close
The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20110302175201/http://dougpowers.com/

Mar

2

With Friends Like Huckabee, Obama Doesn’t Need Any Enemies

Filed Under Politics | 1 Comment

Lately, Mike Huckabee has been a one-man defense team for Michelle and Barack Obama for anything from “Let’s Move” to their religious beliefs to the issue of Obama’s citizenship, but he recently became an accidental birther:

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee suggested in a radio interview that President Barack Obama’s childhood in Kenya shaped his worldview — even though Obama did not visit Kenya until he was in his 20s.

The potential Republican presidential candidate told New York radio station WOR on Monday that Obama’s youth led him to resent the West, which he said explains why, in Huckabee’s view, Obama’s foreign policy differs so greatly from that of his predecessors.

“One thing that I do know is his having grown up in Kenya, his view of the Brits, for example, (is) very different than the average American,” Huckabee said, pointing to Obama’s decision in 2009 to remove a bust of former Prime Minister Winston Churchill from the Oval Office.

The Huckster’s spokesman said that Mike of course meant to say Obama gerw up in Indonesia and not Kenya.

But it was enough to make Media Matters have a mini-tizzy, which is always fun.

Mar

1

Navy to Name Warship After John Murtha; Haditha Marines Obviously Didn’t Get a Vote

Filed Under Politics, War | 14 Comments

If you live long enough, you get to see everything:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Navy says it is forging ahead with its decision to name a warship for the late Rep. John Murtha, despite protests the decorated Vietnam War veteran was disloyal in his 2006 accusation that Marines had murdered Iraqi civilians.

Three Facebook sites opposing the Navy’s April 2010 decision bristle with thousands of angry postings. The Navy website with the announcement drew critical comments. The Washington Times voiced its outrage in an editorial entitled “Sink the Murtha.”

But the Navy says it is standing firm.

First there was ABSCAM and the dubious “King of Pork” distinction, but the man lost what was left of his credibility with this 2006 exchange with Tingles (in his pre-Tingle days) about the Haditha Marines who were on trial at the time:

CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: Let me ask you Mr. Murtha to give us some details about that. Draw us a picture of what happened at Haditha.

REP. JOHN “JACK” MURTHA: Well, I’ll tell you exactly what happened. One Marine was killed and the Marines just said we’re going to take care – we don’t know who the enemy is, the pressure was too much on them, so they went into houses and they actually killed civilians. And, and –

MATTHEWS:—was this My Lai? Was this a case of – when you say cold blood Congressman, a lot of people think you’re basically saying you got some civilians sitting in a room around a field and they’re executed.

MURTHA: That’s exactly it.

The Haditha Marines were exonerated and Murtha never apologized. Sure, let’s name a ship after him.

They’re calling it the “USS John P. Murtha” because “USS Accusing Marines of Cold Blooded Murder Before the Facts Were Known” seemed a bit too long.

Mar

1

Help Wanted: Non-Union Astroturfers to Fight for the Union

Filed Under Politics, Unions | 4 Comments

In Indiana, a union is looking to hire some protesters for astroturfing. Don’t look for the union label, though.

It’s safe to assume it’s a non-union gig because it only pays 25 cents more than Indiana’s minimum wage.

Non-union protest labor needs to organize in order to be paid a living wage from the people who claim to be fighting for the working man.

Mar

1

Danny Glover to the Rescue of Indiana Unions

Filed Under Celebrity Idiots, Politics, Unions | 7 Comments

null

If unions are trying to win sympathy, dragging Marxist, commie-hugging actors into the fray to side with them won’t do much to sway public opinion in their favor:

Actor and activist Danny Glover has urged labor union members protesting at the Indiana Statehouse to stand in solidarity against what he called an organized campaign attacking American workers.

Several hundred union members cheered Monday as the star of the “Lethal Weapon” action movies told the protesters they are part of a nationwide battle to stop a “vicious attack” to take more from the middle class.

Anybody else find it odd that the actor who claims to be fighting for American organized labor has a king-size man crush on Hugo Chavez, the guy who runs a country where union leaders are imprisoned for organizing strikes and the “wrong kind” of union activists somehow manage to turn up dead? Rank-and-file American labor might want to think twice before applauding Danny Glover’s world view and asking for the same thing to be brought to the United States.

