KAMIKAZE POLITICS: White House Picks Another Fight With the Press

President Obama, albeit for other reasons than cited below, has earned himself a new nickname: The Kamikaze-in-Chief. [To read Ralph Reiland's reasons for POTUS' new nickname, go here.]

On Monday, it seems that the White House has decided to take aim at another media outlet: Politco.

Here's the background: Politico ran a piece entitled "7 stories Obama doesn't want told."

In sum, Politico's seven points consisted of:

1. He thinks he’s playing with Monopoly money
2. Too much Leonard Nimoy
3. That’s the Chicago Way
4. He’s a pushover
5. He sees America as another pleasant country on the U.N. roll call, somewhere between Albania and Zimbabwe
6. President Pelosi
7. He’s in love with the man in the mirror

[Read entire piece here, and watch the video below.]

Later on Monday, the Atlantic posted that the White House is not taking the Politico piece laying down:

It's not just Fox News that's become subject of White House derision. The following is an excerpt from a joke e-mail that is circulating among White House staffers. It's a response, of sorts, to the analytical essay that POLITICO editor-in-chief John Harris wrote about the "seven stories that Barack Obama doesn't want told."....

...But make no mistake: many on the White House senior staff dislike POLITICO's brand of journalism, and they do not like the effect that POLITICO's metabolism has on the rest of the press corps, including this (i.e., my own) corner of it....

_______________

7 narratives politico is fighting in their efforts to get an interview with the President
1. They are more interested in readers than accuracy
2. Its okay to be wrong everyonce in a while, if your are the first to break the news
3. More interested in gossip than news
4. A spouter of the worst sort of insider conventional wisdom
5. Their analysis about obama has been wrong more than any one
6. Click ... period
7. More obsessed with personality than policy

After the debacle of the White House attacks on Fox News this past fall, one would think that the White House would have learnt its lessons...Apparently, this is not the case as the Obama administration nose dives into another war with another media outlet.

Crazy...Kamikaze crazy.



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OMG! Barack's Teleprompter Crashes!

Why isn't the MSM covering this earth-shattering news?!?



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Hat-tip Gringo Madre

Angelina Jolie Doesn't Like Obama Either...

Having been an occasional admirer of uber-mom and mega star Angelina Jolie--especially as the gun-toting Laura Croft--Ms Jolie's cred just went up in our book.

According to Us Magazine, Ms. Jolie is not a fan of the Organizer-in-Chief either.

Barack Obama does not have Angelina Jolie's seal of approval.

"She hates him," a source close to the U.N. goodwill ambassador, 34, tells the new issue of Us Weekly (on newsstands now).

"She's into education and rehabilitation and thinks Obama is all about welfare and handouts. She thinks Obama is really a socialist in disguise," adds the source.

But don't expect to see the Salt actress rally against Democrats on Fox News like her staunch Republican father, Jon Voight.

"Angie isn't Republican, but she thinks Obama is all smoke and mirrors," the source says.

Well said, Ms. Jolie (even if credited to a "source").

No word, however, if Ms. Jolie is still slated to play Dagny Taggart in the Atlas Shrugged movie, or whether the part is going to Charlize Theron.

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Afghanistan: The Ditherer Cometh Hither as Congressional Morons Propose a War Tax...

The Ditherer-in-Chief will be addressing America next week (on prime time) to explain his better-late-than-never new Afghanistan policy.

President Obama is expected to announce his Afghanistan policy with an address to the nation next Tuesday, Dec. 1, likely in prime time, officials told POLITICO.

Obama held his ninth formal Afghanistan strategy session in the Situation Room on Monday night.

His ninth...?

And he still can't make up his mind while American troops are being killed?!?

Hmmm. Thoughtful or incompetent? Our guess is the latter.

Meanwhile, those morons in Congress are proposing a tax to fund the costs of the war...while they use tax dollars buy auto companies, banks, and abortions.

Pathetic!

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SLAVERY TO THE STATE: DEMOCRATS VOTE TO MOVE FORWARD...

Another piece of slavery to the state falls into place...

Last night, the rulers and would-be slaveholders took another step toward their totalitarian takeover of America's health care.

Of note, they use the excuse of insuring the uninsured and lowering costs. However, the House bill leaves 18 million uninsured and the Senate bill leaves 24 million uninsured, according to Bloomberg.

Under both bills, all Americans will see their health care costs increase.

Under both bills, all Americans' health insurance will be controlled by government bureaucrats.

Under both bills, ALL Americans will become subjects of the State.

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AN IRATE ATTORNEY PENS A LETTER TO A FECKLESS FASCIST

Somehow, we missed Attorney Dennis Guthrie's August letter to the Big Government Bureaucrat Nancy Pelosi. Download the PDF here.

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Supporters of Amnesty for Illegals Beat Tea Party Cameraman

America is quickly devolving into a civil war over ideology.

Here is the video.



Be sure to read Atlas Shrugs' entire post here.

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Obama Throws Another One Under the Bus...

