ROBAMA!! President Uses Autopen to Sign Patriot Act Extension

Glenn Reynolds disapproves (as does Jonathan Turley at the clip).

And see NYT, "Making Legislative History, With Nod From Obama and Stroke of an Autopen":

WASHINGTON — Generations of children learned the basics of the American legislative process from a “Schoolhouse Rock” cartoon, in which “Bill” sings, “If he signs me, then I’ll be a law.”

But now, apparently for the first time in United States history, a bill has been signed into law by autopen, at the direction of President Obama, who is in Europe on a weeklong trip.

Congress on Thursday passed legislation extending the Patriot Act for four years. With the existing terror-fighting authorities set to expire at midnight Thursday, the White House concluded that a mechanical signature would have to do.

With that, Mr. Obama turned the autopen, a machine that reproduces signatures and is ubiquitous in government and business for routine transactions — letters, photos, promotional materials — into the ultimate stand-in.

He and his lawyers also found a way around a routine but costly tradition, in which White House staff members fly, unsigned legislation in hand, to wherever the president happens to be.

That tradition dates back decades.

Well, ROBAMA wouldn't want to preserve tradition, especially something traditional dealing with the Constitution. No surprise here at all.

BONUS FAIL: Asshat No More Mr. Nice Guy cries foul, but comes up short anyway. That said, Xeni Jardin concludes with the appropriate skepticism.

Henry Kissinger Interview at Time

An extremely interesting discussion. Kissinger's in the news for his new book on China, but the interview is wide ranging. And there's video. Time's Belinda Luscombe asks Kissinger, "Is the U.S. not a member of the International Criminal Court because former Secretaries of State like yourself might face prosecution?", and the transcript is strangely truncated:

The reason we are not a member of the international court is that the work is left to prosecutors who are drawn from a variety of countries who very often cannot understand what the issues are. I do not favor the International Criminal Court, but not even remotely out of fear for myself.

At the video clip, Kissinger indicates that the ICC has "started a process where some American officials are reluctant to travel abroad for fear that somebody will launch some sort of indictment against them ..." Yeah, and Israeli officials as well. In 2009 a British court issued an arrest warrant for Tzipi Livni, former Israeli foreign minister, to stand trial on war crimes charges. It's "lawfare" against the international systems' great power and their allies.

Student Activism at AIPAC

The video is especially interesting after 6:00 minutes.

And Barbara Efraim touched base with me yesterday, the first chance she's had since getting back from AIPAC in D.C. I already posted Barbara's recent commentary piece at The Daily Bruin, but she wanted to give me a heads up on this comment at the article:

Equating Noam Chomsky – a world-renowned public intellectual, linguist, writer, and emeritus professor at one of the most prestigious academic institutions in the world – to some marginal, goblin-like hate-monger as Horowitz is just plain foolish.

What “threat” of Sharia Law do you speak of? What Israeli “democracy” do you speak of? Your rhetoric is tired and ineffective.

Appeasement of Ratko Mladic Was Dress Rehearsal for Left's Antiwar Politics Since 9/11

An outstanding piece, from Ben Cohen, at Pajamas Media, "The Appeasers of Ratko Mladic: The UN appeasers of butchers Mladic and Slobodan Milosevic today demonize Jews, the West, and support Muslim dictatorships."

'I'd hit that so hard she'd sing the aaa-aaa chorus of The Immigrant Song'

That's Ace, apparently clarifying some earlier vague statements regarding Christina Hendricks.

Folks might recall that Ace digs Zeppelin. I'm occasionally reminded of it while listening to The Sound L.A.:

P.S. Ace like big rock sounds and big breasts, and isn't shy about it -- in contrast to Scott "ASFL" Kaufman, who hates beautiful women.

RELATED RULE 5: At TOM: "Christina Hendricks Talks About Her Breasts: ‘They’re So Obviously Real …" (That's an encore link, so look forward to some additional TOM linkage later ... I'm trolling the dude for some traffic.)

