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ricochet

Ricochet Podcast #38: The Heavy Hitters

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By popular demand, it’s our heavy hitter edition of the podcast with guests Mark Steyn and Jonah Goldberg. We cover the surprising Noble Prize selection, one last look at the view from France, the sorry states of New York and California, our panel’s view on the “legalize it” debate, and a whole lot more. Listen, then discuss it here.

Jeff Perren

Follow Napoleon’s Advice on the Chamber Pot ‘Scandal’

by Jeff Perren

“Never interrupt your enemy when he’s making a mistake.”

I’m actually pleased that Obama has gone after the Chamber of Commerce for allegedly funding Republican ads with foreign donations. Set aside that there’s no evidence whatever for it, as even the New York Times and CBS’s Bob Schieffer acknowledge. There’s much more potent ammunition here.

obama-close-up

In the Chamber of Commerce, one couldn’t find a more homespun, middle-of-the-road group of Republicans to attack. Going after them shows just how desperate Obama and his henchmen have become in the face of worsening election prospects.

Trying to make Boehner the face of the enemy failed. The “Party of No” meme fell flat, as has every gambit intended to make Republicans look like the reason things are not getting better. Those efforts had to, given the GOP’s minority status (not to mention their leaders’ string-like spines). Republicans in Congress have clearly been able to block nothing the past 20 months.

So, being left with attacking private citizens — and not your typical “Wall Street fat cats” at that — amounts to digging that trench ever deeper. Not only will Obama not crawl out of it by November 2, it could keep him clambering for a foothold long afterward.

Better still, the harder he presses this the more he’ll alienate the middle. That’s a surefire losing tactic. There’s no better way to make the Republican majority even larger than it’s going to be than to press arbitrary charges against millions of small businessmen.

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Eyeblast TV

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA): ‘I Think the Constitution Is Wrong’

by Eyeblast TV

During a debate with his Republican opponent, Marty Lamb, in Massachusetts Jim McGovern said the thinks the Constitution is wrong in regards to campaign financing.

We have a lousy Supreme Court decision that has opened the floodgates, and so we have to deal within the realm of constitutionality. And a lot of the campaign finance bills that we have passed have been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. I think the Constitution is wrong. I don’t think that money is the same thing as human beings.

In the question and answer section of the debate an audience member apparently asked McGovern about his remark. He promptly denied ever making the comment in the first place.

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Capitol  Confidential

Dem Clerk Who Disenfranchised 1300 Military Voters Has a History of Voter Suppression

by Capitol Confidential

Robert Delaney, the Illinois Election Official who refused to mail 1,300 Military Absentee ballots for 14 days beyond the Federal deadline  has a history of disenfranchising voters.  In 2009 Delaney, an active Democrat, was sued by a group of citizens in St. Clair County who claimed he used his office to disenfranchise hundreds of voters in a predominantly African-American community.

Delaney

According to the complaint, hundreds of letters were mailed to residents of  Alorton, IL.  a community with a 97% African-American population.  The letters informed the recipients that they had to attend a hearing or their voter registration would be canceled, in addition any voter who had already cast an absentee ballot would have their ballot rejected if they did not attend the hearing. The letters were mailed just two  weeks before the April 9, 2009 election.  One of the recipients was Kenneth Chatman, a Trustee of the City of Altoron who was up for re-election.  Chatman and several other plaintiffs, including elderly and bed-ridden individuals, filed a lawsuit.

On April 3, U.S Magistrate Judge Clifford Proud issued an emergency injunction against Delaney and stopped him from suppressing minority voters.

This year, his target is the members of the military who are fighting for our country.  Regarding the current inquiry by the Justice Department into Delaney’s handling of the military ballots he said:

“I really don’t care what the Department of Justice thinks.”

