Archive for May, 2009
U.S. Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor (L) steps up to speak after U.S. President Barack Obama announced her as his choice of nomination for the Supreme Court justice, to replace retiring Justice David Souter in the East Room at the White House, May 26, 2009
President Obama has made his first United States Supreme Court appointment.
President Barack Obama named federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor as the nation’s first Hispanic Supreme Court justice on Tuesday, praising her as “an inspiring woman” with both the intellect and compassion to interpret the Constitution wisely.
Obama said Sotomayor has more experience as a judge than any current member of the high court had when nominated, adding she has earned the “respect of colleagues on the bench,” the admiration of lawyers who appear in her court and “the adoration of her clerks.”
Elections have consequences and left-wing President Obama has chosen a left-wing appeals court judge for the highest court in the nation.
Unless there is a scandal, the Democrats have the votes to confirm her and the GOP will be hard pressed to oppose her nomination. All that is left to the GOP is a filibuster and the likelyhood of that happening is NIL.
But, Obama while he was in the Senate voted to filibuster Justice Alito saying their are NO rules. Maybe there will be some GOP payback here.
And, in order for the nomination to emerge from the Senate Judiciary Committee, there will need to be one GOP Senator to vote for her. The most automatic vote for Sotomayor would have been Senator Arlen Specter but he is no longer a Republican.
The Senate Democrats will spin Sotomayor as a moderate but she is not. However, she is replacing another left-leaning justice (Souter) so the balance of the court will be the same.
Stay tuned as the vetting process begins and don’t be surprised when her left-wing radical opinions see the light of day.
Technorati Tags: Sonya Sotomayor, United States Supreme Court
Tags: Sonya Sotomayor, United States Supreme Court
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Posted by Flap in Day By Day
Day By Day by Chris Muir
Flap is playing catch-up today after having completed yesterday’s Los Angeles Marathon.
And, of course, today, is a big news day with President Obama to announce his appointment of Judge Soni Sotomayor to the United States Supreme Court and the 10 AM release of the California Proposition 8 decision on gay marriage.
I will try to keep up but for the latest news and comments check out my Twitter feed in the right sidebar or Follow Flap.
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North Korea staged a “successful†underground nuclear test, the communist state’s official media said.
The North “successfully conducted another underground nuclear test on May 25 as part of its measures aimed at strengthening its self-defence nuclear deterrent in every way,†the Korean Central News Agency said.
The test will “contribute to safeguarding our sovereignty and socialism and guaranteeing peace and safety on the Korean peninsula and the surrounding region,†it said. The four-paragraph story gave no details of the location. South Korea’s presidential office earlier said that North Korea had appeared to have conducted a nuclear weapons test. The government received a report on the possibility of a nuclear test having been conducted, presidential spokesman Lee Dong-Kwan told a briefing.
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The decision, which would make it hard for Americans in London to open bank accounts and trade shares, is being discussed by executives at Britain's banks and brokers who say it could become too expensive to service American clients. The proposals, which were unveiled as part of the president's first budget, are designed to clamp-down on American tax evaders abroad. However bank bosses say they
are being asked to take on the task of collecting American taxes at a cost and legal liability that are inexpedient.
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A comprehensive list compiled by Karl rove
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Gen. Colin Powell was on Face the Nation today, trashing the Republican Party again, as if he has some particular moral authority. I beg to differ. Colin Powell has almost as little moral authority as did the bystanders in the Kitty Genovese rape case. While his own administration, and especially a very good man named Lewis "Scooter" Libby, was being raped by Patrick Fitzgerald's out-of-control investigation into the Valerie Plame leak, Powell and his top aide Richard Armitage stoo by silently even though both knew that Armitage had been (without malice aforethought) the actual source of the leak. To let Libby (and Karl Rove and others) twist in the wind for so long when Powell and Armitage knew what had really happened was the stance of either two cowards or, more likely, two vindictive political infighters who cared more about seeing their adversaries (in internal administration disputes) be kneecapped tthan they cared about seeing justice done and the truth be made public.
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Democrats often complained about President George W. Bush’s frequent use of a rhetorical device as old as rhetoric itself: creating the illusion of refuting an opponent’s argument by mischaracterizing it and then knocking down that mischaracterization.
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CALIFORNIA FINDS itself in more than a bit of a bind: Facing at least a $21 billion budget deficit, the state could run out of money in a matter of weeks. Borrowing to help fill the hole will be challenging and expensive, given that California has the lowest credit rating of all 50 states. Last week's warning by Standard and Poor's to Britain about a possible debt downgrade will make risky government borrowing even more difficult. The state would like to see Uncle Sam pick up part of the tab; but as steeped in the bailout business as the feds have become, there are strong reasons for them to refuse to add California to the list of recipients.
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It's increasingly obvious that Congress and the president (regardless of which party is in power) will deal with the political stink bomb of an aging society only if forced. And the most plausible means of compulsion would be for Social Security and Medicare to go bankrupt: trust funds run dry; promised benefits exceed dedicated payroll taxes. The sooner this happens, the better.
