Rightwing Human Rights supporters come to the defense of Amnesty International's Gita Sahgal

Amnesty Board member suspended for opposing the Taliban

by James Fryar, Australia

Amnesty International sounded like a great idea when I first heard of it. Their ideal of supporting he release and rights of political prisoners worldwide sounded like a really worthy cause way back. It still would be but unfortunately Amnesty turned out to be more driven by leftist politics and grandstanding towards that end, rather than being a crusading group determined to stand up to oppression regardless of who was carrying it out, or their ideology.

It became blindingly obvious that the organization was agenda driven when despite the horrors being committed by the communist block and its allies, it preferred to look for its villains in the West especially the US. I guess if you are going to take on governments, its safer to pick those with a strong ideal of due process.

Now, the head of Amnesty International unit for Women's Rights, Gita Sahgal, has been suspended by the group, for opposing the alliance of the group with a top Taliban supporter in the UK Moazzam Begg. Begg is the “jihadi” group, Cageprisoners based on supporting the Guantanamo prisoners, of whom he was a member until 2005 after being picked up in Pakistan in the wake of the Afghan invasion.

Amnesty turns a blind eye to brutality of the Taliban

Sahgal in an interview with NPR commented:

[Begg supports] an international caliphate, yes, and they believe in systematic discrimination. Both gender discrimination, discrimination against religious minorities, they're anti-Semitic. You know, on various counts, they would not be considered good partners for human rights organization...

I had a flourishing career. I love my job. But I don't feel safe at Amnesty International when it has thrown a protective cover around Moazzam Begg.

Treatment of women in Islamic countries varies from place to place, however the Taliban regime were deplorable and probably one of the worst.

Ms. Sahgal states that only accepted her job at AI after insisting to Widney Brown, senior director of International Law and Policy at Amnesty, that she be allowed to address their alliance with Begg and his group. It would be difficult for any serious supporter of women’s rights to accept an alliance with such a misogynistic group as the Taliban or their supporters.

Her biggest supporters are now on the libertarian and conservative Right: The Left has abandoned her

It is interesting to observe that the only real support she is receiving at present seems to be coming from human rights advocates on the right such as Libertarian Republicans in the U.S., right blogger Bob Brockley of south London who opposes the anti semites and Stalinists of the UK, and conservative columnist Mona Charen.

The left over recent years have increasingly allied themselves with radical Islam, possibly because as collectivists they share a hatred of such Western values as liberty, individualism, free market capitalism. They are also swayed by the old adage, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” after all anyone who burns George Bush (or Tony Blair) in effigy must, in their opinion, share their values.

Editor's Note - James Fryar is an oil field worker living in south central Australia. He's a member of the Australian Libertarian Society. His blog is Real World Libertarian.

Pelosi says she now shares Tea Party "common values": Her GOP opponent John Dennis having an impact?

"The voices of the free market are going to stand up and fight for what it takes to preserve what this Republic is all about." -- John Dennis, Republican candidate for Congress, California CD 5

From Eric Dondero:

John Dennis is the the Republican nominee for US Congress against Nancy Pelosi. In over two decades in Congress, Pelosi has not yet faced a serious challenger. But in an increasingly favorable GOP year, even Pelosi's seat is starting to look a little soft for the Democrats.

So far, Dennis has been running a largely grass-roots oriented "stealth" campaign. But his extensive precinct walking, and door knocking maybe be eginning to have an impact.

Incredibly, over the weekend this news broke, from ABC News (via Memeo):

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she has much in common with the Tea Party. The speaker now says she shares views with movement she dismissed last summer as being “Astroturf” -- her suggestion that the grassroots of the Tea Party were a creation of the Republican Party.

In a “This Week” interview with ABC’s Elizabeth Vargas, Pelosi said, “We share some of the views of the Tea Partiers in terms of the role of special interest in Washington, D.C., as -- it just has to stop. And that's why I've fought the special interest, whether it's on energy, whether it's on health insurance, whether it's on pharmaceuticals and the rest.”

In a recent interview with Roger Hedgecok, Dennis said:

When we first started this I have to admit my goals and objectives were more modest than victory in a conventional sense. But back in December we all starting talking in the campaign, ya know, maybe we can do this, maybe we can pull this off. And then, then Scott Brown happened, and um, everything's changed since then.

