Just For You

Unmentionables
Not mentioned was Mr. Biden’s own history with the financial services industry, an economic power in his home state of Delaware, or the critics who saw him as too close to credit-card companies in more than three decades in the Senate. (New York Times, 8/31/2015)

The New York Times is conflicted, seriously conflicted. On the one hand, it has already settled on Hillary Clinton. She meets their number one requirement for president: she is a woman. (The fact that she is a grandmother is just icing on the cake.) And so the Times has largely buried Clinton's biggest problem: Benghazi. The e-mail scandal has caused consternation at the Times, no doubt. Rouge elements there have been dogged in pursuing the story. Our thought is that editorial pressure will eventually lead to a concluding article that Hill may have been a tad careless, but THERE IS NO CRIME. Onward to the coronation.

Suddenly, however, Uncle Joe comes along. Biden's main qualification...how to put it delicately? Well, it can't be put delicately. Biden's main qualification is that his son died tragically young. So the Times has to acknowledge Biden's status as a victim of horrible family tragedies. The Times loves victims. But ultimately Biden cannot be allowed to get in the way of Hillary. And so the Times runs a second soft hit piece on Uncle Joe. Call it another warning shot across the bow. 


Unconvinced
One of Mr. Biden’s likely priorities as a candidate would be to make a convincing argument that his approach to consumer issues has evolved since his time as a senator. (New York Times, 8/31/2015)

Once again we are reminded that Democrats evolve while Republicans flip-flop.


Spent
Mrs. Clinton spent the weekend fund-raising in the Hamptons.... (New York Times, 8/31/2015)

With the 1%ers?


Catch and Release
The State Department is scheduled to release another trove of Mrs. Clinton’s emails on Monday, as part of its monthly production of messages from the personal email account she used exclusively as secretary of state. (New York Times, 8/31/2015)

We are impressed. Usually these data dumps take place on Friday so that they can be ignored over the weekend. 

What's that?

Oh, sorry. Monday is Labor Day.


Origins
Originally it (Obamacare) was going to lower rates. Then it was going to keep them roughly the same. Then the Democrats admitted that the rates would go up, but they would go up more slowly than they would if we never passed the legislation. (But hey… we had to pass it to find out what was in it, so I suppose all’s fair in love and legislative war.) (Jazz Shaw, Hotair.com, 8/31/2015)

Well put. 

Enter Through the Narrow Gate

Matters
“At any point when the rhetoric ramps up to the point where calculated, coldblooded assassinations of police officers happen, this rhetoric has gotten out of control,” Sheriff Hickman said. “We’ve heard ‘Black Lives Matter.’ All lives matter. Well, cops’ lives matter, too. So why don’t we just drop the qualifier and just say ‘Lives Matter,’ and take that to the bank.” (New York Times, 8/30/2015)

Sheriff Hickman is a wise and sensible man. Of course his suggestion will NEVER be adopted because it does not permit LIBERALS their favorite pastime, tearing the country apart with identity politics. 

RIP Deputy Darren H. Goforth.


Faithful
It isn’t fair to blame Islam for the atrocities of violent radicals. But when terrorists claim the Muslim mantle, then they bear this identity, if only nominally. Thus members of the faith must do whatever possible to prevent this cancer from metastasizing in our communities. If we don’t, we’ll be partly responsible for the smeared image of our faith. (Fethullah Gulen, Wall Street Journal, 8/27/2015)

Another wise and sensible man. Yes, America should continue bombing the jihadists, but that is not enough. Peace-loving Muslims must stand up and reclaim their religion.


Reject
A rejection of the nuclear deal could lead to radicalism in Iran (Washington Post headline, Seyed Hossein Mousavian, a research scholar at Princeton University and a former spokesman for Iran’s nuclear negotiators, 8/28/2015)

.... because there is NO radicalism in Iran today.

Alas, RedStateVT had hoped to bring you a third wise man today. Instead, an idiot. (Parents, don't send junior to Princeton). 

