Source: Democrats Seek to be First to Field Transgendered Candidate

Today we will let Liberal idiocy speak for itself....

Charles Blow, a black, left-wing New York Times columnist, took to Twitter and the pages of the Times to excoriate Yale and a campus police officer over his son being detained at gunpoint. Apparently, Blow’s son met the description of a campus burglar. After learning of the incident, an incensed Blow published a series of racially-charged Tweets followed by a racially-charged Times column.....As it turns out, the officer is black. Yale’s police chief is also black. (Breitbart.com, 1/28/2015)

Liberals sooner or later must raise taxes on the middle class because taxing the rich alone can’t possibly finance all of the Democratic Party’s entitlement schemes. The middle class is where the real money is. So while taxing 529s may die for now, it’s only a matter of time before liberals are back with a carbon tax or value-added tax or something. That’s the real meaning of “middle-class economics.” (Wall Street Journal, 1/28/2015)

 Have you ever been stuck in heavy snow and thought to yourself, “If only Al Sharpton had more power at the federal level!” No sane person ever has, but during an interview about the “snowmageddon” that wasn’t, Bridgeport, Conn. Mayor Bill Finch thanked Sharpton for his fight against global warming, and said he’s needed in Washington.  (Doug Powers, Michellemalkin.com, 1/28/2015)

The Riven Heart

Fact-based
The fact that Netanyahu felt compelled to speak directly to Congress in order to oppose the administration’s position speaks poorly, not of Netanyahu, but of Obama. If the leader of one of our closest allies is so worried about the deal Obama is going to cut with Iran that he is willing to risk a diplomatic rift with the administration to speak out, perhaps the problem is not with Israel, but with the Obama administration. And it is not just Israel that opposes Obama’s deal with Iran; Arab leaders have made clear that they share Israel’s view. (Marc Thiessen, Washington Post, 1/27/2015)

How, we wonder, is President Hillary Clinton going to handle Israel?  While she has always publicly supported Israel, the moonbat wing of the Democrat party has become increasingly anti-Israeli, favoring the peace-loving Palestinians (who lob missiles into Israel from schoolyards in Gaza). It is the same dilemma she faces as she attempts to reconcile her service on the Wal Mart Board of Directors with Speaking Bull Liz Warren's chants against corporate America. 
   

Dopes
Shumlin said he believes Vermont should legalize marijuana but has approached the topic carefully, waiting to take lessons from Colorado and Washington, which have authorized a retail marijuana market.

If Vermont lawmakers pursue legal marijuana, the regulatory system might not look like the set-up in Colorado or Washington. A lengthy report on the options was released Jan. 16.

The report, written by the Rand Corporation based in California, found that Vermont could reap millions of dollars of tax revenue by allowing a legal marijuana industry, but the highest tax revenues depend on becoming the first state in the Northeast to do so. (Burlington Free Press, 1/27/2015)

Well, the lessons from Colorado and Washington would lead any rational person to conclude that legalizing marijuana was a bad idea. Admitted ex-pothead Shumlin, however, cannot get beyond that additional tax revenue. Why it could even bring back single payer! Shummy would call that a win-win!


A Prayer
Oh, dear Lord above, I try not to ask for much, but if You could find it appropriate, please let the Democrats nominate Bernie Sanders to run for President. (Jazz Shaw, Hotair.com, 1/27/2015)

The conservative groundswell for Bernie Sanders to run for president (initiated by RedStateVT) continues to grow. Run Bernie, Run!

It would be great fun. 


Relent-less
President Obama, facing angry reprisals from parents and from lawmakers of both parties, will drop his proposal to end popular college savings accounts known as 529s....The decision came just hours after House Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio demanded the proposal be withdrawn from the president’s budget, due out Monday, “for the sake of middle-class families.” But the call for the White House to relent also came from top Democrats, including Representatives Nancy Pelosi of California, the minority leader, and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, the ranking member of the Budget Committee. (New York Times, 1/27/2015)

When you have lost Nancy Pelosi, it is pretty much game over....

Did Obama the Mastermind really think this idea was going to fly?

