Breaking News — Senator Rand Paul detained by TSA

Rand Paul has been detained by the TSA for refusing a pat-down, after a x-ray showed an anomaly”

The Daily Caller has the story:

Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul’s press secretary Moira Bagley tweeted on Monday that Transportation Security Administration officials were detaining her boss in Nashville, Tenn.
“Just got a call from @senrandpaul,” Bagley tweeted at about 10 a.m. on Monday. “He’s currently being detained by TSA in Nashville.”
Texas Congressman and current Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul – Sen. Rand Paul’s father – placed a post on Facebook about the news as well. “My son Rand is currently being detained by the TSA at the Nashville Airport,” Ron Paul posted. “I’ll share more details as the situation unfolds.”
Ron Paul adds, via Twitter, that the TSA detained his son “for refusing full body pat-down after anomaly in body scanner.”
Sen. Rand Paul’s Facebook page has a post about the incident too. “Senator Paul is being detained at the Nashville Airport by the TSA,” Sen. Rand Paul’s Facebook post reads. “We will update you as the situation develops.”
Sen. Rand Paul’s chief of staff Doug Stafford told The Daily Caller the Senator “was detained by the TSA after their scanner had an ‘anomaly’ on the first scan.”
via The Daily Caller.

To my libertarian and Ron Paul fans, please, do not freak out over this; the TSA were simply doing their jobs, I believe Rand Paul was released, but they would not let him fly on the plane he did try to board.

My friend, Ed Morrissey, who I do trust, weighs in:

No one thinks a Senator should get different treatment than anyone else, but that proves that the security theater we experience at airports isn’t designed with flight security as its primary goal. Besides, let’s not forget that TSA is already working on programs for clearing frequent travelers on an expedited basis who they know through prior investigation won’t pose a security risk on commercial flights. Who in their right mind thinks that Senator Rand Paul represented any kind of real security risk on board an aircraft? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

Now, it might look like it was intentional, but I very much highly doubt that was even remotely intentional at all. I simply believe that the TSA wanted to do their jobs and Rand Paul refused to let them, and for this, he was detained and released and not allowed to fly. Let us not forget why the TSA put these regulations in place, on Christmas Day in 2009, an idiot kid from Nigeria blow himself up on a plane from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan; which by the way is my hometown and the airport that this almost happened at, is less than 10 miles from my HOUSE!

Anyhow, again, this might look bad, but I seriously doubt it is anything but Senator Rand Paul grandstanding against something that he feels is against his rights as a citizen. I personally disagree with that; I believe that safety of those flying here in America and abroad, should come first. Then again, I have never flown, nor will I ever. Too many planes crashing for this old man. 😯

Rand Paul refused patdown...
On way to Senate, March For Life...
Constitution: 'Privileged From Arrest'...
Standoff in Nashville...
A.Killough / CNN: BREAKING: Spokeswoman: TSA turns away Sen. Rand Paul
Tim Mak / The Politico: Rand Paul detained by TSA
ABCNEWS: Rand Paul in Pat-Down Standoff With TSA in Nashville

Others: Hot Air, The Gateway Pundit, Big Government, Outside the Beltway, Mediaite, Michelle Malkin, The Raw Story, Gothamist, LewRockwell.com Blog, Campaign 2012, National Review

Update: Now a huge Memeorandum thread.

Update #2: Smitty, who I consider to be a friend; makes some good points.

Mitt Romney fires a shot across Newt Gingrich’s bow

Looks like Mittens is feeling the heat, perhaps from the flip flops and/or because of the recent polls and is firing back.

