Sturm und Drang

See Through
Hillary Clinton claimed Monday that she is the most transparent public official “in American history” on email during her town hall Monday on NBC. (freebeacon.com, 10/5/2015)

We get it! This was a joke from Hillary's SNL skit!

What? It wasn't from SNL?


Unlikely
Unlike his father, who said on television that he had no idea Mr. Harper-Mercer cared so deeply about guns, his mother was well aware of his fascination. In fact, she shared it: In a series of online postings over a decade, Ms. Harper, a registered nurse, said she kept numerous firearms in her home and expressed pride in her knowledge about them, as well as in her son’s expertise on the subject.

She also opened up about her difficulties raising a son who used to bang his head against the wall, and said that both she and her son struggled with Asperger’s syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder....Ms. Harper and Christopher’s father, Ian Mercer of Tarzana, Calif., divorced in 2006 and were separated years earlier. Mr. Mercer told CNN last week that he thought the nation should change its gun laws, saying the massacre “would not have happened” if his son had not been able to buy so many handguns and rifles. (New York Times, 10/6/2015)

No, actually Mr. Harper, the massacre would not have happened if your ex-wife had exhibited a modicum of common sense and kept your mentally ill son away from firearms. By the way, where were you while this was happening?


Mistaken
Russia squared off with Turkey and its NATO allies, calling the air incursion on Saturday an innocent mistake because of foul weather — a claim American officials rejected. News services said late Monday that a second airspace violation might have been committed on Sunday, but that report could not be immediately confirmed. (New York Times, 10/6/2015)

RedStateVT has always believed that the gravest danger that Barack Obama poses to America is in the area of foreign policy. Yes, he has and will continue to screw up things domestically; saddling future generations with Obamacare, strangling business with draconian regulations, failing to protect our borders and (today) opening the doors of the jails to free drug dealers. All of these things can be fixed, more or less. But it is Obama's weak-kneed approach to dealing with the geo-political challenges faced by every president that puts America most at risk in ways from which it will be hard to recover. The world's bad actors see in Obama a naive wimp. And accordingly they steamroll over him and over American interests. A new president and a strong Republican Congress can undo Obama's domestic disasters. But how do you get the Ukraine back? How do you get the Russians out of Syria?

Worse, Obama thinks he is getting it right. Witness:
Mr. Obama believes his Syria policy—the one that did nothing as 250,000 people were murdered; the one that did nothing as his own red lines were crossed; the one that allowed ISIS to flourish; the one that has created the greatest refugee crisis of the 21st century; the one currently being exploited by Russia and Iran for geopolitical advantage—is a success. (Bret Stephens, Wall Street Journal, 10/5/2015)


Discouraged
Parents, teachers, classmates, friends and others are in the best position to pick up on these clues, but they often dismiss or ignore them. So “see something, say something” strategies, like those developed in New York after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, can help encourage people to speak up, Dr. Meloy said. (New York Times, 10/7/2015)

Of course, "see something, say something" is not to be employed when a kid name Mohammed brings a box to school with a lot of wires coming out of it. 


Shapeless
The group trying to persuade Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to enter the presidential race is set to broadcast an unusual commercial on national television in which Mr. Biden recounts how his life was shaped by the 1972 car accident that claimed the life of his first wife and their daughter and nearly killed his two sons.

The haunting, mostly black-and-white commercial from the group, Draft Biden, features audio from a speech he gave at Yale University’s commencement in May, just days before his elder son, Beau, died of brain cancer. (New York Times, 10/7/2015)

OK, we'll say it. We have hesitated up til now, giving Joe Biden and his supporters the space to grieve over the death of the VP's son. Now they have crossed the line and we are forced to say what some of you are, no doubt, thinking: The idea that Biden is deserving of the presidency because his son died tragically is just creepy. Of course, it fits in perfectly with the Liberal playbook: the part about the glorification of victims.