The Death Sighs of a Thousands Flowers

Faithful
Mr. Romney’s faith was complicated by the fact that during his 2012 run, his team was reluctant to let him mention his religion at all, creating a vacuum that hid a side of him from voters and allowed it to be filled with Democratic attack ads. (New York Times, 1/26/2015)

So the Times admits that Democrats smeared Romney's Mormonism.  Too bad they waited so long to mention it. This is the same New York Times that cannot mention the first President Bush, even in passing, without talking about the Willie Horton ad...which his campaign had nothing to do with. 


Lively
Avowed pork-busting freshman U.S. Senator from Iowa Joni Ernst (R-IA) wants to keep alive the enthusiasm that won Republicans a majority in the United States Senate as we move into the 2016 Presidential election. (Breitbart.com, 1/26/2015)

Joni Ernst is the first female combat veteran elected to the Senate. If she were a Democrat she would be receiving non-stop glowing coverage in the Legitimate Media. As a Republican, she is already a target of the Democrat party's ongoing War on (Republican) Women. 


Anger Management
“There’s a lot of anger in this country, and the people who go see this movie are people who are very angry,” Dean said. “And this guy basically says ‘I’m going to fight on your side.’ … I bet you if you looked at a cross-section of the Tea Party and the people who go to see this movie, there’s a lot of intersection.” (Washington Post, 1/26/2015)

Jimmy Carter has been proclaimed by RedStateVT as the worst ex-president in history. Let us now state that Vermont's former governor, Howard Dean, is the worst ex-governor in history.

American Sniper is driving Liberals absolutely crazy. There is nothing that upsets them more than a hit movie about a patriotic American hero. 


Hopeful
Dances with Identity Theft has said she’s not going to run for the Democrat nomination next year, but I kind of hope she does if only for the ensuing collectivist battle royal between Warren, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden as they have furious arguments over which candidate least built his or her own campaign. (Doug Powers, Michellemalkin.com, 1/25/2015)

Doug Powers echoes RedStateVT's wish for an all-out Liberal mudfest. And "Dances with Identity Theft" is simply a killer line....

Whosoever Dwells in Heaven

Up and Away
The odds that Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber may face charges for padding invoices are going up.

Vermont State Auditor Douglas Hoffer’s methodical investigation of Gruber’s undocumented billing practices shifted to a higher gear on Friday, when Hoffer called Gruber’s response to his inquiries to date “unsatisfactory.” (Breitbart.com, 1/23/2015)

Thankfully we have Breitbart to tell us what is happening in Vermont.


Consequential
Colorado’s decision to legalize marijuana was a bad idea, the state’s governor said Friday.

Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat who opposed the 2012 decision by voters to make pot legal, said the state still doesn’t fully know what the unintended consequences of the move will be.

“If I could've waved a wand the day after the election, I would've reversed the election and said, 'This was a bad idea,’ ” Hickenlooper said Friday on CNBC's “Squawk Box.” (thehill.com, 1/23/2015)

So let's review. California's decision to legalize dope was an abject failure. Even the hippie politicians realized that things were out of control and forced a crackdown on the "medicinal" dope stores that had opened on every corner. (Patient to Doctor: I'm in pain! Doctor to Patient: Here is a prescription for weed. Smoke it twice a day and you will feel better.)

Then we had the stories of Colorado's dope-loving politicians being caught by surprise on the issue of how to regulate dope-infused cuisine. The old hash brownies thing...

And then - also in Colorado - we had the recent story of hash-extraction procedures going bad and blowing up the neighborhood. 

Not to worry, Vermont's Governor Peter Shumlin is still "all in" for legal dope. No doubt he is jealously looking at Colorado's marijuana tourism dollars and thinking: 'Hey, I can close the budget deficit I created if we can get some of that money.' 


Detachment
The president’s habit of detaching from what is actually happening—of declaring in fact that the opposite is happening—is a marvel to behold. History will speak of it. (Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal, 1/24/2015)

Of course, Noonan is exactly correct. In Obama's world, Obamacare is a raging success, terrorism has been defeated, Russia did not invade the Ukraine, the economy is roaring, and Liberalism is triumphant. 