ORMOND BEACH, Fla. — Mitt Romney landed here Sunday with a simple message: Newt Gingrich is a failure and a fraud. And a disgrace. And a hapless showman.
Standing under a brilliant orange Florida sunset, Romney delivered his longest sustained critique of the South Carolina primary winner to date — ticking through a list as if he were reading off Gingrich’s Wikipedia page, and undercutting each item as he got to it.
“Speaker Gingrich has also been a leader,” the former Massachusetts governor said. “He was a leader for four years as speaker of the House. And at the end of four years, it was proven that he was a failed leader and he had to resign in disgrace. I don’t know whether you knew that, he actually resigned after four years, in disgrace.
Romney continued: “He was investigated over an ethics panel and had to make a payment associated with that and then his fellow Republicans, 88 percent of his Republicans voted to reprimand Speaker Gingrich. He has not had a record of successful leadership.”
Then Romney got into Gingrich’s post-congressional career.
“Over the last 15 years since he left the House, he talks about great bold movements and ideas,” he told the crowd of several hundred people gathered at a building materials company here. “Well, what’s he been doing for 15 years? He’s been working as a lobbyist, yeah, he’s been working as a lobbyist and selling influence around Washington.
via Mitt Romney: Newt Gingrich is a ‘failed leader,’ ‘disgrace’ – Reid J. Epstein – POLITICO.com.

To be clear, Newt Gingrich is not a saint and as Geller put it, “He is a son-of-a-bitch, but he’s our Son-of-a-bitch.” I know that personally I would rather vote for someone like Newt and hold my nose, than to vote for some idiot racist Mormon who worked for a Latin-American financed company that acted as corporate raiders. I am sorry, but that is simply Anti-American; the very idea that an American would sit at a table with Latin Americans to devise a plan to destroy American businesses is absolutely asinine and for this Mitt Romney should be held accountable. However, because Fox News and others are in the tank for that creep, you will not hear a word about it and that my friends is the tragic thing about corporate media.

So, yes, you can put me in the “anyone but Mitt Romney” category.

Legendary Singer Etta James Dead at 73

So sad, she lived to see the first black President. Now she’s with the angels in Heaven. 🙁

Video from AP:

TMZ.com reports:

Legendary R&B singer Etta James — famous for her hit songs “At Last” and “Something’s Got a Hold on Me” — has died.
The singer — whose health was on a rapid decline the last few years — was diagnosed with leukemia in 2010. She also suffered from dementia and Hepatitis C.
Her live-in doctor announced the singer was “terminally ill” last month, after her leukemia was declared incurable.
Etta died at a hospital in Riverside, California … her manager confirmed.

Her Best:

Another good one:

Say what you want; but the woman could belt a song. She will be missed and may she rest in peace.

Fed official in AZ to plead fifth on “furious”

This ought to be really interesting, as this plays out.

Via Fox News:

The chief of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona is refusing to testify before Congress regarding Operation Fast and Furious, the federal gun-running scandal that sent U.S. weapons to Mexico.
Patrick J. Cunningham informed the House Oversight Committee late Thursday through his attorney that he will use the Fifth Amendment protection.

The real interesting part of this story, is right here:

The letter from Cunningham’s Washington DC attorney stunned congressional staff. Last week, Cunningham, the second highest ranking U.S. Attorney in Arizona, was scheduled to appear before Issa‘s committee voluntarily. Then, he declined and Issa issued a subpoena.
Cunningham is represented by Tobin Romero of Williams and Connolly who is a specialist in white collar crime. In the letter, he suggests witnesses from the Department of Justice in Washington, who have spoken in support of Attorney General Eric Holder, are wrong or lying.
“Department of Justice officials have reported to the Committee that my client relayed inaccurate information to the Department upon which it relied in preparing its initial response to Congress. If, as you claim, Department officials have blamed my client, they have blamed him unfairly,” the letter to Issa says.
Romero claims Cunningham did nothing wrong and acted in good faith, but the Department of Justice in Washington is making him the fall guy, claiming he failed to accurately provide the Oversight Committee with information on the execution of Fast and Furious.
“To avoid needless preparation by the Committee and its staff for a deposition next week, I am writing to advise you that my client is going to assert his constitutional privilege not to be compelled to be a witness against himself.” Romero told Issa.

