Erick Erickson's Blog, page 41

Morning Briefing for June 12, 2012

RedState Morning Briefing

June 12, 2012

Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get
the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge.

1. The Amateur’s Nominee

2. Senate GOP Must Oppose Andrew Hurwitz for 9th Circuit

3. Remember the Democrat Justices of the Florida Supreme Court During Bush v. Gore?

4. House Republicans Just Can’t Bring Themselves To Cut Spending

5. The 911 Call and 80+ Members of Congress

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1. The Amateur’s Nominee

Brett McGurk is another example of just what an amateur Barack Obama is. Today comes news that the Commerce Secretary committed two hit and run crashes after suffering “seizures.” There is no word on what caused the seizures and Johnny Walker was unavailable for comment.

Now, there is Brett McGurk.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. Senate GOP Must Oppose Andrew Hurwitz for 9th Circuit

While most of us have been caught up in the sensation of electoral politics and the death of the union machine in Wisconsin, liberal activists have been working indefatigably to pack the courts – the unelected branch of government – with radicals who disrespect the Constitution. We might have turned over a number of congressional seats and state houses in 2010, but Obama has successfully turned over many conservative seats in our federal court system. Since taking office, Obama has appointed 150 people to federal judgeships, including 29 to appellate courts, and 2 to the Supreme Court. He has had an indelible effect on the orientation of the 4th Circuit in particular.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. Remember the Democrat Justices of the Florida Supreme Court During Bush v. Gore?

Pretty much everyone expect the most hard charging partisans have finally conceded that, despite the United States Supreme Court’s involvement in Bush v. Gore, George Bush did win Florida by just over 500 votes in 2000. In fact, in a nonpartisan media backed recount effort, George Bush would have won by every standard demanded, including Al Gore’s standard, except ironically George Bush’s preferred standard.

While everyone largely now excepts that George Bush won Florida, Democrats still hold hard hearts toward the supposed partisan hacks on the United States Supreme Court. They choose to ignore the even more clearly partisan Justices of the Florida Supreme Court who became, during their hearings in the recount matter, national embarrassments.

Three of the Justices, Barbara Pariente, R. Fred Lewis, and Peggy Quince are back in the news for, yet again, being an embarrassment. Their high handedness from the 2000 election seems to have continued.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

4. House Republicans Just Can’t Bring Themselves To Cut Spending

Did you know that House Republicans are still defeating amendment after amendment to cut spending — even relatively small amounts?

You probably didn’t realize this because, for some reason, no one is reporting it. So here are just a few of the amendments the House defeated last week. If you’re not happy with this record House Republicans are compiling this election year, let them know now!

Please click here for the rest of the post.

5. The 911 Call and 80+ Members of Congress

As most of you know, my family was swatted on May 27, 2012.

The police, at the time, told me they were responding to a 911 call about an accidental shooting.

I now have the 911 call. It turns out that the call was not about an accidental shooting. The caller said I had shot my wife, she was dead on the floor in front of me, and I was going off to shoot someone else.

. . . .

Last week, Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) asked the Attorney General to get the FBI to look into the matter. It’s clear the incident happened across state lines and also that only the FBI has the technical resources to be able to trace the call.

Today, more than 80 members of the United States House of Representatives are also sending a letter to Attorney General Holder asking for an investigation.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

The Amateur’s Nominee

Brett McGurk is another example of just what an amateur Barack Obama is. Today comes news that the Commerce Secretary committed two hit and run crashes after suffering “seizures.” There is no word on what caused the seizures and Johnny Walker was unavailable for comment.

Now, there is Brett McGurk. You should read this if you don’t know who he is. But the gist is this.

Brett McGurk is Barack Obama’s nominee to be Ambassador to Iraq. His experience includes having an affair with a Wall Street Journal reporter and, around the same time, getting a blow job on the roof of a building in Baghdad by someone other than either his wife or mistress.

Only an amateur like Barack Obama could pick a guy like this to be his Ambassador.

House Republicans Just Can’t Bring Themselves To Cut Spending

Did you know that House Republicans are still defeating amendment after amendment to cut spending — even relatively small amounts?

You probably didn’t realize this because, for some reason, no one is reporting it. So here are just a few of the amendments the House defeated last week. If you’re not happy with this record House Republicans are compiling this election year, let them know now!

Amendments to H.R. 5325, the Energy and Water Appropriations Act, which contains more spending than last year’s bill:

McClintock (R-CA) – Cuts the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy program by $1.45 billion. Rejected 113-275.

Chaffetz (R-UT) – Cuts the Advanced Manufacturing Program by $74 million, to FY 2011 levels. Rejected 140-245.