Pow Wow
Dartmouth College has removed the new director of its Native American Program after tribal officials and alumni accused her of misrepresenting herself as an American Indian. (Wall Street Journal, 10/5/2015)

On the other hand, Elizabeth Warren - another fake American Indian - remains a venerable figure at her old employer, Harvard Law. Heck, she might even be the next VP!

Obama: Acts of religious-inspired violence are to be condemned...like the Crusades for example

...Meanwhile ISIS beheads a dozen Egyptian Christians. 

College Daze
Liberals are aghast that Wisconsin governor Scott Walker did not graduate college....as did neither Harry Truman or Bill Gates. George W. Bush not only graduated college, but was a Harvard MBA, the nation's first MBA president. Of course, that did not discourage Liberals from disparaging Bush's intellect. They saw his transcripts and realized that he was no genius, unlike say, Barack Obama. The only problem, of course, is that Obama has not released his grades. What is he hiding? Do you think if he had gotten straight A's that he would NOT have released them? Our guess is that he got a couple of C's or even a D. Probably in American History....or Oration.


Connected
As Dynasty’s Son, Jeb Bush Used His Connections Freely (New York Times headline, 2/15/2015)

Now that Mitt Romney is not running, it's back to softening up Jeb Bush at the New York Times. Article #227 on Jeb Bush appears today. 

Now as Yemen descends into chaos and anarchy, if the Times would only remind us who declared the U.S. anti-terrorism policy there to be a success....


Doubtful
The notion that income inequality has continued to rise over the past decade is part of the conventional wisdom. You’ve no doubt heard versions: The rich just keep getting richer. Inequality is higher than ever. Nearly all of the gains from the economic recovery have gone to the top 1 percent.

No question, inequality is extremely high from a historical perspective – worrisomely so. But a new analysis, by Stephen J. Rose of George Washington University, adds an important wrinkle to the story: Income inequality has not actually risen since the financial crisis began. (New York Times, 2/17/2015)

Lizzie Warren and Bernie Sanders now will have nothing to talk about!

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....

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..... 

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!

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.

Small Victories

Longing
Long before revelations in the spring that the Veterans Affairs hospital in Phoenix had manipulated waiting lists to hide that veterans were facing long delays to see doctors, senior department officials in Washington had been made aware of serious problems at the hospital, according to filings before a federal administrative board. (New York Times, 12/26/2014)

An entire article on the Veterans Affairs scandal and not one mention of the politician in charge of Senate oversight of the VA. Who would be..... Vermont's own Bernie Sanders! Can you imagine such a journalistic oversight if the senator had been, say, Ted Cruz?


Jihadist
The revival of the U.S. financial system after the crash of 2008 is arguably the Obama administration’s biggest domestic policy success. But Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), in her jihad against Wall Street, seems determined to devalue this accomplishment — and to make financial expertise a mark of shame for Democrats, rather than a source of pride. (David Ignatius, Washington Post, 12/23/2014)

Even Liberal columnists realize that - when it comes to the financial markets - Lizzie Warren is off the reservation..... wait, can we say that? 


Let's Analyze Kat's Column
The embargo hurt the Cuban people it claimed to help and bolstered the regime that it intended to undermine. (Katrina vanden Heuvel, Washington Post, 12/23/2014)

And how we know that the U.S. embargo has "bolstered the regime" is because ... what?

The effort to isolate Cuba has been increasingly isolating the United States both in the hemisphere and across the world.

And the specific proof that the U.S. has been 'isolated' by its embargo is that Hugo Chavez in Venezuela is no friend to the U.S. Oh wait, he's dead. 

Normalizing relations with Cuba enables the United States to advocate for individual liberty, without being seen as a bully trying to club a small neighbor into submission.

Great idea Kat! Let's try this with North Korea!

The Cold War is over; the Soviet Union no more.

And Putin's invasion of the Ukraine, that doesn't count.

For more than a century, we have casually and routinely trampled the sovereign rights of our neighbors to the south.

Finally we get to the real point that Comrade vanden Heuvel wants to make: it is all America's fault! Yes, blame America.


