WARREN'S FYST PORTFOILIO PAGE

This XML file does not appear to have any style information associated with it. The document tree is shown below.

<title>Personal Liberty Digest™</title>

<atom:link href=”http://personalliberty.com/feed/” rel=”self” type=”application/rss+xml”/>

<description>Live Free in an Unfree World</description>

<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>

<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>

<generator>http://wordpress.com/</generator>

<image>

<url>http://s2.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.png</url>

<title>Personal Liberty Digest™</title>

</image>

<atom:link rel=”search” type=”application/opensearchdescription+xml” href=”http://personalliberty.com/osd.xml” title=”Personal Liberty Digest™”/>

<atom:link rel=”hub” href=”http://personalliberty.com/?pushpress=hub”/>

<item>

<title>

Senator Warns Cruise Lines To Improve Reporting Of Onboard Crimes

</title>

<link>

http://personalliberty.com/2013/07/26/senator-warns-cruise-lines-to-improve-reporting-of-onboard-crimes/

</link>

http://personalliberty.com/2013/07/26/senator-warns-cruise-lines-to-improve-reporting-of-onboard-crimes/#comments

</comments>

<dc:creator>UPI – United Press International, Inc.</dc:creator>

<![CDATA[ Breaking Now ]]>

</category>

<![CDATA[ From The Wire ]]>

</category>

<![CDATA[ Liberty News ]]>

</category>

<guid isPermaLink=”false”>http://personalliberty.com/?p=141820</guid>

<![CDATA[

WASHINGTON (UPI) — U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., has put cruise lines “on notice” they must do a better job of reporting criminal incidents that occur on cruise ships. Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, called for stricter reporting guidelines after the committee released a report that only 31 alleged […]<img alt=”” border=”0″ src=”http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=personalliberty.com&blog=25823361&post=141820&subd=personallibertycom&ref=&feed=1″ width=”1″ height=”1″ />

]]>

</description>

<content:encoded>

<![CDATA[

WASHINGTON (UPI) — U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., has put cruise lines “on notice” they must do a better job of reporting criminal incidents that occur on cruise ships. Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, called for stricter reporting guidelines after the committee released a report that only 31 alleged crimes had been publicly disclosed on a Coast Guard website since 2011, NBC News reported Thursday. Cruise lines have reported 959 incidents to the FBI during that same period, the Senate report said. Executives of Carnival Corp., Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean Cruises told the committee during a hearing Wednesday they would report all alleged crimes that occur on their vessels. In a prepared statement, Rockefeller expressed skepticism about the cruise lines’ pledge. “I have been assured repeatedly by the industry that things will get better,” he said. “Take a look at the events over the past 16 months and tell me if this is what you think better looks like. Cruise lines are on notice that the safety and protection of passengers is now their number one priority, whether they like it or not.” The cruise lines voluntarily agreed to post reports of alleged crimes reported as far back as 2010 on their website by Aug. 1 regardless of whether an investigation is open or closed. A statement on Carnival’s website says the possibility of a criminal incident aboard their ships is “remote.” Of the 4 million passengers the cruise line expects to carry in 2013, the website says, “the number of alleged incidents is a small fraction of those carried.” <a rel=”nofollow” href=”http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/personallibertycom.wordpress.com/141820/”><img alt=”” border=”0″ src=”http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/personallibertycom.wordpress.com/141820/” /></a> <img alt=”” border=”0″ src=”http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=personalliberty.com&blog=25823361&post=141820&subd=personallibertycom&ref=&feed=1″ width=”1″ height=”1″ />

]]>

</content:encoded>

<wfw:commentRss>

http://personalliberty.com/2013/07/26/senator-warns-cruise-lines-to-improve-reporting-of-onboard-crimes/feed/

</wfw:commentRss>

<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>

<media:content url=”http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/4ba9408bb5c935ab8db79de2a13d3b07?s=96&d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&r=G” medium=”image”>

<media:title type=”html”>upipl</media:title>

</media:content>

</item>

<item>

<title>

Hillbilly High School Under Fed Fire; Jet Setter In Chief Costs Taxpayers Millions; College Students Okay With Infanticide; FBI Ignored Boston Bomber Warnings; Government Demands Internet User Passwords—TGIF Morning News Roundup 7-26-2013

</title>

<link>

http://personalliberty.com/2013/07/26/hillbilly-high-school-under-fed-fire-jet-setter-in-chief-costs-taxpayers-millions-college-students-okay-with-infanticide-fbi-ignored-boston-bomber-warnings-government-demands-internet-user-passwor/

</link>

</comments>

<dc:creator>Personal Liberty News Desk</dc:creator>

<![CDATA[ Liberty News ]]>

</category>

<![CDATA[ Staff Reports ]]>

</category>

<guid isPermaLink=”false”>http://personalliberty.com/?p=141777</guid>

<![CDATA[

Here is a collection of some of the stories making the Internet rounds this morning. Click the links for the full stories.<img alt=”” border=”0″ src=”http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=personalliberty.com&blog=25823361&post=141777&subd=personallibertycom&ref=&feed=1″ width=”1″ height=”1″ />

]]>

</description>

<content:encoded>

<![CDATA[

Here is a collection of some of the stories making the Internet rounds this morning. Click the links for the full stories. <ul> <li>Political correctness: The U.S. Department of Education has officially opened an investigation into allegations that an Arizona high school’s campus-wide “Re