McClintock (R-CA) – Eliminates nuclear energy research subsidies (saves $514 million). Rejected 106-281.

Chabot (R-OH) – Eliminates funding for the regional commissions, such as the Appalachian Regional Commission (saves $99.3 million). Rejected 141-276.

Blackburn (R-TN) – Cuts 1% across the board (would cut $321 million). Rejected 157-261.

Mulvaney (R-SC) – Brings the bill toward RSC budget levels by cutting a total of $3.1 billion across almost all accounts. Rejected 125-293.

King (R-IA) – Prohibits funding of Davis-Bacon union wage requirements. Rejected 184-235.

Flake (R-AZ) – Across the board spending cut that would keep funding at FY 2012 levels ($87.5 million savings). Rejected 144-274.

And note that, while Members were voting against spending cuts, they also passed a Legislative Branch Appropriations bill (H.R. 5882) that would keep congressional office operating budgets the same as last year. The same? No cuts, even while Americans all over the country have to cut back their office operating budgets? Can our representatives really be this out of touch?

The 911 Call and 80+ Members of Congress

As most of you know, my family was swatted on May 27, 2012.

The police, at the time, told me they were responding to a 911 call about an accidental shooting.

I now have the 911 call. It turns out that the call was not about an accidental shooting. The caller said I had shot my wife, she was dead on the floor in front of me, and I was going off to shoot someone else.

You can hear the call yourself right here. What I did not know that Sunday night as the Sheriff’s Deputy pulled into the driveway is that the sheriff’s dispatcher called out on the radio to “take the house,” meaning to block off any avenues of exit. There were more police officers present than I saw.

On Friday night, I spent an hour talking about this on the radio. You can listen to that here. Lee Stranahan joined me and we both are of the opinion that the voice on this 911 call is the same voice as the other calls, including into Lee’s show.

Last week, Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) asked the Attorney General to get the FBI to look into the matter. It’s clear the incident happened across state lines and also that only the FBI has the technical resources to be able to trace the call.

Today, more than 80 members of the United States House of Representatives are also sending a letter to Attorney General Holder asking for an investigation.

Below the fold, I’ve put both the letter and the names of the signers. My wife and I would like to thank Senator Chambliss and the members of both the House and Senate who have decided to pursue this matter.

June 11, 2012

The Honorable Eric Holder

U.S. Attorney General

U.S. Department of Justice

950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 5111

Washington, D.C. 20530-0009

Dear Attorney General Holder:

We write you concerning the growing threat of “SWAT-ting” and its costly ramifications. These crimes occur when individuals call emergency dispatchers under the guise of another person’s name with fraudulent claims, causing local law enforcement to swarm the home of innocent Americans. SWAT-ting first arose in 2002, but as technology and the Internet has expanded, the dangers of SWAT-ting are also on the rise.

Investigators have concluded that the majority of SWAT-ting cases utilize voice over Internet (VOIP) connections between the suspect’s computer and a distant telephone network, and then dialing 911. This enables the suspect to falsify their identifying information, such as their telephone number and address, and make it nearly impossible for emergency dispatchers to identify or track the true origin of the call, or even pin-point calls from VOIP connections.

Some of these calls involve embellished schemes, including armed suspects and hostages, and in some instances, the caller claims that he has just killed someone. Moreover, the caller knowingly uses the identifying information of another person, who is usually an adversary of the caller. This elaborate hoax is all done with the goal of having law enforcement swarm the home of the caller’s foe, which only incites fear in and tarnishes the reputation of an innocent person.

Even worse, SWAT-ting is quickly becoming a scare tactic used against political bloggers, essentially stifling those bloggers’ First Amendment rights. Just last month, a popular blogger in the state of Georgia, Erick Erickson, became the latest victim of SWAT-ting. During the Erickson’s family dinner, sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to Erickson’s home after receiving a 911 call reporting an accidental shooting that appeared to have come from Erickson’s address. Fortunately, Erickson previously alerted police to SWAT-ting tactics; however, numerous similar scenarios have ended with guiltless victims held at gunpoint.

While none of the SWAT-ting victims have incurred physical harm from these hate filled ploys, we are gravely concerned that future victims may not find themselves so lucky. Plus, when law enforcement officers are responding to SWAT-ting claims, resources are diverted from those truly in need–all of this because of differences in political ideology.

Differences of opinion should enrich our lives, not divide us. Each American has the right to freely express his or her ideas and should not be subject to fear tactics like SWAT-ting, which run counter to the liberty that forms the bedrock of our great nation. These crimes are not to be tolerated and necessitate thorough examination at every level.