Eyes On
Polls taken over the last three months reveal a list of home-state complaints: Mr. Christie’s favorability is at its lowest point, with more voters disapproving than approving of his job performance. New Jersey residents think he is making decisions with an eye on his national standing rather than on what is good for their state. (New York Times, 12/28/2014)

Chris Christie probably breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the New York Times had pivoted away from writing endless negative stories about him to focus on Jeb Bush. He was foolish if he thought he could let his guard down. Given that the Times will be writing no hit pieces on Hillary Clinton, Lizzie Warren or Bernie Sanders, it has plenty of capacity to focus on all the potential Republican candidates.


Bouncer
What’s the important lesson from this late Obama bounce? Mainly, I’d suggest, that everything you’ve heard about President Obama’s economic policies is wrong. (Paul Krugman, New York Times, 12/29/2014)

After six years of dreadful economic news, it is now official. We can refer to any uptick as "the Obama recovery." Yes, those specific programs that Obama put in place have led to this "bounce." Guess they just took a little time to work..... Of course, voters rewarded Obama and the Democrat party for their careful stewardship of the economy by keeping the Senate in their hands and returning the House to the Dems. That happened, right?

Report: Obama to Stay in Hawaii for Balance of Term

Beans
Last week, in the side room of Java Joe’s coffee shop here, the liberal group MoveOn.org took the first step to propel Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, on a similar path, holding a rally to encourage her to get into the 2016 race. (New York Times, 12/20/2014)

When Chris Christie announces for president we will get a thousand word article from the New York Times detailing the Bridgegate "scandal", Christie's brusque "unpresidential" demeanor and a thousand other sins. Meanwhile, if you want to learn about any of Lizzie Warren's baggage you will have to read Howie Carr's columns. Just as a reminder, Warren is a multi-millionaire who decries the 1%; who lied about being native American in order to get a teaching position at Harvard; and, who claimed to be the "intellectual" godmother of the Occupy movement. 


Suggestion
If, as all signals suggest, Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor and brother and son of presidents, is about to get in, the race quickly intensifies. (New York Times, 12/21/2014)

Question: How long until the New York Times runs an article citing unnamed sources talking about an alleged Jeb Bush extra-marital affair? 

Answer: Six months, tops.


Irrespective
Moreover, when two of the six people who “allegedly” attacked two cops on the Brooklyn Bridge a week ago Saturday night turn out to be, respectively, a CUNY professor and an organizer for a union that placed five one-time senior union leaders in top de Blasio ­administration posts, it’s clear that New York isn’t dealing with bearded Bolsheviks living in caves. (Bob McManus, New York Post, 12/21/2014)

Good to know....


Let the Heeling Begin
Yet on the heels of the police deaths, the long-simmering tensions between Mr. de Blasio and the department he has pledged to reshape have reached an extraordinary nadir. Officers, led by union leaders, turned their backs on the mayor and Commissioner William J. Bratton on Saturday night as the two walked through a hospital to address the public about the deaths. 
...
Even when trying to defend officers, the mayor has, at times, been criticized by them. After reports of an attack on two police lieutenants during protests on the Brooklyn Bridge on Dec. 13, union leaders lamented that the mayor’s statement condemning the episode included the qualifier that police were “allegedly assaulted.”(New York Times, 12/22/2014)

How dishonest is the New York Times? Plenty! Does anyone think for a nanosecond that police officers were turning their backs on Police Commissioner Bratton? Of course not. By all accounts he is beloved by fellow officers. The Times purposefully softens the intended rebuke to de Blasio by mentioning Bratton.

Furthermore, the Times never says that the December 13th assault on police officers was captured on video. This turns it from an "alleged assault" to an "actual assault." Liberals only consult the video when it serves their purpose. 

And finally, a random thought..... where is the Liberal outrage over gun control when two cops are shot?

You Choose The Headline

Obama normalizes relations with Cuba, where torture is legal

What do Obama's deals with Russia, China, the Taliban and Cuba have in common? Answer: He got taken!

