Author: Patrick

Short Bio: I started blogging about politics in 2006, as a populist, skeptical left of center type, with a blog called simply, "The Populist."I suspect, but cannot prove; that my blog might have been hacked by some evil neoconservatives. I cannot prove that at all and also too, around the same time. Hackers from China where attacking wordpress blogs. I believe either the Neocons or the Chinese got my site. I don't know honestly know which.Either way, by 2007, I began to see that I really did not fit within the Democrat Party and liberal circles and after my blog was hacked; I created a blog called "Political Byline" and I kept writing; first as a Centrist and then as a Conservative PopulistFor my long bio, see the "About Me" section on this blog.

NJ sting nets Mayors and Rabbis

An interesting story….

Via CNN:

The New Jersey officials and their associates charged in a federal probe of public corruption exchanged hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in parking lots, restaurants, boiler rooms and bathrooms, an acting U.S. attorney said Thursday.

The investigation netted 44 defendants — 29 on corruption charges and 15 for alleged money laundering, acting U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra Jr. said at a news conference.

Defendants were to begin appearing Thursday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Newark.

Among the 15 are five rabbis, including the national leader of the Syrian Jewish community. They are alleged to have laundered more than $3 million in a “high-volume, international money-laundering conspiracy,” Marra said. Their alleged dealings stretched to Israel and Switzerland.

“These complaints paint a disgraceful picture of religious leaders heading money-laundering crews, acting as crime bosses. They used purported charities … as vehicles for laundering millions of dollars in illicit funds,” Marra said.

The rabbis named in the indictments are accused of setting up charitable tax-exempt organizations at their synagogues that they used to launder money.

According to the indictments, a confidential witness working for federal authorities approached the rabbis and offered to make donations to the charities in return for the rabbis writing back a check to the undercover agent. The rabbis collected a fee for the service by writing a smaller check back, sometimes returning $45,000 for a $50,000 donation to the charity, the indictments said.

Charges against the rabbis include bankruptcy fraud, bank fraud and trafficking in counterfeit goods.

Marra said more than $650,000 in bribes was paid to those accused in the criminal complaints. “And the politicians willingly put themselves up for sale,” he said.

I suppose that some of you think that I am going to go on some sort of Anti-Semite rant here, right? Well, Surprise. 😐

Anyone that would use this simple case of corruption to say something to the effect of, “See? All ‘dem Jews are corrupt!”; has got a serious problem.  Corruption is corruption and it does not discriminate against race, color or creed. White Anglo Saxon’s are just capable of being corrupt; as Jews, Blacks, Latinos, or any other race. Anyone that says a anything other than this, is either; 1. Stupid or 2. Anti-Semitic or a racist bigot. (I know, redundency)

So, let me go on record as being quite happy that the justice system is actually, in this case, doing what it is supposed to; for a change.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid: No Healthcare Vote Before August Recess

A victory, albeit a minor one:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said today that the Senate would not attempt to pass sweeping health care reform until after returning from the August recess.

“It’s better to get a product that’s based on quality and thoughtfulness than on trying to just get something through,” Reid told reporters.

Reid said the Senate would try to complete a package in the fall.

Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin said Wednesday that he expected that a bill would not be passed before the upper chamber breaks for recess on August 7.

“All this is no surprise to anyone,” Reid said.

Reid also said that the Senate Finance Committee’s long-awaited markup would be completed before the August 7 date.

Reid said Republicans, who have shown intense resistance to President Obama’s push for health care reform, had asked for more time to work out a package.

“We will do what we can to make sure their concerns are not buried,” Reid said.

via Reid: Health care won’t happen before recess – Politico.com.

So, it looks like the President’s little dog and pony show last night was all for naught. Instead of forcing the hand of Congress; Obama succeeded in making himself look like quite the jackass, in front of the American people. Instead of Obama pushing his Healthcare plan; Obama just played the game of trying to reassure the American people. Which, in this writers opinion failed; because he simply dealt in generalities, instead of specifics.

Seems to me that President Obama believes that the entire Democratic Party is just going to roll over and allow this Healthcare bill to pass unchallenged. It just does not work that way. The entire Democratic Party, is just not sold on the idea of President Obama’s far left socialism. The Blue-Dogs as they are called, still believe in free market values. They are just not going to swallow Obama’s agenda; just because he is black.  This was the fatal flaw in the Obama strategy, thinking that he was going to get his way; and if anyone tried to block it, he would play the race card. It worked during the campaign, but it will not work in Washington D.C.; because the Blog Dogs just are not that stupid.

If the Blue Dogs are going to be convinced to pass something like this, they will have to be told how, in very specific terms, this Healthcare program is going to be paid for. So far, Obama has not given that. Only simple generalities; that will not fly with the Blue Dog Democrats at all.

I will continue to cover this interesting little story. Because I want to see what strategy that the Obama Administration employs. I can tell you, that if the Obama Administration tries to employ the “race card”, there could be some backlash from that as well. Because some in the Democratic Party just do not buy into that whole, “Play the card, if you’re losing the argument” strategy. It could cost Obama in poll numbers and possibly in 2012, should he decide to run again.

Update: You can read the round up of opinions on Memeornadum

Henry Gates-Gate Continued

The Stupidity Continues:

The Cambridge cop prominent Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. claims is a racist gave a dying Reggie Lewis mouth-to-mouth resuscitation in a desperate bid to save the Celtics [team stats] superstar’s life 16 years ago Monday.

