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News/Politics 9-26-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

First up today, someone notes the obvious bias in the treatment the filibustering Cruz has gotten from the media when compared to Wendy Davis.

From Politico  “Sen. Ted Cruz has been speaking on the Senate floor for almost 19 hours, as of this post. The talk is not technically a filibuster — he can’t actually block the Senate from going about its business — but symbolically, it’s more or less the same thing. The point is to show one’s opposition to something through a demonstration of physical will.

Which is why you can forgive conservatives for being upset with the mainstream media’s coverage of the Cruz affair. When a Democrat like Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis filibusters against abortion restrictions, she is elevated to hero status, her tennis shoes become totems. When Cruz grandstands against Obamacare, he is a laughingstock in the eyes of many journalists on Twitter, an “embarrassment” in the eyes of The New York Times editorial board.

“Gee I wonder why NYT and WaPo and everyone else gave ecstatic coverage to Wendy Davis but not to Ted Cruz. I just can’t make sense of it!” John Podhoretz, the conservative columnist, tweeted on Wednesday morning.”

Was that sarcasm? 🙂

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The usual suspects are all wound up over Ted Cruz’s behavior. Several have shown their true colors. McCain being the most obvious.

From WeaselZippers  “UNREAL: McRINO Backs Dems On Senate Floor After Cruz Filibuster, “The People Spoke” And They Want Obamacare – Update: Chuck Schumer Thanks McRINO For His “Outstanding Remarks”…

Yeah. Sad. And what polls has he been looking at? From day 1 the majority has been against ObamaCare.

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Senator Durbin seems to say a lot of stupid things. Here’s Exhibit B, also from yesterday.

From CNSNews  ” Questioning Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on the Senate floor Tuesday, Sen.  Dick Dubin, an Illinois Democrat, explained why he’s proud to have  voted for Obamacare.

He told the story of a chambermaid named  Judy who works “at a motel that I often go to,” and who will benefit  from Obamacare because she is so poor: “The good news for Judy is that  her income is so low that she now qualifies for Medicaid for the first time in her life,” Durbin said.”

Yes, you read that right. She’s lucky she’s poor. Wow. A face palm smiley would be perfect here, but I have to settle for this. 🙄

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But in a way he’s right, even if he is a condescending jerk about it. She is lucky, she won’t get what most of us will get. Higher premiums.

From Forbes  “For months now, we’ve been waiting to hear how much Obamacare will drive up the cost of health insurance for people who purchase coverage on their own. Last night, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services finally began to provide some data on how Americans will fare on Obamacare’s federally-sponsored insurance exchanges. HHS’ press release is full of happy talk about how premiums will be “lower than originally expected.” But the reality is starkly different.”

“Earlier this month, I and two colleagues from the Manhattan Institute—Yevgeniy Feyman and Paul Howard—published an interactive map that detailed Obamacare’s impact on individually-purchased health insurance premiums in 13 states plus D.C. As the accompanying article described, Obamacare increased premiums in those states by an average of 24 percent.

But those states were largely blue states that had set up their own, state-based insurance exchanges. The big data dump that we’ve been waiting for, since then, is from the majority of states that didn’t set up their own state-based exchange. That data is the responsibility of the Obama administration, namely HHS. Finally, with less than a week to go before the exchanges are supposed to go on-line, HHS has released a slim, 15-page report and a press release that summarize some of the premium data.”

“Former Congressional Budget Office director Douglas Holtz-Eakin agrees. “There are literally no comparisons to current rates. That is, HHS has chosen to dodge the question of whose rates are going up, and how much. Instead they try to distract with a comparison to a hypothetical number that has nothing to do with the actual experience of real people.”

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Next up, this is why I’ve said in Libya and Syria, if you aid the so-called rebels, you aid our enemies. Or stuff just gets “stolen” by the bad guys while the other rebels look the other way.

First one is on Syria, from TheBlaze  “Recent images from the front line of the Syrian war suggest that terrorists are enjoying the small comforts of U.S. equipment and supplies that are meant to aide legitimate rebels, who are part of the Free Syrian Army. This appears to prove all the concerns among U.S. lawmakers and analysts that aid to the Syrian rebels could end up in the hands of Al Qaeda.

The photograph allegedly shows Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) linked Commander Muhajireen Kavkaz wa Sham, along with other rebels dawning battle-gear and an RPG, inside a USAID tent.”

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The second is Libya, from FoxNews  “The recent theft of massive amounts of highly sensitive U.S. military equipment from Libya is far worse than previously thought, Fox News has learned, with raiders swiping hundreds of weapons that are now in the hands of militia groups aligned with terror organizations and the Muslim Brotherhood. 

 The equipment, as Fox News previously reported, was used for training in Libya by U.S. Special Forces. The training team, which was funded by the Pentagon, has since been pulled, partly in response to the overnight raids last August. 

According to State Department and military sources, dozens of highly armored vehicles called GMV’s, provided by the United States, are now missing. The vehicles feature GPS navigation as well as various sets of weapon mounts and can be outfitted with smoke-grenade launchers. U.S. Special Forces undergo significant training to operate these vehicles. Fox News is told the vehicles provided to the Libyans are now gone. 

Along with the GMV’s, hundreds of weapons are now missing, including roughly 100 Glock pistols and more than 100 M4 rifles. More disturbing, according to the sources, is that it seems almost every set of night-vision goggles has also been taken. This is advanced technology that gives very few war fighters an advantage on the battlefield.”

It wouldn’t be shocking to find that this is what was actually stolen from the CIA’s gun running program at the embassy on 9-11.

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6 thoughts on “News/Politics 9-26-13”

  4. Anon,

    That’s the 64 dollars question. Some believe the embassy was a CIA weapons depot which was funneling weapons to the rebels. The same rebels who attacked the embassy and killed 4 Americans. The weapons are what they were after. But State can’t fess up to that, because that would be Iran-Contraish, and Barry can’t be associated with stuff like that. It might tarnish his image. He does have a peace prize ya’ know. 😉

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  5. Here’s more on that.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/10218288/CIA-running-arms-smuggling-team-in-Benghazi-when-consulate-was-attacked.html

    “Up to 35 CIA operatives were working in the city during the attack last September on the US consulate that resulted in the death of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans, according to CNN.

    The circumstances of the attack are a subject of deep division in the US with some Congressional leaders pressing for a wide-ranging investigation into suspicions that the government has withheld details of its activities in the Libyan city.

    The television network said that a CIA team was working in an annex near the consulate on a project to supply missiles from Libyan armouries to Syrian rebels.

    Sources said that more Americans were hurt in the assault spearheaded by suspected Islamic radicals than had been previously reported. CIA chiefs were actively working to ensure the real nature of its operations in the city did not get out.”

    And what better way to cover it all up then by claiming they were stolen later?

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