Tea Party

Ten Tax Facts for Tax Day Tea Parties

President Barack Obama and the U.S. Congress have gone on a spending and debt spree that the country cannot afford. As a result, a spontaneous grassroots movement is emerging from every corner of the nation with a message for Congress and the president: Stop spending us into an inevitable spiral of debt and higher taxes … now!

To that end, groups of Americans will be meeting in towns and cities across the nation on April 15 for “Tax Day Tea Parties” (think Boston Tea Party, not biscuits and fine English china). These “Ten Tax Facts” are our effort to make sure the American people are well- informed as they gather together to express their concern about the direction Washington is headed.

#1 .Under the Obama budget, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that the national debt will double over the next five years; and it will triple over the next 10 years to $17.3 trillion.

#2. Under the Obama budget, CBO projects that the national debt will soar over the next 10 years from 40 percent of GDP today to a shocking 82.4 percent. (Ronald Reagan left office with the national debt at 42 percent of GDP).

#3. The president’s budget also states that total federal borrowing will grow by $2.7 trillion this year alone, an increase of 27 percent in one year!

#4. The budget President Obama proposes for this year increases federal spending by an incredible 34 percent over the previous year, with a total of $4 trillion in federal spending, the highest ever.

#5. The federal budget deficit (not the national debt) would reach $1.845 trillion this year, according to the CBO, the highest ever. That would be more than seven times Reagan’s largest budget deficit of $221 billion, which caused so much consternation among Reagan’s critics.

#6. The CBO estimates that this Obama budget deficit will total an astounding 13.1 percent of GDP, more than one-eighth of the entire U.S. economy, for the federal budget deficit alone! Under George Bush, the federal deficit for 2008 was 3.2 percent of GDP. The deficit for fiscal year 2007, in the last budget adopted when Congress was controlled by Republican majorities, was $162 billion, or 1.2 percent of GDP.

#7. The Obama budget also includes $1 trillion in tax increases on the upper 5 percent of income earners, mostly tax rate increases. But the top 5 percent of income earners already pays 60 percent of all income taxes.

#8. The Obama budget projects that revenues from the corporate income tax will more than double in 3 years, increasing, in fact, by more than 124 percent.

#9. Another $645 billion tax increase comes from President Obama’s anti-global warming cap and trade system, which is essentially an energy tax on the production and use of carbon energy, such as oil, natural gas, and coal.

#10. While the Obama administration claims to have cut $2 trillion from the budget over 10 years, fully $1.5 trillion of those “cuts” actually represents the troop drawdown in Iraq, which was already scheduled to occur under the Bush administration. Of the remaining $500 billion in budget “savings,” fully $311 billion is categorized as “interest savings” but is actually an additional tax increase on upper income earners.

More good news:

** The stock market had its worst January in 113 years.
** The stock market had its worst February since 1933.
** The Dow has dropped faster under Obama than any other new president in 90 years.
** In March the dollar saw its worst drop in value in 25 years.
** And, today we found out that the stock market had its the worst first quarter since 1939.

From the WSJ:
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the first quarter of 2009 at 7608.92, down 13%. Although it rose 7.7% in March and finished with a 1.2% one-day gain on Tuesday, that wasn't enough to pull it out of its slump. The string of quarterly declines was the longest stretch since the six quarters that ended in June 1970 and the worst first quarter in percentage terms since 1939. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index, meanwhile, lost 12% in the quarter.

H/T: Gateway Puntdit

Sonogram day!

I went with my sister (and the rest of the fam) to get a 3D sonogram today.

The first real pic of my first nephew, John.

It was pretty amazing technology!

Un-ending love, Amazing Grace...

“When it comes time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home” - Mohican Chief Aupumut, 1725

H/T: Spartan Cops

Let me know how that works out...

Just so you know...

Those of you that have been reading this blog probably already know, but many others may not.

The reason why I give so much attention to fallen police officers (and military people) is because one of my dear friends from my academy class was killed in the line of duty.

I feel a duty to keep their memory alive and to give them their deserved recognition and honor.

I'd want someone to do the same for mine...

A cop's funeral...

Two LE bloggers gave a great read on police funerals. Their words are much better than mine.

Cop The Truth

The Oakland Police Funerals - A Day of Mourning

The funeral of a police officer killed on the job is like no other. During my law enforcement career I attended more than sixty funerals for police officers who gave their lives in the line of duty in California. Each one as heartbreaking as the next. Each as introspective.

There is, of course, the precision and ceremony of a military funeral. Amazing Grace on the bagpipes. The thirteen folds of the American flag, to be presented to the surviving family. The haunting notes of Taps. The "missing man" flyover. The lingering sense of mortality and of life ended too early.

But the funeral of a police officer is also quite unique. Law enforcement officials from across the state - and often out of state, as well - attend in large numbers. Most of them have never met the fallen officer, but felt compelled to attend, anyway. Each displays the uniform of their respective agency; a different patch, a different badge, a different patrol unit. Each subtlety eyes those in attendance; their choice of sidearm, baton, number of pairs of handcuffs carried, style of sunglasses worn. They nod to each other, grim faced, their duty before them.

The church service is much the same, the crowd usually too large to fit inside. Afterwards, they return to their units, both marked and unmarked, for the procession to the cemetery. Leading out are the motor cops, in pairs, red and blues flashing, as far as the eye can see. Then the hearse and family, followed by an endless stream of police cars of every shape and color scheme, overheads twinkling.

The route is blocked by somber faced officers, each saluting in turn as the flag-draped coffin is carried past. Civilians line the streets and pile out of their cars to watch the amazing spectacle. Many have their hands over their hearts, some salute, others watch with tears in their eyes. Flags are everywhere. And then there are the children. The schools are the best. Many allow the kids out on the grounds to watch, and they are often treated to friendly waves and a blast of the siren from passing officers.

When the service at the cemetery is over, the officers shake hands with those from the host agency and are warmly thanked for their support. Many officers will return to their jurisdictions and go right back to work. For others, it's just another day off, duty chosen rather than recreation.

Today, the Oakland Police Department will host a funeral for four of their finest. Officer John Hege, Sergeant Mark Dunakin, 40, Sergeant Ervin Romans, 43, and Sergeant Daniel Sakai, 35, were shot and killed Saturday as they attempted to arrest rapist and wanted felon Lovelle Mixon, 26. A fifth officer, Sergeant Pat Gonzales, was also wounded.

Motor Officers Hege and Dunakin stopped Mixon, for some insignificant reason. He gave them a fake I.D. and got out of the car, walking with them towards their motorcycles. He knew that he was wanted for violating his parole. He knew that he was wanted for several rapes in the area. And he didn't want to go back to prison. The two officers, at that point, only knew that he had committed a minor traffic offense.

