Saturday, October 16, 2010

Paradise...exactly as described in the Quran

Bernie, as usual, has an analogy for just about everything...especially those concepts we sometimes cannot prove to the living world...you know, the things you have to die for before our souls find out the Godly truth that awaits us.  It is said that our faith is the only thing we have to rely on when it comes to the hereafter.  We all desire that we depart this world for a better place for eternity.  That better place is usually defined as heaven in the Great Books of religiondom (I know that is not a word but I needed one that would cover all religions and at my age I can make up any word I so choose, so there!).  And who has not heard of that idyllic place so oftened talked about in the Quran...you know, the 72 virgins and all.  I guess you have to convert to Islam to partake in these afterlife paradises.  But why convert to Islam?  You can have all that without breathing your last breath...read on, it doesn't get any better than this. ~ Norman E. Hooben
ps: I do not question the virginity of the angels.

My Atheist Heaven
By Bernie on 14 Oct 2010
Just because I am an Atheist does not mean I cannot dream about Heaven. I want to admit here that the Muslim concept of Heaven actually mirrors my own. According to Muslim belief, everything one longs for in this world, will be there in Paradise. Rivers of wine and clear drink, an unending supply of nubile young women of "dazzling whiteness" wearing costly robes, golden and diamond studded bracelets, perfumes from the essences of the most exotic orchids.
Delicious fruits of all seasons fill silver goblets. The palaces are mansions made from bricks of gold and silver, inlaid with pearls, lapis, rubies and emeralds. Your every wish is fulfilled.
Women of indescribable sultriness and skilled in the pleasures of love recline on couches sewn with intertwined threads of gold, the finest of Oriental silk, and the blond hairs of virgins from the north countries.
And in all this, I was able to obtain an actual photo of this Paradise by aid of a Jinn who granted my wish to see the world to come.
Amazingly, it is exactly as described in the Quran and as my mind pictured it, with a host of Angels bestride the Ruler of Paradise:
heaven in my mind

The Chilean Mine Rescue...the untold story

The Chilean mine rescue....  The chilling Godless press...

The following from Gerry Charlotte Phelps

The Blanked-Out Story of Mine Rescue in Chile

In the gripping story of the Chilean mining rescue, the press left out almost completely a huge and obvious part of the story.  That was the story of how the miner's active faith in God helped keep them alive and strong for 69 days - the longest time yet spent trapped underground.  That they survived at all is astounding - especially when no one knew for the first 17 days whether they were dead or alive.  The miners themselves told the story.  They spoke of their faith as they exited the capsule, wore clothing and tokens showing that faith, told the story in interviews.  But for the press it was a non-story.  A detail with no significance.  To the men who just got their lives back, though, it was the key to the story.

The men appeared remarkably healthy after their ordeal. Emotions were understandably high after the survivors completed their half-mile journey to the surface; predictably, the men's thoughts were on family and faith. Mario Sepulveda, an ebullient man and the second to emerge from the bullet-shaped rescue tube, said, "I was with God. I was with the Devil. God and the devil were fighting over me, and God won. I always knew they would get me out. I always had faith in the professionals here in Chile and in the Great Creator."
President Pinera declared that although it all started as a possible tragedy, it ended up as "a real blessing from God."
Luis Urzua, shift supervisor of the mine, was the driving force in keeping the men alive and relatively healthy; his leadership is credited for the plans that doled out 48 hours' worth of rations to hold the men until food could be sent down to them nearly three weeks into their ordeal. In addition, he drew the maps that enabled the rescuers to locate the men with the precision necessary for the successful rescue. When he emerged from the entrapment, Urzua proudly proclaimed, "We have done what the entire world was waiting for. We had strength, we had spirit, we wanted to fight, we wanted to fight for our families, and that was the greatest thing."
Also, it was impossible to escape the religious significance of the rescue. The first rescuer made the sign of the cross as he was lowered into the mine to begin evacuating the trapped miners. Some reports identified Mario Gomez, the oldest trapped miner at 62, as the spiritual leader of the men. Gomez credited the Vatican for providing a "literal and spiritual" lifeline for the miners when they sent down 33 mini-Bibles and 33 rosaries. But not all of the captured miners were Catholics; the presence of evangelical believers reveals significant religious changes that are sweeping through Latin America and South America.
The Baptist wire services told the story of a Baptist pastor, Marcelo Leiva, and one of the miners, Jose Henriquez, who collaborated on the Bible studies that Henriquez was conducting for fellow evangelical believers underground. Henriquez's brother distributed T-shirts to those at Camp Esperanza, the tent city called "Camp Hope" set up for those awaiting the miners. The shirts bore a Bible verse: "To Him be the glory and honor. Because in his hands are the depths of the earth, and the heights of the mountains are His" (Psalm 95:4).
There is no question that the Chilean rescue involved expert planning, top-notch engineering, quality equipment, and the ingenious problem-solving of experts from a number of countries around the world. In addition, the miners give appropriate credit to their leaders, who kept them strong emotionally and physically. Villarroel said, "We had a boss ... every day he would tell us we had to be strong ... we didn't have hope. Strength comes from internal energy and prayer ... I never used to pray, [but] here I learned to pray. I got closer to God." In fact, Time Magazine reported that the miners often sang hymns and described the atmosphere underground as being like a church service.
Jimmy Sanchez, one of the outspoken believers, said, "There are actually 34 of us, because God has never left us down here." Ultimately, Villarroel and the other rescued Chilean miners recognized -- as we must all learn to do -- that their fate rested not in human hands or expert plans alone, but in the providence of God.
Villarroel surely spoke for the other miners -- many fell to their knees in prayer as they came out of the rescue capsule -- when he thanked God for a second chance at life. Omar Reygadas clutched his Bible as he exited the rescue capsule, and he knelt in prayer when his feet touched ground. His first words were "God Lives." From the first to the last rescued Chilean miner, these 33 men have learned much they can teach us about faith and what is real.
Janice Shaw Crouse, Ph.D. is Director and Senior Fellow, The Beverly LaHaye Institute,

Concerned Women for America
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WHO IS KEEPING TRACK OF THE TRILLION$

So you trusted Obama's friends did you...they're taking the country down trillion$ at a time!


Source: The Daily Bail

There Are No Words To Describe The Following


Make an effort.  Make a difference!  Circulate Far and Wide.
Extremely important clip.  Please share it anywhere and everywhere across the net.  Our only hope to stop the heist will come from greater awareness.  Thank you.
WHO IS KEEPING TRACK OF THE TRILLIONS?
If you're pressed for time, start watching at the 3-minute mark.  Alan Grayson questions Elizabeth Coleman, Inspector General of the Federal Reserve.
##
Editor's Note:  Until the day Bernanke is indicted for crimes against humanity, all we can do is create awareness.  The most effective strategy is an email campaign.
Like all campaigns, it requires a few workhorses in the beginning; some adept folks who are willing to send this link to hundreds of others, essentially to everyone in their email address books.  Can you be one of these people who helps us get this started?
Copy/paste and blast away.  We thank each and everyone in advance for your help.
Keep the campaign going.  Imagine the power of everyone, every single one of you, sending it to just 2 people.  More than 2.5 million people have seen this clip on this site.  All because of your efforts.  We believe that this the most important video we've ever published - out of more than 10,000.
Make an effort.  Make a difference.