“I wasn’t working on Reggie Lewis the basketball star. I wasn’t working on a black man. I was working on another human

Sgt. James Crowley
Sgt. James Crowley

being,” Sgt. James Crowley, in an exclusive interview with the Herald, said of the forward’s fatal heart attack July 27, 1993, at age 27 during an off-season practice at Brandeis University, where Crowley was a campus police officer.

It’s a date Crowley still can recite by rote – and he still recalls the pain he suffered when people back then questioned whether he had done enough to save the black athlete.

“Some people were saying ‘There’s the guy who killed Reggie Lewis’ afterward. I was broken-hearted. I cried for many nights,” he said.

Crowley, 42, said he’s not a racist, despite how some have cast his actions in the Gates case. “Those who know me know I’m not,” he said.

via Officer in Henry Gates flap tried to save Reggie Lewis – BostonHerald.com.

Here is a perfect example of the anti-police leftists in our Country. (Kinda like the Anti-police, Anti-Military Libertarians and so-called Conservatives, that like to come to this Blog… they’re all related)

It is quite obvious to anyone, that has an ounce of a brain; that Mr Gates was clearly trying to provoke a situation, that clearly would have never happened, had Mr. Gates just kept his mouth shut and did what the police officer told him to do. It is also quite obvious that Gates is trying to turn a non-racial situation into a racial situation.

Mr. Gates provoked this situation; because he was black, Mr. Gates is one of the radical liberal Harvard professors who, like our now President, want to have a black ran, owned and operated United States. Who wants white men, like me, to cower in fear of the black man, because the sins of White men over 300 years ago in this country.  “Social Justice” they call it. I call it radical black nationalism. The Punishment of white men everywhere for previous sins of their forefathers.

I have on this blog, since its inception fought against this sort of radical liberal black nationalism and the satanic mindset of collectivism that is now on the path to ruining our country. I will continue to do so. The Liberal blacks can call me racist all they like, I do not care. But this sort of nonsense will not go unchallenged by this writer.

Of course, this sort of Race Baiting and black entitlement is what has kept, and will continue to keep the Democrat Party in power. It has since around 1968 and continues to do so, to this very day.

Update: AllahPundit over at HotAir points out that this said officer, was picked to be an expert of racial profiling, by a black police commissioner. Heh… Nuance Indeed. Something tells me, that this guy Gates is going to get a nice phone call from this local Democratic leadership and get told to basically STFU and disappear. Because if this guys union is backing him up, the last thing the Democrats need is some asshole liberal trying to cause problems with the local caucus.

Others:  Michelle Malkin Patterico’s Pontifications, The Confluence, Riehl World View, Gateway Pundit, Flopping Aces, And So it Goes in Shreveport,

Quote of the Day

So every morning I would wake up at 5:30am, ride the Metro to Union Station, and walk to the headquarters of the Heritage Foundation, where Laura’s studio is located. Her show went live at 9am and interns were expected to arrive around 7. Laura was never there. She would arrive around 8 and head to the gym in the basement of Heritage. In the meantime, interns would be reading every major newspaper in the country in search of news that she could talk about. All the content was developed by the producers and transcribed by the interns for her: a funny anecdote from Wichita; some out of context quote from a war opponent; any piece of audio from Capitol Hill or from broadcast news.

Right around 8:58 Laura would come storming in, still wet from her after gym shower. The producers would quickly brief her on what she was going to say and by 9:05 she would be talking about what she “read in the Post this morning.”

I don’t write this in order to trash the show. I could excuse her berating an intern for getting her latte wrong or attacking another intern on the air for misspelling a word if she had genuine talent. The producers there are smart and funny and genuinely kind to all of the interns and guests. But even they made it very clear to the interns that anyone could do what Laura does. “Our job,” one producer once said to us, “is to make what she does look difficult. It’s not.” If she was just an entertainer then all of this would be superfluous, but she is a best-selling author and what passes today as a public intellectual. Yet she doesn’t even read the paper herself.

It shows. Rush shows up to his studio hours before his show begins and does most of his own research. He is prepared when his show goes live and as a result he is an engaging host and an informed commentator, despite his poor understanding of many issues. Laura, other than being a woman, offers little that is different than the drivel heard from the typical talk-radio personality.

Light night at the PB Pub Presents… Merle Haggard

I post this song, as a statement to the sniveling idiots, who seem to think this Country is a terrible Country and that we torture people and so on… You know who you are and this is to serve you notice.

This is from 1970; during the height of the Vietnam conflict.

Open Thread: Obama's Healthcare presser

So, what do you all think about the Press Conference thing tonight on Healthcare?

Some notes:

  1. Steven Green and Dr. Melissa Clouthier live Blogged about it.
  2. I watched Bill OReilly’s reaction to it, it was as I expected. Bill did not understand any of it.
  3. Some in Congress are saying that there will be no vote before summer recess.
  4. Pelosi says that Congress should work till it is passed.
  5. Obama feels that the Blue Dog Democrats are going to ruin his Presidency.
  6. Some feel the Healthcare bill is better than nothing at all.

My take: I watched the presser myself. All I heard were generalities, no details. Mostly talking points and bluster.

So, what do you all think about his Presser?

Off early for the evening.

I shaved my beard and my hair and in the process, pulled something in my shoulder. 😯

Needless to say, it hurts quite a bit.   :beatup:

Hopefully, I’ll be back to normal tomorrow. :hypnotized:

-Pat

Update: I’m gonna try to get some writing done here. It still hurts, but not quite as bad.