Somehow, Mixon managed to pull a pistol and shoot both officers. When they were lying in the roadway, bleeding, he stood over them and shot them each again, then fled on foot. Dunakin died immediately. Hege held on but died two days later. His donated organs would save the lives of four men that he had never met.

A bystander told the responding hundreds of officers where Mixon was hiding. They sealed off the area and SWAT prepared to make entry. After throwing in flashbangs, the stack entered through the front door of the apartment. Mixon, hiding in the closet, was apparently waiting for them. He fired an AK-47 blindly through the walls at the assault team, striking Romans as he crossed the threshold, killing him. He is dragged away from the firefight by his brothers, even as more officers rush in to engage the suspect.

As SWAT assaults through the apartment to get to Mixon, they must navigate through an extremely narrow hallway. Sakai is hit in the throat and head and pulled from the building. Gonzales is also wounded. Finally, Mixon is dead.

Four talented and dedicated young officers, lost much too soon. Four grieving families. A devastated agency. And a law enforcement community that will never forget their courage and sacrifice.

7916. 8353. 8045. 8474. End of watch.

The services will be held at 11:00, at the Oracle Arena, 7000 Coliseum Way, Oakland. Attendance estimates are as high as 7,000, with officers coming from all over the country and Canada. Local Bay Area TV Stations (KTVU Channel 2, KRON Channel 4, KPIX Channel 5, and KGO Channel 7) will be broadcasting the funeral services LIVE.

If you would like to help the children and families of these fallen officers, you may donate by going here. And please say a prayer for Officer Gonzales, who is still recovering from his injury.

Officer "Smith"

In Remembrance...
The memorial service was today. These are my final words on the tragic deaths of

Sergeant Mark Dunakin

Officer John Hege

Sergeant Erv Romans

Sergeant Dan Sakai

for now, we must move on.

The four of you gave your all, and ultimately you gave your lives, in service to the people of the City of Oakland. You felt that the citizens of Oakland were deserving of your effort, and you gave 110% to them. You loved working in a place many of us wouldn't dare to tread.

As with most police funerals I've been to, I didn't know you personally. But that doesn't change the fact that you were all my brothers. We all bleed blue.

You will not be forgotten by the people of Oakland. You will not be forgotten by the surviving officers of the O.P.D. And, you will not be forgotten by the rest of us working the streets of the bay area.

Your families will be looked after in your absence. Fear not.

May you all live on forever patrolling the golden streets of Heaven. Mark and John, I bet you can't wait to see those gold plated Road Kings. Erv, Dan, I'm sure there'll be gold AR's for you.

May you all have fair seas and blue skies forever.

Rest easy my brothers...

We Have the Watch

Indeed you do...

With a very heavy heart...

You can watch the entire service here.

The Fallen Four

Their funeral is tomorrow, please say a prayer for them and their friends and family, if you can't be there. And take just a moment to remember them, what they did and what they stood for.

The funeral is being simulcast on Bay Area news stations.

Best friends

Four minutes was the difference between life and death.

In the time it takes you to read this article, his dog would've died.

It's what cops do for each other.

K9 Stabbing a Close Call

San Diego Union-Tribune
March 23, 2009

SAN DIEGO, CA — San Diego police Sgt. Jess Havin knew every minute mattered when he scooped up his bloodied partner and bolted to the cruiser they’ve shared for five years.

It took one minute to escape the chaos of the home where two people lay dead and load his partner into the back. It took five more to race to the hospital, lights flashing and siren blaring in the “code 3” of police jargon.

“We don’t have a policy where you run a code 3 for an animal,” Havin said. “I don’t care. I did it. I’d do it again.”

Havin’s partner is Earp, an 8-year-old German shepherd that is one month from retirement. Friday morning, Earp was stabbed in the throat by a man wielding a butcher knife he had used to kill his wife. It was the first time Earp had been ordered to bite anyone. Before Friday, he had only been sent to find drugs or guns or to scare people.

Earp and Havin were part of a tactical team that tried to save Gail Bradley, 50, inside her home in Paradise Hills after she called 911 to report that her husband, Willard Bradley, had a knife and was suicidal.

Willard Bradley, 51, was known as “Trick Tony,” a magician and entertainer who performed at Balboa Park and birthday parties. Two officers shot him to death after he stabbed Earp and turned on them.

Yesterday, Havin and Earp were recovering from the trauma, and Earp was mending from surgery that saved his life after one of the carotid arteries that carry blood to his brain was sewn shut. The knife had severed it.

Blood was everywhere in the back cage of Havin’s car as he called ahead to Earp’s veterinarian in Barrio Logan and dispatched another dog handler to grab blood for a transfusion. Havin was trying to keep Earp calm by talking to him. “Auf,” he said repeatedly, a command for the dog to be still.

At first, Dr. Robert Tugend and colleagues at the VCA Main Street Animal Hospital figured Earp was bleeding from the abdomen because that’s where blood was pooling. They thought he might have been shot and were preparing for an X-ray to find a bullet – until they spotted the stab wound.

Doctors said Earp had lost so much blood that he would have died if Havin had taken 10 minutes, instead of six, to drive the 8 miles from the home to the hospital.

Earp isn’t the first police dog to be injured in San Diego. Dogs were stabbed but survived in 2002 and 2008. Another was hit by a stray bullet in 2000, and an Oceanside police dog plummeted to his death off the Coronado bridge in 2007. At least two San Diego police dogs died in hot patrol cars since 1999.

The Police Department won’t decide whether Earp will retire early or return to the force until the end of a mandatory 14-day rest following the attack. Either way, he’ll live out his retirement at Haven’s home in Alpine.

Police dogs typically retire when they are about 8½ years old because they start becoming less “driven,” Havin said.

“This dog will slide right into it, especially because the last two nights he’s been sleeping in the bedroom,” Havin said.

For now, Earp is going from the outdoor kennel at Havin’s house to an indoor cage, and he’ll have to get used to being a center of attention.

Officer James Stevens checked in on Havin and Earp yesterday and joked, “There are a bunch of dogs outside your car. I think they want an autograph from Earp.”

Havin handed Earp a few biscuits outside the K-9 Unit headquarters on Federal Boulevard as the pair posed for a photographer. Earp, stitches showing on his shaved chest, moved slowly, his eyes watchful and his ears perking up at the sound of gunshots from the nearby police firing range.

Havin said he “was a great dog, a hardworking dog, very obedient,” but he is operating at less than 60 percent at this point in his recovery.

“I’d like to bring him back and work him at least until he’s past his true retirement age,” Havin said. “I think he deserves it.”

H/T: The Sniper

RIP...

More to come...

There will probably be more incidents like this in the near future, unfortunately.

The Courts have ordered The Austrian Oaf to release about 40,000 to 50,000 people from prison, due to over-crowding. People just like Lovelle Mixon.

People like him will be out (unsupervised) on the streets of your city.