Maxim of the Wise

Ban the Rainbow Flag
For two years after losing yet another television job, Vester Lee Flanagan II lived in a nondescript apartment across the street from WDBJ Channel 7, the station that had fired him. He worked in modest jobs at several insurance companies nearby. As thoughts of murder and revenge were swirling around his brain, he did his best to keep them out of sight. (New York Times, 8/28/2015)

Killer Vester Flanagan was gay. Hence, using the Dylan Roof - Confederate flag logic, we must ban the gay pride rainbow flag. 

Ban it now!


Victim Alert!
Inside Apartment 6M, where Merlinda Fernandez, her husband and their six children have lived for five years, cockroaches saunter along the walls and invade the refrigerator, and mice nestle in the baby’s blanket. A bedroom door lost its glass panes long ago, then one of the wooden boards used to patch it. (New York Times, 8/28/2015)

The New York Times exposes the squalor of public housing for the homeless in New York City.

Can you find the real issue?

If you said "six children" you are today's winner!

Power Play

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Ash and Sand

Scrambled
As investors scramble to make sense of the wild market swings in recent days, a number of financial experts argue that, for more than a year now, signs pointing to an equity crisis were there for all to see. (New York Times, 8/26/2015)

There is one thing and one thing only that we can say about the current state of the equities market. Obama will blame Bush.


Two Time Loser
“The Vice President is somebody who has already run for President twice,” Mr. Earnest added. “So I think you could make the case that there is probably no one in American politics today who has a better understanding of exactly what is required to mount a successful national presidential campaign.” (Wall Street Journal, 8/25/2015)

So Obama's press secretary is saying that because Joe Biden has run twice for president - and lost - he knows exactly what it takes to run a third campaign and win. Imagine how much more qualified Biden would be to run for president if he lost a third time!


Heartless
The IRS admitted to a federal court there was a second personal email account that Lois Lerner, the official at the heart of the Tea Party targeting scandal, used to conduct agency business. (foxnews.com, 8/25/2015)

We know that the IRS did nothing wrong because President Obama said that it did nothing wrong. (His exact words: "not a smidgen of corruption.") We know that Hillary Clinton did nothing wrong because she told us she did nothing wrong. We know that Planned Parenthood did nothing wrong because the Liberal Media has not covered the story about its thriving business selling aborted baby parts. 

Today's funny: NY Times anoints Elizabeth Warren "progressive avatar."

Water Logged
The meeting comes as Mr. Biden — whose eldest son, Beau, died in May — has begun to intensively test the waters for a third White House run, meeting with his small inner circle and telephoning Democratic donors. (New York Times, 8/23/2015)

Joe Biden has endured almost unbearable family hardship in his life, the latest being the death of his son. He is deserving of our sympathy and support. 

But this does not mean that we should elect him president which is what the emerging story line has become. For the same reason, Hillary Clinton is not deserving of the presidency simply because she has endured years of cheating by her husband. Nor does she deserve the position because she is a grandmother, the emerging story line of her campaign. 

Why not just elect the person most qualified? 


His and Hers
Sheriff’s investigators are to offer evidence to prosecutors that could lead to a manslaughter charge against Caitlyn Jenner for her role in a fatal car crash on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, Calif., in February. (New York Times, 8/23/2015)

Defense: "I was not driving the car. It was driven by Bruce Jenner."


Build Yourself a Myth
If there is one health myth that will not die, it is this: You should drink eight glasses of water a day. It’s just not true. There is no science behind it. (Aaron E. Carroll, New York Times, 8/24/2015)

Another myth with no science behind it: global warming.


Damaged Goods
A lawyer for Huma Abedin, a top adviser to Hillary Rodham Clinton, has accused Charles E. Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, of damaging Ms. Abedin’s reputation through “unfounded allegations” about her time at the State Department. (New York Times, 8/24/2015)

The Clinton cancer - corruption - infects everyone surrounding Bill and Hill. Huma Abedin (a.k.a. Mrs. Carlos Danger) lawyers up. 


Bombed
In any month other than August in the Summer of Trump, the fact that a sitting vice president asked a major progressive avatar to meet with him before a decision about a presidential campaign would have been a news bomb.

