Van Jones is out.

A White House environmental policy adviser who specialized in “green jobs” resigned on Sunday after an uproar over his previous affiliation with a September 11 conspiracy group.

Van Jones, special adviser on green jobs at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, apologized on Thursday after videotape surfaced of him using a crude epithet to describe Republicans and amid revelations he had signed a petition suggesting U.S. government involvement in the 2001 attacks in New York and Washington.

No mention of his other controversial positions and his desire for incremental restructuring of the entire American way of life. Still, gone is gone.

His face saving resignation used the old classic “distraction” rationale.

Jones said he was resigning to avoid being a distraction in the administration’s effort to pass healthcare reform and climate change legislation.

“On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me,” Jones said in a resignation letter that was released to the media.

“I cannot in good conscience ask my colleagues to expend precious time and energy defending or explaining my past. We need all hands on deck, fighting for the future,” he wrote.

Of course by “smear campaign” he must mean “pointing out the truth about my past and my beliefs”.

There’s only one possible response to this news.

NEXT!

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From a Democrat!

Van Helsing has the video (via CNSNews.com).

At a town hall meeting in Reston, Virginia, a patriot acceded to Dem Rep Jim Moran’s insulting demand that he present ID, then asked a question that has been on many minds: if the Dems have any serious interest in lowering healthcare costs, why don’t they do something about the looting bonanza by ambulance-chasing shyster lowlife like John Edwards, the astronomical cost of which is passed along to consumers?

As Rep Moron scuttled away in search of a safe crevice, Howard “Dr. Demento” Dean took the mic and amazingly told the truth. Via CNS News:

[T]he reason why tort reform is not in the bill is because the people who wrote it did not want to take on the trial lawyers … and that is the plain and simple truth.

Be sure to read and watch the whole thing.

(h/t Pomalom)

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I’ve written about Leftourettes Syndrome™ on several occasions. I even have a separate category for it. It can be generally described as that condition, so prevalent on the left, that causes them to open their mouths and say the stupidest things, revealing much more about themselves than they ever intended.

The 2008 primary season has put this malady in the spotlight. Chang and Eng Clintbama, and their supporters, are trying to outdo one another for saying the stupidest things. If I were a high-paid campaign consultant, instead of a lowly blogger fighting to reach 100,000 visits, I would have some advice for John McCain. I guess I’ll just give it away for free: Say Nothing. Let the two of them spend all their time and money saying things that are so outrageous that come November the last twin standing will do good to match Walter Mondale’s 13 electoral votes from ’84.

It’s hard to believe, but instead of showing any improvement their Leftourettes™ seems to be worsening.

Ladies First

As the controversy over Hillary’s “snipper fire” claim was starting to fade, former President Clinton (I respect the office. The man, not so much.) decided to grab a can of jet fuel and relight the bonfire.

Bill Clinton said the news media treated her like she had “robbed a bank” and claimed she was experiencing end-of-day fatigue, even though she had made the claim in morning speeches.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) acknowledged two weeks ago that she “misspoke” and “made a mistake” in her overly vivid account of the 1996 landing in Tuzla, Bosnia, during a goodwill mission as first lady.

Video of a tranquil arrival ceremony refuted the claim, and her comments hurt her struggling campaign by reviving questions about her candor.

Whoopsie. Time for a yank on the leash.

Former US president Bill Clinton said Friday he has been ordered to hold his tongue by his wife Hillary for reviving an embarrassing story about her trip to Bosnia in 1996 while out campaigning.

“Hillary called me and said ‘You don’t remember this. You weren’t there, let me handle it.’ I said, ‘Yes ma’am,” the grinning ex-president said during a campaign stop in Indiana, according to television pictures.

A series of gaffes have made Bill Clinton somewhat of a liability in his wife’s campaign for the Democratic White House nomination. [my emphasis]

Gee, ya think? I am close to buying into the meme that he doesn’t want her in the Oval Office. [discuss this in the forum]

Equal Time

Barry O wasn’t content to allow the Clinton campaign to be the Leftourettes™ example of the week. He had to step it up a notch (Ben Smith quoting from the Hufpo).

You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not.

And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

This caught the attention of the blogosphere.

Ace puts an entire post full of analysis into his title: Obama To Rural Pennsylvanians: Vote For Me, You Corncob-Smokin’, Banjo-Strokin’ Chicken-Chokin’ Cousin-Pokin’ Inbred Hillbilly Racist Morons

Patrick Hynes wraps it up this way:

Yep, that’s us: Just a bunch of uniformed racists who hate everyone who isn’t just like us and cling to our God and our guns because we didn’t get to go to Princeton or Harvard Law School. They know us so well.