People like that don't have any problem with snuffing out your life in a second. He did that to three (soon to be four) cops that were just doing their jobs.

Do you think he'd have a problem doing the same to you?

Be responsible for your own safety. By any means necessary.

When an Officer falls...

That's one of my BFF's second from the left.

The Four

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." - Matthew 5:9

Sgt. Daniel Sakai
EOW - 3/21/09

Sgt. Mark Dunakin
EOW - 3/21/09

Sgt. Ervin Romans
EOW - 3/21/09

Ofc. John Hege
EOW - 3/22/09

In Memorium...

Three Four Oakland Police Officers were killed in the line of duty today.

One more is clinging to life.

I'll be posting more later.

RIP brothers...

Three OPD Officers Killed, Another Clings to Life

By LORI PREUITT

Updated 10:05 PM PDT, Sat, Mar 21, 2009

Four Oakland police officers were shot in the line of duty Saturday on the streets of Oakland in two separate shootings.

Four Oakland police officers were shot Saturday and a suspect was killed. It started with a traffic stop two blocks from a police substation.

Three have died and the forth is clinging to life.

Never in the history of any Bay Area police department have so many officers been killed on the same day.

Oakland's acting Police Chief Howard Jordan made the grim announcement just after 9 p.m. Saturday.

The officers have been identified as 41-year-old John Hege, 40-year-old Mark Dunakin, 43-year-old Ervin Romansa and 35-year-old Daniel Sakai.

Hege and Dunakin were traffic cops.

Romansa and Sakai were members of the SWAT team.

Hege is the officer that remains clinging to life late Saturday. Dunakin, Romansa and Sakai were declared dead.

A fifth officer suffered a minor injury in the apartment building. He was treated and released Saturday.

The violence started with a traffic stop just two blocks from the Eastmont sub-station.

The suspect was Lovell Mixon, 27, from Oakland. Mixon was on a no-bail warrant for assault with a deadly weapon. The Oakland Tribune said he had prior convictions in Alameda County for grand theft and possession of marijuana.

The tragedy started when two motorcycle patrol officers pulled a driver over for a routine traffic stop in the 7600 block of MacArthur Boulevard just after 1 p.m. Saturday.

Witnesses say the driver got out of his car and shot both officers before running away.

Another witness, who did not want be identified, told the Tribune he heard gun fire and then saw the officers laying on road.

The man but told the reporter, "I went over to one officer and saw he was bleeding from his helmet pretty bad." "The other officer was laying motionless."

The man said the officer laying near a car had two gun shot bullets near in his face. One bullet was lodged in his jaw and the other in his neck. The man said he gave the officer CPR until other police arrived.

A huge police presence immediately swarmed the scene, including members of the Oakland police department, the Alameda County Sheriff's Department, the CHP and a SWAT team as they searched for the shooter.

The Oakland police helicopter also flew overheard as well as television helicopters.

Shortly after the first shooting, police learned a man was barracaded in a nearby building.

Just after 3 p.m., at 73rd and Hillside SWAT teams entered the building in search of the man. A shoot-out followed with two additional Oakland officers being hit by gunfire.

The suspect was also shot and killed.

Many streets near the Eastmont Town Center were closed including busy 74th Avenue for most of the day and into the night.

All of the injured officers were taken to Highland Hospital. Just after 4 p.m. the coroner was called to Highland, although it was not immediately announced that any officers had died.

Highland hospital is a trauma center. A crowd gathered outside the hospital emergency room, including dozens of officers in uniform waiting for word on the condition of their fellow officers. Many officers were crying and hugging each other as they waited for word from their comrades.

Back at the original crime scene people taunted police near the scene of the first shooting.

Turds.

This used to be called "An act of war!"...

Now we just let whomever do whatever.

Back in the day, we would shoot down ANY plane that came within 50 MILES of an aircraft carrier. Now we let them fly 500 feet OVER our carriers.

Joe Biden wasn't just whistling Dixie.

Disgraceful.

Russian planes fly over U.S. naval ships

WASHINGTON, March 20 (UPI) -- Two Russian planes flew within 500 feet of U.S. Navy ships participating in military drills with South Korea, military officials said.

After trying unsuccessfully to contact the pilots, U.S. fighter jets met up with the Russian planes and flew with them until they left the area, CNN reported.

One incident occurred Monday, when Russian Ilyushin IL-38 maritime patrol aircraft flew over the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis while it was in international waters in the Sea of Japan. The Russian aircraft flew within 500 feet of the carrier, which was lower than other Russian flyovers in the past year, military officials said.

On Tuesday, two Russian long-range bombers overflew the Stennis and the USS Blue Ridge several times at about 2,000 feet, U.S. military officials told CNN.

Military officials said U.S. aircraft tried contacting the Russian planes on international air frequency radio channels on both days but the Russian pilots didn't respond.

The DOW will probably lose 200 points on Monday

With news like this:

From Drudge

Obama will call for increased oversight of 'executive pay at all banks, Wall Street firms and possibly other companies' as part of sweeping plan to 'overhaul financial regulation', NY TIMES reporting Sunday, newsroom sources tell DRUDGE... Developing...

Update 3/23/09: Wow, I guess I called THAT wrong...

Cop Blogs

I just found three great cop blogs today and wanted to share them w/ the three of you that read this blog.

Press Hard 3 Copies is a Motor Officer from the Bay Area

Spartan Cops is a good resource for cops

Beat And Release is a cop in the southeast

Ozzy's Low-Level Friday

Love this song.


H/T: Outlaw 13

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!

"Bill of Attainder"

You'll be hearing this a lot, in the coming days.


H/T: Jawa Report

LMAO!

Stunning...

Stossel is great as usual.

Skip ahead to 1:15

Must be hope and change...

Guns on a plane
Obama secretly ends program that let pilots carry guns

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

After the September 11 attacks, commercial airline pilots were allowed to carry guns if they completed a federal-safety program. No longer would unarmed pilots be defenseless as remorseless hijackers seized control of aircraft and rammed them into buildings.

Now President Obama is quietly ending the federal firearms program, risking public safety on airlines in the name of an anti-gun ideology.

The Obama administration this past week diverted some $2 million from the pilot training program to hire more supervisory staff, who will engage in field inspections of pilots.

This looks like completely unnecessary harassment of the pilots. The 12,000 Federal Flight Deck Officers, the pilots who have been approved to carry guns, are reported to have the best behavior of any federal law enforcement agency. There are no cases where any of them has improperly brandished or used a gun. There are just a few cases where officers have improperly used their IDs.

Fewer than one percent of the officers have any administrative actions brought against them and, we are told, virtually all of those cases “are trumped up.”

