Brandon Wright, Rescued Utah Motorcyclist, Gives Interview

LCR posted the video of Brandon Wright's amazing rescue yesterday. Here, he talks about the experience:



Cross posted at LCR.

Gibson Guitar Company in Fed's Crosshairs

By the Left Coast Rebel



Is it any wonder that American business is dying? Is it any surprise that China and India (not to mention several European nations, Asia et al.) are eclipsing the United States in entrepreneurial activity, wealth creation and business friendliness?



A story like this tells us everything that is wrong with the federal government:

(WSJ) (Memeo) Federal agents swooped in on Gibson Guitar Wednesday, raiding factories and offices in Memphis and Nashville, seizing several pallets of wood, electronic files and guitars. The Feds are keeping mum, but in a statement yesterday Gibson's chairman and CEO, Henry Juszkiewicz, defended his company's manufacturing policies, accusing the Justice Department of bullying the company. "The wood the government seized Wednesday is from a Forest Stewardship Council certified supplier," he said, suggesting the Feds are using the aggressive enforcement of overly broad laws to make the company cry uncle.



(SNIP)



In 2009 the Feds seized several guitars and pallets of wood from a Gibson factory, and both sides have been wrangling over the goods in a case with the delightful name "United States of America v. Ebony Wood in Various Forms."



....But with the new raid, the government seems to be questioning whether some wood sourced from India met every regulatory jot and tittle.



Cross an international border with an instrument made of that now-restricted wood, and you better have correct and complete documentation proving the age of the instrument. Otherwise, you could lose it to a zealous customs agent—not to mention face fines and prosecution.

Potentially illegal Indian ebony wood? Oh my.



The WSJ also includes an extremely spooky, related story in the link above:

Consider the recent experience of Pascal Vieillard, whose Atlanta-area company, A-440 Pianos, imported several antique Bösendorfers. Mr. Vieillard asked officials at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species how to fill out the correct paperwork—which simply encouraged them to alert U.S. Customs to give his shipment added scrutiny.

There was never any question that the instruments were old enough to have grandfathered ivory keys. But Mr. Vieillard didn't have his paperwork straight when two-dozen federal agents came calling.

Facing criminal charges that might have put him in prison for years, Mr. Vieillard pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of violating the Lacey Act, and was handed a $17,500 fine and three years probation.

The delicious irony here is that a lot of musicians -- and creative musical types -- are raging libs that vote in ludicrous gunpoint-enforced laws like this.



Now, when their houses are raided (or companies) and they face airport coercion and molestation, they know what it feels like to be on the receiving end of government largess.

A conservative is a liberal musician who's

been mugged by the federal government

Update (by Proof): I saw this story. I started to comment and then the comment kept growing. Full disclosure: I owned a Gibson twelve string back in the early 80's.



It's sad that the oxymoron known as the Obama Justice Department won't protect the integrity of our voting system by prosecuting hate crimes committed at polling places (if the offender is a certain race or color), won't uphold the integrity of our borders against illegal immigration, failed miserably against tracking illegal gun sales to Mexico, (even encouraging and expediting them), but will enforce laws against raw milk producers and now, regulations about where wood comes from for a musical instrument.



Note to guitar pickers: The cost of your next Gibson just went up.



Note to Gibson employees: The Feds just gave your boss another reason to ship your jobs overseas.



Have a nice day!



Update II (by Proof): According to Doug Ross, campaign contributions (or the lack thereof) may have contributed to the raid(s).

One of Gibson’s leading competitors is C.F. Martin & Company. The C.E.O., Chris Martin IV, is a long-time Democratic supporter, with $35,400 in contributions to Democratic candidates and the DNC over the past couple of election cycles. According to C.F. Martin’s catalog, several of their guitars contain “East Indian Rosewood.” In case you were wondering, that is the exact same wood in at least ten of Gibson’s guitars.

It's good to know that the oxymoronically named Obama Justice Department is above being used to punish one's political opponents or reward partisan political support. /sarcasm





Cross posted. More at Memeorandum

Meredith Whitney, "Tea Party = Freaked out White Men Who are Unemployed" Rick Santelli, Tea Party Movement Founding Father, Responds

By the Left Coast Rebel

Banking analyst Meredith Whitney thought she could impress the limo-lib, I'm-already-rich-but-support-policies-ensuring-you-will-never-be cocktail crowd, disparaging Tea Party Americans as "unemployed freaked-out white men."