We have a forumula as to what it's gonna take to defeat Nancy Pelosi, and we're gonna try to execute it.

From his website; Born in Jersey City, the son of a longshoreman, graduate of Fordham Univ. He is the founder of the San Francisco chapter of the Republican Liberty Caucus and currently the head of the Campaign for Liberty San Francisco.

John is a board member of the Republican Liberty Caucus California, has served as an alternate on the San Francisco Republican Central Committee and is a member of the National Rifle Association.

JohnDennis2010.com

Editor's Comment - John Dennis does not share many of the foreign policy objectives of this website, nor of the Pro-Defense Libertarian movement on the whole. (We agree with him 100% on domestic matters!) However, Ms. Pelosi supports pro-defense even less. Given that this is San Francisco, we're willing to put our foreign policy differences aside and fully support Dennis for Congress!

Republican Liberty Caucus endorses Jessica Puente-Bradshaw for Congress - Texas CD 27

From Eric Dondero:

The day before Primary Day here in Texas. Over the weekend, the TX Republican Liberty Caucus released their list of endorsed candidates. Many standard names of Liberty-supporting Republicans are on the list. (See list at RLC.org). But a last minute addition was made: Jessica Puente-Bradshaw. She is running for the Solomon Ortiz seat, on the Texas Gulf Coast, from Corpus Christi to Brownsville. (District immediately south of Ron Paul's CD-14).

Ms. Puente-Bradshaw is of course, a favorite of this web site. (We first covered her weeks ago here at LR.) She is a "Tea Party gal." She can be seen in these two photos at the Tea Party protest in Brownsville, (right on the Mexican border), back in July.

A sampling of her top stances:

* Free Enterprise: I believe the government has interfered enough in our economy. From the printing of money, mortgage crisis, and exploding deficit, the Obama administration will not fix a struggling economy with more and more debt. Our country's economy IS resilient and can come back to better than expected levels. Congress, get out of the way and let free markets take the lead.

* Border Security: we have been walking a fine line between the need for border control and the idea of racism. Enough! I PLEDGE to work to make REAL immigration reform. I will not allow the left guilt our country into lax border security that puts us all in danger. As a Hispanic woman who was raised in the border town of Brownsville, I have first hand knowledge of the importance of border safety. It is not about racism, it is about safety!

* Health Care: Controlling 16% of an economy by the federal government, and closed door sessions are a clear indication that the Health Care bill is nothing more than a nefarious desire by an administration to control the people. I pledge that while in congress, I will work with other conservative legislators to REPEAL, REPEAL and REPEAL!

Of particular note, immediately upon learning of the endorsement Jessica posted the RLC-backing announcement on the home page of her campaign website.

She faces two other opponents tomorrow.

All the best Jessica, y mucha suerte! from your friends in the Libertarian Republican movement.

TexansforJessica.com

NeoNazi skinheads join Muslim march on Paris against French Jews

On the Boulevard in front of the world famous Louvre'

From Eric Dondero:

Jesse Petrilla an associate of the United American Committee, filmed this while on a trip to Paris in mid-January.

3 jackbooted NeoNazi skinheads are clearly visible marching in front of the rally. A girl in a black coat joins them for a brief instant.

Hezbollah flags are seen throughout the rally. A banner is unfurled in support of Jihadists fighting against the Iraqi government. Towards the end of the video a Jewish Star of David flag is burned by the demonstrators.

Demonstrators are chanting "Khaibar Khaibar ya yahud, jaish Muhammed sa-ya'ud" translated from Arabic meaning genocide for the Jews, "slaughter and beheadings."

Ayn Randian blogger Pamela Geller endorses Chuck DeVore for US Senate in California GOP primary

From Eric Dondero:

Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs, a contributor to NewsMax and frequent guest on Fox News, has come out for libertarian-conservative Republican Chuck DeVore in the California primary for US Senate; the Barbara Boxer seat. Republicans Carly Fiorna and former Rep. Tom Campbell are also in the race. Campbell has come under fire recently for having once accepted a $500 contribution from a jailed Islamic Jihadist.

Wrote Geller in a blog post two days ago:

Forgive me for not talking up Chuck DeVore earlier. I have been watching him for awhile and I love him. He is going against that car alarm of a politician, Barbara Boxer, and RINO Carla Fiorina.

He is a tea party favorite and an Atlas favorite as well.

