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Cleaver changes his'I was spit on' story

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It's too late to affect the narrative about the tea party protest a couple of weeks ago, but indicative of the rank dishonesty involved in the smear.

Weasel Zipper links to the story:

We know now that no one was arrested, that the Capitol Police were unaware of any such incident, and that Cleaver is a liar.

It won't change anything, of course. A year from now liberals will still be throwing up the "spitting" incident as a sign of the racist tea partiers. And Cleaver's weasel words about denying it ever happened will be forgotten.

[LDot: "All hail the web. Without it this weaselology would stand."]

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It Was a Setup?… Did State-Run Media Conspire on Racist Tea Party Attack

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The American Thinker did an outstanding job describing the events on March 20th, when democratic members of Congress in Washington DC were reportedly taunted by tea party activists with racial and sexual slurs. It appears from the timeline of the events that this race-baiting story was in the works before the Black Caucus members paraded through the tea party crowd on Capitol Hill.

Now Doug Ross found this—–

McClatchy released their story on the reported attacks on the Black Caucus members at 4:51 PM EST. The McClatchy reporter William Douglas refers to Huffington Post contributor Sam Snead as a source in his article.

But… The Huffington Post did not post their article at 4:56 PM EST:

Amazing.

If this timeline is accurate, it looks like the democratic-media complex was working on this story before it even occurred...

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Reid Cancels Speech, Blames Threats

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Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada canceled giving his testimony at an LDS fireside last Sunday night because of angry calls, e-mails and even threats. The Democratic Senator is a member of the LDS Church and was invited to offer remarks at an LDS fireside at the Tule Springs Stake in Las Vegas. The fireside on “Why I Believe” was canceled after the threats were made. His press secretary said there were no threats of violence initiated against Reid but he canceled because of the threats against his invitation to speak.

[Kabuki theater.]

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Protesters debate race outside RNC HQ

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Dani McClain stood behind a lectern on the sidewalk in front of the Republican National Committee's Capitol Hill headquarters and demanded that its chairman "stop stoking the hate."

"We're asking the Republican Party's leadership to address the venomous rhetoric coming from their grass-roots supporters,"

she told a dozen supporters on their lunch breaks and a media scrum gathered for the rally called by ColorofChange.org, an online political organizing group for African Americans.

[More Kabuki theater.]

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Despite media campaign, 'tea party' slips into the mainstream

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... political experts say that many such criticisms are near-sighted, if not outright inappropriate – and ultimately may miss the point. Indeed, polls suggest that tea party activists are not only more mainstream than many critics suggest, but that a majority of them are women (primarily mothers), not angry white men. [Aren't I relieved.]

What's more, the release this week of the top three planks of the "crowd-sourced" Contract From America project, to some activists, shows a maturation from sign-wielding protesters to a political reform movement grounded in ideas.

The top three vote-getters among 360,000 respondents on the Contract From America website: Calling for an enumerated powers act to force lawmakers to check the constitutionality of new laws; requiring a two-thirds majority in Congress for any tax hike; and a legislative backstop to prevent the EPA from "backdoor regulating"...

,,, polls also show that the anger at big government exhibited by tea party protesters is shared by most, Americans.

A Pew poll in early March found 71 percent of Americans "dissatisfied with the way things are going in the country today," while a CNN poll showed that 56 percent of Americans are more than just discontented with Washington. Instead, that majority of respondents agreed that the government is "so large and powerful that it poses an immediate threat to rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens."

Some tea party critics invoke incidents like Joseph Stack’s airplane attack on the IRS office in Austin and the arrest of the antigovernment Hutaree militia this week as evidence of extremist leanings in the broader tea party world...

"By calling them bloodthirsty extremists you're kind of alienating a lot of independents that voted for Obama."

[There must be dozens there.]

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Today's Insult

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Which is more shocking: Hare's dismissive attitude towards his own oath, or the fact that he's open about it?

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Congressman Defends His 'Constitution' Comments on Health Care Law

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An Illinois congressman who ignited a firestorm of controversy this week for telling a town hall audience he's "not worried about the Constitution" on the new health care law said his comments were ''taken completely out of context.''

Rep. Phil Hare's comments were captured on video by a Tea Party activist, posted on YouTube, and quickly went viral...

[I.e., the forgoing video. Was he "taken completely out of context"?]

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What Bias? Re: Obama Doesn't Like "Vitriol"?