How nice:







Rick Santelli doesn't take this disgusting jab sitting down; rather he strikes right back at Whitney's vile comment. This is just what patriots must do in today's world -- stand up, fight back, never letting leftist -- whether they are "banking analysts," SEIU members, Marxist college professors, spoiled-brat youth screaming, MINE, MINE, MINE! -- intimidate or belittle you.



Also, Santelli's King George comment is simple and absolutely correct.



I have said here many time in the last several years that today's statists -- in both political parties -- operate from a governance worldview that puts King George to shame. For example, my wife and I took a historic tour here in downtown Philly. We passed several colonial homes, several still even had the Benjamin Franklin Insurance plaque above the home's entrance.



Our tour guide noted that property owners faced exorbitant King George levies for various things -- steps leading up to their homes, windows, closets, essential living items, etc. I commented to my wife that we haven't learned anything from history and that, in fact, today's socialist-progressive is likely far worse than King George's tyranny; the difference being that we let it happen on our watch.



Aside from race-baiting limo-lib Tea Party swipe from some stupid lib banker, the bigger truth is that black Americans -- by sheer percentages -- are the Great Recession's most adversely-affected group.



I wonder what the response would be if a conservative said that this recession/depression only truly affected "freaked-out black men?"



Why is it that the first black president in this nation's history gets a pass on creating the worst African-American job market this nation has seen witnessed the Great Depression?



Hmm?



Via Newsbusters, hat-tip WC Varones.



Cross-posted.

Is CA-36 up for Grabs? Follow Robert Stacy McCain's Coverage of CA-36

By the Left Coast Rebel

This morning (Saturday) is the first time I have been able to sit down and check out the blogosphere....I'm behind on a lot of things, like the details and updates in California's 36 Congressional district race.

Robert Stacy McCain called me on Thursday and I promised to give him a big hat-tip and put my Google-search-engine-stamp on the salacious CA-36 story.

Here's the lede (the meat and potatoes) of the story, from Stacy, last month:

Janice Hahn is the Democrat running for Congress in the July 12 special election in California’s 36th District, to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Jane Harman.

As a member of the Los Angeles City Council, Hahn promoted a program to use taxpayer money to hire convicted criminals as “gang intervention specialists.” Predictably, Hahn’s government employment program for gangsters amounted to a taxpayer subsidy for violent crime.

A potential California liberal congress-critter (I know, that's redundant) that hired convicts? Sounds juicy indeed. It doesn't stop there, though. Stacy has followed with several updates from mid to late June:

• June 22: Ladd’s Ad Gets Results
• June 21: Conservative PAC Asks Law Enforcement to Investigate DOS Attack on Web Site
• June 16: CA-36: The Facts of the Case
• June 15: CA-36: Hahn’s Bad Rap?
• June 15: CA-36: Anti-Hahn Video Draws More Than 75,000 Viewers in First 18 Hours
• June 14: BREAKING: Democrats Call on GOP Candidate to Denounce PAC Video

Are you up to speed?

The plot thickens, keep your focus, this is crazy stuff.

Apparently this Democrat -- Janice Hahn -- was not happy with a particular L.A. news station coverage of her involvement in the convicts-for-hire program. Hahn's lawyers issued a cease and desist order against the station! Again, Stacy writes:

When Janice Hahn’s lawyers sent a cease-and-desist letter to KTTV Fox 11 — trying to stop the Los Angeles station from following up on its 2008 investigation of Hahn’s controversial “gang intervention” progam — they probably didn’t expect this. “Large mistake, madame,” says the award-winning Ace of Spades. Because KTTV and Chris Blatchford not only stood by their original coverage, they followed up with an in-depth eight-minute report that devastates Hahn’s credibility.

Here's the video from KTTV that Stacy eludes to:

Whiskey, tango, foxtrot! Hahn is facing her Republican candidate, Craig Huey on Tuesday. Does this lunacy mean that a G.O.P'er actually has a shot at a congressional seat here in the People's Republic of Kalifornia?

Stranger things have happened, like pigs flying and cows jumping over the moon...so we can all cross our fingers for next week's results. A Huey victory would be a pleasant palate cleanser after the November, 2010 Democrat rout here in California.

