Guess Not: Obama Administration denies report of direct nuke talks with Iran

This is why I never, ever, hit publish; until a story has been out a while. You know that New York Times story saying that the Obama Administration was going to engage in direct talks with Iran about their nukes?  

Well, maybe not. Here is the story via Reuters:

(Reuters) – The White House on Saturday denied a report in the New York Times that said the Obama administration had agreed to one-on-one talks withIran on its nuclear program.

National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said in a statement the United States would continue to work with fellow permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany to resolve the issue.

"It’s not true that the United States and Iran have agreed to one-on-one talks or any meeting after the American elections," the statement said.

"We continue to work with the P5+1 (five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany) on a diplomatic solution and have said from the outset that we would be prepared to meet bilaterally."

You know that the liberal left has turned on this Presidential Administration, when they start floating stories that are not true about them. They did this to the Bush Administration; and now they are doing to Obama’s Administration. This is what happens when you kick your base in the teeth and make promises that you have no intention of keeping. This is also what happens when you overreach and then fail at keeping your core promises; you lose the media.

Others: American Spectator, Weasel Zippers, The Political Carnival, Wizbang, The Agonist, Hot Air, The Raw Story, The PJ Tatler and New York Magazine  (via Memeorandum)

Video: CBN NewsWatch: October 16, 2012

On CBN Newswatch, Oct. 16:

  • Second presidential debate crucial to convince swing voters
  • Romney rises in support among women
  • Top 100 government waste offenders listed in book
  • …and more.

(Via CBNNews.com)

Drop in voter registration in Ohio

Despite what has happened locally here and how I feel about it; I must continue on writing and blogging about what I consider to be important.

It seems that in Ohio, there has been a decline in voter registration, especially in Democratic Party strongholds. This is also signaling a national trend. Here is the Story and Video via Fox News Channel:

The Video:

The Story:

“Don’t boo, vote,” President Obama often says in his stump speech whenever crowds boo a Romney plan.

The off-hand call to vote may be by design. It comes amid a precipitous decline in Democratic voter registration in key swing states — nowhere more apparent than in Ohio.

Voter registration in the Buckeye State is down by 490,000 people from four years ago. Of that reduction, 44 percent is in Cleveland and surrounding Cuyahoga County, where Democrats outnumber Republicans more than two to one.

“I think what we’re seeing is a lot of spin and hype on the part of the Obama campaign to try to make it appear that they’re going to cruise to victory in Ohio,” Cuyahoga County Republican Chairman Rob Frost said. “It’s not just Cuyahoga County. Nearly 350,000 of those voters are the decrease in the rolls in the three largest counties, Cuyahoga, Hamilton and Franklin.”

Frost points out that those three counties all contain urban centers, where the largest Democrat vote traditionally has been.

Ohio is not alone. An August study by the left-leaning think tank Third Way showed that the Democratic voter registration decline in eight key swing states outnumbered the Republican decline by a 10-to-one ratio. In Florida, Democratic registration is down 4.9 percent, in Iowa down 9.5 percent. And in New Hampshire, it’s down down 19.7 percent.

“It’s understandable that enthusiasm is going to wane a little bit from that historic moment (in 2008),” says Michelle Diggles, the study co-author and senior policy adviser for Third Way. “You can only elect the first African-American president of this country once.

Of course, there are other reasons why people are just not happy anymore with the Democrats:

One Democratic Party consultant told Fox News that independents in Ohio may be leaning Democratic – an effect that may be tied to the bailout of Chrysler and GM. One of eight people in Ohio work in businesses directly tied to the auto industry. The state has been carpeted with Obama ads that point to his bailout of the industry and it’s managed bankruptcy.

I do not mean to toot my own horn; but in this case, I must. I predicted that stuff like this would happen on my old blog. When the bailouts happened, and when the healthcare bill was pushed through. The truth is Independents are simply running away from Obama. Another thing too that this report did not cover; is that some Democrats are simply not happy with the Obama Administration. This is for a number for reasons: The continuation of Bush’s polices on the war on terror and the war is one. The failure to close the prisons in Gitmo is another. The continuing of the war in Afghanistan is another. Also too, Ohio is also a union State and when Obama’s chief of staff at the time, said “F*** the big three!”, many in Ohio heard about that too. This all makes for a unpopular President.