The Daily Beast has an interesting article on the now-departed White House counsel Greg Craig.

Since the summer, word had been leaking that Greg Craig’s days were numbered and that Obama campaign legal counsel Bob Bauer would be moving in to take Craig’s spot. But the situation seemed similar to the leaks about National Security Adviser Jim Jones’ supposedly tenuous hold on his job—which were either untrue, or turned around by Jones’ performance. The leaks about Craig also seemed unfounded—especially in light of direct statements from the White House that the statements were untrue and that he was not departing....

In fact, leaks are becoming standard fare by key players in the Obama administration. Someone, most likely on the military/intel side of the president’s national security bureaucracy, leaked Afghanistan Commanding General Stanley McChrystal’s report to Bob Woodward. Recently, other political players infuriated U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry by leaking his eleventh-hour contrarian view on a U.S. force surge to the press.

But it’s quite hard to maintain the kind of Obama-esque upbeat tone of transparency and forthrightness and punish staff for leaking when the president himself is standing by and doing nothing as his closest advisors undermine one of their own.

NPR’s Nina Totenberg puts the finger on White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. “There doesn’t seem to be much doubt that these leaks came at least indirectly from Rahm Emanuel,” she reported. “What is the cause of the friction? It's very hard to say. Was it Rahm not wanting to have another power center? Was it their personalities? Was it Rahm seeing the GITMO stuff as a distraction from the president's agenda?"

We have another theory:

Since Mr. Craig has been replaced by attorney Bob Bauer who just happens to be the husband of Maoist Anita Dunn, we think Chairman Mao himself is the source of those leaks...Or, perhaps, Mother Theresa.

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POLITICO: AYN RAND GOES MAINSTREAM

Politico posts an interesting article about author and philosopher Ayn Rand--A main inspiration of Dienekes' Place.

For some, she never went away. But Ayn Rand is having a minstream moment.

Tea party protesters hoisted signs reading "Ayn Rand was right" and "Who is John Galt?" at the Sept. 12 taxpayer march. There’s talk that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are attempting to bring "Atlas Shrugged" to the big screen. Nearly every major media outlet — including GQ and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart — reviewed the two new Rand biographies. South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) penned a piece on Rand's newfound relevance for Newsweek.

Rand has even gone prime time. In a sketch on Jimmy Fallon, recession-stricken audience members ate pages out of Rand’s books for sustenance. Chris Matthews, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh all recommend her work. CNBC reporter Rick antelli’s on-air tirade against government intervention made him a cult hero. He later explained: "I know this may not sound very humanitarian, but at the end of the day I'm an Ayn Rand-er."

Read more here.

Ms. Rand's finction and, just as importantly, her nonfiction should be required reading for students.

President Leaves Nuclear Option Open & Nancy Dodges Jail Question...

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Democrats may use the 'budget reconciliation' process to avoid getting 60 Senate votes, if a compromise is not reached on the nationalization of health care.

The Hill reports that Gibbs stated that...

President Barack Obama is hopeful that the Senate will pass a healthcare bill with 60 votes, but...held out the possibility that budget reconciliation rules could still be used.

If that is indeed the case and the Seante goes through with the nationalization of the country's health care system, there is likely to be a huge backlash in 2010.

Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi dodges a question about the fairness of sending people to jail for refusing to by health insurance.



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Maoist Anita Dunn is Done...Sort of...

White House Communications Director and Maoist Anita Dunn is stepping down at the end of November.

According to The Hill, Dunn will stay on as a "consultant" [perhaps Czar of Propaganda?].

White House communications director Anita Dunn will resign by the end of the month, the Obama administration confirmed on Tuesday morning.

Dunn, who signed on for a temporary stint after Ellen Moran stepped down from the post, will stay on as a consultant. Deputy communications director Dan Pfeiffer will replace her.

Dunn's tenure has not been without controversy. She helped lead the White House battle against Fox News, once calling the network an "arm of the Republican Party."

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Health Care: Who Voted to End Individual Rights?

Under the cover of darkness on Saturday night, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 220-215 to nationalize America's health care system.

"If this health care bill becomes law, America, life as you have known it, freedom as you have exercised it and privacy as you have enjoyed it will cease to be," says Judge Andrew Napolitano of the nearly 2,000 page freedom-ending monstrosity of a bill (download all 1,990 pages here or view a partial breakdown of the bill on WSJ here).

Despite the freedom-ending language contained in the bill, 219 Democrats and one Republican voted to end freedom as we know it.

Click here to view who voted for it (in blue) and who voted against it (in red).

The question is, fellow Spartans and Patriots, will you remember these anti-freedom, anti-individual rights, peddlers of pull when election time comes?

We certainly hope so, as the best place for these Congressional culprits is the unemployment line.

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Nancy's Health Care Nationalization

Let there be no mistake, Nancy Pelosi and her fellow Democrats' health care bill is the nationalization of America's health care system.