Follow The Other McCain's coverage of CA-36 here.

(PHOTO) Irony: 'To Catch a Predator' host Chris Hansen a Predator Himself, Caught Cheating on Wife with 30-year-old Blonde Kristyn Caddell

By the Left Coast Rebel

The host of 'To Catch a Predator' seems to be inspired by his own show (not in good way).

What Chris Hansen did was legal because the blonde reporter Kristyn Caddell that he was cheating on his wife (pictured at the left of this post) and family with is 30 years old -- but it doesn't mean it's not sultry, bizarre and deliciously ironic.

Hansen is in his 50s.

From the Mail Online:

He's made his name with a controversial show that catches would-be internet sex perverts in televised stings.

But now Chris Hansen has found himself on the receiving end of his own hidden camera tactics, after the married NBC anchor was secretly filmed on an illicit date with a blonde television reporter 20 years his junior.

Hansen, 51, has allegedly been having an affair with Kristyn Caddell, a 30-year-old Florida journalist, for the last four months.

I wonder if Chris Hansen will himself be featured as a predator in a new season of 'To Catch a Predator'?

Via Memeorandum and cross-posted to LCR.

New York's Gay Marriage Vote Glosses Over the Fact that Obama Punted the Issue

By the Left Coast Rebel

On Friday, New York legalized gay marriage. Frankly, my only question on this news is why did it take so long? One would figure that a state dominated by the metropolis New York City would have taken this stand years ago. Is upstate really that commanding of New York politics? Judging by how liberal-Democrat-dominated the state's politics are, I didn't think so.

As historic a moment in New York as it is, the issue has made everyone -- including the left -- forget that Obama can't even stand by the gay constituency:



Obama seeing the light on states' rights for the first time? Yah, that's called punting an issue and throwing a key constituency under the bus, this certainly won't help him in 2012, either.

Also read: At American Power, "Obama Heckled at LGBT Democrat Fundraiser in Manhattan!"

Via Memeorandum, cross posted to LCR.

AlGore Inc.: Bad for the Green Agenda?

By the Left Coast Rebel

I don't have a problem with Al Gore being a problem for the quest-for-global-domination greenie-weenie agenda.

Frankly, if Gore is ineffective, if he is hypocritical and off-putting, if he has discredited the green agenda; setting it back due to his caustic-alarmist personality and AlGore Inc. billionaire-esque lavish, carbon-chomping lifestyle then I'm all for it.

No movement today poses a bigger threat to take away our quality of life and liberty like the "watermelon: green on the outside, red on the inside" environmental movement. I stand by anyone that discredits it, intentionally or not.

Why am I mentioning this? Walter Russel Meade got me thinking this morning writing an outstanding barn-burner piece up at The American Interest today:

Once out of office, he assumed the leadership of the global green movement, steering that movement into a tsunami of defeat that, when the debris is finally cleared away, will loom as one of the greatest failures of civil society in all time.

Gore has the Midas touch in reverse; objects of great value (Nobel prizes, Oscars) turn dull and leaden at his touch. Few celebrity cause leaders have had more or better publicity than Gore has had for his climate advocacy. Hailed by the world press, lionized by the entertainment community and the Global Assemblage of the Great and the Good as incarnated in the Nobel Peace Prize committee, he has nevertheless seen the movement he led flounder from one inglorious defeat to the next.

(....)

You can be a leading environmentalist and fail to pay all of your taxes. You can be a leading environmentalist and be unkind to your aged mother. You can be a leading environmentalist and squeeze the toothpaste tube from the middle, park in the handicapped spots at the mall or scribble angry marginal notes in library books.

But you cannot be a leading environmentalist who hopes to lead the general public into a long and difficult struggle for sacrifice and fundamental change if your own conduct is so flagrantly inconsistent with the green gospel you profess.

There's lots more at the link so READ THE REST. Discussion via Memeorandum, cross posted to LCR, graphic via Saberpoint.

And All I Got Was This Crappy $30 T-shirt?

By the Left Coast Rebel

My local San Diego Tea Party compatriots with the Southern California Tax Revolt Coaltion are a smart bunch. Many of them sign up to leftist newsletters and email alerts from various nutroots/Obama/Soros-funded outfits. It's a great way to feel the pulse of the far, far, left. What better way to know what is worrying them than to sign up for their "alerts" and such?