RedStateVT Welcomes Readers from Czech Republic!

Under Pressure
Yemeni officials say the president has resigned under pressure from Shiite rebels who seized the capital in September and have confined the embattled leader to his home for the past two days. (Washington Post, 1/21/2015)

Obama: Yemen is an example of my administration's counter-terrorism success.

WaPo: Yemeni president forced to resign by terrorists. 


Face Off
Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday he might enter the 2016 presidential race even if it would mean facing off against Hillary Clinton—a scenario that could force her and other potential Democratic candidates to rethink how they would position themselves in the primary. (Wall Street Journal, 1/22/2015)

Imagine for just a moment Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Warren and Colonel Bernie Sanders on stage together for a Democrat primary debate. They would be scrambling over each other to pander, redistribute wealth, and blame George Bush! Millions would pay to watch the hi-jinks as a pay-per-view event. Why the money raised could even be given to those poor souls hurt by Republican policies..... 

Obama: I Have Fixed the U.S. Economy. You're Welcome America.

Virtuous
If there was a virtue in Mr. Obama’s speech, it’s that we can now retire the lectures on “responsible governing.” (Wall Street Journal, 1/21/2015)

Score!


Unification
But climate is a continuous process of incremental change. A unified theory of media idiocy on climate is beyond the scope of this column, but even someone with the apparently parched intellect of an AP editor should be able to look at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration charts and notice that cool years are grouped with cool years, warm years with warm years, and in-between years with in-between years. (Holman W. Jenkins, Jr., Wall Street Journal, 1/20/2015)

Did you read that 2014 was the warmest year in the history of the solar system and it is all the fault of Republicans who will not let us stop using fossil fuels? You probably did if you were breathing a couple of days ago.  What you probably did not read were the science-based rebuttals. Here is one, you climate change-denier, you!


Zero
The cost of community college isn’t being lowered to zero, the costs will simply be shifted elsewhere. The AP estimates it would cost “an estimated $60 billion over 10 years to the treasury.” Furthermore, the plan would require states to contribute a quarter of tuition, and not all students would qualify. (Breitbart.com, 1/21/2015)

Finally, someone besides RedStateVT calls out President Clueless on the "free" concept. Nothing is free! Someone always pays. If you are a taxpayer then guess what? You pay for "Free!"


Unreal
MITCHELL: I think that on foreign policy, his projection of success against terrorism and against ISIS, in particular, as I said, is not close to reality. They have not come up with a strategy, and they’ve built a global coalition, but again, he’s talked about Ukraine, he’s talked about Putin being isolated. Yes, Putin is isolated economically and the falling oil prices have hammered his economy. But at the same time, there’s renewed fighting in Donetsk, and we haven’t figured out Ukraine, we haven’t figured out how the NATO alliance can push back. Sanctions have not really worked, and Ukraine is going to need more weaponry, and they have not reached that point. So you’re right, Chris, it doesn’t match the reality. (Hotair.com, 1/21/2015)

Andrea Mitchell and Chris Matthews from MSNBC (the Obama administration's in-house television network) practice a random act of journalism....


Messed Up
So here was Gov. Charlie Baker yesterday, confronting a totally predictable (except by the previous governor) budget deficit of $765 million, and he still couldn’t bring himself to mention who created the mess the Commonwealth now finds itself in. (Howiecarrshow.com, 1/21/2015)

The budget deficit in Vermont (a state with less than one million people) approaches $100 million. Now what do the governments of Vermont and Massachusetts have in common? 

Yes, both governors were males and both had the letter "P" in their names. 

Think harder, reader!

Of course, both states were run by Democrats! Deval Patrick and Peter Shumlin.

Democrats should not be entrusted with managing the finances of an ice cream truck.