Also too; the economy in Ohio, here in Michigan; and nationally, just plain sucks. There are many small businesses in Ohio, many of whom are faithful Democrats; and they are just looking at their bottom lines and are looking at this President and wondering, “What on earth are they doing to us?” To be fair, it is not all of Obama’s fault. The Federal Reserve with it’s QE1, QE2 and now QE3 is not helping the situation at all. When the fed prints more money, inflation happens, which drives the prices of everything up and this, in turn, hurts businesses. Which, in turn, hurts the economy. Bill Clinton learned this lesson early on, and made adjustments. Jimmy Carter and this President, did not. For that, they are paying a price at the polls.

I should also mention that this current foreign policy debacle in Libya, and Egypt and the rest of the Arab World is also weighing heavy on the minds of people as well. As it was in 1979, with the Iran hostage crisis. Now, Iran is being a problem again. Which is very ironic.

History has such a strange way of repeating itself.

Videos: Liberal rag Mother Jones delivers another nothing-burger on Mitt Romney, this time, on Israel and the middle east

Here we go again, a follow-up to the earlier nothing-burger that the liberals seem to believe will destroy Mitt Romney. Here comes another nothing-burger.

Via liberal rag Mother Jones:

On the Middle East Conflict:

Quote:

I’m torn by two perspectives in this regard. One is the one which I’ve had for some time, which is that the Palestinians have no interest whatsoever in establishing peace, and that the pathway to peace is almost unthinkable to accomplish. Now why do I say that? Some might say, well, let’s let the Palestinians have the West Bank, and have security, and set up a separate nation for the Palestinians. And then come a couple of thorny questions. And I don’t have a map here to look at the geography, but the border between Israel and the West Bank is obviously right there, right next to Tel Aviv, which is the financial capital, the industrial capital of Israel, the center of Israel. It’s—what the border would be? Maybe seven miles from Tel Aviv to what would be the West Bank…The other side of the West Bank, the other side of what would be this new Palestinian state would either be Syria at one point, or Jordan. And of course the Iranians would want to do through the West Bank exactly what they did through Lebanon, what they did near Gaza. Which is that the Iranians would want to bring missiles and armament into the West Bank and potentially threaten Israel. So Israel of course would have to say, “That can’t happen. We’ve got to keep the Iranians from bringing weaponry into the West Bank.” Well, that means that—who? The Israelis are going to patrol the border between Jordan, Syria, and this new Palestinian nation? Well, the Palestinians would say, “Uh, no way! We’re an independent country. You can’t, you know, guard our border with other Arab nations.” And now how about the airport? How about flying into this Palestinian nation? Are we gonna allow military aircraft to come in and weaponry to come in? And if not, who’s going to keep it from coming in? Well, the Israelis. Well, the Palestinians are gonna say, “We’re not an independent nation if Israel is able to come in and tell us what can land in our airport.” These are problems—these are very hard to solve, all right? And I look at the Palestinians not wanting to see peace anyway, for political purposes, committed to the destruction and elimination of Israel, and these thorny issues, and I say, “There’s just no way.” And so what you do is you say, “You move things along the best way you can.” You hope for some degree of stability, but you recognize that this is going to remain an unsolved problem. We live with that in China and Taiwan. All right, we have a potentially volatile situation but we sort of live with it, and we kick the ball down the field and hope that ultimately, somehow, something will happen and resolve it. We don’t go to war to try and resolve it imminently. On the other hand, I got a call from a former secretary of state. I won’t mention which one it was, but this individual said to me, you know, I think there’s a prospect for a settlement between the Palestinians and the Israelis after the Palestinian elections. I said, “Really?” And, you know, his answer was, “Yes, I think there’s some prospect.” And I didn’t delve into it.

He is speaking the truth here. The Palestinians do NOT want a two-State solution. They want Israel pushed into the sea. They have said this a thousand times. Besides that, that land is Israel’s land, it says that in the Bible and that should be the end of the discussion; as for as this writer is concerned.

