Rush Is Inconsistent As Usual

Take for example his claim today that "Obama called people who make $250,000 a year "jet owners." "

No, Obama didn't say that. What he said was that people who could afford to fly in a private jet could afford to pay a bit more in taxes.

Then Rush got really disingenuous. He pointed out that if the private jet owner's ability to depreciate his/her jet over 6 years was removed, that would only generate an income of 3 billion over ten years.

And since that was a drop in the bucket, why bother? Because, gee, we spend $40 billion a year on helping students.

It's disingenuous because by Rush's argument, any program that won't generate 3 billion in income over ten years (by removing the tax break, or stopping the spending) shouldn't be implemented because, hey, it's just a drop in the bucket!

But those drops in the bucket add up! I'd very much like to see us stop funding overseas studies on whether prostitutes drink too much, or whether men can be trained to wash their genitalia so as not to get AIDS, and so on. What's the excuse for cutting them, in Rush's mind? If they only cost $1 billion, and the deficit is in the trillions, there's no need to cut it! That is the gist of Rush's remarks if you think about it!

30 June 2011, Thu, Pres and VP Schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/president
11:00 am The President and The Vice President receive the Presidential Daily Briefing
Oval Office
Closed Press

11:30 am The President meets with senior advisors
Oval Office
Closed Press

12:30 pm The President and The Vice President meet for lunch
Private Dining Room
Closed Press

3:15 pm The President departs the South Lawn en route Joint Base Andrews
South Lawn
Open Press

3:30 pm The President departs Joint Base Andrews en route Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Joint Base Andrews
Travel Pool Coverage

4:15 pm The President arrives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia International Airport
Open Press

5:35 pm The President delivers remarks at a DNC event
The Hyatt at the Bellevue
Pooled TV, Open to Correspondents

8:30 pm The President delivers remarks at a DNC event
Private Residence
Print Pool

9:50 pm The President departs Philadelphia, Pennsylvania en route Joint Base Andrews
Philadelphia International Airport
Travel Pool Coverage

10:35 pm The President arrives at Joint Base Andrews
Joint Base Andrews
Travel Pool Coverage

10:50 pm The President arrives at the White House
South Lawn
Open Press

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
9:50 am The President delivers remarks at the Armed Forces Farewell Tribute in honor of Secretary Gates; The Vice President attends
The Pentagon
Pooled TV, Open to Correspondents

11:00 am The President and The Vice President receive the Presidential Daily Briefing
Oval Office
Closed Press

12:30 pm The President and The Vice President meet for lunch
Private Dining Room
Closed Press

Selevtive reporting of poll numbers

Rush quoted the poll numbers form a website called Commentary Magazine. I'll share the numbers also.

What's interesting is that Rush shared the numbers - but did not give all the news. Right after those numbers the article goes on to say, "Not all the news was bleak for the president." I wonder why he didn't see fit to mention that?

As Alana wrote earlier today, according to the latest McClatchy-Marist poll:

Only 37 percent of registered voters approve of President Obama’s handling of the economy, his lowest rating ever.
By nearly 2-1 (61 percent v. 32 percent) voters disapprove of how he’s handling the federal budget deficit.
Fifty-eight percent of voters disapprove of Obama’s handling of the economy, comprising 60 percent of independents, 31 percent of Democrats and 91 percent of Republicans.
Not all the news was bleak for the president.

Fifty percent of voters said they had favorable impressions of him versus 44 percent who didn’t. By 2-1, Americans said today’s economic conditions mostly were something the president inherited rather than the result of his own policies. And overall, 45 percent said they approved of the job the president is doing, while 47 percent disapproved.

Overall, though, these numbers continue an alarming trend for the president.

“It’s a real caution sign … the four-year lease on the White House is very much dependent on how people end up looking at the economy,” said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, which performed the survey.

If Miringoff is right, then Obama’s lease on the White House may very well end on the first Tuesday in November 2012.

But of course what these articles reporting poll numbers never say (they just give a link to another page - how many people follow that link, I wonder) is that they are making these predictions based on talking to:

The poll of 1,003 adults, including 801 registered voters, was conducted June 15-23. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.0 percentage points for the entire sample and plus or minus 3.5 percentage points for registered voters.

I'm sorry, but polling a measly 1,000 people is not enough to make these kinds of assumptions! Not when there's bloodly 100 gazillion people in the US! Did these pollsters talk to blacks? Hispanics? People in poor towns who get their income from welfare?

It's time pollsters started talking to at least 10,000 people before even attempting to analyze what poll results mean, and it's time that articles reporting on these poll results actually put the number of people talked to in the first paragraph of the article. Space might be limited in paper-newspapers, but online newspapers have plenty of room to include this information.

29 June 2011, Wed, Pres and VP Schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/complete
9:30 am The President and The Vice President receive the Presidential Daily Briefing
Oval Office
Closed Press

11:30 am The President holds a news conference
East Room
Open Press

1:50 pm The President welcomes the WNBA Champion Seattle Storm to the White House
Rose Garden
Open Press

3:00 pm The President and The Vice President meet with Senate Democratic Leadership
Oval Office
Closed Press

4:30 pm The President and The Vice President meet with Secretary of the Treasury Geithner
Oval Office
Closed Press

5:45 pm The President delivers remarks at an event observing LGBT Pride month
East Room
Pooled Press

7:09 pm The President and The First Lady host a farewell dinner for Secretary of Defense Gates; The Vice President and Dr. Biden will also attend
The White House
Closed Press

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
9:30 am The President and The Vice President receive the Presidential Daily Briefing
Oval Office
Closed Press

12:30 pm The Vice President attends an event for the Democratic National Committe
St. Regis Hotel

3:00 pm The President and The Vice President meet with Senate Democratic Leadership
Oval Office
Closed Press

4:30 pm The President and The Vice President meet with Secretary of the Treasury Geithner
Oval Office
Closed Press

7:09 pm The President and The First Lady host a farewell dinner for Secretary of Defense Gates; The Vice President and Dr. Biden will also attend
The White House
Closed Press

Michele Obama vs Laura Bush

I was reading the message boards at Hannity.com yesterday, and someone started a thread about Michele Obama, and her daughters', trip to Africa, and how much it was costing, and calling her "Moochelle" Obama - Rush's term for her as well.

Of course someoen else immediately countered with the fact that Laura Bush had made 5 solo trips to Africa when her husband was in office, and brought her daughters a couple of times.

Most of the "Moochelle" folk ignored this counter, but one finally explained that when Laura Bush was going on her travels (apparently she vacationed in all 50 states of the Union), the country wasn't teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, which it is now, and there wasn't 10% unemployment, etc. etc.

And that is the point. Politicians, and politicians wives, could "afford" to go travelling back in the good old days, when our precarious financial position wasn't as well known as it is now, but now that it is known, should Michele Obama be visiting Africa? Is the good will engendered by her visit going to repay us - the country - in any way that will end up getting some of those travel funds back?

Always remembering that those travel funds are a drop in the bucket considering what most stay-at-home politicians spend....

28 June 2011, Tues, Pres and VP Schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/president
10:00 am The President and the Vice President meet with Secretary of State Clinton
Oval Office
Closed Press

10:35 am The President departs the South Lawn en route Joint Base Andrews
South Lawn
Open Press

10:50 am The President departs Joint Base Andrews en route Moline, Illinois
Travel Pool Coverage
Out-of-Town Travel Pool Coverage (Call Time 9:30AM – Virginia Gate, Joint Base Andrews)

12:55 pm The President arrives Moline, Illinois
Local Event Time: 11:55 AM CDT
Illinois, Moline, Quad City International Airport
Open Press

1:45 pm The President tours Alcoa Davenport Works
Local Event Time: 12:45 PM CDT
Alcoa Davenport Works, Bettendorf, Iowa
Travel Pool Coverage

2:05 pm The President delivers remarks on the critical role the manufacturing sector plays in the American economy
Local Event Time: 1:05 PM CDT
Alcoa Davenport Works, Bettendorf, Iowa
Open Press

3:45 pm The President departs Moline, Illinois
Local Event Time: 2:45 PM CDT
Illinois, Moline, Quad City International Airport
Open Press

5:40 pm The President arrives at Joint Base Andrews
Travel Pool Coverage
5:55 pm The President arrives at the White House
South Lawn
Open Press


http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
10:00 am The President and the Vice President meet with Secretary of State Clinton
Oval Office
Closed Press

10:45 am The Vice President meets with His Royal Highness Prince Philippe of Belgium
Roosevelt Room
Pool Spray

27 June, 2011, Mon, Pres and VP Schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/president
9:50 am The President receives the Presidential Daily Briefing
Oval Office
Closed Press

10:30 am The President and the Vice President meet with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
Oval Office
Closed Press

1:35 pm The President welcomes the MLS champion Colorado Rapids to the White House
Rose Garden
Open Press

5:00 pm The President and the Vice President meet with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
Oval Office
Closed Press

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
10:30 am The President and the Vice President meet with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
Oval Office
Closed Press

5:00 pm The President and the Vice President meet with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
Oval Office
Closed Press

24 June 2011, Fri, Pres and VP Schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/complete

12:15 am The President arrives Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh International Airport
Open Press

10:45 am The President tours Carnegie Mellon University’s National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC)
Carnegie Mellon University’s National Robotics Engineering Center
Pooled Press

11:00 am The President delivers remarks on the need to focus on cross-cutting technologies that will enhance the global competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing and speed up ideas from the drawing board to the manufacturing floor
Carnegie Mellon University’s National Robotics Engineering Center
Open Press

12:45 pm The President departs Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh International Airport
Open Press

1:40 pm The President arrives at Andrews Air Force Base
Andrews Air Force Base
Travel Pool Coverage

1:55 pm The President arrives at the White House
South Lawn
Open Press

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
No public schedule.