Having said that, this little gem was in the inbox of a San Diego Tea Partier, an alert from Obama's "Obama for America" re-election outfit:

Dear Obama supporter -- We just launched our full 2012 campaign online store, where you can pick up new shirts, stickers, signs, mugs, water bottles, and all sorts of other gear. Those '08 bumper stickers and t-shirts are a source of pride, but getting your 2012 stuff now can show your determination to see through all the work we've started together. Donate $30 or more today and get your 2012 T-shirt: https://donate.barackobama.com/2012Shirt There's a lot to do in the coming months to build this campaign, and the President's counting on us to be the ones to get that work started. How about a new 2012 shirt to wear while you're out there at phone banks, knocking on doors, or just going about your day? Donate $30 or more today to get your T-shirt: https://donate.barackobama.com/2012Shirt Thanks, Julianna Julianna Smoot Deputy Campaign Manager Obama for America

Contributions or gifts to Obama for America are not tax deductible.

"Thirty bucks and all I got is this crappy shirt?"

I can hear it right now as Teh One goes down in smoldering electoral flames, November 4, 2012.

Methinks these won't sell nearly as well at the ObamMao t-shirts that were flying off the shelves in Shanghai (the Chinese, of all people, know a Dear Leader type when they see one) or perhaps the post-election Obama-mania merchandise for sale near a few blocks away from D.C.

Exit question: Anyone want to make millions opening a shop that does nothing more than laser removal of Hope and Change tramp-stamps?

Related: At Politico, via Memeorandum, "Poll: 3 in 10 sure they'll vote for Obama." Cross posted to LCR.

John Edwards Weird Connection to Gazillionaire Heiress Bunny Mellon

By the Left Coast Rebel

The weird gets weirder. A few weeks before John Edwards (smiling mugshot, right) was indicted on six felonies, prosecutors found that he was "requesting" millions of dollars from an heiress named "Bunny" Mellon (her full name is Rachel Lowe Lambert Lloyd Mellon).

"Mellon" sounds like a porn star, doesn't it? I'm cross posting this and thought that Proof would be happy to see a post that ties in a hottie named "Mellon" in another post about the Edwards scandal.

You'd be sorely mistaken, Rachel Lowe Lambert Lloyd Mellon is a 101-year-old (in August) heiress who thought that John Edwards was the second coming of JFK.

Daily Beast:

Back in 2003, when Edwards was in the midst of his first presidential campaign, the widow of billionaire art collector, National Gallery patron and racehorse breeder Paul Mellon (Bunny’s second husband) had fallen hard for the handsome, thick-maned senator. She told intimates that he strongly reminded her of her old friend John F. Kennedy. She impulsively bought a full-page ad in the local newspaper celebrating Edwards as “a new wind” in American politics, and placed “John Edwards for President” yard signs along the roadside of the sprawling Mellon estate, Oak Spring Farms—an act not calculated to ingratiate herself with her snobby Republican neighbors in Upperville, Virginia.

Handsome, thick-maned senator? And...it gets weirder:

In 2007 and 2008, at the height of his crusade against the “Two Americas,” Mrs. Mellon secretly gave Edwards a total of $700,000 for his personal use—paying required gift taxes of up to 45 percent—at the behest of Young, who was acting as Edwards’ bag man. Young told her that the senator had an urgent “personal need,” according to a knowledgeable source. Bunny Mellon’s friends say Young didn’t reveal that the so-called “need” apparently was Edwards’ sex partner, New Age videographer Rielle Hunter, the mother of his love child—and they claim Mrs. Mellon was shocked, shocked, when she finally learned the truth.

Yes, this disgusting, shameless man was the sugar daddy of a 100-year-old lady with incredibly poor judgment and taste. Then again, she was in her nineties at the time, begging the question: what kind of man would take advantage of the generosity of a very, very, old lady?

Answer: someone like John Edwards, Anthony Weiner, and the Republican equivalents of Newt Gingrich, Vitter, et al.

Because of her "relationship" with Edwards, Bunny is now in hot water.

ABC News:

But the government alleges that Mellon also was the principal source of money that enabled Edwards to conceal his affair.

