Doing What the Legacy Media Won't

Preview of Univision’s “bombshell” report on Fast & Furious.

Legacy Media Downplay (Or Downright Ignore) Obama's September of Incompetence

Via GayPatriot:  "In the month of September, the conservative (and Spanish-language) media (and from a few rogue reporters at ABCNews) reported a number of stories about President Barack Obama all showing his disinterest in or ambivalence toward governing. And yet, outside those pockets at ABC and occasionally on CNN), our legacy media all but ignored (or otherwise downplayed) these stories which called Obama’s competence into question."

Some Good News

Absentee ballot data not looking good for Democrats.

Plus this helpful reminder: 

As always, this election is going to come down to turnout. We got beat badly on the ground in 2008. As of a couple of weeks ago, our side had already surpassed the number of voter contacts made during all of the 2008 season. We are doing much better, but we could still use more help.

Get. In. Volved. If you do, we will propel Mitt Romney to a victory over Barack Obama in Ohio this year. 

Via Instapundit. 

But The Media's Objective Is To Protect Obama, Not Americans

Democrat Kirsten Powers: More Americans will be put in danger if the media doesn’t start challenging the White House on Libya

Priorities

Obama focuses on campaigning, fundraising; Official presidential duties are few and far between.

Our Feckless First Leader

Thomas Sowell: 

During the same week when the American ambassador to Libya was murdered and his dead body dragged through the streets by celebrating mobs, the president of the United States found time to go on the David Letterman show to demonstrate his sense of humor and how cool he is.

But Barack Obama did not have time to meet with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the leader of a nation repeatedly threatened with annihilation by Iranian leaders who are working feverishly toward the creation of nuclear bombs.

This was an extraordinary thing in itself, something that probably no other president of the United States could have gotten away with without raising a firestorm of criticisms and denunciations. But much of the media sees no evil, hears no evil, and speaks no evil when it comes to Barack Obama — especially during an election year.

Read the whole thing.

Top Five Worst Obamacare Taxes Coming In 2013

Of the twenty new or higher taxes in Obamacare, here are the five worst that will be foisted upon Americans for the first time on January 1, 2013.

Narrative Fail

Some Administration Officials Were Concerned About Initial White House Push Blaming Benghazi Attack on Mob, Video.

Plus:  Intercepts showed AQ terrorists celebrating success hours after Benghazi attack.

Smart Diplomacy

Obama had no time to meet with Netanyahu (apparently he needed a siesta), but Romney will be speaking with him today.

I Think It Would Make A Great Bumper Sticker

Courtesy of Vodkapundit.

55 percent of small business owners would not start company today, blame Obama

Gehrke: 

Fifty-five percent of small business owners and manufacturers would not have started their businesses in today’s economy, according to a new poll that also reports 69 percent say President Obama’s regulatory policies have hurt their businesses . . . .

The poll reports another ominous statistic for job creation: “67 percent say there is too much uncertainty in the market today to expand, grow or hire new workers.” Why? Because “President Obama’s Executive Branch and regulatory policies have hurt American small businesses and manufacturers,” according to 69 percent of the business owners surveyed.

Over the Cliff

Durable goods orders drop 13.2% in August; Update: Q2 GDP downgraded from 1.7% to 1.3%

Plus further analysis from James Pethokoukis:  ‘It’s all unraveling’ | Is this the last quarter of the recovery?

Taxpayers Spent $1.4 Billion on Obama Family Last Year

By contrast, British taxpayers spent just $57.8 million on the royal family.

Bombshell

US knew Stevens assassination was work of terrorists within 24 hours of attack.  The Obama administration, with the media's backing, instead chose to blame the attack on a Youtube video and actively suppress free speech.

If true, this is a remarkable scandal.  Any chance the legacy media will start asking questions?

Obama Snubs World Leaders, Plays Trivial Pursuits

Liz Peek:

President Obama is talking more and more about less and less. Appearing on “The View” this week, he described himself as “eye candy” and brought viewers up to speed on daughter Mahlia’s new-found enthusiasm for tennis. Perhaps Mr. Obama could have spent his time more profitably meeting with other world leaders gathered for the UN General Assembly, as every single one of his predecessors has.

