Scalia Widely Misquoted as “We’re Not Stupid”


    Once exchange that received a lot of attention from Tuesday’s Supreme Court session was between Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr., Justice Antonin Scalia, and Justice Elena Kagan.  The transcript available at Politico records the exchange as follows:

6 JUSTICE KAGAN: And this is especially true,

7 isn’t it, General -­

8 GENERAL VERRILLI: — because that’s the

9 judgment Congress has made.

10 JUSTICE KAGAN: — Verrilli, because in this

11 context, the subsidizers eventually become the

12 subsidized?

13 GENERAL VERRILLI: Well, that was the point

14 I was trying to make, Justice Kagan, that you’re young

15 and healthy one day, but you don’t stay that way. And

16 the — the system works over time. And so I just don’t

17 think it’s a fair characterization of it. And it does

18 get back to, I think — a problem I think is important

19 to understand -­

20 JUSTICE SCALIA: We’re not stupid. They’re

21 going to buy insurance later. They’re young and — and

22 need the money now.

“We’re not stupid” appears to be a rather harsh come back from Scalia, and perhaps even defensive or petulant.  The problem is, that is not what Scalia said.  Carefully listening to the audio reveals that Scalia said “These people [the young and healthy] are not stupid.”   The Daily Caller, who has linked to the audio and originally repeated the same mistake (as evidenced by the URL of the Daily Caller link: “were-not-stupid/”,) has now corrected its transcript.  But a Google search of the past 24 hours (as of 1:35 PM Wednesday) returns 3,830 hits on “we’re not stupid” and only 150 on “people are not stupid“.)  Even Drudge as of late morning (see screenshot) still had “We’re not stupid…” linking to the Daily Caller story, although it had been removed as of this posting. This is a good example of how an urban legend can get started.  We’ll see how well the media does today in correcting themselves.

 

Also posted at:  Speak With Authority


Before You Vote This Week…


An appeal to my reasonable conservative friends:

If you are not reasonable and open-minded, don’t read any further. I’m not looking for “zots.” I’m looking for reasonable people who are serious about making the right choice. When I know I’ve chosen wisely, I feel at peace, without doubt in my mind, and start to get excited – like Chrissy Mathews, I get “that tingle.” How do you feel when you know you’ve made the right choice?

At this point, you’ve been following the primary race for months, and that means you are looking to make the right choice. Are you aware of how important making the right choice is in this primary process? I agree, and that’s why it is important to keep an open mind. That’s why you’ve read this far, so you might as well hear me out.

Obama has made it clear that he is pinning his reelection efforts on class warfare. So, think about whom you would want the GOP nominee to be if you were Obama, and you needed a target for class warfare? I agree – Mitt Romney. Understand that Obama uses Alinsky tactics, and Alinsky tactic 13 is “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” Simply put, it is much easier to attack an organization or an idea if you can ‘put a face on it’. If you can find a single individual who both represents your opponent, and who, given the right spin, can be portrayed as the face of evil, you can use this person as a proxy for your attacks on your adversary. What face would you put on the 1%? Mitt Romney.

You may think that Mitt Romney is a great guy, and a great example of success, and I agree with some of that (and certainly applaud his success), and I would add that you should have no doubt in your mind that this is exactly what Obama will do (stick a big, fat 1% on him), and you can imagine that he is licking his chops in anticipation of doing it. If Mitt Romney is the nominee, this is what the general election will look like. Click Here. No matter what he says or how well he says it, he will not be able to shake that label. How does that make you feel about Mitt? And it doesn’t help that he has a habit of making mistakes and saying the wrong thing. Click here. Even Romney booster John McCain no longer believes Romney can win. Click Here.

Besides the “1%er” card that will be played against Romney, the Democrats also have their old favorite: the race card. Mitt is a very committed member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, aka the Mormons, and until 1978, Mormon theology relegated blacks to a kind of second-class membership in the church. After considerable social and political pressure, the church’s “living prophet” declared a new “revelation” changing the previous position which had been held since the church’s inception. Already, many on the Left are raising a stink about this. We can be sure that if Mitt were the nominee, this ugly issue would only get uglier — much uglier. The Democrat-Media Complex will make sure of that.

Obama’s second trick is throwing “red meat” distractions to keep us from discussing the areas where he is most vulnerable, such as economic and foreign policy. The biggest distraction so far has been the contraception controversy. And Rick Santorum took the bait — big time. Rick Santorum is a great father with great moral values, but he is also a one trick pony. Social issues are important, but he just can’t stop talking about them, and that has gotten him in a ton of trouble. The issue isn’t that he talks a lot about social policy, the issue is that he just can’t change gears quickly enough to avoid the damage caused by Obama’s intentional deceptions and sleights-of-hand. Consider how many distractions Obama will throw out there if Rick is the nominee. We’ll be talking about birth control all the way through November. By the time Rick manages to shift the debate back to Obama’s weak points, it may be too late.