A Putdown of Ryan, Not Obama

Rush had this to say today:

RUSH: This is kind of funny. This is this morning in Washington on Capitol Hill. House budget committee hearing on the federal budget, the national debt outlook. During the Q&A, the chairman, Paul Ryan, Republican, Wisconsin, is talking to the Congressional Budget Office director Douglas Elmendorf, and they had this exchange. Now, this is the chairman of the Congressional Budget Office, the director talking about Obama's proposed budget framework.

RYAN: We got your reanalysis of the president's budget. I won't go back into that, but the president gave a speech on April 13th where he outlined a new budget framework that claims four trillion in deficit reduction over 12 years. Have you estimated the budget impact of this framework?

ELMENDORF: No, Mr. Chairman, we don't estimate speeches. We need much more specificity than was provided in that speech for us to do our analysis.

RUSH: No, we do not estimate speeches. A profound put-down of The One by his bud over at the CBO, Doug Elmendorf.

How is that a put down of Obama? All the guy said was that you don't analyze a speech for budget specifics, you read the actual budget. That's not a put down, except to Ryan, who should have known better than to ask about the details of a speech, rather than the details of the budget itself.

Sorry, Rush, fail on this one!

23 June 2011, Thu, Pres and VP Schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/president
10:00 am The President and the Vice President meet with House Democratic Leadership
Oval Office
Closed Press

12:45 pm The President departs the South Lawn en route Joint Base Andrews
South Lawn
Open Press

1:00 pm The President departs Joint Base Andrews en route Fort Drum, New York
Travel Pool Coverage

2:15 pm The President arrives Fort Drum, New York
Fort Drum
Open Press

3:10 pm The President meets with Gold Star Families
Rapid Deployment Facility
Closed Press

4:15 pm The President departs Fort Drum en route New York City, New York
Fort Drum
Open Press

5:10 pm The President arrives New York City, New York
John F. Kennedy International Airport
Open Press

7:05 pm The President delivers remarks at a DNC event
Sheraton Hotel and Towers
Pooled Press

8:00 pm The President delivers remarks at a DNC event
Daniel
Print Pool

9:50 pm The President delivers remarks at a DNC event
Broadway Theatre
Pooled Press

11:05 pm The President departs New York City, New York en route Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
John F. Kennedy International Airport
Open Press

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
10:00 am The President and the Vice President meet with House Democratic Leadership
Oval Office
Closed Press

12:15 pm The Vice President presides over a swearing-in ceremony for members of the Council of Economic Advisors, Carl Shapiro and Katharine Abraham, and U.S. Comptroller General Eugene Dodaro.
Eisenhower Executive Office Building
Closed Press

2:00 pm The Vice President will hold the next meeting of the bipartisan, bicameral group of Members of Congress to continue work on a legislative framework for comprehensive deficit reduction
U.S. Capitol | Show Details
Participants in the meeting will include the Vice President, Senator Daniel Inouye, Senator Jon Kyl, Senator Max Baucus, Representative Eric Cantor, Representative James Clyburn, Representative Chris Van Hollen, Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner, Director of the Office of Management and Budget Jacob Lew, and Director of the National Economic Council Gene Sperling.
Closed Press

22 June, 2011, Wed, Rush Limbaugh headlines

--Reagan Sound Bites from 1980 Resonate Across the Fruited Plain
Everyone is talking about the audio we played Tuesday.

--Obamacare (Unintentionally?) Allows Medicaid for Middle Class
They say it's a "glitch" discovered in the law. Really?

--Liberals and Their Good Intentions
It's why we're dying under the weight of crushing debt.

--Tobacco Labels are About Government Control, Not Health
If they really cared about your health, they'd ban the stuff.

--Algore Gloms on to Discredited, Crackpot Overpopulation Theory
Former VP moves on to a different doomsday scenario.

--Friedman and Brooks Still Have No Clue Who Barack Obama Really Is
They're still stumped over at the Charlie Rose show.

--Obama's Mess in Afghanistan
He'll say he got Bin Laden, so we can start to draw down.

Stack of Stuff Quick Hits Page
» Italy Breaks Ranks Over NATO Libya Mission
» Zuckerman's Honest Assessment of Unemployment
» Hollywood: Home of Conservatives Living in Shadows

--The Two If By Tea Taste Test
Simply the best-tasting tea you've ever tried, my friends.
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• Follow Us on Twitter: @rushtwoifbytea

Yes, Overpopulation is the Sword of Damocles over the world

Rush excoriated Al Gore today for his comments on overpopulation, stating that it wasn't a problem.

Sorry, Rush, but in this instance you don't know what you're talking about.

Overpopulation is a real danger, and proof of its existence is all around us.

Rush clearly hasn't visited Pakistan or India, where people are jam-packed together like sardines. He clearly hasn't visited China. Does he think China instituted their one couple-one child policy because that government likes to dictate to people every aspect of their lives? No, it's because they've got a gazillion people and their population could explode exponentially if it were not controlled.

There is only so much arable land, and we're losing lots of that every year due to drought, bad farming practices, etc. Where is the food going to come from to feed all these people?

Is Rush aware of all the people in various African countries who are starving to death? He should know - American money has been pouring into these countries for decades - ostensibly to feed the starving but actually appropriated by the country's governments who keep the money - they don't care if their people starve, or else they'd do something about it.

It's only common sense that over-population is going to be a danger. The earth is not going to get any bigger. As people increase their birthrate, where are all the new children going to go? Florida - and Rush should know this, since he lives there - already has a water shortage. Pretty soon they'll have no choice but to drain the Everglades completely - and once they are gone, what then?

Many states have water shortages...they have to import water from other states for their own populations....

There are a few sparsely populated states in the US, sure - I live in one, Wyoming. Is that because people don't want to move here because of the incessant wind, or is it because there is little arable land here so farming is out of the question. The only thing that can be done on Wyoming soil is build wind farms, or drill for natural gas.

Sorry, Rush, but you're off-base on this one. You apparenlty believe God's stricture to be fruitful and multiply. Well,that was just fine 4,000 years ago, when there was hardly anyone in the world. Now that every country is already as full as it can safely get, we're just dooming our children to a more miserable existence than we have.

22 June 2011, Wed, Pres and VP Schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/president
9:30 am The President receives the Presidential Daily Briefing
Oval Office
Closed Press

4:10 pm The President greets Asian American and Pacific Islander Community Leaders
Grand Foyer
Closed Press

8:00 pm The President addresses the nation
The White House
Print Pool

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
10:00 am The Vice President meets with Iraqi Parliament Speaker Osama Al-Nujaifi
Closed Press

2:00 pm The Vice President holds the next meeting of the bipartisan, bicameral group of Members of Congress to continue work on a legislative framework for comprehensive deficit reduction
U.S. Capitol | Show Details
Participants in the meeting will include the Vice President, Senator Daniel Inouye, Senator Jon Kyl, Senator Max Baucus, Representative Eric Cantor, Representative James Clyburn, Representative Chris Van Hollen, Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner, Director of the Office of Management and Budget Jacob Lew, and Director of the National Economic Council Gene Sperling.
Closed Press

It's Boosh's Fault

Ever since Obama has become President, he has been blaming his problems - the economy, etc., on Bush. His administration has done this also, as have his followers.