Identified in the criminal indictment against Edwards only as "Person C," Mellon provided more than $700,000 that the government alleges were unlawful contributions that went to pay the living and medical expenses of Rielle Hunter while Edwards continued his pursuit of the nomination.

Memo to century-old heiresses -- choose your friends wisely.

Via Memeorandum.

More Bad Economic Numbers

Keynsian econonmics prolonged the Great Depression, too. Image c/o Wayne State U.

By the Left Coast Rebel

Had CNBC on this morning and caught the fugly results on the jobs front. Even the talking heads noted the failure of QE2 (thereby Keynsian economics).

WC Varones has the basics on today's numbers:

• May Nonfarm Private Payroll 83K vs 180K consensus (triple ouch)
  

• May Nonfarm Payrolls 54K vs 169K consensus; prior revised to 232K from 244K (ouch)
  

• March Nonfarm Payrolls revised to 194K from 235K (double ouch)
  

• May Average Workweek 33.6 vs 34.3 consensus (ouch)
  

• May Unemployment Rate 9.1% vs 9.0% consensus (ouch, ouch, ouch)
  

As WC notes, fascism doesn't work. The markets have not been allowed to heal on their own, the federal government (and Fed) have created more debt and even that hasn't improved conditions today.

We need a complete makeover in our government and takeover by those who understand and respect the free market.

More economic news from CNBC:

U.S. employers hired far fewer workers than expected in May and the jobless rate rose to 9.1 percent as high energy prices and the effects of Japan's earthquake bogged down the economy.

Nonfarm payrolls increased 54,000 last month, the weakest reading since September, the Labor Department said on Friday.

Private employment rose just 83,000, the least since last June, while government payrolls dropped 29,000. Economists had expected payrolls to rise 150,000 and private hiring to increase 175,000 in May.

The government revised employment figures for March and April to show 39,000 fewer jobs created than previously estimated.

The job creation slowdown confirmed the economic weakness already flagged by other data from consumer spending to manufacturing.

Hope and Change!

The good news about data like this is that it makes it really, really, really hard for Teh One to achieve reelection, assuming of course that the Republican party does not nominate a squishy RINO with no fiscal conservative bona fides -- a distinct possibility -- given their track record in the last few cycles.

Via Memeorandum, cross posted to LCR.

Meet the 77,000

By the Left Coast Rebel

77,000 Federal employees that make more than the governors of their respective states, that is.

All aboard the Gravy Train:

More than 77,000 federal government employees throughout the country -- including computer operators, more than 5,000 air traffic controllers, 22 librarians and one interior designer -- earned more than the governors of the states in which they work.

The findings, from a Congressional Research Service report requested by Sen. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican, were released at a time when public workers' salaries and benefits are under scrutiny across the country as governments try to streamline.

CRS reviewed 2009 salary figures, the most recent available, and found 77,057 employees who earned more in annual pay than their respective governors. Of those workers, 18,351 were doctors -- the highest percentage. The second-highest total was for 5,170 air traffic controllers -- likely both front-line controllers and their supervisors.

In Maryland, 7,283 federal employees -- about 7 percent of all full-time federal employees in the state -- earned more than Gov. Martin O'Malley's $150,000 salary. Maryland was topped by Colorado, which in 2009 had 10,875 employees who made more than the $90,000 salary of the governor, Bill Ritter.

When in the hell did so-called "public service" (a flagrant misnomer in itself) end up being a 1st-class ticket on the gravy train? It won't be pretty when a majority of Americans wake up and figure out what our own "benevolent" government -- in cahoots with public sector unions -- has done to fleece our nation.

Image via Freaking News.

Via Memeorandum, cross posted to LCR.

Weinergate Update: Weiner Pulls a Boner, Calls Hill Reporter, "jackass"

Wienergate update

By the Left Coast Rebel

First, a refresher on the term my grandmother used for a mistake:

bon·er/ˈbōnər/Noun

1. A stupid mistake.

I know I poo-poo'ed Weinergate earlier today and thought it would end up dust in the wind of the 24-hour news cycle lamestream media within a day.

Guess not.

Memo to a Wiener: act combative and elusive with the press and (even though they love you), damned if those sharks don't circle!