Christmas comes early in Vermont! Single payer shelved

Obama: We will no longer torture, drone strikes to continue


Pressing
Days earlier, two big progressive groups, MoveOn.org and Democracy for America, also pressed the first-term Massachusetts senator to seek the party’s presidential nomination.

The implicit logic of the Draft Warren movement is that after eight years of the Obama presidency, the American people want to move . . . further left. (Daniel Henninger, Wall Street Journal, 12/17/2014)

A challenge from Bernie Sanders or Liz 'Pocahantas' Warren or a more Left-leaning Hillary Clinton all spell good news for Republicans in 2016.


Linkage
But several former directors and deputy directors of the CIA have all attested to the link between KSM’s interrogation and the identification of bin Laden’s courier.

I am sorry that the Feinstein Report, which failed to interview those directors and thus has the credibility of a Rolling Stone article, seeks to deny this. Maybe Sabrina Rubin Erdely, author of the discredited University of Virginia gang-rape story and a pro at failing to interview key witnesses, will find a new career in Sen. Feinstein’s office. (Bret Stephens, Wall Street Journal, 12/15/2014)

Good point from Bret Stephens!

Democrats Sell Out America, Again

Never Ever
I’m bemused that the Senate could devote so many resources to studying the interrogation program and yet never once speak to any of the key people involved in it, including the guy who ran it (that would be me). (Jose Rodriguez, Washington Post, 12/5/2014)

Rodriguez is a patriot and an American hero. Democrats hate that.

These are the same Democrats who first blamed intelligence agencies for not stopping 9/11; then received briefings on the measures taken by these same intelligence agencies to find the people responsible for 9/11 and prevent another attack; and who now claim amnesia while blaming the intelligence agencies for...what? Doing too much?

Ann Coulter says it all the time: Democrats cannot be trusted with national security. They should not be allowed to hold power for forty years. 


Their Trauma
Over the weekend Columbia Law’s interim dean, Robert Scott, announced that exams would be postponed for students who feel traumatized over the two grand jury decisions not to indict white police officers in the deaths of Brown and Garner, both of whom are black. (dailycaller.com, 12/8/2014)

Those crazy kids will do ANYTHING to get out of finals!


Worst Case
Administration officials acknowledged that the briefings given to lawmakers included worst-case scenarios. They say that is a legacy of the attack on the diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, which erupted after the posting of a satirical video about the Prophet Muhammad. State Department officials were faulted for inadequate security and for not responding quickly enough when the assailants overran the complex. (New York Times, 12/9/2014)

After having been thoroughly discredited, the Obama administration and the New York Times are back to touting the "bad video" as the reason for Benghazi. This is propaganda that Joseph Goebbels would admire. 


No Mystery
While the names of these countries are redacted in the declassified report, their identity is scarcely a mystery. Poland, for example, has been cited by a court for its involvement in the program, which has been highly controversial among both opponents inside Poland and international human rights activists for more than a decade.

“We have suspected that Polish authorities knew about the black sites and that the C.I.A. had planned for them from the very beginning,” said Adam Bodnar, vice president of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. “Hopefully, it will allow this issue to be finally resolved, and make sure those in Poland who are guilty are brought to justice.”

The European Court of Human Rights ruled in July that Poland was complicit in the interrogation program and awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages to two men: Abu Zubaydah, suspected of running a Qaeda facility in Pakistan, and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, believed to have planned the attack on the U.S.S. Cole.

“Poland, for all practical purposes, facilitated the whole process, created the conditions for it to happen, and made no attempt to prevent it from occurring,” the court ruled. Polish officials have steadfastly denied the country was involved in the secret prison program. (New York Times, 12/9/2014)

America has no more stalwart ally than Poland. Which pains us at RedStateVT when - once again - the Obama administration throws Poland under the bus. RedStateVT apologizes to the Poles on behalf of all fair-minded Americans. 


Run Run Run
Some Democrats are “Ready for Hillary.” MoveOn.org is ready for Elizabeth Warren.