On Iraq and Nukes:

Quote:

If I were Iran, if I were Iran—a crazed fanatic, I’d say let’s get a little fissile material to Hezbollah, have them carry it to Chicago or some other place, and then if anything goes wrong, or America starts acting up, we’ll just say, “Guess what? Unless you stand down, why, we’re going to let off a dirty bomb.” I mean this is where we have—where America could be held up and blackmailed by Iran, by the mullahs, by crazy people. So we really don’t have any option but to keep Iran from having a nuclear weapon.

This is a classic foreign policy position that President himself also supports. In the case of Iran, it is totally warranted.

The president’s foreign policy, in my opinion, is formed in part by a perception he has that his magnetism, and his charm, and his persuasiveness is so compelling that he can sit down with people like Putin and Chávez and Ahmadinejad, and that they’ll find that we’re such wonderful people that they’ll go on with us, and they’ll stop doing bad things. And it’s an extraordinarily naive perception.

Again, this is true; the recent events have proven that many times over.

Once again, Mother Jones has proven itself incapable of bringing any sort of “real” dirt out on Governor Romney. The only thing that they have; is the Governor speaking honestly about President Obama, his foreign policy and Israel. Now it seems that Mother Jones is now focusing on the private life of the person that hosted the fundraiser. This very thing, ought to show you what it is, that we are dealing with here.

It is called desperation.

The fallout continues

The fallout from the embassy attacks is continuing.

Some on the left now are even upset about it.

Video via Gateway Pundit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOnQJehP_is

Now there comes word, via one of the most liberal papers in the U.K., that the State Department actually knew that these attacks were coming, and did absolutely nothing:

The killings of the US ambassador to Libya and three of his staff were likely to have been the result of a serious and continuing security breach, The Independent can reveal.

American officials believe the attack was planned, but Chris Stevens had been back in the country only a short while and the details of his visit to Benghazi, where he and his staff died, were meant to be confidential.

The US administration is now facing a crisis in Libya. Sensitive documents have gone missing from the consulate in Benghazi and the supposedly secret location of the “safe house” in the city, where the staff had retreated, came under sustained mortar attack. Other such refuges across the country are no longer deemed “safe”.

Some of the missing papers from the consulate are said to list names of Libyans who are working with Americans, putting them potentially at risk from extremist groups, while some of the other documents are said to relate to oil contracts.

According to senior diplomatic sources, the US State Department had credible information 48 hours before mobs charged the consulate in Benghazi, and the embassy in Cairo, that American missions may be targeted, but no warnings were given for diplomats to go on high alert and “lockdown”, under which movement is severely restricted.

 — Read the rest at the U.K. Independent

Of course, the Obama Administration is in denial mode, via The Politico:

The Obama administration is flatly denying a blaring British newspaper report that the U.S. diplomats in Libya were killed as a result of a “continuing security breach,” and that “credible information” about possible attacks had been ignored.

A U.S. official told POLITICO: “There’s no intelligence indicating that the attack in Benghazi was premeditated.”

[…]

Shawn Turner, spokesman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, emailed: “This is absolutely wrong. We are not aware of any actionable intelligence indicating that an attack on the U.S. Mission in Benghazi was planned or imminent.”

The guys over at Powerline are not buying it at all:

Of course, the Independent story didn’t say that the Obama administration had “actionable intelligence indicating that an attack on the U.S. Mission in Benghazi was planned or imminent.” It said that “the US State Department had credible information 48 hours before mobs charged the consulate in Benghazi, and the embassy in Cairo, that American missions may be targeted,” but did nothing to step up security. The administration’s denial does not contradict the Independent’s statement, and the fact that the denial is phrased so narrowly suggests that the Independent’s report is, in fact, accurate.

[…]

So the Obama administration is already in cover-up mode. Note how willing administration spokesmen are to take absurd positions, secure in the knowledge that reporters will help them with their cover-up.

I can tell you this; the fallout from this is going to be great. I believe this little incident right here and the fact that embassy works were unguarded like this will be amplified during this election cycle and it might just cost Barack Obama the election. I realize Romney might not have handled the situation the greatest. But this here is nothing more than a dereliction of duty.

