Obama’s Unbridled Hubris: “I Go Shooting All the Time,” “Football is Too Violent,” “Gays in Military Caused No Controversy”

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In an extraordinary interview just published yesterday in the New Republic, Obama makes a number of outlandish statements.

On the gun control issue, Obama apparently tries to establish some relevant personal experience, bragging that he goes “shooting all the time.”

To most, the idea of Obama with a gun is laughable. And a quick search of Google images unsurprisingly fails to produce a single picture of the President with a gun.

One would think that any activity that Obama engages in “all the time” – like golf – would result in at least one picture circulating through the public domain. And maybe, by the time you read this, one will appear. But compared to the thousands of pictures of his other “all the time” pastime of golf (or romancing his teleprompter), there’s no comparison.

But that’s not the only ridiculous statement from Obama on guns. This supposed constitutional scholar takes a page from the Slick Willie playbook that suggested Americans should only be able to own guns needed for duck hunting. Like most liberals, Obama intentionally ignores that troublesome Second Amendment, suggesting the real reason Americans are reacting angrily to his moves against gun ownership is because of their love of hunting:

…I have a profound respect for the traditions of hunting that trace back in this country for generations. And I think those who dismiss that out of hand make a big mistake.

Part of being able to move [gun control] forward is understanding the reality of guns in urban areas are very different from the realities of guns in rural areas. And if you grew up and your dad gave you a hunting rifle when you were ten, and you went out and spent the day with him and your uncles, and that became part of your family’s traditions, you can see why you’d be pretty protective of that.

For gun control advocates to move their agenda forward, Obama claims that they’ll “have to do a little more listening than they do sometimes.”

From there the interviewer takes the President to the US “culture of violence” and how it’s encouraged by football. Obama, not skipping a beat, takes the bait, suggesting that we must change football to make it less violent:

I’m a big football fan, but I have to tell you if I had a son, I’d have to think long and hard before I let him play football. And I think that those of us who love the sport are going to have to wrestle with the fact that it will probably change gradually to try to reduce some of the violence. In some cases, that may make it a little bit less exciting, but it will be a whole lot better for the players, and those of us who are fans maybe won’t have to examine our consciences quite as much.

The President continues to show his disconnect from Americans – particularly within the US Military – by stating that having practicing homosexuals in the armed forces has “caused almost no controversy. It’s been almost thoroughly embraced …”

Perhaps John Edwards was right, there really are two Americas; the corner of DC that Barack Hussein Obama occupies, and the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave where people actually have a nodding acquaintance with reality.

Cops’ Seattle Gun Buyback Transformed Into Gun Show By Eager Private Buyers With Wads of Cash

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In the wake of the Newtown massacre, cities across the United States are funding gun-buybacks in a stated effort to get “guns off the street.” In reality, these efforts are just for show, typically bringing in just a few dozen to a few hundred weapons, many of which are old and inoperable.

Given the enormous number of guns in the U.S., the minuscule number of buyback guns will likely have no statistical impact on gun crime rates. Moreover, many of the folk turning in the guns and collecting gift cards or other trackable means of payment, are unlikely to have criminal records and/or a propensity for violence.

Nevertheless, the photo-op buybacks are providing communities with at least one tangible benefit: the opportunity for 2nd Amendment afficionados to attend the buybacks and bid against the police for seized guns.


This happened at a Tuscon buyback earlier this month as well as the recent Seattle buyback this past Saturday. With respect to Seattle, gun buyers were especially active:

Officers stood by as makeshift gun shows sprang up on the sidewalks, just steps away from the buyback tents, as gun enthusiasts and collectors waved wads of cash for the guns being held by those standing in line.

“I’d prefer they wouldn’t sell them,” [Seattle Police Chief] Diaz said of the people in line making deals with the gun buyers.

Some people saw the event as a way to make some money while others came in the spirit of a gun-buyback program, he said.

Albert Coburn, of Seattle, was standing in line with two rifles from his father, weapons that he had no use for. “Instead of selling them, I’d like to see them get out of circulation.”

Some in the long lines lost patience and gave in to the people who surrounded the parking lot with signs saying “Cash for guns.”