John Hawkins: 'Liberalism in 120 Seconds: Why They Really Hate Israel'

At Right Wing News:

Oops. John mentions Arab anti-Semitism. Let's see how long this one lasts on YouTube. Sheesh.

Professor Scott Lemieux: Lone Pro-Life Wacko More Threatening to Americans Than Phony, Unconstitutional Global War on Terror, or Something

Scott Lemieux's Spencer Ackerman moment.

No doubt this kinda stuff got Lemieux booted from Hunter College. He's now flailing away at The College of Saint Rose. Yeah, they've probably got some social justice types who like such filth. Shoot, Lemieux's far left-wing fanaticism might even look good for the tenure review committee.

Anyway, check Lawyers, Guns and Murder:

Backround at Reuters: "Wisconsin man charged with plan to attack abortion clinic." The suspect's a nut-job. But in the sick progressive mindset, someone like this is even more dangerous than the September 11 attackers or the likes of Khalid Shaikh Muhammad. See: "The troubled mind of a would-be abortion doctor assassin."

RELATED: Lemieux's got a piece on the Goodwin Liu filibuster fiasco, "Let My Judges Go!"

The piece is getting ripped in the comments:

Where the heck was your similar article when the Democrats deep-sixed a bunch of George W. Bush's nominees!? You Progressives are really something else. The one-sided reporting makes this article complete garbage.

And:

It is totally ridiculous to try to portray Liu as anything other than the radical left extremist that he has shown himself to be by his writings. Not to mention the fact that he has absolutely no judicial experience.

Perhaps Obama should consider nominating people who are not guaranteed to be activist judges who believe that they can interpret the Constitution any way they like.

Progressives only hate the filibuster when it messes up their side. Just ask George W. Bush appointees Miguel Estrada, Priscilla Owens, etc. Democrat filibusters at the time were unprecedented. Lemieux is an America-hating hack. He's lucky to have landed a post with a bunch of liberation theologists, or whatever.

Poliwood: 2011 Cannes Film Festival — Anti-Semitic or Simply Boring?

With Roger L. Simon and Lionel Chetwynd:

Also, a Steven Crowder clip at Barking Moonbat.

'America in the World' — The Last Speech by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates

The text is available from the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs).

And at Wall Street Journal, "The Gates Farewell Warning: America can be a superpower or a welfare state, but not both":

Robert Gates, who steps down next month after four-plus years at the Pentagon, is making his retirement lap a tutorial on America's defense spending and security needs. His message is welcome, especially on Memorial Day, and even if he couldn't always heed it in his time as Secretary of Defense.

In a series of farewell speeches, Mr. Gates has warned against cuts to weapon programs and troop levels that would make America vulnerable in "a complex and unpredictable security environment," as he said Sunday at Notre Dame. On Tuesday at the American Enterprise Institute, Mr. Gates noted that the U.S. went on "a procurement holiday" in the 1990s, when the Clinton Administration decided to cash in the Cold War peace dividend. The past decade showed that history (and war) didn't end in 1989.

"It is vitally important to protect the military modernization accounts," he said, and push ahead with new capabilities, from an air refueling tanker fleet to ballistic missile submarines.

More at the link at top. The statistics on "entitlement overstretch" are staggering.

The Lessons of Netanyahu's Triumph

From Caroline Glick, at Jerusalem Post:

In the coming weeks and months, the threats to Israel will surely only increase. And with these escalating threats will come also the escalating need for strong and certain leadership.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was hoping to avoid his clash with US President Barack Obama this week in Washington.

Four days before his showdown at the White House with the American leader, Netanyahu addressed the Knesset. His speech was the most dovish he had ever given. In it, he set out the parameters of the land concessions he is willing to make to the Palestinians, in the event they ever decide that they are interested in negotiating a final peace.