Sarah Palin over on Hannity weighed in as well:

For once, I actually agree with Sarah Palin. I also agree with the fact that this bogus movie was not the cause of these attacks. These attacks were pre-planned and this movie just happened to be out there and it was used, by these terrorists, as a cover for their actions. The sad fact folks is this, the United States of America and more broadly; The West is involved in a Religious War, between Christianity and Islam. The people over at Gates of Vienna, Robert Spencer at Jihad Watch, and Pamela Geller at Atlas Shrugs, and others have been covering this for a very long time. The sad truth is that those who point to these sites and just dismiss them as hatemongers are just willfully blind to the danger that Islam is for this Country. The Nation should have realized this after 9/11, but because we had a President who wanted to remain Islam-friendly; the truth was ignored.

Furthermore, as a Christian, allow me to say this; Islam is an intolerant Religion and should be totally outlawed in America. There are extremist Christians in America, there is no denying that. But the last time, I checked, they were not as well funded as these people are. (and before anybody mentions him, Timothy McVeigh was not a Christian! Nor was he well-funded…) This is not a Religion anyways, it is a political philosophy, intermingled with a fascist religion and should be eliminated from this Country. If you are offended at this, tough crap; because the facts are that there is no such thing as peaceful Muslim. There are Muslims who choose to fight Jihad, and there are those who refrain from it. Because of this, America will never be safe at all. Call me a bigot, call me a hater, call me an A-hole; I really do not care. But America is going to learn this lesson of what Islam really is, one way or another. It really is too bad that more people are going to have to die, before the United States Government gets a clue and finally wakes up to this threat.

As a compassionate human being, I hate to think that people would actually be so ate up with their religion that they would act in this manner. However, as a realist; I have to go with my gut feelings and with what I see and all I see is this that is happening.

The sick part is, the way this Nation is headed at the moment, we will most like be too darned broke to even deal with the situation much less even fight it. It is a depressing state of affairs, which is why I try to avoid writing about it, because it just makes me sad and depressed to watch it all happen.

There is my statement, quote me, if you wish. Please, just be aware of this here. Thanks.

My Thoughts on the situation in Egypt and Libya

I remember seeing this news breaking early this morning, before I finally drifted off to sleep. I remember thinking to myself, “oh crap…” and thinking, here we go again, another situation in the middle east.

At first, I heard it was over a lamely produced Movie trailer, which was produced by someone claiming to be a Israeli Jew — who might not even be a Jew after all; then I hear it might be a coordinated attack in retaliation over the number 2 of Al-Qaeda’s being killed.

Meanwhile, an couple of Americans are dead today. Their bodies being drug through the streets in some God-forsaken Country. What does our President do? Act like some aloof jackass, who cannot be bothered with the situation.  As for Romney, he takes advantage of the Situation and points out that this President’s foreign policy has been a utter failure. In response, the media tries to portray Mitt Romney as not ready for Prime time. A typical tactic that was used on John McCain as well.  Not to mention the fact that the media is coordinating to try to tear down Romney in this election.

I could sit here and yowl on about this shows that America and Judeo-Christian Values are under attack by Islam and Muslims.  However, I believe most of you, that read this blog already know this. Whatever the cause of these American Embassies being attacked, it is a tragic thing.

However, as a Non-Wilsonian Conservative, allow me to float this idea. Could this be a piece of living, in color, proof that the United States of America ought to just withdraw from these Countries and not have American Embassies in those Country? Perhaps that this is one of the signs that America needs to stop kowtowing down to the United Nations and stop trying to be the world’s policeman. Perhaps we should stop getting involved in the affairs of other Nations. Perhaps we should being to restrict our immigration polices more and stop allowing a free flow of Muslims into this Country.

Perhaps we as a Nation need to take a second look at the practice of Islam and how it is intolerant to other Religion and to criticism; and possibly pass laws banning the Religion in this Country, on grounds it is threat to Nation security.  After all, this attack happened one day after the 11 year anniversary of the terrorist attacks in NYC and at the Pentagon, and Shakesville, Pa.

Again, is it wrong to ask such questions? I am not hating on any religion of any sort. I am looking at the protection of our Republic and all I really know, is that foreign citizens have killed Americans working abroad; this is unacceptable and something needs to be done. However, with the current leadership in the White House, nothing will be done, at all. Yes, I know, Military has been dispatched;  at this point, that is nothing more than window dressing and buttocks covering by the White House. The truth is, that once again, leadership in the White House has failed us.

This is why we must vote differently, come November.