And speaking of “taking more from the middle class,” the middle class is invited to see Glover’s latest movie… for $9.50 each and another $25 for popcorn and soda.

(h/t Weasel Zippers)

Feb

28

The Civility Keeps on Comin’

Filed Under Politics, Unions | 20 Comments

HW & Bubba’s National Institute on Civil Discourse is going to be full-up if all the people I keep recommending for an intervention and inpatient treatment program end up going there.

The latest example of the new tone comes from… you guessed it — Wisconsin.

WTMJ Radio:

Last Friday…. after the Assembly voted to engross the Budget Repair Bill, [Rep. Gordon] Hintz turned to a female colleague, Rep. Michelle Litjens and said: “You are F***king dead!”

These people are starting to make Sarah Palin’s “bullseye” election map look like a Sesame Street poster.

I don’t think it needs to be mentioned, but you’ll notice that the party affiliation of the above legislator who talks like Al Capone threatening Eliot Ness wasn’t listed. It’s become a redundant fact to mention.

Incidentally, Hintz was cited earlier in the month for violating a city sexual misconduct ordinance, but now he’s back to f**king taxpayers, which unfortunately is perfectly legal.

(h/t Gateway Pundit)

Feb

28

Meet the Kathleen Sebelius of the Muslim World

Filed Under Religion | 4 Comments

Kathleen Sebelius once schooled a reporter on the proper way to sneeze (put your face in the crook of your elbow and say “abortion on demand!”), but this guy’s hygiene lesson is far more comprehensive that Kat’s:

(h/t iOwnTheWorld)

Feb

28

Protesters Refuse to Leave Capitol; Police Melt Like Wisconsin Cheddar in a Fondue Pot

Filed Under Moonbats, Politics, Unions | 6 Comments

null

If these were Tea Partiers, what do you think the police would do?

Of course, that’s a ridiculous scenario, because the Tea Party is respectful of laws and property while the other side isn’t compelled to play by those rules, and unfortunately they have the blessing of the police:

The occupation of the Wisconsin Capitol by protesters fighting efforts to strip public workers of union bargaining rights carried on Sunday after police decided not to forcibly remove demonstrators and end a nearly two-week-long sit-in.

Roughly three hours after a deadline to vacate the building had passed and as police officers continued to look on quietly, protest coordinator Erika Wolf took to a microphone and announced: “There’s really awesomely good news — that we’re going to be able to stay here tonight.”

A cheer went up from the several hundred protesters who had ignored a request from the state agency that oversees the Capitol to leave by 4 p.m. so that the normally immaculate building could get a thorough cleaning.

Leftists rarely care about anything being clean or respected — not even a war memorial — so no surprise there. But by the police doing nothing they’re inviting more of this behavior. Remember though that the police are also unionized, so the question of whether the cops will ultimately put unions or laws first may have been answered in Wisconsin.

I saw an officer being interviewed this morning, and he said “We’re expecting everyone to act in accordance with the laws, but we’ve made a decision not to force anybody out or make arrests.” When leftist thugs heard that, they heard “anything goes.” Running a city on the left-wing honor system… what could possibly go wrong?

Michelle M. has a picture from the slumber party here. Now the Capitol probably smells like a NYC cab, and it could be coming to a state capitol near you.

(h/t HAP)

Feb

28

Oprah Channel’s ‘Titanic Meets Iceberg’ Ratings Not a Good Sign for Olbermann

Filed Under Media | 5 Comments

Apparently there are some who didn’t get the Nielsen memo from 15 years ago concluding that people aren’t likely to follow their heroes anywhere — even a goddess of Hope, Change & pajama parties like Oprah:

Oprah Winfrey is finding out just how hard it is to build an out-of-the-way channel into a television destination.

OWN, her two-month-old channel, is attracting fewer viewers than the obscure channel it replaced, Discovery Health. At any given time this month, there have been about 135,000 people watching OWN, according to the Nielsen Company, and only about 45,000 of those people are women ages 25 to 54, the demographic that the channel is focusing on.

Those ratings levels, down about 10 percent from Discovery Health’s levels last year, are being carefully watched by people who would like to rebuild cable channels around other celebrities, and by investors who worry that OWN is a drag on Discovery’s stock.