One man jumped out of his vehicle as he was waiting in bumper-to-bumper traffic at the buyback and asked how much the gun enthusiasts and collectors were willing to pay for his three guns. He pocketed $500.

Some might argue that these gun-buybacks are not for show but are instead being used to normalize the American people to the concept of the government taking their guns for payment. Whether you believe that or not, there is no denying that the buybacks have – so far – been utter failures from the government’s perspective, less so from the private buyer’s perspective.

Video: CBS Runs Segment Called ‘Let’s Give Up On The Constitution’

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From Georgetown law professor Louis Michael Seidman:

I’ve got a simple idea: Let’s give up on the Constitution. I know, it sounds radical, but it’s really not. Constitutional disobedience is as American as apple pie. For example, most of our greatest Presidents — Jefferson, Lincoln, Wilson, and both Roosevelts — had doubts about the Constitution, and many of them disobeyed it when it got in their way.

To be clear, I don’t think we should give up on everything in the Constitution. The Constitution has many important and inspiring provisions, but we should obey these because they are important and inspiring, not because a bunch of people who are now long-dead favored them two centuries ago. Unfortunately, the Constitution also contains some provisions that are not so inspiring. For example, one allows a presidential candidate who is rejected by a majority of the American people to assume office. Suppose that Barack Obama really wasn’t a natural-born citizen. So what? Constitutional obedience has a pernicious impact on our political culture. Take the recent debate about gun control. None of my friends can believe it, but I happen to be skeptical of most forms of gun control. I understand, though, that’s not everyone’s view, and I’m eager to talk with people who disagree.

See video:

Read more from this story HERE.

Carbon Use And Prosperity – A Striking Relationship

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photo credit: cgp greyIn his inaugural address on January 21, President Obama invoked great ideals of human dignity, equality, and most especially “progress” to justify his second-term agenda, a cornerstone of which will be a crusade to limit humanity’s use of carbon.

In fact, nothing could be more antithetical to the goal of advancing the human condition than restricting carbon consumption. A look at the relationship between living standards and humanity’s carbon utilization over the past 200 years, as shown in Figure 1, below, makes this perfectly clear.

Fig. 1 Average global GDP per capita as a function of carbon use, 1800 to 2010. GDP in 2010 dollars.

The story that Figure 1 tells is remarkable; it is, perhaps, one of the grandest stories ever told. It shows how, over the past two centuries, by using carbon in ever-increasing amounts, the human race has lifted itself out of hopeless poverty and misery to achieve a modicum of dignity and happiness. Look at that line reaching up, in direct proportion to global carbon use, from an average global income of $180 per person in 1800 to $2,200 in 1960 to $9,000 today; that is progress.

Of course, we still have a ways to go. The current $9,000 average world income is just a fifth of the $45,000 U.S. average, yet we still have some poverty here. Still, the achievement is incredible. In 1932, Franklin Roosevelt campaigned for president on the promise of “a chicken in every pot,” and millions found the offer compelling. Today, in the United States, minimum wage is $7 per hour, and chicken sells for less than $2 per pound; so, a person working at minimum wage can buy a pound of chicken with about 17 minutes’ labor. This is freedom from want, indeed, delivered not by the New Deal, but by the terrific expansion of our use of carbon.

Read more from this story HERE.

Letter to Obama: “We the People” Will Never Surrender our Guns

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Mr. Obama,

What part of ”SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED” do you not get? Actually you and your ilk know very well what that means, you just don’t like it. You’re trying to dupe ”We the People” out of our God given right to protect ourselves against your regime. Look in the mirror Mr. Obama. Do you see God?

The inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness includes the right of the people to bear arms. The founders of our great Constitution knew that folks like you would come along. Our Constitution which you declared ‘fundamentally flawed’ legally secured these rights many years ago. The right to bear arms is not up for debate. The Constitution, the ‘Law of the Land’, shall prevail and the 2nd amendment will stand regardless of your foolish attempt to ‘change’ it.