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Andrew Breitbart

Join Me and Sarah Palin For the VICTORY 2010 RALLY In Anaheim this Saturday

by Andrew Breitbart

After Barack Obama’s historic victory in 2008, many in the Democratic Party and on the political left argued that the GOP and the conservative movement were finished and that Democrats were destined to control, in perpetuity, the presidency, Congress, and culture, writ large. But then something unexpected happened–millions of sleepwalking, mall-shopping Americans finally woke up.

The activist left, which denigrated the previous president in a merciless fashion, took the reins of power with reckless abandon and shoved its brand of poisonous hope and change down the throats of the American people. So we the people, the reawakening silent majority, responded in the form of a grassroots movement that is turning into a juggernaut set to roll past November 2nd and become something transcendent and long-lasting. Our Founding Fathers would be proud that we have rediscovered the spirit and the essence of their ideas.

Palin Breitbart

While the Tea Party has not been specifically partisan–many Republican carcasses lie in its rubble–this conservative and constitutional checks and balances has created a rejuvenated GOP, chastened and wiser.

This weekend I have the honor of sharing the stage with one of the Tea Party’s and Republican Party’s fearless leaders, Sarah Palin. Since her arrival on the national stage, the Democratic Party has recognized her potential as a political powerhouse and has worked in tandem with its partners in crime, the mainstream media, to wage an unprecedented personal campaign against her and her family. The Tea Party can relate.

But the power of Alinsky and the politics of personal destruction vis a vis the Democrat Media Complex has reverse effects when the object of the hate bravely stands up to the bullies and thugs. The Tea Party and Sarah Palin have given America a great lesson in standing up to the bullies who have co-opted the Democratic Party and the American media. (more…)

Publius

Poll: More Voters Believe Democrat Party Is Dominated by Extremists

by Publius

From The Hill:

Iraq Protest

Likely voters in battleground districts see extremists as having a more dominant influence over the Democratic Party than they do over the GOP.

This result comes from The Hill 2010 Midterm Election Poll, which found that 44 percent of likely voters say the Democratic Party is more dominated by its extreme elements, whereas 37 percent say it’s the Republican Party that is more dominated by extremists.

The revelations in a survey of 10 toss-up congressional districts across the country point to problems for Democrats, who are trying to motivate a disillusioned base and appeal to independents moving to the GOP ahead of the Nov. 2 election.

The polling firm Penn, Schoen and Berland conducted the survey, contacting 4,047 likely voters by phone between Oct. 2 and Oct. 7. The margin of error for this sample is 1.5 percent.

More than one in every five Democrats (22 percent) in The Hill’s survey said their party was more dominated than the GOP by extreme views. The equivalent figure among Republicans is 11 percent.

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Capitol  Confidential

Dems Gone Wild: Next Round on Donors to Dem State Auditor

by Capitol Confidential

When we say that Democrats spend money like drunken sailors, we meant it figuratively. It turns out, though, that at least some Dems take it literally. The video below shows Missouri State Auditor Susan Montee socializing at the recent Democrat Days in Hannibal, MO. As you can see, she is a big fan of the margaritas, which amusingly are made by the Steelworkers’ traveling margarita machine. (There is a phrase we never thought we would write.)

About 3 minutes in, the Ms. Montee, remember a Constitutional Officer, hits on the brilliant idea of getting a margarita machine for her state car. Of course, the machine would be paid for by campaign contributors.

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Warner Todd  Huston

Obama’s Healthcare Rules Will Shut Down Catholic Hospitals Nationwide

by Warner Todd Huston

Some of Obamacare’s most destructive forces are quickly becoming common knowledge. We have, for instance, become painfully aware that Obama’s claim that we all could keep our plans and doctors “if you like them” is an outright falsehood as some people are already losing their coverage.

ObamaCare.PNG

It is also becoming clear that companies will be dropping plans all over the place making a lie of the idea that plans will be cheaper and easier to get once Obamacre comes into force. Another aspect of the destructive nature of this top down-style of “healthcare” is that once government takes over the system Democrats will assume they have the power to force religious-based healthcare providers to perform abortions and this will cause thousands of facilities to close down. This will, of course, make care even harder to get in many cities across the nation as hospital beds are lost in great numbers.