Geller was particularly impressed with Assemblyman DeVore's strong criticisms of Muslim students at UC-Irvine who recently tried to block a speech on campus by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren. 11 Members of the Muslim Student Union were arrested. DeVore also criticized the group of supporting the terrorist organization Hamas, and actively fundraising for the organization.

Geller's previous endorsements include her longtime friend and ally Lt. Col. Allen West, an economic libertarian and staunch critic of radical Islam, running for Congress in Florida. DeVore, is also a Military Veteran, officer in the Army Reserves.

In the legislature DeVore has been a champion tax fighter and budget cutter, as well as a fierce opponent of nanny-state laws such as smoking bans and bans on trans fats.

Geert Wilders party PVV expected to make big gains in local elections

Campaigns for Dutch culture and against illegal immigration from the Middle East

The Hague is the second largest city in all of the Netherlands. The official royal home of the Dutch Queen, the city also serves as both the seat of the Dutch government and the provincal capitol. Additionally, The Hague serves as the judicial capitol for the United Nations.

The city population is 480,000. The metro area includes nearly 1.1 million inhabitants.

On March 3, the Dutch libertarian party (PVV - Party For Freedom) could become the second largest party in the municipality.

The Dutch News, Feb. 27:

The PVV is tipped to emerge as the biggest party in Almere and second biggest in the Hague.

Wilders was campaigning last week in Almere emphasizing pride in distinctly Dutch culture and strong opposition to Muslim women wearing the burqa in government buildings and at government-subsidized events.

Continuing:

'Almere must become the safest city in the Netherlands,' he said. 'There will be an end to subsidies for Turkish macramé and Arabic finger painting. Not just the Netherlands but all of Europe will look to Almere.'

Almere is a planned city in the central Netherlands with 184,000 residents. Both The Hague and Almere have been plagued by an influx of illegal immigration in recent years from Turkey and the Middle East.

For Massachusetts, awaiting a decision by Bob Hedlund, but libertarian-conservative Jeff Perry jumps in

The southern Massachusetts Congressional seat of Democrat Rep. William Delahunt has been in the news, with yet another Kennedy making noises of a run - Robert Kennedy III, grandson of RFK - on the Democrat side. (AP article)

Longtime Libertarian Republican Bob Hedlund, is still weighing a run for the Congressional seat of the embattled representative.

From the Boston Herald, Feb. 3:

Hedlund, an 18-year senator and part-time radio host, said internal polls done by his campaign show him “within striking distance” of beating Delahunt in a head-to-head race. But the polling also shows a bruising battle in a three-way GOP primary against Perry (R-Sandwich) and former state Treasurer Joseph Malone, who is also weighing a run...

Meanwhile, Hedlund's friend and political ally in the Legislature has decided to jump in. Upon announcing State Rep. Jeffrey Perry said:

"They need someone who will stand up for the things they believe in and fight for action on issues like real health care reform without mandates, better job opportunities, checks on illegal immigration, national security, lower taxes and less national debt, and an end to the insider and special-interest dealing that permeates Capitol Hill. People across the South Shore, Cape Cod & the Islands are tired and frustrated with what they see as a system in Washington that’s broken and that’s incapable of progress on issues that matter to them. I want to be someone who changes that."

Perry is viewed as one of the two most conservative members of the Massachusetts Legislature. He's on record in favor of denying illegal immigrants state benefits that "cost Massachusetts legal residents millions of dollars every year."

JeffPerryforCongress.com

New Jersey: One State where "Change" really is making a difference

by Paul Jacob

Seems the recent gubernatorial election made a difference in New Jersey. There’s change there. Also hope.

Last November, running on a platform of fiscal sanity, Republican challenger Chris Christie defeated the Democratic Governor Jon Corzine. And it seems that, unlike a certain U.S. president, Christie has every intention of following through.

In early February, Christie told lawmakers that the state’s finances remain a mess and that the budget passed eight months ago is full of “all of the same worn out tricks of the trade” that have driven New Jersey to the edge of bankruptcy.

He said that the legacy of “irresponsible budgeting of the past, coupled with failed tax policies which lie like a heavy, wet blanket suffocating tax revenues and job growth” require extraordinary steps to bring the budget back into balance.