Rick also tends to make serious, and very public, mistakes. For example, he loses his cool very quickly. Click Here. Cringing? He also gets confused regularly – in this instance, he gives Obama credit for CREATING jobs, publicly, on CNN! Click here. Just imagine if he makes even ONE mistake like this in the months between the nomination and the general election. Understand the very real risk with Rick. How do you feel about that, given the stakes?

The issue of contraception is problematic for Santorum not only because the Left is skillfully and shamelessly using it to sidetrack discussion away from Obama’s staggering malfeasances in both foreign and domestic policy — but for another, more subtle but perhaps more important reason: The driving force behind Obama is the “Shadow Party” funded by George Soros, who has an obsession with population control. Soros and other Agenda 21 promoters believe that world population must be reduced by literally billions of people. Remember the Left’s over-the-top, hysterical, screaming reaction to the VP nomination of Sarah Palin? Her being the mother of five children, one of whom has Down’s Syndrome — a genetic disorder to which many leftists believe abortion is the only appropriate response — was a huge component in that. It may not have been openly admitted in the “mainstream” media, but Left-wing blogs were full of unimaginably cruel, sick attacks on little Trig Palin and the mother who bore him. Rick Santorum, the father of seven children, one of whom has Trisomy-18, has the Left’s bull’s-eye on his back.

That leaves Newt.

Newt is a flawed man, but recognize that his flaws are less subject to substantive attack. For example, Freddie and Fannie? It may be a big deal in the Republican primary, but Democrats do NOT want to go there! Yes, he’s had multiple marriages, but how many times has Rush been married? Do you still listen to Rush, at least here and there? And, of course, Democrats cannot launch credible attacks on the subject of adultery.

Nevertheless, we know that the Left will demonize Newt just as viciously as they would Romney or Santorum — because, after all, that’s what the Left DOES. A key difference, however, is that Newt fights back. Like the late, great Andrew Breitbart, Newt is a “happy warrior” who both understands the Left, and loves taking them on. Plus, like Breitbart, Newt understands that Big Media is every bit as much our opponent as is the Democratic Party. He is smart, articulate and confident enough to be able to answer their attacks on the spot, without hemming or hawing. People in media continually try to nail Newt with their “gotcha” questions — but they never succeed, do they?

Newt realizes, in a way few others do, that America’s very survival is threatened not only by terrorism and rogue states outside our borders, but by two major enemies within: communism and radical Islam. Yet, no other candidate besides Newt even mentions Saul Alinsky, Bill Ayers and George Soros. Newt is the only one who seems to recognize — or at least, will publicly say — that Obama is not a misguided incompetent with well-meaning intentions, but rather a Marxist radical who believes America is more evil than good, and who is committed to destroying the freedoms that have made America great.

As for radical Islam, while Rick Santorum recognizes the threat from Iran, and is very knowledgeable on national security matters, only Newt will tell you about the giant strides that sharia (Islamic law) has already made right here in the U.S., thanks to CAIR, ISNA, ICNA, MAS, MSA and the whole alphabet soup of Muslim Brotherhood-spawned groups that, despite proven connections to Hamas and other terror groups, are presented as legitimate “moderates” in our media and have infiltrated our government at high levels, including within the Department of Homeland Security.

We look around and see a perfect storm of economic collapse, national-security threats and inflamed social passions converging on us. America is — whether or not we yet realize it — in as much danger now as Britain was in the spring of 1940. Almost too late, the British people finally recognized that Winston Churchill — whom they’d previously despised as “impulsive” and “arrogant,” and castigated for his “poor judgment” and “grandiose ideas” — was actually the best man, perhaps the only man, who could lead them through the crisis. I’m not saying Newt is Churchill — but having studied Churchill, I am struck by the remarkable parallels between the two. Just as Churchill saw who Hitler really was long before most of his countrymen woke up, Newt understands the dangers to America that many people have so far been unable or unwilling to see. Newt will help open their eyes — because, like Churchill, Newt has a gift for explaining things in ways people can understand. Just as importantly, Newt has the bulldog tenacity and unabashed can-do attitude that the nation needs in its leader if we are to make it through the tough times ahead. As we saw so clearly during the South Carolina debate — when standing ovations kept erupting as Newt spoke — Newt has, as Churchill did, the power to inspire.

Before I close, I urge you to do one thing, and one thing only… please watch this video – click here. You’ve read this far, so another minute or two won’t kill you. Click here. Now, how do you feel about this man going up against Barack Obama?

As Thomas Sowell has said, “This is not just another election.” This is about the survival of our Constitutional Republic. That is why Sowell, as well as Gov. Rick Perry, former Sen. Fred Thompson, former Congressman J.C. Watts, Herman Cain and Michael Reagan, among many others, have endorsed Newt Gingrich to be our next President. He’s not perfect — but neither was Winston Churchill. Newt Gingrich, like the Prime Minister during the Battle of Britain, is the right man at the right time.


Politico proves Gingrich’s point for him on Obama and the Born Alive Infant Protection Act.


Quite handily, in fact.