So much so that they have been mocked for this. Rush frequently comments, "Well, it's Bush's fault," when talking about the problems plaguing Obama, but he doesn't really mean that, of course, he's mocking the Obama administration's blaming of everything on Bush, when, according to Rush, everything is Obama's fault.

Over at the Hannity.com message boards, they do it as well. It's very rare for the Dems and Republicans there to have an intelligent debate. Someone will critiize something that Obama is doing, another poster will say, "This started under Bush," and then the mocking of that poster will begin. "Yes, of course, it's all Boosh's fault."

Supposedly it shows a lack of class for a sitting President to blame an outgoing president for the problems (if any) that the sitting President inherited. This has been Rush's refrain since Obama took office. (Although he also says that the problems Obama has were created by him, not by Bush. But it must be admitted that the first failed stimulus went out under Bush...)

In any event, the point is that today, Rush was all upset because Huntsman, in announcing his plan to seek the Presidency, did not "attack" President Obama or his policies in any way, did not point out that Obama's policies were abject failures, etc. etc.

And Rush aired a couple of soundbytes of Ronald Reagan, on the campaign trail, excoriating Jimmy Carter for the problems the country had at that time. And Rush wants today's Republicans to excoriate Obama for the problems that we now have.

I just think it's funny that Rush, Hannity et al have always criticized Obama and his administration for blaming Bush for Obama'sproblems, yet praise Reagan to the skies for blaming everything on Jimmy Carter.

A bit of a double standard there.

Here's what Reagan had to say about Carter, when he was on the campaign trail:

REAGAN: The Carter record is a litany of despair, of broken promises, of sacred trusts abandoned and forgotten. His answer to all this misery? He tries to tell us that we're only in a recession, not a depression -- as if definitions -- words -- relieve our suffering. Let it show on the record that when the American people cried out for economic help, Jimmy Carter took refuge behind a dictionary. Well, if it's a definition he wants, I'll give him one: A recession is when your neighbor loses his job. A depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his!

REAGAN: I have talked with unemployed workers all across this country. I've heard their views on what Jimmy Carter has done to them and their families. Let Mr. Carter go to their homes, look their children in the eyes, and argue with them that it's only a recession that put dad or mom out of work. Let him go to the unemployment lines and lecture those workers who have been betrayed on what is the proper definition for their widespread economic misery. Human tragedy, human misery, the crushing of the human spirit. They do it need defining; they need action.

SUPPORTERS: (applause)

REAGAN: Call this human tragedy whatever you want. Whatever it is, it's Jimmy Carter's. He caused it, he tolerates it, and he's going to appearance to the American people for it.

RUSH: Wow, can you believe this? How... Reagan, why, he was going after Jimmy Carter here! Jimmy Carter, this is misery. Whatever this human tragedy is, it's Jimmy Carter's. Meanwhile, the Republican consultants of today are advising every Republican, "Don't! Don't do that! Don't go out there and make this about Obama. You gotta attack the policies, but you can't mention Obama. Don't do that! You gotta be like Reagan."

Well, here's Reagan.

21 June 2011, Tues, Pres and VP Schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/president
9:30 am The President and the Vice President receive the Presidential Daily Briefing
Oval Office
Closed Press

12:10 pm The President meets with senior advisors
Oval Office
Closed Press

4:00 pm The President meets with Secretary of the Treasury Geithner
Oval Office
Closed Press

4:30 pm The President meets with Secretary of Defense Gates
Oval Office
Closed Press

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
9:30 am The President and the Vice President receive the Presidential Daily Briefing
Oval Office
Closed Press

1:00 pm The Vice President holds the next meeting of the bipartisan, bicameral group of Members of Congress to continue work on a legislative framework for comprehensive deficit reduction
U.S. Capitol | Show Details
Participants in the meeting will include the Vice President, Senator Daniel Inouye, Senator Jon Kyl, Senator Max Baucus, Representative Eric Cantor, Representative James Clyburn, Representative Chris Van Hollen, Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner, Director of the Office of Management and Budget Jacob Lew, and Director of the National Economic Council Gene Sperling.
Closed Press

7:15 pm The Vice President delivers remarks at the 2011 CURE Chicago Event
Chicago, Illinois
Open Press

"Fast and Furious" Started Under Bush, Not Obama

Rush Limbaugh today was blaming President Obama for the "Fast and Furious" debacle, where the ATF was allowing assault weapons in to Mexico, where they ended up in the hads of drug cartels.

He said the program started under Obama - it didn't. It started under Bush.
Atlantic Journal-Constitution: Fast and Furious

The investigation of a U.S. Government operation that allowed guns to be sold to buyers who then funneled those weapons to Mexican drug organizations took a huge step forward today in Congress, as three federal agents said they warned superiors to stop those plans, but were ignored and rebuked.

The controversial program known as "Fast and Furious," got its genesis in 2006 in Texas as part of "Operation Gunrunner," but went nationwide soon after, arriving in Phoenix in 2009, where it quickly drew strong opposition from some federal agents there.

"There have been grave mistakes made in this case," said Peter J. Forcelli, a Supervisory Special Agent with Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) in Phoenix, who first raised the issue with his superiors two years ago.

"Allowing firearms to be trafficked to criminals is a dangerous and deadly strategy," Forcelli told a House Committee.

That was obvious to lawmakers, as the family members of slain Border Patrol agent Bryan Terry sat at the same witness table as Forcelli and two other ATF agents. The weapon used in his killing came from one of the Fast and Furious sales.

"I have never heard an explanation from anyone involved in Operation Fast and Furious that I believe would justice what we did," said ATF agent John Dodson.

ATF agent Olindo James Casa detailed how he had raised concerns in late 2009 about the undercover gun sales, but was rebuked by superiors, who then sent out what is known as the "Schism" email.

"In essence, the e-mail was a direct threat to the Special Agents who were not in agreement" with the operation to keep their mouths shut, Casa told the House Oversight Committee.

The testimony was truly extraordinary in one sense, as you do not often see three ATF agents like these blow the whistle on what they believe was a major policy mistake by their superiors and the feds.

After the agents testified, lawmakers got their chance to blast a Justice Department official over the Obama Administration's reluctance to turn over documents about the matter.

"Who authorized this program in Washington, D.C.?" asked Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), his voice rising as he demonstrated his frustration by waving around fully-blacked out documents turned over by the Justice Department.

"We've had to subpeona again and again," said a visibly frustrated Issa.

Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich became a punching bag for Issa and others during his time in the witness chair, as Republicans demanded answers and received very few, getting the basic assurance that the Justice Department is investigating the matter.

Democrats meanwhile accused GOP lawmakers and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) of wrongly releasing documents turned over by the Justice Department, arguing it could endanger the prosecution of the killer of agent Terry's killer.

Republicans all but accused the Justice Department - and Attorney General Eric Holder - of lying to Congress about Operation Fast and Furious.

While this operation began during the Bush Administration, the defensive nature of the Obama Administration in releasing information about it insures that Republicans will aggressively keep after this story in coming months.

Also an issue at the hearing was how the U.S. Attorney in Phoenix dealt with cases involving guns and gun trafficking. Special Agent Forcelli said as early as 2007, he had raised questions about why a number of gun cases were not pursued by the feds, telling lawmakers that ATF agents instead took their evidence to the state Attorney General of Arizona in order win some prosecutions.

"Despite the existence of “probable cause” in many cases, there were no indictments, no prosecutions, and criminals were allowed to walk free," Forcelli charged.

Forcelli said that lack of activity then "paved the way" for Operation Fast and Furious, where the feds sold guns to middlemen, fully expecting that the weapons would then be taken south of the border to Mexico.

By the end of Wednesday's hearing, the list of unanswered questions just seemed to keep growing - especially the politically explosive question of who had signed off on this plan in Phoenix.

20 June 2011, Mon, Pres and VP Schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/president
11:10 am The President and the Vice President receive the Presidential Daily Briefing
Oval Office
Closed Press

11:40 am The President meets with senior advisors
Oval Office
Closed Press

3:45 pm The President and the Vice President meet with Secretary of State Clinton
Oval Office
Closed Press

4:20 pm The President and the Vice President meet with a bipartisan group of mayors to discuss the economy and hear from the mayors about their local efforts to create jobs and spur economic growth
Roosevelt Room
Closed Press

7:25 pm The President delivers remarks at a DNC event
DC, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Washington
Print Pool

9:10 pm The President delivers remarks at a DNC event
DC, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Washington
Print Pool


http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
11:10 am The President and the Vice President receive the Presidential Daily Briefing
Oval Office
Closed Press

3:45 pm The President and the Vice President meet with Secretary of State Clinton
Oval Office
Closed Press

4:20 pm The President and the Vice President meet with a bipartisan group of mayors to discuss the economy and hear from the mayors about their local efforts to create jobs and spur economic growth
Roosevelt Room
Closed Press

Nothing similar between Katie Couric and Dan Rather

On Monday, June 13, Rush was comparing Katie Couric to Dan Rather.

