Nine Thoughts on the Eleventh Anniversary of 9/11

(1) The so-called "War on Terror" is a conflict between incompatible civilizations. On one side is the target - western civilization, sprouting from the principles of free will introduced to mankind by the Age of Enlightenment. On the other side is the aggressor - Radical Islamism - a religiously political ideology stuck in a backward 7th Century model of tyrannical dictation to its followers.

(2) The US Constitution and sharia law are completely and utterly incompatible.

(3) They don't hate us for anything we've done. They hate us because their ideology instructs them to hate infidels.

(4) We have been relatively safe over the past eleven years due to thousands upon thousands of unheralded heroes quietly doing the work they were born and/or trained to do in the context of America's exceptional opportunity society. These heroes labor in the FBI, CIA, and various other agencies including the uniformed armed services. These heroes write computer programs, utilize "gamer" skills flying unmanned drones, analyze telephone wire recordings, drive humvees through god-forsaken landscapes, and perform a thousand other functions I could not possibly fully catalog.

(5) These unheralded heroes continue to keep us safe despite the failed leadership of the current administration.

(6) The geopolitical situation in the Middle East grows more dangerous by the day, and Radical Islam grows stronger there, because of the failed leadership of the current administration.

(7) Ultimately, western civilization surviving this conflict depends on American global leadership, which is not being provided by the current administration.

(8) If Tehran acquires the ability to deliver nuclear warheads into the population centers of western civilization, it will be due to the failed leadership of the current administration.

(9) Western civilization should thank God it has an independently led outpost named Israel to take care of business while we are stuck with the failed leadership of the current administration.

The Right to Eat a Chicken Sandwich In Peace and Quiet

(If this isn't covered by the "right to pursue happiness" then nothing is.)

How did we get to this point? To the point where a friggin' chicken sandwich is at the nexus of an epic ideological battle? I, LibertyAtStake, shall now give you the answer.

The Left.

==

The Left is a fascistic political theology. The Left is the ideology of the Stepford Wives, as a matter of fact. If you do not believe as they do, they will use every means at their disposal to force you to do so, or marginalize you out of their anointed sight.

For example, if Mayor Nanny Bloomberg doesn't want a large coca-cola, he's going to do everything in his power to make damn sure nobody else can have one either. If you think there might be an explanation other than their preferred explanation of racism for this or that statistic - they immediately label you a racist. If you advocate policies proven to increase opportunity for everyone, albeit without proportionally precisely equal results for all (their fantasy), they label you as possessing a deficit of "compassion." When you point out their so-called "compassionate" policies have a record of destroying opportunity for those who need it most, they go ballistic. And so on. There's simply no reasoning with these people.

Take this pseudo-intellectual drive through jerk, for example. What a sanctimonious twit. A true Fascist. And a perfect representative of the jackbooted, brown shirt American Progressive Left. Period. End of sentence.

==

So, I, LibertyAtStake, applaud the multitudes of "Regular Americans" (Mark Levin's awesome, somewhat sarcastic, Archie Bunkeresque label) of every race, creed, class, and this damn label, and that damn label - who enjoyed a simple chicken sandwich in First Amendment solidarity.

By way of transparent full disclosure I must, however, admit I did not participate directly in Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day. You see, I've never been much of a "joiner." And I had more immediate concerns to look after, truth be told. I'm more like William Dafoe's character in the movie 'Platoon.' Yeah, sure, I'm happy to lead a tactical unit into the teeth of the firefight (metaphorically, of course). I've learned I can be pretty good at that, you know. And, sure, I'd prefer to just relax with the guys between firefights, too - like Elias. But, the truth is, like Sgt. Elias, I actually 'do my best work alone.' (For dramatic purposes put into your mind or actually view Elias' penultimate foray into the jungle to rescue Sgt. Barnes. Sucks to be principled.)

==

So, I, LibertyAtStake, will just keep doing my thing over here. Today, that means highlighting three new sites on the "More Linkage" area of the "Schieffer Blog Roll" (eyes right and slightly downward).

These fine, patriotic, creative, artists seem to have created a new Intertubes genre we might label "Captioning For Fun and Profit."

LiberlLogic101.com lampooning the philosophical basis for the dementia.

DemWits.com mocking the political party under it's demented mind control.

LMAObama.com on 24x7 duty heckling their current champion, the Empty Suit Known as Barack Hussein Obama.

Enjoy, patriots. I don't think I'll join in. I recently discovered I can get YouTube on my BlueRay player. Yeah, I know, I'm a late adopter.

Update 8/9/12

See what I mean about the Left's go-to, knee jerk, call to racism response. Pavlov's dog exercised more independent judgment.

Demotivational Roberts

The great Judge Andrew Napolitano also nailed it on Brett Bair's show tonight - when, among other brilliant observations, he pointed out this little detail: if it's a 'tax,' than it must constitutionally originate in the House. This monstrosity originated in the Senate, and would be therefore be unconstitutional characterized as a 'tax' (which it isn't anyway). Apparently the Chief Justice was in a such a rush to reach a pre-conceived conclusion, he overlooked this little flaw in his contorted reasoning. What an utter judicial abortion.

Update 6/29/12

I woke up this morning still spittin' mad over this absurd clown circus.

Q: When is a mandate a tax?

A: When the President repeatedly says it isn't to get it through the Senate, the three thousand page bill no one reads uses the word 'm' word, and a single judge bends himself into pseudo-intellectual pretzels to miraculously transform it.

DC has become a dangerously ridiculous parody of governance. Or, perhaps, the final proof of the immutable truth transmitted by my favorite all time political quote: "In a democracy, the people get the government they deserve."

An Open Letter to Chief Justice John Roberts

A ‘tax’ is a levy on voluntary activity. An involuntary directive to do something under penalty of law is a mandate, plain and simple. By your twisted logic a military draft is no draft, it is an 'invitation to serve.' The fact that it is mandatory can be glossed over, right? You just said so. You are an intellectual coward.

You have become the poster child for a much needed constitutional amendment - "Article III, Section 1 shall be amended to limit judicial appointments to two consecutive seven year terms. The second term must be re-nominated by the sitting President and re-confirmed by the sitting Senate."

This amendment is sorely needed since 'Justice' has obviously become a synonym for 'just another kind of politician.'

So, That's It Then ...

Today SCOTUS ruled there are no practical limits to federal power.