According to a Pew survey conducted last June, our standing in every foreign country but Russia and Japan has dropped since President Obama took office. Moreover, confidence in Obama has tanked in the past three years in all countries surveyed, including Russia and Japan. Meanwhile, the Middle East is in flames and Iran creeps ever closer to possessing nuclear weapons. China is emboldened, Syria descends into horror and Afghanistan teeters on catastrophe. Imagine deciding that “The View” was more important than diplomacy.

\

Why You Shouldn't Buy Into The Negative Polls

It is just another example of the media driving the narrative.

It's A Dirty Job

But Mike Rowe is campaigning with Mitt Romney in Ohio.

I wonder if this has anything to do with his decision.

America Falls To 18th In Economic Freedom

Having dropped from 12th since 2009.

Why does this matter?

Smart Diplomacy

Via Hot Air:  NYT - Obama overruled Hillary Clinton, foreign-policy advisers on Mubarak.

It goes on - "The tensions between Mr. Obama and the Gulf states, both American and Arab diplomats say, derive from an Obama character trait: he has not built many personal relationships with foreign leaders. 'He’s not good with personal relationships; that’s not what interests him,' said one United States diplomat. 'But in the Middle East, those relationships are essential. The lack of them deprives D.C. of the ability to influence leadership decisions.'"

Just a reminder

If  "discouraged jobseekers" remained in the labor force, August's jobless rate of 8.1 percent would have been 10.5 percent.

7 Incredible Personal Stories About Mitt Romney

Perhaps even more incredible is how effectively Obama (and the media) have managed to demonize this remarkably decent human being. 

I have followed the presidential race about as closely as anyone and I only knew about three of these stories prior to reading this article.

Broken Promises

2012: Health Premiums Up $3,000; 2008: Obama Vowed $2,500 Cut.

"Bumps in the Road"

That's how Obama described the attacks on America's embassies and the first killing of an American ambassador since 1979.

Light Blogging

I apologize for the light blogging of late, but work has been off the walls and I then went on a mini-vacation this weekend.  Blogging should be back to normal starting tomorrow. 

Axelrod in 2005: Adding Three Trillion to the Deficit In Four Years Is Madness

Than what is more than five trillion in four years? 

Obama Damns Israel With Faint Praise

Obama refers to Israel as "one of our closest allies in the region," which leads Paul Mirengoff to ask, "Who ... are the other countries in the Middle East that Obama considers U.S. allies on a par with Israel?"

Read for still more on Obama's dismissive attitude towards Israel.

Mute Button

A new ad from the Romney Camp:

Definitive Proof That Harry Reid Is A Lying Son of A $#@*&

Via Hot Air:  Mitt Romney’s campaign released his 2011 tax information this afternoon, as well as a notarized letter from PriceWaterhouseCoopers attesting to Romney’s tax rates from 1990-2009.

Media Bias? What Media Bias?

Professor Jacobson offers these "Tales of the Tapes."

It's helpful to lay these things out from to time.

Yes We Can To No We Can't In Just Four Years

In an interview with Univision yesterday, admitted his failure as a president claiming, "You can't change Washington from the inside."

Romney responds:  "He said he can’t change Washington from inside. He can only change it from outside. Well, we’re going to give him that chance in November. He’s going outside."

Eighty-Five Percent Sure The Legacy Media Wouldn't Actually React This Way

The Onion:  Media Having Trouble Finding Right Angle On Obama's Double-Homicide

Five percent chance they would try to pin it on Romney's days at Bain.

Honey, You Didn't Build That

Via Instapundit.

Mitt's Right: Handouts Do Win Votes

Carr:  '[T]he indisputable fact is, a huge percentage of Obama’s voters are basically wards of the state. There are millions of them, and they have no intention of voting for anyone who might want them to ever go out and work for a living — “no matter what.”

Well, yeah.

Personality Cult

Exciting new Obama merchandise: The “O” logo American flag.

When the actual American flag just isn't good enough I guess.

Obama Cluless About Amount of Debt?!?!

Blatt:  The president who, in his first days in office promised to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term, says he doesn’t know how high the federal debt is today, unaware then that it increased by a greater amount in his three years and eight months in office than it did in his predecessor’s eight full years in office. Bear in mind that Obama called $9 trillion dollars in debt “irresponsible” and “unpatriotic“.

At least he seems confident that, whatever it is, it isn't a short term problem.  Sigh.

Wouldn't it be nice if we had a media that spent even a few minutes asking how the President can claim to be unaware of the single greatest threat facing our nation?  But no, we have one that will spend a third day hammering Romney's 47% comment.