Katie Couric's ratings for the CBS NIghtly News are the lowest they've ever been. Rush seems to think it's Katie's fault - and it might well be but it might also have something to do with the economy and the fact that people don't want to watch news anymore - they know its only bad news.

But the point is, he compares her to Dan Rather. Now, Katie Couric never faked emails or was accused of anything unsavory. Dan Rather was. Dan Rather shuldn't even have a job anymore! But he does - because he's a guy.

Rush thinks if Katie weren't a woman she wouldn't be given another chance. Well...what about Elliot Spitzer, "Client Number 9" as Rush repeatedly calls him. He was given another chance, wasn't he? Not in politics but as a news commentator.

What about all those CEOs - men - who drive their companies into the ground, leave with their golden parachutes, and then are given jobs as CEOs of yet another company, even though they've proven that they're no good. While a pretty face might get a woman a job in the TV industry, it pulls no weight in the boardroom. THere, if a woman can't cut it, she's fired and probably won't get another job, because there's no "old boy network" that will look after her. But male CEOs, presidents of companies, etc., no matter how poor their records, will always find another job - at an even higher salary, too!

Let me give you another example here, we talk about the chickification of things. ABC recently released a photo of all of their news babes, "World Women Tonight." Had Diane Sawyer in there, Barbara Walters in the picture, Christiane Amanpour, Katie Couric. Now, does anybody really think that Katie Couric would have been hired by ABC after this dismal failure on the CBS Nightly News if she were a man? You look at her work and her ratings on the CBS Evening News, that's hardly a track record, hardly an entree into another network job. But she got one. She goes into the CBS Evening News, she takes those numbers to the lowest they've ever been. She ends up with a talk show on ABC. A man would not benefit that way.

Now, don't get mad at me too much here, folks, but just as an example, look at poor old Dan Rather. All he did was book fake a National Guard thing on Bush, and he had to get caught at that and they tossed him out. I mean they did a little awards dinner for him but he had to go find work at HDNet with Mark Cuban after his CBS News train wreck. After Dan Rather's train wreck at CBS News, where's he? He's in oblivion. He's on HDNet doing stories on milk deliveries in Africa. Where's Katie Couric after her failure? ABC, perhaps the next Oprah; based on what? She's a woman. It is what it is. Why can't we blame liberal women for what these politicians are doing? They have feminized politics to such a degree that men can't be men anymore. They all gotta be out there trying to prove that they're Alan Alda or whoever is the definition of a real man, Michael Kinsley, I don't know.

So Much Stuff Going On...

That Rush didn't really even mention Obama today, except to say that he was "beatable" in the next election - which may well be, if the economy doesn't start to pick up.

So, nothing to rebut today!

17 June, 2011, Pres and VP schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/president
12:00 pm The President and the Vice President meet for lunch
Private Dining Room
Closed Press

1:30 pm The President visits the Walter Reed Army Medical Center
D.C., Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington
Closed Press

3:30 pm The President meets with Treasury Secretary Geithner
Oval Office
Closed Press

4:45 pm The President greets young elected leaders at the White House
Grand Foyer
Closed Press


http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
8:50 am The Vice President conducts a radio interview for the Tom Joyner Morning Show
Closed Press

12:00 pm The President and the Vice President meet for lunch
Private Dining Room
Closed Press

Obama Isn't Supposed to Trust His People To Do Their Jobs?

President Obama probably told his economic team to get to work, and he trusted them to do so. If they are professionals, step aside and let them do their job!

Story #3: President Gets His First Economic Briefing in a Month

RUSH: By the way, "President Obama will be briefed by his economic team in the Oval Office," actually this was yesterday, "for the first time in more than a month." The economic briefing is back. On Obama's schedule, there were no economic meetings. His economic experts never gathered together. They never briefed him. You know, the foreign policy people and the intel people meet him every morning and tell him, "Okay, here are the threats around the world. This is what's going on. Here's the latest intel." That hasn't been happening on the economy. Do you believe that? Now, it may be good 'cause nobody out there knows what they're doing in the first place, and so the less they talk about it maybe the better it is.

But, "A review of the president's daily schedule finds the last formal economic briefing scheduled for April 26th, and even that briefing came after a hiatus following back-to-back briefings on March 8th and 9th. The scheduled economic briefings appeared to become less frequent after January. In total, [the Bamster] has had 15 economic briefings since last November." Again, this tells me that there's nothing to brief him on. He knows what's going on. Everything is happening according to plan. What's the point of wasting time in a meeting? In other words, Obama, says, "Why do I need you to come in the White House and tell me what I already know? The private sector is being successfully destroyed here. I don't need you to tell me; I can see it. Mission accomplished!"

15 June, 2011, Wed, Pres and VP Schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/president
9:45 am The President receives the Presidential Daily Briefing
Oval Office
Closed Press

4:30 pm The President and the Vice President meet with Secretary Gates
Oval Office
Closed Press

7:00 pm The President and First Lady host Congressional Picnic at the White House; the Vice President also attends
South Lawn
Press Information

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
4:30 pm The President and the Vice President meet with Secretary Gates
Oval Office
Closed Press

14 June, 2011, Tues, Pres and VP Schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/president
9:30 am The President departs Miami, Florida en route San Juan, Puerto Rico
Miami International Airport
Open Press

11:45 am The President arrives in San Juan, Puerto Rico
Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport
Open Press

11:55 am The President delivers brief remarks at a welcome event
Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport
Open Press

12:55 pm The President visits La Fortaleza
Travel Pool Coverage
2:55 pm The President is interviewed by El Nuevo Día and Univision of Puerto Rico
Caribe Hilton
Closed Press

4:40 pm The President departs San Juan, Puerto Rico
Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport
Open Press

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
No public schedule.

Romney Ad Seizes on One Phrase in Obama Speech

Rush shared the new Mitt Romney ad, which "seizes upon" Obama's quote that, "There are always gonna be bumps on the road to recovery. Of course what everyone is doing is taking this out of context. He was talking to car manufacturers (well, Jeep manufacturers!) - men and women who would understand the road reference and "get it." But of course if you take it out of context, it looks like he's minimized the suffering of the jobless.

This is a dangerous ploy, as every politician, regardless of party, says stuff that, when taken out of context, can seem unsympathetic or heartless. But of course this is a ploy that politicians have always used...

RUSH: There's a great Romney ad that started running over the weekend. We have the audio. It's about 22 seconds, 30-second ad but we got 22 seconds of audio of it.

OBAMA: There are always gonna be bumps on the road to recovery.

MAN #1: I'm an American and not a bump in the road.

MAN #2: I'm an American, not a bump in the road.

WOMAN: I'm an American, not a bump in the road.

RUSH: Oh, is that it? Okay, well, I guess we need the full one. What you're seeing here graphics-wise, is millions have lost their jobs under Obama; long-term unemployment is now worse than the Great Depression; June 3rd, 2012, unemployment rate hits 9%. These graphics are there throughout this commercial, and it plays off the fact that Obama said the economy just hit a bump in the road. Romney's gone out and got a bunch of people to say, "I'm not a bump in the road," with all these horrible economic stats on the screen at the same time. "I'm an American, not a bump in the road." Now, here's Romney going right after Obama. He's beatable! It's another thing that struck me over the weekend as I was poring through items getting ready for today's program. The idea that it's, right now, even questionable that Obama could get reelected?

Do you realize how defeated he is if the election's today? It's a landslide! Now the media, of course, is not gonna say this. I'm here to tell you that it wouldn't be close if the election were today. I don't care who the nominee is. It wouldn't be close. We're living through a manmade economic disaster, not a cyclical disaster. This really is a president steering a hurricane. They tried to tell us that George W. Bush was steering Katrina to hit New Orleans 'cause he didn't like Democrats. This is an economic hurricane that is being steered by this administration, and the damage that's being done here is real, and it is purposeful. Obama is more beatable than Weiner is, and Weiner is beatable.

June 13, 2011, Mon, Rush Limbaugh Headlines

--Tony Weiner: Feminized Playboyin the Chickified Political Universe
Everybody says, "What is it about male politicians?"
Does anybody ever think it might be liberal women?

--Backfire: Nothing in Palin E-Mails
Who could survive an examination of 24,000 e-mails?