Among other things, Netanyahu spoke for the first time about “settlement blocs,” and so signaled that he would be willing to evacuate the more isolated Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. He also spoke of a longterm military presence in the Jordan Valley rather than Israeli sovereignty along the militarily vital plain.

Both strategically and ideologically, Netanyahu’s speech constituted a massive concession to Obama. The premier had good reason to believe that his speech would preempt any US demand for further Israeli concessions during his visit to Washington.

Alas, it was not to be. Instead of welcoming Netanyahu’s unprecedented concessions, Obama dismissed them as insufficient as he blindsided Netanyahu last Thursday with his speech at the State Department. There, just hours before Netanyahu was scheduled to fly off to meet him in the Oval Office, Obama adopted the Palestinian negotiating position by calling for Israel to accept that future negotiations will be based on the indefensible – indeed suicidal – 1949 armistice lines.

So, just as he was about to board his plane, Netanyahu realized that his mission in the US capital had changed ...

Read it all.

Sarah Palin Releases Video Ahead of Bus Tour

Via New York Times:

Background at Los Angeles Times, "Sarah Palin to launch bus trip through U.S":

Reporting from Washington— In the clearest indication to date that she is seriously considering a presidential run, Sarah Palin plans to launch a nationwide bus tour Sunday from Washington.

"Gov. Palin and the SarahPAC team will begin a trip through our nation's rich historical sites, starting from Washington, D.C., and going up through New England," said a statement posted Thursday on Palin's political action committee website. "The 'One Nation Tour' is part of our new campaign to educate and energize Americans about our nation's founding principles, in order to promote the fundamental restoration of America."

The website RealClearPolitics, which first reported the story, said the tour could last several weeks and would be divided into separate geographical stretches, according to unnamed sources close to the former Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential nominee.

The first stop will be at the Rolling Thunder Memorial Day weekend motorcycle rally in Washington. A New England tour would seem to suggest a visit to New Hampshire, which hosts the first 2012 presidential primary.

Palin said as recently as last week that she was still considering a run, but refused to offer any clues as to her timetable for making a decision. Her website said the tour was being funded through her PAC.

Also, from Chris Cillizza, "Fast Fix: Is Sarah Palin back? (VIDEO)."

NewsBusted: '7-year-old caught with heroin'

Via Theo Spark:

Kate Upton Sports Illustrated Photoshoot — It's Friday Rule 5

I'm gonna bug the hell out of the progressive PC ASFLs this weekend, so here's getting off to an early start. Besides, I don't see Blazing Cat Fur's Friday entry (last week's is here).

Also, a huge shout out to Bruce at Maggie's Farm, who's been doing fantastic work with the news-link roundups. Also, at The Other McCain: "Christina Hendricks Talks About Her Breasts: ‘They’re So Obviously Real …’"

Leading off is Pirate's Cove with his latest in "you must be a warmist" series. Plus, nearly NSFW at Theo's.

And don't miss Bob Belvedere's fabulous Rule 5 entry: " A Little Hump Day Rule 5: Lorrie-Menconi."

Anyway, here's some link around action: Astute Bloggers, Bob Belvedere, CSPT, Dan Collins, Eye of Polyphemus, Gator Doug, Irish Cicero, Left Coast Rebel, Mind-Numbed Robot, Legal Insurrection, Lonely Conservative, PA Pundits International, PACNW Righty, Pirate's Cove, Proof Positive, Saberpoint, Snooper, WyBlog, The Western Experience, and Zion's Trumpet.

Plus, top it off with with American Perspective, Maggie's Notebook and Zilla of the Resistance.

Let me know if I need to add your blog to the roundup.

It's Hard Out There for a Slang Expert

I guess JBW's bailed out on AmPow, or, well, at least since I dissed him as the "SpongeBob of 'Sophisticated' Political Analysis."