We urge you to hold true to those promises and work to ensure that criminals using fear in hopes to preventing others from exercising their First Amendment rights are held to the highest standard of the law. To this end, we implore you to thoroughly review each of these cases, determine whether any federal laws have been breached, and prosecute those crimes accordingly.

Sincerely,

Sandy Adams

Tom Graves (R-GA)

Louie Gohmert (R-TX)

Trey Gowdy (R-SC)

Jim Jordan (R-OH)

Trent Franks (R-AZ)

Andy Harris (R-MD)

Steve Southerland (R-FL)

Joe Walsh (R-IL)

Paul Broun (R-GA)

Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA)

Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)

Morgan Griffith (R-VA)

Chip Cravaack (R-MN)

Jason Chaffetz (R-UT)

Phil Gingrey (R-GA)

Dan Burton (R-IN)

Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)

Leonard Lance (R-NJ)

Jeff Duncan (R-SC)

Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA)

Daniel Webster (R-FL)

Allen West (R-FL)

Dennis Ross (R-FL)

Richard Nugent (R-FL)

Ben Quayle (R-AZ)

Tom Rooney (R-FL)

Todd Rokita (R-IN)

Renee Ellmers (R-NC)

David Reichert (R-WA)

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL)

Mary Bono Mack (R-CA)

Adam Kinzinger (R-IL)

Cory Gardner (R-CO)

Michael Grimm (R-NY)

Ann Marie Buerkle (R-NY)

Don Manzullo (R-IL)

Bob Turner (R-NY)

Jon Runyan (R-NJ)

Don Young (R-AK)

Mike Kelly (R-PA)

Tom Marino (R-PA)

Lamar Smith (R-TX)

Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)

Michele Bachmann (R-MN)

Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE)

John Kline (R-MN)

Mo Brooks (R-AL)

Austin Scott (R-GA)

Pete Olson (R-TX)

Scott DesJarlais (R-TN)

Vicky Hartzler (R-MO)

Ted Poe (R-TX)

Patrick McHenry (R-NC)

Alan Nunnelee (R-MS)

Candice Miller (R-MI)

Mark Amodei (R-NV)

Kenny Marchant (R-TX)

Sue Myrick (R-NC)

Todd Akin (R-MO)

Randy Forbes (R-VA)

Paul Gosar (R-AZ)

Diane Black (R-TN)

Jeff Landry (R-LA)

Steve Stivers (R-OH)

Randy Hultgren (R-IL)

Mike Pompeo (R-KS)

David Schweikert (R-AZ)

Bill Posey (R-FL)

Steve Chabot (R-OH)

Quico Canseco (R-TX)

Bill Johnson (R-IL)

Pete Sessions (R-TX)

Tim Griffin (R-AR)

Walter B. Jones (R-NC)

Lynn Jenkins (R-KS)

Billy Long (R-MO)

Steve Scalise (R-LA)

Stephen Fincher (R-TN)

Jack Kingston (R-GA)

Scott Rigell (R-VA)

Tom Price (R-GA)

Robert Hurt (R-VA)

Morning Briefing for June 11, 2012

RedState Morning Briefing

June 11, 2012

Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get
the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge.

1. Vote No On The McGurk Nomination

2. Doing Fine?

3. Obama really does believe ‘the private sector is doing fine’

4. Darcy Burner: Bringing The Crazy to the WA-01 Election!

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1. Vote No On The McGurk Nomination

On Wednesday the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a confirmation hearing for Brett McGurk to be US Ambassador to Iraq.

There is no reason for any sane person to support this nomination.

In terms of qualifications, Mr. McGurk brings very modest accomplishments to the table. While he has risen rapidly in rank there is little evidence of real substance in his record. He doesn’t speak Arabic, something one would think we would want in our ambassador in this critical country. He appears to have the same “legend in his own mind” that eventually consumed Richard Holbrooke.

There is abundant evidence that McGurk lacks the maturity necessary to represent the United States in any capacity whatsoever, much less as an ambassador in a key country.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. Doing Fine?

No, you heard him right. At a press conference this morning, the President of the United States actually said, “The private sector is doing fine.”

Mr. President, are you paying attention? Take off the rose-colored glasses. (Although, thanks to your fashion industry fundraising friends, I’m sure they’re very stylish rose-colored glasses.)

The private sector is small businesses. It’s middle class families that run them. It’s entrepreneurs and start ups and job creators. And it’s not “doing fine.” Incomes are dropping, prices are rising, and the future is becoming more uncertain.