Hmmmmmmmmm….. Thinking Obviously, this guy is trying to cover his own backside; and it could be that Holder and his cohorts are looking for a fall guy, and this guy is not interested in being that fall guy.

As I wrote last night; this is not what Obama’s supporters voted for in 2008. I am hoping that they do see what they were sold, and what they ultimately ended up with, this, was not what Obama campaigned for, that is for sure; this continuing story is proof of that. However, as long as the media and the Democratic Party professional liars continue to spin and cover; this is what you will get — corruption. It is the Chicago way. Big Grin

Update: Ed Morrissey, of whom I tipped off to this story, but didn’t get credit 🙄 — has some very interesting analysis on this story too and adds:

One point is pretty clear, though. Officials at the DoJ involved in this operation are fearing criminal prosecution, which means that this scandal just went prime time.

Indeed.

Update #2 Others: Power Line, Big Government, Wake up America, PJ Media, The Volokh Conspiracy and The Lonely Conservative

Video: Best Media Take-down Ever

This is very good!

The Video: (Via Mediaite and Buzzfeed — H/T to AllahPundit)

For the record, this isn’t too bad either; quoting AllahPundit:

Let’s face it: The real winner of this debate is Mitt Romney for saying he’s lived in “the real streets of America.” Wait, what?

Quote the week there! 😀 😆

But seriously, Despite what all written was earlier; I think Newt handled himself very well here. He did not allow the liberal media to destroy him. I’m not a fan of the guy, but he did well here.

These guys agree:

Newt Gingrich’s wife dishes to ABC

This ought to be really interesting….

Via Drudge:

Marianne Gingrich has said she could end her ex-husband’s career with a single interview.
Earlier this week, she sat before ABCNEWS cameras, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.
She spoke to ABCNEWS reporter Brian Ross for two hours, and her explosive revelations are set to rock the trail.
But now a “civil war” has erupted inside of the network, an insider claims, on exactly when the confession will air!
ABCNEWS suits determined it would be “unethical” to run the Marianne Gingrich interview so close to the South Carolina Primary, a curious decision, one insider argued, since the network has aggressively been reporting on other candidates.
A decision was tentatively made to air the interview next Monday, after all votes have been counted.
Gingrich canceled a press conference on Wednesday to deal with the matter.
“He believes that what he says in public and how he lives don’t have to be connected,” Marianne Gingrich, Newt’s wife of 18 years, explained to ESQUIRE last year.

Here’s hoping she dishes, But AllahPundit says this is a nothing burger; Well, Howard Kurtz does anyhow:

A knowledgeable insider says that Newt Gingrich’s second wife does not say anything in the taped interview with ABC News that she hasn’t said in previous print interviews. But to repeat her account of how their marriage failed—because the then-House speaker was having an affair—in a form that can be endlessly replayed on television could prove a serious distraction for the presidential candidate two days before the South Carolina primary.

As you can well imagine, the Democrats and the Not-Romney crowd are licking their chops on this one.

Here’s the round up via Memeorandum: The Politico, Esquire, American Spectator, Scared Monkeys, Hot Air, The Other McCain, Wonkette, Outside the Beltway, The Hill, No More Mister Nice Blog, Poynter, Politics, Weasel Zippers, National Review, Gawker, Taylor Marsh, Mitt Romney Central, Campaign 2012, Big Journalism, Talking Points Memo, M.JOSEPH SHEPPARD’S …, Pat Dollard, JOSHUAPUNDIT, New York Magazine, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Gateway Pundit, The Moderate Voice, Alan Colmes’ Liberaland, TVNewser, Balloon Juice, Boston Herald, Wake up America, The Daily Caller, Ricochet Conversations Feed and The Stranger …, more at Mediagazer »

Two Instances of Republicans kissing up to black voters

Both of these idiots must be really desperate. 🙄

Instance one, Newt Gingrich sucks up to a black Church in SC:

GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich faced a round of tough questions in a campaign event before an African-American church in South Carolina on Saturday.
Gingrich spoke with members of the Jones Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church in Columbia, S.C. for an hour according to media reports.
Many of the questions focused on a statement from the former House Speaker in December that “really poor children” have bad work habits, a remark which attracted criticism from civil rights groups.
“Really poor children in really poor neighborhoods have no habits of working and have nobody around them who works, so they literally have no habit of showing up on Monday,” Gingrich had said at a campaign event.