Take a case against one flight officer who had visited the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles within the last few weeks. While there, the pilot noticed that federal law enforcement officers can, with the approval of a superior, obtain a license plate that cannot be traced, a key safety feature for law enforcement personnel. So the pilot asked if, as a member of the federal program, he was eligible. The DMV staffer checked and said “no.” The next day administrative actions were brought against the pilot for “misrepresenting himself.” These are the kinds of cases that President Obama wants to investigate.

Since Mr. Obama's election, pilots have told us that the approval process for letting pilots carry guns on planes slowed significantly. Last week the problem went from bad to worse. Federal Flight Deck Officers - the pilots who have been approved to carry guns - indicate that the approval process has stalled out.

Pilots cannot openly speak about the changing policies for fear of retaliation from the Transportation Security Administration. Pilots who act in any way that causes a “loss of confidence” in the armed pilot program risk criminal prosecution as well as their removal from the program. Despite these threats, pilots in the Federal Flight Deck Officers program have raised real concerns in multiple interviews.

Arming pilots after Sept. 11 was nothing new. Until the early 1960s, American commercial passenger pilots on any flight carrying U.S. mail were required to carry handguns. Indeed, U.S. pilots were still allowed to carry guns until as recently as 1987. There are no records that any of these pilots (either military or commercial) ever causing any significant problems.

Screening of airplane passengers is hardly perfect. While armed marshals are helpful, the program covers less than 3 percent of the flights out of Washington D.C.'s three airports and even fewer across the country. Sky marshals are costly and quit more often than other law-enforcement officers.

Armed pilots are a cost-effective backup layer of security. Terrorists can only enter the cockpit through one narrow entrance, and armed pilots have some time to prepare themselves as hijackers penetrate the strengthened cockpit doors. With pilots, we have people who are willing to take on the burden of protecting the planes for free. About 70 percent of the pilots at major American carriers have military backgrounds.

Frankly, as a matter of pure politics, we cannot understand what the administration is thinking. Nearly 40 House Democrats are in districts were the NRA is more popular than House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. We can't find any independent poll in which the public is demanding that pilots disarm. Why does this move make sense?

Only anti-gun extremists and terrorist recruits are worried about armed pilots. So why is the Obama administration catering to this tiny lobby at the expense of public safety?

I can't get too worked worked up about this, but it's typical of the kind of crap that the rat-bastard O'Bama is doing. I can't get too worked up, because the FFDO program is a farce in the first place, because of the idiotic rules put in place to deter airline pilots from becoming FFDO's. The FFDO's are pretty small in number and would be completely ineffective if anything ever went down. So shutting down a small and horribly implemented program doesn't really bother me.

The larger issues at hand, are.

Brothers at War came out Friday

Go see it when it comes to your town.


This is one Iraqi that didn't get the memo that "the war is lost".

Kristina Ripatti

The post below made me think of one of my favorite episodes of EMHE, the one about former LAPD offcer Tina Ripatti. I looked it up on youtube and found it, but the viddy embed is disabled.

The whole show is on there, so check it out.

Tina Ripatti is a true stud and warrior. God bless her.

Amazing Grace

A buddy sent me an email with a link to some dudes that I've never heard of, sing Amazing Grace at the Rome Coliseum. They were pretty good, but they couldn't compare to Leeann Rimes.



She does the BEST rendition of the Star Spangled Banner too:

Too bad it isn't a better video.

I just love Leeann Rimes, she's such a fantastic singer and a great person as well. Watch her here on Extreme Makeover - Home Edition, to see what I mean. I could listen to her all day.

There's just no fixing STUPID!

Bloody Tragedy in Lexington Park

LEXINGTON PARK - 3/11/2009

UPDATE March 11, 1:30 p.m.

On March 9, the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office was notified of a Lexington Park, Maryland woman, reportedly aged 27, who was flown to Prince George’s Hospital for an injury which occurred on March 8, as a result of a sexual act involving the use of a reciprocating saw. The original 911 call was dispatched as a medical emergency.

St. Mary’s County Bureau of Criminal Investigation Detectives conducted an investigation which determined the injury was a result of a consensual act between two parties and no crime was committed.

At approximately 1:30 a.m. on Sunday, March 8, units from Bay District Fire Department and Lexington Park Rescue Squad responded to a call for a woman bleeding in Lexington Park.

A man told authorities that he had placed a sex toy on a saber saw blade and that the blade had sawed through the plastic and severely wounded the woman. Trooper 7 transported the woman to PG Hospital. The case remains under investigation at this time. No word on the condition of the woman at this time.

Are you frigging kidding me?

One of my favorite Cop movies....

Colors

Robert Duval was fantastic (as always) and Sean Penn was pretty good too. This was obviously filmed before he got his lobotomy.

Well said!

I don't always agree with Pat Condell, but he usually makes some very good points.

This one is spot-on and it should have been said by someone in this country, too.

Was he lying then, or is he lying now?

Then:

"This isn't just an economic concept, this is a continuing disaster for America's working families," Obama said before signing measures reversing several Bush administration policies curtailing trade union rights.

Now:

"I don't think things are ever as good as they say, or ever as bad as they say," Obama added. "Things two years ago were not as good as we thought because there were a lot of underlying weaknesses in the economy. They're not as bad as we think they are now."

In other words, he doesn't have a clue.

Hooyah!

Stud.

SEAL lost eye, but teammates never lost nerve

By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Mar 11, 2009 16:11:34 EDT

CORONADO, Calif. — The story floated around this naval amphibious base last year: An instructor of SEAL candidates yanked out his prosthetic right eye, presumably while lashing out at tired-out candidates suffering from the chilly Pacific surf.

The sun’s rays would reflect the SEAL trident symbol etched onto the surface of the eye. The effect of the trident coming alive, in a way, unnerved quite a few first-phase students who hoped to earn themselves the famous pin.

The story was no tall tale. The Trident eye belongs to retired Special Warfare Operator 1st Class (SEAL) Mark Robbins, who lost his eye in combat in Iraq.

“[The students] didn’t want to look me in the eye. It’s intimidating,” he said. “I tried to use it as a motivational tool, a reason to stop thinking of themselves, maybe to think as a team.”

A bullet went through Robbins’ skull during a battle between a close-knit SEAL team and well-armed insurgents in a farming area near Habbaniyah, Iraq, on April 2, 2007. That day, Robbins’ teammates thought he was dead. Even after a medevac helicopter took him to a military trauma team, they feared that since the bullet cut through his head, he would not live to see another day.

The events that led to the loss of his eye remain fuzzy. “I remember what people tell me,” Robbins said, speaking by telephone from Chicago. Details relayed by his teammates from SEAL Team 5 have helped paint the picture of what happened that day, events that earned one of the SEALs the nation’s third-highest combat award for valor.

Read the rest of what happened here.

The best first-start in history!

And it's only been 50 days! Just imagine what he can accomplish in four years!

America will be virtually unrecognizable...