So on his own initiative, Christie is freezing spending across an array of programs. For example, he is cutting the subsidy to New Jersey Transit and urging managers of public transportation to “improve efficiency . . . revisit its rich union contracts,” be more fiscally responsible and efficient. He’s also targeting bloated government pensions and education funding.

Can Governor Christie complete the pivot to fiscal common sense despite the hurricane of opposition he faces? Time will tell. But it would be hard to imagine a better start.

Editor's Note - Paul Jacob is the former National Director for the Libertarian Party, and former longtime President of US Term Limits. His blog is ThisisCommonSense.

Muslim violence spreading throughtout Europe, now even entering U.S.

United Kingdom, France, German, Denmark, Sweden

New video chronicles:

Police in retreat in face of Muslim mauraders on the streets of London.

Riots in Paris. Cars being set a blaze.

Protests against Jews and Israel in Copenhagen.

At two minutes in, Muslim rioters giving the Nazi salute.

Libertarian condemnation of Muslims burning Christian Churches across Africa

by Clifford F. Thies

The systematic attack on Christians around the world is mostly under the mainstream media's radar screen. The mainstream media goes crazy over church burnings when they perceive it's white on black violence, and this is a good thing. Hate, in all of its expressions, is to be surpressed through the legitimate use of force by the state.

But, what about Muslim on Christian violence, Muslim on women violence, and Muslim on gay violence?

Reports on the increasing violence in Nigeria are just starting to come in. From The Christian Post, Feb. 27:

The Redeemed Christian Church of God building in Tudun Wada was partly burnt on Jan. 25, and Christian Faith Bible church and the Living Faith Foundation Chapel, both in Gusau, were partly burnt in attacks on Jan. 20 and 24 respectively. Zamfara state, one of the predominantly Muslim states in northern Nigeria, was the first in the country to implement Islamic law (sharia).

The association alleged that those who attacked the Zamfara churches were emboldened because officials made no serious move to arrest those who carried out the Jos attacks. Two pastors and 46 other Christians were killed in the outbreak of violence in Jos on Jan. 17, triggered when Muslim youths attacked a Catholic church; 10 church buildings were burned, and police estimated more than 300 lives were lost in the clash.

Concerning these things, are we supposed to be in denial?

Here's what is going on: The radicals within the Muslim community are not being policed by their co-religionists. The "silent majority" within the Muslim community is still ambivalent about ratting out their fellow Muslims to non-Muslims. The critical uncertainty is if and when the current "silent majority" within the Muslim community will actually do something about the radicals, more than merely blather how Islam is a peaceful religion, as though Christianity being a peaceful religion means we didn't have to actually do something about the KKK. If they do, then this is not "a conflict of civilizations," but merely another police matter, albeit on a global level, as we will always have to deal with violent elements within our midst. If they do not, they we will have to see how many of them we can convert.

We cannot have a billion people within an open, global society, who condone and harbor, if not out-rightly support violence against peaceful, law-abiding persons. There are indications that increasing numbers of Muslims are getting with the program, that all peaceful and law-abiding people must stand together against all who are violent. Mainly, this is because of Arab-Persian animosity that predates Islam, scaring the bejesus out of the Arabs.

We are working in both overt and covert operations with Saudi, Iraqi, Jordanian and Gulf State Arabs to counter the growing threat posed by Iran which has joined with Al Qaida and spontaneously-arising radical Islam. The radical Muslims in Northern, Western and Eastern Africa, most notably in Nigeria and Darfur, are something of a side-show to what is going on in western and central Asia. I suspect that, at some point, when we are no longer concerned about their Arab and Chinese protectors, we will just crush the radical Muslims in Africa like so many cockroaches.

Photos of church burning in Kenya, 2008, by Muslim extremists connected with current Prime Minister Raila Odinga, and a church burning by Muslim radicals in Pakistan.

More evidence of Saddam's atrocities: Mass graves of Kurdish children found

It is estimated that more than 800,000 Kurds were murdered under Saddam Hussein's regime. Many of them were gassed during the Iran/Iraq war during the 1980s. Now, the Kurdish provincal government has located three mass graves of genocidal victims.

The Hawler Tribune, (Iraqi Kurdistan) Feb. 27:

Three mass graves were discovered in the sub district of Dubiz in Kirkuk. Announced the Kurdish daily news paper ASO on Sunday, Feb.21st. These graves are to be excavated by the Ministry of Anfaled and Martyrs of Kurdistan regional government in a near future.