Thank you!
________________
Bonus video...watch Bernanke (He dosen't know where the money is going...then he admits its going to the overseas bankers...HELLO !!! Is this the last wake-up call?)

Thursday, October 14, 2010

We Have A Fundamental Problem

“When our administration’s analysis to law enforcement across the country that the future threats to America are right-wing Christian groups, pro-life groups, Second Amendment groups, and returning veterans; and never says, Islamic terrorists; then we have a fundamental problem of recognizing who the enemy is.” ~Lieutenant General William G. Boykin. LTG Boykin served 36 years in the Army and held the post of Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence.
A German’s View on Islam (from: The Last Ditch )

Posted on by stargazer12

“All I need to know about Islam I learned on 9/11.”
This is by far among the best explanations of the Muslim terrorist situation I have ever read. His references to past history are accurate and clear. Not long, easy to understand, and well worth the read. The author of this email is said to be Dr. Emanuel Tanay, a well-known and well-respected psychiatrist.
A German’s View on Islam
A man, whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War II, owned a number of large industries and estates. When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism.
‘Very few people were true Nazis,’ he said, ‘but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care.
I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come. My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories.’
We are told again and again by ‘experts’ and ‘talking heads’ that Islam is the religion of peace and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace. Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the spectre of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam.
The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history. It is the fanatics who march. It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide. It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave. It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honour-kill. It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque. It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals. It is the fanatics who teach their young to kill and to become suicide bombers.
The hard, quantifiable fact is that the peaceful majority, the ‘silent majority,’ is cowed and extraneous.
Communist Russia was comprised of Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 40 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant. China’s huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people.
The average Japanese individual prior to World War II was not a warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by sword, shovel, and bayonet.
And who can forget Rwanda , which collapsed into butchery. Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were ‘peace loving’?
History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our powers of reason, we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points:
* Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence.
* Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don’t speak up, because like my friend from Germany , they will awaken one day and find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun.
* Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghans, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, Iranians and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late. As for us who watch it all unfold, we must pay attention to the only group that counts–the fanatics who threaten our way of life.
Lastly, anyone who doubts that the issue is serious and just deletes this email without sending it on, is contributing to the passiveness that allows the problems to expand. So, extend yourself a bit and send this on and on and on! Let us hope that thousands, world-wide, read this and think about it, and send it on – before it’s too late.
German View of Islam
This is by far among the best explanations of the Muslim terrorist situation I have ever read. His references to past history are accurate and clear.
Not long, easy to understand, and well worth the read. The author of this email is said to be
Dr. Emanuel Tanay, a well-known and well-respected psychiatrist.
A German’s View on Islam
A man, whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War II, owned a number of large industries and estates. When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism.
‘Very few people were true Nazis,’ he said, ‘but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care.
I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come. My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories.’
We are told again and again by ‘experts’ and ‘talking heads’ that Islam is the religion of peace and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace. Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the spectre of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam.
The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history. It is the fanatics who march. It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide. It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave. It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honour-kill. It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque. It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals. It is the fanatics who teach their young to kill and to become suicide bombers.
The hard, quantifiable fact is that the peaceful majority, the ‘silent majority,’ is cowed and extraneous.
Communist Russia was comprised of Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 40 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant. China’s huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people.
The average Japanese individual prior to World War II was not a warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by sword, shovel, and bayonet.
And who can forget Rwanda , which collapsed into butchery. Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were ‘peace loving’?
History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our powers of reason, we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points:
* Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence.
* Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don’t speak up, because like my friend from Germany , they will awaken one day and find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun.
* Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghans, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, Iranians and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late. As for us who watch it all unfold, we must pay attention to the only group that counts–the fanatics who threaten our way of life.

Old and New Glorys

About stargazer12

Retired from teaching and counseling. Have six beautiful children, eleven grandchildren & three greats! Am a reader, writer, artist, and a good friend. Am God-fearing, Jesus believing, and love the U. S. of A. Just Sayin' is a mostly-for-fun blog, full of the mundane and sometimes funny journey I'm making in life. The Last Ditch is my take on politics interspersed with travel to break the tension that is our political lot today.

Response to A German’s View on Islam

Mehboob alam says:
lovely beg and honest view
dr alam
kpk pakistan


Norm says:
Ref: “Just Sayin’ is a mostly-for-fun blog, full of the mundane and sometimes funny journey I’m making in life.” ~~~

My journey in life may be coming to an end as my grandchildren are now in their teens with nieces and nephews in their forties and fifties and I don’t think for a minute that what is going on now is mostly-for-fun or mundane and sometimes funny. I am very concerned that those who follow me will not have to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune that the Muslim sympathizer in the White House has planned for their future. The Last Ditch may come in November at the polls and if we do not wake up then the last great hope on earth will be lost for ten-thousand years…
God Save America!

 __________________________________

Overwhelm the System

WAYNE ALLYN ROOT: Overwhelm the system Barack Obama is no fool. He is not incompetent. To the contrary, he is brilliant. He knows exactly what he’s doing. He is purposely overwhelming the U.S. economy to create systemic failure, economic crisis … Continue reading
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Related...
1.  Assessing The Terrorist Threat  - A Report Of The Bipartisan Policy Center's National Security Center Preparedness Group

2. Who Is The Enemy - by William G. Boykin
______________________________


Refelections (Do you remember?) ...

1.   1968 Bobby Kennedy was shot and killed by    A Muslim male extremist between the ages of 17 and 40
2.   In 1972 at the Munich Olympics, athletes were kidnapped and massacred by:  Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
3. In 1979, the US embassy in Iran was taken over by: Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
4.  During the 1980's a number of Americans were kidnapped in Lebanon by:  Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and   40
5. In 1983, the US Marine barracks in Beirut was blown up by: Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
6.  In 1985 the cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked and a 70 year old American passenger was murdered and thrown overboard in his wheelchair by: Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
7.  In 1985 TWA flight 847 was hijacked at Athens, and a US Navy diver trying to rescue passengers was murdered by: Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
8.  In 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed by: Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
9. In 1993 the World Trade Center was bombed the first time by:  Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
10. In 1998, the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by: Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
11. On 9/11/01, four airliners were hijacked;  two were used as missiles to take out the World Trade Centers and of the remaining two,  one crashed into the US Pentagon and the other was diverted and crashed by the passengers. Thousands of people were killed by: Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and  40
12. In 2002 the United  States fought a war in Afghanistan against: Muslim male extremists mostly between  the ages of 17 and 40
13. In 2002 reporter Daniel  Pearl was kidnapped and murdered by: Muslim male extremists mostly between  the ages of 17 and 40
"Any muslim that denies this is a liar!"
________________________


Terrorist incidents in the United States in 2009

The following 11 terrorist incidents in 2009 are divided into the following categories: terrorist attacks, serious plots, and Americans conspiring to take part in jihadist training or campaigns overseas. A “serious plot” is defined as involvement in a concrete plan to commit a terrorist attack, with specific chosen targets and other preparations, including target surveillance and the preparation of explosives or other weapons and travel or attempted travel to join a jihadist group.