The liberal group is poised to spend $1 million on a campaign to draft Senator Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat, into the 2016 presidential race, an indication of an appetite among some activists for a more progressive alternative to Hillary Rodham Clinton. (New York Times, 12/9/2014)

Can you imagine a Democratic race which included Hillary Clinton, Lizzie Warren and Colonel Bernie Sanders? It would be a RedStateVT dream come true! We would easily have a year's worth of material. 

All Together Now

Longing
Warren is considered a long shot to challenge Hillary for the Democratic nomination in 2016. Hillary Clinton is not only older and richer than Warren; she has also published more memoirs. (freebeacon.com, 12/2/2014)

Now that is funny!


RedStateVT Dissects MSNBC's Analysis of Hillary Clinton's Appearance At Georgetown 
It was the right topic at the right venue for Hillary Clinton Wednesday morning at Georgetown University, but the timing was off. Poor weather and impending finals kept students from filling up the ornate Gaston Hall, and her wonky foreign policy remarks left many disappointed who are hungry for something more from the likely presidential candidate. (MSNBC.com, 12/3/2014)

Liberal Georgetown students were unwilling to brave the rain to see the Democrat party's presumptive presidential nominee. Students - who could normally be enticed to do almost anything else instead of studying - decided to study. 

Questions from students were submitted ahead of time and reviewed by a committee of faculty and students before being read by Verveer. At the start of the program, an announcer declared that interruptions to the program “will not be permitted.”

Her Majesty will not suffer any surprises. 

Approved questions:
How is Bill doing?
How is Chelsea doing?
How is the baby doing?
How does it feel to be a grandmother?

Questions not approved:
What exactly did you accomplish when you traveled one million miles as Secretary of State?
What exactly did you mean when you said of Benghazi: what difference does it make?
What exactly did you mean when you said that corporations do not create jobs?

Meanwhile, as she speaking, an entirely different theme was being pushed by Republicans operatives, who filled reporters’ inboxes and Twitter feeds with pictures showing empty rows of seats in the hall.

The vast right wing conspiracy lives!

The university said the hall seats over 700 people, but that only 400 turned out. The entire balcony was empty, save reporters, while there were several empty seats downstairs.

It is likely that high ticket prices - in addition to the confounded weather - also depressed attendance. 

Tickets were offered free to every student.

Scratch that.

The university and students sympathetic to Clinton pointed out that many students were busy studying for upcoming finals. The rainy weather also may have kept some students indoors...

Just to reiterate, it was the weather and finals. It has nothing to do whatsoever with the plummeting appeal of the prickly Hill. 


Truly Deeply
Randi Weingarten, the affluent, fancypants president of the American Federation of Teachers, issued a statement on Wednesday expressing her deep concern about the salaries of American teachers....Certainly, Weingarten is not feeling squeezed. The teachers union honcho’s salary of $360,000 per year puts her squarely in the top one percent of all Americans. It is 641 percent higher than the $56,130 annual income of an average elementary school teacher. (dailycaller.com, 12/3/2014)

Good timing, we have been thinking about this exact point. So when Liberal redistributionists decry the purported "income inequality" in America, are they also talking about the union bosses who make 641% more than their constituents? We doubt it. With the characteristic hypocrisy of Liberals, it is only corporate CEOs that are greedy.


Dead Letter
While the United States and Iran are traditional rivals, if they can reach a deal over Iran’s nuclear program, more normal relations could follow, including close cooperation against the Islamic State. That was the point Mr. Obama made in a letter to the ayatollah last month urging him to sign off on the nuclear deal.

But the letter, as well as an earlier one wishing the Iranian leader a speedy recovery from surgery, may have backfired, one analyst said, projecting a weakness that only encouraged Iran to display its power more openly.