The private meeting on Saturday between Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts may have gotten less attention than it might have otherwise, but it was the clearest signal yet of Mr. Biden’s seriousness in thinking about entering the race. (New York Times, 8/24/2015)

So the New York Times has a new label for Elizabeth Warren. She is a "progressive avatar."

Pause while we gag.

Here we have yet another example of how the Liberal Media anoints favored politicians notwithstanding their duplicity and flawed character. Ted Kennedy was a "liberal lion" who also happened to regularly abuse alcohol and women. Bill Clinton is the revered senior statesman of the Democrat party who cheated on his wife with the White House help and then lied about it. Elizabeth Warren was hired by Harvard Law after constructing a false narrative claiming Native American ancestry. None of this matters, of course, because they all hold the politically correct views. Meanwhile, churchgoing Mitt Romney was vilified for having a successful business career. 

If Hillary Clinton were a Republican she would be negotiating a plea deal

The Force
This week, her press secretary, Brian Fallon, held a conference call to remind reporters forcefully that “Secretary Clinton did not send or receive classified materials,” and Mrs. Clinton unveiled the next part of her $350 billion plan to make college more affordable. The proposal would triple the number of students who volunteer for AmeriCorps to 250,000 and double the award for two years of service to $23,000. (New York Times, 8/22/2015)

Thus the new Hillary Clinton for President strategy comes into view: Forget about my crimes, elect me president and I will make sure that you get lots of free stuff. 


Numbers Games
As 1,800 mad-as-hell supporters jumped out of their seats and pumped their fists last Sunday, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont delivered the message they had come to hear. (New York Times, 8/22/2015)

Donald Trump Fails to Fill Alabama Stadium, but Fans’ Zeal Is Undiminished .....vast stretches of empty seats indicated that attendance had fallen short of the more than 30,000 people he had predicted. (New York Times, 8/22/2015)

Bernie draws 1,800!

Trump fails to draw 30,000!

Don't you just LOVE the New York Times?


Swept Away
The effort, which defined much of his (Joe Biden's) time as committee chairman, culminated in the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, a sweeping, bipartisan bill that touched nearly every aspect of American law enforcement that was signed into law by President Bill Clinton.

More than two decades later, that legislation is once again the subject of fierce debate — this time, as a bipartisan coalition of activists and lawmakers seeks to undo the era of mass incarceration they say the 1994 crime bill helped create. (New York Times, 8/22/2015)

So, to be clear, Joe Biden authored and Bill Clinton signed the law that Liberals now disavow. Also champions of the law were black community leaders who demanded tougher action against the crack cocaine epidemic and those plying the trade that was destroying their neighborhoods.


Rent Control
She will then return to the Hamptons, where she and former President Bill Clinton are renting a beachside estate in Amagansett that costs $100,000 for a two-week stay, and will attend several $2,700-per-person fund-raisers hosted there by her wealthy friends. (New York Times, 8/21/2015)

Bernie goes to the Vineyard, Hillary to the Hamptons. What is it with these Democrat 1%ers?

Of course, it was not too long ago that Mitt Romney's New Hampshire lakefront vacation was the scandal of the presidential campaign. 

Bernie Gets Burned! Now Forced to Say "Black Lives Matter" Every Day

Poor Babes
Prisoners say they were brutally interrogated after two inmates escaped from a New York prison (New York Times headline, 8/11/2015)

Oh no! The murderers and rapists were treated harshly!


Hamburger Hell
...(Wendy's Company) CFO Todd Penegor talked about the pressure to pay higher wages and said that “we continue to look at initiatives and how we work to offset any impacts of future wage inflation through technology initiatives, whether that’s customer self-order kiosks, whether that’s automating more in the back of the house in the restaurant. (Wall Street Journal, 8/11/2015)

Liberals somehow are congenitally unable to comprehend the results of their harebrained ideas. Let's raise the minimum wage to $15! Result: more automation and fewer workers.