Hey, nah. My bad. JBW's cool — or at least not a 24/7 ASFL (and you gotta love this Photoshop!). Not only that, he keeps me honest on the slang, so I'm sending this out to my homie James B. "Sweet Tits" Webb. At Wall Street Journal, "As Slang Changes More Rapidly, Expert Has to Watch His Language":

BERKELEY, Calif. — Tom Dalzell was thrilled last month when he came across a weird new verb: "rickroll."

Then he went online and saw that "rickrolling"—the Internet prank that involves sending someone a link to the music video for Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up"—has been around for four years. That's an eon in the world of slang, enough time to render a term stale.

For most people, being late to a language trend isn't a problem. But Mr. Dalzell, a 59-year-old union leader by day and slang expert after hours, is now in the process of updating the New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English. And as informal language evolves faster than ever, Mr. Dalzell is finding it trickier to keep up.

"Yesterday's cutting-edge is today's ho-hum," he says.

The problem: Slang is born when groups outside the mainstream invent their own language—verbal code that can quickly lose its punch once others catch on. That process used to take a while. But now that social media sites like Facebook and Twitter let people post messages for anyone to see, slang gets exposed much more quickly.

"It's really shortened the shelf life," says Mr. Dalzell, who is considered to be a real "big noise," or a very important person, among word whizzes like Jesse Sheidlower, editor-at-large at the Oxford English Dictionary.

More at the link.

COME BACK JAMESSSSS!!!!!!!

End of Spring 2011 at Long Beach City College

Folks following the flame wars with the ASFL progressives will have noticed that variations of the "shitty community college" slur is routinely deployed as if that's some kind of an epic put-down. The only people who ever say such things are leftists. But of course the two-year colleges serve the constituencies progressives purportedly claim to champion, so the attacks once more show the monumental hypocrisy of the Democrat-Socialist ASFLs.

That's LBCC President Eloy Oakley at the clip. And I got a tickle out of a card a student gave me during the last week of classes, where she writes:

I had a great time in class. I was always tired from work but your personality made the class fun, and refreshing ...

She's a very nice young woman, a legal immigrant from Mexico who supports strict border enforcement. I don't think she'd approve of students dropping f-bombs, or their professors who award them for it.

A lot more happened this semester, including a student who ended her pregnancy at the beginning of classes and was miserable for the remainder of the term. During discussions we talk a lot about the right to privacy and questions of choice, when covering civil liberties, etc., so that must have been rough. And it turned out that another one of my students had just had a baby, so her child was just a couple of month old when school started. She talked about her son all the time. And she was so happy. It was enriching and invigorating. I worked with both students very closely. The range of life satisfaction was like day and night, or, well, life and death, unfortunately.

More later ...

Brazen Big Media Lies on Israel

From Melanie Phillips, "The Brazenness of the Lie Just Makes You Gasp."

A sample:

So just how do America’s media finest manage to write the exact opposite of the truth? Why, by interviewing Israel’s finest from the media and intelligentsia, and treating as authoritative their views – which basically consist of little more than ‘Bibi is a menace because he is not left-wing, and all not-left-wing people are right-wing and thus an interruption to the natural order of things’.

That’s the prism through which the western media and intelligentsia generally refract so much of their reporting, not to mention their opinions. The western intelligentsia basically has its head stuck firmly up its own fundament. Small wonder the west is being led up the garden path and off the edge of that cliff.

Proposed Santa Monica Ballot Measure Could Ban Circumcision

My wife hadn't heard of the San Francisco ballot measure to ban the practice, so when we were watching the news last night she had to laugh: "So next we'll be having back-alley circumcisions?" Well, yeah. And she continued: "No grown man remembers being circumcised as a baby, but an 18 year-old will never forget." Ouch.

At KABC-TV Los Angeles, "Santa Monica Ballot Measure Wants to Ban Circumcision."

Egypt to Open Border-Crossing into Hamas-Controlled Gaza

See Boston Herald, "Open Border to Trouble":

While the president and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were debating the shape of a future two-state solution, the Egyptian government was exercising its own options in the region.