]]>

<![CDATA[

dneck Day” amounted to a Federal civil rights violation. Source: <a href=”http://dailycaller.com/2013/07/26/feds-investigate-redneck-day-at-arizona-high-school-have-nothing-better-to-do/” target=”_blank”>The Daily Caller</a></li> </ul> <ul> <li>President Obama’s speeches are already costing taxpayers well over $1 million – and probably closer to $2 million – as the president jets around the country campaign-style to drum up support for his agenda. Source: <a href=”http://www.whitehousedossier.com/2013/07/26/obamas-speeches-costing-13-million/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WhiteHouseDossier+%28White+House+Dossier%29″ target=”_blank”>White House Dossier </a></li> </ul> <ul> <li>What’s going on here?: Several students at George Mason University (GMU) signed a petition on Wednesday demanding lawmakers legalize “fourth trimester” abortions. Source: <a href=”http://www.campusreform.org/blog/?ID=4872″ target=”_blank”>Campus Reform </a></li> </ul> <ul> <li>Federal Bureau of Investigation officials ignored warnings about the radical origins and nature of the mosque frequented by the Tsarnaev brothers for years before this April’s deadly Boston Marathon bombings. Source: <a href=”http://dailycaller.com/2013/07/25/fbi-ignored-warnings-about-boston-bombers-radical-mosque/” target=”_blank”>The Daily Caller </a></li> </ul> <ul> <li>The U.S. government has demanded that major Internet companies divulge users’ stored passwords, according to two industry sources familiar with these orders, which represent an escalation in surveillance techniques that has not previously been disclosed. Source: <a href=”http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57595529-38/feds-tell-web-firms-to-turn-over-user-account-passwords/” target=”_blank”>CNET </a></li> </ul> Check back for updates, news and analysis throughout the day. Like us on <a href=”https://www.facebook.com/personalliberty” target=”_blank”>Facebook</a>. And follow our improved <a href=”https://twitter.com/personalliberty” target=”_blank”>Twitter feed</a>. <a rel=”nofollow” href=”http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/personallibertycom.wordpress.com/141777/”><img alt=”” border=”0″ src=”http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/personallibertycom.wordpress.com/141777/” /></a> <img alt=”” border=”0″ src=”http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=personalliberty.com&blog=25823361&post=141777&subd=personallibertycom&ref=&feed=1″ width=”1″ height=”1″ />

]]>

</content:encoded>

<wfw:commentRss>

</wfw:commentRss>

<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>

<media:content url=”http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/4e11600cd0febf82b9f0602185fca4bc?s=96&d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&r=G” medium=”image”>

<media:title type=”html”>personallibertynewsdeskpl</media:title>

</media:content>

</item>

<item>

<title>Edward Snowden: Traitor Or Hero?</title>

<link>

http://personalliberty.com/2013/07/26/edward-snowden-traitor-or-hero/

</link>

http://personalliberty.com/2013/07/26/edward-snowden-traitor-or-hero/#comments

</comments>

<dc:creator>Chip Wood</dc:creator>

<![CDATA[ Conservative Politics ]]>

</category>

<![CDATA[ Personal Liberty Digest™ ]]>

</category>

<guid isPermaLink=”false”>http://personalliberty.com/?p=141675</guid>

<![CDATA[

Is Edward Snowden a traitorous dog who deserves the harshest penalties the United States can impose on him? Or is he an authentic American hero who sacrificed a comfortable life to bring us the truth about how far our government has gone to snoop on all of us?<img alt=”” border=”0″ src=”http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=personalliberty.com&blog=25823361&post=141675&subd=personallibertycom&ref=&feed=1″ width=”1″ height=”1″ />

]]>

</description>

<content:encoded>

<![CDATA[

In today’s column, I’m going to share an extraordinary email exchange between a former U.S. Senator and Edward Snowden, the infamous betrayer of Washington secrets. I think I can promise that it will cause you to look at this controversy in a whole new way. By now, you can almost feel

]]>

<![CDATA[

a bit sorry for Snowden, the whistle-blower extraordinaire who has been forced to remain in the transit area of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport for more than a month. I’ve been stuck at a lot of different airports over the years, and it was never fun. And none of them, thank God, was in Russia.</p

]]>

<![CDATA[

> Now comes word that the Russian authorities will finally permit Snowden to leave the airport while they consider his application for asylum. I have no idea why it took so long. Like bureaucracies everywhere, the ones in Moscow apparently move at their own glacial pace. So what do you thi