Twenty-three million Americans are struggling to find work. Forty-six million are living in poverty. Families can barely figure out how to make ends meet. The unemployment rate has been above 8 percent for 40 months—the longest period of such chronically high unemployment since World War II.

We knew President Obama was hostile to the private sector. We knew he did not understand free enterprise. We just did not realize he was this astoundingly out of touch.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. Obama really does believe ‘the private sector is doing fine’

President Obama is trying to fight back against the hue and cry raised over his saying the private sector is doing fine.

Saying the private sector is doing fine may have been a blunder, but it wasn’t a gaffe. It may have been a revelation to some, to others it was a confirmation.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

4. Darcy Burner: Bringing The Crazy to the WA-01 Election!

I had heard that Darcy Burner – best known for being a Democrat who couldn’t beat a Republican in Washington state during the two worst election cycles for Republicans in living memory – spoke yesterday at Netroots Nation in Providence, RI (I happen to be in town myself for the much cooler Breitbart Awards conference that the Franklin Center/the Heritage Foundation is putting on). Feeling all very nostalgic about Ms. Burner and everything, I decided to see if she had been up to anything. Turns out? Yup! Darcy’s doing what she does best: making life easier for Republicans.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

From the Mail Bag

My morning post has set off a firestorm.

From: alan@curbking.us

Subject: ?

Date: June 8, 2012 11:13:39 AM EDT

To: contact@redstate.com

I am unsubscribing to your bull shit! To make fun of Ron Paul, who stands for true American principles and freedom, and to make fun of those protesting the Bilderbergers just reinforces my original premise that “Red State” is nothing more than another liberal brain washing publication. Too many conservatives are too informed today to buy in to any more of the standard bull shit that we’ve been listening to from the liberal media. Typical smoke screen with the same old message. You liberals cannot hide in the Republican party any more. YOU LIE.

The Greatest Conspiracy

Please stop and read this post at Hot Air right now.

Go on. I’ll wait for you to come back. It is required reading this morning.

Go on . . . . .

Welcome back.

As you can see, it is a flat out lie that the left was outspent 7 to 1 in Wisconsin. In fact, considering the money unions spent on things like “voter education”, which are not even tabulated as political activity, the unions probably outspent everyone. We don’t know because they don’t exactly have to disclose it all right now.

But the more important question is “why?” Why did the left immediately seize on this idea that they lost because they were outspent.

They did so for the same reason people are protesting the Bilderbergers this week. They did it for the same reason Ron Paul fanatics blame the media for Ron Paul’s lack of success. They did it for the reason most everyone in the world concocts conspiracy theories to explain their defeats.

They did it because if they did not they would have to admit that the American public has rejected them and their ideas.

Ron Paul’s supporters say that if only the media would cover Ron Paul, he would be winning. But when the media covers Ron Paul, they claim the media is biased against him. In reality, Ron Paul comes off sounding like your loony uncle you keep in the attic. You and your “Who is John Galt?” bumper sticker don’t come off much better.

It’s not that politics is lost in Ron Paul. It’s that Ron Paul is lost in politics.

People are protesting the Bilderbergers this week because they are convinced the Bilderbergers are puppet masters pulling strings wrecking havoc in the economy and their lives. No, the odds are the people protesting have crummy lives because of the choices they themselves made. But instead of confronting those life choices like the unemployed Occupy kid with the degree in puppetry arts, they’d rather blame the Bilderbergers or Wall Street or The Man.

On CNN Tuesday night, a leftwing activist cried out in anguish that democracy had died. Democracy is alive and well. But it was far easier for this person to believe democracy died because the voters were duped by the Koch Brothers than to believe voters rejected his preferred policy solution into which he had poured his heart and soul.

In 2010, the Republicans made massive gains at the local, state, and federal level. That November night, I was on CNN with a bunch of Democrats claiming they had gotten the policy right and the message wrong.

They could not bring themselves to admit they had been destroyed because of their policies.

People tell themselves lies big and small and convince themselves that someone did them wrong or there was a conspiracy against them when the lose. The truth is often too painful to face — it really isn’t them, it’s you.

The Koch Brothers did not buy the Wisconsin election. The right will not buy the White House in November. The left will tell themselves that and the media will report is as gospel. Otherwise, both the media and the left, but I repeat myself, would have to fact the cold, hard truth of reality — the majority of Americans really don’t like them and their preferred policy solutions.

Morning Briefing for June 8, 2012

RedState Morning Briefing

June 8, 2012

Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get
the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge.