“The graves are holding remnants of children from both Chamchamal and Garmyan areas”. Sayd Fazil Amin the head of KRG martyrs office in Kirkuk told ASO, these kids were taken into captivity during 1988 Anfal campaign against the Kurds.

Anfal genocide was a campaign against the Kurds in 1980s. It was aimed at the elimination of the Kurds in Iraq, by destroying and burning Kurdish villages down. Killing and burying alive the people of these villages. It costed over 200,000 lives of innocent Kurds.

Vote on Armenian Genocide before Congress: Muslim Rep. Keith Ellison says he's undecided

The US House will vote on a resolution in committee on March 4 recognizing World War I-era killings of Christian Armenians by Muslim Turks as "genocide," according to sources on Capitol Hill.

Pamela Geller from the libertarian/human rights blog Atlas Shrugs gives some background, "Muslim Congressman Ellison won't call Armenian Genocide" Feb. 26:

It was the genocide that preceded the Holocaust. The Mufti of Jerusalem practiced genocide first in the Armenian genocide -- the systematic genocide of the Armenian population under the Islamic Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. The use of massacres and deportations involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees led to a total number of Armenian deaths of one-and-a-half to two million. Mufti Amin Al-Husseini swore allegiance to the Ottoman Empire during the Armenian genocide [i] . [ii] He was an officer stationed in Smyrna and participates first-hand in the Armenian genocide. One and a half million Christians were slaughtered under the sword of Islamic Jihad by the Ottoman Army. Allegiance to Ottoman Empire and Islamic world take-over was echoed by Osama Bin Laden in his post-September 11 declaration. Osama Bin Laden makes direct reference to the end of Ottoman Empire and thus proclaims his allegiance to its notion of Islamic dominion.

Now from the (Turkish) Hurayet, Feb. 19:

A resolution calling for U.S. recognition of World War I-era killings of Armenians as “genocide” will likely be endorsed in an early March vote in a U.S. congressional committee, according to analysis of domestic politics.

The non-binding resolution would call on President Barack Obama to ensure that U.S. policy formally refers to the Armenian killings as “genocide” and to use that term when he delivers his annual message on the issue in April – something Obama avoided doing last year...

This time the measure is expected to pass. In 2007, it failed due to opposition from some Republican concerned with relations with then Iraq War ally Turkey.

Continuing:

amid the political fight between the Democratic Obama administration and the Republicans, some Republicans on the committee might be tempted to vote for the “genocide” measure.

Ironically, Rep. John Murtha's death seems to have given the Armenian lobby renewed optimisim. Democrat Murtha was the leading proponent in Congress for Turkey, and against the resolution.

There's some controversy over how the only Congressman Keith Ellison of Minnesota will vote. He is the only Muslim in Congress. He happens to sit on the House Foreign Relations Committee. He recently said, "I am still developing my position..."

Gita Sahgal affair: Utter Hypocrisy of Amnesty International and Liberal Human Rights activists exposed

by Eric Dondero

Throughout the Cold War, 1970s, '80s, the Right accused Amnesty International of being little more than a front group for leftwing causes. Their reluctance to criticize human rights abuses by Communist regimes, from Angola to Nicaraugua to Cambodia to the former Soviet Union, was legendary.

Now it appears AI has taken on a new ally on the Left - Islamo-Fascism.

News now breaking from across the Atlantic that worldwide human rights activist Gita Sahgal has been "suspended" from the Amnesty International governing board. Her crime? Criticizing AI's alliance with Islamic Terrorist sypmathizer and Taliban defender Moazzam Begg.

The Times On-line reported:

In an email sent to Amnesty’s top bosses, she suggests the charity has mistakenly allied itself with Begg and his “jihadi” group, Cageprisoners, out of fear of being branded racist and Islamophobic.

DNAIndia columnist Antara Dev Sin adds further details:

Sahgal has been protesting within the organisation for some time, in vain. Things may have come to a head last month, when Begg was part of Amnesty’s delegation that met British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, demanding that Guantanamo be shut down.

A week later she went public in an interview with the London Times.

From the UK Guardian Feb. 9:

Within hours of the article appearing she was suspended from her job by Amnesty as Gita says in her statement, "trying to do my job and staying faithful to Amnesty's mission to protect and defend human rights universally and impartially".