Tomorrow Egypt will open its only crossing into Hamas-controlled Gaza — a crossing that under the “cold peace” it has observed with Israel had remained closed since the Hamas take-over four years ago.

Of course, Gazans had improvised over those years, making their way into Egypt and back home again by way of a series of illegal tunnels — but not so illegal that Hamas didn’t attempt to collect taxes on goods coming into Gaza at their checkpoints...

Israel’s very real fear is over the possible flow of weapons and/or militants into Gaza, putting residents of southern Israel in further danger of ever more powerful rockets coming over the border from Gaza — not a pretty side of the Arab Spring.

RELATED: At ABC News, "Israel Struggles to Stop Weapons Smuggling at Sea."

Soquel Students Suspended for Wearing Plain White T-Shirts Deemed Offensive Signals of 'White Supremacy'

These kinds of stories are basically a daily occurrence nowadays. Saberpoint has a report: "Soquel High School Students Suspended for Wearing White T Shirts (They're Signs of "'hite Supremacy')":

Personally, I am at a loss as to how a white t shirt can endanger anyone's safety. It is absurd that a school principal could suspend students for such a lame-ass reason, in effect, acting as judge, jury and executioner. It seems he has punished these students for "thought crimes," even though he doesn't know for sure what they were thinking. He punished them "just in case" they might do something wrong in the future, and that greatly offends my sense of justice.

Mine too.

Kimberley Strassel: 'Who's Winning the Budget War?'

At Wall Street Journal:

Here's the Washington headline of the week that nobody in America got to read: Paul Ryan, 40. Barack Obama, 0.

Forty is the number of Senate votes that went in favor of Mr. Ryan's reformist budget, a tally that included nearly every Senate Republican. Zero is the number of votes President Obama got for his own tax-and-spend budget, a blueprint that not one of his own party had the backbone to support. It went down, 97-0.

Washington is in a game of high-stakes chicken over raising the debt limit, though so far only one side is flinching. According to the headlines (and Democrats), Republicans are on defense over Mr. Ryan's plan, are risking America's creditworthiness, and are delaying sensible compromise by refusing tax increases. It is only a matter of time, goes the betting, before the party swerves.

This has little relation to reality, in which it is Democrats who keep calling their own bluffs. It was Mr. Obama who first swerved, submitting a "do-over" of his initial, embarrassing budget. It is Democrats who have since swerved on the debt-limit debate, agreeing to spending-cut negotiations, then continuing to up the size of a package.

By refusing to blink, Republicans keep forcing Democrats to acknowledge a very simple political reality: Voters do want spending reform, and do not want tax hikes. That's why this debate has so far moved in the GOP's direction.

RTWT. Strassel mentions NY-26's special election, and she predicted the Democrat victory a couple of weeks ago in any case, "A New York Warning for the GOP":

Good news for a politics-weary nation: Come May 24, the debate over the Paul Ryan budget reform plan will be over—almost before it began. Democrats win. Republicans lose. Long live blowout entitlements.

That, at least, is the narrative being cast on the upcoming special election in New York's 26th congressional district. GOP candidate Jane Corwin had been handily ahead until several weeks ago, when Democrat Kathy Hochul began attacking her for supporting Mr. Ryan's plan. Polls have tightened, and Democrats and the media are now pitching the race as a "referendum" on GOP hopes to cut spending and reform entitlements such as Medicare. A Hochul victory, goes the line, will prove the Ryan plan is a bust even with conservative voters.

Fascinating, if utterly untrue. In their drive to nationalize this story, Democrats and the media are deliberately ignoring the real (if mundane) reasons why the Corwin campaign is struggling—namely, GOP infighting that has allowed a third-party candidate to siphon votes. New York 26 does offer the GOP some important lessons about the entitlement debate—just not any that Democrats are flogging.

See also, John McCormack, "NY-26: Democrat Kathy Hochul Wins with 47% of Vote."