1. The Greatest Conspiracy

2. Now Bleed Them Dry

3. Holder Stumbles Under Questioning About David Alexrod

4. Romney/RNC outraises Obama/DNC in May.

5. Spokesman for Colorado Democrats Refuses to Say If He Voted in March Caucuses

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1. The Greatest Conspiracy

Please stop and read this post at Hot Air right now.

Go on. I’ll wait for you to come back. It is required reading this morning.

Go on . . . . .

Welcome back.

As you can see, it is a flat out lie that the left was outspent 7 to 1 in Wisconsin. In fact, considering the money unions spent on things like “voter education”, which are not even tabulated as political activity, the unions probably outspent everyone. We don’t know because they don’t exactly have to disclose it all right now.

But the more important question is “why?” Why did the left immediately seize on this idea that they lost because they were outspent.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. Now Bleed Them Dry

This week, America saw what real hope and change actually looks like. The Wisconsin recall fight wasn’t about Republicans and Democrats. It wasn’t about Obama. It was about the power of the majority of taxpayers who stood up against being fleeced by the very public employee union bosses who have put them on the hook for trillions of debt. Beginning fifteen months ago and culminating with the recall victory, the conservative movement struck back in Wisconsin and redefined the national fight for America’s future. Now is not a time for celebration. It’s time to take the fight to the next level.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. Holder Stumbles Under Questioning About David Alexrod

Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA) asked some tough questions today at a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee of Obama’s Attorney General Eric Holder. Holder could not directly answer questions about the nature of Obama Senior Advisor David Alexrod’s push to politically influence the Justice Department in 2009.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

4. Romney/RNC outraises Obama/DNC in May.

If you remember the 2008 elections, you might remember a somewhat cruel, if clever, tactic that the Obama campaign would use: their habit of deliberately delaying sometimes announcing just how much money they raised in a given month. You see, it was a truism that, if you chose to wait until the last minute to file the fundraising report, it meant that the numbers were bad, or not as good as they could have been. So Obama for America would not announce their numbers right away, causing speculation that said numbers were off – and then get more buzz when it turned out that they had done well anyway.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

5. Spokesman for Colorado Democrats Refuses to Say If He Voted in March Caucuses

Colorado Democratic Party spokesman Matt Inzeo refuses to answer whether he voted in the March party caucuses earlier this year despite repeated requests from Media Trackers via phone, e-mail, and Twitter.

As previously reported by Media Trackers Colorado, Inzeo waited nearly a year after being hired by the state party to register to vote in Colorado. More important, Inzeo registered to vote a mere five days before the party’s March caucuses. His outright refusal to answer whether he voted in the caucus raises serious questions about voter fraud since state law explicitly prohibits individuals who have been registered to vote for less than two months from voting in a party caucus.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

The Greatest Conspiracy Never Told #EERS

Tonight on my show, I want to talk about the greatest conspiracy never told — what I call the ongoing dementia on the left and some on the right to blame others and come up with elaborate conspiracies for everything rather than accept that their own ideas are not popular.

You can listen live tonight on the WSB live stream and call in at 1-800-WSB-TALK. The show starts at 6pm ET.

Consider this an open thread.

If Only They Don’t Go Wobbly

Our Republican Leadership in Washington, D.C. is extremely risk adverse. It is very clear the leadership has convinced itself, despite historic truth, that Newt Gingrich lost his job because of the government shutdown way back when. They do not want to have protracted fights. They want to appear reasonable. They crave the press’s adoration of “grown ups” and “reasonable men.”

I expect Barack Obama to capitalize on this Republican lack of self-esteem before October. I expect him to manufacture some fight with the GOP on fiscal issues and expect the GOP to cave so he can appear “reasonable.”

The media will aid him with choruses of “good government” and “government working” and “bipartisanship.”

I hope the GOP pays attention to Wisconsin.

In Wisconsin, the GOP drew a line in the sand and used brute legislative force to get its agenda passed. It did what Barack Obama did with Obamacare. The Democrats perversely gambled that the people were with them on healthcare and against the GOP on public sector unions. They got both badly wrong.

We know from Wisconsin that the coalition that swept the GOP back into power in the House of Representatives still stands. We also know that a majority of independents are desperate for someone to stop the spending in Washington.

I expect Barack Obama to manufacture a fiscal crisis to try to force a compromise to make himself look strong. In Wisconsin, the GOP stood up, fought, and did not compromise. They won. The public supported them both before and after on the issue of the day. They support the GOP against the President too. They support cuts to spending.

Will the GOP learn that compromise with Barack Obama is no longer an option? Will they learn that “reasonableness” on the path to fiscal ruin is not what the American people want? Will they fight?

We will see.