Fed official in AZ to plead fifth on “furious”

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

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

A simple question for Democrats

For my final entry tonight, here is something I just noticed over at Drudge’s site.

To all those who all of those who are Democratic Party voters; I have a simple question for you —- Tell me, which President did you vote for? No, seriously —– this is an honest question from someone who used to be in your Party and voted for Democrats until 2008. Again, I ask you; for what kind of Democratic Party President did you vote?

I seem to remember a President who ran on a huge platform of openness and transparency. I seem to remember a President that said he would be very different from the last President that ran this Country. I seem to remember this President saying that there would be change in this Country. I seem to remember a President who promised that he would be a reason to hope again for the many in this Country that had no hope in the Government and those who served in it.

If that is the case, then why is stuff like this here happening to members of the media, in San Francisco no less?

Richman reported he was ushered out of the fundraiser after Biden started taking a few questions from the audience of about 110 campaign contributors. “The event raised somewhere between $275,000 and $1.1 million,” according to his report. —via Biden’s oops moment in SF: “Giants on their way to Super Bowl” | Politics Blog | an SFGate.com blog.

I am sorry, but even I as a former Democratic Party voter, someone who simple decided to vote differently, than I had voted in the prior elections cannot help but think that this here is nothing more than good old fashioned political corruption at its finest. Why would a Vice-President, who is serving in one of the supposedly most open administrations in the history of the office of the President, allow a member of the media to be hustled out of a fundraiser?

In case the members of the Barack Obama administration have forgotten, San Francisco is your base block of people who voted for you. If it were not for the voters of that city and many more like it, ol’ Barry would be cooling his heels in Chicago right about now. I believe that Independent Liberals need to really look hard at this man’s record; they need to look at stuff like this and honestly decide if this man is worth of four more years in the White House. I mean, look at this SOPA act, that was a Democrat bill, not a Republican one. I can assure you that four more years of this man would bring more laws like this one. I know that Barack Obama came out against it; yes, after all of the fuss was made about it!

The question is this; do you really feel like you can trust this President again? Are you better off today than you were 3-4 years ago? Do you have the same amount of money? Do you have the same job? Is your business that you run making the same amount of money as it did 3 or 4 year ago? Do you feel like anything really honestly changed in this Country at all?

We all as Americans must ask these questions to ourselves in the coming months. I am not believe me when I tell you this; asking this question in a sarcastic manner, nor am I saying that the Republican field is any better than what is there now. However, I think that everyone, independents, and centrists — everyone needs to really ask themselves, “Is this really what I want my Country to be like for four more years?” Look, we tried “hope and change” and it failed. Do we want to try it again, with a new slogan? I mean, aside from a few noticeable exceptions, I have not seen any fruits of anything that this current President has even done; at least nothing that honestly affected me at all here in the Detroit area.

President Barack Obama promised jobs and a big economy. Only big thing we got out of it was high unemployment and a whole bunch of debt, which you and I and our kids and grandkids will be paying off for a long time. Am I saying Republicans will do any better? I would like to think that the debt might slow down a bunch; but I do not trust Romney at all. However, I think the attitude of “Business as usual in D.C.” is not going to work anymore, with the crash of the market and the rise of Tea Party movement. I believe the Republican Party knows this and so does Mitt Romney. However, I do not trust him at all.

You see, this right here is why I did not, when the Iraq War ended, I just did not say, “Okay, bye! The Iraq is over; I’m leaving and going back to watching TV and ignoring the World!” Believe me I wanted to! I am tired of sitting here hunched over a keyboard and writing for hours. It sometimes gets very old. I get tired of fussing with servers and fussing with software and so forth. However, I am plugged into what is happening in this Country and I just cannot walk off like that. I would feel as if I were abandoning the cause.

I end this rather long missive by simply saying to everyone who reads this — think.

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.

Speaking of the Federal Reserve

Speaking of the federal reserve bank’s stupidity….

You would not believe what they are thinking of doing again: (H/T HotAir.com)

Federal Reserve officials are seriously considering giving the US economy—and especially the housing market—an added jolt with more quantitative easing.
Fed officials are likely to discuss such a move at their Jan. 24-25 meeting, when the central bank will issue its first quarterly forecast on interest rates under the new communication policy.
Two of the new voting members this year on the Federal Open Market Committee , which sets interest-rate policy, have recently suggested they would support more assets purchases.
San Francisco Fed President John Williams said that sustained high levels of unemployment, as forecast by many Fed members, “does make an argument that we should have more stimulus.”
Another new voter, Cleveland Fed President Sandra Pianalto, said in a recent speech that economic models indicate the Fed “should be even more accommodative than it is today.”
They join other members, including New York Fed President Bill Dudley and several Fed governors, who have openly suggested they would support more QE .
As part of an normal rotation of presidents, the makeup of the FOMC will become more dovish this year.
Three hawkish members are losing their FOMC vote—Richard Fisher of Dallas, Narayana Kocherlakota of Minneapolis and Charles Plosser of Philadelphia—along with only one dovish member, Charles Evans of Chicago.
They will be replaced by two more dovish members—Williams and Pianalto—and Dennis Lockhart of Atlanta, who is moderate but is seen as unlikely to dissent.
But a more dovish makeup is just one reason that more QE could become a reality this year.
Fed officials harbor doubts about the strength of the economic recovery and note there is considerable slack. And they expect inflation to remain moderate this year.
It is also significant that financial markets expects the Fed to act.
The newly released primary dealer survey from the Fed shows that top Wall Street fixed income dealers put a 60% probability on the Fed boosting the size of its balance sheet within a year.
Much will depend on the economic data during the first quarter. One concern inside the Fed is that much of the recent economic strength results from one-time factors, such as rebuilding inventories.
Taking out inventories, underlying GDP still looks weak to some Fed officials. Meanwhile, income growth has also been lagging, suggesting any spending gains from the holiday season likely came from savings. Fed officials generally see this as unsustainable.
The most likely course for the Fed is to gauge what kind of effect its latest innovation—publishing the expected interest rate path from its members—will have on bond yields.
There is hope that if the path shows that Fed officials put the date of the first rate increase further down the road than the market expects, that could edge down long-term rates.
But the minutes of the December meeting also showed that for “a number” of officials, this new communications strategy is not a replacement for more easing, but rather, a precondition.
Already some Wall Street banks are building QE3 into their forecasts. Morgan Stanley fixed income economist David Greenlaw said he expects more easing to be announced this spring.