Terrorist attacks (2)

Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad (Carlos Bledsoe) – In June 2009 Muhammad, known as Carlos Bledsoe before his conversion to Islam, killed one soldier and wounded another at a U.S. military recruiting station in Little Rock, Arkansas. Muhammad had spent time in Yemen and claimed to be a member of the group Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

Nidal Malik Hasan – On November 5, 2009, Maj. Hasan, a military psychologist stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, opened fire on the base with two handguns, killing 13 and wounding 43 before security officers shot and disabled him. Hasan was born in Virginia to Palestinian parents, and currently awaits trial in the military justice system.

Serious plots (5)

Michael Finton – Finton, a convert to Islam, was arrested in September 2009 after attempting to set off an inert car bomb in front of a federal government building in Springfield, Illinois. Federal agents posing as al-Qaeda members supplied Finton with a fake bomb, and a friend working as an FBI informant recorded  conversations where Finton expressed his hatred of the United States and his desire to engage in jihad.

Hosam Maher Husein Smadi – Smadi, a 19-year-old Jordanian, was arrested in a sting operation after trying to set off an inert car bomb in September 2009 in front of the Fountain Place office tower in Dallas.  As with Finton, the FBI had been investigating Smadi, supplied him with harmless materials disguised as explosives, and recorded Smadi’s conversations with undercover agents where he discussed his plan to commit a terrorist attack in the United States.

Najibullah Zazi et al – Zazi, an Afghan immigrant and permanent U.S. resident, was arrested in September 2009 while preparing to attack targets including the New York City subway system.  Zazi had stockpiled chemicals, including hydrogen peroxide, needed to make an explosive compound known as TATP. He pleaded guilty in February 2010 to conspiring to commit a terrorist act using a “weapon of mass destruction.” He also admitted to having received training in Pakistan. Zazi had gone originally to fight American forces in Afghanistan, but al-
Qaeda leaders convinced him to return to the United States. Zazi’s friend Zoran Ahmedzay pleaded guilty to involvement in the plot, while another friend, Adis Medunjanin, is currently awaiting trial on charges of involvement.

David Coleman Headley – Headley, a Pakistani-American who changed his name from Daood Gilani, was arrested along with Tawahhur Rana in October 2009 on charges that he helped scope out targets for the 2008 Mumbai attacks, conducted by the Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba. Headley pleaded guilty in March 2010, also admitting to having helped plot an attack that never took place against the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, in retaliation for the paper’s publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed.

Umar Farouq Abdulmutallab -- Umar Farouq Abdulmutallab, a 23 year old Nigerian affiliated with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, botched an attempt to explode a bomb with plastic explosives on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 over Detroit on Christmas Day 2009. Abdulmutallab boarded the flight in Amsterdam, bound for Detroit with some 300 passengers and crew on board. As the plane neared Detroit, the young man tried to initiate his bomb with the chemical, setting himself on fire and suffering severe burns. Some combination of his own ineptitude, faulty bomb construction, and the quick actions of the passengers and crew who subdued him and extinguished the fire prevented an explosion that might have brought down the plane near Detroit. Immediately after he was arrested, Abdulmutallab told investigators that the explosive device “was acquired in Yemen along with instructions as to when it should be used.” He has been charged in a six-count criminal indictment including attempted use of weapons of mass destruction and attempted murder, and faces life in prison if convicted.121

Americans seeking to join or aid foreign terrorist organizations (4)

The “DC 5” – In November 2009 five young Americans of Pakistani, Arab, and African descent were arrested in Pakistan after their families reported them missing and found what appeared to be at least one “martyrdom video.” The five reportedly had tried to join multiple Pakistani militant groups, without success, before being picked up by Pakistani police. They were charged in Pakistan and convicted in June 2010 of criminal conspiracy and funding a banned terrorist organization. The five are Umar Chaudhry, Ramy Zamzan, Waqar Hassan Khan, Ahmad Abdullah Minni, and Amein Hassan Yemer.

Minnesota Somalis – Federal prosecutors in 2009 indicted two groups of men (eight in one indictment, six in another) for recruiting young men in Somali communities in Minnesota and fundraising for the al-Qaeda-linked group al-Shabab. Some of the men are currently believed to be in Somalia, and seven of those charged as part of the ongoing investigation were indicted in August 2010 on additional charges of providing material • The “DC 5” – In November 2009 five young Americans of Pakistani, Arab, and African descent were arrested in Pakistan after their families reported them missing and found what appeared to be at least one “martyrdom video.” The five reportedly had tried to join multiple Pakistani militant groups, without success, before being picked up by Pakistani police. They were charged in Pakistan and convicted in June 2010 of criminal conspiracy and funding a banned terrorist organization. The five are Umar Chaudhry, Ramy Zamzan, Waqar Hassan Khan, Ahmad Abdullah Minni, and Amein Hassan Yemer.

Minnesota Somalis – Federal prosecutors in 2009 indicted two groups of men (eight in one indictment, six in another) for recruiting young men in Somali communities in Minnesota and fundraising for the al-Qaeda-linked group al-Shabab. Some of the men are currently believed to be in Somalia, and seven of those charged as part of the ongoing investigation were indicted in August 2010 on additional charges of providing materialsupport to Shabab. Those indicted include Abdow Munye Abdow, Khalid Abshir, Salah Osman Ahmad, Adarus Abdulle Ali, Cabdulaahi Ahmed Faarax, Khalid Abshir, Salah Osman Ahmad, Kamal Hassan, Mohamed Hassan, Abdifatah Yusef Isse, Abdiweli Yassin Isse, Zakaria Maruf, Omer Abdi Mohamed, Ahmed Ali Omar, Mahanud Said Omar, and Mustafa Salat.
• North Carolina Cluster – Daniel Boyd, a convert to Islam, was arrested in July 2009 along with six others, including two of his sons, and charged with plotting to wage “violent jihad” abroad. He allegedly performed reconnaissance on the U.S. Marine base at Quantico, Va., while planning a possible attack on the base. Members of the “North Carolina Cluster” allegedly traveled to Gaza, Israel, and Jordan in the past several years in the hope of fighting Israeli forces. Besides Boyd, those arrested were his sons Zakariya and Dylan, Anes Subasic, Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan, Ziyad Yaghi, and Hysen Sherifi.