--How Welfare Destroys the Family
The state seeks to fill the role of husband, but cannot.

--Romney Ad Demonstrates How Easy it Should be to Beat Obama
Amid economic disaster, he's landslideable beatable.

--Media Can't Decide If Rush Matters
Murphy and Brooks opine on the Republican base.

Stack of Stuff Quick Hits Page
» SEIU Plots to Breed Away California Republicans
» Politico: Green Jobs Success Eludes Obama
» Wednesday Is the Super-Secret Announcement

--Movie Review: The Company Men
Film shows us the human toll of the Obama economy.

13 June 2011, Mon, Pres and VP Schedules - Edited

Note - yesterday morning when I looked at Obama's schedule it said No Public Schedule, I double checked again today and there was all this stuff!

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/president
9:50 am The President departs the White House en route Joint Base Andrews
South Lawn
Open Press

10:05 am The President departs Joint Base Andrews en route Morrisville, North Carolina
Travel Pool Coverage

11:05 am The President arrives in Morrisville, North Carolina
Raleigh-Durham International Airport
Open Press

11:25 am The President tours Cree, Inc’s manufacturing facility
Cree, Durham, Inc., North Carolina
Travel Pool Coverage

11:40 am The President meets with the Jobs and Competitiveness Council
Cree, Durham, Inc., North Carolina
Pool Spray at the Top

1:45 pm The President delivers remarks
Cree, Durham, Inc., North Carolina
Open Press

2:50 pm The President departs Morrisville, North Carolina en route Miami, Florida
Raleigh-Durham International Airport
Open Press

4:45 pm The President arrives in Miami, Florida
Miami International Airport
Open Press

5:50 pm The President delivers remarks at a DNC event
Florida, Miami, Private Residence
Print Pool

7:20 pm The President delivers remarks at a DNC event
Adrienne Arsht Center, Florida, Miami
Pooled TV, Open to Correspondents

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
No public schedule.

10 June, 2011, Fri, Presd and VP Schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/complete
4:00 pm The First Family departs the White House en route Camp David
South Lawn
Open Press

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
6:30 pm The Vice President and Dr. Jill Biden celebrate the 2011 Susan G. Komen Global Race for the Cure® by hosting a reception for breast cancer survivors and supporters
Naval Observatory | Show Details
This is the third year in a row that the Vice President and Dr. Biden have served as Honorary Chairs of this event. The Vice President, Dr. Jill Biden, Ambassador Nancy Brinker, and Hoda Kotb will deliver remarks at the reception.
Pooled Press

How To Avoid Lying: Don't Answer the Question, and Attack the Questioner

A caller is pointing out some hometruths about states and their spending of money. Rush goes into attack mode with his "what is it like?"

The caller responds by asking him if he's "off the oxycontin."

Well, Rush doesn't answer that. He also didn't answer, a couple of days ago, when someone asked him about his trip to the Dominican republic and being caught with a bottle of Viagra.

But Rush's solution is the same. Answer indirectly, in a way that makes the audience think he's answering what's being asked (the Viagra question a few days ago, which I don't believe made it into any transcript) and the one today, where he just ignores the Oxycontin question.

RUSH: Do you really believe that tax rates and tax collections today are lower than they were during Reagan? Do you really believe tax policy is less punitive than it was under Reagan? Do you really believe these things?

CALLER: Rush, I believe every word I said. I believe that the Tennessee Valley Authority, a government program, powers large swaths of the South. I believe that the percentage of GDP collected in taxes today --

RUSH: What is it like...?

CALLER: -- is much lower than it was under Reagan.

RUSH: What --

CALLER: Sorry?

RUSH: What is it like? See, I can't relate. What is it like...?

CALLER: Oh, so you really are off OxyContin?

RUSH: See? What is it like to go through life being so wrong about everything? I can't relate. What is it like to go through life believing drivel and bilge? What is it like to be so uninformed and to be happy about it? What must it be like? What is it like for you to get up every day and be so ignorant and to believe such poppycock? These kinds of people, ladies and gentlemen, are why the country faces the great challenge it faces. It is people like this that we have to overcome. They can't be counted on to help us recover from this mess because they are creating it with their ignorance and their lack of being informed. They've just made the work even harder.

Having said that, there's a difference between people who abuse illegal drugs like heroin, cocaine, even marijuana, and those who become addicted to painkillers because they're in so much pain all the time. Users of heroin and cocaine don't want to have to use their brains, while people who are in agony because of a bad back or what have, want to be able to use their brains but can't because of the pain.

Rush's Website Continues to Dis Obama...

Rush continually makes fun of all the "uh's" that President Obama puts into his speech, ignoring the fact that he does it too. And indeed, about a month or so ago, Mark Steyn, sitting in for Rush, couldn't put two words together without an "uh" in there, because he was thinking hard and formulating his thoughts out loud. It's just something that people do.

It's a far cry from that to the "like, you know" inarticulateness of the uneducated or the under-intelligent.

Rush's website continues to subtly mock Obama - here's a paragraph from Rush playing a soundbyte of Obama promising to bankrup the coal industry:

OBAMA 2008: What I've said is that we, uh, would put a cap-and-trade system in place that is more -- that is as aggressive if not more aggressive than anybody else's out there. So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can. It's just that it will bankrupt them because they're going to be charged a huge sum for all that, duh, greenhouse gas that's being emitted.

9 June 2011, Thu, Pres and VP Schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/complete
10:25 am The President receives the Presidential Daily Briefing
Oval Office
Closed Press

10:45 am The Vice President meets with the Crown Prince of Bahrain, His Highness Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa
Closed Press

11:30 am The President meets with senior advisors
Oval Office
Closed Press

4:45 pm The President meets with President Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon
Oval Office
Press Information

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
10:45 am The Vice President meets with the Crown Prince of Bahrain, His Highness Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa
Closed Press

12:30 pm The Vice President holds the next meeting of the bipartisan, bicameral group of Members of Congress to continue work on a legislative framework for comprehensive deficit reduction.
U.S. Capitol | Show Details
Participants in the meeting will include the Vice President, Senator Daniel Inouye, Senator Jon Kyl, Senator Max Baucus, Representative Eric Cantor, Representative James Clyburn, Representative Chris Van Hollen, Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner, Director of the Office of Management and Budget Jacob Lew, and Director of the National Economic Council Gene Sperling.
Closed Press

8 June 2011, Wed, Pres and VP Schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/complete
11:10 am The President visits Northern Virginia Community College – Alexandria Campus
Northern Virginia Community College – Alexandria Campus
Travel Pool Coverage

11:30 am The President delivers remarks on the importance of training and preparing our workforce to compete for manufacturing jobs across the nation
Northern Virginia Community College – Alexandria Campus
Pooled TV, Open to Correspondents

12:30 pm The President and the Vice President meet for lunch
Private Dining Room
Closed Press

2:25 pm The President meets with senior advisors
Oval Office
Closed Press

3:00 pm The President delivers remarks at an event honoring Auburn University’s 2010 BCS National Championship
East Room
Open Press

4:40 pm The President meets with President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria
Oval Office
Press Information

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
10:30 am The Vice President chairs a regular meeting of senior officials to assess progress in Iraq
Closed Press

12:30 pm The President and the Vice President meet for lunch
Private Dining Room
Closed Press

Rush Making Things Up Out of Whole Cloth

Sometimes one of the headlines on Rush's site doesn't match what the actual talk was about, and I wonder if Rush's website person is to blame for the misleading headline.

But this time, it's definitely on Rush.

The headline of the transcript says, "Carville Calls for More Stimulus."

Rush then plays one soundbyte from Carville, who was on the Imus radio show yesterday:

CARVILLE: If 54,000 new jobs is the new standard it's gonna be a very, very rough 2012 for President Obama. I can't tell you what's gonna happen but, yes, if this last jobs number is an indication of future jobs number, it's gonna be very, very rough. People -- if it continues we're gonna see some civil unrest in this country. I hate to say that, but I think it's eminently possible.

Where in this is Carville calling for stimulus. I would've thought the headline would have been, "Carville says Americans may riot over lack of jobs". But instead, Rush chooses to pluck a fiction out of the air.

Rush continued:

RUSH: Eminently possible if we continue, gonna see some civil unrest in this country, riots, if it continues. Now, using intelligence guided by experience, how would it not continue in their minds? We know that Obama's policies are not gonna correct it. They've created the problem. So we're not gonna have a fix. We're not gonna have a great turnaround in unemployment trending downward. So this is Carville pushing for another stimulus.