Stooge
Apparently, the president figures that the politics work better when he projects Olympian confidence about his diplomacy than when he acknowledges some measure of uncertainty. Apparently, he thinks it’s wiser to tar opponents of the deal as partisans or idiots or paid stooges than to engage them as sincere, thoughtful people who came to their own conclusions. (Bret Stephens, Wall Street Journal, 8/11/2015)

Harvard lawyer and constitutional scholar Obama never - ever - thinks to make the case for his deal; i.e. here are the pros and cons and here is why I choose the approach that I did. Instead, his tactic is to disparage those who disagree. This is the president who Liberals extol as brilliant. 

On the Vine

Bad Science
Twenty-nine of the nation’s top scientists — including Nobel laureates, veteran makers of nuclear arms and former White House science advisers — wrote to President Obama on Saturday to praise the Iran deal, calling it innovative and stringent. (New York Times, 8/9/2015)

Which inevitably recalls the column written a while back by George Will who quoted Albert Einstein's comments when Nazi Germany announced "100 scientists against Einstein." Einstein said: "If I was wrong, they would need only one."


Far Away
Even as support for ending marijuana prohibition is building around the country, Congress and the Obama administration remain far too timid about the need for change. (New York Times editorial, 8/9/2015)

New York Times editors want to legalize marijuana...and outlaw plastic water bottles. 


Hands Off
“What this campaign is doing is sending a loud and clear message to the billionaire class: And that is that their greed is destroying the United States of America,” Mr. Sanders, a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, shouted above the roar of the crowd. “This country belongs to all of us — and not just a handful of billionaires.” (New York Times, 8/9/2015)

"And by 'billionaires' I mean George Soros, Tom Steyer and Jeffrey Katzenberg."


Lapsed
Against the backdrop of other current government computer security lapses, notably the large-scale theft of files from the Office of Personnel Management, most specialists believe the occasional appearance of classified information in the Clinton account was probably of marginal consequence. (New York Times, 8/9/2015)

Correction (we would like to see):
Against the backdrop of other current government computer security lapses, notably the large-scale theft of files from the Office of Personnel Management, most specialists who plan to vote for Hillary Clinton believe the occasional appearance of classified information in the Clinton account was probably of marginal consequence.


White Privilege
At a Saturday afternoon rally in Seattle, Washington, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Sen. Bernie Sanders was shut down by screeching Black Lives Matters protestors. As Sanders was speaking, two women surrounded his podium and said they would shut the event down if they were not allowed to speak. When an attempt was made to ask the women to “be reasonable,” they began shouting. Soon, avowed socialist Sanders was forced to leave the stage where he shook hands with many white well-wishers in the audience. (Breitbart.com, 8/9/2015)

Trust us, there is nothing more satisfying than seeing Liberals confronted....by even crazier Liberals!

Chuck Schumer Opposes Obama's Iran Deal. Is He a Racist?

Witless
Jon Stewart Signs Off From ‘Daily Show’ With Wit and Sincerity (New York Times headline, 8/7/2015)

The New York Times writes its eighty-second article on Jon Stewart quitting his job. So far, one article on Planned Parenthood representatives selling fetal organs.

Today's articles include:
-Jon Stewart and ‘The Daily Show’: 9 Essential Moments
-Jon Stewart Signs Off From ‘Daily Show’ With Wit and Sincerity
-The TV Watch: Jon Stewart Cements His Legacy in ‘Daily Show’ Finale
-Nocera: When Jon Stewart Took Down Jim Cramer

In fairness, however, there is one article among the eighty-two that we like and from which we will quote extensively (happily entitled - Jon Stewart, Patron Saint of Liberal Smugness):

Many liberals, but not conservatives, believe there is an important asymmetry in American politics. These liberals believe that people on opposite sides of the ideological spectrum are fundamentally different. Specifically, they believe that liberals are much more open to change than conservatives, more tolerant of differences, more motivated by the public good and, maybe most of all, smarter and better informed.

