Brad Sherman: Black Panthers Who?

On that note, here's a transcript of back and forth between Bill O'Reilly and Bernie Goldberg. Just as Brad Sherman isn't aware of the Black Panthers story, so too the MSM are also totally oblivious to it. FNC is number one mostly because they cover all the stories that everyone else won't cover because of ideology.

The fact that the Justice Department refuses to press charges against the Black Panthers even though there is video evidence of voter intimidation is news. If everyone covered it, FNC would not have an advantage. Instead, the network gains an advantage simply because they do their jobs.

As for Sherman, all Democrats will be in a tough spot. The behavior of the Justice Department is indefensible. So, Democrats will either distance themselves from the White House are attempt to defend the indefensible. In the case of Brad Sherman, he played dumb and that's what he looked like.

Moody's Cuts Rating for Portugal

The debt crisis in Europe continues to worsen. Now, Moody's has cut the ratings on debt held by the Portuguese.

Moody's credit rating agency downgraded Portugal's debt on Tuesday, casting fresh doubt on the country's ability to weather its debt crisis as the economy weakens.

Moody's Investors Service cut Portugal's government bond ratings to A1 from Aa2. The move deepens the country's financial woes because foreign lenders will likely demand higher interest returns for the risk of loaning it money.

Portugal's financial ordeal is part of a government debt crisis that has engulfed the euro zone and weighed on the shared currency. The cuts in Portugal's rating by international agencies in recent months have stoked market concerns that the crisis, which led Greece to the brink of bankruptcy and a bailout, could spread to other financially troubled countries in the euro zone.

It's only a matter of time before the US faces a similar fate. No one framed the issue better than Erskine Bowles.

"This debt is like a cancer," Bowles said in a sober presentation nonetheless lightened by humorous asides between him and Simpson. "It is truly going to destroy the country from within."

That's where we are at and the President simply isn't willing to acknowledge it yet. He continues to claim that he inherited this deficit and that he has worked to reduce it. Markets don't respond to nonsensical rhetoric and ignoring reality won't solve it. That seems to be the only thing that Obama is doing so far.

Athletes Aren't Slaves

Dan Gilbert was rather emotional following the announcement that Lebron James wasn't returning to his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers.

Dear Cleveland, All Of Northeast Ohio and Cleveland Cavaliers Supporters Wherever You May Be Tonight;

As you now know, our former hero, who grew up in the very region that he deserted this evening, is no longer a Cleveland Cavalier.

This was announced with a several day, narcissistic, self-promotional build-up culminating with a national TV special of his "decision" unlike anything ever "witnessed" in the history of sports and probably the history of entertainment.

Clearly, this is bitterly disappointing to all of us.

The good news is that the ownership team and the rest of the hard-working, loyal, and driven staff over here at your hometown Cavaliers have not betrayed you nor NEVER will betray you.

There is so much more to tell you about the events of the recent past and our more than exciting future. Over the next several days and weeks, we will be communicating much of that to you.

You simply don't deserve this kind of cowardly betrayal.

You have given so much and deserve so much more.

In the meantime, I want to make one statement to you tonight:

"I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER ‘KING’ WINS ONE"

Now, we can all argue whether or not this rant showed the class worthy of an NBA owner. It's certainly going to give pause to other NBA players. Jesse Jackson sees this rant as something more sinister.

He speaks as an owner of LeBron and not the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers. His feelings of betrayal personify a slave master mentality. He sees LeBron as a runaway slave. This is an owner employee relationship — between business partners — and LeBron honored his contract.

LeBron James made north of $60 million in salary while playing basketball for the Cleveland Cavaliers. He made exponentially more than that in endorsements over the same period. In fact, he's made so much money so quickly that James plans on being a billionaire and even befriended Warren Buffet who gave him some financial advice.

Almost as unbelievable as the comment itself, Michael Wilbon showed support for Jackson on his show Pardon the Interruption. Fortunately, not all African American sportswriters are as dopey as Wilbon and Jason Whitlock called the comments for what they are.

I could pretend Jesse Jackson speaks for such a tiny minority that his inflammatory, predictable and misguided remarks about LeBron James and Dan Gilbert are unworthy of rebuke.

But then, I’d have to ignore the mountain of e-mails that poured into my laptop from African-American brothers and sisters making the same argument.

Jesse has a constituency, a passionate group of idiots who believe the best way to combat white-wing political bigots such as Limbaugh and Hannity is with black-wing political bigotry.

And so, in defense of LeBron’s narcissistic ego explosion and Gilbert’s emotional reaction to it, Jesse compared Gilbert to an 18th-century slave owner.

Race relations will never take another step forward if comments like this are not only allowed but endorsed.

Rubio Rakes in the Cash

Marco Rubio took in an impressive amount of cash in the last quarter.

Marco Rubio’s Senate campaign continues to rake in the contributions, raising more than $4.5 million during the recently completed second quarter, according to a statement released Monday.

The campaign of Mr. Rubio, a Republican, also announced that it has taken in more than $11 million in total and indicated that its second quarter haul outpaced his rival, Charlie Crist’s best fund-raising quarter. The Rubio campaign did not say, however, how much money it has on hand.

Polling in Florida has suggested that the Senate race could be close, but Mr. Rubio’s campaign certainly seems to have the momentum when it comes to gathering donations.