Tarek Mehanna – Boston resident Mehanna was arrested in October 2009 on charges that he had plotted to join insurgents fighting U.S. troops abroad, attack a shopping mall in the United States, and kill two U.S. politicians.  Mehanna was also charged in June 2010 with seeking to provide material support to al-Qaeda. An alleged accomplish in Mehanna’s nascent plots, Ahmed Abousamra, is currently believed to be in Syria.

Fait accompli...Is this an accurate description of you? (ps: If you're a Liberal you won't want to read this for one reason...The one reason? Because it's true!)

Fait accompli

Meaning

An accomplished fact; an action which is completed before those affected by it are in a position to query or reverse it.

From the Snooper Report we have this:

Note: For comments on this report click here

Obama's Rule by Decree to Begin in 2011?

Remember the flack everyone took about Bush doing this?
Obama's Rule by Decree to Begin in 2011?
Floyd Reports Ben Johnson
10/8/10

This morning, political commentators are paying a great deal of attention to one of the Los Angeles Times’ stories about Barack Obama’s plans for a Republican takeover of Congress. Unfortunately, they are focusing on the wrong one. Most commentators spent the morning quoting the president’s remarks on a black radio program that a GOP-dominated Congress will result in “hand-to-hand combat.” (emphasis mine Storm'n Norm'n) The reality is most of the action will take place behind their backs and over their heads. All indications are, if Obama cannot get his legislative agenda enacted by Congress, he will impose it by decree.

The evidence comes buried elsewhere in today’s L.A. Times in a piece by Peter Nicholas and Christi Parsons under the hum-drum headline, “Obama Reshapes Administration for a Fresh Strategy.” The story makes clear the “fresh strategy” borders on government by executive fiat. It begins, “As President Obama remakes his senior staff, he is also shaping a new approach for the second half of his term: to advance his agenda through executive actions he can take on his own, rather than pushing plans through an increasingly hostile Congress.” This rule by divine right of kings is confirmed by no less an Obama insider than David Axelrod, who said, “It’s fair to say that the next phase is going to be less about legislative action than it is about managing the change that we’ve brought.” The Times states candidly:

So the best arena for Obama to execute his plans may be his own branch of government. That means more executive orders, more use of the bully pulpit, and more deployment of his ample regulatory powers and the wide-ranging rulemaking authority of his Cabinet members.  (Emphases added.)

Nicholas and Parsons note how the president has replaced the few appointees with ties to Capitol Hill in place of Chicago insiders. They specifically state the “the Environmental Protection Agency is determined to use its regulatory power…to begin lowering [carbon] emissions, in the absence of congressional action.” In 2007, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that the EPA could regulate carbon dioxide emissions under the Clean Air Act, although the act did not have these “pollutants” in mind. Seizing on this ruling, an anonymous insider who “was not authorized to speak publicly” told the Times, “The ambition is to get a reasonable start” on implementing his extremist vision.


The plan fulfills a threat Obama made earlier this year. The Associated Press reported in June, “The Obama administration says it would prefer that Congress enact climate change legislation, but has used the threat of EPA regulations to goad lawmakers into action.” Within the last week, Congressional Republicans have called the regulations job-killers, and Democratic Senator Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia has sponsored a two-year freeze on certain EPA regulations. Now it looks as though the president will run roughshod over Rockefeller, the Republicans, and the will of the American people.

More concerning than the aims to which Obama plans to use unfettered executive fiat power is the circumvention of Congress, and the Constitution, in the first place. William Galston of the Brookings Institution took the LAT Obama will employ this strategy even if Republicans do not take back either House of Congress. “Whether or not the Republicans take over majorities in one or both houses, the margins will be so much narrower that the strategy of putting together a Democratic bill and picking off a handful of Republicans to push it over the top won’t be viable anymore,” he said.

Rather than triangulate, repackage his radicalism, or take an electoral chastening, Obama plans to ram his agenda down the American people’s throats “by any means necessary.”

What will this agenda look like? In part, it is already in place. On illegal immigration, the president has already excluded Congress, several states, and the overwhelming majority of the American people to aggressively promote an Open Borders agenda. A U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services draft memo that surfaced this summer contemplated ways to enact “meaningful immigration reform absent legislative action.” Shortly thereafter, an ICE draft memo appeared, instructing all law enforcement – including any “state, local, or tribal officer” – that no one “should not issue detainers against an alien charged only with a traffic-related misdemeanor.” Traffic stops have been one of the most fruitful ways of finding and deporting illegal aliens and make up the heart of Arizona’s S.B. 1070, allowing state and local law enforcement agencies to exercise their federally delegated power in arresting illegal immigrants.

When the Obama administration is not making law, it is busy ignoring it. The New York Times reported that the government simply stopped deporting young illegal aliens this summer – an exemption that applies to 726,000 people – because they may be eligible for the DREAM Act, which Congress has not yet passed (and probably never will). The administration began dismissing virtually all cases against illegals who had not committed any violent crime, letting a potential 17,000 illegals off-the-hook. Janet Napolitano’s Department of Homeland Security seems to have let a Congressionally mandated program to assure visa recipients leave the country slide – although overstays are the entry point for 40-45 percent of all illegal immigrants in the United States. That is how six of the 9/11 hijackers entered the country. Although Congress supports enforcement, the administration has simply shut down their requests.

Obama has unilaterally decided not to apply equal rights to disenfranchised white voters, dropping all such lawsuits targeting minority organizations. DoJ appointee Julie Fernandez said, “the Obama administration was only interested in bringing…cases that would provide political equality for racial and language minority voters.” Two former, high-ranking DoJ voting rights lawyers have testified the racist arrangement is an official government policy.

The Obama administration has already begun to entertain aspects of the Green Left’s agenda, a trend it will increase in the second half of its first (and, we hope, only) term. The EPA considered, then rejected, banning fishing gear and traditional bullets this summer. Obama has taken steps toward nationalizing millions of acres of land in the American West. In July, the president established the National Ocean Council, staffed with 27 members, by decree. Rep. Sam Farr boasted at the time, “We already have a Clean Air Act and a Clean Water Act. With today’s executive order, President Obama in effect creates a Clean Ocean Act.” Some have written this panel will implement the never-ratified UN Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST). [Note from Norm: See How much time is left before we are LOST]

The danger is not merely that the president will enact legislation with the stroke of a pen, like Caesar. It appears likely he will accelerate his trend to pre-empt domestic political questions before the United Nations. I was the first reporter to discover that Obama hauled Arizona before the UN Human Rights Council this summer over the state’s aforementioned immigration law. Last week, the UN’s Global Migration Group issued a new report blasting opponents of Open Borders and welfare for illegal aliens as “xenophobes and racists.” Now, the Justice Department has solicited 11 Latin American nations to weigh in on its lawsuit stating the Arizona law violates the U.S. Constitution – as though any of the parties would know or care. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer called the foreign intervention “incredibly offensive,” adding, “American sovereignty begins in the U.S. Constitution and at the border.”