Since when does a white man, running as a Republican go down to SC and grovel before a bunch of blacks, who will most likely not vote for him anyhow? This reeks of nothing more than USDA choice desperation. I personally do not believe that Newt owes these idiots a thing at all. Gingrich spoke the truth, and if they do not like it — screw em. 😡

Instance number two, Mitt Romney is trying to buy the black vote in SC, I guess:

SUMTER, S.C. — Amid shaking hands and signing campaign posters, Mitt Romney did something he has never done before on the ropeline: He took out his wallet and handed a wad of cash to a woman waiting to shake his hand.
The woman, 55-year-old Ruth Williams, says she has been following the Romney campaign since he arrived in the state on Jan. 11, when she said she received a message from God to track him down.
“I was on the highway praying and said, ‘God just show me how to get [my] lights on,’ and I pulled up to a stop sign and his bus was there,” said Williams, who has been unemployed since last October. “And then God said, ‘Follow the bus,’ and I followed the bus to the airport.”
According to Williams, she followed the campaign bus to the Columbia airport on Wednesday, the same day Romney was arriving from New Hampshire. When Romney wasn’t on the bus, aides told her to go to the rally scheduled in Columbia later that day. When she showed up, Romney found her to say hello and pulled over South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley to say “hello” too.
“He was kind to me and he made Gov. Haley come see about me,” Williams said. “He stopped doing everything.”

I have a shiny twenty-dollar bill that says that the only thing this woman was thinking is, “I found me a stupid honky that will give me money!” Nice going Mittens. Try to buy the black vote; modern-day slavery, all that is. I figure Mittens does not own a plantation for her to work on and that stuff is illegal now, so he figures he will just buy her vote. 🙄 Smart, real smart Mittens.

In short: We….are….so…..screwed. 🙁

What’s next? Perry allows some black man to wash his car? 🙄

Others: Michelle Malkin, Hot Air, The Strata-Sphere, Outside the Beltway, Mediaite, Taylor Marsh, Washington Post, The Lonely Conservative, The Hinterland Gazette and CNN — CNN, The Politico and The Hinterland Gazette

Cross-Posted to Alexandria

Speaking of Israel and not real smart

Man, Israel must not be feeling the whole idea of, “we need to be careful, we do not have a friend in the White House,” at all.

The Story via the WSJ:

WASHINGTON—U.S. defense leaders are increasingly concerned that Israel is preparing to take military action against Iran, over U.S. objections, and have stepped up contingency planning to safeguard U.S. facilities in the region in case of a conflict.
Iranians on Friday carried the flag-draped coffin of Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, a scientist working in Iran’s nuclear sector assassinated in Tehran.
President Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and other top officials have delivered a string of private messages to Israeli leaders warning about the dire consequences of a strike. The U.S. wants Israel to give more time for the effects of sanctions and other measures intended to force Iran to abandon its perceived efforts to build nuclear weapons.
Stepping up the pressure, Mr. Obama spoke by telephone on Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and U.S. Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will meet with Israeli military officials in Tel Aviv next week.
The high-stakes planning and diplomacy comes as U.S. officials warn Tehran, including through what administration officials described Friday as direct messages to Iran’s leaders, against provocative actions.

Again, I am sure some will disagree; but this just does not strike me as being overly smart. At least, not right now. I would be able to understand, if there was a Republican in the White House; but there is not, and Democrats abandoned Israel years ago. Choose wisely Israel — choose very wisely.

Not Smart Isreal, Not smart at all.