Supreme Court upholds individual mandate, ObamaCare survives

Score one for tyranny in the battle of Ameritopia.

The Statists In Black have not only punted in this act of judicial cowardice, they have in fact forfeited their very purpose in our original constitutional system. Having ruled the government has the power to universally mandate something, why wouldn't it have the power to universally mandate anything? So, why even have judicial review of anything at all? Tyranny. Period. End of sentence.

==

It is now up to We The People to use what remains of the constitutional system to repair the damage inflicted upon the republic by this tyrannical ruling.

Are you listening Mittens? Establishment GOP? Repeal *must* be a central campaign theme. Repeal *must* be legislated on day one of the next congressional session, and signed on Inauguration day.

Meanwhile, get some ambitious intern working on Amendment 28 to the constitution - "Congress shall make no law universally mandating the purchase or production of any product or service." Start winding it through the states by next week. Do your job. By my lights 1994-1995 was the last time you did. That's a long time for ceding the field to the statists.

Aye, yii, yii, yiiii, I am the Barry Bandito.

Charles Krauthammer has his soap box with its millions of viewers to decry the Lawless President ... I have my staff cartoonist.



Meanwhile, the Pundies ably cover this latest outrage from the Lawless President.

Of course, this isn't the first time we have observed the Lawless President shredding the constitution, and it certainly won't be the last if my republic buys the Faustian bargain offered by the petty little tyrant. Memo to Undocumented Democrats: what this year's Empty Suit can giveth, next year's Empty Suit can taketh away.

Update 6/18/2012

Time for a quick rant. Today, as is often the case in my professional life, I have occasion to work in close proximity to a sizable number of legal immigrants from India and Pakistan. (And strangely enough, the Indian and Pakistani ex patriates always seem to get along just fine in the gentile surroundings of an American office space. But I digress.)

If people on the other side of the globe can figure out how to acquire legal employment here, then I have no sympathies for scoff laws who share a physical border. This is nothing but an election year pander from a lawless demagogue to a lawless voting constituency.

Demotivational Constitutional Lawyer

Demotivational ObamaCare

Self-explanatory.

Be There or Be Square

LAS is anticipating a fine afternoon of patriotric reverie tomorrow afternoon on Capitol Hill.  Americans For Prosperity is throwing a little shindig known as the Hands Off My Health Care Rally, to help the Supremes reach the correct judgment on the unconstitutionality of the ObamaCare individual mandate.  I'll be there passing out business cards. (*not as crooked in real life as facsimile would suggest.  iow - opposite the relative relation for the Empty Suit Known as Barack Hussein Obama)

If you bump into this upstanding citizen tomorrow ...

... ask for one. Guaranteed to withstand judicial review at every level.

==

As a little warm up exercise, I went back and mined my blog archive from March 2010 and February 2010 for a review of what it was like when Barry and his corrupt gang of Progressives were shoving this monstrosity down the republic's collective throat, legislatively.

==

FRIDAY, MARCH 26, 2010

It’s On (Your Agitator-In-Chief Said So)

Your Agitator-In-Chief is also out fanning the flames. Barack Hussein Obama spent Thursday somewhere in Iowa, giving a stump speech to a crowd that was undoubtedly rounded up by SEIU Brown Shirts. The advice he gave to this gathering of Obama Zombies included “argue” and “get in your neighbors face.” To GOP plans to run in November on a ‘repeal and replace’ plank, he bellowed ‘Bring It on!’ Well, well - we’re way past even bothering to point out what it means to be ‘presidential.’ We should just follow the Agitator-In-Chief’s advice. I don’t think it will have the consequences he intends. This is the guy who badly lost his declared war on a broadcast network last year, and now he wants to declare war on every patriotic American. Bring it on.

TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 2010

It’s The Process, Stupid

On March 17, when his socialized medicine legislation was still in deep trouble on the Hill, Mr. Obama was desperate to reach the largest TV news audience in the country. The problem for him, of course, is he had previously unilaterally declared war on the network that possesses this audience – Fox. Under the circumstances, I think Brett Bair was remarkably restrained while he unsuccessfully attempted to get straight answers to simple questions from a filibustering Obama. The largest TV news audience in the country, already enraged by a legislative process that stinks to high heaven, was told by the Agitator-In-Chief they don’t really care about process after all. Hmmmm. They also witnessed Obama admit he had no idea what was or was not included in his #1 domestic legislative initiative. Hmmmmmm.  They also understand this legislation is a jobs killer in a down economy with high unemployment. Hmmmmm. Smooth politicking, Barry.

MONDAY, MARCH 22, 2010

On the Motion to Slouch Toward Socialism…

…the Yeas are 219, the Nays are 212.

Or: Progressives, socialists, liberal Democrats, and allegedly pro-life folding lawn chairs takeover 1/6 of the American economy against popular and bi-partisan opposition.

So, what’s another trillion bucks down the social welfare state rat hole when the country’s broke?

…

The last count I recall is 38 state attorneys general ready to file lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the individual mandate. A number of state legislatures (ten and growing, I think) have apparently exercised their tenth amendment rights and passed laws nullifying any individual mandate. I am proud that my home state of Virginia is moving aggressively on both of these fronts. 

THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2010

Health Care March Madness

In summary, The Most Transparent Administration in History has collaborated with The Most Ethical Congress in History - to throw the entire country into a state of chaos. The House vote presently at issue will have two possible outcomes for Barack Hussein Obama: 

(1) The inevitable Waterloo style defeat originally predicted by Senator Jim DeMint in July 2009, or 

(2) A pyrrhic victory merely deferring the final date for the inevitable Waterloo style defeat originally predicted by Senator Jim DeMint in July 2009.

SATURDAY, MARCH 13, 2010

Liberty vs. Tyranny USA 2010: Pickett's Charge

The moment has arrived for the “Pickett’s Charge” of the American Progressive gang.