To control the narrative though, you and yours are using ‘distraction’ as a tactic to mask your true agenda. But not all of your ‘subjects’ will fall for your deception. There are two main distractions we’ve identified. One distraction misdirects us to the argument of which kinds of arms and accessories etc. we should be legally allowed, while the other one misdirects us to the ‘legal’ relationship between such things as the Supremacy clause, the Commerce clause, Congressional and Executive powers, Nullification, the 10th, 14th and 2nd amendments. These distractions define your ‘sleight of hand’. Here’s some bad news for you and yours, Mr. President, it won’t work. Your distractions are being recognized as such by increasing numbers of Americans every day. You won’t get away with disarming ‘We the People’!

It ‘s true that some unsuspecting citizens have taken the bait and are engaging in conversation about what may become socially acceptable limits on the 2nd amendment. We hear arguments about what kinds of firearms and magazine limitations your ‘subjects’ should be allowed under your regime. Some lawmakers are unable to resist these tactics and are proposing ‘feel good’ legislation which would only whittle away at our right to bear arms and assist you in achieving your ultimate goal. Your administration is nothing if it isn’t transparent. ‘We the people’ are drawing attention back to the real issue before us. Your administration is employing incrementalism and distraction in order to deny law abiding, American patriots our right to bear arms, any arms if you get your way!

In case you missed it earlier, the 2nd amendment is not up for debate. The Constitution did not ‘grant’ Americans the right to bear arms. It just ‘legally’ secured that right and only through due process can citizens be denied their legal rights. Your anti-Constitutional declarations, executive orders or any other legislative action contradicting the 2nd amendment will never fly!

You and yours are burning the very Constitution you promised to preserve, protect and defend. History will not look fondly upon a President who at every opportunity tested the will of the people. We Americans recognize and will defend our rights. You’ve managed to make this the critical issue of our time.

Remember when you said ”They cling to guns err religion err” as part of your lecture on how the bitter small town folks in the Midwest deal with hardship? There are plenty of Americans in and beyond the Midwest who understand why the 2nd amendment is so important. History shows that there have been many millions of innocent, unsuspecting citizens murdered by tyrants who successfully disarmed them. Hitler, Stalin, Mao and Castro are a few of the tyrants on that list. A question on the minds of many Americans is whether your name, Mr. Obama, will be added to that list.

The enumerated powers of Congress in article 1 of the Constitution do not include infringement of the 2nd amendment, and neither do the powers of the President. The Supremacy and Commerce clauses do not negate the right to bear arms, nor does the 10th amendment. It would be just as unconstitutional for a state to deprive its people of the right to bear arms as it would be for Congress or you to do so.

Millions of gun owning, law abiding citizens across America won’t allow you or anyone else to deprive them of their 2nd amendment right. ‘We the people’ recognize the great sacrifices of those who’ve defended our Constitution and will not let their sacrifices be in vain. We stand with the founders of the Constitution and shall retain our God given right to bear arms!

Sincerely,

‘We the People’

Study: HHS Adds $9.1 Billion in New Regs in January

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The Department of Health and Human Services passed three new rules over the course of just four days, adding $9.1 billion of regulatory burden during the first month of the new year, a new report claims.

According to a study by the American Action Forum released Friday morning, the new regulations will “account for 797 pages, $9.1 billion in new costs, and 10.6 million additional paperwork burden hours.”

One of the major costs came from the expansion of Medicaid, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the state-based health insurance exchange programs, all mandated under the Affordable Care Act. The total price tag is $2.6 billion with a paperwork burden of 518,432 hours. HHS only allowed 17 working days to submit comment on the nearly 500-page overhaul of Medicaid and SCHIP programs.

Read more from this story HERE.

Egypt Protests: Morsi Issues State of Emergency After Dozens Killed in Riots

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A curfew was to begin Monday after Egypt’s president declared a state of emergency in three Suez Canal provinces hit hardest by a weekend wave of unrest that left more than 50 dead and plunged the nation further into turmoil.

President Mohammed Morsi’s declaration was reminiscent of the tactics used by the country’s ousted regime to get a grip on discontent. This time, the anger is fueled by his Islamist policies and the slow pace of change.

Angry and almost screaming, Morsi vowed in a televised address on Sunday night that he would not hesitate to take even more action to stem the latest eruption of violence across much of the country. But at the same time, he sought to reassure Egyptians that his latest moves would not take the country back into authoritarianism.