This is not a good way to work with the United States:

Israeli Mossad agents posed as CIA officers in order to recruit members of a Pakistani terror group to carry out assassinations and attacks against the regime in Iran, Foreign Policy revealed on Friday, quoting U.S. intelligence memos.
Foreign Policy’s Mark Perry reported that the Mossad operation was carried out in 2007-2008, behind the back of the U.S. government, and infuriated then U.S. President George W. Bush.
Perry quotes a number of American intelligence officials and claims that the Mossad agents used American dollars and U.S. passports to pose as CIA spies to try to recruit members of Jundallah, a Pakistan-based Sunni extremist organization that has carried out a series of attacks in Iran and assassinations of government officials.
According to the report, Israel’s recruitment attempts took place mostly in London, right under the nose of U.S. intelligence officials.
“It’s amazing what the Israelis thought they could get away with,” Foreign Policy quoted an intelligence officer as saying. “Their recruitment activities were nearly in the open. They apparently didn’t give a damn what we thought.” — Via ‘Israeli Mossad agents posed as CIA spies to recruit terrorists to fight against Iran’ – Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News

Not a smart way to do things if you ask me. I support Israel and the Country’s right to exist. However, doing this sort of thing, does nothing to garner support among those who might not be rabid supporters of the Country; you know, like our current President? I can well understand why Bush would be quite upset about something like this. I can almost assure you, that if this story had broken during the tenure of President George W. Bush; the outcry of the liberal media against Israel would have deafened me. Furthermore, the anti-Israel rats here in America would have crawled out of the woodwork and saying that we needed to sever ties with Israel or worse.

Again, as it does say in my sidebars, I am supporter of Israel; as Christian I understand the biblical significance of this wonderful Country. However, I am also mindful of those, who would want to see this Country removed from the face of the earth. These actions do nothing more than hand the anti-Israel crowd ammunition in their warped quest to see God’s chosen people destroyed and that land given to those who do not have rightful ownership of it. Israel should know this, but not everyone is given a measure of common sense.

Memo to CAIR: Thou Doth Protest Too Much

Now this is unbelievable. A couple of Marines decided to treat a few dead Taliban terrorists to a good old fashioned “golden shower.”

Here is the video:

Quoting CAIR:

“We condemn this apparent desecration of the dead as a violation of our nation’s military regulations and of international laws of war prohibiting such disgusting and immoral actions.
“If verified as authentic, the video shows behavior that is totally unbecoming of American military personnel and that could ultimately endanger other soldiers and civilians.
“We trust that this disturbing incident will be promptly investigated in a transparent manner and that appropriate actions will be taken based on the results of that investigation. Any guilty parties must be punished to the full extent allowed by the Uniform Code of Military Justice and by relevant American laws.”

Allow me, as a proud American who lived through, witnessed on live TV and had to deal with the depression of what happened on September 11, 2001 — to show you, just WHO these Marines were pissing on….

They pissing on people that did this:

and this:

So, to you CAIR, I have two words for you turban wearing pieces of human excrement:

Piss Off!

If anything at all, you should be glad that angry Americans, like me, are not going around to Mosques in America and dragging your sorry asses out in to the streets of America and shooting you in the heads. You have been very highly protected by the United States Government, despite the fact that your backward religion instructs your mindless followers to kill people that disagree with your beliefs. You should be very grateful for this and should keep your mouths shut.

Remember you bastards, you started this little war on freedom — we did not. We did not want it — you did, and when you suffer, you complain. Crybaby pukes, you start a war against freedom and when some of our guys get the upper hand, you cry. Wah, Wah Wah…. cry me a river. 🙄

This is one of the many reasons why I believe that in the interest of National Security; that the ~~Religion~~ backward crap of ISLAM should be BANNED in America. This is not about Religion Freedom, this is about National Security and these bastards are a threat to humanity!

…and before anyone says it. I know it was Al-Qaeda that hit us, not the Taliban. Same difference, terrorists are terrorists, Jihads are Jihads… Big whoop. 🙄

Others: Pamela, American Power, Yourish.com,

Cross-Posted to Right Michigan

Update: it seems that most over at hotair.com agree with me.