…

When I started this blog, I honestly thought the Progressive gang had so-called “Health Reform” in the bag, and their “Pickett’s Charge” legislative moment would come at a later time - over Cap and Tax, Immigration Amnesty, or any of a number of other Progressive outrages dancing in their little heads. But, along came Scott Brown to shake up their plans, and here we are. The moment has arrived to man the ramparts, take aim at the Progressive troops charging at us with the battle cry “Alinksyu Akbar,” clad in their Mao jackets festooned with hopey-changey campaign paraphernalia. Obama (Lee) has given the orders, Pelosi (Pickett) is leading the charge, and the elected donkey caucus is providing the troops.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3, 2010

Obama’s Waterloo

…we were treated to a strange morph of Stubborn Obama and Clueless Obama on the afternoon of March 3, 2010. Stubborn Obama had already decided to shove ObamaCare down the American people’s throats against their will. Clueless Obama trotted out a bunch of lab coats as props - after deriding the bill itself as a “prop” in last week’s phony Blair House Summit.  Tin political ear?  

After consulting with Clueless Obama on the so-called “optics,” Stubborn Obama made the speech – defiantly. Stubborn Obama just can’t accept that the American people do not want the government getting between them and their doctor. Stubborn Obama demonizes private insurance companies because this is the entity that currently sits in the daily triangle between patients and doctors (i.e. they are the ‘competition,’ or more accurately, the ‘enemy’ to his preferred third wheel – the government)

Stubborn Obama made a phony show of including Republican ideas in a so-called bi-partisan bill. I’m sorry, but mixing in a few M&Ms into a quarter-pounder crap sandwich doesn’t make the sandwich any more appealing.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010

Quickie Analysis: Phony Blair House Summit

Well, two out of three isn’t bad. Obama got what he wanted – a phony dog and pony show displaying fake bi-partisanship. The GOP got what they needed – air time to articulate their positions to the American people. Unfortunately, it did not quite degenerate into the full on food fight I was hoping for – slightly diminishing the entertainment value for me.

…

Legislatively - we now appear to be exactly where we were when I inaugurated this blog on December 30, 2009. The Democrats are pushing a completely partisan monstrosity the American people do not want. The Democrats seem willing to jam the monstrosity down the American peoples' throats. 

If Nanny Pelosi pulls a rabbit out of her hat and gets the monstrosity to the Senate, the Democrats will probably have the 51 votes they need to pass a fundamental change to 1/6 of our economy under the reconciliation procedure – which will be remembered as a monumental abuse of power. If it gets that far, Obama will undoubtedly sign it into law. Two things are then certain to occur. (1) The unconstitutional elements of the monstrosity, including the individual mandates, will be immediately challenged, tying the monstrosity up in court until November for sure. (2) The GOP is now an odds-on favorite to gain a majority in both the House and Senate in November – allowing them to withhold funding for the monstrosity until 2012.

d(^_^)b http://libertyatstake.blogspot.com/ “Because the Only Good Progressive is a Failed Progressive”

Update

Meanwhile, in today's news, the Manchurian-Candidate-In-Chief is caught giving away the keys to the store to an old Cold War nemesis. (From Pundit and Pundette)




Update 3/28/12

An excellent afternoon to be out on the Capitol Hill lawn - as documented by the pic taken by my neighbor with my blackberry, who was out on a workday stroll. For some reason, she would not tell me which bureaucracy she worked for. Really.

The Kagan snark got a lot of supportive comments from the crowd - mostly along the lines of "she deserves NO vote." The other side of the sign - What Gub'ment Can Giveth ... Gub'ment Can Taketh Away - didn't get nearly the reaction. But I noticed a lot of people puzzling over it. Too abstract?

I gave an interview to David Weigel of Journolist infamy. He seems a harmless and amicable dunce in person. He stipulated his surprise that so many people would assemble for a court case, as opposed to a legislative proposal. Huh? I also gave an interview to a polite Nordic gentleman who identified himself as a journalist for an unnamed European publication. The polite Nordic journalist conducted the interview in the manner of an advocate for socialized medicine - quoting the bogus 30 million uninsured number from the original debate as fact, and at one point actually prefacing a question with the arrogant words "you can't possibly understand how it is in Europe." I am hopeful my measured responses will help both Weigel and the Nordic gentleman come to better understand the American model of citizen sovereign. Hopeful ... not confident.

I found myself drawn into only two heated debates with Lefties - both in front of the Supreme Court building after the rally proper. One was with a possible "occupier" (judging by the bohemian attire) who attempted to draw a false equivalence between Kagan and Justice Thomas for recusal. As if what one's wife does for a living is equivalent to actually writing portions of the law over which one now sits in judgment. The other was with a frustrated looking pin stripe suit. Probably a gub'ment lawyer fresh from having his lunch eaten in oral arguments.

I did manage to hand out a few business cards. The rush of blog visitors has not arrived yet. Must be a bug in the traffic analysis utility. I think I'll look into that next.

The Evolution of a Narrative

(Or, today’s seminar in Progressive politics)

By now, I suspect you, dear reader, have heard of this pathetico …

Future historians will note the pitiful wretch known as Sandra Fluke as nothing but a useful idiot for Team Leftie’s maniac assault on the constitution, American values, and the American people.

It is worth reviewing for those future historians how we have come to this ridiculous place – giving a 30 year old entry-level Leftist activist her 15 minutes of fame … for improbably (just look at her!) claiming the volume of heterosexual intercourse in which she engages is so large it must be underwritten by a federal mandate.

==

In the very first act of this political farce, Barack Hussein Obama’s tyrannical progressive administration did what it came to town to do – piss all over the constitution. This time (and, trust me, it won’t be the last, either), it was trashing First Amendment religious freedoms by attempting to dictate to the Catholic church it must provide coverage for contraceptives in health insurance plans, church conscience notwithstanding.

A firestorm of righteous indignation arose across the republic - proving all of us have not been converted into meek subjects of the state, not just yet. I, for my part, am quite satisfied with my meager contemporaneous contribution to the national debate:

Feeling the heat, Team Leftie attempted to deflect criticism with an accounting trick. The Empty Suit Known as Barack Hussein Obama came out to the podium and announced he had a ‘compromise’ to offer the church. The burden of the cost for the mandate would be shifted from the church to the insurance companies with which the church contracts. This empty offer belied three truths: [1] The extent to which the insurance industry has already been co-opted by Team Leftie as crony capitalists, [2] an assumption of profound economic stupidity (who thinks the insurance companies don’t pass these costs on to all customers?), and [3] Team Leftie is hell bent on boring ahead toward a single-payer gub’ment run health care state by whatever means necessary.

To its’ enduring credit, the Catholic church did not accept the fake ‘compromise’ proposal, choosing not to hide behind a billing procedure while throwing its’ religious conscience under the bus – which is the Faustian bargain Team Leftie was really offering.

