Author: Moe_Lane

Obama’s Power Grab on signing statements.

I am backed up by a recognized scholar of constitutional law on this one, by the way.

President Obama’s decision to use signing statements to modify Congressional legislation directly attacks the ‘checks and balances’ to our government set up by the Founders. He is attempting to ‘accumulate more power in the Presidency’, using the claim that he ‘can basically change what Congress passed’ when it comes to legislation; Obama thinks that he has the right to indicate that he can ‘choose to interpret it this way, or that way’, depending on whether he agrees ‘with this part or that part’. In short, he wants to ‘make laws as he’s going along’, and ‘that’s not part of his power’.

Hey, if you don’t believe me, listen to this guy. He’s pretty vehement on the subject:


(H/T: Hot Air)

Just do it fast, before YouTube takes it down for whatever the excuse is this week. Continue reading Obama’s Power Grab on signing statements.

The latest New York Times did yet another story on Steele…

…only this time it had a very welcome sentence in it.

“Mr. Steele declined a request for an interview.”

Dan Riehl caught this first, and I concur: there are times when you pick yourself up, walk it off, and get back to work – and Steele’s gotten to that point. Yes, the media doesn’t love the GOP, except as a punching bag. And yes, the media loves to see Red-on-Red fights, the latest of which has spent far too much time occupying people’s brains than it should have for the last two weeks. And yes, there are ongoing philosophical issues between the various factions of the GOP that are causing all sorts of dynamic tension / impending meltdown / what have you.

Meanwhile, there’s a race going on up in NY-20. Is that less important to you than whether Steele’s sufficiently pro-life? If it isn’t, Tedisco can always use the help. There’s also a race going on over in IL-05. Are you looking for a better hill to fight and maybe die on than whether or not Rush is going to doom the GOP? If you are, Pulido wants to hear from you. Virginia and New Jersey are having elections for governor this year. Are you tired of the debate over who should be the next Presidential candidate? Then the NJ GOP and the VA GOP would be happy to redirect your interests to something a bit more topical.

I could go on, but hopefully you get the point. There is business that must be attended to, and at this point we are merely amusing the Other Side.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

What a trillion dollars looks like.

PageTutor walks you through the process, starting with a hundred dollar bill, moving up to bundles, piles, pallets, and finally the actual trillion itself. It’s best experienced in full on the site in question; like Arhur Dent, you sort of have to work your way up from the loss of McDonald’s to the earth being vaporized to make way for a hyperspace bypass.

Via American Elephant.

I have a few responses to UN SecGen’s ‘deadbeat’ comment…

…(via Jules Crittenden) it’s just that most of them are foul. Which, by a fascinating coincidence, is precisely the word that I’d use to describe the actions that the UN bureaucracy often finds itself involved in, usually involving children and teenagers.

I will promise this, though: if the President decides to go a little further than ‘unfortunate‘ I won’t stop him.  If he decides that our current economic crisis requires that we delay paying off the UN for a couple of quarters – or years – I promise not to say a word of criticism.  Heck, I’ll even unbend enough to say “Well done.”

Moe Lane

PS: Actually, I do have one semi-witty response: “Ban Ki Moon, do you know what the real estate value is for the land at Turtle Bay?  Because I bet that Mayor Bloomberg does.”

Crossposted to RedState.

What *did* Greenwald mean by ‘people like Chuck Schumer?’

After all, it couldn’t have been ‘swarmy, over-privileged, obnoxiously arrogant would-be aristocrat.’

Which is what I’d mean by that; but Greenwald’s a member of the Online Left, so that sort of thing wouldn’t bug him when it comes to a reliable Democrat.

None the less, Dan Riehl noted that Greenwald isn’t happy about the sudden cratering of Chas Freeman’s career:

Isn’t it rather obvious that at some point, there will be a substantial and understandable backlash as Americans watch people like Chuck Schumer openly boast that anyone who makes “statements against Israel” that he deems “over the top” will be disqualified from serving in our Government, despite a long and distinguished record of public service and unchallenged expertise?

As usual, I don’t directly link to pro-torture sites like Greenwald’s if I can help it; Dan’s got the link. I’d also like to note that the answer is “no, it’s not obvious.” Unlike Greenwald, most Americans don’t hate Jews Israelis Zionists are we still using ‘Likudniks’? I can never keep track. Continue reading What *did* Greenwald mean by ‘people like Chuck Schumer?’

‘Because I couldn’t fly.’

– As Age of Sail reminds us, this was reportedly the reply by Colonel John Cope to the question of why he run all the way from from Edinburgh to Carlisle (about 74 or so miles) to escape a rebel Highlander regiment.

Speaking as the grandson of a MacMillan, I’m not surprised in the slightest.

AoS has the song by the Tannahill Weavers up at the site, as well as another pretty good post right afterward illustrated how AoS naval fiction writers have such a untapped field of historical narrative to draw from. Check ’em both out.

Moe Lane

PS:

‘Left finally comes to terms that Obama is not Jesus. Jesus could actually build a cabinet’

– From Fark, of course. Referencing the Vivek Kundra situation, which is actually not clearing the fellow; it’s merely indicating that he’s not a target right now. Right now the Feds have gotten access to the fishing hole and are casting out their nets to see what they can catch. After that, comes the plea bargaining. After that, comes… whatever comes.

Sent to me by my lovely and talented wife.

Crossposted to RedState.

Obama to skip the Gridiron Club Dinner. Unsurprisingly.

Don Surber called it with regard to Obama snubbing the Gridiron Club:

Pres. Obama Will Not Attend Annual Gridiron Dinner, First President Since Cleveland to Miss

A Gridiron Club member tells FBDC first that President Obama will not attend this year’s dinner next Saturday, March 21st. He will be the first president since Grover Cleveland not to attend the first Gridiron Club Dinner of his presidency.

This year’s date coincides with the spring break of President Obama’s daughters’ school and club members have been informed the Obama family will be out of town, likely in Chicago.

…and in case you were thinking that “kids’ spring break” is rather weak beer for sloughing off a century-old tradition, well, good call. The real reason is that Obama would be expected to do something like this:


Continue reading Obama to skip the Gridiron Club Dinner. Unsurprisingly.

Breaking: FBI Raided Obama appointee’s office.

(H/T Glenn) Did anybody have March 12, 2009 in the pool? Because if you did, Christmas just came early:

FBI raids office of D.C. CTO, Obama appointee

Federal agents this morning are searching the Judiciary Square office of Washington, D.C.’s Chief Technology Officer.

The search is part of “an ongoing investigation,” said a spokeswoman for the FBI’s D.C. Field Office, Lindsay Gotwin, said. She declined to comment further.

The outgoing Chief Technology Officer, Vivek Kundra, was appointed last week Chief Information Officer by the Obama administration. His last day at the city government office was February 4, a spokeswoman for D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, Leslie Kershaw, said.

[UPDATE] Actually, I am going to speculate as a motive: Kundra’s apparently very Google-friendly, and there’s some indication that Google may not be entirely beloved by this administration. Of course, a government Google crackdown theory would have to assume that one part of the government (the part doing vetting of officials) wasn’t talking to another part of the government (the part doing raids on offices), but really, how likely is that?

Continue reading Breaking: FBI Raided Obama appointee’s office.