“There is no going back on freedom, democracy and the supremacy of the law,” he said.

The worst violence this weekend was in the Mediterranean coastal city of Port Said, where seven people were killed on Sunday, pushing the toll for two days of clashes to at least 44. The unrest was sparked on Saturday by a court conviction and death sentence for 21 defendants involved in a mass soccer riot in the city’s main stadium on Feb. 1, 2012 that left 74 dead.

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama Threatens Fox News, Rush Limbaugh

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In a sycophantic interview with The New Republic, conducted by former campaign staffer Chris Hughes and leftist writer Franklin Foer, President Obama suggested that he had all the answers to the pressing issues facing America and therefore no compromise was necessary with Republicans. He added that Republicans should compromise. And if those Republicans don’t compromise, Obama suggested that the fault would lie at the feet of Fox News and Rush Limbaugh – and that the calculus had to be changed to force Fox News and Limbaugh to stop holding Republicans accountable to conservatism.

Here’s Obama on how he’s going to fix the country:

“The truth is that most of the big issues that are going to make a difference in the life of this country for the next thirty or forty years are complicated and require tough decisions, but are not rocket science. We know that to fix our economy, we’ve got to make sure: that we have the most competitive workforce in the world, that we have a better education system, that we are investing in research and development, that we’ve got world-class infrastructure, that we’re reducing our health care costs, and that we’re expanding our exports. On issues like immigration, we have a pretty good sense of what’s broken in the system and how to fix it. On climate change, it’s a daunting task. But we know what releases carbon into the atmosphere, and we have tools right now that would start scaling that back, although we’d still need some big technological breakthrough. So the question is not, Do we have policies that might work? It is, Can we mobilize the political will to act?”

Despite the fact that Obama’s policies have been abysmal failures on virtually every front, the question for Obama is not what to do, but how to swindle the American people into doing it. And Obama said he would not be focusing on how to get things done in Washington, D.C.; instead, he’d be attempting to drum up public support on every issue. Obama then compared himself to Lincoln for such tactics:

“I always read a lot of Lincoln, and I’m reminded of his adage that, with public opinion, there’s nothing you can’t accomplish; without it, you’re not going to get very far. And spending a lot more time in terms of being in a conversation with the American people as opposed to just playing an insider game here in Washington is an example of the kinds of change in orientation that I think we’ve undergone, not just me personally, but the entire White House.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Henry Kissinger Says Iran Nuclear Crisis Near

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Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has warned that a crisis involving a nuclear Iran is in the “foreseeable future”.

The Nobel Peace laureate, 89, was speaking about prospects in the Middle East at the World Economic Forum.

He said nuclear proliferation in the region triggered by an armed Iran would increase the chances of an atomic war – “a turning point in human history”.

He also urged the US and Russia to co-operate in resolving Syria’s conflict.

“There has emerged in the region, the current and most urgent issue of nuclear proliferation. For 15 years, the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) have declared that a nuclear Iran is unacceptable, but it has been approaching,” he said.

Read more from this story HERE.

Sellout: Republican Senators Strike Amnesty Deal With Dems

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A powerful group of senators from both parties has reached a deal on the outlines of a comprehensive immigration overhaul, a development that will drive an emotional debate on a hot-button issue unseen in Washington for more than half a decade.

The group is expected to unveil the basics of its proposal at a Monday news conference on Capitol Hill, essentially laying down a marker on the issue one day before President Barack Obama heads to Las Vegas to unveil more details about his own immigration proposal.

According to a five-page document provided to POLITICO, the sweeping proposal — agreed to in principle by eight senators — would seek to overhaul the legal immigration system as well as create a pathway to citizenship for the nation’s roughly 11 million illegal immigrants. But establishing that pathway would depend on whether the U.S. first implements stricter border enforcement measures and new rules ensuring immigrants have left the country in compliance with their visas. Young people brought to the country as children illegally and seasonal agriculture industry workers would be given a faster path to citizenship.

The broad agreement by the influential Gang of Eight senators amounts to the most serious bipartisan effort to act on the highly charged issue since George W. Bush’s comprehensive measure was defeated in the Senate in 2007.

Read more from this story HERE.