And to his credit, doing his job as chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA) called for hearings on the constitutionality of what this blog has labeled the ‘Institutional Mandate’ (albeit as a commenter on the Glittering Eye blog).

As Byron York of the Washington Examiner reports, Nancy Pelosi and the crooked gang of Team Leftie hacks she runs with in the House immediately set out to make a mockery of the hearing.

"The Democrats played games with us the day before [the hearing]," says a Republican committee source. "After days of asking for a witness, they waited until the last minute, the afternoon before the hearing. They asked us to invite Rev. Barry Lynn [head of Americans United for Separation of Church and State] and Ms. Fluke. We said we'll invite one, per standard procedure. We formally invited Rev. Lynn, and the Democrats, at 4:30 pm, changed their mind and said they wanted Fluke. We said too late. They told Rev. Lynn not to show up the next day."
When the hearing took place, Democrats proceeded to clobber Republicans. "Where are the women?" asked New York Rep. Carolyn Maloney as she looked at the all-male first panel for the hearing. (Two women testified in the hearing's second panel, but Maloney and her fellow Democrats ignored that.)

Then, last week, Rush Limbaugh was simply Rush Limbaugh. He delivered satirical conservative commentary on this matter no different in spirit than that which I offer here. He made the mistake of using a couple of highly charged words – ‘slut’ is the word most often referenced – and Team Leftie swung into coordinated action to denounce, demonize, and destroy their ideological enemy.  Because it's what they do.

Last weekend’s talking heads news cycle dutifully played along – both dyed-in-the-wool leftists as willing collaborators and establishment faux conservatives as patsies. The Media Research Center’s Brent Baker ably explained …

No love on the Sunday morning television talk shows for Rush Limbaugh, not even a mild defense as the unifying theme was disappointment in Mitt Romney for not denouncing the leading national conservative talk radio host. “The problem with Rush Limbaugh,”

As far as I’m concerned, the defeatist establishment conservatives (Will, Noonan, et al.) are playing right into Team Leftie’s hands by going along with the narrative change (from First Amendment rights to trumped up indignation around policing speech about women.)

Newt Gingrich handled it much better in this slap down of David Gregory. This performance is: (a) a video seminar on how to handle the corrupt and biased Leftist media, and (b) another demonstration of why Newt is the best available GOP candidate in this cycle.

We need to beat Team Leftie at their own rotten game. When they change the subject to prepare the personal attacks, we need to change it back to the real issues and take the debate directly to the Empty Suit Known as Barack Hussein Obama.

Rush’s explanation on Monday was also a pretty good demonstration, in which he took ownership of his small tactical mistake regarding choice of words, refused to accept the change in narrative, and refocused on the real First Amendment issue.

The republic is going to need more performances like these two this year. Because Team Leftie is highly organized, deeply embedded in the media, and will employ whatever means necessary to keep their man in the White House this election cycle. Because they are far, very far, from done with ‘fundamentally transforming’ America into a statist misery pit in which the gub’ment can mandate anything and everything.

Good thing we have the legacy of Andrew Breitbart to draw on as inspiration for this year’s fight over the republic’s future.

Update

Gee, whoulda thunk it?
(h/t Atlas Shrugged)

Update #2

Oh, OK, I guess it looks photoshopped onto this occutard. My bad.  Should have learned to do something at that pricey college that people will pay you to do, fella.

Sunday Morning Read (Washington Times Edition)

If you wish to keep up with the news and politics of the day, you could do a lot worse than subscribing to the Washington Times email list. The Times has long (since 1984, that is) been the conservative alternative to the Democrat / Leftist propaganda organ known as the Washington Post. In 1984, WaPo stood alone on the local newspaper field, after the prior year’s demise of Washington’s previous “other newspaper” – the Washington Star. The founding of the Times filled a competitive hole in the ideological information landscape.

The Times was founded, and funded at a loss, by New World Communications, until 2010. (I don’t know, but I’ll bet it’s still running at a loss under new ownership.) New World Communications is an international media conglomerate with holdings in other interesting places like Japan, South Korea, and South America. New World Communications is also associated with the Unification Church and its’ founder Sun Myung Moon. The Times, as you would expect, has often been the butt of jokes implying it is “cultish,” based on this association with the “moonies.” On the other hand, you might be able to see the possible interest a South Korean religious figure with deep financial resources might have in funding right leaning voices for religious freedom. South Korea, after all, happens to be located immediately south of North Korea – that militaristic socialist (i.e. fascist) regime, run by the lunatic Kim family dynasty.

==

I subscribed to home delivery of the Times’ paper edition off and on for many years. Every couple of years or so the phone would ring while I was sitting at my desk paying bills or something, and a disembodied voice would offer me a great deal on trying the Times (again). My agreement would produce the unintended consequence of barely read, ink soaked, dual folded papers stacked up on my porch, waiting to be placed on the curb for the recycling industry. I would fail to proactively renew the subscription, then the phone would ring at my bill paying desk some time later, and the cycle would repeat.

When the time honored phone call arrived this past week, I told the disembodied voice ‘no thank you, I’m already on the email list.’ (The advantage for me - I barely ever read the emails, either, but at least the unread bytes don’t produce an unsightly pile on my porch.) The disembodied voice accepted my answer on face value and politely moved on to her next call. I’m not sure how the Times can survive this environment, but that’s not my problem to resolve right now.

==

Instead I’ll post on today’s delivery of the Times’ Top Stories and Opinion pages to my email inbox. The three part format is as follows: The original Times link, my alternative heading matching it to this blog’s theme, and a reprint of the comment I left behind as LAS. All the comments immediately went into moderation – I presume due to the harmless little url signature I habitually include – as is the right and privilege of the Times’ staff, of course. This post will allow me to circle back and audit their moderation standards.

==

BARRASSO: Strategic Petroleum Reserve is for emergencies - not political disasters

LAS Headline
Obama will drain Strategic Petroleum Reserve to fund re-election campaign.

LAS Comment
Draining the Strategic Petroleum Reserve will be a "two-fer" for Barry. In the short term it helps his re-election prospects by artificially lowering prices. After the election, it won't be there to offset his second term agenda to drive prices through the roof. And he will ruthlessly pursue this second term agenda - no question.