This is simply too good to not post:



ABC News:

Rep. Anthony Weiner’s response to the flap around a lewd photo posted from his Twitter account went from dismissive and joking over the weekend to frustrated and combative Tuesday in Washington, when the Congressman became agitated with reporters and called a TV producer a “jackass.”

Jackass? Blood in the water! It's pretty funny watching such a narcisstic tool self implode so quickly.

Cross posted to LCR.

Texas Governor Rick Perry to be GOP 2012 Wild Card?

Texas Governor Rick Perry to enter the 2012 race? Image via Governor Rick Perry/Flickr

By the Left Coast Rebel

Via The Hill:

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) said he will consider running for president in 2012.

Perry had previously taken himself out of contention for the Republican nomination but he has been walking back on that in recent days.His comments on Friday were the strongest to date.

“I’m going to think about it” when the Texas legislature adjourns on Monday, Perry said, according to the Austin American-Statesman.

Most consider the GOP primary field to be set, but several Republicans have expressed unhappiness with their choices, prompting speculation a dark-horse candidate could enter the race.

I still contend that a dark-horse candidate (no offense, Herman Cain) will emerge when people least expect it. This dark horse -- or relative unknown individual at this point -- will enter the race late and may come to the table with true fiscal-conservative bona fides and sans the baggage that every candidate has at this point.

A Rick Perry candidacy may play into this theme. What do you think?

More discussion: Pajamas Media, Wake up America, Hot Air, Big Government, and The Gateway Pundit.

Via Memeorandum, cross posted to LCR.

(VIDEO) Dinamo Bucharest midfielder Elis Bakaj Dodges Firework During Romanian Cup Final

By the Left Coast Rebel

Caught this video this morning of Dinamo Bucharest midfielder named Elis Bakaj (in red, on the right), narrowly escaping getting smacked down by a large firework during the recent Romanian Cup Final :

Want the story behind the rogue firework? Gotta love this British commentary from Metro.UK:

The nimble winger had already skinned his marker on the flank, and was bursting into the Steaua box when a firecracker was launched from the crowd.

Not one to shirk at the sight of a bright light, Bakaj showed he was definitely no Gremlin by dodging the smoking missile, and still managed to get his cross in anyway. What a man.

Unfortunately nothing came of his unbelievable tekkers, and just to rub salt in, Steaua went on to lift the cup thanks to goals from Nicolae Dica, and an own goal from Stefan Barboianu in a 2-1 win.

It was Steaua’s 21st cup victory in the club's history, and by the spirit of the crowd, we’re sure the celebrations were a real blast.

"The nimble winger had already skinned his marker on the flank....?"

Sounds painful!

Cross posted to LCR.

Classless and Clueless: Obama Takes on The Donald at White House Correspondent Dinner

by the Left Coast Rebel

In grade school, what did you do with the persistent bully or annoying kid that didn't like you and was always nipping at your heels? Remember back, I'm sure it sounded something like this:

"Ooh, look at junior's shoes, haha, did your mom dress you?" "You throw like a girl!" "My friends are waaay cooler than yours...."

All of us have been there, albeit a long time ago.

So what did you do with said bully? Take him head-on and fight at every point? Or just ignore him, which eventually made him go away.

Not Obama, no, no, no. The leader of the Free World thinks that a guy with a dead cat on his head is public enemy numero uno.

Here's video of Teh One from last night's White House Correspondents' Dinner Useful Idiot Bobbleheads Mouthpieces for the Leftist Cause Dinner. One only has to go 10 seconds in to get the idea:

The Donald was taken aback (and laughing all the way to the bank) by the fact that the focus of Obama's speech was focused on his truly:

"Well, I really understood what I was getting into — I didn't know that I'd be virtually the sole focus," Trump said. "I guess when you're leading in the polls that sort of thing tends to happen. But I was certainly in a certain way having a good time listening. I don't think the American people are having a good time with $5 gas. ... I was thinking to myself as they were doing this, you know, the American people are really suffering and we're all" having fun at a gala.

And....Obama plays right into Trump's trump-card hand, how genius of him and for the press to go along with it all.

Even George W. Bush -- for all of his faults and failures as President -- would have known better than to have attacked every one of his detractors as Obama has (Fox News, Chamber of Commerce, entrepreneurs, business, bitter-clingerers and The Guy With the Dead Cat on his Head who is most likely part of a giant conspiracy for Teh One's reelection...).

