See more at Tom McMahon's excellent 4-Block World.

From John Bergstrom's Attack Cartoons:

It's as plausible as anything else!

I've been eagerly awaiting this miniseries since I saw the first trailer, despite my recent misgivings thanks to Tom Hanks' asshattery. Here's a little history that sets the stage for the first episode.

In partnership with HBO, The U.S. Naval Institute has collected a great wealth of historical information on the the Pacific Theater of World War II. For further reading, try any (or all) of these books:

Want more video?

There's a bunch more after the jump.

If Barack Obama's agenda isn't socialist, then what is it? For reference, please consult the Socialist Party USA's platform and the official program of the Communist Party USA

Just look northward to Canada for a death panel example that will give any honest person reason to doubt the wisdom of enacting Obamacare.

Since ACORN is re-branding its less-than-stellar image these days, they'll likely downplay or eliminate the name "ACORN" soon here in Ohio. Slapping a new label on a crooked organization might be easy, but selling property and changing leadership personnel is not. To make it harder for ACORN to crawl back under a rock somewhere, I'm linking to the Ohio Secretary of State's online records for ACORN's business filing information. Look for street addresses, agent names, etc.

As long as the name "Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now" is in use by an existing business or non-profit organization in Ohio, the Secretary of State's office will also have that information. To run that query, just push this button.

Ain't citizen journalism grand?

11:35 update: Wow. ACORN just agreed to surrender its business license in Ohio as settlement of that RICO lawsuit by the Buckeye Institute. That's good news, but let's be wary. Keep a close eye on what happens with these properties:

379 N. 20th
Lower Level
Columbus, OH 43203

2069 East 36th Street
Cleveland, OH 44115

1025 Central Ave Ste 3
Cincinnati, OH 45202

115 E. Market St.
RM 202
Akron, OH 44308

4945 Profit Way
Dayton, OH 45414

316 North Michigan
Toledo, OH 43624

12:20 Update: Apparently The Buckeye Institute recently split off the 1851 Center for Constitutional Law as an independent organization after the lawsuit was originally filed, so it's the new group that gets the scalp for defeating ACORN.

12:35 Update: Matt Naugle cheers the victory, but cautions everyone to keep an eye open for the same ACORN crooks returning with different front groups.

Good grief. Again with the moooooderate canard? Michael Medved writes:

Republicans may be the immediate beneficiaries of the Democrats' clumsy misinterpretation of the supposed mandate for change, but they run a very real risk of making similar mistakes. Polls show disillusionment and distrust regarding the Obama agenda, but that hardly signals an impassioned appetite for a conservative counterrevolution. If the GOP pledges massive, wrenching, systemic change -- cutting back, for instance, on cherished, widely popular government programs on which millions of Americans depend -- it will meet the same resistance and skepticism that confronts Obama and his liberal colleagues.

In other words, the people would welcome a concerted effort to "clean up the mess in Washington," but they don't want Washington cleaning up the mess in their private lives because they don't consider their personal status a mess.

Yes, the Democrats miscalculated by underestimating the deeply conservative nature of the American people, but the Republicans may yet miscalculate themselves by interpreting that conservatism as ideological rather than temperamental.

The public wants pragmatic, commonsense, problem-solving leadership more than purist dogmatism of the right or the left. Voters don't yearn for stirring 10-point programs, or radical readjustments of governmental institutions, or definitive demonization and defeat of opponents.

Ever since Medved sided with Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham on amnesty "comprehensive immigration reform" a few years back, and especially once Medved started pimping McCain's and Mike Huckabee's presidential campaigns, I've had a hard time listening to him.

Hey, Michael, we don't want "radical conservative change" anytime soon. Let's start by rolling back federal spending/taxation/regulation to August '08 levels. Then maybe we can shoot for Reagan-era levels. After that, we can aim further rightward. 'Kay?

These are the current top 100 non-classical tunes on my iPod ...

... playing in the background as I sip a beer. Year number thirty nine, evening number one. Underway as before.

A decent opening shot, but somehow I suspect my congresscritter Rep. Betty Sutton (D-OH) is not listening any more now than she usually does. When it comes to confronting the vast majority of Americans who don't want anything to do with Obamacare, she's been a bit, um, timid.

Any comment, Tom Ganley? Justin Wooden?

If you really, truly oppose Obamacare as you claim, and if you want to set yourself apart from Betty Sutton, click on this logo ...

... and sign the pledge. I did!

P.S. -- Justin Wooden, call your office!

Just got a 30-sec robocall from Americans United for Change, spouting class warfare talking points and urging me to tell my congresscritters to vote for Obamacare.

Please, progressive geniuses, spend more of George Soros' money on annoying robocalls. It's bound to help your side. Really.