The Obama administration has already rendered one of these moot and is now working to undermine the other. He has appointed two Supreme Court justices who believe in supplanting the U.S. Constitution with foreign law.

Obama used the same UN report to push a far-Left agenda (including card-check union organization, bilingual ballots, universal preschool, and gays in the military) under the guise of “human rights.” He likewise extended benefits to the same-sex “partners” of some federal employees in advance of a Congressional bill to do the same.

Where does the president derive these dictatorial powers? Simple: he claims them. Article II of the U.S. Constitution delegates to the president only the powers to act as commander-in-chief of the military, grant pardons, make treaties (which must be approved by the Senate), appoint ambassadors and Supreme Court justices, and give the State of the Union address.

And, if necessary, the “right” to be impeached.

If a system of unelected, sometimes unconfirmed czars does not violate the Constitution, the assumption of imperial powers by the executive branch should.

Barack Obama is dedicated to use whatever time he has in office forcing as much of his agenda on the United States – and so transforming the economic and electoral make-up of our nation – that his radical vision can be foisted upon Americans as a fait accompli.

Many Americans believed the velvet words of hope and change during the 2008 campaign. If the thuggishness of the past two years has not convinced them of his disregard for popular will, the U.S. Constitution, and the rule of law, two years of radical, royal decrees may.

If Congressional Republicans do their jobs in 2011, Obama may not fill out two more years in office.
From "Linda" via email...
Looking forward to those Shackles, America?
ACT or lose whatever is left of your "freedoms" -
How many times are we gong to read this and do nothing?  Our patriot-military has the right to remove this usurper/ arrest/ imprison, and try for treasonous acts.  No need for lengthy legal appeals - they can act immediately with all the facts already listed.  This guy has broken so many laws & bypassed our Constitution, the evidence abounds!
Use it!

Article II  sec 4.  The President, Vice President and all Civil Officers of the United States, shall be REMOVED from Office on IMPEACHMENT for, and CONVICTION of, TREASON, BRIBERY, or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors.
The Snooper Report.
Join us as we Take Our Country Back.
Sic vis pacem para bellum
Fight Accordingly

Obama-Holder Denying Soldiers Right To Vote

The following from: Election Law Center

EXCLUSIVE BREAKING NEWS: DOJ knew for over a week that New York failed to mail ballots to military voters, and took no action

EXCLUSIVE TO ELECTION LAW CENTER: Election Law Center has learned that the Holder Department of Justice has known for over a week that ballots failed to be sent to military overseas voters from New York. According to a DOJ source, the Voting Section was alerted at least as early as October 4 that New York totally failed to comply with the MOVE Act and Federal law. Yet the Department did nothing. They concealed the failure from the general public. They did not sue and seek a court order requiring the ballots to be sent.

Tuesday went by with no lawsuit. Wednesday went by with no lawsuit. The same for Thursday and Friday. Instead they dithered and talked with New York. The long holiday weekend (for Federal employees) went by. The weather was beautiful in Washington.

This means that the DOJ knew that ballots were not going to Iraq and Afghanistan, but they never took action. This close to an election, a week makes all the difference between having time to cast a ballot, and missing out on the election.

But what of the “urgent negotiations” that DOJ press spokesperson Xochitl Hinojosa said were occurring? Apparently the negotiations were so “urgent” that they went on for at least a week without any results whatsoever. New York still hasn’t mailed the ballots. It seems New York wasn’t persuaded by DOJ’s resolve, or lack thereof.

Even if DOJ sues New York on Tuesday, it is likely this lawsuit is in response to Senator John Cornyn’s October 11 threat, reported by Jana Winter at Fox News, that they go to the courthouse on Tuesday October 12 and sue. What about the lawsuit that could have been filed on October 4, October 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and even October 11th through electronic case filing?

The bottom line is that anytime last week, the DOJ could have secured an injunction from the Federal Court ordering New York to mail military ballots. Obtaining this injunction would strengthen the bargaining position of those “urgent negotiations.” If a court agrees with your position, you can negotiate a resolution from a position of strength.

Instead, military voters got the short end of the stick. All last week, time slipped by and DOJ sat silent. This is because some in the Justice Department are adverse to filing a lawsuit. The litigation-adverse should be removed from management of the military voting operation. The courage to enter a courtroom is prerequisite to helping military voters.

So look for the DOJ to file a lawsuit against New York in the face of Senator Cornyn’s threat. But keep in mind that the DOJ knew that New York wasn’t mailing ballots as early as October 4, and perhaps earlier, according to DOJ sources. An entire week has been lost to fix the problem.

This is devastating news for the DOJ and demoralizing news for military voters. It means that the officials responsible for protecting their right to vote are more interested in talk, and risk aversion, than they are protecting voting rights. It means they knew there was a catastrophic problem for over a week, and took no action. Thank God our services members have acted exactly the opposite throughout our nation’s history.
UPDATE:  Fox reports  that New York expects to be sued this week, at least 8 days after DOJ learned of the catastrophe.
_________________________

Muslim Heritage...What are you? Nuts!

----- Original Message -----
From: link removed
To: link removed
Sent: Tuesday, October 12, 2010 11:43 PM
Subject: Fw: Muslim Heritage, my ass

Barack OBAMA, During his Cairo speech, said: "I know, too, that Islam has always been a part of  America 's history."

AN AMERICAN CITIZEN'S RESPONSE:

Dear Mr. Obama:

Were those Muslims who were in America when the Pilgrims first landed? 
Funny, I thought they were Native American Indians.

Were those Muslims that celebrated the first Thanksgiving
Day?  Sorry again, those were Pilgrims and Native American Indians.

Can you show me one Muslim signature on the United States Constitution?

Declaration of Independence?   Bill of Rights?

Didn't think so.

Did Muslims fight for this country's freedom from England ?  No.

Did Muslims fight during the Civil War to free the Slaves in America?
No, they did not.
In fact, Muslims to this day are still the largest traffickers in human slavery.
Your own half brother, a devout Muslim, still advocates slavery himself, even
though Muslims of Arabic descent refer to black Muslims as "pug nosed slaves."  Says a lot of what the Muslim world really thinks of your family's
"rich Islamic heritage," doesn't it Mr. Obama?

Where were muslims during the Civil Rights era of this Country?  Not present.

There are no pictures or media accounts of Muslims walking side by side with Martin Luther King, Jr. or helping to advance the cause of Civil Rights.

Where were Muslims during this country's Woman's Suffrage Era? 
Again, not present.  In fact, devout Muslims demand that women are subservient to men in the Islamic culture.  So much so, that often they are beaten for not wearing the 'hajib' or for talking to a man who is not a direct family member or their husband.
Yep, the Muslims are all for women's rights, aren't they?

Where were Muslims during World War II?  They were aligned with Adolf Hitler.  The Muslim Grand Mufti himself met with Adolf Hitler, reviewed the troops and
accepted support from the Nazi's in killing Jews.