In fact, we are already seeing this disastrous situation of closing hospitals playing out in Scranton, Pennsylvania where three Catholic-operated hospitals are likely going to be shut down and/or sold off because of the negative affects Obamacare will have on these facilities.

Kevin Cook, the CEO of Mercy Health Partners, the company that operates these three hospitals, told WNEP TV News that Obamacare “absolutely” playing a role in the decision to sell off the facilities.

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Capitol  Confidential

The Inside Story on Net Neutrality and the FCC

by Capitol Confidential

The FCC is trying to walk a careful line on net neutrality, according to Democratic and Republican sources in Congress and the FCC.

julius-fcc-tbijpg

Earlier this year, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski proposed regulations giving his agency wide authority over broadband services, including the right to set limits on new services and innovation.

Lately, however, Genachowski seems on a more cautious approach, distancing himself from the more fanatical regulations. Word coming from the FCC is that Genachowski decided that he couldn’t satisfy the net neutrality fanatics and still have good policy. So if he couldn’t get both, he decided, he should focus on good policy.

Naturally, the Professional Left is outraged but at this point, most policymakers recognize that as a political pressure game and they are increasingly disregarding it. In fact, Genachowski is even getting a great deal of credit – especially within Congress – for having the courage to withstand the political pressure from Free Press and Moveon.org.

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Christopher C. Horner

Vested Interests Digging Deep to Doom California’s Prop 23

by Christopher C. Horner

My eye-opening experience with Enron revealed to my surprise just how it is that certain interests actually drive Big Green, and make otherwise inconceivable policy ideas into threats and often even reality. The revelation was such that it left me shaking my head in wonder as to how the (now suddenly) obvious, at least seeing how it escapes the interest of at least the establishment press cheerleading the same agenda: when you rob Peter to pay Paul, you are guaranteed the enthusiastic support of Paul.

enron

In fact — as I learned regarding Enron’s and BP’s pet projects, “carbon cap-and-trade” and related ‘green jobs’ schemes all designed to make uneconomic investments in windmills etc. pay off — sometimes the entire enterprise is Paul’s idea.

So it is that we see with deep pocketed gents now scrambling to protect their bets on uneconomic investments and rent-seeking schemes, by supporting the campaign to defeat Proposition 23 in California. Prop 23 would delay California’s climatically meaningless but economically suicidal state-level adoption of Kyoto agenda, called AB 32. Oddly, there is no condemnation of these bags of money being thrown at killing a ballot initiative, despite the opprobrium heaped upon those few who have dared venture in to help the “Yes” campaign.

This is a shame, for the question Cui bono? is so readily answered simply by scanning the growing list of those digging deep to make sure the ‘green’ gravy train of wealth transfers isn’t derailed (regardless of the fairly obvious economic consequences if they are successful, which in a rational world would be of great interest to a watchdog press).

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Pamela Geller

Obama’s Campaign Contribution Records Scrubbed Clean

by Pamela Geller

I appeared on David Asman’s show on Fox Tuesday evening to discuss the hypocrisy of the Obama gang’s new fallacious attack on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, projecting Democrat crimes on unsuspecting decent organizations. The whole episode showed up the incredible hypocrisy of Obama and the Democrats, and their callous indifference to the will of the people.

Obama and the Democrats claim that the Chamber of Commerce has been funding Republican candidates using foreign money. But as I show in great detail in my book The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration’s War On America (Simon & Schuster), in 2008 Obama’s FEC records were full of donations from people with obviously fake names, and other questionable material. (In contrast, McCain’s were squeaky clean.)