The American Commodus?

Parallels.

Obama official: Yes, Benghazi was a terrorist attack and there are “indications” Al Qaeda was involved

And here I thought it was just a "spontaneous protest" on 9-11, with people carrying RPGs and machine guns, that happened to turn violent.

Related:  Despite claiming not to need them, Obama starts attending in-person intel briefings.

Under Obamanomics, the 47% — and everyone else — will be paying more taxes soon enough

 

Pethokoukis:

One of these two things has got to give: Either a) the projected future explosion in federal spending is reduced or b) a good chunk of the 47% of Americans who currently pay no income taxes will have to start (or perhaps pay a value-added tax).

Less spending or just about everybody — including the broad middle class — will pay more. Lots more . . . .

Why won’t President Obama — unlike Paul Ryan — release a long-term budget plan? Simple. If he did, it would show the only way to realistically pay for the Democratic spending agenda is to eventually raise taxes on pretty much everybody.

And this chart represents an optimistic assessment.

Obama In 1998: "I Actually Believe in Redistribution"

Not that this is exactly new news, but it is worth reminding voters from time to time. 

Everything You Need To Know About Obamanomics

Since Obama has taken office ….
[through Q2 2012 for comparative purposes]

      For every $1 added to the economy, we’ve added more than $3 in debt
      added $5.23 trillion in debt vs. $1.68 trillion to the economy
      50% increase in debt vs. 12% increase in economic output

Total Public Debt:
$10,626T [Jan 20, 2009]
$15,856T [Jun 30, 2012]
--> $5.23 trillion increase in debt

About Romney's "47%" Comment

Over the next few days, you can expect a fair bit of media handwringing and feigned indignation regarding the edited partial video from a private Romney fundraiser in which Romney says that 47% of Americans will vote for Obama because they do not pay federal income taxes or are dependent on government.  The message, however, is right, if not perfectly articulated.  To help make that point, the Astute Bloggers have gathered a few statistics.

Plus:  Thoughts from Professor Jacobson.

And more over at GayPatriot.

Even Obama Can't Be This Weak/Incompetent. Can He?

Pat Dollard:

The U.S. State Department is currently in negotiations with the Egyptian government for the transfer of custody of Omar Abdel-Rahman, also known as “the Blind Sheikh,” for humanitarian and health reasons, a source close to the the Obama administration told TheBlaze . . . . The Blind Sheikh is serving a life sentence in American prison for his role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. His release has been called one of the top priorities of the new Islamist administration in Egypt.

DNC Tried To Show Support For US Military

By using images of Russian ships and Turkish fighter jets.

"Completely Unfounded and Preposterous."

Michael Totten: 

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice says the assassination of her colleague, Ambassador Chris Stevens, in Benghazi, Libya, was a “spontaneous” event....

Libya’s President Mohammed el-Megarif begs to differ.

“The idea that this criminal and cowardly act was a spontaneous protest that just spun out of control is completely unfounded and preposterous,” he said.

I wasn’t there and I don’t know what happened, exactly, but I have to say the Libyan government’s account is more credible than what the U.S. government is saying right now. I never thought I’d type that particular sentence....

"So, on a highly symbolic date, mobs storm American diplomatic facilities and drag the corpse of a U.S. ambassador through the streets."

"Then the president flies to Vegas for a fundraiser. No, no, a novelist would say; that's too pat, too neat in its symbolic contrast."

Who Needs Facts When You Have A Pliant Media?

B. Daniel Blatt:  Facts barely figure into Libya narrative of Obama officials.

Time To Let Him Go

As Clint Eastwood sensibly put it, "When somebody does not do the job, we got to let him go."  The President's job, above all else, the one oath that he takes, is to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."

 

As Glenn Reynolds said last night, Obama has violated that oath.  He has not done his job.  We got to let him go.

Obama Flashback

Audio via Breitbart.com:

I truly believe that the day I’m inaugurated…the whole world looks at America differently. If I’m reaching out to the Muslim world they understand that I’ve lived in a Muslim country…I understand their point of view….And that will ultimately make us safer.”

 

—Barack Obama, November 21, 2007

He understands their opposition to free speech.

Why Barack Obama Should Resign

Glenn Reynolds:  This is what it looked like for a man who made a film that made the Obama Administration uncomfortable:

 

 

 

Read the whole thing.  I repeat. Read the whole thing.  This is not what freedom looks like.