50 Days That Changed the World
...It's hard to imagine we're only 50 days into the Barack Obama Presidency.

** Obama is on track to spend more money than any person in the history of the planet.
** Obama and Pelosi's stimulus bill was the largest spending bill in the history of the planet.
** Obama and democrats have already saddled America's children and grand children with massive debt. Not that this bothers them.
** He's lost at least 3 administration nominees due to tax fraud.
** He's promoted a tax cheat to run the IRS and Treasury.
** He's insulted America's greatest ally, Great Britain.
** He's reneged on missile agreements with allies Poland and the Czech Republic.
** His administration has already met with the murderous Assad Regime from Syria.
** Obama signed legislation to close Gitmo.
** Obama freed a dirty bomber from Gitmo to Great Britain.
** Obama told US soldiers and marines in Afghanistan, "We're losing."
** Obama's VP told US soldiers and marines that US deaths will rise in Afghanistan.
** Obama has already discussed holding peace talks with the Taliban.
** The Obama stock market had its worst January in 113 years.
** The stock market had its worst February since 1933.
** The Dow has dropped faster under Obama than any other new president in 90 years.
** Obama's budget more than doubles the national debt held by the public, and adds more to the debt than all previous presidents -- from George Washington to George W. Bush -- combined.
** Obama managed to spend more than the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan combined.
** Obama will quadruple the deficit this year.
** Cap & trade was introduced that will cost America 4 million jobs and cost Americans at least $700 per family per year.
** Team Obama announced easing restrictions with communist Cuba.
** Meanwhile, democrats further restricted free trade with ally Colombia.
** Obama passed legislation to fund foreign abortions.
** Obama passed legislation to fund embryonic stem cell research.
** Democrats already banned offshore drilling.
** Democrats scrapped oil and gas leases in Utah for energy development.
** Obama's party permanently banned drilling in ANWR.

Go to Gateway Pundit for the details.

Like he cares...

Stem cell go-ahead puts Obama at odds with pope

Tue Mar 10, 2009 8:14am EDT
By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's lifting of restrictions on federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research puts him at odds with Pope Benedict and the American Roman Catholic Church.

After Obama signed the order on Monday, the Vatican and U.S. and Italian Church leaders condemned the move. One commentator said the test of "a real democracy" was its defense of the most defenseless.

Obama's executive order reversed and repudiated restrictions placed on the research by his predecessor, George W. Bush, freeing labs across the country to start working with the cells, which can give rise to any kind of cell in the body.

Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' committee on pro-life activities, called Obama's decision "a sad victory of politics over science and ethics."

"This action is morally wrong because it encourages the destruction of innocent human life, treating vulnerable human beings as mere products to be harvested," he added.

The Catholic Church, other religious groups and pro-life advocates oppose stem cell research -- which scientists hope can lead to cures for diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's -- because it involves the destruction of embryos.

RIP Rev. Fred Winters...

The latest in a long list of attacks on Christian churches.

Interesting to note that these types of things always seem to happen in Christian and Jewish places of worship...

Police: Ill. pastor deflected gunshot with Bible

By JIM SUHR, Associated (with Terrorists) Press Writer
MARYVILLE, Ill. – A pastor shot and killed during his Sunday sermon deflected the first of the gunman's four rounds with a Bible, sending a confetti-like spray of paper into the air in a horrifying scene that congregants initially thought was a skit, police said.

The gunman strode down the aisle of the sprawling First Baptist Church shortly after 8 a.m. and briefly spoke with The Rev. Fred Winters, then pulled out a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol and began firing until it jammed, Illinois State Police Director Larry Trent said. Churchgoers wrestled the gunman to the ground as he waved a knife, slashing himself and two other people, Trent said.

None of the about 150 congregants seemed to recognize the gunman and investigators do not know details of Winters' conversation with him, but they planned to review an audio recording of the service, Trent said. The service was not videotaped.

"We thought it was part of a drama skit ... when he shot, what you saw was confetti," said congregant Linda Cunningham, whose husband is a minister of adult education at the church. "We just sat there waiting for what comes next, not realizing that he had wounded the pastor."

Winters had stood on an elevated platform to deliver his sermon about finding happiness in the workplace and managed to run halfway down the sanctuary's side aisle before collapsing, Cunningham said.

Two congregants tackled the gunman as he pulled the 4-inch knife, and all three were stabbed, police said. The gunman suffered "a pretty serious wound to the neck" while one congregant had lower back wounds, Trent said.

Congregants knocked the gunman between sets of pews, then held him down until police arrived, said church member Don Bohley, who was just outside the sanctuary when the shooting began.

"People came running out and told us to call 911," said Bohley, 72.

Authorities didn't know whether Winters, a married father of two who had led the church for nearly 22 years, knew the gunman. Police described the gunman as a 27-year-old from nearby Troy but would not release his name pending possible charges.

Trent said investigators had not immediately uncovered evidence of a criminal background or mental illness.

"We don't know the relationship (between the gunman and pastor), why he's here or what the circumstances came about that caused him in the first place to be here," said Illinois State Police Master Trooper Ralph Timmins.

The Rev. Mark Jones, another pastor at First Baptist, said he briefly saw the gunman but not the shooting, though he heard a sound like miniature firecrackers.

"We have no idea what this guy's motives were," Jones said outside the church.

He later urged a Sunday evening prayer service attended by hundreds at nearby Metro Community Church in Edwardsville to find resilience and spirituality after "this attack from the forces of hell."

The standing-room-only crowd cried, cradled Bibles and stretched their hands skyward as they packed into the church, many watching the service on large television monitors in overflow areas.

"We need to reassure our hearts and reinforce our minds that Pastor Fred is in that place that we call heaven," Jones said. "Church, evil does exist. Today, we saw the visible results of evil and its influence."

The gunman and 39-year-old congregant Terry Bullard underwent surgery at St. Louis University Hospital and were in serious condition Sunday evening, spokeswoman Laura Keller said. The other victim, Keith Melton, was treated and released from Gateway Regional Medical Center.

"I would call it heroic," Trent said. "While many understandably were stuck to their seats, they took to action."

First Baptist had an average attendance of 32 people when Winters became senior pastor in 1987; it now has about 1,200 members, according to the church's Web site. Winters also was former president of the Illinois Baptist State Association and an adjunct professor for Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, according to the site.

The red brick church sits along a busy two-lane highway on the east side of Maryville, a fast-growing village of more than 7,000 about 20 miles northeast of St. Louis. A farm sits directly across from the church, but subdivisions of newer homes can be seen from every side.

"Things like this just don't happen in Maryville," Mayor Larry Gulledge said. "We've lost one the pillars of our community, one of our leaders."

Sharla Dryden, 62, pulled into the church parking lot for a 9:30 a.m. service Sunday to see "just a lot of chaos, lot of police, fire, and people just devastated."