This is turning into the most interesting, most unpredictable, and most widely watched race in the country. So far, the polling is all over but more often than not Governor Crist still leads. He's benefitted from being in the spotlight as governor since the oil spill. Still, at some point, Crist will tell the world which side he will caucus with and it will be at that point that the race will be clearer.

The conventional wisdom is that Crist's lead is "soft". In that, many of Crist's voters can be swayed to go elsewhere. He's getting significant numbers of both Reps and Dems. Once he tells the world which side he caucus' with, the CW is that those on the other side will leave. So, this race remains unpredictable until that moment. It is, however, clear that Rubio has not been hurt by the scandals that hit him and the Florida RNC.

More Suits In Chicago's Handgun Ban

Nothing has seen more Supreme Court action than the 2nd amendment. First, Heller once and for all decided that the 2nd amendment is an individual and not collective right. Then, just recently, the Chicago handgun ban was reversed and it was decided that the 2nd amendment applies to all levers of government federal, state and municipalities.

It took the Chicago city council less than a week to render the Supreme Court decision nearly useless in the city. The city council passed an ordinance that banned gun shops and it banned carrying guns anywhere but in your residence. As such, I can now own a gun. I just can't buy one in Chicago and if I buy one elsewhere, I have to keep it in my place only. Now, that is being challenged as well.

Mayor Richard Daley's newly minted ban on gun stores in Chicago is being challenged in federal court by a man who hopes to sell firearms from a storefront in the Lincoln Park neighborhood.

Joe Franzese, who owns Second Amendment Arms in north suburban Lake Villa, believes the gun regulation passed by the Chicago City Council on July 2 is unconstitutional because while it allows residents to own handguns, it outlaws their sale within the city, according to Franzese's lawyer, Walter Maksym.

"That would be like allowing people to read books, then outlawing libraries and bookstores," said Maksym, who filed a federal lawsuit Friday on Franzese's behalf.

Here is the 2nd amendment again.

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

So, now we know that the right of the people applies to individuals, and this right can't be stopped by any government. Now, we are going to find out how far you can go before you "infringe". So, is forbidding gun shops in a city an infringement on that right? The Supreme Court will soon let us know.

Obama at Mercy of Events not Rhetoric

President Obama was on the attack again yesterday.

Comparing congressional Republicans to dangerous teenage drivers and binge-spending drunken sailors, President Obama held no metaphor back as he hit the campaign trail for the first of two stops in pivotal mid-term Senate races.

While raising money for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Robin Carnahan in Kansas City Thursday, Obama tried out some new rhetoric, framing the fall midterm elections by blaming the GOP for the sluggish economy, and urging voters not to give Republicans another chance.

"This is a choice between the policies that got us into this mess in the first place and the policies that are getting us out of this mess, and the other side is banking on people not having a good memory," said Mr. Obama. "They're trying to bamboozle you."

This has become wonderful political theater. Obama now takes every opportunity to slam Congressman Joe Barton and thus he reminds voters that Barton showed sympathy for BP. He's also recently slammed Minority Leader John Boehner for comparing the financial crisis to an ant.

None of it makes any difference. From 2005 until the election of November of 2006, George W. Bush was in the same position. He was entirely at the mercy of events in Iraq. Rhetoric back and forth was entirely unimportant. Instead, the situation continued to deteriorate and he paid for it at the polls.

Obama will face a similar dynamic. Everything comes down entirely to what the economy looks like. So, all the political theater will only be just that. Ultimately, with only a few months left, everything comes down to raw numbers: the unemployment rate, GDP growth, etc. All of those point to an economy that is still sputtering and as long as that is occurring Obama and the Democrats will take responsibility and be punished. No speech, attack, or creative alliteration will make any difference. As long as it looks as though the economy is not creating enough jobs Obama is at the mercy of the economy.

DOMA Ruled Unconstitutional

A Federal District Court judge has ruled the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional.

The federal law banning same-sex marriage is unconstitutional because it interferes with the right of a state to define the institution and therefore denies married gay couples some federal benefits, a federal judge ruled Thursday in Boston.

U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro ruled in favor of gay couples' rights in two separate challenges to the Defense of Marriage Act, known as DOMA, a 1996 law that the Obama administration has argued for repealing. The rulings apply to Massachusetts but could have broader implications if they're upheld on appeal.

The state had argued the law denied benefits such as Medicaid to gay married couples in Massachusetts, where same-sex unions have been legal since 2004.

Judge Tauro said that DOMA infringes on each state's individual individual right to define marriage for itself, a tenth amendment issue. As I understand it, DOMA says that no other state has to recognize the gay marriage recognized in another state. I'm not sure how this applies but you can bet this will be appealed. Here's part of a statement recently released by the pro traditional marriage group American Values.

Yesterday, a federal judge in Boston invalidated a significant portion of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act that covers federal benefits for same-sex couples. Sadly, this day seemed inevitable. For years, the militant homosexual movement has relied on unelected liberal activists in the courts to force its morality on the overwhelming majority of the public; to impose results that could not pass in elected legislatures.

Many expect this case, and a similar lawsuit in California, to end up before the Supreme Court. It is one more example of why elections are so important and why men and women of faith must be engaged. The politicians we elect to office nominate and confirm the judges who sit on our federal courts, including the Supreme Court.

This will be sure to be appealed and soon should be in front of the Supreme Court.