Finally, Mr. Obama, where were Muslims on Sept. 11th, 2001?  If they weren't flying planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon or a field in Pennsylvania, killing nearly 3,000 people on our own soil, they were rejoicing in the Middle East.  No one can dispute the pictures shown  from all parts of the Muslim world celebrating on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC and other cable news networks that day.
Strangely, the very "moderate" muslims whose asses you bent over backwards to kiss in Cairo , Egypt on June 4th were stone cold silent, post 9-11.  To many Americans, their silence has meant approval for the acts of that day.

And THAT, Mr. Obama, is the "rich heritage" muslims have here in America.

Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to mention the Barbary Pirates.  They were muslim.

And now we can add November 5, 2009 - the slaughter of American soldiers at Fort Hood by a Muslim major who is a doctor and a psychiatrist who was supposed to be counseling soldiers returning from battle in Iraq and Afghanistan .

That, Mr. Obama is the "muslim heritage" in America.

EVERY AMERICAN MUST READ THIS !! 

Be Sure to SEND IT TO All . 
Even Print it out and send by Snail Mail !! 

Muslim Heritage, my ass.

Fall River...the way to go! ...and leading the way is

The best of the best...
CJ Ferry, Jim McKenna, Sean Bielat, Marty Lamb, Thomas Hodgson, Bill Campbell...there's more! ...check 'em out

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

How does Obama get all those supporters behind him?

They run ads like this:
PRESIDENT OBAMA TOWN HALL, MTV
MTV, BET and CMT are casting the audience for town hall meeting with President Obama. Shooting Oct. 14, 4 p.m. in Washington, D.C.
Seeking—Audience Members: males & females, 18+.
To apply, email townhallaudience@mtvnmix.com and put “Town Hall” in the subject line. To ensure that the audience represents diverse interests and political views, include your name, phone number, hometown, school attending, your job and what issues, if any, you are interested in or passionate about. Also, provide a recent photo and short description of your political views. Submission deadline: Oct. 14. No pay.
What! No pay! ...no way!

Monday, October 11, 2010

Obama Care Exploding...like a bad dream!

Proud member of the Read the Bills Act Coalition
Source: Susan Duclos

Am Spec Must Read: Obamacare Scandal Unfolds

A four page piece in the American Spectator explaining the scandal hitting Scranton PA., the Obama administration and Democratic politicans, from beginning to end.

Teaser:

Can you say "October Surprise"?
A mushrooming political battle over ObamaCare involving the White House, two incumbent Pennsylvania congressmen, three Catholic hospitals and a nun has just exploded in, of all places, Scranton, Pennsylvania. Charges from the Scranton medical community of intimidation by the Obama White House and its allies are filling the air.
All of this just as Vice President Joe Biden arrives in Scranton today to raise money for one of the participants.


There are two issues at the core of the controversy.

1. ObamaCare and the sale of three Scranton-area Catholic hospitals.

2. The re-election prospects of the two House members, Democrats Paul Kanjorski and Chris Carney, both of whom cast key votes to pass ObamaCare.

Here's the list of players -- major and minor -- so far.
• The President of the United States.
• The Vice President of the United States.
• Three Scranton-area Catholic hospitals suddenly for sale.
• The CEO of the three Scranton-area Catholic hospitals for sale.
• ObamaCare, otherwise known as "health care reform" or the "Affordable Care Act."
• A Catholic nun.
• Michigan Congressman Bart Stupak.
• A pen.
• Victoria Reggie Kennedy, widow of the late Senator Ted Kennedy.
• Time magazine.
• The Scranton Times
• The two Scranton-area House members Kanjorski and Carney, both losing in the polls.
• U.S. Senator Bob Casey, Jr., a native and resident of Scranton.
• Congressman Joe Sestak, the Democrats' nominee for the Pennsylvania U.S. Senate seat.

