The Petty Tyrant Stiffs The Free Republic of Texas, Twice

No space shuttle, no fire disaster aid.

Story here.


"A tyrant also should show no favour to a man of worth or a freeman; for he should think, that no one deserved to be thought these but himself; for he who supports his dignity, and is a friend to freedom, encroaches upon the superiority and the despotism of the tyrant: such men, therefore, they naturally hate, as destructive to their government."


-- Aristotle, Politics

The UK Daily Mail Totally Falls For Obama's Lies

Story here:

My favorite whopper is point 5: Commandos dodge bullets as Osama fires AK47 from bedroom window.

That's rich.

This Administration Excels at Nothing But Lying

Some people, like The Atlantic, are starting to tip-toe to that conclusion:

White House Admits "bin Laden" was Unarmed

This was a lawless, assassination, mission, pure and simple, committed by a tyrant and the agents of a tyrant:

MR. CARNEY:  And I want to make clear that is, again, information that is fresh, and we will continue to gather and provide to you details as we get them and we’re able to release them.

      The resistance was throughout.  As I said, when the assaulter entered the room where Osama bin Laden was, he was rushed by one individual in the room, and the resistance was consistent from the moment they landed until the end of the operation.

      Yes.

      Q    Jay, just to follow up, how did Obama -- excuse me, Osama bin Laden resist if he didn’t -- if he didn’t have his hand on a gun, how was he resisting?

      MR. CARNEY:  Yes, the information I have to you -- first of all, I think resistance does not require a firearm.  But the information I gave you is what I can tell you about it.  I’m sure more details will be provided as they come available and we are able to release them.

      Q    Did he have any weapon?

      MR. CARNEY:  He was not armed, is what I understand to be true.

Bin Laden and Company Had No Weapons

So says Al Arabiyah News here:

Similarly, according to information Pakistani officials collected from detained persons, Osama was neither armed nor did inmates at the compound fire at the US choppers or commandos. 

“Not a single bullet was fired from the compound at the US forces and their choppers. Their chopper developed some technical fault and crashed and the wreckage was left on the spot,” a well-informed official explained.

 



Koran Burning Endangers Soldiers, But Assassinating bin Laden Won't?

Let's see, how many US officials pressured Rev. Jones about the meaningless, symbolic insult?

Jones had been under pressure from the U.S. government to cancel the protest. President Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Gen. David Petraeus and others had warned that the protest could bring attacks against U.S. troops in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Earlier Thursday, Obama implored Jones to call off his Quran-burning "stunt," telling ABC's "Good Morning America" in an interview aired Thursday that he hopes Jones listens to "those better angels."

"And as a very practical matter, I just want him to understand that this stunt that he is talking about pulling could greatly endanger our young men and women who are in uniform," Obama said.

Oh, but that was then. This is now.

"Waterboarding is Evil, But Shooting an Unarmed Man in the Head is OK"

Heard on "Don Wade and Roma" this morning.

"Bin Laden": Arabic For "With Lead"

Inspired by Rush's "can't fill your tank with bin Laden":

Looks Like He Could Have Used a Cigarette

The Purpose of War in a Tyranny

"A tyrant also should endeavour to engage his subjects in a war, that they may have employment and continually depend upon their general."

-- Aristotle, Politics

Famous Last Words: I Don't Believe That Story About . . .

Osama bin Laden.

From The Outlaw Josey Wales:

FLETCHER: I don't believe that story about Josey Wales.

TEN SPOT: You don't?

FLETCHER: No sir, I don't. I don't believe no five pistoleros could do in Josey Wales.

ROSE: Maybe it was six. Could have even been ten.

FLETCHER: I think he's still alive.

TEN SPOT: Alive? No sir.

FLETCHER: I think I'll go down to Mexico to try to find him.

JOSEY: And then?

FLETCHER: He's got the first move. I owe him that. I think I'll try to tell him the war is over.