Ed Morrissey says that This is why rookies shouldn’t run for President

Rookies should not run for President. Rookies make mistakes that brand them, and once made on the national stage, those brands never entirely disappear. Ask Joe Biden, whose plagiarism 20 years ago still largely defines him outside of Delaware, and he was hardly a rookie at the time.

What makes this so breathtaking is the mindless, casual way in which Obama reveals his snobbishness and elitism. We saw hints of this from Michelle Obama, in her assertions about never being proud of her country until her husband ran for President. (Soren Dayton has more on this.) We had not seen it from Obama himself in such a blatant and unmistakable manner. The matter-of-fact style in which he spoke this shows the unthinking contempt he has for people he has never engaged — an acceptance of stereotypes without questioning them that shows his own bigotry, not to mention foolishness and poor judgment.

Leftourettes™ can be ugly in it’s honesty.

Others who taken up this theme:
Little Green Footballs
Confederate Yankee
MY Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
John Hinderaker asks, “Is Obama’s Campaign Over?”
Macs Mind, where he notes, “A friend in PA is telling me that the audio is already being pooled into campaign phone calls and ads to run soon.”
Blue Crab Boulevard and here
Blogs for John McCain’s Victory
Sister Toldjah
Stop The ACLU

And many more.

Like a top on steroids, the Obama campaign is trying to spin this — and failing miserably. His opponents have joined the cacophony of condemnation. From the NYT:

“It’s being reported that my opponent said that the people of Pennsylvania who faced hard times are bitter; well, that’s not my experience,” Mrs. Clinton told an audience at Drexel University. “Pennsylvanians don’t need a president who looks down on them; they need a president who stands up for them, who fights for them, who works hard for your futures, your jobs, your families.”

After her remarks, aides to Mrs. Clinton issued several statements criticizing Mr. Obama, including ones that contained criticism from Republicans.

And from the McCain camp:

“It shows an elitism and condescension toward hard-working Americans that is nothing short of breathtaking,” said Steve Schmidt, a senior adviser to Mr. McCain. “It is hard to imagine someone running for president who is more out of touch with average Americans.”

When Obama tried to explain/justify/spin his remarks, his two opponents offered very similar rebuttals:

“Instead of apologizing for offending small town America, Senator Obama chose to repeat and embrace the comments he made earlier this week,” said Phil Singer, a spokesman for Mrs. Clinton. He added, “Americans are tired of a President who looks down on them, they want a President who will stand up for them for a change.”

[...]

“Instead of apologizing to small town Americans for dismissing their values, Barack Obama arrogantly tried to spin his way out of his outrageous San Francisco remarks,” Mr. [McCain spokesman Tucker] Bounds said, adding: “You can’t be more out of touch than that.”

But I’ll leave it to Scott Ott to wrap this up with his typical dead-on sarcastic humor:

Senator Barack Obama today announced a plan to employ millions of bitter, small town Americans who, in their anger over jobs lost in the 1980s, have turned to guns, God, and xenophobia.

You can discuss Obamagaffe in forum as well.

So, which campaign displays their Leftourettes more fully? A new poll is in the sidebar.

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I would guess that there are dozens of new studies released every week. Some few of them find their way into the media spotlight.

The optimist in me says, at least we’re learning to find out who is behind them now. Never has the need for that been more clear than in this example:

Study: False Statements Preceded War

A study by two nonprofit journalism organizations found that President Bush and top administration officials issued hundreds of false statements about the national security threat from Iraq in the two years following the 2001 terrorist attacks.

The study concluded that the statements “were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses.”

What every media story has left out of their “reporting” is that the two nonprofit journalism organizations are nearly one in the same, or as Fausta discovered,

The Fund for Independence in Journalism mission, in their own words:

The Fund’s primary purpose is providing legal defense and endowment support for the largest nonprofit, investigative reporting institution in the world, the Center for Public Integrity

According to AP, that makes them two nonprofit journalism organizations, when in fact it’s one organization with a legal branch to shield it from lawsuits.

Another conveniently omitted fact? A primary source of funding for these independent sources is none other than George Bush’s biggest fan, George Soros. I can’t imagine why the rightosphere concludes there is any bias here.