From Money.com, a CNN subsidiary: "Don't look to state and local governments to prop up the job market," which, of course, is the entire premise of Obama's stimulus. "To the contrary, this cash-strapped sector is set to go on a record-breaking layoff binge when the new fiscal year starts on July 1. State and local governments are forecast to shed up to 110,000 jobs in the third quarter, the first time the blood-letting has risen into the triple digits, according to IHS Global Insight. 'We're on a downward path,' said Greg Daco, principal U.S. economist at IHS. 'It's not looking good.'"

Now, this, too, is just a blatant cry for another round of stimulus, and once again they're trotting out this old need to keep teachers for the children, and we gotta keep the cops working and we gotta keep the firemen working, and, of course, the article studiously ignores the fact that teachers are laid off every summer anyway. The article also ignores the fact that reducing government spending helps the economy which you would think is a concept that the writers at money.com might be able to figure out. But, look, don't look to state and local governments to prop up the job market.

Rush has a bee in his bonnet about the stimulus, and is just making this up out of whole cloth. To double check, I tried to find the entire Carville transcript (the bit I shared above is the only bit Rush shared on his show today) and there was very little to it. Again, no calls for more stimulus. What it did show, to me, anyway, is that Carville sure isn't a very articulate person. How in the world does he even have a job as a talking head? He sounds as incoherent as Sarah Palin!

7 June 2011, Tues, Pres and VP Schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/president
9:15 am The President, the Vice President, the First Lady, and Dr. Biden welcome Chancellor Angela Merkel of the Federal Republic of Germany to the White House
South Lawn
Open Press

10:15 am The President holds a bilateral meeting with Chancellor Merkel; the Vice President also attends
Oval Office
Pool Spray

Pool Stills Only Spray (Gather Time 10:00AM – Brady Press Briefing Room)
11:00 am The President holds an expanded bilateral meeting with Chancellor Merkel and Official U.S. and Official German Delegations
Cabinet Room
Closed Press

11:35 am The President and Chancellor Merkel hold a joint press conference
East Room
Open to pre-credentialed media

6:00 pm The President and the First Lady welcome Chancellor Merkel
North Portico
Press Information

6:30 pm The President and the First Lady take official photo with Chancellor Merkel
Grand Staircase
Pooled Press

7:35 pm The President and the First Lady attend the State Dinner with Chancellor Merkel; the President and Chancellor Merkel will each deliver a toast
Rose Garden
Pooled Press

8:55 pm The President and the First Lady attend the State Dinner Reception with Chancellor Merkel; the Vice President and Dr. Biden also attend
Rose Garden
Pooled Press

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
9:15 am The President, the Vice President, the First Lady, and Dr. Biden welcome Chancellor Angela Merkel of the Federal Republic of Germany to the White House
South Lawn
Open Press

10:15 am The President holds a bilateral meeting with Chancellor Merkel; the Vice President also attends
Oval Office
Pool Spray

8:55 pm The President and the First Lady attend the State Dinner Reception with Chancellor Merkel; the Vice President and Dr. Biden also attend
Rose Garden
Pooled Press

Mark Belling Sitting in for Rush Today

I only listened to a few minutes of him. He's one of these guys who gets on my nerves - so over-emotional in the very way he speaks, not to mention his rhetoric.

Here's his bio from Wikipedia:
Mark Belling (born July 4, 1956, in Kaukauna, Wisconsin) is a conservative radio talk show host for 1130 WISN in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Belling hosts a three-hour weekday radio program, The Mark Belling Late Afternoon Show, which is regularly rated No. 1 for the afternoon-drive time slot. He is also a weekly columnist for many local newspapers including the Milwaukee Post, Waukesha Freeman, West Bend Daily News and Hometown Publications. Belling occasionally serves as a substitute for national conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh. Belling previously hosted a Sunday-morning television panel, Belling and Company, on WISN-TV (Channel 12) until 2000, when it moved to WDJT (Channel 58). Following his temporary suspension from WISN for using the term "wetback," the television program was discontinued in 2005, reportedly due to editorial conflicts between Belling and the management of WDJT owner Weigel Broadcasting.

A native of Wisconsin's Fox Valley, Belling is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse. He has been with WISN since March 1989. Before joining WISN he was news and program director of WTDY-AM in Madison, Wisconsin, where he began his talk radio career. Belling also served as a radio news director in Springfield, Illinois; St. Joseph, Michigan; Benton Harbor, Michigan; and Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Radio Program
Belling discusses a wide variety of topics on his program, including Milwaukee area politics, Wisconsin politics, and national issues. Belling leans to the right politically, and he has been known to frequently criticize local and national Republicans for straying from conservative principles. Throughout the 2008 presidential campaign, Belling regularly proclaimed his disdain for Republican candidate John McCain, though eventually he sided with McCain.

Belling also regularly discusses sports on his program, including football, baseball, basketball, golf, NASCAR and Formula One racing. Each year Belling makes numerous sports picks, often including the audience and show producer Paul Kronforst. Each week during the football season, Belling, Kronforst, and an audience member make NFL and college football picks. He also discusses his picks for the NCAA college basketball playoffs and horse racing's Triple Crown. In 2006 Belling correctly selected Barbaro as the winner of the Kentucky Derby.

Belling is also a music fan, often discussing it on the show. He has been known to play entire songs on the air, often taking credit for "discovering" them for his audience. His love of country music is especially prevalent, as he previously worked as a disc jockey at a country station. Some of his favorite current recording artists include Alanis Morissette, The Black Eyed Peas, The Eagles, Fountains of Wayne, and Bruce Springsteen. The theme song for the Mark Belling Late Afternoon Show is an instrumental version of Lost in the Shadows by Lou Gramm from The Lost Boys (soundtrack).

In 2004 the host was briefly removed from the air following his use of an ethnic slur (wetback - referring to those illegal aliens who swim across the Rio Grande). He refused to talk further about it and continued to receive high ratings. Faced with no further response from the host or company, the controversy eventually died down.

Other journalism
In addition to his daily three-hour radio program, Belling is a guest-host for Rush Limbaugh's national radio program. When doing so, WISN usually broadcasts this program twice rather than have someone fill in for Mark.

Mark writes a weekly op-ed column for the Waukesha Freeman. It usually covers local politics or scandals but occasionally remarks on national headlines and even sports.

Although Mark claims not to be a journalist, he has broken stories, usually covering Wisconsin politics. Some headline news broken by Mark includes the announcement the 2017 PGA tour would be at Erin Hills, that Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle was paid money by an attorney days before being hired as the Governor's legal counsel in a pay-to-play scheme, Milwaukee Police Chief Edward A. Flynn was involved in an affair with a local journalist, that when Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett violated his own city's occupancy laws for years the agency he runs never fined him for the violations, and then after criticizing his opponent for Governor for allowing an employee to do campaign work on government time, Barrett's own employee did the same thing.

Awards
Mark is a 2001 Marconi award recipient for best medium-market radio personality, a three-time Milwaukee Press Club winner for best radio editorial, has twice won the Radio-Television News Directors Association award for best investigative reporting in the Midwest, and was a 1986 finalist for "Journalist of the Year" in Illinois as awarded by United Press International. Belling also was named one of the Top 100 Heavy Talkers—the most influential talk show hosts in America—by Talkers Magazine, an industry publication.

6 June 2011, Mon, Pres and VP Schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/complete
9:30 am The President and the Vice President receive the Presidential Daily Briefing
Oval Office
Closed Press

10:00 am The President meets with his national security team on Afghanistan and Pakistan; the Vice President also attends
Situation Room
Closed Press

12:00 pm The President is interviewed by Hearst DC Bureau, WEWS Cleveland and WDIV Detroit about the importance of the auto industry resurgence
Eisenhower Executive Office Building
Closed Press

2:15 pm The President meets with senior advisors
Oval Office
Closed Press

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
9:30 am The President and the Vice President receive the Presidential Daily Briefing
Oval Office
Closed Press

10:00 am The President meets with his national security team on Afghanistan and Pakistan; the Vice President also attends
Situation Room
Closed Press

Talk about taking out of context...

Rush was talking about the "summer of recovery" today, and he provides one sentence - one sentence - from a speech then-candidate Obama said, 4 years ago.

At any rate, Obama looks out across the fruited plain and he sees a recovery. This is what a recovery looks like. He is at war with the private sector and he's winning, folks. The president of the United States is winning his war against the private sector. He is destroying it. That is his mission. His administration is succeeding. So for Obama this is a recovery. Let's go to the audio sound bites. February 10th, 2007. Springfield, Illinois. This runs by real quick, five, six seconds. This is Obama explaining to the country his view, his vision for revitalizing America.