The Obama campaign website even featured a drop-down box enabling donors to specify from what country they were donating. All the donor had to do was check a box certifying that he was legally eligible to make a donation. There was no safeguard in place to make sure that foreign nationals did not donate from these countries, in flagrant defiance of the federal law forbidding candidates from receiving foreign donations.

obama foreign donations

Obama’s campaign received donations from the world over: the Virgin Islands, Vienna, The Hague, Madrid, London, Geneva, Tokyo, Bangkok, Turin, Paris, Munich, Madrid, Roma, Zurich, Moscow, Milan, Singapore, Beijing, Switzerland, Toronto, Vancouver, Dublin, Panama, Berlin, Geneva, Buenos Aires, Prague, Nagoya, Budapest, Barcelona, Sweden, Taipei, Hong Kong, Rio de Janeiro, Sydney, Zurich, Ragusa, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Uganda, Mumbai, Tunis, Zacatecas, St. Croix, Mississauga, Lima, Copenhagen, Dubai, Jeddah, Kabul, Cairo, and many others.

Worst of all, Obama’s campaign received contributions from Hamas-controlled Gaza (documentation here) and lied about refunding those jihad donations.

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Kurt Schlichter

The VFW’s Suicide PAC(t)

by Kurt Schlichter

The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) has doubled-down on failure.

Ignoring the growing protests of its outraged members, the supposedly “independent” VFW Political Action Committee (VFW-PAC) has issued a new statement refusing to back off on the disgraceful set of endorsements that have threatened the venerable and (at least at the local level) respected organization with destruction.


The short version: “Our members are partisan morons who ought to sit back and let us decide what’s good for them.”  The long version:

VFW-PAC Stands By Endorsement Process

WASHINGTON, DC, Oct 13,2010 – The VFW-PAC was established in 1979 by the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW) as a separate, nonpartisan organization charged with the single task of working in Congress to support candidates who have taken responsible positions on issues involving national defense and legislation pertaining to the nation’s veterans.

An eleven member Board of Directors reviews and establishes the criteria used for the endorsement process each election cycle. This cycle the Board chose a methodology for endorsement that was used successfully in years past; grading an incumbent’s support by the position taken on critical issues of importance to the VFW. Therefore, thirteen roll call votes in the House of Representatives and nine votes in the Senate that aligned with VFW priority goals were selected to grade the support of incumbent members of Congress. The bar was set high, as a Senator must have voted in concert with the VFW position on 7 of 9 votes and a Representative 10 of 13 to receive the VFW-PAC endorsement. If a member of Congress failed to make the grade, the Board would consider a challenger for that Congressional seat. The Board would also consider candidates running for open seats. Both challengers and open seat candidates would have to state in writing their position on VFW priority goals.

There are a few races out of 356 endorsed candidates in both the House and Senate, where emotions are running high, that are getting a lot of attention. In some cases there are veterans and even VFW members running against Congressional incumbents endorsed by the VFW-PAC. It would not only be unfair, but contrary to VFW-PAC By-Laws to disregard the incumbent’s record of support and endorse another candidate. The VFW-PAC will not abandon those in Congress that have supported issues of critical importance to our nation’s security and veterans.

In the political endorsement arena, there will always be party loyalists and individuals that will not agree with the VFW-PAC decision. The Board respects their position and appreciates their activism in support of the candidate of their choice. The VFW-PAC endorsement is not designed to tell people how to vote; but to point out who has demonstrated support for veterans and America’s security.

The VFW-PAC disagrees with those who claim the endorsement process is skewed, flawed, or unfair.

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Tom Fitton

Is Scandal-Ridden Rahmbo Chicago’s Next Mayor?

by Tom Fitton

Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel left his job at the White House last week to run for Mayor of Chicago.

Rahm Emanuel CEOs

According to The Washington Post:

President Obama… announced his highest-level changing of the guard, naming a longtime aide of few words, Pete Rouse, to replace on an interim basis the irrepressible Rahm Emanuel as chief of staff.

In an East Room event attended by senior staff and Cabinet members, Obama called Emanuel, who resigned to begin an expected run for mayor of Chicago, someone “I could count on day and night to get the job done.”

Obama might have added, “at all costs.” Given that the liberal media will gloss over Rahm’s record in the Obama White House, just as they did when he was installed there, let’s take a look at his terrible record of corruption.

