scandal?

No, no, nothing so worldly and important as that! I'll leave that stuff to the professionals like Andrew Sullivan!

I'm digging through Harry Reid's big baby.

Want to help?

Actually, besides "hiatus", lacuna in Botany means an air space in the cellular tissue of plants. Could that also refer to Sully's brain?

David Vitter, Harry Reid, and RICO

The Dead Pelican is reporting that Sen. David Vitter is requesting a RICO investigation of ACORN. He has written a letter to Eric Holder in which he says, "Now that both chambers of Congress have agreed to cut off funding for ACORN, the Justice Department should use all of the current legal tools at its disposal - like the RICO Act - to ensure that the taxpayer dollars that ACORN receives are being used properly."

On Tuesday Harry Reid dismissed Vitter's calls for a congressional investigation, basically saying that Congress had better things to do, like health care reform. This is an incredibly irresponsible response from Reid, but why should we be surprised?

The Hill had Reid's rebuke of Vitter. Reid said "As the U.S. Attorney firings and DOJ hiring scandals remind us, we should be very careful about any activities that could be viewed as politicizing investigations and law enforcement decisions," Reid said. "Toward that end, it is unfortunate that in your letter you thought it relevant to note reports claiming ACORN's ties to 'liberal research and training institutes.'" "The recent history cited above demonstrates it is very harmful to conduct any investigation... based on the political leanings of a group," he added.
Right. As long as it suits your own political side, that is. Investigating the CIA isn't political at all, right? Reopening a four year old, closed investigation wouldn't have any political meaning behind it at all, right? Got it.

You can read Vitter's letter at The Dead Pelican. I'm off to check out Reid's latest polling numbers.

Joe Wilson Must Be a Racist

Sometime next week the Democrats in the House will censure Rep. Joe Wilson with a Resolution unless he publicly apologizes on the House floor for calling Obama a liar last week.

Wilson immediately apologized to Obama who has accepted the apology; the Speaker has even said that everyone needs to move back to the debate on health care. This is apparently not good enough for some, however, and Pelosi's spokesman Brendan Daly said, “He has until next week sometime to apologize and if he doesn’t do it, they’ll go ahead and do a resolution.”

The lesson in this story, it seems, is the continuing double standard between parties in politics. The videos of bad behavior from the Democrats during Bush's speeches have circulated widely this week. Nobody demanded an apology then. Harry Reid called Bush a liar in 2004. Nobody censured Reid or demanded an apology. Apparently the difference is that Reid didn't do it on the House floor.

I'm not defending Wilson's breach of decorum. There were better ways to prove Obama's lies than to shout out from the floor during his speech.

Wilson's frustration with Obama's persistent "misrepresentations" of what is in the bill is shared by many of us. I believe Obama would have a better chance passing this bureaucratic nightmare of a bill if he'd at least tell the truth about it. It's a bad bill, but that's another issue at the moment.

Maureen Dowd doesn't see any problem with the bill, it seems, or with the lies. She doesn't think Obama was lying. She thinks Wilson disagreed with Obama just because Obama is a black man. For a party that purports a desire to move beyond race, it seems the left is the party constantly bringing it up. She writes, "But Wilson’s shocking disrespect for the office of the president — no Democrat ever shouted 'liar' at W. when he was hawking a fake case for war in Iraq — convinced me: Some people just can’t believe a black man is president and will never accept it."

It's the old "shoot the messenger" theory, I guess. Wilson pointed out that Obama was lying when he said illegals would not be covered, so he must be punished. He must be a racist because he disagrees with Obama.

Dowd even takes shots at the South in her column today, "For two centuries, the South has feared a takeover by blacks or the feds. In Obama, they have both." Stereotype much, Maureen?

Of course, as we all know, Wilson was correct in his belief that illegals would be able to obtain coverage because as many of us have been pointing out for months, there is no mechanism in place to stop them.

At any rate, in the end, Wilson was wrong for shouting from the floor; he apologized to Obama; Obama accepted the apology. Committees began work this week to try to close the loophole in the bill regarding illegals. Move on.

(H/T: Memeorandum)

Harry Reid's Reading List

Harry Reid stated on Tuesday that he hasn't read a single one of Sotomayor's legal opinions and doesn't intend to:



This shouldn't surprise any of us as nobody in Congress actually read The Porkulus bill either. But in case you want to be more informed than Senator Reid, The Caucus has compiled some of Sotomayor's notable opinions and articles here.

Harry Reid Flips on Guantanamo

Harry Reid has changed his position on Guantanamo; a week ago he declared none of the prisoners should come to America. Today, Supermax is just fine.

Via Marc Ambinder at The Atlantic, consider this excerpt from an interview between Harry Reid and Jon Ralston regarding the closure of Gitmo.

"Reid, who has been criticized for his contradictory positions on Guantanamo Bay, said some prisoners will be put in maximum security prisons on U.S. soil, emphasizing the safety of those facilities:

"'A maximum security prison in the United States, there has never been a single escape.'"

"JR: 'You think eventually the plan is going to be to put them in maximum security prisons here in this country, correct?'