I believe that it would be a accurate statement that the psychos are running the nut house. I wrote that once, it is still true. I should also point out, that doing this to our money supply does nothing to stimulate economic growth at all. If anything, it causes inflation of the money supply, which drives the cost of everything up, which kills jobs growth; because if you are a business and you are having to pay more for everything, you are going to be less likely to hire people to work for you. But with Liberals, it is like talking to a tree; this is normal for them.

The United States Debt Ceiling Hits $15.194 Trillion

So, what does President want? More of your money of course!

The story via WSJ:

The Treasury Department has begun maneuvers to avoid hitting the debt ceiling, as the Obama administration waits for Congress to return from the holiday break before it can raise the federal borrowing limit.
The U.S. government was just a hair below the $15.194 trillion debt ceiling on Tuesday, $25 million shy of the limit Congress set last summer. President Barack Obama sent a letter to congressional leaders Thursday, saying the U.S. debt was within $100 million of the ceiling “and that further borrowing is required to meet existing commitments.”

…and of course:

President Obama formally notified Congress on Thursday of his intent to raise the nation’s debt ceiling by $1.2 trillion, two weeks after he had postponed the request to give lawmakers more time to consider the action.
Congress will have had 15 days to say no before the nation’s debt ceiling automatically is raised from $15.2 trillion to $16.4 trillion.
In a letter to House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), Obama wrote that ”further borrowing is required to meet existing commitments.”
Obama had sought to make the request at the end of last month, when the Treasury came within $100 billion of its borrowing limit. However, with Congress on recess, lawmakers from both parties asked the president to hold off. The House is out of session until Jan. 17, and the Senate until Jan. 23.
Since then Treasury officials have used special revenue and accounting measures to maintain the nation’s solvency. Yet the White House cast the delay as a technicality, saying there is no chance the limit will not be increased, even if Republican lawmakers attempt to object.

16.4 trillion dollars?!?! 😯 That is 16.4 trillion of money from China and/or your money through taxes. Either that or it would have to come from slapping tariffs on imports; and we know an internationalist Democrat like Barack Obama would never do that.

So, to be brief; we’re screwed….badly.

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.

They’re watching us: DHS is now monitoring Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and More.

Governments that watch their people, fear them:

(Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s command center routinely monitors dozens of popular websites, including Facebook, Twitter, Hulu, WikiLeaks and news and gossip sites including the Huffington Post and Drudge Report, according to a government document.
A “privacy compliance review” issued by DHS last November says that since at least June 2010, its national operations center has been operating a “Social Networking/Media Capability” which involves regular monitoring of “publicly available online forums, blogs, public websites and message boards.”
The purpose of the monitoring, says the government document, is to “collect information used in providing situational awareness and establishing a common operating picture.”
The document adds, using more plain language, that such monitoring is designed to help DHS and its numerous agencies, which include the U.S. Secret Service and Federal Emergency Management Agency, to manage government responses to such events as the 2010 earthquake and aftermath in Haiti and security and border control related to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia.
A DHS official familiar with the monitoring program said that it was intended purely to enable command center officials to keep in touch with various Internet-era media so that they were aware of major, developing events to which the Department or its agencies might have to respond. — Homeland Security watches Twitter, social media | Reuters

I made reference to this in my previous posting. I had a video up there that could have been misinterpreated by some idiot Government zealot, so I canned it. I just do not want to take any chances. Either way, if they’re looking at the big sites, like HotAir.com; you can bet they will be looking at the smaller blogs too. I guess they figure if they cannot pass SOPA/PIPA, they will just snoop on us anyhow.

Needless to say, I will not be shooting and posting anymore videos on this blog or anywhere else. I just don’t need the hassle. 😡

(cross posted at Right Michigan)

UPDATED! PLEASE READ!: Quote about President Barack Obama

Who said this?

“My question is, what legacy will he leave, having the opportunity to serve under such hugely dramatic circumstances and had such a huge impact on the universal state of things … how could he have had such a splendid opportunity to do more than most presidents would have ever been able to do, and he let that opportunity slip away from him.
I’m very cautious of the fact that those who think he has some second agenda and only if he could be given a second term for us to see the new light, new things will be revealed, new efforts will be made to take us to a place other than where we’ve been and where we languish. I just don’t trust that. I don’t believe that’s a safe way and accurate way to look at this scenario. If there was the kind of moral compass serving Barack Obama the way we hoped, the moral force would have helped him make choices, the absence of that force in his equations, that barometer to guide him when he has to make these decisions that are hugely complicated, he should have come to the table with the things that would have helped us in this moment of crisis.”

Continue reading “ UPDATED! PLEASE READ!: Quote about President Barack Obama” →