==

RUSE: Obama mandate: Not a women’s issue

LAS Headline
Gub’ment takeover of health insurance industry has officially entered the bedroom.

LAS Comment
Memo to Gloria Allred: If you make me pay for your contraceptives, you have to pay for my booze. Deal?

==

EDITORIAL: Taking back property rights

LAS Headline
Supremes were wrong to rule in favor of Crony Developers

LAS Comment
Just one of many "precedents" the Supremes have been dead wrong on.

==

KUHNER: Obama’s Islamist agenda

LAS Headline
Obama extended open hand, Tehran cut it off ... next President to “inherit" one hell of a mess in Middle East.

LAS Comment
“[Hillary says] Arab Spring is backsliding” Backsliding? It never was. Barry and Hillary were hoodwinked by the Muslim Brotherhood from day one.

==

Limbaugh apologizes for making slurs about Georgetown student

LAS Headline
Team Leftie trots out useful idiot to testify in favor of unconstitutional institutional mandate.

LAS Comment
I need a PC ruling: Can I label her a “mooch” for asking the rest of us to underwrite her voluntary behaviors?

==

Movie Review: ‘The Lorax,’ cuddly cartoon agitprop the Unabomber would’ve loved

LAS Headline
Dr. Seuss as interpreted by Dr. Goebbels.

LAS Comment
The answer to your last two questions ... Hollywood still thinks it's profitably hip to be openly Leftie. This will change in due time. The only thing Hollywood really cares about is being popular.

==

Conflicting accounts over Afghan Koran burnings

LAS Headline
Surprise! No wrong doing in Afghan Koran burnings. Expect more riots. And more Obama apologies.

LAS Comment
Cooler heads will prevail officially. Islamists will riot when the findings are announced nevertheless. It's what they do.

Demotivational Fluke

Sign Me Up!

You, too, can sign up here, to exercise your First Amendment right to tell the gub'ment to take a long walk off the nearest short pier.

==

The timing of this rally is exquisite. The chicken eggs hidden inside the ObamaCare bill are comin' home to roost!

(1) The Supreme Court will be simultaneously reviewing the obvious unconstitutionality of the Individual mandate.

(2) Team Obama has stepped into it big time, politically, by trying to shove contraception down the Catholic church's throat. (see yesterday's LAS post).

(3) And, of course, one of Team Obama's jackbooted progressive brownshirts - the ersatz Catholic known as Rosa DeLauro - was sent out to instruct us in the Washington Post's opinion propaganda pages that it's really about more free stuff for women. (Hat Tip to radio man Chris Plante) I especially love her "fairness" pitch based on the stipulation men can acquire Viagra without a co-pay. Hey, here's an idea - make it "fairer" by making the l*mp d*cks pay for their own damn Viagra.

(4) And last, but not least, the petting zoo known as OccupyDC will still be in town to provide a brilliant contrast. After we assemble, make our point, and pick up after ourselves, we should drop by to review and photograph the camp squalor. iow - do the corrupt and biased liberal MSM's job for them.


d(^_^)b
http://libertyatstake.blogspot.com/
“Because the Only Good Progressive is a Failed Progressive”


Update 6:30 pm

Screen snapped from my Feedjit Live log.  If this doesn't prove it's really about the size and scope of gub'ment, nothing does.  Click to embiggen.

Update 2/13/12 10:00 pm

I've designed my business cards for the rally.


Front:

Back:

Whaddya think?

'Constitutional Lawyer' Face Palm, #1

My First Demotivational Poster

Created here.

The Senator and the Transportation Sandusky Administration (TSA) Flap

(To 'sandusky' is a verb now in use by the gang of unsocialized miscreants my 7th grader runs with. The things kids will come up with.)

So, anyway, this blogger invited the blogosphere to engage in thoughtful discussion regarding the strange case of the jackbooted airport brownshirts (the blue shirts are a clever disquise) detaining the duly elected Senator from Kentucky.

I was voluntarily unable to participate on this particular blogger's comment thread, because this particular blogger uses WordPress as her commenting system and I long ago wrote off that configuration as a huge pain in the arse to be avoided. According to my early experience with this whole blogging thing, WordPress apparently requires a distinct password for each and every WordPress serviced site, and that's simply too hard for this simple mind to keep up with.

Now, don't get me wrong - I often enjoy this particular blogger's writings (rantings), that's why she retains her highly sought after place on the Bob Schieffer Blog Roll.  I am simply prohibited by individual choice from interacting directly on this particular blogger's site due to this particular blogger's poor (in my view) choice of commenting systems.

==

So, I guess I'll just have to start the sorely needed erudite discussion thread here on my site.

First of all, we have reached a truly dark age for the constitution when low level bureaucrats equipped with intentionally faulty machines feel empowered to detain and harass a United States Senator. Read the last sentence, first paragraph, Article I, section 6; then get back to me kiddies. You, Ezra Klein, can hire a translator if you want, because it was written a really long time ago, or something.

Number two - the TSA, in its present configuration, was never necessary. Setting aside the debate over private vs. government agency staffing - trampling on the Fourth Amendment rights of each and every traveler to protect all from the criminal intent of a few easily profiled (there's that word! eek!) criminals has always been a ridiculous farce at best.

Number three - there is still time to eliminate the TSA and implement an Israeli style profiling and interviewing system. It's been working for them for decades. The only reason it hasn't been given a chance to work for us is the scourge of Political Correctness inflicted upon the republic by our political Left.

Profiling is not racism. Profiling is smart police work. Period. End of sentence.

Recess? Don't Talk About Recess! You Kiddin' Me!

With Apologies to Jim Mora ...



==

The Community-Agitator-In-Chief has inflicted yet another constitutional crisis upon the republic with his recent “recess appointments.”

These appointments represent precisely what our Founders rebelled against – the unilateral dictatorial decree of a tyrant executive. The Founders split power between three branches of government to avoid the grand errors that always arise from concentrating too much power in too few hands. In the situation at hand, the constitution requires otherwise unaccountable bureaucrats to receive the consent of the Senate before being deputized as our masters and overseers.⁽¹⁾

The Founders made provision for the so-called “recess appointment”⁽²⁾ in an 18th Century world – intending it to cover the exceptional condition of the Executive branch needing to suddenly fill a position between sessions of Congress, when re-convening an adjourned Congress was dependent on the horse and buggy.