Thanks to Google . . .

a corporation, with stronger free-speech values than the United States government is willing to support.

Why We Need The First Amendment

Michael Totten:  Why can't the President of the United States bring himself to defend free speech in front of a murderous mob? Because apparently he doesn't respect it.

This past week has proven that to be true of many on the left.

Flashback: Presidential Candidate Uses War Deaths To Score Political Points

Via Ed Morrissey at Hot Air:

Remember that time when a major-party presidential nominee went on television immediately after the deaths of several Americans abroad to attack the policies of the current administration and his opponent? Remember how the media repeatedly demanded to know whether he regretted the timing of that criticism, and whether he was ashamed at not providing a united political front in the face of tragedy?

Yeah, neither do I … and neither does Andrew Kaczynski at BuzzFeed. This CNN interview took place in July 2008, immediately after the deaths of nine US troops in Afghanistan.

Mitt Romney Hates Naked People!

Michael Ramirez

Pro-Obama media — so far beyond bad it’s almost indescribable.

Jacobson: 

An American Ambassador and three American security guards were butchered, anti-American riots broke out across the Middle East, a U.S. Embassy both before and after being stormed issued apologies for the exercise of our constitutional rights, our Secretary of State practically prostrated herself, the President had a good night’s sleep through it all and then went to Vegas for a fundraiser, and Mitt Romney commented intelligently on the absurdity of it all.

So on whom did the media collectively and in unison lash out? Mitt Romney.

Read the whole thing.  Every time I think the legacy media can sink no lower, they manage to exceed my expectations.

America "Was Warned of Embassy Attack But Did Nothing"

The latest headline from Drudge:  "According to senior diplomatic sources, the US State Department had credible information 48 hours before mobs charged the consulate in Benghazi, and the embassy in Cairo, that American missions may be targeted, but no warnings were given for diplomats to go on high alert and "lockdown", under which movement is severely restricted."

Maybe if the President actually attended his intel briefings?

Terrifying!

Increases in Real Per Capita Federal Spending Over The Past 35 Years.

 

"This is no way to run a country. But it might be a great way to wreck the economy."  Might?

Perhaps, If We Had A Independent, Non-Biased Media

Shouldn’t the president’s failure to attend intelligence briefings be getting more media coverage?

Back On the Domestic Front

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius violated the Hatch Act in February when she called for re-electing President Obama during an official department appearance, the Office of Special Counsel said Wednesday.

Media Attack Dogs Working As a Pack

Media caught on open mic coordinating Romney questions.

Plus:  Administration officials confirm Romney was right, that statement from the Cairo embassy was awful

Update:  "How the media turned Obama's foreign policy bungle into a Romney gaffe."  A key point -

In 2004, John Kerry routinely attacked President Bush's handling of Iraq when things weren't going well in the country. And the media dutifully reported on Bush's foreign policy blunders in Iraq. But now, instead of scrutinizing Obama's handling of a foreign policy crisis, the media has decided that the real story in Egypt and Libya is a Mitt Romney gaffe.

 

Messaging

While the Obama White House sought to disavow the apologetic stance taken by the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, Hillary Clinton reaffirmed it, stating: 

"The U.S. deplores any intentional effort to denigrate the religious beliefs of others.  Our commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the very beginning of our nation."

Unless you are a "bitter clinger."

Arab Winter

Islamist extremists murder the U.S.Ambassador to Libya and three other embassy staff.

A Repeat Of The Carter Years Looks More and More Like Wishful Thinking

9/11/2012: American Killed, Consulate Burned, Embassy Overrun; U.S. Apologizes.

Hinderaker:  A low-water mark in the history of American diplomacy.

But the Obama administration is already starting to backpedal.

Byron York:  "Direct attack by mobs on an American embassy, involving death, the destruction of a U.S. flag and the invoking of al Qaeda -- on September 11, of all days -- will certainly stir outrage among many Americans. And the Obama administration's weak, apologizing response will likely prompt a strong Republican response in days to come."  As it should.

Related:  Obama declines request from Netanyahu for meeting in D.C., says too busy.

He does, however, have time for a Letterman appearance.

