Mark Levin: Tea Party Only Thing That Stands ‘Between Liberty And Tyranny’

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Conservative scholar, talk radio host, and former Reagan administration official Mark Levin said conservatives need to first overthrow the Republican establishment to more successfully take on President Barack Obama and the institutional left.

“We cannot get through Obama and the left until we get through the Republican Establishment,” Levin said, railing against establishment consultants who attack the base and politicians who know nothing of “Burkean reform” because they have spent their whole careers “clawing their way to the top.”

In a talk at the Heritage Foundation on Wednesday with his mentor, former Reagan Attorney General Ed Meese, for whom Levin served as Chief of Staff, Levin said the Republican Party is, “devouring the conservative movement,” and the old bulls need to step aside in favor of a new generation of conservatives who are fluent in conservatism.

“It’s time for the old bulls to get out of the way and for the fresh faces who believe in conservatism and liberty and originalist principles to step up,” Levin said, criticizing those like House Speaker John Boehner for “yielding territory” to the left in negotiations.

Levin said the Tea Party consists of constitutionalists, libertarians, Evangelicals, and those who are against the rigged establishment, beltway culture that for too long has not embraced conservatism and, as a consequence, lost national elections (George H.W. Bush, Bob Dole, John McCain, Mitt Romney).

“The Tea Party is the only thing that stands between liberty and tyranny,” Levin said. “We have to defeat the Republican establishment mush in Washington, D.C.”

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Video: Van Jones Praising the Tea Party?

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According to former Obama Green Jobs Czar Van Jones, the Tea Party “is one of the most impressive citizen movements in the history of the country.”

Yeah, I did a double take on that one too. Although he described much of the criticism of the Tea Party as unfair, he went on to say that he believed the style and tone of the Tea Party has been offensive to women and minorities, even suggesting the grass roots movement had been chastised at the ballot box this election.

That being said, he also thinks that Democrats could work with the Tea Party? Not sure how that’s going to work, but take a look at the clip and draw your own conclusions.

If you haven’t had enough of Van Jones yet, watch him just a few months back calling Tea Party activists insane hostage takers who want to destroy America. Yep, he said it.

Woman in Petraeus Scandal Has Been White House Guest On Multiple Occasions

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The two women at the center of the David Petraeus scandal — the biographer with whom he had an extramarital affair and the socialite who received worrisome emails that led investigators to uncover the illicit relationship — visited the White House on separate and apparently unrelated occasions. Neither woman met with President Barack Obama during their visits.

Petraeus resigned as CIA director last week after acknowledging an affair with writer Paula Broadwell. In briefings Friday with lawmakers on Capitol Hill, the retired four-star general was apologetic and regretful and insisted that his resignation was related only to his personal behavior.

Paula Broadwell, who was writing a book about Petraeus and eventually became his paramour, attended meetings in June 2009 and June 2011 on Afghanistan-Pakistan policy in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is located in the White House complex, a White House official said.

Jill Kelley, the Tampa, Fla., socialite who initiated the investigation that revealed the affair, and her twin sister had two “courtesy” meals at the White House mess as guests of a midlevel White House aide in September and October, the official said. Kelley and her family also received a White House tour on the weekend before the Nov. 6 election.

The White House visits by Broadwell and Kelley illustrate the wide-ranging access both women enjoyed because of their ties with Petraeus, Gen. John Allen and others in the close-knit military community. The White House official discussed their visits on condition of anonymity because the visitors logs being cited have yet to be made public.

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End of an Era as Hostess Twinkies Closes Up Shop Forever

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If there’s anything that symbolized America’s greatness in the snack industry, it was the iconic Hostess Twinkie. The tasty snack was a must have for cravers of a cheap, high caloric/carb/sugary fueled food rush.

We grew up with the entire family of Hostess snack foods: From chocolate covered Cupcakes, to the powder sugar Gems, Ding Dongs, Ho Ho’s, Sno Balls and Donettes.-these were comfort foods to millions of Americans. Every quick stop and grocery store in America carried Hostess products.

Everyone has had a personal relationship with some Hostess product at some point in their life.