The evidence for these beliefs is not good. Liberals turn out to be just as prone to their own forms of intolerance, ignorance and bias. But the beliefs are comforting to many. They give their bearers a sense of intellectual and even moral superiority. And they affect behavior. They inform the condescension and self-righteousness with which liberals often treat conservatives. They explain why many liberals have greeted Tea Partiers and other grass-roots conservatives with outsize alarm. They explain why liberals fixate on figures such as Sarah Palin and Todd Akin, who represent the worst that many liberals are prepared to see in conservatives. (Gerard Alexander, New York Times, 8/7/2015)


Mumsy
Challenging Hillary Clinton, who now describes herself in appearances as the grandma candidate, we have the 73-year-old Vermont Socialist Bernie Sanders. Or if not Bernie, maybe the 72-year-old veep Joe Biden, or—let no one doubt it—the silver surfer, John Kerry (71). (Daniel Henninger, Wall Street Journal, 8/7/2015)

The Republican party fields an African American, a woman, a couple of Hispanics, and an Indian American. The Democrat party field consists entirely of old white men. How come RedStateVT is the only one talking about this?


Not Working
U.S. economy added 215,000 jobs in July; unemployment still 5.3% (New York Times headline, 8/7/2015)

The Obama recovery. No U.S. president in history has ever so completely evaded responsibility for the economy like Obama. Seven years in and he is still getting away with blaming Bush while the Liberal media never once asks about the efficacy of his policies. When Hillary is elected, she too will blame Bush.


Road Blocks
Unions may not matter much in American workplaces anymore but unions represent the main political obstacle to just about every kind of reform: School choice. Entitlements. Pensions. Health care. (Holman W. Jenkins, Jr., Wall Street Journal, 8/7/2015)

Well, unions and their political lapdogs, the Democrat party.


Skipper
... Mr. Obama escaped the long, hot August days in Washington for Martha’s Vineyard, as he has every year but one since he became president. In 2012, Mr. Obama skipped his vacation on the island, the affluent summer destination south of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, as he waged a re-election campaign in which he attacked the wealth of his Republican rival, Mitt Romney. (New York Times, 8/8/2015)

So the New York Times unwittingly admits that the Democrat party's "attack the rich" strategy is a ruse. Thanks for the clarification.

News Blackout of Planned Parenthood Selling Fetal Organs Continues

Jail Time
As president of Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards tries to keep perspective while the group faces one of its biggest political crises. After all, she said on Monday, the founder, Margaret Sanger, was arrested 99 years ago for pamphleteering about birth control. (New York Times, 8/4/2015)

Funny that PP's Richards should mention Margaret Sanger. Sanger was well known as a eugenicist.

And wonder what Richards and her fellow Liberals would say about the following:

Sanger also supported restrictive immigration policies (Wikipedia).


Taken
Take Ali Akar Velayati, a top adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who appeared on Al-Jazeera on July 31 and was asked about U.N. inspections of Iran’s military sites. Here’s how he replied, according to the Memri translation service:

“Regardless of how the P5+1 countries interpret the nuclear agreement, their entry into our military sites is absolutely forbidden. The entry of any foreigner, including IAEA inspectors or any other inspector, to the sensitive military sites of the Islamic Republic is forbidden, no matter what.” (Wall Street Journal, 8/4/2015)

This is the deal that our boy genius president negotiated. 


Processed
Local Democrats are bemoaning an announcement from a national Republican group that it will be spending $40 million to try to win new legislative majorities in 10 states, including deep-blue Vermont.

The executive director of the Vermont Democratic Party, Conor Casey, said the GOP money is being provided by brothers David and Charles Koch, major funders of conservative campaigns.

“Quite simply, this influx of out-of-state dollars is harmful to our democratic process,” Casey said in an email. “These groups, who are funded by the Koch brothers, look to impose an extremist agenda that they have been unable to advance in Congress.” (Burlington Free Press, 8/5/2015)

Does Conor Casey have any idea how much comes into Vermont from out-of-state to support Liberals and Liberal issues? He either does not, in which case he is an idiot, or he does, in which case he is a hypocrite. 


Either Or
It's Either Iran Nuclear Deal or 'Some Sort of War,' Obama Warns (New York Times, 8/6/2015)

So says the former community organizer, now renowned geopolitical strategist. 