FLETCHER: What do you say, Mr. Wilson?

JOSEY: I reckon so. I guess we all died a little in that damn war.

 

 

 

 

Peter Beinart Another Peter Bergen

"The war on terror is over."

-- Peter Beinart, here 

Obama is a leech . . .

. . . and the IRS can go audit itself.

Oh the delights we enjoy from PJ O'Rourke, here, who proposes a 35 percent tax on the federal budget, which will eliminate its current deficit. Problem solved!

Have another beer!

Income Taxes are for Chumps, Capital Gains Taxes are for the Rich

[Bruce] Bartlett, a former member of the Reagan White House, isn’t against the wealthy paying higher taxes. He’s that rare conservative who thinks higher taxes need to be part of the deficit debate. His beef? It’s a hollow gesture to say the federal government should raise the tax rate on the country’s top wage earners when the likes of Zuckerberg have most of their wealth tied up in stock. Many of the super-rich see virtually all their income as capital gains, and capital gains are taxed at a much lower rate—15 percent—than ordinary income.

More here!

That Didn't Take Long

"The most significant achievement to date in effort to defeat al Qaeda"

From the president's remarks about Osama:

I can report

I directed

I was briefed

I met repeatedly with my national security team

I determined

Today, at my direction

I've made clear

I've repeatedly made clear

Tonight I called

my team has also spoken

These efforts weigh on me every time I as commander in chief

Let me say.

Habeas Corpus

The Triumph of Achilles by Franz Matsch

This is the way a victor wins.

(source)

How Convenient

Kill "Osama" on May Day, and bury him quickly out of respect for Islamic law, at sea because no one would take the body. Like Pakistan hadn't already had it for years, albeit alive. 

Next will be the announcement that since we've achieved our objectives, we're pulling out of Afghanistan. 

Re-election can't be far behind.

Oh the money he'll now be able to spend.

Government Revenues in 2008 were $2.5 Trillion

Government revenues in 2008 came from the following taxes:

Individual income taxes -- $1.14 trillion; (IRS data is slightly different at $1.03 trillion)

Social insurance taxes -- $0.9 trillion; (earnings beyond $107,000 or so are not fully taxed for this)

Corporate income taxes -- $0.3 trillion; (think GE!)

Other -- $0.1 trillion; (think?)

Sales and excise taxes -- $0.06 trillion; (think gasoline)

Total -- $2.5 trillion. Not enough by a long shot, under Obama, Pelosi and Reid.

So whattayawannado? Raise taxes to pay for the new spending under these bums, or get rid of the bums?

(source)

Doh! We Tax the Rich Because That's Where The Money Is, Knucklehead.

Per Census.gov here, these are the income limits by each quintile of 23,507.6 households in 2009:

Lowest: up to $20,453

Second: up to $38,550

Third:    up to $61,801

Fourth:up to $100,000

Fifth:            $100,000+.

That means 80 percent of the country, about 94,030 households, makes $100,000 per year or less.

We know from IRS data that earners reporting adjusted gross incomes of approximately $67,000 or less in 2008, totaling $2.8 trillion in AGI, represented 105 million tax returns out of 140 million total. They are the bottom 75 percent of tax returns in the country, a rough proxy for the first 4 of the 5 income quintiles.

Using back of the envelope estimates, perhaps another 7 million more tax returns represent the rest of the territory up to $100,000, and AGI of another $0.6 trillion, meaning that the first 4/5 of the country contributes AGI of about $3.4 trillion.

Roughly 28 million tax returns would then round out the top quintile, with AGI of approximately $5 trillion. It is certain that 14.4 million of these returns account for $3.9 trillion of AGI, the top 10 percent of earners.

Thus one can estimate that tax returns from the top quintile have something like 6 times the AGI per return compared with the returns of all the quintiles below them taken together.

About 80 percent of the earners have 40 percent of the income, while the top 20 percent of the earners have 60 percent of the income.

That's where the money is.