Most Important Thing on Television Tonight: Bruins Face-Off at 8:30pm

Let Down
The start of 2015 finds no letup in the attacks on a woman’s constitutionally protected right to make her own childbearing decisions. Republican lawmakers and organizations devoted to dismantling reproductive freedom have succeeded in shrinking the already inadequate number of abortion providers, making it exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, for women — especially young and poor women — to obtain safe and legal abortion services in large swaths Texas and other parts of the country. (New York Times editorial. 1/20/2015)

The editors at the New York Times bemoan the fact that there are not more abortion doctors. Why is that we wonder? Perhaps President Obama could announce a new initiative: free tuition for those students who enroll in Abortion Studies. Free medical school tuition - or loan forgiveness - for those residents who specialize in Abortion. As a country, we simply cannot fall behind the rest of the world in turning out first class abortionists.


Cookie Monsters
The lunatics of the hard left are losing their cookies because they think American Sniper will singlehandedly undo a decade of anti-Bush, anti-Iraq War propaganda.... (John Hayward, Breitbart.com, 1/20/2015)

Ain't it the truth! Liberals just hate anything that smacks of patriotism. It undermines their narrative that America is the source of all evil in the world. 


Proclamation
Specifically, Muslim leaders need to condemn anyone who commits these acts of violence and clearly state that these people are evil and are enemies of Islam.

It’s not enough to simply condemn violence, they must stand up and loudly proclaim that these people are not martyrs who will receive a reward in the afterlife, and rather they are murderers who are going to hell.

If they refuse to do that, then they are part of the problem.  There is no middle ground here. (Bobby Jindal, quoted on Breitbart.com, 1/20/2015)

Is Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal running for president? 

Why not?

Obama Bravely Confronts America's Biggest Problem: Cost of Community College

Fueled
Months of investigation by The New York Times, centered on extensive interviews with Libyans in Benghazi who had direct knowledge of the attack there and its context, turned up no evidence that Al Qaeda or other international terrorist groups had any role in the assault. The attack was led, instead, by fighters who had benefited directly from NATO’s extensive air power and logistics support during the uprising against Colonel Qaddafi. And contrary to claims by some members of Congress, it was fueled in large part by anger at an American-made video denigrating Islam. (New York Times, 1/15/2015)

We knew that The New York Times was heavily invested in Hillary Clinton for president. We just did not realize how much. The Times conducts an "investigation" and concludes that Hillary's hands are clean on Benghazi. Incredibly, absent any other excuse they revert to "the video made them do it." 

A video that no one saw. 

Of course, the Times must neutralize any potential threat to Hill. Henceforth, any time a Republican challenger brings up Benghazi, the Times will be able to refer to their own article as "proof" and accuse the Republican of deceit. This is how journalism works in a Liberal world.


Abstract Thinking
In the abstract, President Obama’s proposal for making community college tuition-free seems a reasonable response to a troublesome fact: The American work force is less educated than it needs to be at a time when most jobs in the new economy will require some college education. But for such an idea to work, states and localities that have been starving community colleges for decades will need to begin holding them to higher standards and commit to sustained financing instead of using the new federal money to dodge their own financial obligations....the preliminary plans released last week call for an estimated $60 billion in new spending over 10 years to help cover tuition and fees for full-time and half-time students who maintain a 2.5 grade point average — about a C-plus — and who make consistent progress toward completion. (New York Times editorial, 1/15/2015)

Catch the logic here! Editors at The Times demand that states need to hold community colleges to higher standards...and give them more money. Students, of course, will not be held to higher standards. A C+ will be just fine! This is accountability in a Liberal world.


Our Favorite Quotes
Two weeks ago, the economist Thomas Sowell posed a question that I can’t get out of my mind: “Has anyone asked the question, ‘How could so many people across the country spend so much time at night marching, rioting and looting, if they had to get up and go to work the next morning?’ ” (quoted by Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 1/16/2015)


We're now in a situation where the Belgians are carrying out preemptive raids against ISIS terrorists. The Belgium police are now taking a harder line than the White House. (former U.N. ambassador John Bolton, quoted on Foxnews.com, 1/16/2015)

 Yeah, liberals hate bullying all right, but they’re not opposed to using it. When they casually throw out words like ‘bigot’ and ‘racist,’ it does cow people into avoiding this debate. And if you’re doing that, you don’t get to wear the ‘Je Suis Charlie’ button, the button you should wear says, ‘Je Suis Part of the Problem.’ (Bill Maher quoted on Breitbart.com, 1/17/2015)

Hat tip to Bill Maher, someone we have been highly critical of in the past...and will be again in the future. For now, however, we will note that he has been incredibly brave in exposing both Liberal hypocrisy on the issue of free speech and on calling out Muslims on the intolerance and violence that plague their religion. 