Where to start? That would be….
Breaking News

The President's Nun: Obamacare Scranton Scandal Explodes

Can you say "October Surprise"?
A mushrooming political battle over ObamaCare involving the White House, two incumbent Pennsylvania congressmen, three Catholic hospitals and a nun has just exploded in, of all places, Scranton, Pennsylvania. Charges from the Scranton medical community of intimidation by the Obama White House and its allies are filling the air.
All of this just as Vice President Joe Biden arrives in Scranton today to raise money for one of the participants.
There are two issues at the core of the controversy.
1. ObamaCare and the sale of three Scranton-area Catholic hospitals.
2. The re-election prospects of the two House members, Democrats Paul Kanjorski and Chris Carney, both of whom cast key votes to pass ObamaCare.
Here's the list of players -- major and minor -- so far.
• The President of the United States.
• The Vice President of the United States.
• Three Scranton-area Catholic hospitals suddenly for sale.
• The CEO of the three Scranton-area Catholic hospitals for sale.
• ObamaCare, otherwise known as "health care reform" or the "Affordable Care Act."
• A Catholic nun.
• Michigan Congressman Bart Stupak.
• A pen.
• Victoria Reggie Kennedy, widow of the late Senator Ted Kennedy.
• Time magazine.
• The Scranton Times
• The two Scranton-area House members Kanjorski and Carney, both losing in the polls.
• U.S. Senator Bob Casey, Jr., a native and resident of Scranton.
• Congressman Joe Sestak, the Democrats' nominee for the Pennsylvania U.S. Senate seat.
Where to start? That would be….
March 22, 2010: President Obama signs the Affordable Care Act (aka "ObamaCare") into law in front of live television cameras and a packed East Room of the White House. According to news accounts, the President uses 21 different pens to sign his name, the highly prized souvenirs of the historic moment given to Vice President Joe Biden, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Victoria Reggie Kennedy, the wife of the late Senator Ted Kennedy along with a very select handful of others.
The President, after being introduced by an exuberant Vice President Biden (who whispers "this is a big f…g deal" into the President's ear and is picked up by a live microphone) says:
"I heard one of the Republican leaders say this was going to be Armageddon. Well, two months from now, six months from now, you can check it out. We'll look around and we'll see."
Almost immediately -- it didn't take two months much less six -- the White House is confronted with a rapidly accelerating set of unintended consequences spreading across the country. As listed by the Wall Street Journal, those unintended consequences included 2011 premium increases shooting up as high as 9%; "multibillion-dollar corporate writedowns by Verizon, AT&T, Caterpillar and others"; the disruption of insurance markets, a show-down with McDonald's, the imposition of price controls on premiums, insurers withdrawing from Medicare Advantage.
In what appears to have become a pattern, the response from the Obama Administration has been repeatedly swift and harsh -- compared by one critic as an episode straight out of the Sopranos, the famous HBO mobster series.
The corporate writedowns -- done in compliance with federal law -- resulted in angry phone calls from then-Obama White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and colleague Valerie Jarrett to corporate CEO's and the heads of the Washington corporate offices of those involved. Congressman Henry Waxman threatened a congressional investigation into those companies whose obedience to the law put them at odds with the actual results of ObamaCare. Notification by insurers that rates were being forced up by ObamaCare resulted in a threatening letter from Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to insurers warning that such candor would not be tolerated -- at risk of not being allowed to participate in a future government-run health care exchange for insurers.
Then, suddenly, on October 6 -- five days ago -- the fuse to what is becoming a huge political explosion was lit.
In the unlikely location of Scranton, Pennsylvania.
IN THE MIDDLE OF THESE two hotly contested re-election races for a pair of Pennsylvania Democratic congressmen, the controversy first erupted over the suddenly announced sale of three Catholic Hospitals spread out between Paul Kanjorski's and Chris Carney's two adjoining congressional districts.
The initial announcement was made by Mercy Health Partners CEO Kevin Cook.
Cook is based in Scranton, while Mercy Partners and the three hospitals up for sale are in fact a subsidiary of the larger Catholic Healthcare Partners (CHP) based in Cincinnati, Ohio.
 The three Catholic hospitals involved are: Mercy Hospital in Scranton; Mercy Special Care Hospital in Nanticoke, both in Kanjorski's 11th District. And the Mercy Tyler Hospital in Tunkhannock, located in Carney's adjacent 10th District.
The Cook announcement was big news in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The Sisters of Mercy had opened Mercy Hospital in Scranton, a major facility for the city, in 1917 -- 93 years earlier. Inevitably it drew media attention. Which is where the plot thickens.
WNEP TV (Channel 16) reporter Jon Meyer filed a story about the sale at 4:40 pm. that afternoon. WNEP TV anchor Paula Giangiacomo led the story on the air by saying that "one big" reason for the sale "is the health care reform bill signed into law this year." Mercy Health Partners CEO Cook was interviewed on camera along with Sister Marie Parker. When Meyer asked Cook if ObamaCare had anything at all to do with the sale, the CEO replied:
"Health care reform is absolutely playing a role. Was it the precipitating factor in this decision? No, but was it a factor in our planning over the next five years? Absolutely."
Notice the use -- twice -- of the word "absolutely" by Cook, leaving no doubt with viewers that while ObamaCare wasn't the "precipitating factor" it was "absolutely playing a role…Absolutely" in the decision by Mercy Health Care Partners to put the three hospitals up for sale.
Then, on Friday October 8, only 48 hours after the story hit the local news on WNEP, the executive changed his story. Sort of. A second statement came out over Mr. Cook's name as CEO. Headlined on the PR Newswire-US Newswire services, the statement was headed: "Mercy Reiterates Rationale for Sale Exploration."
Gone was any reference to the subject discussed in the WNEP-TV story. ObamaCare playing a role in the sale of the three hospitals? Where would an idea like that ever come from? Not from this second statement. There is not a word of Cook's videotaped certainty that ObamaCare is responsible in some measure for this proposed sale. Yet curiously, there is no out-and-out retraction of Cook's comments to WNEP either. The subject of ObamaCare bearing responsibility for this sale in any fashion is disappeared. Completely missing. The second statement just has Mr. Cook saying that sale discussions were being conducted "long before the passage of the Affordable Care Act. The decision was due to many factors."
But there appears to have been something else at work here behind the scenes that necessitated this second statement from Cook.
Mysteriously, the very same day, came this statement, also released on the PR Newswire services. Out of the blue, suddenly released by Sr. Carol Keehan, DC, president and chief executive officer of the Catholic Health Association (CHA), the headline was sharp and pointed. The headline?
Alarmist News Reports About Catholic Hospitals Are False; CHA Supports Difficult Decision by Mercy Health Partners.
In a fury that fairly leaps from the page, Sister Carol says immediately that "false motives" have been assigned to the proposed sale of the three Mercy hospitals. Says the good Sister: "Reports that health reform is the primary motive behind the sale are completely false, misleading and politically motivated. Deliberations to sell the facilities began well before the Affordable Care Act became law and did not hinge on enactment of the legislation."
In other words, Mr. Cook -- he the CEO of the hospitals who said flatly that ObamaCare was in fact "absolutely" and yet again "absolutely" playing a role in the sale of the three hospitals -- was, in the polite language of a Catholic nun, in essence being called a liar.
By Sunday, there was a third Cook statement, this one posted on the website of Mercy Health Partners. Cook statement # 3 was no longer as benign as statement # 2. The third Cook statement used some of the original language from statement #2, but its lead paragraph was now saying something else entirely. I have marked the change in bold print:
Mercy Health Partners recently announced our intention to explore the sale of our facilities in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The rationale for our initiative has been mischaracterized by certain politicized media outlets and severely distorted by some special interest groups.
In other words, Cook statement #3 has picked up a flavor of the statement from Sister Carol. Now saying without saying it that Cook's original WNEP answer about the role ObamaCare "absolutely…absolutely" played in the decision to sell the hospitals has been "severely distorted."
Curious, no? Very.
WHY IN THE WORLD would a Catholic nun be so revved up as to denounce in such strong language what Mr. Cook insisted was a fact -- that ObamaCare was "absolutely" and yet again "absolutely" playing a role in the hospital sale? Why the hair-trigger fire-breathing response. From a simple Catholic nun named Sister Carol?
And why in the world would Mr. Cook feel compelled to issue not one but two re-statements of the rationale behind the sale of the three Mercy hospitals?