]]>

<![CDATA[

nk? Is Snowden a traitorous dog who deserves the harshest penalties the United States can impose on him (if U.S. authorities can ever get their hands on him, that is)? Or is he an authentic American hero who sacrificed a comfortable life to bring us the truth about how far our government has gone to snoop on all of us? Even the members of the intelligence committees in Congress, who supposedly knew all about the secretive surveillance being carried out by the National Security Agency and other government watchdogs, say they have been shocked to learn of the extent of what was going on. Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to ask more than 1,000 liberty lovers what they thought of Snowden. I was the master of ceremonies at something called FreedomFest, an annual conference that describes itself as “the world’s largest gathering of free minds.” Most of the attendees would probably describe themselves as libertarians, although traditional conservatives were certainly well-represented, both in the audience and at the podium. When I asked the audience for their opinion of Snowden and what he did, I expected them to be fairly evenly divided. It was not even close. Fewer than 10 percent raised their hands when I asked if they thought he should be prosecuted for revealing state secrets. The overwhelming majority — by a rough estimate, more than 85 percent of the audience — said he deserved our praise and thanks for helping to expose what one speaker referred to as “the surveillance state.” Shortly after returning home, I received a fascinating email exchange between Snowden and a former politician I remember fondly. Gordon J. Humphrey was a two-term Senator from New Hampshire. Here is the message he sent Snowden, via Glen Greenwald, the writer for <a href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jul/16/gordon-humphrey-email-edward-snowden” target=”_blank”>The Guardian</a> in London who broke the story of Snowden’s incredible disclosures: <blockquote>Mr. Snowden, Provided you have not leaked information that would put in harms (sic) way any intelligence agent, I believe you have done the right thing in exposing what I regard as massive violation of the United States Constitution. Having served in the United States Senate for twelve years as a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, the Armed Services Committee and the Judiciary Committee, I think I have a good grounding to reach my conclusion. I wish you well in your efforts to secure asylum and encourage you to persevere. Kindly acknowledge this message, so that I will know it reached you. Regards, Gordon J. Humphrey Former United States Senator New Hampshire</blockquote> Humphrey received the following email from Snowden. Its authenticity was also confirmed by Greenwald. <blockquote>Mr. Humphrey, Thank you for your words of support. I only wish more of our lawmakers shared your principles – the actions I’ve taken would not have been necessary. The media has distorted my actions and intentions to distract from the substance of Constitutional violations and instead focus on personalities. It seems they believe every modern narrative requires a bad guy. Perhaps it does. Perhaps, in such times, loving one’s country means being hated by its government. If history proves that be so, I will not shy from that hatred. I will not hesitate to wear those charges of villainy for the rest of my life as a civic duty, allowing those governing few who dared not do so themselves to use me as an excuse to right these wrongs. My intention, which I outlined when this began, is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them. I remain committed to that. Though reporters and officials may never believe it, I have not provided any information that would harm our people – agent or not – and I have no intention to do so. Further, no intelligence service – not even our own – has the capacity to compromise the secrets I continue to protect. While it has not been reported in the media, one of my specializations was to teach our people at DIA how to keep such information from being compromised even in the highest threat counter-intelligence environments (i.e. China). You may rest easy knowing I cannot be coerced into revealing that information, even under torture. With my thanks for your service to the nation we both love, Edward Snowden</blockquote> So what do you think of that? When he talks about media distortions that are being done “to distract from the substance of Constitutional violations,” Snowden sounds like a columnist for Personal Liberty Digest™, doesn’t he? And when he wonders if “loving one’s country means being hated by its government,” he sounds like many of our readers. Right now, there’s only one thing keeping me from coming down 100 percent on the side of “hero.” And that is the path Snowden has chosen to follow since those first incredible disclosures. When the story first broke, I was impressed that this obscure contractor was willing to turn his life upside down to expose the truth about the NSA’s massive surveillance efforts. “Good for him,” was my first reaction. What an incredibly brave thing to do, I thought, knowing that he would immediately become the declared enemy of the most powerful government on Earth. But it’s not civil disobedience if you’re not willing to face the consequences of your actions. I hoped that Snowden would come back to the United States and face his accusers in an open and public trial. Instead, he fled to China and then on to Russia — two countries that aren’t exactly known for a commitment to the freedom of their own citizens. And if he ever gets permission to leave Russia, he’s indicated that he might like to settle in Venezuela or Bolivia — two countries that are a lot closer to a “dictatorship of the proletariat” than anything resembling the Constitutional protections that we have long taken for granted. What’s next? Anatoly Kucherena, Snowden’s Russian attorney, told <a href=”http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/24/world/europe/russia-snowden” target=”_blank”>CNN</a>: “As far as I know, he’s planning to stay in Russia to learn Russian culture, Russian language and (to) live here.” If he does, it won’t be anything like his life in Hawaii before all this happened, where Snowden himself said he lived in “paradise.” Our government has asked Russia to extradite Snowden back to the United States, but it doesn’t sound like Russian President Vladimir Putin has any intention of granting that request. (There is no extradition treaty between the two countries.) Putin <a href=”http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/01/us-usa-security-snowden-putin-idUSBRE9600QP20130701″ target=”_blank”>has said</a> that Snowden will need to “stop his work aimed at harming our American partners” if he wants to remain in the country. Meanwhile, both Venezuela and Bolivia have said they would be delighted to grant asylum to Snowden. And Nicaragua has said it would do so “if circumstances permit,” whatever that means. Oh, and one more thing. When Greenwald contacted Humphrey, to confirm the authenticity of his original email, Humphrey expanded on what he wrote Snowden: <blockquote>I object to the monumentally disproportionate campaign being waged by the U.S. Government against Edward Snowden, while no effort is being made to identify, remove from office and bring to justice those officials who have abused power, seriously and repeatedly violating the Constitution of the United States and the rights of millions of unsuspecting citizens. Americans concerned about the growing arrogance of our government and its increasingly menacing nature should be working to help Mr. Snowden find asylum. Former Members of Congress, especially, should step forward and speak out.</blockquote> Count me among those willing to speak out. I’d love to see us bring to justice those officials who have “abused power, seriously and repeatedly violating the Constitution of the United States.” Wouldn’t you? In the meantime, I think we owe Snowden a huge “thank you” for what he’s done to expose the Big Brother surveillance taking place in what used to be the land of the free and the home of the brave. Now it seems we’re the not-so-free and the not-very-brave. Until next time, keep some powder dry. –Chip Wood <a rel=”nofollow” href=”http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/personallibertycom.wordpress.com/141675/”><img alt=”” border=”0″ src=”http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/personallibertycom.wordpress.com/141675/” /></a> <img alt=”” border=”0″ src=”http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=personalliberty.com&blog=25823361&post=141675&subd=personallibertycom&ref=&feed=1″ width=”1″ height=”1″ />

]]>

</content:encoded>

<wfw:commentRss>

http://personalliberty.com/2013/07/26/edward-snowden-traitor-or-hero/feed/

</wfw:commentRss>

<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>

<media:thumbnail url=”http://personallibertycom.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/snowden.jpg?w=115″/>

<media:content url=”http://personallibertycom.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/snowden.jpg?w=115″ medium=”image”>

<media:title type=”html”>snowden</media:title>

</media:content>

<media:content url=”http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/efb4f6c71f256106b44e2060a0e3ad44?s=96&d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&r=G” medium=”image”>

<media:title type=”html”>chipwoodpl</media:title>

</media:content>

</item>

<item>

<title>

Forget The Drones: Massive Spy Blimps Set To Hover Over Northeastern U.S.

</title>

<link>

http://personalliberty.com/2013/07/26/forget-the-drones-massive-spy-blimps-set-to-hover-over-northeastern-u-s/

</link>

http://personalliberty.com/2013/07/26/forget-the-drones-massive-spy-blimps-set-to-hover-over-northeastern-u-s/#comments

</comments>

<dc:creator>Sam Rolley</dc:creator>

<![CDATA[ Liberty News ]]>

</category>

<![CDATA[ Privacy ]]>

</category>

<![CDATA[ Staff Reports ]]>

</category>

<guid isPermaLink=”false”>http://personalliberty.com/?p=141710</guid>

<![CDATA[

Pretty soon, a pair of massive high-tech Army blimps will be floating over the greater Washington D.C. area to provide 24-hour, 360-degree surveillance. And as testing and advancement of the airship surveillance technology continues, the eyes in the sky could have the ability to keep an eye on folks spanning hundreds of acres, from North Carolina to Niagara Falls and beyond.<img alt=”” border=”0″ src=”http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=personalliberty.com&blog=25823361&post=141710&subd=personallibertycom&ref=&feed=1″ width=”1″ height=”1″ />