September 11 - Never Forget

The Democrats' GM Fiction

Democrats like to say GM is alive because of Obama, but that bumper sticker slogan grossly oversimplifies things:

Admirers of the GM bailout should bear in mind that it was the Bush administration that first decided to intervene at the firm, offering a bridge loan on the condition that it draw up a deeply revised business plan. President Obama’s unique contribution was effectively to nationalize the company, seeing to it that the federal government violated normal bankruptcy processes and legal precedent to protect the defective element at the heart of GM’s troubles: the financial interests of the UAW. It did this by strong-arming GM’s bondholders into taking haircuts in order to sweeten the pot for the UAW. The Obama administration also creatively construed tax law to relieve GM of tens of billions of dollars in obligations — at the same time that Barack Obama & Co. were caterwauling about the supposed lack of patriotism of firms that used legal means rather than political favoritism to reduce their tax bills.

Mitt Romney’s proposal for a structured bankruptcy would have necessitated considerable federal involvement, too, but with a key difference: The UAW contracts would have been renegotiated, and GM’s executive suites would have been cleaned out, placing the company on a path toward innovation and self-sufficiency rather than permanent life support.

Plus:  More from Stephen Green.

 

Obamacare Described In One LONG Sentence

Via Hotair: 

How Obama Benefits From His Own Failure

John Hinderkaker:

Because Obama’s policies have suppressed economic growth, the ranks of the unemployed and underemployed have grown steadily. As unemployment benefits have finally run out, the long-term unemployed have, by the millions, declared themselves to be permanently and totally disabled. Millions of Americans have come to be dependent on government largesse as a result of the economic folly of the Obama administration. So how are those people going to vote? One might think that, angry at the government policies that have robbed them of their ability to be self-supporting, they would vote Republican. No doubt some will. But many more will cling to the only life raft in sight, and will vote for the party that promises the never-ending continuation and expansion of government benefits.

As Instapundit's Glenn Reynolds says:  "They'll turn us all into beggars 'cause they're easier to please."

You Don't Say!?

Bob Woodward:  President Empty Chair has "gaps" in his leadership skills.

Ground Game

I just received an email from Team Romney announcing that the campaign has contacted more than 20 million voters and knocked on more doors so far than in all of 2008.  The McCain ground game was undeniably disappointing, but this is still an impressive feat with almost two months still until the election. 

That said, this is not an election to watch from the sidelines.  If you have the time, volunteer.  If you can spare even a few bucks, donate.  If you can do both, do both.  Get in the trenches.  You do not want to be sitting there on November 7 wishing you had done more.

For my part, I pledge to take any money earned from the ads on the site and donate it all to the Romney Campaign and defeating Barack Obama.

Operation Demoralize Is In Full Effect

Recognize it and fight it. 

Plus this.

If He Were a Republican, This Would Make Him An Idiot

Via Gateway Pundit:  "Obama Pulls a Biden, Tells Audience, 'Three Proud Words – Made in the USA!'"

Of course, Obama's never been very good with math.

Plus:  Obama's supermarket scanner moment?

Obama At DNC: "I Will Never Turn Medicare Into a Voucher Program"

Next Day:  HHS pilot program to send 2 million poor seniors from medicare into voucher. 

The lifespan of his promises are getting shorter and shorter.

The Stakes Are Too High To Lose, Or Take Anything For Granted

John Hinderaker: 

On paper, given Obama’s record, this election should be a cakewalk for the Republicans. Why isn’t it? I am afraid the answer may be that the country is closer to the point of no return than most of us believed. With over 100 million Americans receiving federal welfare benefits, millions more going on Social Security disability, and many millions on top of that living on entitlement programs–not to mention enormous numbers of public employees–we may have gotten to the point where the government economy is more important, in the short term, than the real economy. My father, the least cynical of men, used to quote a political philosopher to the effect that democracy will work until people figure out they can vote themselves money. I fear that time may have come . . . .

Maybe this anxiety is misplaced. President Obama has never been able to rise above 47% support in the polls, and perhaps when November comes undecided voters will break against the incumbent, as the conventional wisdom has it. Maybe the election won’t be so close after all. We’d all better hope so. Because, given the rate at which Democrats are frantically adding to the dependency state, another four years of Obama may be enough to tip the balance between the private sector and government dependence once and for all.

Read the whole thing and then get active.

Andrew Klavan Presents: Obamanomics 101

President Empty Chair Gives An Empty Speech

A roundup of reactions to Obama's convention speech.

If Obama Could Get Everyone To Give Up, We Would Have a 0% Unemployment Rate

Pethokokis:  The awful, awful August jobs report.