After all, Emanuel didn’t earn the nickname “Rahmbo” for being a mild-mannered shrinking violet. He served as Bill Clinton’s chief money-man at a time when the Clinton campaign was corrupted by foreign money. He defended the “worst of the worst” Clinton scandals, and, in fact, earned his reputation as a ruthless political combatant by fiercely defending President Clinton in the Monica Lewinsky investigation. (Notably, Emanuel also served on the board of Freddie Mac when the company was involved in fraudulent activity.)

The bottom line is that when the Clintons’ dirty work needed to be done, Emanuel did it and apparently without question.

And that didn’t change under Obama.

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Publius

Thursday Open Thread: Jena-Auerstedt Edition

by Publius

Today, in 1806, Napoleon won the twin battles of Jena-Auerstedt, resulting in the subjugation of the Kingdom of Prussia. Most impressive was the Battle of Auerstedt, where French Marshal Davout defeated a force of close to 70,000 Prussians with around 1/3 the force.

battle_iena

Chris Muir

The Mask.

by Chris Muir

101410BG

Eyeblast TV

Eyeblast Hits The Street: Reactions To Ridiculous Projects Packed Into The Stimulus Bill

by Eyeblast TV

Yesterday, Eyeblast.tv hit the streets in Alexandria, VA to talk to some people about their thoughts on whether some little-known programs that were jam-packed into the $787 billion stimulus package passed by the Obama Administration actually were intended to better the economy.

The absurdities include: $3.4 million for a turtle tunnel in Tallahassee, FL. A total of 22 bathrooms in Mark Twain National forest that carried a price tag of $21,000 each ($462,000 total). A genital-washing program in Africa that ran the taxpayers $800,000. Fifty-five thousand ($55,000) in Wichita, Kansas to spay and neuter pets. A total of $356,000 to research how children understand and perceive foreign accents. A whopping $550,000 for a skate park in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. And finally, a bridge connecting two Microsoft campuses costing $11 million (like Microsoft can’t afford that themselves).

As the unemployment rate sits at 9.6%, here is what people thought about the ‘economy-stimulating’ and ‘job creating’ projects:

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Jim Hoft

Barbara Boxer Approved Code Pink Trip to Fallujah to Donate $600,000 to Extremists

by Jim Hoft

So would aiding and abetting terrorists to kill US soldiers qualify as behavior unbefitting of a sitting US senator?

On October 12, Scott Swett at the American Thinker reported that Senator Barabara Boxer (D-CA) along with Representatives Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) and Henry Waxman (D-CA) secured diplomatic courtesy letters that allowed anti-American Code Pink activists to travel to Fallujah, Iraq. The radicals traveled to Fallujah in late 2004 to donate $600,000 worth of humanitarian aid to the people who had just killed 51 Americans and wounded 560 more earlier that month. Operation Phantom Fury in Fallujah was the heaviest US urban combat since the Vietnam War.

After the report was published at American Thinker the article was deleted at Islam Online.
But, thanks to the internet archive a copy of the article is still available:

BERJAYA

The article says that Code Pink:

“Secured diplomatic courtesy letters from US Senators Barbara Boxer of California and Raul Grijalva of Arizona and Congressmen Dennis Kucinich of Ohio and Henry Waxman of California.”

Swett reported on how Barbara Boxer and Code Pink assisted terrorists in Iraq:

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Reason TV

Reason.tv: Boondoggle in the Motor City – Detroit’s Train to Nowhere

by Reason TV

Detroit has become a place Hollywood directors come for great wreckage shots. One quarter of the city’s 140 square miles are deserted. Detroit public school students boast the nation’s worst reading scores, the products of a corruption-ridden school system that recently flirted with bankruptcy. Detroit bested Baltimore in 2009 to take the dreaded “murder capital” title. It may also be the worst place in the country to have a heart attack: prepare to wait half an hour for an ambulance.