]]>

</description>

<content:encoded>

<![CDATA[

Pretty soon, a pair of massive high-tech Army blimps will be floating over the greater Washington, D.C., area to provide 24-hour, 360-degree surveillance. And as testing and advancement of the airship surveillance technology continues, the eyes in the sky could have the ability to keep an eye on folks spanning hundreds of acres, from North Carolina to Niagara Falls and beyond. <img alt=”blimp” src=”http://personallibertycom.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/blimp.png?w=546&h=222″ width=”546″ height=”222″ /> The massive blimps, developed as a part of Raytheon’s Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System, or JLENS, will initially allow the Army to see for 320 miles in any direction from 10,000 feet off the ground. “JLENS uses advanced sensor and networking technologies to provide 360-degree, wide-area surveillance and precision target tracking,” the Defense Department found in an unclassified audit. The blimps are capable of monitoring targets on land, water or in the air with a trove of powerful onboard surveillance equipment. In a press release, Raytheon said the JLENS surveillance radar can “simultaneously track hundreds of threats.”   Raytheon touts the blimps as a way for militaries to have surveillance equipment out of high in the sky and out of danger while carrying “powerful radars that can look deep into enemy territory.” But if enemy territory brings to mind visions North Korea or sandy places full of religious fanatics, think again. After a six-week-long “test-drive” in the Utah wilderness, the Army will fly Raytheon’s enormous JLENS airships from the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, where the twin-radar system will begin a long-term trial watching over Washington, D.C., and nearly a dozen States, stretching from the mid-Atlantic into New England. <a rel=”nofollow” href=”http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/personallibertycom.wordpress.com/141710/”><img alt=”” border=”0″ src=”http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/personallibertycom.wordpress.com/141710/” /></a> <img alt=”” border=”0″ src=”http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=personalliberty.com&blog=25823361&post=141710&subd=personallibertycom&ref=&feed=1″ width=”1″ height=”1″ />

]]>

</content:encoded>

<wfw:commentRss>

http://personalliberty.com/2013/07/26/forget-the-drones-massive-spy-blimps-set-to-hover-over-northeastern-u-s/feed/

</wfw:commentRss>

<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>

<media:content url=”http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/bd61e04492b2fea7b155e1f84bacd117?s=96&d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&r=G” medium=”image”>

<media:title type=”html”>samrolleypl</media:title>

</media:content>

<media:content url=”http://personallibertycom.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/blimp.png” medium=”image”>

<media:title type=”html”>blimp</media:title>

</media:content>

</item>

<item>

<title>

Obama’s Racial Hypocrisy: Trayvon ‘Could Have Been Me’ But I’m Nominating Ray ‘Stop And Frisk’ Kelly, King Of Racial Profiling

</title>

<link>

http://personalliberty.com/2013/07/26/obamas-racial-hypocrisy-trayvon-could-have-been-me-but-im-nominating-ray-stop-and-frisk-kelly-king-of-racial-profiling/

</link>

http://personalliberty.com/2013/07/26/obamas-racial-hypocrisy-trayvon-could-have-been-me-but-im-nominating-ray-stop-and-frisk-kelly-king-of-racial-profiling/#comments

</comments>

<dc:creator>Ben Bullard</dc:creator>

<![CDATA[ Conservative Politics ]]>

</category>

<![CDATA[ Liberty News ]]>

</category>

<![CDATA[ Staff Reports ]]>

</category>

<guid isPermaLink=”false”>http://personalliberty.com/?p=141709</guid>

<![CDATA[

Why does President Barack Obama seemingly endorse the idea that it’s fine for cops to randomly stop and frisk people based on their race, but that it’s a civil rights crime if a private citizen on neighborhood watch patrol might have done the same thing?<img alt=”” border=”0″ src=”http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=personalliberty.com&blog=25823361&post=141709&subd=personallibertycom&ref=&feed=1″ width=”1″ height=”1″ />

]]>

</description>

<content:encoded>

<![CDATA[

Why would President Barack Obama nominate a man to a top security post who, by the President’s own standard, would have profiled him as a potential criminal on the streets of New York City as a younger man? And by implication, why does he endorse the idea that it’s fine for cops to randomly s

]]>

<![CDATA[

top and frisk people based on their race, but that it’s a civil rights crime if a private citizen on neighborhood watch patrol might have done the same thing? The President’s nomination of New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly to replace departed Homeland Security Secretary Janet

