There's been a ridiculous push by the left to categorize anyone who disagrees with the President's healthcare agenda as part of some corporate/GOP-funded pod people. Have these people seen the state of the Republican Party lately? I'd be surprised if they could even have the competence to hire someone to answer the phone at RNC headquarters. But, this isn't just your standard bottom-feeders in blogoland either, the DNC has made a video calling protesters an angry mob. The gentleman in unpleated Dockers hanging an effigy of some other guy in unpleated Dockers seems to have ignited that convenient outrage amongst Obama supporters where you can demonize your opponents as boorish rubes. TPM is shocked that one Democratic congressman received a death threat:

"The call to the D.C. office was, 'Miller could lose his life over this,'" said Canipe. "Our staffer took it so seriously, he confirmed what the guy was saying. He said, 'Sir is that a threat?' and at that time our staffer was getting the phone number off caller ID and turning it over to the Capitol Police."

It's a sad reality, but in America if you are a public figure you're probably going to get death threats and you're probably going to have a creepy stalker. The secret service fields 3,000 threats a year against the President. There are always going to be crazies in America, and I don't know why they should define a broad section of the American people unless you're looking for low-hanging fruit to criticize your political opponents. This attempt to equate anyone who disagrees with Obamacare as some sort of lowlife thug seems to be the only strategy the Democrats have at the moment as support for this federally-subsidized monstrosity goes down the tubes. As ABC's Jake Tapper notes, the non-support for Obamacare seems to be genuine.

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Seeing how the state of Michigan is heavily invested both financially and emotionally with the auto industry, and the Governor had to go begging for cash from Obama like a schmuck to keep people employed, you'd think it couldn't get any lower for the Great Lakes state than having the former #1 company in the world go bust. Well, not unless the new person in charge of GM is some law-school dropout/pizzafaced-politico dweeb who has probably never worked a day in his life. From New York Times:

But that, in short, is the job description for Brian Deese, a not-quite graduate of Yale Law School who had never set foot in an automotive assembly plant until he took on his nearly unseen role in remaking the American automotive industry. Nor, for that matter, had he given much thought to what ailed an industry that had been in decline ever since he was born. A bit laconic and looking every bit the just-out-of-graduate-school student adjusting to life in the West Wing — “he’s got this beard that appears and disappears,” says Steven Rattner, one of the leaders of President Obama’s automotive task force — Mr. Deese was thrown into the auto industry’s maelstrom as soon the election-night parties ended.

Yeah! I'm sure the thousands of newly unemployed are breathing a sigh of relief that some no-experience hipster is taking charge. God bless our political system.

GM said that they have sold Hummer to an "undisclosed buyer". Maybe it's to this Deese guy so he can have his buddies chauffeured to some party in Brooklyn where none of us are invited.

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Following up on his post about how Obama is making America more Euro, Professor Hanson talks about how reckless domestic spending by the Obama administration is going to cripple the country. From PJs:

Take the economy: the liberal attack on Bush as a reckless spender who increased the debt by $2 trillion is now replaced by ’stimulus’ groupies, who are silent about a staggering $9 trillion of Obama debt to come. Cannot the country, the media-anyone!-see that the amounts of borrowing are so gargantuan that we are talking about massive changes in the US economy and lifestyle? The size and inefficiency of the government will grow. We will have soon some sort of national sales taxes on top on state, local, and federal higher rates, the point being threefold: more recipients and distributors of entitlements mean larger liberal permanent constituents-an institutionalization of the welfare state. The debts are so large that it will require a redistribution of income through higher taxes. When a Paul Krugman writes seriously that California’s financial meltdown (9% sales, 10% income taxes) is due to too low taxation (as hundreds of thousands of overtaxed skilled professionals flee the state), then one can see how the power of ideology in the present age so easily trumps empiricism. Three, the debts will end American exceptionalism abroad, and severely curtail our options. In other words, we are seeing the much waited for multilateralism-but by financial default! What depresses is the fact that debt is now being used as a political tool-to reconstitute American culture and society, both at home and abroad.

What a pisser! The collapse of America isn't even going to be something cool like a zombie invasion or a superflu, but excessive government spending brought on by the decline of the real-estate market. No one wants to read a book about that.

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With North Korea testing nukes and short range missiles, as well as threatening a military strike against South Korea, the President is comprehending that the "Strongly worded UN Resolution" with all bite and no bark might not be the way to go. From Bloomberg:

In Washington, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said yesterday that the U.S. wants North Korea to “pay a price” for its “reckless behavior.” The U.S. is working within the UN Security Council to toughen sanctions on Kim’s regime. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, due in Singapore later in the week for a regional conference, will confer with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts on the North Korean threat.

SECSTATE Clinton is certainly swinging more to the "stick" approach, and even Japan is talking about drawing up plans for a preemptive strike.

Al-Jazeera talks about what motivates the most oppressive and delusional regime in the modern world:

But that is not all North Korea wants - it also wants to survive.

North Korea's leaders and its most senior military commanders have too much at stake to risk the collapse of the secretive, highly militarised, and deeply paranoid state over which they rule.