Fruitless
Wall Street may be growing anxious about the negative impact of falling oil prices on energy producers, but the steep declines of recent weeks are delivering substantial benefits to American working-class families and retirees who have largely missed out on the fruits of the five-and-a-half-year economic recovery.

Just last week, the federal Energy Information Administration estimated that the typical American household would save $750 because of lower gasoline prices this year, $200 more than government experts predicted a month ago. People who depend on home heating oil and propane to warm their homes, as millions do in the Northeast and Midwest, should enjoy an additional savings of about $750 this winter. (New York Times, 1/18/2015)

Given lower energy prices Liberals will seek to raise taxes on oil and gas. That is basic economics in a Liberal world. 


Drop Outs
When Colorado legalized marijuana two years ago, nobody was quite ready for the problem of exploding houses.

But that is exactly what firefighters, courts and lawmakers across the state are confronting these days: amateur marijuana alchemists who are turning their kitchens and basements into “Breaking Bad”-style laboratories, using flammable chemicals to extract potent drops of a marijuana concentrate commonly called hash oil, and sometimes accidentally blowing up their homes and lighting themselves on fire in the process. (New York Times, 1/18/2015)

Coming soon to Vermont when Governor Shumlin realizes his dream of legal dope.  This is logic in a Liberal world.

Do You Think You Might be a Liberal? Take This Simple Test To Find Out

In the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attack perpetrated by Islamic fanatics in Paris, what was your first thought?

a) I hope they catch the people that did this heinous deed.
b) Je suis Charlie.
c) I hope there isn't a backlash against Muslims.

If you answered c) you are a Liberal!


Who Said It? (Irony Edition)
“We believe that sanctities need to be respected, and unless we learn to respect one another, it will be very difficult in a world of different views and different cultures and civilizations.  And I think we would have a much safer, much more prudent world if we were to engage in serious dialogue, serious debate about our differences, and then we will find out that what binds us together is far greater that what divides us.” *

a) Martin Luther King
b) Nelson Mandela
c) Mohandas Gandhi
d) Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif

If you guessed d) you are today's winner!


Zarif went on to say:

“We are now faced with very serious problems of extremism, not only in the Middle East but unfortunately in Europe. You’ve seen demonstrations here in Europe that are extremely dangerous.” *

Yes, that Je Suis Charlie demonstration was extremely dangerous... Why one could say that it was even on a par with the "Death to America - the Great Satan" and "Death to the Jews"  rallies that take place daily in the Middle East. 

(*quoted in today's New York Times)


Wiggly Piggly
After leaving some wiggle room in recent interviews, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) seems to have closed the door on a 2016 presidential run in an interview with Fortune.

Sheila Blair, in an interview for the magazine, asked, “So are you going to run for President?”

Warren replied, “No.” (Breitbart.com, 1/14/2015)

We are heartbroken, of course, but our grief is tempered by knowing that this clears the way for Vermont's Crazy Old Uncle in the Attic to run: Colonel Bernie Sanders!

We need a campaign slogan, of course. Just off the top of our head - and paying homage to Lizzie Warren (She's a fighter!) - we'll propose:

You May Have Built It, But You Don't Get To Keep It!

Vote for Bernie.

Obama: Je suis golfing if anyone is looking for me

Fundamentals
To speak about the most serious terrorist attack on Western soil since 9/11, London and Madrid, in between speeches about his free community college plan demonstrates a fundamental lack of understanding for the gravity of the situation in Paris and, indeed, the world.

To this end, it is not surprising that President Obama is the only Western leader who has refused to call this attack Islamic terrorism, even though President Hollande has declared that France is it at war with radical Islam. And to not even send Vice President Joe Biden or Secretary of State John Kerry in his place shows a level of disrespect that makes me ashamed of our nation. (Republican pollster Douglas E. Schoen, Foxnews.com, 1/12/2015)*

Just kidding, Schoen is a Democrat pollster! 