In a town lacking essential services, what do local leaders and federal politicians have in mind for helping the city? What’s needed to hoist Detroit back to its 1950 heyday, when it was America’s fourth largest city, with more than double its current population?

Why, light rail, of course!

The Motor City is moving ahead with a plan to build a 9.3-mile light rail line that will run from downtown Detroit to the edge of the suburbs. It’ll cost an estimated $500 million. Three-quarters of the bill will be paid by federal taxpayers, with the rest picked up by a consortium of foundations and businesses.

If built, the project will end up on the Mackinac Center’s list of government-subsidized white elephants touted as “crucial to Detroit’s comeback,” its “rebirth,” and pivotal to “turning things around.” In reality, it’ll just be another train to nowhere, much like Detroit’s existing light rail line, the unfortunately named “People Mover,” which operates at 2.5% of capacity.

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Mike Flynn

Exclusive: Court Document Details Congressman’s Past Spousal Abuse

by Mike Flynn

Ohio Democrat Congressman Charlie Wilson was first elected to Congress in the Democrat wave year of 2006. Prior to that, he had been a long-time member of the Ohio state legislature, first elected to the Ohio House in 1996 and the Ohio Senate in 2004. (One of his four grown sons succeeded him in the legislature and is currently an Ohio State Senator.) He was also married for 27 years to his wife, Clara. The marriage ended in divorce in 1990.

BigGovernment has obtained a trial brief filed by Mrs. Clara Wilson prior to the formal divorce proceedings. The brief was filed November 9th, 1990. The brief is part of the public record and was obtained at Belmont County Court House in Ohio.  (Other documents related to the divorce are sealed.) The brief, which is posted below, is shocking and details very serious allegations of spousal abuse. It states that the grounds of divorce are “extreme cruelty.”

Here are relevant parts of the brief. Pay attention to the highlighted excerpts:


Charlie+Wilson

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Kurt Schlichter

The VFW ‘Leadership’ Tries To Avoid Responsibility for the Endorsement Scandal That Threatens the Organization’s Future

by Kurt Schlichter

In the wake of the tsunami of protests from its members over the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) endorsement of a slew of anti-military incumbents, the VFW’s “leadership” has issued a new statement trying to calm the furor and, in doing so, has further embarrassed itself.  You see, to them, the problem isn’t that the VFW allowed its good name to be tarred by supporting candidates like the one who literally partied with Hanoi Jane Fonda.


No, the problem is that you, the veterans, are just too stupid to understand how it’s not the leadership’s fault that this happened on their watch:

Comrades,

The angry tone and tenor of the telephone calls and messages being received at national headquarters make it clear that many of our members are not cognizant of the fact that VFW National By-Laws clearly stipulate that the VFW Commander-in-Chief is not authorized to direct or otherwise attempt to introduce his control over the VFW PAC. Furthermore, no membership dues or donations made to the VFW or VFW Foundation are used for the VFW PAC.

As you know, the recent endorsements by the PAC are the subject of much controversy. Unfortunately, many questions have been raised regarding VFW’s involvement in the endorsement process and the integrity of the organization as a whole. Regrettably, many of our members and supporters are disappointed and have misdirected their anger toward the VFW as having lost its purpose.

Comrades, we cannot sit idly by while a great organization is being disparaged and maligned, even unintentionally. It is vitally important that you take a direct role in alleviating this current flood of criticism by reminding members and supporters that:

– The VFW PAC was created by the VFW members and not by VFW national leaders. 2/3 of the delegates of the 80th VFW National Convention (1979) voted to establish PAC as a standing committee.

– VFW By-Laws stipulate that VFW leadership does not direct PAC activities and that the VFW convention is the governing body of the organization. As such, it is only the delegates at the convention that can determine the continuation of the PAC.

– Encourage VFW members to get involved in their VFW Posts and to exercise and further direct their concerns to convention delegates so that there can be an informed debate on the existence of the PAC.

If I know my vets, they are plenty “cognizant” of when they are being fed a bunch of crap.

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