OK, if you followed the debate in Arizona last night then you got to see Newt Gingrich consume a moderator’s liver for what may be the last time. The topic? Double standards in the media, particularly when it comes to ‘extremist’ positions. The transcript is as follows:

GINGRICH: But I just want to point out, you did not once in the 2008 campaign, not once did anybody in the elite media ask why Barack Obama voted in favor of legalizing infanticide. OK? So let’s be clear here.

(APPLAUSE)

GINGRICH: If we’re going to have a debate about who the extremist is on these issues, it is President Obama who, as a state senator, voted to protect doctors who killed babies who survived the abortion. It is not the Republicans.

Read More →


Politico proves Gingrich’s point for him on Obama and the Born Alive Infant Protection Act.


OK, if you followed the debate in Arizona last night then you got to see Newt Gingrich consume a moderator’s liver for what may be the last time. The topic? Double standards in the media, particularly when it comes to ‘extremist’ positions. The transcript is as follows:

GINGRICH: But I just want to point out, you did not once in the 2008 campaign, not once did anybody in the elite media ask why Barack Obama voted in favor of legalizing infanticide. OK? So let’s be clear here.

(APPLAUSE)

GINGRICH: If we’re going to have a debate about who the extremist is on these issues, it is President Obama who, as a state senator, voted to protect doctors who killed babies who survived the abortion. It is not the Republicans.

Read More →


“Would Love to See You and Me . . . Hanging on a Tree”


These are the words of a progressive, Congressional Black Caucus member, a Democrat by the name of Andre Carson, Indiana Representative.  Carson was making these remarks at a Congressional Black Caucus event in Miami.  This was an event sponsored by the CBC and part of a tour to several cities.  Carson was not speaking for himself, but as a member of the CBC.  Here are his words in their entirety.

““I’m saying right now, under (CBC) Chairman Emanuel Cleaver’s leadership, we have seen change in Congress … but the tea party is stopping that change,” Carson said at the event, according to the video. “And this is beyond symbolic change. This is the effort that we’re seeing, of Jim Crow.”

“Some of these folks in Congress right now would love to see us as second-class citizens,” Carson continued. “Some of them in Congress right now with this tea party movement would love to see you and me — I’m sorry, Tamron — hanging on a tree.” Washington Post, Felicia Sonmez, ‘Rep. Carson: Tea party wants to see African Americans ‘hanging on a tree’ August 30, 2011.

Coupled with Rep. Maxine Waters’ comments that the Tea Party can go to hell, this packs a powerful, and dangerous, punch.  With House Democrats calling Tea Party movement members terrorists and hostage takers, this marks a particularly dire moment in our political civil history.

Tamron Hall of MSNBC was moderating this little event back in August 22nd or 23rd according to the CBC website.  The Party-run media squelched Carson’s outburst for a week until it made its way onto Glenn Beck’s The Blaze.  Instead of reporting this kind of vile accusation, MSNBC decided to hide it, but like all bad pennies it turned up.

Local media has avoided any publication about this scandal, a sitting U.S. congressman accusing a group of his citizens of wanting to lynch people.  What’s more, they don’t even seem slightly interested in our own progressive CBC member’s opinion as to the comments.  Repeatedly, the Star Tribune and KSTP have been emailed, tweeted, called and asked to pursue the story.  They have refused to do so.  Rep. Keith Ellison has also been contacted but he refuses to comment.

This is an important discussion that must be had.  We cannot have faith in a government that ignores or excuses its members from making these kinds of claims.  Heated rhetoric is one thing, but calling a large number of your citizens vigilante, racist Klansmen is another story.  Carson’s words should be condemned and firmly rejected.  Our civil discourse will not recover until such a time as actual civility happen.  When people have disagreement about their government, these arguments should be made honestly and sincerely.  They should not use such devices as blanket accusations of violence against their adversaries.

This is wrong.  The so-called journalists in this state should be ashamed.

Crossposted at Looktruenorth.com


It’s not all about “him” and needs to stop being that way.


Hi:

It’s the people surrounding and those owning our Dictator In Training Pants who are doing some real damage, some of it possibly irreversible for decades.

They’re the one’s doing the deeds under the cover of semi-anonymous, non-transparent offices and he’s on camera with his binkey flanking him at all turns (TOTUS), most of the time in a total campaign mode.

They’re the one’s regulating, nudging and sometimes shoving the anti-freedom insanity, he’s out there apologizing for everything that’s amazing and good about America, her freedom and people…. while the media spins it all to seem so benign and flowery.

They’re the one’s actively operating as if The Constitution doesn’t exist, while he’s off on a date-night distraction and winning an award for doing nothing.

They’re the one’s constantly demanding complete subjugation of an already complicit and compliant media.  He puts on the face of ‘hey, I believe in the 1st Amendment’.

Congress is becoming increasingly irrelevant, forcibly being side-stepped by regulations and administration officials uncaring about their boundaries while he’s performing the slight-of-hand going off on a totally different topic, creating a new item of concern.

Overwhelm the system.

Make the proper and just the immoral and evil.

What’s your tipping point ?

Kenny Solomon
Senior Expediter
The 72 Virgins Club Travel Agency
Offices throughout the 57 states of America.