Iraq and Afghanistan: wars fought wrong

This is what happens when you piece-meal a war, this is what happens; when you leave a war to fester, while you invade another Country, based on bad information. More importantly, this is what happens when you elect warmongering Neoconservatives into power. This is what happens, when you fight “armchair general’s” wars.

You end up with dead people, who should not have to die to protect an empire; and you get religious strife within a Country.

In Afghanistan:

Via Detroit News:

Kabul, Afghanistan — A man in an Afghan police uniform shot and killed an international service member on Sunday, NATO said, raising the death toll to 10 in such attacks in the space of just two weeks.

The surge in violence by Afghan allies against their international partners has raised doubts about the ability of the two forces to work together at a key transition time. Afghan forces are expected to take over security for the country by the end of 2014, when the majority of international combat forces are scheduled to leave.

On the other side, a coalition airstrike killed dozens of Taliban militants, including one of their leaders, officials said.

Few details were immediately available about Sunday’s killing of a coalition member in southern Afghanistan. NATO said only that they and Afghan authorities were investigating. Afghan officials could not be reached for comment.

The Taliban have been actively recruiting members of the Afghan security forces, saying in a statement last week that they considered these turncoat attacks a major part of their strategy against international forces.

In Iraq:

Via The Detroit News:

Baghdad — A bomb struck the convoy of a senior Sunni cleric in western Baghdad on Sunday, killing four and critically wounding the anti-extremist Muslim leader, police said.

The attack highlights the threats faced by relatively moderate Sunni clerics whom the Shiite-led government needs to help rebuild the country and establish security. It follows a series of assaults in what is becoming an increasingly bloody month.

The blast in the capital’s Yarmouk neighborhood left Sheik Mahdi al-Sumaidaie badly hurt, a Sunni religious official said. The cleric had just finished leading prayers at a nearby mosque to mark the beginning of the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which follows the holy month of Ramadan.

Al-Sumaidaie has sided with the government against Sunni extremists. Earlier this year, he called for a unified religious authority to bridge the gap between Iraq’s Sunnis and Shiites. Insurgents often target Sunni clerics seen as working closely with the Shiite-led government.

Two police officers and a hospital official confirmed the attack. They said four of the cleric’s bodyguards were killed and three others were wounded.

All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki condemned the attack. In a statement posted on his website, the Shiite leader said the attack was aimed at “spreading sedition and silencing any patriotic moderate voice.”

“Even as we condemn this ugly crime, we are confident that our people are aware of the evil goals of such schemes,” he said.

The invasion of the Sovereign Nation of Iraq was supposedly to bring peace and stability to that region. So much for that eh? The only thing that the invasion of Iraq did was destabilize and inspire more Muslims to become radicalized, and try to attack America and our allies.  As for Afghanistan, that war could have been fought quickly and efficiently; however, because the American people were looking for a scalp, after the events on 9/11 and Osama was well protected within Afghanistan and Pakistani ranks — President George W. Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq.

This left the Afghanistan War to fester and turn into what it is today —- a huge cluster fark.  This was a huge error on our part and one that will be stain on the United States of America for a very long time. This War was about as bad as Vietnam, if not worse. What made this worse than Vietnam,  is the fact that Vietnam was requested by the United Nations at the time.  The Military action in Iraq was requested by no one at all, and was based upon false premises and horrifically bad information by a dissident who defected to Germany.

Least anyone think that I have become anti-military or something silly like that; none of the above was the fault of the United States Military. The United States Military did their jobs most excellent, some of them giving their lives in service to their Country. For that they should be commended. However, the leadership, at the time; was the problem. That leadership started in the White House, and for that we, the American people — will be paying, for a very long time —- fiscally, spiritually, and the eyes of the World.  The United States of America, in the span of about eight years —went from being the World’s leader to the World’s bully in the eyes of the rest of the World.  The Neoconservative reaction to this, is “Who cares?”   But anyone who truly loves this Country, ought be very worried about that little problem.

The best thing we, as Americans can do, is hope and pray that none of the radical Muslims can get enough money and support to try and attack this Country again.  It is, truly — all we can do.

I will say this, the American people are about to make the same mistake again. Putting Mitt Romney, as the Republican for President of the United States; is about the stupidest thing that the Republican Party could have ever done. In light of the Bush era, that is. We are about to make the same mistakes again —- In Iran.  You watch and see.