OBAMA: Let's allow our unions and their organizers to lift up this country's middle class again. We can do that.

Here's the actual speech candidate Obama made, on the day he announced he was running for President.

Let me begin by saying thanks to all you who've traveled, from far and wide, to brave the cold today.

We all made this journey for a reason. It's humbling, but in my heart I know you didn't come here just for me, you came here because you believe in what this country can be. In the face of war, you believe there can be peace. In the face of despair, you believe there can be hope. In the face of a politics that's shut you out, that's told you to settle, that's divided us for too long, you believe we can be one people, reaching for what's possible, building that more perfect union.

That's the journey we're on today. But let me tell you how I came to be here. As most of you know, I am not a native of this great state. I moved to Illinois over two decades ago. I was a young man then, just a year out of college; I knew no one in Chicago, was without money or family connections. But a group of churches had offered me a job as a community organizer for $13,000 a year. And I accepted the job, sight unseen, motivated then by a single, simple, powerful idea - that I might play a small part in building a better America.

My work took me to some of Chicago's poorest neighborhoods. I joined with pastors and lay-people to deal with communities that had been ravaged by plant closings. I saw that the problems people faced weren't simply local in nature - that the decision to close a steel mill was made by distant executives; that the lack of textbooks and computers in schools could be traced to the skewed priorities of politicians a thousand miles away; and that when a child turns to violence, there's a hole in his heart no government alone can fill.

It was in these neighborhoods that I received the best education I ever had, and where I learned the true meaning of my Christian faith.

After three years of this work, I went to law school, because I wanted to understand how the law should work for those in need. I became a civil rights lawyer, and taught constitutional law, and after a time, I came to understand that our cherished rights of liberty and equality depend on the active participation of an awakened electorate. It was with these ideas in mind that I arrived in this capital city as a state Senator.

It was here, in Springfield, where I saw all that is America converge - farmers and teachers, businessmen and laborers, all of them with a story to tell, all of them seeking a seat at the table, all of them clamoring to be heard. I made lasting friendships here - friends that I see in the audience today.

It was here we learned to disagree without being disagreeable - that it's possible to compromise so long as you know those principles that can never be compromised; and that so long as we're willing to listen to each other, we can assume the best in people instead of the worst.

That's why we were able to reform a death penalty system that was broken. That's why we were able to give health insurance to children in need. That's why we made the tax system more fair and just for working families, and that's why we passed ethics reforms that the cynics said could never, ever be passed.

It was here, in Springfield, where North, South, East and West come together that I was reminded of the essential decency of the American people - where I came to believe that through this decency, we can build a more hopeful America.

And that is why, in the shadow of the Old State Capitol, where Lincoln once called on a divided house to stand together, where common hopes and common dreams still, I stand before you today to announce my candidacy for President of the United States.

I recognize there is a certain presumptuousness - a certain audacity - to this announcement. I know I haven't spent a lot of time learning the ways of Washington. But I've been there long enough to know that the ways of Washington must change.

The genius of our founders is that they designed a system of government that can be changed. And we should take heart, because we've changed this country before. In the face of tyranny, a band of patriots brought an Empire to its knees. In the face of secession, we unified a nation and set the captives free.

In the face of Depression, we put people back to work and lifted millions out of poverty. We welcomed immigrants to our shores, we opened railroads to the west, we landed a man on the moon, and we heard a King's call to let justice roll down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.

Each and every time, a new generation has risen up and done what's needed to be done. Today we are called once more - and it is time for our generation to answer that call.

For that is our unyielding faith - that in the face of impossible odds, people who love their country can change it.

That's what Abraham Lincoln understood. He had his doubts. He had his defeats. He had his setbacks. But through his will and his words, he moved a nation and helped free a people. It is because of the millions who rallied to his cause that we are no longer divided, North and South, slave and free. It is because men and women of every race, from every walk of life, continued to march for freedom long after Lincoln was laid to rest, that today we have the chance to face the challenges of this millennium together, as one people - as Americans.

All of us know what those challenges are today - a war with no end, a dependence on oil that threatens our future, schools where too many children aren't learning, and families struggling paycheck to paycheck despite working as hard as they can. We know the challenges. We've heard them. We've talked about them for years.

What's stopped us from meeting these challenges is not the absence of sound policies and sensible plans. What's stopped us is the failure of leadership, the smallness of our politics - the ease with which we're distracted by the petty and trivial, our chronic avoidance of tough decisions, our preference for scoring cheap political points instead of rolling up our sleeves and building a working consensus to tackle big problems.

For the last six years we've been told that our mounting debts don't matter, we've been told that the anxiety Americans feel about rising health care costs and stagnant wages are an illusion, we've been told that climate change is a hoax, and that tough talk and an ill-conceived war can replace diplomacy, and strategy, and foresight. And when all else fails, when Katrina happens, or the death toll in Iraq mounts, we've been told that our crises are somebody else's fault. We're distracted from our real failures, and told to blame the other party, or gay people, or immigrants.

And as people have looked away in disillusionment and frustration, we know what's filled the void. The cynics, and the lobbyists, and the special interests who've turned our government into a game only they can afford to play. They write the checks and you get stuck with the bills, they get the access while you get to write a letter, they think they own this government, but we're here today to take it back. The time for that politics is over. It's time to turn the page.

We've made some progress already. I was proud to help lead the fight in Congress that led to the most sweeping ethics reform since Watergate.

But Washington has a long way to go. And it won't be easy. That's why we'll have to set priorities. We'll have to make hard choices. And although government will play a crucial role in bringing about the changes we need, more money and programs alone will not get us where we need to go. Each of us, in our own lives, will have to accept responsibility - for instilling an ethic of achievement in our children, for adapting to a more competitive economy, for strengthening our communities, and sharing some measure of sacrifice. So let us begin. Let us begin this hard work together. Let us transform this nation.

Let us be the generation that reshapes our economy to compete in the digital age. Let's set high standards for our schools and give them the resources they need to succeed. Let's recruit a new army of teachers, and give them better pay and more support in exchange for more accountability. Let's make college more affordable, and let's invest in scientific research, and let's lay down broadband lines through the heart of inner cities and rural towns all across America.

And as our economy changes, let's be the generation that ensures our nation's workers are sharing in our prosperity. Let's protect the hard-earned benefits their companies have promised. Let's make it possible for hardworking Americans to save for retirement. And let's allow our unions and their organizers to lift up this country's middle-class again.

Let's be the generation that ends poverty in America. Every single person willing to work should be able to get job training that leads to a job, and earn a living wage that can pay the bills, and afford child care so their kids have a safe place to go when they work. Let's do this.

Let's be the generation that finally tackles our health care crisis. We can control costs by focusing on prevention, by providing better treatment to the chronically ill, and using technology to cut the bureaucracy. Let's be the generation that says right here, right now, that we will have universal health care in America by the end of the next president's first term.

Let's be the generation that finally frees America from the tyranny of oil. We can harness homegrown, alternative fuels like ethanol and spur the production of more fuel-efficient cars. We can set up a system for capping greenhouse gases. We can turn this crisis of global warming into a moment of opportunity for innovation, and job creation, and an incentive for businesses that will serve as a model for the world. Let's be the generation that makes future generations proud of what we did here.

Most of all, let's be the generation that never forgets what happened on that September day and confront the terrorists with everything we've got. Politics doesn't have to divide us on this anymore - we can work together to keep our country safe. I've worked with Republican Senator Dick Lugar to pass a law that will secure and destroy some of the world's deadliest, unguarded weapons. We can work together to track terrorists down with a stronger military, we can tighten the net around their finances, and we can improve our intelligence capabilities. But let us also understand that ultimate victory against our enemies will come only by rebuilding our alliances and exporting those ideals that bring hope and opportunity to millions around the globe.

But all of this cannot come to pass until we bring an end to this war in Iraq. Most of you know I opposed this war from the start. I thought it was a tragic mistake. Today we grieve for the families who have lost loved ones, the hearts that have been broken, and the young lives that could have been. America, it's time to start bringing our troops home. It's time to admit that no amount of American lives can resolve the political disagreement that lies at the heart of someone else's civil war. That's why I have a plan that will bring our combat troops home by March of 2008. Letting the Iraqis know that we will not be there forever is our last, best hope to pressure the Sunni and Shia to come to the table and find peace.

Finally, there is one other thing that is not too late to get right about this war - and that is the homecoming of the men and women - our veterans - who have sacrificed the most. Let us honor their valor by providing the care they need and rebuilding the military they love. Let us be the generation that begins this work.

