Via Taranto:

We are all inspired by Iran's peaceful demonstrations, the likes of which have not been seen there in three decades. Our sympathies are with those Iranians who seek a more respectful, cooperative relationship with the world.

The author of these words: John Kerry *. It's not as good as it sounds, though. Kerry, in a New York Times op-ed, says these things as a prelude to saying that no one should say such things. Which just goes to show that even John Kerry realizes no one cares what John Kerry says.

Orwell knew him well...

Obamaworld:

"Are you confused by all that has changed since Pres. Barack Obama took office in January? If so, you’re not alone. Perhaps, though, this handy guide to Age of Obama “logic” might be of some assistance."

Read it all...

Heh...

Hail to the Victors:

Greetings. As president of United States -- or, if you prefer, the Great Satan -- I have have been following with keen interest the vigorous post-election debate and vibrant political dialogue which has been taking place in your great and noble Islamic Republic of Iran over recent days. It has been both educational and fascinating, and as a sports fan I have thrilled to the pageantry, the suspense, and the fast-paced, hard-hitting action. I have to say It's been as exciting as a double overtime game seven NBA final between the Lakers and Celtics! Like millions of others around the world, I can't wait for the exciting conclusion of your distracting nail-biter so I can finally focus on my big health care project at the office. (Now that's what I call a real crisis!) But no matter who prevails in your hard-fought contest, you can rest assured that I will be out there in the stands watching, and ready to congratulate the team who brings home Tehran's coveted Golden Centrifuge Cup.

...Pants on Fire!!

Townhall.com::

"Finally, contrary to what the president said and must know to be false, the 'members of Congress' don't have anything like 'essentially a public option.' They have the Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan, which is a subsidized benefit of huge value that allows an annual selection by every federal employee of any of the scores of competing health care plans open to enrollment, regardless of pre-existing condition. What the members of Congress have is a subsidy and a guarantee of acceptance into any plan they want. That's not the 'Government Option' being offered up by Obamacare.

How can you trust the president on anything he says about health care when so short a passage as the one above contains such extraordinary whoppers?"

Quote of the Day...

Patterico:

"No matter how many times Obama claims he wants to streamline government, creating a new government agency that provides “additional overlap” will not save costs or reduce bureaucracy."

Unfortunately, they'll still be interested in killig Jews...

Piece of Work In Progress:

"Our President has been largely silent on the matter of your elections, because for all his lofty rhetoric, he is a believer in realpolitik and will negotiate with whomever he believes can be gilded with legitimacy by the corrupt United Nations. The desire for human freedom, which President Bush believed was shared and sought by all normal human beings, President Obama believes needs to be subsumed to acceptance of the 'cultural differences' that account for the variety of governments that exist in the world, whether they are legitimate expressions of the will of the people so governed or not. Having ridden to power largely by opposing the war in Iraq, which toppled the tyrant Hussein (and seems not to have been about oil, but rather about the gift of freedom, paid for with the blood and treasure of Americans), he can do nothing else.

Do not be deceived, therefore. There are many in this country who wish to see you awarded the government that you have earned by your perserverance, bravery, sweat and blood. We stand with you as best we can, and pray for your success and future happiness. Do not be afraid, for we believe as well that God is with you."

Double Dare....

Obama’s Difficult Choices on Medicare Spending:

"The demand for universal coverage sounds like a moral imperative to “take care of everybody,” but in reality it would make only a marginal difference when it comes to the overall health of the American population. The sober reality is that universal coverage is another way to spend money, which may or may not be a good idea.

The most likely possibility is that the government will spend more on health care today, promise to realize savings tomorrow and never succeed in lowering costs. It is rare that governments successfully cut costs by first spending more money.

Mr. Obama has pledged to be a fiscally responsible president. This is the biggest chance so far to see whether he means it."

About as well said as it could be...

Mark Steyn:

"Big government depends, in large part, on going around the country stirring up apathy — creating the sense that problems are so big, so complex, so intractable that even attempting to think about them for yourself gives you such a splitting headache it’s easier to shrug and accept as given the proposition that only government can deal with them."

What Would Gore Do?

Megan McArdle:

"The budget is just a side show--because it has hard numbers, it seems to lend some sort of 'provability' to peoples' prior policy preferences. But the actual provable harm from the Bush budget deficits is small. As I pointed out earlier, net debt has risen very little as a percentage of GDP, net interest has actually fallen in real terms and as a percentage of GDP, and it is demonstrably false that Bush deficits diverted investment capital from the private sector--or at least, if they did, they did us a favor, by keeping the mortgage bubble from getting even bigger than it did."

Facts are for Fools... read it all.

Our Historically Challenged President:

"In his speech last week in Cairo, President Obama proclaimed he was a “student of history.” But despite Barack Obama’s image as an Ivy League-educated intellectual, he lacks historical competency, in areas of both facts and interpretation.

This first became apparent during the presidential campaign. Candidate Obama proclaimed then that during World War II his great-uncle had helped liberate Auschwitz, and that his grandfather knew fellow American troops that had entered Auschwitz and Treblinka.