"'I think some. Keep in mind, Jon, there's so many different issues. There's no question that a number of these people who are there are not guilty of anything. The Uighurs, these are a group of Muslim Chinese who are guilty of nothing. They were arrested, put in there. They are there. They are doing nothing. We're going to have to find someplace to put them. We can't send them back to China. Should they go into a maximum security prison? Probably not.'"

This is the same Harry Reid who on May 19, on said this:

REID: If people are -- if terrorists are released in the United States, part of what we don’t want is them be put in prisons in the United States. We don’t want them around the United States.

and then this:

REID: I’m saying that the United States Senate, Democrats and Republicans, do not want terrorists to be released in the United States. That’s very clear.

QUESTION: No one’s talking about releasing them. We’re talking about putting them in prison somewhere in the United States.

REID: Can’t put them in prison unless you release them.

QUESTION: Sir, are you going to clarify that a little bit? I mean (OFF-MIKE).

REID: I can’t -- I can’t -- I can’t make it any more clear than the statement I have given to you. We will never allow terrorists to be released in the United States. I think the majority -- I speak for the majority of the Senate.

So what has changed in seven days? Seven days ago he didn't want the Guantanamo terrorists anywhere near the United States, much less released into the United States. Now he has totally reversed that and says that they'll be just fine in a Supermax, thanks. It even appears that he's softening on the release issue as well for some of them, specifically the Uighurs.

In the Ralston interview, Reid makes it sound as if the Uighurs were simply rounded up at random and stuck in Gitmo. Never mind that they, by their own words, were training in a Tora Bora al Qaeda camp. Never mind that they had desires to wreak havoc in China.

Thomas Joscelyn cites four reasons why it is dangerous to assume the Uighurs are not dangerous. The reasons are listed below but go here to read his explanation.

"First, the Uighur detainees are alleged, for good reasons, to be members or associates of the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM). The ETIM is a designated terrorist organization affiliated with al Qaeda."

"Second, many of the Uighur detainees have freely admitted during their tribunals and hearings at Guantanamo that they were trained by two known terrorists: Hasan Mahsum and Abdul Haq."

"Third, the Uighur detainees’ training took place at a camp in Tora Bora, Afghanistan -– a known stronghold for al Qaeda and the Taliban."

"Fourth, the Uighur detainees’ training makes them a potential threat not just to the Chinese government/military forces."

So as I see it, Reid is faulty on two counts here - his reasoning that the Uighurs have done nothing wrong is quite dangerous, but his total reversal on the Guantanamo issue is also troubling. One statement in particular bothers me - Reid now seems to be comfortable with the Supermax idea because "there has never been a single escape."

What is bothersome about this statement is the naivete of the idea that escape is the only problem with bringing terrorists here (Uighur or otherwise). Andy McCarthy outlined the other problems at The Corner on NRO. We know that terrorists can recruit, plan, and execute attacks from within prison walls. This has been documented. See the McCarthy article for the specific citations.

In addition, just because they can't escape doesn't mean the prisons won't be targeted by terrorist organizations to get them out. One specific example McCarthy cites is this: "So, for example, when the WTC was bombed in 1993, the other top project on the cell's agenda was breaking Nosair out of Attica. When the WTC bombers were arrested, their co-conspirators plotted several atrocities (a conspiracy to murder Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on a trip to New York and a plot to bomb New York City landmarks) which, in part, were designed (as they discussed in recorded conversations) to induce American authorities to release the prisoners. "

Also, consider this information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act regarding attacks on prison guards at Gitmo. Those guards are trained military professionals - not civilians. I don't mean to imply that Supermax prison guards aren't trained or professional, but dealing with prisoners of this sort is a whole different experience. How will your average civilian prison guard fare against terrorists who can turn the most common thing, like an iguana tail, into a weapon?

There is this incident from the above referenced report: "Nicolucci said one of the most serious incidents occurred this May, too recent to be recorded in the Pentagon's released reports. A prisoner staged an apparent suicide attempt while his inmates slicked the floors with human waste, seeking to overpower guards when they slipped, he said. 'We provide fans in order to keep them cool,"Nicolucci recalled."And they were using the basket, or the grate of the fan as a shield, the blades as machetes, the pole as a battering ram.'"

Harry Reid seems to conclude that escape is the only real problem with keeping the terrorists in prisons inside America but that tells me he hasn't done his homework. Or he's just clueless, which is also a possibility.

McCarthy raises the concern that eventually, once in our Supermax prisons, these people would have to be released: "I note that in 2001, the Supreme Court (in Zadvydas v. Davis) concocted a due process right for even deportable/excludable aliens to be released on bail, in the U.S., if the government fails to deport them within a statutorily prescribed period. Eventually, Gitmo detainees brought to the U.S. would get the benefit of this ruling — bet on it."

So again, I ask, has Team Obama thought this thing through? Clearly they have no plan. And clearly Harry Reid changes his mind fairly often. So isn't this an issue that should be better considered by the administration? Or is a campaign promise more important than national security? Just askin'.

Related:
Uighur Release Coming Soon
The Chinese Uighurs
Obama's Speech on National Security
Richard Clarke on the Gitmo Video