The recess appointment simply serves no purpose anymore in a world of travel governed by the internal combustion engine and jet air flight. At this point in history, the recess appointment no longer serves its’ originally intended purpose as a stop-gap measure mitigating the limitations of Congress to hold up its’ end of the appointment / confirmation bargain. The recess appointment is now nothing more than a procedural option the Executive possesses for subverting the originally intended separation of powers.

The political argument over these appointments makes my point. In practical terms, it is nothing but political theater. Every single one of today’s Senators could make the round trip home and back to DC in infinitely less time than the 18th century Senator from New Hampshire might have spent stuck in a Philadelphia snow storm just trying to get home. The Senate Majority leader can send a tweet instantly to have the Senate in session day after tomorrow. If Barry needs these positions filled so badly, he should just tell Dingy Harry Reid to get everybody back in town and get the confirmation process started.

For the same reasons, the argument over whether Congress is or is not really in recess based on the House’s refusal to accept the Senate’s adjournment⁽³⁾ is more political theater than constitutional legal debate. It really doesn’t matter how many warm bodies are inside the Capitol. Speaker Boehner has the power and capacity to get every Representative back into the building day after tomorrow.

If Barry is truly the enlightened “progressive” constitutional scholar he claims to be, he should be arguing that we “progress” into modern times by amending the constitution to eliminate recess appointments altogether. But he won’t – because the only real value held by BHO and his corrupt gang of Progressives is the raw, naked exercise of power.

Just ask Anita Dunn’s favorite political philosopher, Mao Tse-Tung: “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.”

Or ask Barry’s community agitator hero, Saul Alinsky: "The third rule of ethics of means and ends … the end justifies almost any means...." (p. 29 of “Rules For Radicals”)

Or ask Dingy Harry Reid why he used the identical tactic (not adjourning) to block Bush era recess appointments, yet rejects the same argument against Barry’s recess appointments today.

Footnotes
⁽¹⁾Article II, Section 2 of the constitution.
⁽²⁾Article II, Section 2 of the constitution.
⁽³⁾Article I, Section 5 of the constitution.

Proposed constitutional amendment: "Article II, Section 2 shall be amended to remove the final paragraph 'The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.'"

Got that, Ezra Klein? It's really not that hard.

d(^_^)b
http://libertyatstake.blogspot.com/
"Because the Only Good Progressive is a Failed Progressive"


Update 1/18/12

A visit today to this site generated by a long ago forgotten url signed comment reminds LAS this is not the first time Barry has abused Article II, Section 2.

LAS 2011 Review & 2012 Preview (Part 2 of 4)

Part 1 covered domestic conditions.
Part 2 covers foreign affairs.
Part 3 will cover the current electoral situation (probably after the Iowa caucuses).
Part 4 will cover this blog project.

In Part 1, we covered domestic conditions. To quickly summarize: (1) intentionally divisive due entirely to the political tactics of BHO and his corrupt gang of Progressives; (2) standing on the precipice of total chaos due to same. Law and Order will be a big topic next year. 2012 is looking a lot like 1968. That’s the election year that gave us Nixon, btw.

We now turn our attention to the state of foreign affairs with the scandal LAS predicts will become the ‘Watergate’ of 2012. As the following graphic shows, the Fast and Furious scandal has aspects that neatly fit into any / all of the posts in this series. I’m throwing it into the foreign affairs area just because it has Mexico in it. Last time I checked - Mexico is a sovereign foreign nation as we haven’t yet invaded Mexico and made it a territory. For the sake of Law and Order, that is.

This is the Fast and Furious story in a nutshell ... In a politically corrupt effort to score political points around gun control, Eric “My People” Holder’s “Department of Just Us” literally sold military grade automatic weapons to Mexican drug cartels. When this operation was uncovered south of the border, it naturally strained relations will the small part of the Mexican government that is still independent of the drug cartels. But that was the least of it. Eventually – and completely predictably (the truly maddening part!) – American Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was shot dead by one of these weapons. Holder and the rest of his corrupt gang has been stonewalling Brian Terry’s family and the American people on this tragedy ever since. To his credit, the Congressman with investigative jurisdiction, Darrell Issa of California, has been holding Holder’s feet to the fire. The next round of questioning occurs later this month. LAS predicts the confrontation will drive Holder into ever tighter fits of dissembling to avoid accountability for his corruption and incompetence, and this will be his ultimate undoing – maybe even BHO’s.

==

Just as the original genesis for Fast and Furious was this administration’s corrupt domestic politics, the remainder of our foreign affairs review is chock full of situations arising directly from this administration’s domestic political calculus – i.e. pandering to the naïve worldview of its’ Leftist base.

When populist riots erupted in Egypt’s Tahrir Square, Team Leftie misinterpreted events as a grass roots democratic movement – in a country that has no historical experience whatsoever of democracy. Consequently, BHO and Team Leftie actively participated in bringing down a secular dictator who also happened to be an important ally in maintaining stability in that most volatile region. The first couple of rounds of Egyptian “elections” have yielded the result LAS predicted from day one of this diplomatic fiasco – a massive “electoral” victory for fundamental Islamism in Egypt. When BHO and Team Leftie threw Hosni Mubarak under the bus, they effectively threw Israel under the bus with him.

The current state of affairs is a set up for the rise of an Egyptian Islamic Caliphate. The latest turn is more astro-turfed street riots aimed at Egypt’s last remaining stabilizing institution – the Army we have spent 30 years training and arming. Thanks, Barry.

Next, BHO picked a fight with Muammar Ghaddafi, secular dictator of Libya. Once again, naively reading it as an opportunity to use armed force in support of some ill-defined downtrodden and oppressed “peoples”, BHO committed American prestige, treasure, and armed forces to fight on behalf of a loose collection of “rebels” no one could quite identify. His stated rationale was a foolish policy known as “Responsibility to Protect” (R2P) – an open ended blank check to rush in wherever populations are being mistreated by brutal governments. News flash: there are an awful lot of those across the globe - way, way, more than we can possibly police.

BHO was lucky no American blood was spilled. Really lucky, because he unconstitutionally committed US armed forces without so much as a conference call with Congress. (At least Geo. W Bush acquired legislation for both Afghanistan and Iraq). And, of course, Al Qaeda and other Islamic fundamentalists now appear to be enjoying the spoils of victory in Libya. Thanks, Barry.