]]>

<![CDATA[

Napolitano came only days before Obama joined his colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus, along with friends in the entertainment industry and the NAACP, in the public immolation of an exonerated George Zimmerman. For the Left, Zimmerman is a dead-horse straw man target, an involuntary Bull Connor figure who ought to be receiving royalty payments from people like Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Jay-Z — and now Obama – who have ridden his unassuming coattails to a re-emergence as race-baiting firebrands whose relevance depends on how successful they are at bringing out the worst in the characters of uninformed people. Obama seized an opportunity to do just that, telling the Nation: “Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago.” The President’s <a href=”http://dailycaller.com/2013/07/19/full-remarks-by-president-obama-on-trayvon-martin/” target=”_blank”>July 19 comments</a> are actually remarkable for the extent to which they betray Obama’s dismissal of black-on-black violence (blame history), his self-identity (our President is, first and foremost, a “hyphen”-American who’s been feared by white women on the street) and, most tellingly, his propensity to group people into a racial category and proceed to speak for their behaviors, beliefs and feelings (“black folks interpret…understand…get frustrated…”): <blockquote>You know, when Trayvon Martin was first shot I said that this could have been my son. Another way of saying that is Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago. And when you think about why, in the African American community at least, there’s a lot of pain around what happened here, I think it’s important to recognize that the African American community is looking at this issue through a set of experiences and a history that doesn’t go away. There are very few African American men in this country who haven’t had the experience of being followed when they were shopping in a department store. That includes me. There are very few African American men who haven’t had the experience of walking across the street and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars. That happens to me — at least before I was a senator. There are very few African Americans who haven’t had the experience of getting on an elevator and a woman clutching her purse nervously and holding her breath until she had a chance to get off. That happens often. And I don’t want to exaggerate this, but those sets of experiences inform how the African American community interprets what happened one night in Florida. And it’s inescapable for people to bring those experiences to bear. The African American community is also knowledgeable that there is a history of racial disparities in the application of our criminal laws — everything from the death penalty to enforcement of our drug laws. And that ends up having an impact in terms of how people interpret the case. Now, this isn’t to say that the African American community is naïve about the fact that African American young men are disproportionately involved in the criminal justice system; that they’re disproportionately both victims and perpetrators of violence. It’s not to make excuses for that fact — although black folks do interpret the reasons for that in a historical context. They understand that some of the violence that takes place in poor black neighborhoods around the country is born out of a very violent past in this country, and that the poverty and dysfunction that we see in those communities can be traced to a very difficult history. And so the fact that sometimes that’s unacknowledged adds to the frustration. And the fact that a lot of African American boys are painted with a broad brush and the excuse is given, well, there are these statistics out there that show that African American boys are more violent — using that as an excuse to then see sons treated differently causes pain. I think the African American community is also not naïve in understanding that, statistically, somebody like Trayvon Martin was statistically more likely to be shot by a peer than he was by somebody else. So folks understand the challenges that exist for African American boys. But they get frustrated, I think, if they feel that there’s no context for it and that context is being denied.</blockquote> Like Sharpton and Jackson, Obama is now speaking on behalf of American blacks, a gesture he knows automatically implies a divisive wedge that exempts one American from believing he shares — and that he should share — common ground with another. That’s vile, especially coming from the elected leader of the free world. Equally vile is the brazen hypocrisy of burnishing the reputation of Kelly. With vocal support from otherwise-liberal New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Kelly has expanded the NYPD’s “stop-and-frisk” practice into a <a href=”http://personalliberty.com/2013/03/28/nypds-unconstitutional-stop-and-frisk-game/”>racial profiling juggernaut</a>, requiring street cops to randomly pick out black and Hispanic individuals because they’re black and Hispanic and to frisk them without probable cause that they’re involved in anything criminal. Bloomberg notoriously <a href=”http://personalliberty.com/2013/06/28/bloomberg-stop-and-frisk-is-great-start-targeting-blacks-more-whites-less/”>said last month</a> that the cops were stopping too many white people and not enough minorities — even though minorities comprise nearly 90 percent of all NYPD stops. For Reason’s Jacob Sullum, something in Obama’s Janus-like positions on Zimmerman and Kelly <a href=”http://reason.com/archives/2013/07/24/ray-kellys-extraordinary-job” target=”_blank”>doesn’t gibe</a>: <blockquote>The juxtaposition of [the President’s] comments suggests Obama would rather attack an easy target than confront issues with much clearer implications for equality under the law. In contrast with Zimmerman, who has never been credibly accused of shooting Martin because of his race, Kelly is named in a federal lawsuit that charges the NYPD with routinely violating the Fourth and 14th Amendments through a program of street stops that target blacks or Hispanics 87 percent of the time. The number of such stops septupled during Kelly’s first nine years as Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s police commissioner… … As Obama noted on Friday, “there is a history of racial disparities in the application of our criminal laws—everything from the death penalty to enforcement of our drug laws.” In New York City under Ray Kelly, that history is still being made.</blockquote> <a rel=”nofollow” href=”http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/personallibertycom.wordpress.com/141709/”><img alt=”” border=”0″ src=”http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/personallibertycom.wordpress.com/141709/” /></a> <img alt=”” border=”0″ src=”http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=personalliberty.com&blog=25823361&post=141709&subd=personallibertycom&ref=&feed=1″ width=”1″ height=”1″ />

]]>

</content:encoded>

<wfw:commentRss>

http://personalliberty.com/2013/07/26/obamas-racial-hypocrisy-trayvon-could-have-been-me-but-im-nominating-ray-stop-and-frisk-kelly-king-of-racial-profiling/feed/

</wfw:commentRss>

<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>

<media:thumbnail url=”http://personallibertycom.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/obama0703_image.jpg?w=115″/>

<media:content url=”http://personallibertycom.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/obama0703_image.jpg?w=115″ medium=”image”>

<media:title type=”html”>obama0703_image</media:title>

</media:content>

<media:content url=”http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/e156bdf1f80ae30c2e96807a35db8c95?s=96&d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&r=G” medium=”image”>

<media:title type=”html”>benbullardpl</media:title>

</media:content>

</item>

<item>

<title>The Magician’s Rabbit And Bureaucratic Idiocy</title>

<link>

http://personalliberty.com/2013/07/26/the-magicians-rabbit-and-bureaucratic-idiocy/

</link>

http://personalliberty.com/2013/07/26/the-magicians-rabbit-and-bureaucratic-idiocy/#comments

</comments>

<dc:creator>Bob Livingston</dc:creator>

<![CDATA[ Conservative Politics ]]>

</category>

<![CDATA[ Freedom Watch ]]>

</category>

<![CDATA[ Hot Topics ]]>

</category>

<guid isPermaLink=”false”>http://personalliberty.com/?p=141693</guid>

<![CDATA[

Marty the Magician performs magic shows for children. For his big finale he pulls a rabbit out of a hat. In 2005, a USDA inspector cornered him after a show. She asked to see his license. “License for?” the magician asked. “The rabbit,” was the reply. His adventure with USDA insanity had begun.<img alt=”” border=”0″ src=”http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=personalliberty.com&blog=25823361&post=141693&subd=personallibertycom&ref=&feed=1″ width=”1″ height=”1″ />

]]>

</description>

<content:encoded>

<![CDATA[

The long arm of the Federal government has reached inside Marty Hahnes’ magic hat and pulled out a handful of bureaucratic idiocy. Hahne performs magic shows for children in southern Missouri under the name of Marty the Magician. For his big finale he pulls a rabbit out of a hat —