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CBS's interview with Barack Obama has to be seen to be believed. Here, Harry Smith asks Obama whether he is aware that some have called him a "socialist" or a "Nazi." The tone of the interview is remarkable; just try to imagine a network news correspondent asking George Bush in the same sympathetic manner what he thinks about the appalling excesses of the other side.

Note how Obama immediately starts talking about the "vitriol" of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. This is a bad joke: has Obama never listened to Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow et al.? As for vitriol, has Obama forgotten his own contributions?

"If They Bring a Knife to the Fight, We Bring a Gun," and "Get in their face"? Or how about his many denunciations of the insurance industry, of doctors, and others involved in health care? Can you remember the last time a President insulted millions of Americans in this manner? I can't.

As far as Obama is concerned, "vitriol" is entirely a matter of whose ox is being gored.

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Fla. Doctor Tells Obama Voters to Go Away

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A Florida man who had been referred to specialist Dr. Jack Cassell found this sign on the doctor's office door:

"If you voted for Obama, seek urologic care elsewhere. Changes to your healthcare begin right now, not in four years."

At first, he thought it was a joke, but the receptionist assured the man, who did not want to be identified, that it was not a joke...

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Congressman Plans to File Complaint Against Anti-Obama Doctor

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A U.S. congressman is planning to file a complaint against the central Florida urologist who posted a sign on his office door warning supporters of President Obama to find a different doctor.

A spokesman for Rep. Alan Grayson, who angered Republicans last year when he said they wanted sick Americans to "die quickly," told FoxNews.com that the Florida Democrat intends to file a complaint next week with the 'proper authorities'.

Grayson will also file additional complaints with all relevant boards or agencies, Grayson spokesman Todd Jurkowski said...

[Like business CEO's being summoned to Washington for saying Obamacare will raise their health care costs, dissent will not be tolerated from this private businessman.]

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Anderson Cooper Takes On Alan Grayson Over Doctor's Anti-Obama Sign

[Credit where due.]

It was by no means surprising to see Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) come down harshly on the Florida doctor who posted a sign in his office telling Obama supporters to seek care elsewhere.

What was somewhat shocking was seeing CNN's Anderson Cooper take on Grayson Friday evening when the Congressman accused Dr. Jack Cassell of being racist.

"What he is doing is no different from saying I will not treat a black person,"

amazingly stated Grayson.

Cooper surprisingly didn't agree (video embedded below the fold with transcript, file photo, h/t HotAirPundit):

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No Speech for You

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So Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is demanding that citizens justify their political speech under oath.

Nervous Nellies doubtlessly will characterize this as an "overreach." Crybabies will grouse about the "chilling" effect or the "muzzling" of dissent.

Yet in these heady days of change, it's all about context. In this case, you'll be relieved to know, we're talking about CEOs. These people take home considerably more pay than I do. Accordingly, they deserve to sit through hours of absurd inquires from sanctimonious politicians as a matter of karmic justice.

The arrogant part of Waxman's abuse of power is that he also demands that CEOs show up with

"any documents, including e-mail messages, sent to or prepared or reviewed by senior company officials related to the projected impact of health care reform."

[I.e., a blatant fishing expedition to find anything embarrassing to the CEOs to punish them for their insolence. America?]

Would it not be helpful for Congress to first provide taxpayers with any and all documents -- including e-mail messages sent to or prepared or reviewed by elected officials -- regarding this historic health care reform bill?

Maybe if Congress applied a fraction of the transparency it demands from corporate America to its own dealings, it wouldn't have to rely on pompous bullies like Waxman to stifle free speech...

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The Party of No Government Takeover

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Voters' distaste for the Democrats' national socialist approach to health care now translates into a decisive 53-37 percent preference for Republicans over Democrats on the health care issue. That isn't all, of course. Rasmussen finds that voters now strongly prefer the Republican approach to issues pretty much across the board:

Twelve points on the economy, fifteen on national security, eighteen on taxes--and that's before voters have started to focus on the massive tax increases slated for next year. Only with respect to ethics do voters still think the parties are indistinguishable.

As Paul noted last night, an improving economy may ease some of the anti-Democrat fervor that is abroad among voters, but it isn't going to change the negative verdict voters have formed on the Democrats' three years in power...

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Ahmadinejad rejects Obama's "beautiful words" to Iran

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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rejected a renewed call from the United States to engage diplomatically to overcome the nuclear standoff, saying he saw no change in Washington's hostile policy. Speaking at a factory inauguration on Saturday, Ahmadinejad said a message by President Barack Obama to mark the Iranian new year last month contained "three or four beautiful words" but nothing new of substance....