Moved
In Paris on Sunday, the United States really led from behind — so far behind that President Obama and other important U.S. officials stayed stateside as 40 other world leaders joined about 1.5 million Frenchmen in a stirring riposte to terrorism and anti-Semitism. Even Vice President Biden stayed home. He remained in Delaware where, possibly, he stood at attention in front of the TV. It was, I’m sure, a moving moment. (Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post, 1/13/2015)*

Just kidding, column was written by Liberal Richard Cohen!


Unnamed
Antonio Weiss, a senior investment banker at Lazard, withdrew his name from consideration to be a senior Treasury Department official in the face of liberal opposition Monday, and will instead serve as a counselor to the secretary of the Treasury, Jacob J. Lew. 

Mr. Weiss, nominated to be under secretary of the Treasury for domestic finance, had run into a buzz saw of resistance, led by Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, who opposed the nomination of a Wall Street executive for a key financial post.
...
The events underscored the growing power of the Democratic Party’s populist wing, but also its limits. Mr. Weiss had impeccable Democratic credentials, as a donor and an outspoken advocate for liberal economic policies. (New York Times, 1/13/2015)

Liberals eat one of their own.

Who runs Barter Town? Lizzie Warren runs Barter Town!

Liberals: Charlie Hebdo Attack was 'Workplace Violence'

Spurred
Islamist extremists behead Western journalists in Syria, massacre thousands of Iraqis, murder 132 Pakistani schoolchildren, kill a Canadian soldier and take hostage cafe patrons in Australia. Now, two gunmen have massacred a dozen people in the office of a Paris newspaper.

The rash of horrific attacks in the name of Islam is spurring an anguished debate among Muslims here in the heart of the Islamic world about why their religion appears cited so often as a cause for violence and bloodshed. (New York Times, 1/9/2015)

Why is Islam "cited so often as a cause for violence and bloodshed." Gosh, that is a tough one. RedStateVT will defer an opinion until we have an opportunity to study the matter more fully. In the meantime, we solicit reader input.


Evidentiary
M. Steven Fish, a political scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, sought to quantify the correlation between Islam and violence. In his book, “Are Muslims Distinctive?,” he found that murder rates were substantially lower in Muslim-majority countries and instances of political violence were no more frequent....“Is Islam violent? I would say absolutely not,” Mr. Fish said in an interview. “There is very little empirical evidence that Islam is violent.” (New York Times, 1/9/2015)

Parents, do not send your children to the University of California, Berkeley. 

Under any circumstance.


'Irregardless'
The unequivocal conclusion: the appointments are unlikely to be beneficial. Regardless of which screenings and tests were administered, studies of annual health exams dating from 1963 to 1999 show that the annual physicals did not reduce mortality overall or for specific causes of death from cancer or heart disease. And the checkups consume billions, although no one is sure exactly how many billions because of the challenge of measuring the additional screenings and follow-up tests. (Ezekiel J. Emanuel, New York Times, 1/9/2015)

Obamacare architect Emanuel first opines that life should end at age 75. Now he tells us not to get an annual physical. Both of which explain - finally - how Obamacare will bend the cost curve: If you are dead, you cannot incur medical expenses.  

Next up: Yes, there really will be death panels.

Meeting Of Moderate Muslims Cancelled Due to Lack of Interest

Asked and Answered
Many ask, Is there something about Islam that leads inexorably to violence, terrorism and subjugation of women?

The question arises because fanatical Muslims so often seem to murder in the name of God, from the 2004 Madrid train bombing that killed 191 people to the murder of hostages at a cafe in Sydney, Australia, last month. (Nicholas Kristof, New York Times, 1/8/2015)

Yes, that horrible Madrid train bombing and the Sydney cafe shooting. Were there other incidents where fanatical Muslims "seemed" to murder in the name of Islam? Kristof does not say, but we were sure there were others, some even worse. 

So we googled it. 