Now, a secular dictator in Syria is brutally mowing down crowds of civilians with his armed forces. No signs of the Barry admin showing any willingness to invoke R2P here. WTF, Barry? Mubarak was a friend and ally. Ghaddafi was at least neutral with respect to US interests. (Thanks to Geo. W. Bush, TYVM.) Assad is a friend and ally of Iran, and actively involved in waging terrorism against Israel. If there is an argument for engaging any one of these situations, Syria is it. Well, the good news is that at least R2P seems to be thoroughly discredited. That much will be useful in the future.

==

Speaking of BHO’s “inheritance” from Geo. W. Bush we now train our attention on the situations in Iraq and Afghanistan. IMHO, both of these countries are doomed to be under the influence of stronger neighbors ruled by fundamental Islamism in the next stage of their histories.

In Iraq, history will record that Geo. W. Bush started the war, David Petraeus won the war, and Barack Hussein Obama lost the peace.

Whatever went before, President Bush deserves credit for implementing General Petraeus’ “Surge” strategy in Iraq. The immediate result was a military victory not only over Al Qaeda but also various other de-stabilizing proxies of Iran. Through various twists and turns, much heavy lifting by Americans, and much honorably spilled American blood; the end result was a functioning democracy in Iraq. Simply an amazing bestowment to a region of the world otherwise stuck in the 7th Century.

All this nascent democracy needed was sufficient leadership to keep a relatively small contingent of American troops in theatre for the sake of stability. Like the garrisons still in Europe that won the Cold War stand-off with the Soviet Union. Like the garrisons still protecting South Korea from North Korea’s lunatic Kim dynasty. But BHO and his corrupt gang of Progressives weren’t up to the task. They couldn’t negotiate an extension of the Status of Forces agreement, and Iraq is now on its own. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard is consequently making Ramadan 2012 travel plans for Baghdad. BHO is disgracefully claiming a political victory with a so-called promise kept to “end the war.” In fact, he has condemned all of Iraq to Iranian dominance. Thanks, Barry.

Similarly, the Empty Suit Known as Barack Hussein Obama has guaranteed Afghanistan will be under the influence of the Taliban internally, which will in turn enjoy strong ties to its fellow travelers in Iran’s government as well as Pakistan’s security services and government.

BHO "inherited" the perfect set up in Afghanistan - the democracy building and stabilizing influence of a “reach out and kill the enemy when necessary” small garrison. Afghanistan is not Iraq strategically. Afghanistan is a landlocked mountainous region offering no strategic advantage. Iraq, by contrast, literally sits on an important cross-road of civilization (the Tigris-Euphrates river valleys). That’s the fundamental difference. Attempting total military victory in Afghanistan was never the right strategic move. Just ask the Brits or Russians. But still, if you’re going to attempt it, do it right. BHO did it all wrong – ramping up while simultaneously broadcasting to the enemy a date certain for ramping down. Military Science 101 will teach any fool the foolishness of giving your timeline to the enemy. No one on Team Leftie seems to have ever taken Military Science 101, however. They’ve spent all their time in the faculty lounges discussing transgender social and economic justice, or something. Expect the Taliban to be on the rise in Afghanistan next year, as our Army pulls out prematurely.

==

Osama Bin-Laden is anticlimactically dead. BHO dithered for nine months before pulling the trigger on the special forces capabilities he “inherited” from Geo. W. Bush’s administration. Anwar al-Awlaki, technically an American citizen, is also dead by drone capability developed during Geo. W. Bush’s administration. Some of us still have a problem with the concept of Presidents assassinating American citizens without a due process conviction for treason.

The giant elephant in the foreign affairs room for 2012 is Iran, of course. The so-called “Arab Spring” – now clearly becoming the “Islamist Winter” – has but one common denominator for the close observer. The common denominator is an increase in Tehran’s hegemony over the region.

Tehran’s saber rattling in the Strait of Hormuz is but a sign of Tehran feeling its oats for this very reason. From a foreign affairs point of view, Iran is turning out to be the singular cautionary tale of the BHO administration. In 2009, BHO initiated an appeasement policy toward Iran with his “open hand / clenched fist” Cairo speech. This appeasement policy caused him, in 2009, to forego extending any aid to the authentically democratic Green Revolution. (Where was R2P then, Barry?) Iran barreled forward with its nuclear weapons program through 2010 and 2011.

I just heard KT McFarland, Fox News analyst, predict 2012 is the year the question of Iranian nukes will come to a head. I agree. The Iranian Islamic regime – on record as desiring to “wipe Israel off the map” – will either acquire a nuclear capability in 2012 or western civilization will find a way to prevent it.

This brings me to Israel – the only functioning modern democracy in that otherwise God-forsaken region stuck in the 7th Century. Thank God Israel is being run by Benjamin Netanyahu – former special forces operative and all around stand up guy. 2011 was the year his government wisely decided to start acting in its own interest and told Barry’s administration to take a hike. My personal theory – just a theory – is the recent mysterious explosions around Iran’s nuclear weapons production infrastructure are the work of Israel’s Mossad organization. Whether or not this theory holds water – these explosions are certainly in the interest of Israel’s survival, which makes them in the interest of the continuation of western civilization. For Israel, 2012 will be a year of living at defcon one and a half.

I am also in agreement with what I’ve heard KT McFarland recommend as the best strategy for choking Iran off economically. “Drill Baby Drill!” We need to exploit our copious domestic fossil fuel resources to reduce – maybe even nearly eliminate - dependence on Mideast oil. Beginning now. However, the problem is “now” means a heated national argument leading to a historic election in November 2012.

(Shameless plug for the F=M*A theme that has permeated this blog from inception)

==

The spasmodic street riots that erupted in Greece, the United Kingdom, and other parts of the European Union in 2011 – all foretelling the predictable end game for the socialist welfare state, or any society foolish enough to embrace it – barely even merit mention at this time. We can thank God, I guess, for the temporarily stabilizing force of Germany conquering the rest of Europe with financial loans rather than tanks. Because we here in the USA will be spending the year 2012 deciding for ourselves how much further down the road of socialist moral and financial bankruptcy we will allow ourselves to go.

Sorry “world community”, the USA has had its attention turned inward by its political Left. You’re on your own for 2012. GLWT. See you in 2013 hopefully.