]]>

<![CDATA[

a time-honored magic trick with little risk to the rabbit, magician or audience. In 2005, a U.S. Department of Agriculture inspector cornered him after a show. She asked to see his license. “License for?” Hahne asked. “The rabbit,” was the reply. To keep his rabbit in the magic act Hahne was told he had to purchase a $40 annual license, take the rabbit to the veterinarian and submit to surprise home inspections. And for a kicker, if Hahne planned to take the rabbit out of town for an extended period of time, he had to submit an itinerary to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. His rabbit travels with him in a small cage adorned with USDA-mandated stickers, indicating which end is up. But this year, the idiocy got worse. To keep his rabbit license, Hahne was told he had to submit a disaster plan covering what would happen with his rabbit in the event of every conceivable emergency: fire, flood, tornado, faulty air conditioning, ice storm, power failure. Luckily for Hahne, a professional disaster plan writer heard about his plight and offered to write a plan for his rabbit. It must be completed by July 29. As of last week, it was 28 pages long and growing. But it was still short, considering what the USDA requested it include, according to Kim Morgan, the professional who volunteered to write the plan. While Hahne, thanks to Morgan, is responding with a serious plan, some other magicians are responding to the requirement with all the seriousness it deserves. “I’ll take a piece of paper and put down, ‘Note: take rabbit with you when you leave.’ That’s my plan,” magician <a href=”http://www.concordmonitor.com/news/7600955-95/magician-conjures-rabbit-disaster-plan-at-usda-urging” target=”_blank”>Gary Maurer</a> said. The original law requiring the licensing dates back to 1966 and applied to laboratories that used animals in research. But the paper-shufflers in Washington, D.C., and the psychopathic elected class expanded the law with amendments and regulations so that the original four-page law grew so that there are now 14 pages just for rabbits. It grew exponentially under George W. Bush after Hurricane Katrina and now applies to all licensed exhibitors. And you think you live in a free country? <a rel=”nofollow” href=”http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/personallibertycom.wordpress.com/141693/”><img alt=”” border=”0″ src=”http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/personallibertycom.wordpress.com/141693/” /></a> <img alt=”” border=”0″ src=”http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=personalliberty.com&blog=25823361&post=141693&subd=personallibertycom&ref=&feed=1″ width=”1″ height=”1″ />

]]>

</content:encoded>

<wfw:commentRss>

http://personalliberty.com/2013/07/26/the-magicians-rabbit-and-bureaucratic-idiocy/feed/

</wfw:commentRss>

<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>

<media:thumbnail url=”http://personallibertycom.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/magic0725_image.jpg?w=115″/>

<media:content url=”http://personallibertycom.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/magic0725_image.jpg?w=115″ medium=”image”>

<media:title type=”html”>magic0725_image</media:title>

</media:content>

<media:content url=”http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/11104e4e408492b27459e094ff0d1f59?s=96&d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&r=G” medium=”image”>

<media:title type=”html”>boblivingstonpl</media:title>

</media:content>

</item>

<item>

<title>Conservatives: The Best Defense Is A Good Offense</title>

<link>

http://personalliberty.com/2013/07/26/conservatives-the-best-defense-is-a-good-offense/

</link>

http://personalliberty.com/2013/07/26/conservatives-the-best-defense-is-a-good-offense/#comments

</comments>

<dc:creator>Victor Sayre</dc:creator>

<![CDATA[ Conservative Politics ]]>

</category>

<![CDATA[ Demanding Accountability ]]>

</category>

<guid isPermaLink=”false”>http://personalliberty.com/?p=141700</guid>

<![CDATA[

Conservative Americans like to think they are defending the founding principles of the United States, defending individual rights and the Constitution. They are doing no such thing. Don’t get me wrong. Conservatives study, express, believe in and support American principles. But defending? No.<img alt=”” border=”0″ src=”http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=personalliberty.com&blog=25823361&post=141700&subd=personallibertycom&ref=&feed=1″ width=”1″ height=”1″ />

]]>

</description>

<content:encoded>

<![CDATA[

Conservative Americans like to think they are defending the founding principles of the United States, defending individual rights and the Constitution. They are doing no such thing. Don’t get me wrong. Conservatives study, express, believe in and support American principles. But defe

]]>

<![CDATA[

nding? No. Conservatives are a lot like a militia. The notion of a militia goes back at least as far as the Roman Empire. It is that armed property owners will fight tooth and nail against anyone coming to unjustly take their property from them. For that reason, they are a reliable defense ag

]]>

<![CDATA[

ainst invading armies, insurrections or other overt threats. But they are not willing to go on the offense when they are not directly under attack. They would much rather tend the farm or business and care for their families than go make trouble for someone else. Current threats to America’s principles and Constitution are not overt. Enemies of the people work quietly, relying on media silence, to adjust the laws of the Nation until the American Constitution is no longer in effect. Conservatives exercise their right to free speech, protesting and waving around signs. They formed the Tea Party to get a couple of people elected to ineffectual defensive positions in the government. What is the effect? Insidious forces continue fundamentally transforming the American system until it no longer resembles the American way. Constitutionally prohibited actions include importing tens of millions of foreigners to outvote Americans, making schools into gun-free zones to make children into easy targets, infringements against 2nd Amendment protected firearms, suppression of free Christian expression, a massive surveillance system and developing a police state. If Conservatives were actually interested in defending America and the supreme law of the land, they would be doing to our corrupt politicians what those mobs in Egypt did to Mohammed Morsi — forcefully removing from power the corrupt politicians. This has been done before in the United States; and it has, for a time, restored the rule of law. The most obvious example is the American Revolution. For years, the Founders protested abuses of their Rights by their own government. But people in power happily ignored the protests. Ultimately, the problem was resolved when the people took up arms and forcefully removed from power anyone abusing their rights and the rule of law. The result was the U.S. Constitution, with an admonition that the people have a Republic only if they can keep it. More recently, the Battle of Athens, Tenn., demonstrated the necessary remedy to abusive public servants. Stuffing the ballot boxes, corrupt politicians had eliminated fair elections. The townspeople protested; they appealed to other levels of government; they received no help. So they took up their military firearms (those protected by the 2nd Amendment) and set out to kill their politicians and the police officers defending them. Wisely, the politicians surrendered. Fair elections and the rule of law were restored. With massive election fraud occurring today, is it any wonder that anti-American politicians are scrambling to disarm the American people? Conservatives (Americans who believe in American principles) can wave signs and protest all they like with no effect. Under totalitarian rule, they are simply ignored. The rapid transformation of the United States into a leftist state continues unabated. It’s all well and fine to talk about having the 2nd Amendment to protect one’s rights, but only through direct action can that be accomplished. Otherwise, the American people will lose their Republic. If they wait to act until government agents in uniform knock on the door to take their arms, it will be too late. Sometimes, the best defense is not defense. Think about it; demand accountability. –Victor Sayre A <a href=”http://www.usobserver.com/” target=”_blank”>US~Observer</a> exclusive used by permission. <a rel=”nofollow” href=”http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/personallibertycom.wordpress.com/141700/”><img alt=”” border=”0″ src=”http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/personallibertycom.wordpress.com/141700/” /></a> <img alt=”” border=”0″ src=”http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=personalliberty.com&blog=25823361&post=141700&subd=personallibertycom&ref=&feed=1″ width=”1″ height=”1″ />