At the top of the list was an event that happened in 2001 wherein some Muslims "seemed" to hijack several planes, crash them into buildings and kill 3000 Americans.  That was probably the worst one. But there were others including Army base shootings, various attacks on embassies, assorted beheadings, etc. 

Maybe Kristof is saving those for a latter column?


Squares
Lawyers for abortion clinics squared off with Texas state attorneys in a federal appeals court here on Wednesday, arguing over the constitutionality of stringent abortion clinic rules that would force more than half the remaining abortion providers in Texas to close. (New York Times, 1/8/2015)

Liberals want to regulate every aspect of your life: taxing your soda, banning plastic bags, forcing you to buy health insurance, etc. There is no regulation they will not consider...unless it affects your God-given right to have an abortion, wherever and whenever you want.


Life during Wartime
Past some point, it is feckless to call these events “incidents.” They are acts in a war. The people committing them think so and they say so. Why don’t we?
...
One may assume that many, if not most, of the thousands in Paris’s streets over the Hebdo massacre believed in 2013 that Edward Snowden was a hero for stealing software from the U.S. National Security Agency, the world’s primary surveillance instrument for identifying terrorists before they kill.

Here we have two symbolic and broadly embraced beliefs about the West’s posture toward the reality of fundamentalist Islamic terror—that Edward Snowden is a hero and “I am Charlie.” They are incompatible. (Daniel Henninger, Wall Street Journal, 1/8/2015)

The best commentary we read on the attack on Charlie Hebdo by Muslim extremists. 

Obama Determined to Close All-Inclusive Guantanamo Resort

Massive
By land mass, House Republicans now represent about 85 percent of the nation as Democrats become clustered in the more populous metropolitan areas and on the coasts. (New York Times, 1/7/2015)

We are always amazed - and comforted - when we see the Red vs. Blue election maps. It is stunning visual confirmation that Liberalism does not represent the will of the people of America. 


Silently
On Dec. 13, as thousands of protesters blocked the Brooklyn Bridge, two police officers were beaten and hospitalized as they tried to stop protesters from heaving a garbage can on police officers below the roadway.

But with a police demonstration involving a silent turning of backs, the media cheering section that had embraced demonstrators bent on shutting down the city became impassioned defenders of propriety. (Dorothy Rabinowitz, Wall Street Journal, 1/7/2015)

Rabinowitz is one of our favorite WSJ Op-Ed writers. Killer point here....


Intangible
The Palestinian actions won’t achieve anything tangible, and they may help push even more Israeli voters toward hawkish candidates in elections scheduled for March. The ICC move will also put at risk the $400 million or so that the U.S. gives the Palestine government each year. Congress has stipulated that the funds be cut off if the PA uses the ICC to make claims against Israel. (Wall Street Journal, 1/3/2015)

Did you know that $400 million of your money is going to support people that hate America? How does that make you feel?


Bogie
One of the golfers who played with Mr. Obama said the way the president carried himself on the course provided significant insight into his character.

“If you came down from Mars and saw his disposition on the golf course, you would think he would be a pretty good president,” the golfer said. “He’s honest, he keeps his composure through terrible adversity, he’s unruffled, he smiles, and he doesn’t quit.” (New York Times, 1/4/2015)

With Obama heading into the final two years of his White House retirement the New York Times finally reports on the president's golf addiction. Unlike Legitimate Media coverage of George Bush's golfing, the Times gives us this feel-good story on the First Golfer. 


Senseless
In one sense this is curious since as recently as 2013 Ms. Warren voted to confirm Jack Lew to be Treasury Secretary. Mr. Lew’s job in 2008 was presiding over mortgage disasters at Citigroup , which needed one of the largest federal bailouts. Mr. Weiss succeeded on Wall Street as an investment banker, and Lazard didn’t need a bailout. Is financial competence now disqualifying in Democratic administrations? (Wall Street Journal, 1/5/2015)

Lizzie Warren is apparently going to ride this "Wall Street is evil" screed as far as she can. Let's see how many Wall Streeters make campaign contributions to her anyway. We are guessing quite a few.  