North Korea is a country built on illusion, lies, half truths and propaganda - reality comes a long way down the list.

But that does not mean it is not a danger.

The more belligerent it becomes, the more agreements it scraps, the more talks it walks away from, the less likely it is that the process of peaceful disarmament remains an option.

Sort of like the white trash guy at the end of the block who can't feed his own kids but always has the most impressive fireworks on July 4th.

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(From the Famous Website Gay? or Eurotrash?)

Victor Davis Hanson has an interesting read at PJs about how Obama is turning America into some lame, over-regulated nanny-state like our cousins across the pond, and we don't even have millenia of artsy civilization and a Love Parade to fall back on. From Pajamas Media:

What worries me about Obama is not the specifics of the nationalization of GM and Chrysler, the government rescue of the United Auto Workers, the effort to take over college financing, proposed universal health care, massive deficits and tax increases, although they are worrisome and only the beginning, but the attendant culture of ‘inflate your tires’ and ‘wash your hands’ paternalism. I think we are entering an age in which the federal government will increasingly guide our thoughts into what is deemed correct-the sort of car we must drive, the type of salary we should make, the sort of job we should have, even the type of thoughts we are to express, and all in the name of collective brotherhood.

Some esteemed European commenters say they appreciate the way things are set up over there. But, you only need to look to the failures of our nation's biggest state for an explanation of why big government spending is disastrous in America. Frankly, American society seems to be degenerating from one that had valued innovation and individual achievement into a society of "Dude, where's my unemployment check?" Nothing showed that decline more than the results of the recent election of the Obama administration with its promises of government goodies for the middle class. Sure, we still have our guaranteed personal freedoms, but even those are being encroached upon for the "greater good" on all fronts.

Hell, if Professor Hanson wants to see progress, he only needs to come to Asia. I see all sorts of cranes perched over Bangkok, and Thailand is supposedly the country that can never get its shit together. I would visit the fast-growing and modernizing countries of China and India, but it might be too depressing to have that moment where I realize that my own country is on the outs of history.

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Professor Hanson at PJs wonders publicly if America is going the way of the Roman Empire due to crooked politicians and rude businessmen on planes. The piece is worth your time:

It is easy to dismiss our ancestors as illiberal, or with the caveat “Oh, but if we were as poor as they were, we’d have to prove just as tough”, but we still sense they were different in the sense of far better. When I drive up to see those Sierra dams poured in the 1920s, one wonders how they made such things with only primitive machines, and in contrast, are amazed with our sophisticated tools, we do so much less.

This self-congratulatory generation can hardly, as we are learning, build a Bay Bridge again. Yet when we see on the Internet pictures of a new aircraft carrier we are stunned in amazement—we did that? We built such a powerful, sophisticated ship? We—at least someone— can actually still do things on rare occasion like that?

Lately, there seems to be a lot of concern about America becoming some second-rate entitlement state. But what are you gonna do?

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Do You Even Know Where Your Spiked Leather Chaps and Arm Harpoon Are Located?

More troubling news from The Onion:

"Our survey of households in seven U. S. regions demonstrated that few citizens have bothered to equip themselves with fireproof suits and extinguishers to deal with volcanic upheaval, solar flares, or the Lord's purifying flame," Malthusian Institute director James Olheiser said. "Almost no one is prepared for a sudden shift in the Earth's polarity or the eating of the Sun and moon by evil wolves Skol and Hati during Ragnarok."

Olheiser added: "All in all, America gets an 'F' for end-of-the-world preparedness."

You'd think with everyone on the dole looking for temp jobs on Craig's List, they would have the time to dig out their personalized doom bunker. Perhaps, the prophetic movies coming out from Hollywood in the future (Terminator Salvation and 2012) will raise public awareness. But, not to fear! The Sniper and this bleg have got your back for properly preparing for all possible Doomsday scenarios.

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Found this pic at the usually unfunny Pundit Kitchen and felt it was worth the share, despite the fact that I have no clue what the context is. I once saw a Zombie Jesus comic book at some nerd convention in Seattle. Perhaps the concept has gone viral.

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This is something bloggers like The Sniper and myself have been trying to do ever since Obama got elected! God bless these technically-savvy social deviants for providing such an important PSA. From Fox News:

Transportation officials in Texas are scrambling to prevent hackers from changing messages on digital road signs after one sign in Austin was altered to read, "Zombies Ahead."

Chris Lippincott, director of media relations for the Texas Department of Transportation, confirmed that a portable traffic sign at Lamar Boulevard and West 15th Street, near the University of Texas at Austin, was hacked into during the early hours of Jan. 19.

ABWF tips us off with video footage from Austin, but there were no zombies filmed feasting on brains. They must be still slogging their way back from the coronation in D.C. last week.

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Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Illinois skeazebag and Obama's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, has come out of hiding following the recent Blago-saga to appear on NBC's Meet the Press. After the host discussed the $2T (including Obama Stimulus) of money the government doesn't have that has gone or will go towards spending, Rahm Emanuel had the cajones to praise the $825B Obama plan and state that the federal government really needs to show fiscal restraint. From Politico:

The Democratic stimulus plan, Emanuel said on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” “has got to be coupled with a serious attack about putting our fiscal house in order, and for too long that hasn’t happened.”