]]>

</content:encoded>

<wfw:commentRss>

http://personalliberty.com/2013/07/26/conservatives-the-best-defense-is-a-good-offense/feed/

</wfw:commentRss>

<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>

<media:content url=”http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/0cd6825546c9f4fbd0f61173a52470e6?s=96&d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&r=G” medium=”image”>

<media:title type=”html”>victorsayre</media:title>

</media:content>

</item>

<item>

<title>

Tyrannical Trifecta: Obama’s Phony Leadership, Holder’s Phony Justice And Congress’ Phony Concern

</title>

<link>

http://personalliberty.com/2013/07/26/tyrannical-trifecta-obamas-phony-leadership-holders-phony-justice-and-congress-phony-concern/

</link>

http://personalliberty.com/2013/07/26/tyrannical-trifecta-obamas-phony-leadership-holders-phony-justice-and-congress-phony-concern/#comments

</comments>

<dc:creator>Sam Rolley</dc:creator>

<![CDATA[ Conservative Politics ]]>

</category>

<![CDATA[ Liberty News ]]>

</category>

<![CDATA[ Staff Reports ]]>

</category>

<![CDATA[ Voices ]]>

</category>

<guid isPermaLink=”false”>http://personalliberty.com/?p=141721</guid>

<![CDATA[

President Barack Obama, in a speech Wednesday, blamed political posturing and phony scandals for Washington’s inability to get much done to benefit the American people. There’s one burning question: Which scandals does the President consider phony?<img alt=”” border=”0″ src=”http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=personalliberty.com&blog=25823361&post=141721&subd=personallibertycom&ref=&feed=1″ width=”1″ height=”1″ />

]]>

</description>

<content:encoded>

<![CDATA[

President Barack Obama, in a speech Wednesday, blamed political posturing and phony scandals for Washington’s inability to get much done to benefit the American people. The President wants America to know that he has many plans for improving the economy, “But with this endless para

]]>

<![CDATA[

de of distractions and political posturing and phony scandals, Washington has taken its eye off the ball,” he said. “And I am here to say this needs to stop. (Applause.) This needs to stop.” There’s one burning question: Which scandals does the President consider phony? Law

]]>

<![CDATA[

makers, pundits and average Americans have spent the past 10 months trying to figure out what happened leading up to and after the murder of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans at the hands of Islamic extremists in Benghazi, Libya. Still, the White House has not provided any real answers. That’s likely because admitting that a cover-up of executive failures was orchestrated to protect the Obama campaign would reveal that the Benghazi scandal is more tangible than even Obama’s harshest critics originally believed. Later, the State Department intimidated officials who knew the truth of what happened in Benghazi –and others who knew about misconduct in the agency. In May, it was revealed that the Internal Revenue Service has frequently singled out American citizens and groups with conservative political leanings for increased scrutiny. During a Congressional oversight hearing on the matter, Lois Lerner, IRS director of Exempt Organizations, invoked her 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination. Obama axed IRS chief Steven Miller, who was already nearing the end of his term, with great fanfare. And the agency blamed the scandal on low-level employees and vowed to do better. But no real consequence emerged. No massive tax-reform effort. No massive cuts to the agency, even after further damning reports about IRS officials wasting troves of taxpayer money on lavish conferences. Furthermore, Americans still don’t know why the IRS commissioner visited the White House 118 times during Obama’s tenure, compared to one visit during the previous Presidential Administration. Nor do they know why a top IRS aide made more than 300 visits to the Presidential residence. One White House meeting between Obama and a high ranking IRS official occurred on April 23, 2012, two days before a new set of advice on how to scrutinize tea party and conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status was sent to the IRS exempt organizations determinations unit . In 2011, Americans learned that Federal officials were involved in an attempt to vilify firearms by handing them to Mexican drug cartels. The effort, dubbed Fast and Furious, came to a head when the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which ran the operation, lost track of hundreds of firearms, many of which have been linked to crimes, including the fatal shooting of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in December 2010. Americans wanted to know who was responsible, as firearms smuggling and dealings with dangerous criminal elements are certainly not the business of Federal officials on the taxpayer dime. Unfortunately for information seekers, Attorney General Eric Holder absolved the ATF of any wrongdoing and absolved himself of any wrongdoing. And President Obama basically said that, by order of executive privileged, Americans shouldn’t expect answers because it would damage national security. Luckily, this is a Nation built on the idea that a well-informed public is an absolute necessity to the greater good of all citizens. That means, protected by the 1st Amendment, America’s journalists have the power to hit the streets and find out the answers to the questions that the White House refuses to acknowledge. Those journalists do need to be sure, however, that they never run afoul of Obama’s all-seeing Administration, a fact duly noted by The Associated Press revelation that the Justice Department seized the records for more than 20 separate telephone lines assigned to The AP and its journalists in April and May 2012. The Federal government collected personal and work-related information from more than 100 journalists. When government officials won’t talk about their gross misconduct and the American press is intimidated by a bully Federal government, it seems all hope is lost for American citizens concerned about the state of the Nation and seeking answers. But there are still ways for the public to come upon pertinent information about how the government is abusing them. Whistle-blower Edward Snowden recently revealed that the National Security Agency is constantly collecting the electronic communications data of virtually all Americans. Meanwhile, Snowden has taken refuge in Russia to avoid Federal retribution for revealing the government’s dirty little secret. The White House was forced to acknowledge the leak and promised that the Department of Justice would investigate. The same Department of Justice that looked into Fast and Furious. The same Department of Justice that said it is looking into the IRS malfeasance. The same Department of Justice that secretly spied on American journalists. The same Department of Justice that will likely skewer Snowden if he is ever captured. And, except for a few standouts, Congress is complicit in all of the above-mentioned scandals because legislators have made no tangible effort to force answers out of the Administration. Hearings happen, questions are asked, but then — as illustrated with the defeat of Representative Justin Amash’s defund the NSA amendment, Wednesday — nothing is done to protect Americans from the growing executive and its vast abuses of power. Obama is partially right that something is phony in Washington, but it certainly isn’t the growing list of scandals surrounding his Administration. It is his leadership, and that of the almost the entire political class in Washington, that is truly phony. <a rel=”nofollow” href=”http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/personallibertycom.wordpress.com/141721/”><img alt=”” border=”0″ src=”http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/personallibertycom.wordpress.com/141721/” /></a> <img alt=”” border=”0″ src=”http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=personalliberty.com&blog=25823361&post=141721&subd=personallibertycom&ref=&feed=1″ width=”1″ height=”1″ />