But today it was announced that relationship is coming to an end as Hostess stated they were shutting their doors forever.

On announcement of the news, stoners on the Cheech and Chong blog said one of their favorite treats is going up in smoke and decry the empty Hostess shelves in local grocery stores.

An American success story in manufacturing and marketing since 1930,, Hostess, (Interstate Bakeries), also owns, Wonder Bread, Nature’s Pride, Dolly Madison, Butternut Breads, and Drake’s brands.

Hostess had been trying to get an agreement from their unionized labor pool of approximately 18,000, in order to stay in business and remain competitive. Operations at their plants had been paralyzed due to strikes and pickets. Last minute negotiations had brought some of the unions to agreement, but the bakers union voted 92% to turn down requests for scale backs on pay. As a result Hostess is shutting its doors and the 18,000 employees are all out of work.

The company had 372 collective bargaining agreements with a dozen unions and had roughly $2 billion in unfunded pension liabilities to its various unions’ workers.
Hostess work rules based on labor contracts included separate drivers for deliveries of different Hostess products, vastly increasing labor costs to the company.

Management has a part to play in the demise of the company as well. Many said they have been riding the popularity of the Twinkie since 1933 and had failed to refresh their company and products image. Sales began to decline in the 1980s and ’90s as consumers found healthier alternatives to snack cakes and white bread. The debt started to pile up and lead to the first company bankruptcy in 2004.

Whatever the reason for the ending of this company, it will be liquidating and selling off its brand names. It will be sold off piecemeal and reconstituted in much smaller separate entities. So perhaps the Twinkie will be back, but it will never be the same.
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Ed Farnan is the conservative columnist at IrishCentral, where he has been writing on the need for energy independence, strong self defense, secure borders, 2nd amendment, smaller government and many other issues. His articles appear in many publications throughout the USA and world. He has been a guest on Fox News and a regular guest on radio stations in the US and Europe.

Ted Cruz: Mitt Romney ‘French-kissed’ Barack Obama

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Sen.-elect Ted Cruz believes Mitt Romney got a little too close to Barack Obama in the third presidential debate.

“I’m pretty certain Mitt Romney actually French-kissed Barack Obama,” Cruz said in a speech at the Federalist Society’s annual conference Friday.

Cruz said that conservatives failed to make their case to the American people, leaving Romney no choice but to move toward the president. “We didn’t win the argument, we didn’t even make the argument” throughout much of 2012, Cruz said.

But in the first debate, he argued, that changed.

“It was the one time we actually contested ideas, presented two viewpoints and directions for the country,” he said. “And then inevitably, there are these mandarins of politics, who give the voice: ‘Don’t show any contrasts. Don’t rock the boat.’ So by the third debate, I’m pretty certain Mitt Romney actually French-kissed Barack Obama.”

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EPA Refuses to Waive Ethanol Mandate

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photo credit: wxmomThe Environmental Protection Agency is rejecting requests from states and meat industry groups to waive regulations that require the blending of ethanol into gasoline.

EPA rejected petitions from nearly a dozen states, including Texas, Virginia, and Maryland, for waivers of the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

“[T]he agency has not found evidence to support a finding of severe ‘economic harm’ that would warrant granting a waiver of the Renewable Fuels Standard,” EPA said Friday.

Opponents of the RFS say drought-driven spikes in corn prices and reduced harvests should prompt the agency to relax the requirements, which require refiners to blend billions of gallons of ethanol into gasoline.

Livestock, poultry and food industry groups dismayed at the amount of corn used for ethanol have joined states in calling for EPA to back off the ethanol mandate. EPA also faced congressional pressure to ease the requirements. But EPA tossed aside their arguments.

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Signs of Possible Israeli Plan to Invade Gaza; Ground Troops Mass Along Border

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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel expanded its fierce air assault on rocket operations in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Saturday, striking security compounds, smuggling tunnels and a three-story apartment building after an unprecedented rocket attack aimed at the holy city of Jerusalem raised the stakes in its confrontation with Palestinian militants.