Footnote

Encountered while idly scrolling down the Bob Schieffer Blog Roll. Thanks again. Barry.

Update 1/3/12

This take on the Appeaser-In-Chief made me laugh.

Newton’s Three Laws (Part 20)

The recent avalanche of political news is all good, as far as this humble blog project is concerned. Progressive (statist) policy is predictably collapsing, progressive (statist) street agitation is somehow also failing pathetically, progressive (statist) use of social media is a subject of mockery, and liberty loving conservatives are doing the mocking. LibertyAtStake approves. LAS also sees a trend obviously worthy of his Newtonian political observation series. Hell, even James Carville is advising the Empty Suit Known as Barack Hussein Obama that it is time to ‘panic.’ How much more obvious could it get than that?

==

I wrote the following into my 1/28/2010 post, when Scott Brown – a politician with an (R) after his name – was elected by Massachusetts of all states, to sit in Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat, of all seats. (*footnote 1)

The wheels are coming off for the Obama administration. The wheels are coming off for the Democrat party. The wheels are coming off for the regulatory/campus/newsroom complex. The wheels are coming off for the American Progressive project.

And now 20 more months into the undeniably disastrous and failed Obama experiment, who can deny my foresight?

==

The American Progressive Left’s canon of policy positions has proven to be an utter disaster for the republic.

The biggest dose of Keynesian stimulus economics in history has given us long term structural unemployment stuck at 9-10% and quarterly GDP growth that can barely be measured in what is now officially called a “slow recovery,” but will be recognized as a double dip recession soon enough.

They are engaged in a mad rush to alienate as many American citizens as possible - with the suffocating regulatory regime they are force-feeding to an unwilling private sector. When they had control of both houses of congress, they shoved ObamaCare down our throats like a frontier mother may have forced castor oil into a resisting infant. When they lost absolute control of congress in the 2010, they hardly missed a beat in pivoting to producing a blizzard of restrictive regulations from faceless and unaccountable bureaucracies with three letter acronyms like EPA, HHS, FDA, ad nauseum.

The composite of their foreign and military policies is rapidly yielding the most dangerous and unstable world in living memory. A world in which the crescent and star of radical Islamic jihad is on the rise, nuclear armed, and in control of more than one nation-state.

Victor Davis Hanson, who does this sort of thing professionally, has written the political obituary.

And most telling, these Leftists can’t even organize a decent street demonstration anymore. This used to be their core competency. Yet, the so-called ‘Day of Rage’ on Wall Street last weekend looked to LAS more like a production of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar.’ With a small cast.

==

People are noticing.

The people in Queens, New York have noticed sufficiently to elect a politician with an (R) after his name - in the district formerly represented by Progressive hero Anthony “seven inch” Weiner and various other Democrats for 93 solid years.

The people in Washoe County, Nevada have noticed sufficiently to give a politician with an (R) after his name a ten point victory. Ten points in a congressional election is roughly equivalent to a 10-0 score in baseball, just as a reference point.

Nationwide, even a clear majority of the clueless independents whose judgment this blog has expended so much energy fretting about have rejected the Empty Suit Known as Barack Hussein Obama.


==

Mission Accomplished?

No, I don’t think so - the problem for the republic is the Left never, ever, relinquishes political power willingly. I also doubt the nationwide gaggle of clueless independents actually gets it’s the message (Progressivism) and not the messenger (Obama) that plaques the republic.

So, the epic battle to save the republic from the bankrupt ideology of American Progressivism carries on, verily even quickens despite the utter collapse of the Empty Suit Known as Barack Hussein Obama.

The generally upbeat and humorous editors of the American Spectator have forwarded to me this advice on the 37 things I should be hoarding to survive the coming collision. Yikes! And the earnest proprietors at World Net Daily assume I could benefit from instructional videos on the topic of handgun use. Hmmmm. It seems some think we are headed for a ‘Road Warriors’ existence in the very near future.  If so, LAS will miss the top shelf beer.

But I don’t really think so. I honestly believe we are living through the opening stages of a great Conservative Ascendancy – with a distinctly libertarian flavor. This libertarian conservative moment is an explosive revival of the very same First Amendment Rham Emanuel told us in 2009 was overrated.

Rham Emanuel is a statist, so naturally he would find the individual liberties guaranteed to citizens in the First Amendment “overrated.” These liberties represent an inconvenience to the implementation of the statist’s collectivist, centrally planned, utopian fantasies.

And when you are a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. Which brings me to social media – the greatest enabler of liberty since the printing press.

The statists running the administration of BHO and his corrupt gang of Progressives – quite idiotically – have always viewed social media as a tool for centrally orchestrating armies of political operatives with an “inside-out” command driven propaganda model. They are right insofar as sheeples previously enslaved as serfs within the statist model will comply with the orders they receive from their social media talking points.

What the statists never counted on is the power of social media to bind together the vast numbers of misfits who are generally inclined to go their own way. Without social media, these liberty loving individualists are a collection of unrelated individuals. With social media, they are able to bind together in their common interest of pushing back against the statist’s threats to their collective right to individual liberty.

I offer as proof of my thesis the brand new YouTube channel “Misfit Politics.” First of all, the name grabbed me right away. How could I not take immediate notice of something that combined two of my favoritest all-time entertainment options: [1] The Kinks (1978 album = “Misfits”) and [2] Politics (continuous loop = “Send In the Clowns”)?

And these guys (and/or gals), whoever they are, have real talent. So much talent, LAS has seen fit to add them to my video roll immediately upon viewing their 3 maiden efforts.

||||

LAS believes Misfit Politics has a bright future in the Conservative Ascendancy - in humiliating and mocking statists. The noted statist Saul Alinksy would be proud of the means, if not the ends.

Footnote 1

Today’s hijinks from the statist assigned to the task of reclaiming Teddy Kennedy’s seat from Scott Brown ... Elizabeth Warren ... who made the idiotic mistake in the age of social media of assuming she could deliver red meat to a friendly crowd without anyone else seeing her do it.  GLWT Lizzie.





Update 9/24/11

It would appear Elizabeth Warren isn't the only Leftist "economist" who wants to confiscate more of your wealth ...via a plan to nationalize private retirement funds... and it seems BHO and his corrupt gang of Progressives were in on the heist when they drafted their 2010 budget.

Update 9/25/11

Dear Leader is unhappy with these developments.