Key point:  "If the labor force participation rate was the same as when Obama took office in January 2009, the unemployment rate would be 11.2%."

Happy Anniversary

While you did not hear this in Obama's speech last night, yesterday was the one year anniversary of Solyndra's bankruptcy filing.

The Convention

Stephen Green is drunkblogging Obama's speech tonight.  He's a stronger man than I.

Racism

DNC delegates wear "vote black" buttons on floor of convention.  Imagine the reaction if people were wearing "Vote White" buttons.

Decline

US Slips Further Down the Ranks of Global Competitiveness.

Democrats Boo "God" & "Jerusalem."

But after three votes, they put them back in the platform.

Exploiting The Nation's Youth

Health insurance premiums for NC college students rise 51% under ObamaCare.

The Terrifying New Normal

Victor David Hanson:

Unemployment rates of those 16-24 are now officially over 50%. Even the cohort between 16 and 29 suffers from 45% unemployment. In short, in four years we have become Europeanized: young people with no jobs who are living at home and putting off marriage and child raising — a “lost” generation in “limbo,” etc. etc. They may have a car, borrow their parents’ nicer car for special occasions, watch their parents’ big screen TV, and have pocket change for a cell phone and laptop by enjoying free rent, food, and laundry, but beneath that thinning technological veneer there is really little hope that they will ever be able to maintain that lifestyle on their own in this present day and age. Meanwhile, just like some Middle East tribal society, “contacts,” “networking,” and “pull” are the new gospel, as parents rely on quid pro quos to offer their indebted, unemployed (and aging) children some sort of inside one-upmanship in the cutthroat job market . . . .

In other words, we are seeing the proverbial chickens coming home to roost in an economy that has run up $16 trillion in debt, regulated its way into paralysis, hounded the private sector, and demonized profit-making. The strange thing about the 2008 disaster was not just that hand-in-glove with Wall Street banks Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae created a huge real estate bubble and then watched it pop (one inflated through private speculation and government-backed sub-prime loans), but that the blame went not to the intrusive, incompetent federal government or even to a Goldman-Sachs-like bundler (a firm from whom Obama got more campaign money than did any other prior presidential candidate), but to the vague “private sector” — as if the well-driller or timber man had somehow collapsed the economy. The result was that Obama’s medicine from 2009 onward was worse than the original disease.

The DNC Kicked Off In Charlotte Today

While the national debt hit $16,000,000,000,000.

689 Reasons to Defeat Barack Obama

That's it?

Asking For A Mulligan?

Happy National Empty Chair Day!

"We own this country . . . when someone doesn't do the job . . . we gotta let them go." - Clint Eastwood

Feel free to add your empty chair. 

And Now A Reading From The Gospel According to Obama

From a 2004 interview with Cathleen Falsani of the Chicago Sun-Times:

Falsani: Do you believe in sin?

Obama: Yes.

Falsani: What is sin?

Obama: Being out of alignment with my values.

I think that pretty much tells you everything you need to know about Obama's religious (and world) views.

Pressure

Yesterday, I noted that, in a moment of honesty, the Democratic governor of Maryland stated the obvious and acknowledged that we are not better than we were four years ago. 

It took him less than twenty-four hours to make an about face.

Are You Better Off Now Than You Were Four Years Ago?

Chris Wallace confronts Axelrod with facts and Axelrod squirms.

Those facts are the following (and should be regularly featured in Romney campaign ads from now until November:

Unemployment: 7.8% then, 8.3% now

Median income: $54,983 then, $50,964 now

Gas prices: $1.85 per gallon then, $3.78 now

National debt: $10.6 trillion then, $15.9 trillion now

On the other hand, the Democratic governor of Maryland can at least admit the painfully obvious truth.

Empty Suit, Empty Chair

Image from Justin Katz, via Instapundit.

Plus:  Justin Katz looks at "The Brilliance of Clint's Speech."

And Professor Jacobson rightly observes:  "This is not the tweet of a confident man."

Castles Made of Sand . . .

Rains Wash Away Mount Obama at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.

Obama Honored Fallen SEALs By Sending Their Parents a Form Letter

So reports the Gateway Pundit, Jim Hoft. 

By contrast:  President Bush sent personal letters to the families of “every one of the more than 4,000 troops who have died in the two wars, an enormous personal effort that consumed hours of his time and escaped public notice.”

To be fair, Obama did find time to send a personal letter of condelence to the family of rapper Heavy D when he died.