Remedial
For years, Harvard’s experts on health economics and policy have advised presidents and Congress on how to provide health benefits to the nation at a reasonable cost. But those remedies will now be applied to the Harvard faculty, and the professors are in an uproar.

Members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the heart of the 378-year-old university, voted overwhelmingly in November to oppose changes that would require them and thousands of other Harvard employees to pay more for health care. The university says the increases are in part a result of the Obama administration’s Affordable Care Act, which many Harvard professors championed....The university is adopting standard features of most employer-sponsored health plans: Employees will now pay deductibles and a share of the costs, known as coinsurance, for hospitalization, surgery and certain advanced diagnostic tests. The plan has an annual deductible of $250 per individual and $750 for a family. For a doctor’s office visit, the charge is $20. For most other services, patients will pay 10 percent of the cost until they reach the out-of-pocket limit of $1,500 for an individual and $4,500 for a family. (New York Times, 1/6/2015)

This is priceless. Yet another example of pointy-headed Liberals telling everyone else what to do while they play by different rules. Now - horrors! - Harvard profs will have to do what most other people in country have been doing for years: pay a bit toward their health care. Tragedy on the Yard. Cry us a river....

RedStateVT Presents the Worst of 2014

UPDATED  Here they are folks! The Worst of 2014! 

Dianne Feinstein – A true American traitor. Feinstein actually was respected by politicians on both sides and then for inexplicable reasons she went all in with the anti-American Liberals. Her report on the CIA ginned up controversies that had quieted down; failed to interview CIA officials involved; and, was signed off on by Democrats only. There will be blood… on her hands.

Jonathan Gruber – The MIT professor who was a chief architect of Obamacare….or maybe he wasn’t.  He sure had a lot to say about it though. Most of it disturbing. The term “pointy-headed Liberal” was coined with Gruber in mind.

Peter Shumlin - Vermont's governor had a rough year. Of course as with all Liberals his troubles were self-inflicted. When there are too few people to pay for Liberal social re-engineering, guess what? You run short of money! When you try to inflict government-run healthcare in a state already known as distinctly business-unfriendly, guess what? Existing businesses leave, other businesses decide not to add employees in Vermont, and others simply form elsewhere. Shumlin knew - there can be no doubt - that the Liberal dream of single-payer in Vermont would never work economically. Instead of standing up to Liberals he danced around the hard truth for years, all the while spending millions of taxpayer dollars. If a third party candidate had not siphoned votes away from Republican Scott Milne, Shumlin would now be sitting on a rocker on his porch in Montpelier scheming again about how to get his neighbor's property.  

Harry Reid – The outgoing majority leader continued to disgrace himself with his ridiculous attacks from the Senate floor on the private citizen Koch brothers. Reid never passed a budget, blocked all legislation and then watched while lap dogs in the media blamed the Republicans for obstructionism. 

Elizabeth Warren – The Indian princess and Left-wing darling railed endlessly about Wall Street. Of which she knows nothing. Warren specializes in telling low information Americans that they are getting screwed by the guys in suits. Bring charges or shut up.

Kaci Hickox, the Ebola Nurse – Ebola Nurse Kaci Hickox reportedly does not like to be called the Ebola Nurse. You will remember that Ebola Nurse Kaci Hickox refused to agree to a quarantine which would protect innocent Americans from a deadly disease. Too inconvenient for the Ebola Nurse, Kaci Hickox. Selfish, selfish, selfish that Ebola Nurse Kaci Hickox.

Bill Cosby – Say it ain’t so, Cos! We loved Cosby’s message to young black Americans: pull up your pants and speak English. Now that great advice is lost.

Mary Landrieu – It is always embarrassing to see a politician try so desperately to hold onto their job. Louisiana Landrieu is the poster girl. Particularly despicable was her race-pandering to black voters in a last ditch effort to avoid losing. Thankfully she lost.

Obama – Because the lies continued. First he said you could keep your health care plan. You couldn’t. Then he said that he never set a red line on Syria. He did. And then he said that he did not have the power to grant amnesty to illegals. He did anyway.  All captured quite clearly on video.

Kardashians – Every single one of them. You know why.