Dafydd sums the entire situation in this way:

But realizing that the elite media has only our best interests at heart, my only possible conclusion is that, despite the multiple layers of editorial input that must occur at these venues, several important facts just slipped through the cracks:

• The fact that the Center for Public Integrity is a Left-funded, leftist, activist organization with a serious hatchet to grind with the Bush administration;
• The fact that the Fund for Independence in Journalism is neither independent, nor is it engaged in journalism (it’s a front group of mostly the same people whose purpose is to shield the Center from lawsuits);
• And the fact that the vast majority of the supposed “false statements” are in fact simply positions with which liberals disagree, or else statements widely accepted at the time that later investigation (after deposing Saddam Hussein) showed to be inaccurate.

I will not be holding my breath waiting for the media to correct the oversights.

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Sunday is Veteran’s Day, and as Don Surber points out, “Republican Congresswoman Thelma Drake of Virginia reminded the majority of its inability to fulfill even the basic constitutional requirements of Congress: Pass a budget.”

The Democrat controlled Congress is trying it’s hardest to insure failure. Granted, a few are unhappy with the latest strategy.

Rank-and-file Democrats expressed heartburn on Friday over their party’s latest anti-war strategy, with some members reluctant to coincide a vote to bring troops home with Veterans Day.

The House was on track to consider next week legislation that would give President Bush $50 billion for operations Iraq and Afghanistan but insist that he begin withdrawing troops.

The measure identifies a goal of ending combat by December 2008, leaving only enough soldiers and Marines behind to fight terrorists, train Iraqi security forces and protect U.S. assets.

The very thought of victory, or any measure of success, acts like garlic to these BDS ravaged vampires.

The troops, the ones who they go to any length to claim they support, are the ones who will suffer.

But they don’t care about them. They are too busy Goldilocksing™ the bill.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushed off plans for a Friday vote after caucus members told her late Thursday they weren’t sure they would support it. Liberal Democrats said the proposal was too soft, while conservative members told Pelosi they thought it went too far.

None of them found it “just right.”

Senator McConnell gets it right:

Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Democrats face “unfortunate timing” because of the military progress being made in Iraq.

“While our troops are quelling violence and defeating terrorists in Baghdad and throughout Iraq, Democrats in Washington are trying to choke off funds for our troops in the field,” he said.

I’m sure we will all be impressed with the Veterans Day lip service they will utter this weekend. Actually doing the right thing would be too much to ask.

Linked with the Open Post of the Day at Liberty Pundit.

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Dennis Kucinich must have gotten bored waiting for the mother ship to come back for him. First, he declared that, “I seriously believe we have to start asking questions about his [President Bush] mental health.” Now, well, I’ll just let you read it for yourself from his congressional web site:

Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) announced today that he will be offering a privileged resolution on the House floor next week that will bring articles of impeachment against the Vice President, Richard B. Cheney.

“The momentum is building for impeachment,” Kucinich said. “Millions of citizens across the nation are demanding Congress rein in the Vice President’s abuse of power.

“Despite this groundswell of opposition to the unconstitutional conduct of office, Vice President Cheney continues to violate the U.S. Constitution by insisting the power of the executive branch is supreme.

“Congress must hold the Vice President accountable. The American people need to let Members of Congress know how they feel about this. The Vice President continues to use his office to advocate for a continued occupation of Iraq and prod our nation into a belligerent stance against Iran. If the Vice President is successful, his actions will ensure decades of disastrous consequences.”

Do you see that one word there? Advocate. That is just about all that Vice President Cheney, or any Vice President, can do. He can not make any declarations, he can’t sign or veto any bills. His greatest legislative power only comes into play if he has to cast a vote in case of a tie.

Then there is this, “If the Vice President is successful”. So, he wants to start the impeachment process over something VP Cheney might do, sort of a preemptive impeachment.

Others proving that old saying are his 21 co-sponsors:

Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Robert Brady (D-PA), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-MO), Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA), Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA), Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Rep. Henry Johnson (D-GA), Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-MI), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), Rep. James Moran (D-VA), Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ), Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY), Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), Rep. Diane Watson (D-CA), Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) and Rep. Albert Wynn (D-MD).

Oh, that old saying their trying so hard to prove?

“It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.”

I, for one, have no doubts.

Others with no doubts:
Don Surber — “I guess this makes him the Big Cashew on Nutball Island.”
Blue Crab Boulevard
Michelle Malkin — “Strike up the nutroots band!”
Jules Crittenden

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I’m sure I’ll be forgiven, but I always fail to remember that Dennis Kucinich is one of the Democrats running for president. I’m not alone, very few people in America realize that either. Anyhow, once he bows out of his quixotic run he can become the poster boy for BDS and Leftourettes. Here’s why:

Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich questioned President Bush’s mental health in light of comments he made about a nuclear Iran precipitating World War III.