"I would have been devastated if anyone had been shot, but to hear it was the pastor was terrible," Dryden said. "You just never expect this to happen at a church."

At Winters' two-story brick home in Edwardsville, several friends gathered to pay their respects but declined comment. Family members also declined comment.

A statement on First Baptist's Web site asked for prayers for Winters' family, the congregants who tackled the gunman, the gunman and his family, and church members.

Last month, a man shot and killed himself in front of a cross inside televangelist Robert H. Schuller's Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, Calif. In November, a gunman killed his estranged wife in a New Jersey church vestibule as Sunday services let out.

In July, two people were killed and six wounded in a shooting rampage at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, Tenn. An out-of-work truck driver who police say targeted the church for its liberal leanings pleaded guilty to the shootings and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Barry plays politics with American troops.

Shocker, I know. Imagine the outrage if GWB had done this?

In short, Barry announced (at his "well-received" speech at Camp Lejuene) that a Stryker Brigade was being diverted from Iraq to Afghanistan (pronounced ahfghonistahn) due to the "alleged" draw-down in Iraq (pronounced eerock). Pity that the 10 months of Arabic that the Brigade learned is going to be completely wasted.

Here's the really funny part: another (different) Stryker Brigade is going to be deployed in place of the one that's being diverted to A-stan. I.E.; there will still be TWO Stryker Brigade's deployed to Iraq at the same time, thus no draw-down. Not only that, all the pre-deployment training that they did specific to Iraq is now a complete waste.

Amazingly, the MSM has completely failed to do it's job, in reporting this. Again.

Natch...


H/T: Mudville Gazette via Ace.

Read this book!

It's totally awesome.


via videosift.com

Off-duty...

I read about this in the current issue of American Cop magazine and it makes total sense.

Most coppers I know, carry a Roscoe off-duty. But what if you get into a situation where you need to take police action? What if you need to cuff someone until the Cavalry arrives? Sure, you could enlist the help of some good-sam, but they sure aren't going to have cuffs on them. After all, you're the cop! Very few (if any) coppers I know carry a set of handcuffs with them. They're too heavy and too bulky.

Let's face it, packing off-duty is a PITA. Carrying cuffs, too? Fuggetaboutit!

Anyway, there's a new thing-a-ma-jiggy out that lets you keep a set of cuffs with anytime you need them. They're called "Tuff-Tie" disposable restraints. They're pretty cool. They're basically nylon cord, with a piece of hard plastic that keeps them from coming untied. They take up very little room in a back pocket (or the pocket of those cool 5.11 tactical pants you know you wear!) and they weigh next to nothing. And they cost $1.30!

Check 'em out at the Handcuff Warehouse.

Hmmmm...

Click on it to see the whole thing. For some reason, it isn't displaying properly.

From Doug Ross

Barry sets yet another record!

I'm confident that this isn't the last one he'll set...

The Dow has dropped faster under Obama than any other new president in 90 years.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has fallen faster under President Obama than under any new president in at least 90 years, according to a review conducted by Bloomberg.

Bloomberg reports that since Inauguration Day, the Dow has fallen 20 percent, leading at least one investor to dub this the "Obama bear market." The Dow has also dropped 31 percent since Election Day.

Despite a string of government bailout offers and Obama's advice earlier this week that Americans should be buying stock while shares are low, the Dow has continued to freefall.

Bloomberg reported that Obama is at risk of breaking a historical trend -- in which the Dow soars an average of close to 10 percent in the first year after a Democrat wins the presidency.

H/T: Gateway Pundit

A buddy just reminded me that I've been to Barry O'Bama's hometown...

...Nairobi.

More "Hope and Change"...

Republican Study Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-GA) issued the following statement in response to a false claim made by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD). Hoyer distributed a statement claiming that a new report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) affirms that the Democrats’ massive non-stimulus package will lead to economic recovery. The report actually confirms previous statements by the CBO indicating that the Democrats’ spending spree will stunt economic growth and cause long-term harm.

“Democrats want to believe that their spending spree will lead to economic recovery, but that doesn’t make it true,” said Chairman Price. “It’s not hard to figure out that these reckless tax-and-spend policies are the last thing this country needs during a recession.

“History has long shown that their agenda won’t lead to recovery. Now, nonpartisan experts have weighed in with the same assessment. It makes one wonder when the Democrats will start to listen.”

Note: The CBO, responding to Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Charles Grassley’s request, prepared a year-by-year estimate of the economic effects of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Though Majority Leader Hoyer has touted CBO’s estimate, the report clearly states: “In contrast to its positive near-term macroeconomic effects, the legislation will reduce output slightly in the long run.”

From Gateway Pundit

If looks could kill...

More compare/contrast. Thanks to Lex and An Angry American.

Feel-good story of the week!

Good-guys - 1
Dirt-bags - 0

Fortunately, the judge wasn't seriously hurt.

Man killed after attacking judge in Stockton court

By TRACIE CONE and GARANCE BURKE
Associated (with Terrorists) Press Writers
Published: Wednesday, Mar. 4, 2009 - 4:08 pm

FRESNO, Calif. -- A man on trial for killing his girlfriend was shot to death inside a Stockton courtroom Wednesday after he attacked the judge presiding over his murder trial with a cutting tool.

A Lodi police detective attending the trial fatally shot 28-year-old David Paradiso after he left the stand and began attacking San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Cinda Fox during a break in proceedings, said Dave Konecny, a spokesman for the sheriff's department.

Paradiso was being cross-examined at about 2 p.m. when his mother left her place in the audience and walked out of the courtroom upset, apparently at something her son said. Fox called a recess, and as jurors filed out, Paradiso left the stand and approached the judge from behind "with an unknown cutting instrument," Konecny said.

Witnesses reported seeing Paradiso lift her and begin punching and possibly stabbing her when shots rang out.

Lodi Police Det. Eric Bradley, an eight-year veteran on the force, was the lead detective in the case against Paradiso. He has been placed on administrative leave while the shooting is being investigated, said city spokesman Jeff Hood.

Fox was sitting up with a bandage on her left arm while being carried out of the courthouse on a stretcher. She told reporters, "I'm OK," before being taken to a hospital. Calls to Fox's home were not immediately returned.

The courthouse went on immediate lockdown after the fracas, but people were allowed to leave after building was secured, said county spokeswoman Karen McConnell.

Paradiso's attorney, Charles Pacheco, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Paradiso was arrested in 2006 after stabbing his girlfriend, Eileen Pelt, in the neck as his mother drove the two in her car. Debra Paradiso told police her son forced her to drive to Amador County, where he dumped the body near the town of Pioneer.

Pacheco said in opening arguments last week that he would not deny Paradiso stabbed Pelt, but argued that his client did it because he was high on methamphetamine at the time. He said he also intended to prove that Debra Paradiso willingly helped her son attempt to cover up the crime.