Obama's petulance highlights a man not comfortable in his own skin; someone that has never had to face criticism of any kind; a petulant man that tripped and stumbled into the presidency and has no clue what the hell he is doing.

Seriously, I'm no Trump fan but addressing him directly like this? So weird and Dear Leader-esque.

On a related note, I have been thinking about the entire Trump/birth certificate/presidential run/media attention deal and think that there is a high possibility that something beyond fishy is going on: Trump may be a Democrat plant, inserted by Soros and the ruling class and a Perot-like spoiler that runs on an independent ticket and keeps a genuine conservative from having any chance in the general election.

What do you think?

Added: The Donald shows up last night and is promptly booed by the lapdog Obama press (who are stupid enough -- all of them -- to go along with the whole charade):

Cross posted to LCR contributor sites Rational Nation and RightKlik.

(VIDEO) Drunk Verger Ben Sheward Does Cartwheels in Westminster Abbey After Royal Wedding

by the Left Coast Rebel

We didn't blog or discuss the Royal Wedding yesterday although I found myself incredibly tempted to do so when I saw footage of a Royal Horse royally heading for the Royal Family or Royal Peoples (actually, "commoners", lo and behold).

"Events" like the Royal Wedding don't hold my fleeting interest. I just have a weird personality. For instance the Rose Parade here in California makes my eyes glaze over and develop one of those inner eyelids that sharks have (also known as a nictitating membrane, don't ask how I know that).

Now, if a runaway military tank came barreling down the rose parade avenue, then you would have captivated my hard-to-earn interest (it actually happened here in San Diego, years ago and no, it wasn't affiliated with a parade, just some idiot with inner-working knowledge of an M60 Patton that thought he could terrorize the area with a tank. He died and nearly killed a bunch of people in the meantime).

But, I just can't help myself: I've been that way ever since I was a kid. Some call it ADHD, I call it the 'curse of the overactive mind' or just being a plain-and-simple weirdo (my wife agrees).

Why do I mention any and all of this? Well, I have to blog about the Royal Wedding, or at least something that happened right after the ceremony: video of a priest (actually a verger named Ben Sheward) doing cartwheels at Westminster Abbey, posthaste:

Now that's funny!

But, I wonder if he will be beheaded for his transgression? Remember, not so many hundreds of years ago, King Henry VIII had his wife Anne Boleyn beheaded on the charges of adultery, incest and plotting to murder the king (and with no proof and not necessarily in that order).

And yes, she had 6 fingers on one hand and a large goiter on her neck.

Cross posted to LCR.

(VIDEO) Eyewitness, Ground-Level Views of Tornadoes in Tuscaloosa, Alabama

by the Left Coast Rebel

Eyewitness videos shot at ground level yesterday, during the tornadoes that ravaged the Tuscaloosa, Oklahoma area. In this video you can hear the eyewitness (in his/her car) breathing heavily, it's pretty obvious that the tornado may have headed straight for the car that they are in:

This one was shot by Youtube user Jason835a, described as, "This video is from the EF4 tornado that went through Tuscaloosa, AL on 4/27/11. It was taken from the University Mall parking lot. Probably the closest video to the storm your going to see." Again, it sure looks to me like the twister could have headed straight for him, too (and then it does and he speeds away, check the 3:00 mark for true insanity):

An eyewitness caught this footage from his cellphone vidcam as the tornado towers over the stadium in Tuscaloosa, Oklahoma:

The Associated Press reports:

PLEASANT GROVE, Ala. (AP) -- Dozens of tornadoes spawned by a powerful storm system wiped out neighborhoods across a wide swath of the South, killing at least 201 people in the deadliest outbreak in nearly 40 years, and officials said Thursday they expected the death toll to rise.

Alabama's state emergency management agency said it had confirmed 131 deaths, while there were 32 in Mississippi, 16 in Tennessee, 13 in Georgia, eight in Virginia and one in Kentucky.

The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said it received 137 tornado reports around the regions into Wednesday night."We were in the bathroom holding on to each other and holding on to dear life," said Samantha Nail, who lives in a blue-collar subdivision in the Birmingham suburb of Pleasant Grove where the storm slammed heavy pickup trucks into ditches and obliterated tidy brick houses, leaving behind a mess of mattresses, electronics and children's toys scattered across a grassy plain where dozens used to live. "If it wasn't for our concrete walls, our home would be gone like the rest of them."