Even still, 135,000 watching at any given time is a dream day for Keith Olbermann’s new home, Current, which averages 18,000 viewers in prime time. The “reasoning” is that Olbermann can multiply that by ten. There’s a better chance Barney Frank will get caught in bed with a woman than Olbermann will get 200,000 viewers on a consistent nightly basis on Current.

First of all, like Oprah, for many Olbermann viewers, just getting the channel could require an upgrade to their cable packages. This was a chief complaint of many of Oprah’s freebots. People obviously aren’t paying the freight to keep watching Oprah, and Olbermann’s fans who don’t already get Current won’t either.

Let’s face it, to a good degree, these are groups of people seeking ways to get out of paying for stuff. Instead of paying it themselves, if anything, look for them to lobby Obama to declare that “free cable upgrades are a universal human right” or something like that.

The good news for Gore is that maybe he’ll be able to reclaim some of the money his company loses on this deal by selling Olbermann carbon credits.

Feb

27

Congressman Wu Files Reelection Papers (Paws for Laughter)

Filed Under Politics | 12 Comments

null

What else can I say except I welcome all the material I can get in 2012:

Despite recent news reports of bizarre behavior and calls for his resignation, Rep. David Wu (D-Ore.) has filed for reelection.

Wu filed a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday to be able to run for his seat in 2012.

Two major Oregon newspapers and Oregon Republicans have been calling for Wu’s resignation after revelations, originally reported by The Oregonian, that Wu had been exhibiting strange behavior, including dressing in a tiger costume and sending emails to his staff in the voice of one of his daughters.

Wu’s re-election campaign has already been endorsed by the special interest group Cub for Growth

Feb

26

Palin to Announce in April?

Filed Under Politics | 24 Comments

It’s very early, but so far I’ve been horribly underwhelmed by most of the names being bandied about for the GOP nomination. My grocery list is more exciting. That’s why whenever the name of an actual conservative is mentioned as a possibility, my interest is piqued.

The Republican fray will need one, two, or more, true conservatives to keep the debates focused and to call out candidates who will end up doing little except serving as reasons to vote for Obama. That’s why I want Sarah Palin to throw her bearskin hat into the ring, and every day it’s looking like that will soon happen.

File this under both “slow news day material” and “purely conjecture” for now:

Believe it or not, it’s already high time for presidential hopefuls to kick off their campaigns even though the election isn’t until November 2012 — and we’ve connected some dots that strongly suggest where and when Sarah Palin will be announcing.

HollywoodLife.com has learned that Palin has booked an appearance in April on The Bob and Mark Show on 106.5 KWHL-FM in Anchorage. Sarah has said all along — including on the final episode of her TLC show Sarah Palin’s Alaska — that she would announce her candidacy on the radio via Bob and Mark.

While the exact date hasn’t been confirmed, we’re told that with Sarah’s schedule, her appearance on the show — especially booked so far in advance — can mean only one thing: That she’ll be kicking off her campaign on the radio.

A few weeks ago a Palin appearance this coming May 2nd in Denver was canceled — threats were cited as the reason — but May 2nd also happens to be the date of the first Republican presidential debate at the Reagan Library.

If Palin runs, can she win? I think anybody could win — sometimes that’s the problem — but I’d sure like to see her in the race. She’d certainly be hard to beat on the fundraising end, which is obviously the #1 consideration in the make-or-break rankings. Palin’s one of the few, if not the only one, who doesn’t have a conservative street-cred stain.

Some — Newt Gingrich and Tim Pawlenty for example — are fiscally conservative but with the deal-breaker of having been known to swig Al Gore’s Kool Aid. Others like Huckabee are gullible saps on government motives behind childhood obesity — Huck actually thinks the focus of “Let’s Move” is to make kids healthier, fer cryin’ out loud. Mitt Romney was the original architect of Obamacare, and you know how that flies with conservatives. Ron Paul will win every online poll imaginable while getting slaughtered at the actual polls, so I won’t waste time even going there.

For now, among the candidates who have been mentioned and are likely to run, Sarah Palin’s my choice in the primaries. That is, if she runs… which we may find out soon.