]]>

</content:encoded>

<wfw:commentRss>

http://personalliberty.com/2013/07/26/tyrannical-trifecta-obamas-phony-leadership-holders-phony-justice-and-congress-phony-concern/feed/

</wfw:commentRss>

<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>

<media:thumbnail url=”http://personallibertycom.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/phony0725_image.jpg?w=115″/>

<media:content url=”http://personallibertycom.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/phony0725_image.jpg?w=115″ medium=”image”>

<media:title type=”html”>phony0725_image</media:title>

</media:content>

<media:content url=”http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/bd61e04492b2fea7b155e1f84bacd117?s=96&d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&r=G” medium=”image”>

<media:title type=”html”>samrolleypl</media:title>

</media:content>

</item>

<item>

<title>

Poll: Vote Congress Out, But Trust Congress Over Obama

</title>

<link>

http://personalliberty.com/2013/07/26/poll-vote-congress-out-but-trust-congress-over-obama/

</link>

http://personalliberty.com/2013/07/26/poll-vote-congress-out-but-trust-congress-over-obama/#comments

</comments>

<dc:creator>Ben Bullard</dc:creator>

<![CDATA[ Conservative Politics ]]>

</category>

<![CDATA[ Liberty News ]]>

</category>

<![CDATA[ Staff Reports ]]>

</category>

<guid isPermaLink=”false”>http://personalliberty.com/?p=141704</guid>

<![CDATA[

If there’s anything to the results of a new voter poll, the 2014 midterm elections will see the entirety of today’s House of Representatives, along with every Senator who’s up for re-election, kicked out of office: 57 percent of Americans would choose to throw the “bums” out, including their own elected representatives.<img alt=”” border=”0″ src=”http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=personalliberty.com&blog=25823361&post=141704&subd=personallibertycom&ref=&feed=1″ width=”1″ height=”1″ />

]]>

</description>

<content:encoded>

<![CDATA[

If there’s anything to the results of a new voter poll, the 2014 midterm elections will see the entirety of today’s House of Representatives, along with every Senator who’s up for re-election, kicked out of office. A <a href=”http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/MSNBC/Sections/A_Politics/_Tod

]]>

<![CDATA[

ay_Stories_Teases/130724-July-NBC-WSJ-poll.pdf” target=”_blank”>nationwide poll</a> conducted by NBC News and The Wall Street Journal shows 57 percent of Americans would choose to throw the “bums” out, including their own elected representatives. A staggering 83 percent of respondents said they aren’t satisfied with the job Congress is doing. That’s far fewer than those who’ve tired of President Barack Obama, whose numbers — 50 percent disapprove; 45 percent approve — still continue to reflect a steady decline from a high of 53 percent approval in December. The poll asked voters a follow-up question: <blockquote>If there were a place on your ballot that allowed you to vote to defeat and replace every single member of Congress, including your own representative, would you do this, or not?</blockquote> And 57 percent said “yes.” That’s the highest number of dissatisfied respondents the poll has seen over the course of seven iterations since March of 2010. Of course, that’s not going to happen. Voters have demonstrated that they are often willing to break with personal ideology in order to return to Washington a local representative who’s amassed some clout that benefits their own districts, while simultaneously begrudging Congressmen with similar views who hail from other districts and other States. But Americans’ disgust with partisan gridlock in Congress is far and away the biggest reason people say they’re disappointed with Washington politics. Asked to rank eight reasons for their dissatisfaction in order from most to least important, 44 percent ranked Congressional ineffectiveness either first or second. By contrast, cuts to programs “that help the poor” were ranked among the top two reasons by only 20 percent. As a strange statistic shows, people may be fed up with Congress as a whole, but they still — at least in theory — would rather Congress take the lead in setting national policy than allow the President to do it. Of those surveyed, 48 percent said Congress should set the tone on shaping policies, while only 38 percent said Obama should continue to take point. And of those who prefer Congress over Obama, an overwhelming majority said they want the House Republican majority to lead the way, rather than the Democratic majority in the Senate. <a rel=”nofollow” href=”http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/personallibertycom.wordpress.com/141704/”><img alt=”” border=”0″ src=”http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/personallibertycom.wordpress.com/141704/” /></a> <img alt=”” border=”0″ src=”http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=personalliberty.com&blog=25823361&post=141704&subd=personallibertycom&ref=&feed=1″ width=”1″ height=”1″ />

]]>

</content:encoded>

<wfw:commentRss>

http://personalliberty.com/2013/07/26/poll-vote-congress-out-but-trust-congress-over-obama/feed/

</wfw:commentRss>

<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>

<media:thumbnail url=”http://personallibertycom.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/bums0725_image.jpg?w=115″/>

<media:content url=”http://personallibertycom.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/bums0725_image.jpg?w=115″ medium=”image”>

<media:title type=”html”>bums0725_image</media:title>

</media:content>

<media:content url=”http://2.gravatar.com/avatar/e156bdf1f80ae30c2e96807a35db8c95?s=96&d=http%3A%2F%2F2.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&r=G” medium=”image”>

<media:title type=”html”>benbullardpl</media:title>