“When Obama sends letters to our leader wishing him a speedy recovery, to us that is a sign of weakness,” said one Iranian journalist closely connected to the conservative Revolutionary Guards. “During meetings the letter is discussed and we conclude: ‘Obama needs a deal. He needs us.’ We would never write him such a letter.” (New York Times, 12/4/2014)

The Bush Doctrine broadly holds that America will pre-emptively deal with threats to our national security. The Obama Doctrine holds that America will make any deal (Russia, China, Iran), no matter how lopsided, in an attempt to get our enemies to like us. Under Bush, our enemies feared us. Under Obama they laugh at us. This will be Obama's legacy. 

Stay The Course

Lesser
Less than 48 hours after President Obama nominated Antonio F. Weiss, a longtime adviser on mergers at the investment bank Lazard and a Democratic supporter, to become the under secretary of Treasury for domestic finance, Senator Elizabeth Warren denounced the appointment and said that she would vote against his confirmation.
...
Yet Ms. Warren’s wrath is misdirected, and her understanding of the so-called inversion deal on which she bases much of her opposition appears misinformed...Ms. Warren is, to put it politely, mistaken. (New York Times, 11/24/2014)

Why do we have to put it politely? Can't we just say that 1%er Elizabeth Warren is a complete and utter fraud? The new hero of the Democrat party - like the current president, and former hero of the Democrats - does not have the vaguest idea of how capitalism works. When you are a Democrat and the New York Times corrects you, you know that you screwed up.


Blown
“Unfortunately, Democrats blew the opportunity the American people gave them. We took their mandate and put all of our focus on the wrong problem: health-care reform.” (Senator Chuck Schumer, quoted in the Wall Street Journal, 11/25/2014)

So how do you spin this if you are Democrat?


Lies
But he (Hagel) was not the core of the Obama administration’s military problem. That lies with the president and a national security policy that has too often been incoherent and shifting at a time of mounting international challenges, especially in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. (New York Times editorial, 11/25/2014)

When you are a Democrat and the New York Times says your policy is "incoherent", you know that you screwed up.

So how do you spin this if you are Democrat?


Evidence-Free
Truthfully, the angry and sullen reactions of those who wanted Wilson tried are understandable. They’re understandable because most Americans live in the evidence-free narrative created by malicious media liars, and the politicians they enable. They live in the evidence-free world of the political left, which maintains that America remains deeply racist, that every white cop is Bull Connor, and that every black man shot by police is a Selma marcher. So long as they live in that world, racial reconciliation will remain a dream, and racial polarization will remain a tool of the political and media elite to sell papers, raise cash, and drive votes. (Ben Shapiro, Breitbart.com, 11/24/2014)

Ben Shapiro at Breitbart never disappoints. Think he is wrong? Recall what the despicable Mary Landrieu said about race on the eve of the recent election.


Razor Sharp
Scenario A -- A secretly racist cop sees two unarmed black teenagers (one of whom is six feet five inches tall and weighs 250 pounds) and decides to provoke a fight with them for no apparent reason. The cop decides to shoot the teenager knowing full well that any weapons discharge would be fully investigated. 

Scenario B -- A six foot five inch, 250 pound black teenager - who recently smoked marijuana and who had just minutes before robbed a convenience store - attacks a cop who had asked him to move to the sidewalk from the middle of the street. The teenager is shot during the struggle. 

Occam's razor posits that the simplest or most obvious solution to a problem is most often the correct one.


Refrain
They headed toward City Hall, chanting familiar refrains calling for justice. When they got there, several revelers rushed a police cruiser and smashed the windows with bricks. They then rocked it until it flipped over, and bystanders cheered.

They eventually flipped it back over and tried to set it on fire. Small flames flared up, but the car was not engulfed.

“I thought it was exciting,” said Sherrelle Primm, 26, a protester who watched as the car was vandalized. (New York Times, 11/27/2014)

Even the storefront office of Antonio French, a local politician who was an outspoken leader amid the protests over the shooting, has been destroyed. (New York Times, 11/27/2014)

We have written before about dysfunctional cultures, most notably the Palestinians for whom child suicide bombers are celebrated and sweet treats are passed around to motorists after Jewish rabbis are slaughtered while praying in a synagogue. Cultures which act in such complete opposition to accepted norms of civilization are doomed to failure. Similarly it is with the poor urban underclass wherein burning down their own neighborhood - even the office of one of their own - is celebrated and "exciting."