That the programs will ultimately go bankrupt is clear from the trustees' reports. On pages 201 and 202 of the Medicare report, you will find the conclusive arithmetic: over the next 75 years, Social Security and Medicare will cost an estimated $103.2 trillion, while dedicated taxes and premiums will total only $57.4 trillion. The gap is $45.8 trillion. (All figures are expressed in "present value," a fancy term for "today's dollars.")
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The Politico article is mostly about the inner-workings of Andie Coller's mind and the need to generate news on a holiday weekend, not about any true outrage.
The reaction from the blogosphere to the Politico post is mostly hypocrisy from the left. The left-wing blogs which savaged Sarah Palin and Carrie Prejean with the worst sexual innuendos and mockery, are aghast with feigned indignation at the RNC's dig at Pelosi.
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Flap will be a run/walk participant in tomorrow’s Los Angeles Marathon.
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In blogging matters, besides Flap’s Links which will appear later tonight this will be my last post until Tuesday morning.
Happy Memorial Day!
See you then.
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Tags: Los Angeles Marathon
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The test-firing of a new medium-range surface to surface missile in Iran on May 20. Iran’s former Revolutionary Guards chief Mohsen Rezai has warned he could stop Israel with “one strike” and said it would not dare to threaten the Islamic republic if he is elected president
Looks like Iran’s nuclear blackmail of Israel is already succeeding.
Some 85 percent of respondents said they feared the Islamic Republic would obtain an atomic bomb, 57 percent believed the new U.S. initiative to engage in dialogue with Tehran would fail and 41 percent believed Israel should strike Iran’s nuclear installations without waiting to see whether or how the talks develop.
“The findings are worrying because they reflect an exaggerated and unnecessary fear,” Prof. David Menashri, the head of the Center, said. “Iran’s leadership is religiously extremist but calculated and it understands an unconventional attack on Israel is an act of madness that will destroy Iran. Sadly, the survey shows the Iranian threat works well even without a bomb and thousands of Israelis [already] live in fear and contemplate leaving the country.”
Israel had an opportunity a few years ago after the 2006 midterm American elections and would not or could not pull the trigger against Iran’s nuclear program.
Now, under Obama, Iran will continue to stall by negotiations until they reach Breakout Capability and then the nuclear blackmail scenario will be complete.
Bye Bye Israel……
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Political Cartoon by Michael Ramirez
There is a good piece about the Obama Administration’s attempt to cut defense costs by reducing the Missile Defense Agency in Congressional Quarterly.
So, what is Obama cutting?
Obama’s budget plan would reduce the planned number of deployed ground-based missile interceptors in Alaska
and California from 44 to 30, keeping the remainder as backups ortesting devices.
Many GOP lawmakers are angered at the move.
“This is the one system that protects the homeland from ICBMs that’s completely on our land, our territory, that’s under our control without having to ask permission to place it in a foreign nation,†said Sen. Jeff Sessions , R-Ala.
The president’s budget also would kill two problem-plagued futuristic technology programs: the Kinetic Energy Interceptor (KEI), which was meant to hit missiles in their earliest stage, and the Multiple Kill Vehicle program, which was conceived to hit multiple incoming warheads at once.
Sen. Richard C. Shelby , R-Ala., wrote to the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) on May 13 calling on them not to halt the KEI project just yet. “Stopping work on the program now is irresponsible,†he wrote.
The new MDA complex is in Huntsville, Ala., as is the Army’s Aviation and Missile Command. Boeing, a major MDA contractor, also is moving its missile defense headquarters to Huntsville.
The budget would cancel plans for a second prototype airplane for the Airborne Laser program, which envisions shooting down missiles with lasers from 747airplanes. House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee Vice-Chairman Norm Dicks , D-Wash., is a staunch defender of the program. The planes would be built by Boeing Co. in his state.
No funding is suggested in the budget request to build two planned missile defense sites in Europe, following Obama’s promise not to move forward until more testing is completed and agreements with the host nations
Poland and the Czech Republic are signed.
Republicans say stalling work on the European sites risks damaging diplomatic outreach to the two countries.
“It leaves the Poles and Czechs and all of those who have been courageous in this effort fundamentally and objectively betrayed,†said Rep. Trent Franks , R-Ariz.
In the meantime, Iran and North Korea develop and test new missiles which can carry nuclear warheads.
And, the Obama Administration proposes saving money in its budget by cutting vital missile defense programs, including the deployment of missiles to protect the United States from an actual attack – making America less safe.
The wrong move and it will be up to Congress to correct Obama’s misplaced priorities.
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Poll Watch: Strong Support for Missile Defense by Americans Across the Political Spectrum
Obama Dodges And Plays Word Games With America’s National Missile Defense
Folly of the Day: Obama Cuts Missile Defense
The Missile Defense Archive
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Day By Day by Chris Muir
The RIGHT resistance to the FAR LEFT of President Obama and his minions in the Congress is alive and well. The LEFT likes to portray their success at the polls lately as far more than what reality says.
The facts are Obama majorities in Congress will decrease in 2010 and he will move his policies to the right to recapture independent voters in a bid for re-election in 2012.
Now, if the economy stays poor and unemployment high, the losses to the LEFT will be substantial.
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