Konecny said he did not know how Paradiso obtained a weapon but expected to know more after a multi-agency team interviews witnesses. He said at least two bailiffs were on duty in the courtroom at the time of the attack.

Aaron Paradiso, the suspect's brother, told Sacramento's KCRA-TV that his brother was "crazy" and said he had told authorities and attorneys he shouldn't be put on the stand. He said his mother had warned deputies that the family believed Paradiso had a cutting weapon from some sort of clipper or scissors device.

Concerns about courthouse security have grown since 2005, when an unshackled defendant being escorted into an Atlanta court for a rape trial stole a deputy's gun and went on a shooting rampage. A jury found Brian Nichols, 37, guilty in November of murdering the deputy, a judge, and two others.

"Obviously bailiffs need more training," said Bonnie Russell, spokeswoman for the group USAJudges.com, whose members advocate for courtroom transparency. "It's deplorable that another judge has been attacked."

Neat story.

Blue Angels crash artifacts found 50 years later

PENSACOLA, Fla. – Debbie Harris knew the military dog tag and small metal emblem of a Navy fighter squadron she recently found in the sand near her home on an Alabama beach belonged to a Blue Angels pilot who was killed when his jet crashed there a half-century ago.

But she wanted to find out more about Cmdr. Robert Nicholls Glasgow and what happened , so she turned to her aunt and uncle, who live in Pensacola, home of the National Museum of Naval Aviation. Their search led them to the museum's director, Bob Rasmussen, a retired Navy captain and once a member of the famed flight demonstration team.

"I said to myself, 'Isn't that a coincidence,' " Rasmussen mused. "Of all the people that they might have brought this to, it happened to be the person who was flying with him the morning he was killed in that crash."

That's not the only coincidence, Harris said Friday, when she went to the museum to show Rasmussen what she had found.

Harris, 56, of Fort Morgan, Ala., said she came upon the fire-scorched emblem from Fighter Squadron 191, one of Glasgow's previous units, in mid-October. It was nearly 50 years to the day after the Oct. 14, 1958 crash.

The emblem probably had been on a Zippo cigarette lighter, Rasmussen said. She also found a small piece of metal shaped like a W, but Rasmussen couldn't identify it.

Harris then found the dog tag, bent but with the pilot's name clearly visible, on Feb. 17 — Glasgow's birthday. He was born on that date in 1922.

"It's like he's — I don't know," Harris said. "It's spooky."

Harris thinks hurricanes that swept through the area in recent years may have uncovered the items.

She wants to give them to Glasgow's family, but she's been unable to find any relatives through her research on the Internet. An Oct. 15, 1958, article on the crash in the Pensacola News Journal indicated Glasgow had a wife and four children and that his parents lived in El Monte, Calif.

Rasmussen said he'll try to help her search, although he hardly knew Glasgow. Glasgow had reported for duty at Pensacola Naval Air Station as the Blue Angels new leader just a few days before his first flight in one of the team's F-11 Tigers ended in tragedy.

The outgoing Blue Angels commander, Ed Holley, had asked Rasmussen, one of the team's most experienced air show pilots, to take Glasgow on an orientation flight. They took off in separate jets on a clear, cloudless day and headed for the Blue Angels' practice area over the Gulf of Mexico just off the Alabama coast.

Rasmussen's No. 4 jet had just had its radio identification device replaced and he needed to fly to a higher altitude over Mobile, Ala., to test it, something Glasgow had been briefed on before they took off. Holley also told Rasmussen they could try some maneuvers at high altitude but nothing low.

"I dropped him off at the site and said, 'Just orbit here until I get back. I'll be back in three or four minutes,'" Rasmussen recalled.

It was their last communication.

"I went up there, checked out the equipment, came back on the radio, called him and he was already gone," Rasmussen said.

Rasmussen didn't see Glasgow's jet crash into a vacant house at Fort Morgan and then explode — only the aftermath.

"I could see the smoke and a big black mark on the beach," Rasmussen said. "Flying lower I could see some blue pieces of metal and it was pretty obvious what had happened."

Witnesses on the ground said the jet crashed while attempting a loop.

"I'm always looking for things there," said Harris, a retired aircraft company employee who works the night shift at a Wal-Mart. "I grew up knowing about the crash."

She said she found the squadron emblem no more than 200 feet from the crash site, now covered with sand and sea oats. She then did some research and found out the pilot's name before seeing it on the dog tag she spotted along a path between her house and the water.

"I was walking along there and looked down and I saw this and went, 'Um, oh my gosh,' " Harris said, her voice dropping to a whisper.

"It was like one of those magical moments," she said. "I stood there and the sun was setting and I held this in my hand and I said, 'No one has touched this since it was around his neck, and I'm touching it.' It was real emotional."

What al-Qaida couldn't do, O'Bama has.

The American economy lost an estimated $1 trillion to $2 trillion as a result of the 9/11 attacks.

The American economy has lost approximately $6 trillion since the election of Barry O'Bama was a certainty.

So far, O'Bama has caused three times more damage to the American economy than al Qaeda did.

How much more damage will he do? How much more can we afford?

From The Astute Blogger via Gateway Pundit

How much will people have to lose...

...before Team O'Bama realizes that his big plan isn't working and his people don't know what the hell they're doing?

When will he realize that his very own economic policies are contributing to the problem?

What's he waiting for, a 6,000 Dow? 5,000?

The Obama Economy
As the Dow keeps dropping, the President is running out of people to blame.

As 2009 opened, three weeks before Barack Obama took office, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 9034 on January 2, its highest level since the autumn panic. Yesterday the Dow fell another 4.24% to 6763, for an overall decline of 25% in two months and to its lowest level since 1997. The dismaying message here is that President Obama's policies have become part of the economy's problem.

Americans have welcomed the Obama era in the same spirit of hope the President campaigned on. But after five weeks in office, it's become clear that Mr. Obama's policies are slowing, if not stopping, what would otherwise be the normal process of economic recovery. From punishing business to squandering scarce national public resources, Team Obama is creating more uncertainty and less confidence -- and thus a longer period of recession or subpar growth.

The Democrats who now run Washington don't want to hear this, because they benefit from blaming all bad economic news on President Bush. And Mr. Obama has inherited an unusual recession deepened by credit problems, both of which will take time to climb out of. But it's also true that the economy has fallen far enough, and long enough, that much of the excess that led to recession is being worked off. Already 15 months old, the current recession will soon match the average length -- and average job loss -- of the last three postwar downturns. What goes down will come up -- unless destructive policies interfere with the sources of potential recovery.

And those sources have been forming for some time. The price of oil and other commodities have fallen by two-thirds since their 2008 summer peak, which has the effect of a major tax cut. The world is awash in liquidity, thanks to monetary ease by the Federal Reserve and other central banks. Monetary policy operates with a lag, but last year's easing will eventually stir economic activity.

