Boatlift, An Untold Tale of 9/11 Resilience
Like I do every night I stopped by Bunkerville this evening and I found that he had posted a video about the great boatlift of 9/11. During the attack and in the immediate aftermath these people realized they had to do something, anything, and so these ordinary Americans jumped in their boats and rescued 500,000 scared people who were trapped on the island and had no means of escape in the event the attack was not over.
They did this at a time when everything was still uncertain and with the prospect they could also become victims of the attack when it would have been so much easier to stay home and watch the events unfold on the television in the safety of their homes; they eschewed their own safety in order to help people because they knew they had the means to help people and were willing to do their part. These people are some of the unsung heroes of that fateful day.
I am ashamed to admit that I had never heard this story until I saw it at Bunkerville tonight but I knew immediately that I had to share their story of heroism so that we do not forget what the American people can do in times of great peril.
Here is their story as moderated by Tom Hanks, it is truly inspiring:
Bernie Sanders overtakes Hillary Clinton in latest Iowa poll
The Democratic primary season was supposed to be a long, drawn out coronation parade for the first ever woman to receive the Presidential nomination of a major political party and it was to continue all the way to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in January of 2017. But rocked with scandal, with trustworthy numbers in the tank, and with the simple fact that she is just not a likable person things have not turned out as planned for the former Secretary of State–or for the Democratic party for that matter.
Hillary Clinton already trailed the socialist from Vermont in the last two New Hampshire polls while the last poll in Iowa showed Bernie Sanders cutting significantly into her lead, and now the latest Iowa poll shows Bernie Sanders ahead of Hillary Clinton for the first time.
Here is more:
Democratic leadership looking for alternative to Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders
A fairly large portion of the Democratic voters have been looking for a viable alternative to the scandal-ridden former Secretary of State. The email scandal has no doubt played a role in her dwindling popularity but there was a portion of the Democratic voters who did not think Hillary Clinton was liberal enough from the beginning and these two issues have coalesced in the emergence of Bernie Sanders as a legitimate contender for the nomination of the Democratic party.
But the Democratic voters are not the only ones worried about the direction this primary season is going; the leadership of the party is also worried and according to this story is actively scouting out candidates for a “Plan-B.”
If Hillary Rodham Clinton’s new apology for her private email server fails to reassure jittery supporters, it could amplify the chatter among some Democrats who have been casting about for a potential white knight to rescue the party from a beleaguered Clinton candidacy.
Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., Secretary of State John Kerry, Senator Elizabeth Warren, former Vice President Al Gore: Each has been discussed among party officials in recent weeks as an alternative to Mrs. Clinton if she does not regain her once-dominant standing in the 2016 presidential field and instead remains mired in the long-running email controversy, with its attendant investigations.
But guess what? It is not only Hillary Clinton’s slide that has party officials worried; they are scared to death that Bernie Sanders will emerge as the only alternative to the former Secretary of State and they want no part of him being the Democratic nominee.
National Review: The GOP plan is ‘surrender…then play-fight’
Have you ever wondered why after gaining a larger majority in the House and taking control of the Senate in 2014 the Republicans almost immediately capitulated to Barack Obama (and continue to do so to this day) after promising to reign him in?
I have espoused my theory on this many times in the past but I will sum it up once again: It is called the Hegelian Dialectic. The ruling class establishment on both sides of the aisle agree on more issues than they will ever admit publicly, they are on the same side, but they put on a show of controlled opposition to fool the people into believing they have a real choice.
The Dialectic is simple: thesis/anti-thesis/synthesis. Create or take advantage of a crisis, either real or imagined, create the opposition to the crisis and its solution while controlling both sides of the argument, and then implement the predetermined solution which almost invariably leads to more government control.
The establishment Republicans have made the political calculation that they stand to gain more politically by letting Barack Obama pass his agenda while they pretend to oppose it because then they can use all if it as a political issue to run against in the next election.
State Department staffer Bryan Pagliano to be offered immunity to testify about Hillary Clinton’s email scandal
Last week the man who set up and maintained Hillary Clinton’s homebrew email server, Bryan Pagliano, informed the Congress that he would plead the Fifth rather than testify. Today it is being reported that Charles Grassely and Ron Johnson might be about to offer him immunity in return for his testimony.
Here is more:
Two top Senate investigators offered potential immunity Tuesday to Bryan Pagliano, the staffer who set up the email server in former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s home, in exchange for testimony about her activities.
Mr. Pagliano last week said he would assert his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in refusing to answer questions about the matter, but Sens. Charles E. Grassley and Ron Johnson, the chairmen of two key committees investigating the situation, said they have authority to extend immunity if Mr. Pagliano is willing to talk.
They proposed a proffer session, where Mr. Pagliano would let them know what he knows in an off-the-record setting, and all sides could then decide what steps to take.
“The Committees have the authority to obtain an immunity order, to acquire the information they need, while also protecting your right against self-incrimination,” the two senators wrote in a letter to Mr. Pagliano’s lawyer.
Barack Obama’s ‘science czar’ accused of using a personal email account to hide information from the public
It looks as though we might have yet another person in Barack Obama’s regime who was using a personal email account to conceal information from the American people. In the interest of full disclosure, I have not been able to confirm this story with a “legitimate” news organization (which I suppose is not surprising) but the blogosphere is ablaze with the news that Barack Obama’s so-called science czar, John Holdren, has been hiding information from FOIA requests by using a personal email account. And judging by what we have seen to date I believe this story is credible therefor I am going to run with it.