If Al Sharpton truly wanted to help his people he would teach black youths not to resist the police and would stand in front of the beauty shop, the convenience store and the community center in these neighborhoods and use his powers of persuasion to prevent violence. 

Disregard The Cost

RedStateVT's Thought for the Day
Liberals shout at Conservatives to get out of private bedrooms on issues like homosexuality and birth control. Making it somewhat ironic - actually making it enormously ironic - that Liberals in California (and now elsewhere) have come up with the bizarre rules for consensual sex on college campuses. 


Historical
Before his 2008 presidential campaign, Mr. Obama had little history of managing anything larger than a Senate office. To his critics, the breakdowns in various agencies are the natural result of that inexperience, a conclusion that really began taking hold with the botched rollout of his own health care program last year. (New York Times, 10/22/2014)

Six years in, the New York Times finally admits what many of us have said all along: Obama was not qualified to be president.


The Best Thing You Will Read Today on the Minimum Wage
Entry-level fast-food jobs have never been intended to support an entire family. So-called quick-service restaurants provide opportunities to lots of young people with few skills and limited experience. (Wall Street Journal, 10/21/2014)

Second best is this from Chris Christie (quoted in the New York Times): “I don’t think there is a mother or father sitting around a kitchen table tonight in America who are saying, ‘You know, honey, if my son or daughter could just make a higher minimum wage, all our dreams would be realized.’ ”


Remains of the Day
There are 149 prisoners remaining at Guantánamo. As a result of Mr. Zahrani’s change in status, 80 are now recommended for transfer if security conditions can be met, the majority of whom are from Yemen; 59 are recommended for continued indefinite detention without trial as wartime prisoners; and 10 have either been charged or convicted before the military commissions system.

Ten low-level prisoners were transferred in late 2013. But the process appears to be faltering again; it has transferred just one low-level prisoner in 2014. (New York Times, 10/21/2014)

There is something the New York Times is neglecting to mention in this article on prisoner transfers from Gitmo. What could it be? Oh, now we remember... Obama's release of five high risk Taliban prisoners! Probably an honest omission.


Excess
Tom Steyer, the billionaire hedge fund founder who has pledged to spend $50 million of his own money to defeat Republican candidates in Senate and governor’s races this campaign cycle, exceeded that mark in September.

Mr. Steyer’s “super PAC,” NextGen Climate Action Committee, reported on Monday night that it received $15 million from him last month, putting his total contributions to the committee since June 2013 at $55 million.

That makes Mr. Steyer the largest super PAC donor, putting him ahead of the casino magnate Sheldon G. Adelson, who gave $49.8 million to super PACs during the 2012 campaign. (New York Times, 10/20/2014)

Liberal hedge fund fossil fuel 1%er gives millions to Dems. Elizabeth Warren silent. Speaking of Liz:

Sen. Elizabeth Warren says she isn’t running for president. At this rate, however, she may have to. (Eugene Robinson, Washington Post, 10/20/2014)

Run Liz, Run! As we have said many times, it is only on a national stage where the moonbat ideas and multiple hypocrisies of Warren and Vermont's Colonel Bernie Sanders can really get the attention they deserve.


Unseen
Obama is President Pariah in these final weeks of the 2014 midterms. Vulnerable Democratic candidates don’t want to be seen with him. Three Democratic senators have run ads distancing themselves from him, and Alison Lundergan Grimes, the Democratic Senate candidate in Kentucky, has refused — absurdly — to say whether she voted for Obama. Obama’s support is 40 percent nationally and lower in the Republican states where many of this year’s competitive races are taking place. (Washington Post, 10/20/2014)

Tough column by Charles Krauthammer on Obama. Oh wait. It's not Krauthammer, it's Liberal Dana Milbank!