Dave Imy, a meteorologist with the prediction service, said the deaths were the most in a tornado outbreak since 1974, when 315 people died.

In Alabama, where as many as a million people were without power, Gov. Robert Bentley said 2,000 national guard troops had been activated and were helping to search devastated areas for people still missing. He said the National Weather Service and forecasters did a good job of alerting people, but there is only so much that can be done to deal with powerful tornadoes a mile wide.

One of the hardest-hit areas was Tuscaloosa, a city of more than 83,000 and home to the University of Alabama. A massive tornado, caught on video by a news camera on a tower, barreled through late Wednesday afternoon, leveling the city.

Via Google Trends and Memeorandum, cross posted to LCR.

Wow! Obama's Official Long-Form Birth Certificate

by the Left Coast Rebel

As Sam Foster wrote early this morning, the White House just released Obama's official "long-form" birth certificate. Sam had a great take on the issue in that the Obama birth certificate issue has actually been the longest running Clinton scandal. Proof also gives his readers a head's up below this post.

Nevertheless, the question for me -- given the ease at which the White House got their grubby paws on and released the long-form birth certificate -- is what gives and why didn't they do this before?

I smell a thick trail of rank incompetence and William Jacobson agrees:

The ease with which the White House obtained the documents demonstrates the rank idiocy of the mainstream media, which has been feeding us a steady stream of excuses as to why Obama could not obtain the document.

Professor Jacobson is on to something here: the media-led frantic discussion on Obama's m.i.a. long-form birth certificate proves just how idiotic they are. And, they played right into the publicity whore Donald Trump's hand, giving him tens of millions of dollars of free promotion and airtime (but it was entertaining to watch him use the fools in the press as he did).

We can all breathe a deep sigh of relief and bask in the glory of today's historic moment, gather together and rejoice that everything is back to normal.

America -- he actually is one of us -- even though he hates our freedoms, founding principles, rich people, is bankrupting the nation, is surrounded by communists and czars, had communist parents and a communist childhood mentor, was a racist/socialist agitator crony in Chicago, attended and had his daughters baptized in a church that taught Marxist Black Liberation Theology, taught Alinksy's Rules for Radicals, declared his candidacy in the home of a domestic terrorist...(just to name a few).

And there you have it! America is now the place that I knew in my youth...

Cross posted to LCR, Rational Nation. Discussion via Memeorandum.

(VIDEO) St. Louis, Missouri Tornado 2011, Lambert Airport Security Video

by the Left Coast Rebel

From RT:

Security cameras video released by Lambert Airport shows dramatic pictures of the tornado that hit St. Louis on Friday. The airport reopened on Saturday night for a handful of arriving flights, and officials expected around 70 percent of the scheduled arrivals and departures to go on as planned early on Sunday. Some 750 homes in the St. Louis region were damaged, and less than 100 were uninhabitable, by the 128 kilometres per hour (80 miles per hour) tornado, officials said.

Updated: This ain't Kansas any more!

YouTube video of people in the airport watching the storm (some laughing at the scene), and then being rushed to take cover inside the Terminal 2 at Lambert Airport:

Scary stuff and shocking that no one was killed.

Proof and I here in California may have to contend with earthquakes and apocalyptic wildfires but at least we don't deal with anything like this!

First Anti-Obama TV Ad, "Barack Obama's Legacy of Failure"

by the Left Coast Rebel

I just saw (and grabbed) this video from Just a Conservative Girl's site, the first (of many to come down the pike) ads against the reelection of The One (brought to you by Tea Party Express):

I hate to beat this drum and sound so negative again but I must say that the reelection of Barack Hussein Obama would be a near impossibility if it were not for the outrageously weak GOP presidential field. If The One is reelected, I lay the blame squarely at the inept GOP leadership and the field at this point.

Will a true conservative leader emerge; one that the nation will rally around and be excited to support? We'll see but I highly doubt it and we all need to brace ourselves for it.

And for now, Obama's disastrous tenure and record of turning America into a third-tier banana republic is a moot point when the alternative from the "opposition" party is a no-show.

Related discussion: Memeorandum. Cross posted to LCR.