Michael Weiss in the Wall Street Journal adds this maddening detail to the story, Feb. 26:

Especially galling for Ms. Sahgal is the fact that she only accepted her job after insisting to Widney Brown, senior director of International Law and Policy at Amnesty, that she be allowed to address the Begg alliance.

"I told her, 'If you don't give me the power to clean up this Begg situation, I won't take on the gender affairs assignment. Widney encouraged me to write a memo on it and even came past my office late one night while I was writing to discuss it. There was no internal resistance against this. So I was promoted with full support. Then, when the Sunday Times story broke, everything I uncovered was deemed 'innuendo.'"

Now, Amnesty International has been caught engaged in an efffort of scrubbing their website of comments in support of Sahgal. Back to the UK Guardian:

for some hours yesterday, negative posts on Amnesty's website were being filtered out.

Few Liberals willing to defend Sahgal

What's been the reaction so far, from the liberal human rights community? Almost universal silence.

Noted author and free speech advocate Salman Rushdie has been virtualy the only exception. He has since come to her defense issuing this statement:

"Amnesty International has done its reputation incalculable damage by allying itself with Moazzam Begg and his group Cageprisoners, and holding them up as human rights advocates. It looks very much as if Amnesty's leadership is suffering from a kind of moral bankruptcy, and has lost the ability to distinguish right from wrong. It has greatly compounded its error by suspending the redoubtable Gita Sahgal for the crime of going public with her concerns. Gita Sahgal is a woman of immense integrity and distinction and I am personally grateful to her for the courageous stands she made at the time of the Khomeini fatwa against The Satanic Verses, as a leading member of the groups Southall Black Sisters and Women Against Fundamentalism. It is people like Gita Sahgal who are the true voices of the human rights movement; Amnesty and Begg have revealed, by their statements and actions, that they deserve our contempt."

Christopher Hitchens has strongly denounced Amnesty:

It’s now incumbent on any member who takes the original charter seriously to withdraw funding until Begg is cut loose to run his own beautiful organization and until Sahgal has been reinstated.

But besides Hitchens and Rushdie there has been little if any comment by the big players on the International Left, and nothing but deafening silence by American Liberals.

Besides the two quixotic writers, the only ones so far coming to Sahgal's defense are Human Rights advocates on the Right.

The Right consistently Pro-Human Rights

South London blogger Bob Brockley, who regularly rants against Jew-haters and Stalinists in the UK wrote:

Defend Gita Sahgal!

A courageous feminist sacked for blowing the whistle on Amnesty's relationship with the Moazzam Begg's Islamist front...

In the US, conservative columnist Mona Charen has written in World, "Rights group left its own out in cold":

Amnesty International has been a handmaiden of the left for as long as I can remember. Founded in 1961 to support prisoners of conscience, it has managed since then to ignore the most brutal regimes and to aim its fire at the West and particularly at the United States. This week, Amnesty has come in for some (much overdue) criticism — but not nearly so much as it deserves.

Amnesty has a great many celebrity supporters, particularly in Hollywood, and in the music industry. They include the likes of Bono, Sinead O'Connor, Al Pacino, Bruce Springsteen, Chevy Chase, Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguillera, Joaquin Phoenix, Kate Bush, Michael Stipe, Nicolas Cage, John Cleese, Sting, and Yoko Ono.

To date, not a single one of them has issued any statements in support of Gita Sahgal.

Like another Euro-liberal turned libertarian human rights advocate Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Sahgal may soon find that her real friends and allies both in the UK and USA, are on the libertarian and conservative Right.

Taliban's top spokesman in UK Moazzam Begg, supported by Amnesty International

Human Rights defender suspended by Amnesty for opposing Terrorist's involvement with group

Gita Sahgal, head of Amnesty International unit for Women's Rights, has been suspended by the group, for opposing the alliance of the group with a top Taliban supporter in the UK Moazzam Begg (photo - right).

From the London Times Online, "Amnesty International damaged by Taliban link" Feb. 7:

Gita Sahgal, head of the gender unit at Amnesty’s international secretariat, believes that collaborating with Moazzam Begg, a former British inmate at Guantanamo Bay, “fundamentally damages” the organisation’s reputation.

In an email sent to Amnesty’s top bosses, she suggests the charity has mistakenly allied itself with Begg and his “jihadi” group, Cageprisoners, out of fear of being branded racist and Islamophobic.