 

 

 

 

Living proof that liberals are classless human beings

Before we begin, a little music….:

For your reading pleasure:

DEAD ANDY BREITBART IS NOW ROMNEY’S TOP CAMPAIGN STRATEGIST
DougJ / Balloon Juice:  Bad like Jesse James
BooMan / Booman Tribune:   Welcome Back to Palinville  —  I think Steve M. is right.

Go read that stuff and come back here. I’ll wait.

Now, did you read that? Let me ask you this; what if we Conservatives mocked a dead liberal like that? Just a note: Andrew Breitbart did say some nasty things about Ted Kennedy, which is why I was not a huge fan of his. But, still, what if we Conservatives mocked a dead liberal blogger, or public figure who was liberal? We would be poo poo’ed from one end of spectrum to the other!  Not only this, but if someone said something as nasty as what this “no more Mr. nice blog” said and it was about a liberal; the Non-Fox media would be all over it. However, because it is a liberal blogger, and a nasty son-of-a-bitch one at that, not a word is said about it.

My friends, this right here; along with a good deal of other issues, is why this skeptical left-of-center, American populist kind of a guy simply walked away from the Democrats in 2008 and has not looked back since.  They have nothing anymore, nothing that this skeptical person wants to buy anymore. All they have is nastiness, like this; class warfare, and racial resentment. They have no solutions, they have nothing for the middle class and the working man. They are the party of the minority and the identity politics crowd; the part of hand outs and freeloaders.

It is truly a sad thing to behold, all the years of work done by great statesmen, like Roosevelt, Truman and many before them; is being squandered by people who simply hate this Country, its morals and its legacy. These are the ones who gave us LBJ and his disastrous “great society.” They are the ones who gave us Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and now this disastrous neo-leftist Barack Hussein Obama.

The Democratic Party, which President Ronald Reagan referred to as the “Honorable Party” has given way to the neo-leftist party.  They proved that to me, when the Obama campaign basically used Chicago-style tactics of death threats and dirty pool against a fellow Democrat. This is why I left them; because the honor left that party long ago. Not only that, but the Democrats scheme to bring down our capitalist system though the passage of a clause of to a bill, which turned out to be a rather benign piece of legislation into a ticking time bomb.

Yes, that my friends, is the party that I made the horrible mistake of voting for until 2008, when I finally stopped making excuses for them and realized that party had finally become — and that is a cesspool of hate, racial resentment, class warfare, murder (of babies), God denial and more. I simply had enough and switched to the side that honors God, America and the individual. No, I do not mean the Republican Party — I mean the side of Conservatism.

It is a choice that I do not regret.

Update: Apparently one of the liberals objects to my linking to him. Two words: Tough rocks. He also seems to have a bit of reading comprehension problem; which is typical of the left.  He also sent one of his sock puppets to argue with me. Sorry, I don’t argue with idiots, and ya’ll bunch of idiots. But, thanks just the same for the traffic. 😀

 

War with Iran?

Pat Buchanan thinks that is where we are headed.

Go Read

God help this Nation, if we are actually stupid enough to repeat the mistakes that happened between 2003 and 2011.

If Romney wins the election, it will happen. Bank on it, he is bought and controlled by those who want this to happen.

Read this and try not to puke.

Ugh…..

Egypt’s National Council for Women is campaigning against the changes, saying that ‘marginalising and undermining the status of women would negatively affect the country’s human development’.

Dr Mervat al-Talawi, head of the NCW, wrote to the Egyptian People’s Assembly Speaker Dr Saad al-Katatni addressing her concerns.

Egyptian journalist Amro Abdul Samea reported in the al-Ahram newspaper that Talawi complained about the legislations which are being introduced under ‘alleged religious interpretations’.

via Outrage as Egypt plans ‘farewell intercourse law’ so husbands can have sex with dead wives up to six hours AFTER their death | Mail Online.

Gross. Hmm, I wonder if Samantha Power would support something like this? or…. dare I say it? Obama? Hmmmm…

Others: The Gateway Pundit, The Jawa Report, The Daily Caller, A Blog For All, Weasel Zippers, Atlas Shrugs, Clayton Cramer’s Blog and The Daily Dish