I know there are those who don't believe we can do all these things. I understand the skepticism. After all, every four years, candidates from both parties make similar promises, and I expect this year will be no different. All of us running for president will travel around the country offering ten-point plans and making grand speeches; all of us will trumpet those qualities we believe make us uniquely qualified to lead the country. But too many times, after the election is over, and the confetti is swept away, all those promises fade from memory, and the lobbyists and the special interests move in, and people turn away, disappointed as before, left to struggle on their own.

That is why this campaign can't only be about me. It must be about us - it must be about what we can do together. This campaign must be the occasion, the vehicle, of your hopes, and your dreams. It will take your time, your energy, and your advice - to push us forward when we're doing right, and to let us know when we're not. This campaign has to be about reclaiming the meaning of citizenship, restoring our sense of common purpose, and realizing that few obstacles can withstand the power of millions of voices calling for change.

By ourselves, this change will not happen. Divided, we are bound to fail.

But the life of a tall, gangly, self-made Springfield lawyer tells us that a different future is possible.

He tells us that there is power in words.

He tells us that there is power in conviction.

That beneath all the differences of race and region, faith and station, we are one people.

He tells us that there is power in hope.

As Lincoln organized the forces arrayed against slavery, he was heard to say: "Of strange, discordant, and even hostile elements, we gathered from the four winds, and formed and fought to battle through."

That is our purpose here today. r
That's why I'm in this race.

Not just to hold an office, but to gather with you to transform a nation.

I want to win that next battle - for justice and opportunity.

I want to win that next battle - for better schools, and better jobs, and health care for all.

I want us to take up the unfinished business of perfecting our union, and building a better America.

And if you will join me in this improbable quest, if you feel destiny calling, and see as I see, a future of endless possibility stretching before us; if you sense, as I sense, that the time is now to shake off our slumber, and slough off our fear, and make good on the debt we owe past and future generations, then I'm ready to take up the cause, and march with you, and work with you. Together, starting today, let us finish the work that needs to be done, and usher in a new birth of freedom on this Earth.

3 June, 2011, Fri. Pres and VP Schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/president
9:30 am The President receives the Presidential Daily Briefing
Oval Office
Closed Press

9:55 am The President departs the White House en route Andrews Air Force Base
South Lawn
Open Press

10:10 am The President departs Andrews Air Force Base en route Toledo, Ohio
Travel Pool Coverage
Call Time 8:30AM – Virginia Gate, Andrews Air Force Base

11:30 am The President arrives in Toledo, Ohio
Ohio, Toledo, Toledo Express Airport
Open Press

1:00 pm The President tours Chrysler Group Toledo Supplier Park
Chrysler Group Toledo Supplier Park, Ohio, Toledo
Travel Pool Coverage

1:25 pm The President delivers remarks to workers
Chrysler Group Toledo Supplier Park, Ohio, Toledo
Open Press

4:00 pm The President departs Toledo, Ohio en route Andrews Air Force Base
Ohio, Toledo, Toledo Express Airport
Open Press

5:15 pm The President arrives at Andrews Air Force Base
Travel Pool Coverage

5:30 pm The President arrives at the White House
South Lawn
Open Press

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
No public schedule.

Other targets today

Nothing to rebut here today on what Rush had to say, as he had other targets than the President.

This is interesting, though:

RUSH: Now, for those who say don't attack Obama, attack his policies, I told you once that I had a meeting with a Republican who was pondering seeking the Republican presidential nomination, and his point to me was, we have to attack these policies, can't really attack him. That just won't work because, first, the historical nature of his presidency and so forth will be sidetracked by criticism that we get because of that and the genuine criticism of his policies will not be heard, be deflected, we have to focus on the policies. Now, in an overpriced university classroom or faculty lounge, that might be a fun concept to discuss, and maybe employ. But how do you do this? How do you attack Obama's policies and not attack him, when his policies are sold under false pretenses?

When socialism and crony capitalism wear sheep's clothing, why waste time debating the sheep? Examples: Obamacare. Obamacare was promised, we were assured, even though all of us knew this is total BS 'cause we know the math, we were nevertheless promised that Obamacare would reduce the deficit and the cost of health insurance policies and the cost of health care itself. That's what we were told. It was promised that consumers would have more choice, greater access, on and on and on. Premiums would be reduced by $2500. We were told that Obamacare would reduce the deficit, that it would not cost anywhere near a trillion dollars.

Now, President Obama deliberately lied about this monstrous piece of legislation, as did all the other Democrats in support of it. The legislation was never released so it could be read or debated. Republicans were shut out of the process entirely. There were no hearings. There were no panels of experts brought in as is the case in any other major piece of legislation. The man is his policies. The policies are the man. They are one in the same. You cannot achieve some position on a tightrope of saying you are objecting to his policies but not to him. Obama's policies are not a different personality. He's not civil out there, where he's got this weird set of beliefs but then personally, what a nice guy.

Barack Obama is his policies, and in Obama we have someone who continues to advance an agenda that is damaging to this country. Which means there's something out of kilter with this man. There is something wrong, something wrong with his thinking, something wrong with his knowledge, something wrong with his ideology, his attitude, the way he was raised, but he continues to advance an agenda that is damaging this country and we're supposed to say, "Well, we disagree with the policy, but not the man." The man is the policy. Obama gave his word on health care, whatever other issue, cap and trade, you name it, he gave his word. And there was no legislation to debate and he still hasn't presented a budget. He never had his own health care plan, so how do you attack a policy that's not published? And the guy who's guaranteeing it prevaricates.

What do you do? Put up a graph, politely show that he was mistaken, well-intentioned but mistaken? Obama promised shovel-ready jobs, his vice president promised 500,000 new jobs a month via a $1 trillion Porkulus bill. He promised to create three and a half million jobs, 90% of them coming from the private sector. That wasn't true. It was a slush fund, a money laundering scheme to keep Democrat public sector workers employed so their dues would collect and continue to funnel to Democrat candidates. We know that. We're supposed to ignore that? Why give up that advantage? How does one advance a counterargument against policies that are lies without identifying the schemer or the architect? Nobody does that in their daily life.

Why will Republicans shackle themselves with this impossibility? Attack the policies but not the guy. In November of 2012 what's gonna be on the ballot? The name or the policies? Are we gonna be voting on the policies? Is there going to be a line on the ballot for Obamacare, up or down? We don't get to vote on his policies. In order to vote on his policies, gotta vote for or against him. You can't separate them.

2 June, 2011, Thu, Rush Limbaugh headlines

--A Different Take on Weinergate
Opening monologue on the story's cultural implications.
Fox: Weiner Struggles to Explain Lewd Photo
Tom Rowan: Krauthammer and Palin

--On Leaders and Their Flaws
Call prompts an expansion of the discussion on heroes.

--Sarah Palin vs. The Establishment
She has the Washington elite running around in circles.

--Liberals Panic Over the Economy
Democrats realize they need some growth - and fast.

--Flashback: Joe Bite Me on the Great Success of the Stimulus
A look back on the statements of our esteemed veep.

--Republican Leaders Meet with the Extremely Beatable Barack Obama
Ryan gets standing ovation at White House summit.

Stack of Stuff Quick Hits Page
» Panic: Superbug Spreads on Vegetables in Europe
» Moody's Warns of Rising Risk to US Credit Rating
» What Happened to That Freedom Movement in Egypt?

--We All Knew About Obama, Mitt
Gov. Romney announces what we knew years ago.

--Can't Separate Obama and Policies
The man and his policies are one in the same, America.

2 June 2011, Thur, Pres and Vp Schedule

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/complete
10:10 am The President receives the Presidential Daily Briefing
Oval Office
Closed Press

12:00 pm The President meets with senior advisors
Oval Office
Closed Press

2:30 pm The President meets with the House Democratic Caucus
East Room
Closed Press

7:20 pm The President delivers remarks at the Pritzker Architecture Prize Event; THE FIRST LADY also attends
Andrew Mellon Auditorium
Pooled Press

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
No public schedule

Rush on vacation today

Rush is taking a vacation day today, Mark Steyn will be filling the Attila the Hun chair.

I may or may not listen to him...

Rush will return tomorrow.

1 June, 2011, Wed, Pres and VP Schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/complete
10:00 am The President meets with the House Republican Conference
East Room
Closed Press

11:30 am The President receives the annual briefing on the forecast for the 2011 hurricane season
Situation Room
Closed Press

2:15 pm The President meets with senior advisors
Oval Office
Closed Press

4:00 pm The President meets with Secretary of State Clinton
Oval Office
Closed Press

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
No public schedule.