Keep in mind this is the same guy who penned an Op-Ed for the NYT just last year entitled "Don't Get Rid of Earmarks" and works for an administration that has made promises to the American people they know they can't afford. The fundamental problem of our economy is that people are living beyond their means, and we continue to vote for politicians who promise shiny objects and an unsustainable standard of living. Yet, we continue to elect them...with whopping approval ratings! Once the glitz and glamor of the inauguration wears off our collective consciousness, I suspect we are going to be in for a very nasty wake-up call.

Buy canned goods.

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Above is the share price for Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) with the golden sacks of coins representing the feds giving Bank of America free taxpayer money. It was $10B on January 1 when they bought out Merrill Lynch and another $20B last night. Obviously, their stock is in the crapper, but let's see how it's thousands of employees are doing. From McClatchy:

Bank of America expects to shed as many as 35,000 jobs nationwide as the banking sector crisis deepens. One top-level executive, who'd been handed a pink slip Thursday, told McClatchy that morale is at rock bottom.

"It's terrible," said the executive, who asked that his name not be used because details of his departure were still being worked out. "Everyone is worried, from the lowest employee to the highest."

Sounds like the shit has hit the fan so bad that people are either "finding Jesus" or about to swallow the cyanide pill. Seeing how I'm a Bank of America customer, time to go waste all my money at the casino before the bankruptcy courts can seize it (I ain't counting on the FDIC!). Gambling is a lot more fun than investing in the stock market because there's free drinks involved, a shitty band, and blinking lights abound. And, unlike the stock market these days, you might even win some money.

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Troublemakers Converge on Oakland

There is some justifiable anger over the accidental shooting of a young man by BART police in Oakland. It was most likely the result of the police officer using his sidearm when he thought it was a taser. A tragic mistake. But his death was a very convenient excuse for professional troublemakers like Maoist organization ANSWER and other hoodlums to wreak havoc on local businesses in the East Bay. SF Gate has insight on the political message in smashing the Creative African Braids store (thx Mezzo):

The mob smashed the windows at Creative African Braids on 14th Street, and a woman walked out of the shop holding a baby in her arms.

"This is our business," shouted Leemu Topka, the black owner of the salon she started four years ago. "This is our shop. This is what you call a protest?"

Wednesday night's vandalism victims had nothing to do with the shooting death by a BART police officer of Oscar Grant on New Year's Day - but that did little to sway the mob.

"I feel like the night is going great," said Nia Sykes, 24, of San Francisco, one of the demonstrators. "I feel like Oakland should make some noise. This is how we need to fight back. It's for the murder of a black male."

Sykes, who is black, had little sympathy for the owner of Creative African Braids.

"She should be glad she just lost her business and not her life," Sykes said. She added that she did have one worry for the night: "I just hope nobody gets shot or killed."

Dear God, rampant property destruction is the last thing California needs, since the state is teetering on the abyss of bankruptcy. The LA Riots in 1992 cost about $1 Billion in damage and over 50 lives, perhaps we are forgetting the painful lessons of history. But don't expect agitators to stop brainwashing impressionable youth by whipping them up in a frenzy of anti-establishment hysteria. This pic from Oakland is very disturbing:

If only these kids knew how many Chinese citizens were killed by Mao's cultural revolution. ANSWER probably left that part out.

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Christmas in Michigan

Sorry for my AWOL status, as I've been hanging out with the fam in Michigan. I understand that due to the auto bailout there may be some animosity towards the Great Lakes state. So, you'll be glad to know that it is cold as fuck here with Antarctica-sized snow drifts, and I'm half-expecting some kind of yeti to come through the door looking for a human snack. And on that note, Subrookie sent an interesting article from some smart professor (ooo, Stanford) about "Global Cooling". From Seattle P-I:

"Global Warming is over, and Global Warming Theory has failed. There is no evidence that CO2 drives world temperatures or any consequent climate change," Imperial College London astrophysicist and long-range forecaster Piers Corbyn wrote British Members of Parliament on Oct. 28. "According to official data in every year since 1998, world temperatures have been colder than that year, yet CO2 has been rising rapidly." That evening, as the House of Commons debated legislation on so-called "global-warming," October snow fell in London for the first time since 1922.

I'm not really a global-warming denier, but when Al Gore's "Inconvenient Truth" is "Very Convenient" for government-subsidized special interest groups and extorting money from big business through carbon taxes, it can arouse suspicion. The politicization of global warming alarmism is nauseating, and the fact that the entire country is freezing its collective ass off just gives more reasons to get frustrated with global warming advocates who are high on rhetoric and low on science.

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Remember way back in the day during the 2008 election and McCain uttered "Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran" and everybody flipped out. Well, Obama has literally promised that he's going to nuke Iran (at least if they attack Israel). Five weeks and he's in charge...come join the end of civilization at The Obacalypse!

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