Rep. Betty Sutton just introduced a warm-and-fuzzy-sounding piece of legislation. It's called the Foreclosure Mandatory Mediation Act of 2010:

Rep. Betty Sutton (D-OH13) joined Ohio Reps. Marcia L. Fudge (D-OH11) and Mary Jo Kilroy (D-OH15), as well as Reps. Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Kendrick Meek (D-FL) to introduce H.R. 4635--a measure to combat foreclosures. Ohio has been particularly impacted by the foreclosure crisis and projections indicate no signs of change. In Ohio's 13th Congressional District alone, 17,555 homes are projected to be foreclosed upon over the next four years. This legislation will require lenders of Federal loans or guarantees to enter into mediation with homeowners prior to placing the property in foreclosure or a sheriff's sale.

Since anything advocated by Maxine Waters automatically gets my antennae twitching, I went to the bill's text, which contains this key nugget (the emphasis and links are mine):

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, before a qualified mortgagee may initiate a foreclosure proceeding or a sheriff sale, the qualified mortgagee shall conduct, consistent with any applicable State or local requirements, a one-time mediation with the affected mortgagor and a housing counseling agency, at the expense of the qualified mortgagee.

For purposes of this section the term 'housing counseling agency' means a housing counseling agency certified by the Secretary under section 106(e) of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 (12 U.S.C. 1701x(e)); or a neighborhood housing services program established by the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation under section 606 of the Housing and Community Development Amendments of 1978 (42 U.S.C. 8105);

The parties are forced into mediation (even if it's a slam-dunk case of delinquency by the borrower), and look who foots the entire bill for the mediator's fees: the lender trying to foreclose on the delinquent borrower. When the government keeps forcing a company to incur new costs, the company must eventually pass on those costs to its customers. Otherwise the company will go bankrupt.

If this law passes, it will end up costing you more to get a mortgage. Care to guess which legislators will then wail and gnash their teeth about "predatory lenders screwing the poor" and "fat cat bankers jacking up fees" when those inevitable effects occur? Now, this is par for the course among politicians who have no clue how a free market works. They think the solution to every government-imposed problem is more government regulation and spending. What's unusual is that this isn't the worst part of the bill.

Many of the far-left Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives (along with Sen. Bernie Sanders, an admitted socialist) have long been members of The Congressional Progressive Caucus. It's a who's who of radicals and hair-on-fire statists. Lots of political junkies have heard of their group, and it's pretty much a known quantity.

Lately a new little group of lefty Dems has formed, calling itself The Populist Caucus. Not much is known about them yet, but when I compared their roster to that of the Progressive Caucus (as of February 20, 2010), look what I found.

Fourteen out of thirty members of the Populist Caucus are also members of the Progressive Caucus. Interesting, isn't it? Although the two groups are distinct, it's hard to believe they're all that different.

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2:10 PM Update: Massa will announce today that he is retiring.

So, it seems Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) will step down fight the rush to remove him from his chairmanship of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. His fellow progressives have decided to leave Corruptocrat Charlie twisting in the wind. That's no surprise.

What does surprise me is the mild reaction from Rep. Betty Sutton (D-OH), my Congresswoman. Maybe that's because Rangel gave Sutton $5000 in 2006. Heck, if it weren't for the sudden danger to her cushy job from Republican Tom Ganley, she likely wouldn't have gotten out in front of Rangel's immolation at all.

I'm sure she's grateful, Charlie, but you're just too toxic these days.

3/3 12:45 AM Update: Spin, Betty, spin.

Quite a lot of blinking in that segment. I guess it was seven grand Rangel gave her, which Sabrina Eaton reports is to be donated to local charities.

Rep. Betty Sutton called yesterday for Charlie Rangel to step down from his post on the Ways and Means Committee:

The House Ethics Committee has now determined that a violation of the ban on corporate funded travel did occur and is still considering other allegations against Mr. Rangel. I think that in order to preserve the public trust, which is of the highest priority, Representative Rangel should, at this point, step aside as Chair of the Ways and Means Committee. Our nation is facing many challenges and we must put all our energy, without distraction or question, into meeting those challenges.

It's funny how responsive to ethical concerns a politician becomes when her seat is no longer safe.

Obama is ACORN. ACORN is Obama.

The two are inseparable.

Allen West calls Islam what it is.

It's a violent philosophical/political system with religious trappings. If you want to stop the jihad, there are two choices: submit, or tear the whole belief system up by the roots. "Radical Islam" and "Fundamentalist Islam" are both redundant terms. Islam itself is the problem.

Hat tip: iOwnTheWorld

They been goin' back 'n forth for a century ...

Set the markets free, yo.

Hat tip: Veronique de Rugy

Good riddance to a waste of capital. Gosh, I wonder why progressivism doesn't work in the talk radio medium without government subsidies?

Could it be that talk radio success requires rational thought and something more entertaining than perpetual foul-mouthed outrage?

DefenseTech thinks it's now time for pre-emptive cyber attacks on jihadist networks. Gosh, what an original idea.