One doctor in Scranton -- who was deeply disturbed by the announcement -- is certain he knows the answer. That answer? Mr. Cook was absolutely right the very first time he spoke to WNEP on camera. Hospitals, said this doctor -- frequently run a debt. "What's different? Why now?" he said in terms of the rationale for selling the Mercy hospitals. The reason is exactly as CEO Cook originally said it was. ObamaCare cuts in Medicare reimbursement have changed the rules so drastically for hospitals "you [Mercy Health Partners] are in an untenable situation," said this physician. Most hospitals have accumulating debt because of capital investments, says the doctor. But they can't deal with that debt if in fact their ability to earn money is cut off or drastically reduced over time.
Alarmingly, the doctor, with a lifetime of practice in hand, says that "hospitals close in clusters where there is decreased income in terms of relatively low Medicare reimbursement…because they are the most vulnerable." He adds that what is happening in Scranton, Nanticoke, and Tunkhannock with the Mercy hospitals "is just the beginning. It will happen everywhere because reimbursements will be reduced" under ObamaCare. Particularly, he adds, in areas where you have a high elderly population.
If the doctor is right, and he is not alone in saying this, the proposed sale of the three Mercy hospitals becomes a harbinger of what will happen nationally as a result of ObamaCare slowly tightening its government tentacles over the private health care system. Which means the sale of the three Mercy hospitals has added Scranton to what the Wall Street Journal has already called ObamaCare's "trail of destruction."
Ahhhh. But who is Sister Carol Keehan? What's the big deal here with her? Why would a statement from simple Catholic nun appear to cause so much consternation with Mercy Health Partner CEO Kevin Cook in Scranton, Pennsylvania?
LET'S GO BACK to that presidential signing of the health care reform law. There were 21 very powerful people in that little group who received signing pens from the President. As mentioned that included the Vice President, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Ted Kennedy's widow Victoria Reggie Kennedy. And someone else.
That would be Sister Carol Keehan.
Impressive, no? The Catholic News Agency thought so, and prominently noted the story here. It also noted that Sister Carol was receiving her presidential pen from the President himself because she had been "supporting health care despite bishops' objections." The story even pictured the pen itself alongside the presidential seal on the box in which it came, with "Barack Obama" clearly visible scrawled along the side. Meaning, Sister Carol had enough clout to take on the Catholic Bishops on the President's behalf -- and win.
Does the name Bart Stupak ring a bell? The much ballyhooed pro-life Democrat Congressman from Michigan? The Catholic Congressman Bart Stupak who was said to be such a sturdy obstacle to passage of ObamaCare because it would allow abortions? In the aftermath of the ObamaCare passage, Slate came forward to note that a letter signed by "representatives" of Catholic nuns finally swayed Stupak to break his staunch anti-abortion pledge and sign on for ObamaCare with a simple promise of an executive order on abortion, executive orders being overturned by successor presidents with the rapidity of rabbits doing the breeding thing. Wait! Stupak was persuaded by Catholic nuns? Isn't Sister Carol a …nun? How about that? What a coincidence? Yes indeed, the letter in question was signed -- solo -- by Sister Carol.
In other words, Sister Carol is not just some kindly nun who reminds you of the nun whacking your knuckles in grade school for this or that offense. No, in the world of Washington Sister Carol is a powerhouse lobbyist -- make that a liberal social justice lobbyist -- with a clear set of political skills and a very, very high-powered set of very elite friends. She is quite decidedly not just the neighborhood nun. Sister Carol is the Washington voice of the Catholic Health Association, once called the Catholic Hospital Association, which means her clout with Catholic hospitals around America -- like the Mercy Hospital in Scranton and its siblings in Nanticoke and Tunkhannock, all run by CEO Cook -- is considerable. Not to mention her clout with the parent company located in Cincinnati -- and not to mention with Congressman Bart Stupak.
Selected as one of Time magazine's "2010 Time 100" most influential people, Sister Carol's social justice passions were written up glowingly for Time by one of the other Obama 21 pen-receivers at the health care signing: Victoria Reggie Kennedy. AKA, Mrs. Ted Kennedy. Sister Carol, as demonstrated by her status as the receiver of a presidential signing pen, is clearly the President's favorite nun.
Thus her abilities to whack Mercy CEO Kevin Cook's knuckles for speaking out of turn on what in fact he "absolutely" and "absolutely" saw a mere two days earlier as the impact of ObamaCare on his hospitals were considerable. And when the Cook statement #2 didn't pass muster, he apparently was whacked again. After reining in a sitting Congressman Stupak and getting him to, in the yes of many pro-lifers, abandon his anti-abortion stance and pass ObamaCare, what's a mere hospital executive like Kevin Cook to Sister Carol? It is safe to say that there are doctors in Scranton, furious at what they are seeing as happening to the local health care system, who believe Sister Carol -- or someone else connected to the Obama White House if not the someone inside the White House itself -- was behind the knuckle rapping of Kevin Cook.
With the White House already on record for having senior staff making angry phone calls to CEO's over corporate writedowns, having the Secretary of HHS send threatening Soprano-style letters to insurers not to blame ObamaCare for premium increases -- the question in Scranton is why wouldn't the same White House enlist the President's favorite nun to intimidate Mr. Cook and the company he represents?
Protecting ObamaCare turns out to be but one reason -- albeit that alone is a big one with national consequences for this White House.
THE OTHER REVOLVES around the struggling campaigns of Representatives Kanjorski and Carney. And the larger political picture in Pennsylvania. U.S. Senator Robert P. Casey Jr. is a Scranton resident. Indeed, one Scranton source pointed out that the Casey home is within walking distance of Mercy Hospital in Scranton. Casey and his father before him have succeeded in part by creating the image of the old-fashioned FDR-JFK working class Democrat whose values are revered in Scranton. This is the city that is the hometown of Vice President Biden. For Scrantonians and their fellow Pennsylvanians in neighboring communities to suddenly see a Catholic hospital that has been a mainstay for 93 years suddenly slip away has caused considerable upset.
And notably, in a town that is heavily Catholic, the realization that three hospitals that did not perform abortions could be sold to owners who would allow the procedure is infuriating.
Both Kanjorski and Carney have been under fire for their ObamaCare votes from GOP opponents Lou Barletta and Tom Marino respectively. The startling news of the Mercy sale was barely 24 hours old when State Republican Chairman Robert P. Gleason picked up on it, issuing statements tying the ObamaCare votes of the pair to the prospective loss of Mercy.
And at that, Sister Carol, presumably not having the comings and goings of Pennsylvania politics on her mind, suddenly launched herself into the Scranton hospital debacle, presumably finally forcing a tougher stance from Mercy's CEO Cook in statement #3.
The explosion, all recent with its implications of White House pressure and lost Catholic hospitals, is about to bring in media ads from CatholicVote.org. Says Communications Director Joshua Mercer: "Paul Kanjorski and Chris Carney are Catholic and they both voted for ObamaCare." Citing the sale of the three Mercy hospitals, Mercer says that the pro-ObamaCare votes of the two "has had a real impact on the community." Mercer added a sentiment voiced as well by the Scranton doctor: "There are a lot of Kevin Cooks across the country…the CEO's of small Catholic hospitals are all facing the same realities of more [ObamaCare] mandates and regulations."
Interestingly, a Scranton medical source notes the lack of coverage of the growing Mercy hospital sales controversy in the local Scranton Times. "It's a Democratic paper," the source said, mentioning that he listens to talk radio to get a better picture of the news. "I listen to Rush, to Sean, Fox News and local talk radio. But with a Democratic paper you have to listen to national talk radio to get another perspective."
Today, Vice President Biden arrives in Scranton to campaign for Congressman Carney.
A Capitol Hill aide to a Republican U.S. Senator says of the Scranton controversy the Obama White House is terrified the Mercy Hospital sales story will "get legs" as a national story -- further intensifying the anti-Obama vote pollsters are recording in potentially record numbers. And leading to the defeat of not only Kanjorski and Carney but another Pennsylvania Democratic Congressman who voted for ObamaCare: U.S. Senate nominee Joe Sestak. Sestak is trailing his own opponent, conservative anti-ObamaCare GOP nominee Pat Toomey.
With less than a month to go until election day, one thing is certain.
The story of the President's nun and charges of possible intimidation of a hospital executive over ObamaCare will ensure the Scranton hospital sale isn't going away anytime soon.