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Federal Judge: Diplomacy with Iran "Meaningless Charade"

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A federal court this week ordered Iran to pay $1.3 billion to the victims of the 1983 United States Marine barracks bombing in Beirut, the latest in a series of enormous verdicts against rogue nations that the judge said may be providing false hopes to those who seek justice.

"The Court seeks to send the strongest possible message that Iran's support of terrorism against citizens of the United States absolutely will not be tolerated by the courts of this nation,"

U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth wrote in a searing, and at times poignant, opinion published Wednesday. But by Lamberth's estimate, cases against Iran alone had already piled up more than $9 billion in unpaid judgments before the latest opinion issued this week.

In his opinion he called on President Obama and Congress to find a new approach.

"This meaningless charade … has gone on far too long," ... "It is high time for our political leaders to consider the flaws of this private litigation experience and address the deeper political problems that this court has no authority to resolve."

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'Iran got nuke gear from Chinese firm'

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Iran recently managed to obtain equipment critical to its uranium enrichment efforts, and which is banned by UN sanctions against the country, through a Chinese company, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

According to the report, the hardware – which included valves and vacuum gauges for enrichment centrifuges – was bought by an Iranian research firm which is linked to the country’s atomic energy organization. It was purchased from an intermediary representing a Chinese company - Zheijiang Ouhai Trade Corp...

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Amnesty International Comes Out of the Closet — Endorses "Defensive" Jihad.

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Former Gitmo detainee Moazzam Begg is a committed jihadist and unabashed supporter of the Taliban. (See this Weekly Standard essay ) In the fashion of CAIR — a creation of the Muslim Brotherhood formed to support its causes, such as Hamas, in the camouflage of a "civil rights" organization — Begg shrewdly realized he could win fawning admirers and allies on the Left by posing as a human rights activist.

So he formed a group in Britain, Cageprisoners, which claims to be a civil rights organization whle promoting the Islamist agenda — and aligning with such other anti-American jihadist terrorists as would-be Christmas bomber Umar Abdulmutallab and Anwar al-Awlaki (an imam to some of the 9/11 hijackers and an inspiration to both Abdulmutallab and Fort Hood mass-murderer Nidal Hasan).

As Tom details, the disconnect between terror- and sharia-promotion, on the one hand, and civil rights, on the other, has weighed heavily on some authentic civil rights activists. After complaining for a couple of years to no avail about Amnesty International's support for Begg, Gita Sahgal (head of AI's "gender unit") finally went public, pointing out that

“to be appearing on platforms with Britain’s most famous supporter of the Taliban, whom we treat as a human rights defender, is a gross error of judgment.”

For her trouble, Sahgal was reprimanded by AI and ultimately suspended. AI's treatment of Sahgal prompted a "Global Petition" by some international human rights supporters, protesting AI's action.

In response to the petition, AI Secretary-General Claudio Cordone has issued a letter in vigorous defense of AI's collaboration with Begg and Cageprisoners. Steve Emerson's Investigative Project on Terrorism has the story, here.

In the letter, Cordone states AI's position outright: advocacy of "jihad in self defence" is not antithetical to human rights. That Islamists reserve unto themselves the right to determine when Islam is, as they put it, "under siege," and when, therefore, forcible jihad is justified, is plainly of no concern — only actions America's self-defense are worthy of condemnation.

This has long been obvious when it comes to such Leftist bastions as AI and Human Rights Watch.

AI has now made the obvious explicit.


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Lehrer Accuses GOP of Opposing Civil Rights, Kyl Corrects Him

[Revisionist history]
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PBS's Jim Lehrer on Tuesday wrongly accused Republicans of always being against major social legislation in this country including the Civil Rights Act, Social Security, and Medicare.

"[T]hrough history, recent history in particular, Republicans have opposed things like civil rights legislation, but then, once they lost, they took some deep breaths and moved on, and then finally ended up embracing many of these major changes in -- in laws and in the way we do business here,"

the News Hour host amazingly said to his guest Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.).

Of course, nothing could be further from the truth, and Kyl quickly corrected Lehrer (video embedded below the fold with partial transcript and commentary, relevant section at 4:40, h/t Cubachi):

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Name That Party: Capsizing Island Edition

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Newsweek's The Gaggle blog shared with its readers video of Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., in a congressional hearing expressing his concern that expanding the U.S. military presence on Guam might cause the island to tip over:

"My fear is that the whole island will become so overly populated that it will tip over and capsize..."

Yet despite the time spent on the story, it somehow failed to ever mention the party affiliation of the congressman...

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ISLAND CAPSIZING REPRESENTATIVE...

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