“I seriously believe we have to start asking questions about his mental health,” Kucinich, an Ohio congressman, said in an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer’s editorial board on Tuesday. “There’s something wrong. He does not seem to understand his words have real impact.”

[...]

Kucinich said he doesn’t believe his comments about the president’s mental health are irresponsible, according to a story posted on the newspaper’s Web site.

“You cannot be a president of the United States who’s wanton in his expression of violence,” Kucinich said. “There’s a lot of people who need care. He might be one of them. If there isn’t something wrong with him, then there’s something wrong with us. This, to me, is a very serious question.”

On the other hand, he may be on to something with that last part.

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I have been listening to Rush’s show today to see the results of the bidding. The winning bid was $2,100,100.00 by philanthropist Betty Casey. Her generosity and Rush’s matching donation will mean well over four million dollars for the Marine Corp – Law Enforcement Foundation.

But I am just astounded at the brazen attempt by Sen. Harry Reid to try to inject himself into the event. Ed Morrissey has this quote (via The Corner)

This week, Rush Limbaugh put the original copy of that letter up for auction on e-bay. Mr. President, we didn’t have time, or we could have gotten every senator to sign that letter. But he put the letter up for auction on e-bay and I think very, very constructively, left the proceeds of that it go to the Marine Corps law enforcements foundation. That provides scholarship assistance to marines and federal law enforcement personnel whose parents fall in the line of duty. What could be a more worthwhile cause? I think it’s really good that this money on e-bay is going to be raised for this purpose. …
Never did we think that this letter would bring money of this nature.

Ed has the exactly right take on this outrageous grand standing play by Reid.

So now Harry wants everyone to think that he participated in the fund-raising effort deliberately. He wants to take credit for over $4 million in donations that came from two people — the bidder, and the man Reid intended to smear and intimidate. That’s not just laughable, it’s pathetic.

Totally, sickeningly pathetic.

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Quite a bit of heat, devoid of much light, was made of the report that Air America’s Randi Rhodes had been mugged. Rhodes’ co-host, Jon Elliot, started spreading the story that she had been mugged and suggesting that it was the work of evil right-wingers.

Only problem? It didn’t happen.

Air America radio host Randi Rhodes is temporarily off the air, but claims she was brutally attacked near her Manhattan apartment are bogus, her lawyer and a police source said today.

Fellow host Jon Elliott claimed on the liberal radio network that Rhodes had been mugged while walking her dog, Simon, on Sunday night. Elliot, who said Rhodes lost several teeth in the attack, waxed about a possible conspiracy.

“Is this an attempt by the right-wing, hate machine to silence one of our own?” he asked on the air, according to Talking Radio, a blog. “Are we threatening them? Are they afraid that we’re winning? Are they trying to silence intimidate us?”

A police source said Rhodes never filed a report and never claimed to be the victim of a mugging. Cops from Manhattan’s 17th Precinct called her attorney, who told them Rhodes was not a victim of a crime, the source said.

Rhodes’ lawyer told the Daily News she was injured in a fall while walking her dog. He said she’s not sure what happened, and only knows that she fell down and is in a lot of pain. The lawyer said Rhodes expects to be back on the air Thursday. He stressed there is no indication she was targeted or that she was the victim of a “hate crime.” (h/t: CQ)

Never Mind!

Help me fix the car and get back on the road!

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fine folks have donated a total of $. $ is still needed.
Thanks!

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. . . what does that make Rep. Ellen O. Tauscher?

Rep. Ellen O. Tauscher, D-Calif., said Wednesday she thought Pace was guilty of a dereliction of duty because of his support for Bush’s Iraq policy.

Tauscher, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said Pace lost standing among members in March when he said homosexual acts were immoral and that the military should not condone the behavior by letting gays serve openly. Pace later apologized, including in a letter to Tauscher, for expressing what he said were his personal views.

Tauscher said his comments on gays “showed his ignorance” and “had to be deeply discounted because they came from a man who had presided over a war that we got into on a lie and what I consider to be a serious dereliction of duty in having our troops and our readiness so destroyed by the policies of this administration.”

This growing tribe of surrender monkeys are getting further under my skin with every vile pronouncement.

Yes, I question their patriotism.

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