Both are impossible. The Americans didn’t free either Nazi death camp. (Regarding Obama’s

Reed: Blame the Unions

Franc: An Independent Streak

Black: The Grandest Strategy

Alexiev: Obama’s Fantasy Islam

Symposium: Long Live the Duke

Nordlinger: FAQs

May: Addressing Genocide

Hanson: Our Historically Challenged President

Geraghty: Southern Half of the Comeback Trail

Hemingway: Red-Diaper Royalty

Goldblatt: Against Judicial Empathy

Kerpen: Sotomayor Is Bad for Business

Goldberg: Plan to Combat Global Warming? Pie in the Sky

Sowell: The Character of Nations

Spruiell: Killing the C"

Certain things cannot be undone...

How to Stop Socialized Health Care:

"We can fix a lot of bad stuff President Barack Obama might do, he told me. But if Mr. Obama signs into law a 'public option,' government-run insurance program as part of health-care reform we won't be able to undo the damage.

...In other words, the public option is just phony. It's a bait-and-switch tactic meant to reassure people that the president's goals are less radical than they are. Mr. Obama's real aim, as some candid Democrats admit, is a single-payer, government-run health-care system."

Lucky us...

U.S. college grads shun Wall Street for Washington

How dare they?

New York Post:

"I said some years ago that the genius of Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes was to have discovered a niche market in American broadcasting -- half the American people."

Read it!

America: closing her door to freedom:

"So many laws have eroded our Second Amendment gun rights that, as P.J. O'Rourke notes, if Massachusetts had the same gun laws in 1775 that it has now, we would all be Canadians."

Quote of the Day:

Jonah Goldberg:

"Whenever you hear a politician start a sentence with, “If we can put a man on the moon . . . ,” grab your wallet."

I'm SHOCKED, I tell you!

U.S. House restricts ethics probes

Channelling his inner Steve Martin...

The Exodus Obama Forgot to Mention:

"In Alexandria, my birthplace and my home, all streets bearing Jewish names have been renamed. A few years ago, the Library of Alexandria put on display an Arabic translation of “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” perhaps the most anti-Semitic piece of prose ever written. Today, for the record, there are perhaps four Jews left in Alexandria.

When the last Jew dies, the temples and religious artifacts and books that were the property of what was once probably the wealthiest Jewish community on the Mediterranean will go to the Egyptian government — not to me, or to my children, or to any of the numberless descendants of Egyptian Jews.

It is strange that our president, a man so versed in history and so committed to the truth, should have omitted mentioning the Jews of Egypt. He either forgot, or just didn’t know, or just thought it wasn’t expedient or appropriate for this venue. But for him to speak in Cairo of a shared effort “to find common ground ... and to respect the dignity of all human beings” without mentioning people in my position would be like his speaking to the residents of Berlin about the future of Germany and forgetting to mention a small detail called World War II."

Know thy enemy: This is not your mother's Democratic Party - Washington Times

BREITBART:

"When, if not now, will Republicans develop such a fighting spirit?

Democrats invest - with taxpayer money, mind you - in groups like ACORN that, among other sordid tactics, seek out Skid Row bodies and wheel them to polling places. All the Democratic National Committee needs are vans and smelling salts. Pop culture and the 'education system' have done the rest, making 'D' the default choice on Election Day.

Democrats brazenly take policy positions - think government services and even amnesty for illegal immigrants - not because they are the right thing to do, but because they are time-tested demographic bribes. Forget cigarettes and beer, Democrats would distribute needles, methadone, medical marijuana and biscotti in voter goodie bags if they could get away with it."

Maybe you shouldn't ask the question....

Obamanomics:

"If that weren't enough to make your head spin, Goolsbee also blamed Obama's handling (i.e., nationalizing) of the auto industry on ... President Bush. Obama, you see, was saddled with this mess because Bush — over the objections of his own party — decided back in December to raid billions in public money intended for bailing out the financial sector in order to bail out the automakers.

Again, how stupid does he think we are?"

Mark Steyn hits the nail again...

Obama's message of weakness:

"It's interesting how easily the words 'the Muslim world' roll off the tongues of liberal secular progressives who'd choke on any equivalent reference to 'the Christian world.' When such hyperalert policemen of the perimeter between church and state endorse the former but not the latter, they're implicitly acknowledging that Islam is not merely a faith but a political project, too. There is an 'Organization of the Islamic Conference,' which is already the largest single voting bloc at the United Nations and is still adding new members. Imagine if someone proposed an 'Organization of the Christian Conference' that would hold summits attended by prime ministers and Presidents, and vote as a bloc in transnational bodies. But, of course, there is no 'Christian world': Europe is largely post-Christian and, as President Barack Obama bizarrely asserted to a European interviewer last week, America is 'one of the largest Muslim countries in the world.' Perhaps we're eligible for membership in the OIC.

That sound you heard in Cairo is the tingy ping of a hollow superpower."