Israeli aircraft also kept pounding their original targets, the militants’ weapons-storage facilities and underground rocket-launching sites. The Israeli military called up thousands of reservists and massed troops, tanks and armored vehicles along the border with Gaza, signaling a ground invasion of the densely populated seaside strip could be imminent.

Israel launched its military campaign Wednesday after days of heavy rocket fire from Gaza and has carried out some 700 airstrikes since, the military said. Militants, undaunted by the heavy damage the air attacks have inflicted, have unleashed some 500 rockets against the Jewish state, including new, longer-range weapons turned for the first time this week against Jerusalem and Israel’s Tel Aviv heartland.

Israel has slowly expanded its operation beyond military targets and before dawn on Saturday, the Gaza Interior Ministry reported, missiles smashed into two small Hamas security facilities as well as the massive Hamas police headquarters in Gaza City, setting off a huge blaze that engulfed nearby houses and civilian cars parked outside. No one was inside the buildings at the time.

The Interior Ministry said a government compound was also hit as devout Muslims streamed to the area for early morning prayers. So, too, was a Cabinet building where the Hamas prime minister received the prime minister of Egypt on Friday.

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Study: If You Don’t Want to Appear Elderly to Others, “Shop Until You Drop”

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Do Americans associate old age with telltale physical signs like wrinkles and crow’s feet? Or do they believe that passing a certain age defines a person as ‘over the hill’? According to a new study, neither – a person is defined by how old they act, and how independent they are.

For instance, consumers who can no longer shop for themselves, complete housework, or drive their cars are considered ‘old,’ the study claims.

According to the new study by Oregon State University researcher Michelle Barnhart, activities that define one’s independence are the most important markers of age. In much of America, a person’s independence is closely tied to their ability to drive, shop, and cook for themselves. Because of these unwritten adages, those who are too feeble to carry shopping bags or operate their vehicle are looked at as someone in their twilight years.

To conduct her research, Ms Barnhart conducted in-depth interviews with consumers in their late 80s, as well as their caregivers and family members – often the subject’s adult children in their 50s and 60s.

She found that the Baby Boomers, who are aging themselves, did not wish to be seen as old, but often treated their own parents as ‘old people’ – not allowing them to exercise independence where they could and assuming they’re scatterbrained as well as slow.

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“Gone With the Wind”: Odor Eating Undies Hide Embarrassing Smells

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It’s the nightmare scenario in any confined space – breaking wind, only to discover it smells rather more unpleasant than expected. But these cringeworthy moments could soon be a thing of the past thanks to a new brand of odour-eating underwear.

The Japanese textile company selling underpants claims they neutralize the smell of flatulence. The pants are said to be a big hit with Japanese businessmen, as it means they can break wind without getting caught. But there’s also a pink pair for women, too.

The odor-absorbing range, known as Deoest, effectively kills odor from wind. It does this using ceramic particles in the material fibers, which are said to absorb and neutralize gassy smells.

A word of warning, however: there is no word on whether they might mask any sound.

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Another Bernie Madoff-Related Suicide

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The 23-year-old son of Bernie Madoff’s longtime accountant who helped him conceal his notorious Ponzi scheme has committed suicide at medical school in Columbus, Ohio.

Jeremy Friehling was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Thursday at his apartment. Friehling, of New City, N.Y., is the son of David Friehling, who pleaded guilty in 2009 to nine federal charges of helping conceal Madoff’s $65 billion fraud.

Columbus police found Jeremy Friehling’s body when they visited his apartment after friends had become concerned about him. Jeremy Friehling apparently posted erratic comments on Facebook throughout Thursday, prompting concerned friends to request local police to conduct a welfare check.

David Friehling and his wife Robin have been married for nearly 30 years and have two other children.

Jeremy Friehling graduated from Duke University in 2011 and was attending medical school at Ohio State University in Columbus. He was the valedictorian of the 2007 graduating class at Clarkstown North High School, reports Lohud.com.

In 2010, Bernie Madoff’s son Mark, committed suicide in a Manhattan apartment on the second anniversary of his father’s arrest.

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