Source: Another Old White Guy May Challenge Hillary; Democrat War on Women Continues

Cue the Baby
The narrator adds, “And now a new title: grandma.” (New York Times, 8/3/2015)

Hillary Clinton's forthcoming television ad. 

Told ya!


Head Case
Deals among the nation’s largest health insurers in recent weeks have been almost head-spinning. But whatever the details, if the combinations are finalized, the result will be an industry dominated by three colossal insurers. Consumer advocates, policy experts and former regulators say that what may be good for the insurers may not be good for consumers, especially in the wake of a similar frenzy of deal-making among hospitals and doctors’ groups.
“The consolidation in both of these industries has been shown to have an adverse impact on consumers,” said Leemore S. Dafny, a former official at the Federal Trade Commission who is now a professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. (New York Times, 8/3/2015)

The New York Times writes twenty-nine paragraphs on health insurance mergers and the potential impact on consumers. Whatever could have led to industry consolidation? The Times does not say, but gives us a hint. The article briefly mentions something called "the federal health care law" but does not elaborate further. RedStateVT will do further research on this nameless law which is driving up health care costs and report back when we uncover more.


Packing Heat
While short on sensible gun safety prescriptions, the Republican candidates are quite precise in disclosing the types of pistols and rifles they proudly own. According to The Washington Post, Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio prefer .357 magnum revolvers; Donald Trump has a Heckler & Koch .45; Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina owns an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, and so forth, for a total of at least 40 guns among 15 candidates. (New York Times editorial, 8/3/2015)

Of course what the Times editors will not tell you is that all rich Liberals have bodyguards who carry firearms. But we wondered, do any Liberal politicians own guns. Here is what we found...and it is terribly exciting!

Gov. Jerry Brown has a small arsenal. During a meeting with law enforcement officials Wednesday, the governor revealed, "I've got three guns and one dog," the LA Times reported. (Baycitizen.org, 4/7/2011)

View Blog

Heartbreaker
Mr. Biden’s first campaign in 1988 ended in heartbreak after news reports that he plagiarized parts of a speech and exaggerated his academic record forced him to drop out. (New York Times, 8/2/2015)

Really? Biden's first presidential run ended in "heartbreak" after he was caught cheating?

We might say that it ended in shame and embarrassment. 


Puzzling
In all, this second cache of emails that Mrs. Clinton sent and received during 2009 and parts of 2010, released by the State Department by court order, added 1,356 new tiles to the mosaic of her tenure in President Obama’s cabinet. And the monthly release of the emails prescribed by the court ensures that her handling of her electronic correspondence will be updated throughout the 2016 presidential campaign. (New York Times, 8/2/2015)

So this is how the New York Times is going to describe Hillary Clinton's disastrous term as Secretary of State. It was a "mosaic!" Is this a joke?


Dogged
In the way that some conservatives worry that marriage equality will ultimately lead to people walking down the aisle with their goats or their half-sisters, some dog owners feared that DNA testing would open the gates to a new era of unstoppable oppression and tyranny. (New York Times, 8/2/2015)

It's Bash Conservatives Day at the New York Times today. How do we know? Every author, no matter what the subject, has to include a denigrating comment about right-wingers. And so here we have an article about a Brooklyn co-op dealing with a problem related to dog owners not cleaning up dog feces. Note how the Times has cleverly tied it back to conservatives.

(By the way, just kidding! It's Bash Conservatives Day at the New York Times every day!)


Beggar Man
At one point, Mr. Sanders begged for the crowd’s indulgence to discuss his campaign platform before focusing on the “save our cities” subject of the gathering. But he called that “your theme” — an off-key remark, and one that echoed a speech he made on Thursday, in which he twice referred to Latinos as “your people” before the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. (New York Times, 8/2/2015)

Bernie Sanders says "your people" to a group of Latinos which apparently is politically incorrect. Not to worry, it gets virtually no press coverage and the Times buries it in Section Q. If Scott Walker said "your people" to a group of Latinos it would be the end of his presidential campaign.