Here is more:
As if the embattled “most-transparent-in-history” White House needed more e-mail scandals, the Obama administration’s “science czar,” John Holdren, an advocate of coercive population control and a one-time global-cooling alarmist, is facing a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit to access public information that he has been apparently seeking to hide by using a private e-mail account. In the case, the non-partisan Competitive Enterprise Institute filed a federal appeal aiming to pry loose Holdren’s e-mails from his account after a federal judge sided with Holdren, protecting his e-mails from public scrutiny.
Critics, while praising the lawsuit, say it is time for an even broader examination of Obama’s “czar,” his dangerous views, and how his extremism has impacted White House policy.
The latest shoe to drop in the ongoing saga surrounding Holdren’s secret e-mails came this month, when the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) filed an appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. “There are a growing number of scandals concerning the use of private email accounts by top Obama administration officials,” said Sam Kazman, CEI general counsel, in a statement posted on the organization’s website. “The court ruling that we are appealing will only add to those scandals, because it legitimizes private email accounts as way to evade FOIA. While President Obama claims his administration is the most transparent in history, his officers seem to confuse being transparent with being invisible.”
And here is more:
Mrs. Clinton’s free fall continues according to the latest New Hampshire poll. Last month’s poll showed Bernie Sanders pulling ahead of the former Secretary of State for the first time in the race and this latest poll shows him extending his lead into the double-digits.
Here is more:
In New Hampshire, Sanders had the support of 49 percent of Democrats when Joe Biden’s name was not included as a choice, with Clinton in second with 38 percent support.
Sanders maintained his lead when Biden was included as a choice, with 41 percent picking Sanders, 32 percent choosing Clinton and 16 percent picking Biden, who is still weighing whether or not to enter the race.
In Iowa Hillary Clinton still has an 11 point lead over the self-avowed socialist from Vermont, however that lead has been more than cut in half since the last poll was released:
In Iowa, Clinton’s lead over Sanders has narrowed significantly. The former secretary of state now leads Sanders, 48 percent to 37 percent, down from a 29-point lead in an NBC News/Marist poll earlier this summer. (With Biden included as an option, Clinton earns 38 percent, compared to 27 percent for Sanders and 20 percent for the vice president.)
It is hard to believe but these contests are only a few short months away and if Hillary Clinton cannot stop the hemorrhaging soon her hope for the Presidency could be over before it really even got started. Has the Democratic party really moved this far to the left or is this a result of Hillary Clinton’s email scandal? If it is the latter we may be about to see the law of unintended consequences in action…
Malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
Sunday, September 6th open thread: ‘Private Idaho’
Here is the open thread for Sunday, September 6th. Please feel free to post links to interesting articles and to discuss whatever issues arise during the course of the day. Nothing is off-topic here.
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Before I get to the musical selection of the week I just wanted to mention that last night Carly Fiorina held a town hall style event in Sandown, New Hampshire about 15 minutes from my house. My youngest son and I decided to go check it out. (My wife and my oldest son would have loved to attended but they had to work) The Sandown Town Hall was a fairly small building but it ended up being standing room only; I would estimate the attendance at somewhere around 100 people. During the last election cycle I saw Rick Santorum at an event in a venue smaller than this one which was also packed and I have to say that it is pretty cool to be able to hear what some of the candidates have to say up close and personal.
Admittedly I do not know much about Carly Fiorina because I have not followed her closely but I have to say that both myself and my son thought she was very good. She did not get to some of the issues I wish she had gotten to (the PATRIOT Act or the NSA data-mining program to name a couple) so I still do not know if she is somebody I can support, but she did mention the bloated Federal government and railed against the political ruling class establishment in Washington which I did like.
I think my favorite moment of the night was when she was talking about how it was important for the next President to understand how to use technology and then said, and I paraphrase, “no Mrs. Clinton, you do not wipe an email server with a towel.” This was meant to show Hillary Clinton as being out of touch with today’s technological world (and thusly being unfit to be President) by using her own words against her and it brought the house down.
As I told her, I am still undecided but I found her impressive and I cannot wait to hear what she says in the upcoming debate.
One thing is for sure in my opinion, she is going to make the most of that opportunity and she will not back down in the debate. It will be interesting to see how she does and I am looking forward to it.
Now on to the musical selection of the week: here is the B-52’s performing “Private Idaho” live in 1980, enjoy:
Why is State Department staffer Bryan Pagliano going to plead the Fifth over Hillary Clinton’s email server scandal?
Although Hillary Clinton used taxpayer money to set up the homebrew email server she used to conduct ALL State Department business from it was recently reported that she personally paid one of her State Department staffers, Bryan Pagliano, for the maintenance of the server.
When this story first broke I failed to see the significance in it, while some of the right-wing blogs saw this as a sign of malfeasance I did not see it that way. While using taxpayer money to set up a personal email server was obviously an abuse of taxpayer money it seemed only natural that she should pay someone out of pocket to maintain her homebrew server so I wrote nothing about it.
If the name Bryan Pagliano rings a bell it might be because he has decided to plead the Fifth rather than testify before the Congress about Hillary Clinton’s email scandal. While this is his right as protected by the Constitution of the United States, and while I hold no animosity toward him for exercising a right guaranteed to us all under said Constitution, it does open up the door to speculation as to why he would not use the opportunity of testifying in order to clear his name–if in fact he has not committed a crime or is being unjustly targeted.
Donald Trump leads all Democrats in latest general election poll
A new poll by SurveyUSA has been released at it shows Donald Trump currently ahead of all the Democrats in the survey. (The poll does not include Martin O’Malley for some strange reason but it includes two Democrats who are not currently in the race.)
Here are the results:
Trump 45%, Clinton 40%
Trump 44%, Sanders 40%
Trump 44%, Biden 42%
Trump 44%, Gore 41%
I think this shows us the dissatisfaction with the establishment on both sides of the aisle, however I do have a couple of problems with the poll which could call into question its accuracy.
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