From Betsy McCaughey, writing in the Wall Street Journal [emphasis added]:

• Sec. 202 (p. 91-92) of the bill requires you to enroll in a "qualified plan." If you get your insurance at work, your employer will have a "grace period" to switch you to a "qualified plan," meaning a plan designed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. If you buy your own insurance, there's no grace period. You'll have to enroll in a qualified plan as soon as any term in your contract changes, such as the co-pay, deductible or benefit.
• Sec. 224 (p. 118) provides that 18 months after the bill becomes law, the Secretary of Health and Human Services will decide what a "qualified plan" covers and how much you'll be legally required to pay for it. That's like a banker telling you to sign the loan agreement now, then filling in the interest rate and repayment terms 18 months later.
• Sec. 303 (pp. 167-168) makes it clear that, although the "qualified plan" is not yet designed, it will be of the "one size fits all" variety. The bill claims to offer choice—basic, enhanced and premium levels—but the benefits are the same. Only the co-pays and deductibles differ. You will have to enroll in the same plan, whether the government is paying for it or you and your employer are footing the bill.
• Sec. 59b (pp. 297-299) says that when you file your taxes, you must include proof that you are in a qualified plan. If not, you will be fined thousands of dollars. Illegal immigrants are exempt from this requirement.
• Sec. 412 (p. 272) says that employers must provide a "qualified plan" for their employees and pay 72.5% of the cost, and a smaller share of family coverage, or incur an 8% payroll tax. Small businesses, with payrolls from $500,000 to $750,000, are fined less.

To understand how this latter provision will lead to socialized medicine within three to five years, go here.

Read more of the WSJ analysis here...

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NANCY PELOSI AND HER FELLOW FLESH-EATING FASCISTS...

If the opposite of freedom is slavery, then Nancy Pelosi wants to own you and your body.

Her aims to become the Queen of the Slave Traders has her lining up the votes to bind the American population to her health care scheme.

Ms. Pelosi and her fellow flesh-eating fascists have decreed that Americans shall be imprisoned should they refuse their prescription for nationalized health care.

From GOP's Committee On Ways & Means:

Today, Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee Dave Camp (R-MI) released a letter from the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) confirming that the failure to comply with the individual mandate to buy health insurance contained in the Pelosi health care bill (H.R. 3962, as amended) could land people in jail. The JCT letter makes clear that Americans who do not maintain “acceptable health insurance coverage” and who choose not to pay the bill’s new individual mandate tax (generally 2.5% of income), are subject to numerous civil and criminal penalties, including criminal fines of up to $250,000 and imprisonment of up to five years.

In response to the JCT letter, Camp said: “This is the ultimate example of the Democrats’ command-and-control style of governing – buy what we tell you or go to jail. It is outrageous and it should be stopped immediately.”

Key excerpts from the JCT letter appear below:

“H.R. 3962 provides that an individual (or a husband and wife in the case of a joint return) who does not, at any time during the taxable year, maintain acceptable health insurance coverage for himself or herself and each of his or her qualifying children is subject to an additional tax.” [page 1] -
- - - - - - - - -

“If the government determines that the taxpayer’s unpaid tax liability results from
willful behavior, the following penalties could apply…” [page 2]
- - - - - - - - -

“Criminal penalties

Prosecution is authorized under the Code for a variety of offenses. Depending on the level of the noncompliance, the following penalties could apply to an individual:

• Section 7203 – misdemeanor willful failure to pay is punishable by a fine of up to $25,000 and/or imprisonment of up to one year.

• Section 7201 – felony willful evasion is punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and/or imprisonment of up to five years.” [page 3]

When confronted with this same issue during its consideration of a similar individual mandate tax, the Senate Finance Committee worked on a bipartisan basis to include language in its bill that shielded Americans from civil and criminal penalties. The Pelosi bill, however, contains no similar language protecting American citizens from civil and criminal tax penalties that could include a $250,000 fine and five years in jail.

“The Senate Finance Committee had the good sense to eliminate the extreme penalty of incarceration. Speaker Pelosi’s decision to leave in the jail time provision is a threat to every family who cannot afford the $15,000 premium her plan creates. Fortunately, Republicans have an alternative that will lower health insurance costs without raising taxes or cutting Medicare,” said Camp.

According to the Congressional Budget Office the lowest cost family non-group plan under the Speaker’s bill would cost $15,000 in 2016.

[Emphasis added.]

In the name of health care nationalization, Pelosi and her ilk seem hell bent on nothing less than the enslavement of the American people.

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NANCY PELOSI: LIAR OF THE HOUSE

Should anyone be surprised that Nancy Pelosi lied?

Pelosi Breaks Pledge to Put Final Health Care Bill Online for 72 Hours Before Vote

Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office tells THE WEEKLY STANDARD that the speaker will not allow the final language of the health care to be posted online for 72 hours before bringing the bill to a vote on the House floor, despite her September 24 statement that she was "absolutely" committed to doing so.

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Walking the Plank: You Have Nothing to Lose But Your Majorities

A great radio spot by the American Future Fund.