At Least
Democrats accuse the opposition of mindless obstructionism, deliberately sabotaging government, or at least tearing down belief in it, out of ideological fervor and political ambition. (New York Times, 10/22/2014)

Mindless obstructionism, ignoring, of course, Harry Reid's refusal to bring ANYTHING up for a Senate vote. Now that is some kind of obstructionism!


Instinctual
Although we believe that the president has many progressive instincts, he has shown an inclination to seek consensus rather than to fight. (Katrina vanden Heuvel, Washington Post, 10/21/2014)

Kat is disturbed that Obama sometimes seeks consensus. Funny, when Republicans are in charge all Liberals can talk about is the need for consensus. 

Obama Searches for New Strategy as Kumbaya Fails with Russia, Middle East

Poland 1939
Our apologies for failing to note the 75th anniversary on September 1st of Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland. It is a time to reflect again on the dangers of the failure to recognize evil and of the use of appeasement to avoid hard choices. The proud Polish people have persevered notwithstanding and remain one of America's greatest allies. 


Close Encounters
Obama and Wasserman Schultz have rarely even talked since 2011. They don’t meet about strategy or messaging. They don’t talk much on the phone. Instead, the DNC chairwoman stakes out the president of the United States at the end of photo lines at events and fundraisers. “You need another picture, Debbie?” Obama tends to say, according to people who’ve been there for the encounters. (POLITICO.com, 9/18/2014)

This is just too funny!


Skeptical
Emails sent by liberal activists and obtained by The Hill reveal significant dissatisfaction with Hillary Clinton, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016. The critical messages about the former first lady show that she has a long way to go to assuage skepticism from influential voices on the left. (thehill.com, 9/18/2014)

Our Liberal friends are endlessly talking about how good Republicans need to distance themselves from the "extremist" views of the Tea Party. Of course our view is that good Republicans need to become more like the Tea Party. Now with Hillary 'Maybe-Not-So-Inevitable' Clinton readying herself for 2016, the question is how she will reconcile with the Far Left moonbat constituency of the Democrat party. Liberals would not be floating novelty candidate names like Elizabeth Warren (she's a fighter!) and Colonel Bernie Sanders (Vermont's crazy old uncle in the Senate) if all was well on the Left. 


Handy
President Obama will take a hands-on approach to the United States airstrikes in Syria against the Islamic State and will personally sign off on bombing targets in the country, according to the Wall Street Journal. (nationalreview.com, 9/16/2014)

As with Obama personally picking which Islamic terrorists would get his drone cure, we find this a little creepy. Why not let the military do its job?


From Yesterday's WSJ
Economist Thomas Sowell's "The Vision of the Anointed" (1995):

Among the many other questions raised by the nebulous concept of "greed" is why it is a term applied almost exclusively to those who want to earn more money or to keep what they have already earned—never to those wanting to take other people's money in taxes or to those wishing to live on the largess dispensed from such taxation. No amount of taxation is ever described by the anointed as "greed" on the part of government or the clientele of government. . . .


Transformation
Lawrence J. Ellison on Thursday announced his retirement as chief executive of Oracle, a company he founded in 1977 that has transformed the way businesses use technology and made him one of the world’s richest people. (New York Times, 9/19/2014)

Giving proof to Thomas Sowell's quote above we looked at the comments section of this New York Times article on Larry Ellison and found this from NYT reader Pancho: "Definitely a robber baron. Obscene wealth..."

Remind us Pancho, what have you created?


Freebies!
The municipal identification cards that New York plans to start issuing next year in an effort to make life easier for undocumented immigrants will come with an added benefit so enticing that many others may sign up for them too: an offer of free tickets or discounts at 33 of the city’s leading cultural institutions. (New York Times, 9/19/2014)

Sub Commander Bill de Blasio continues the Liberal War on America. Namely, turning America over to illegal immigrants. Next up: government pensions for the 'undocumented.'

Liberals are destroying America.