The Marines loves them some O'Bama!

Yeah...not so much...

Compare and contrast:

Liberals HATE "Taking Chance"

but the rest of America LOVES it. (I know...shocker.)

I think the biggest thing that stands out, is that Libs (deep down) are so disgusted with themselves, that they're not as good a person as the likes of Chance Phelps or Mike Stroble, that they project that disgust in everything they do.

TAKING A CHANCE
HOLLYWOOD FINALLY DOES IRAQ RIGHT - AND (SURPRISE) GETS THE RATINGS

Posted: 2:01 am
March 1, 2009

For two and a half minutes near the end of "Taking Chance," the new HBO movie about the body of a young Marine returned home for burial, there is no sound except for the salute of the riflemen and the Wyoming wind battering the flags that stand at half mast as the shattered remains of PFC Chance Phelps are placed at rest. The silence amounts to perhaps the most eloquent statement Hollywood has yet made about the Iraq War.

Its main competition is an earlier scene in the same movie. Driving along a country road behind an SUV carrying the casket, Lt. Col. Michael Strobl finds other motorists forming an impromptu funeral cortege out of respect for the departed.

"Taking Chance," which is the only Iraq movie to show the troops in a wholly positive way, is also the only one people are watching. The film industry has reduced our troops to dupes, dopes, deserters and losers in an insane clown posse of laughably bad films like "Stop-Loss," "In the Valley of Elah," "Lions for Lambs," "Home of the Brave" and "The Lucky Ones." To say that these relentlessly skewed movies, made by people innocent of any knowledge of the military, are flops would be an understatement: "The Lucky Ones," for instance, which starred Tim Robbins and Rachel McAdams as desperate and moronic vets on leave, last fall grossed $267,000, a figure that wouldn't even cover the cost of advertising. It was yanked from screens after a single week.

"Taking Chance," though, a work of transcendent sorrow and infinite dignity, was watched by two million viewers on its first HBO showing last Saturday, the best figure for an HBO original movie in five years. Though the violent death of a serviceman informs every frame, it is also a powerful statement about duty and honor as embodied in the stark face of USMC Lt. Col. Michael Strobl, nobly portrayed by Kevin Bacon with a chesty military bearing and a hidden well of resolve. The film is based on Strobl's experience escorting the remains of Phelps, who was killed in action in 2004 and who inspired Strobl to keep a journal published on blogs such as Blackfive.net.

To show the fallen as heroes is too much for some to bear. "There is surely an edge of propaganda to the unfailing grace and dignity of the process showcased in 'Taking Chance,' " snarked Ray Richmond in The Hollywood Reporter. " 'Taking Chance' is saved from patriotic sentimentality by its attention to detail and Bacon's performance," said Mary McNamara in the Los Angeles Times. Saved! Whew. That was a close call.

In the New York Times, Ginia Bellafante ruled that "Taking Chance" contained "a flatness that made me feel unpatriotic for being bored." She needn't worry. Finding this stately but cathartic film boring isn't unpatriotic. It's merely cloddish.

Taking the Silver Star for snark was Jeffrey Wells of the popular movie blog Hollywood Elsewhere. If you have ever served in the military, I advise you to skip the next paragraph. Especially if you are armed.

Wells says that "Taking Chance" "sells the honor and glory of combat death in a 'sensitive' way that is not only cloying but borders on the hucksterish. Which I feel is a kind of obscenity . . . It may be one of the most inspired con jobs of all time in the way it walks, talks and acts apolitical . . . and yet deep down, it's a film that will warm the cockles of Dick Cheney's heart. 'Taking Chance' is about simple sadness and dignity in the same way that Scientologists offering free stress tests are just trying to make your day go a little smoother."

Since Wells apparently scorns all "combat death," not just those in Iraq, I wonder whether he is a local pacifist as well. Maybe if there were no ceremonies to honor fallen police officers, the force would be unable to recruit new talent and disband. Then criminals, unprovoked by the presence of law enforcement, would simply disappear?

"Taking Chance" makes no case for the Iraq War. It asks merely for understanding and respect of those who sacrifice. The pain etched in Bacon's face is so profound that by the end of the film, you feel why he says, "I should have been over there. I was trained to fight. If I'm not over there, what am I?" Then he delivers his highest praise: "Those guys - guys like Chance - they're Marines."

Kyle.Smith@nypost.com

Disloyal. Scum.

Obama Declares War

...on Investors, Entrepreneurs, Businesses, And More

Posted By: Larry Kudlow
Anchor

Let me be very clear on the economics of President Obama’s State of the Union speech and his budget.

He is declaring war on investors, entrepreneurs, small businesses, large corporations, and private-equity and venture-capital funds.

That is the meaning of his anti-growth tax-hike proposals, which make absolutely no sense at all — either for this recession or from the standpoint of expanding our economy’s long-run potential to grow.

Raising the marginal tax rate on successful earners, capital, dividends, and all the private funds is a function of Obama’s left-wing social vision, and a repudiation of his economic-recovery statements. Ditto for his sweeping government-planning-and-spending program, which will wind up raising federal outlays as a share of GDP to at least 30 percent, if not more, over the next 10 years.

This is nearly double the government-spending low-point reached during the late 1990s by the Gingrich Congress and the Clinton administration. While not quite as high as spending levels in Western Europe, we regrettably will be gaining on this statist-planning approach.

Study after study over the past several decades has shown how countries that spend more produce less, while nations that tax less produce more. Obama is doing it wrong on both counts.

And as far as middle-class tax cuts are concerned, Obama’s cap-and-trade program will be a huge across-the-board tax increase on blue-collar workers, including unionized workers. Industrial production is plunging, but new carbon taxes will prevent production from ever recovering. While the country wants more fuel and power, cap-and-trade will deliver less.

The tax hikes will generate lower growth and fewer revenues. Yes, the economy will recover. But Obama’s rosy scenario of 4 percent recovery growth in the out years of his budget is not likely to occur. The combination of easy money from the Fed and below-potential economic growth is a prescription for stagflation. That’s one of the messages of the falling stock market.

Essentially, the Obama economic policies represent a major Democratic party relapse into Great Society social spending and taxing. It is a return to the LBJ/Nixon era, and a move away from the Reagan/Clinton period. House Republicans, fortunately, are 90 days sober, as they are putting up a valiant fight to stop the big-government onslaught and move the GOP back to first principles.

Noteworthy up here on Wall Street, a great many Obama supporters — especially hedge-fund types who voted for “change” — are becoming disillusioned with the performances of Obama and Treasury man Geithner.

There is a growing sense of buyer’s remorse.

Well then, do conservatives dare say: We told you so?

Preach-On brother Limbaugh!

Watch all of his speech here, at Flopping Aces.