Sahgal describes Begg as “Britain’s most famous supporter of the Taliban”. He has championed the rights of jailed Al-Qaeda members and hate preachers, including Anwar al-Awlaki, the alleged spiritual mentor of the Christmas Day Detroit plane bomber.

Sahgal went public with her disagreements three weeks ago, saying to The Times:

"I believe the campaign fundamentally damages Amnesty International’s integrity and, more importantly, constitutes a threat to human rights. To be appearing on platforms with Britain’s most famous supporter of the Taliban, whom we treat as a human rights defender, is a gross error of judgment."

Now Michael Weiss of the Wall Street Journal reports "Amnesty and the Taliban" Feb. 26:

Now she's suspended from her job and in need of an attorney willing to confront a venerable nongovernmental organization...

What happened? Ms. Sahgal tried to get her Amnesty colleagues to cease their partnership with Moazzam Begg...

Weiss further notes:

The Taliban, Mr. Begg insists in his book, were "better than anything Afghanistan has had in the past twenty-five years." Elsewhere he has cited and sold the works of the "charismatic scholar" Sheikh Abdullah Azzam, erstwhile mentor to Osama bin Laden.

Muslim attacks on Christians: Areas of Northern Africa starting to look like Nazi Kristallnacht

Burnings of Christian Churches mirrors 1930s burnings of Jewish Synagogues in Germany

On February 21, in a northern Nigeria town, a traffic incident not involving Christians, led to a mob attack on Christian churches and Christian-owned shops.

From the blog Islam Movements - Obama (911 - Never Forget), "Nigeria Falling to Muslims: 8 more Churches burned" Feb. 23:

Washington, D.C. (February 23, 2010)–International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that on February 21 a Muslim mob burned down several Christian shops and eight churches in Kazaure, northern Nigeria.

Soon after, a Muslim mob attempted to attack the police station but was chased away by the police. Enraged, the mob turned their attention instead on one of this region’s most vulnerable targets-Christian churches and shops. The mob burned down the following churches: Deeper Life Bible Church, Catholic Church, Apostolic Church, ECWA Church, Redeem Christian Church, Anglican Church, Word of Faith, and Assemblies of God Church all in the city of Kazaure.

Early stages of ethnic cleansing

The Muslim mob used the trafic incident as an excuse to rage against the Christian establishments. They have been trying to remove Christians from northern Nigerian cities and towns.

According to the ICC:

Most of the residents of Kazaure are Muslims. The city is located in the northern Nigerian state of Jigawa. Christian minorities in northern Nigeria regularly face discrimination and violence by the Muslim majority.

As of late similar attacks on Christians by Muslim mobs have been reported in southern Somalia, and throughout Kenya, including the large cities such as the capitol Mombassa. In southern Egypt, Christian Coptics have been persecuted including a spree of church burnings in 2006.

Increasing wussification of the US Military under Obama

US Military in Afghanistan being kept from being True Warriors

Recent Fox News report:

No more rough language

No harsh treatment of detainees even if they tried to blow up US troops or fired on US forces

No firing on the enemy unless approved by higher-ups

David Harmer, a "Jeff Flake Republican" for Congress - California

GUEST REPORT

by John Hickey

California Congressional District 11 will be a hotly contested battleground come November 2, 2010. Currently held by Democrat Jerry McNerny, but evenly split in registration, Republican David Harmer, the current favorite to win the Republican nomination, presents a formidable challenge to the incumbent, a man who votes 98% of the time with Nancy Pelosi.

Invoking a Reagan Era spirit of optimism, David Harmer, kicked off his campaign on February 24, 2010, at a packed breakfast event held in San Ramon, California.

Calling the upcoming November election, "the most consequential election in thirty years," Mr. Harmer related his experience as a young volunteer for Ronald Reagan, "thirty years ago in July of 1980 I was on the floor at the Republican National Convention in Detroit when Ronald Reagan accepted the nomination for the presidency of the United States."

That experience seems to have forged Harmer's political philosophy in the Reagan ideal of limited government at an early age.

Back to the Founding principles of the American Republic

In today's hard hitting speech, delivered without notes, Mr. Harmer chided the current regime as having turned away from America's founding principles. The solution he offered consists of a return to the, "tried and true principles which are as old as the nation itself," while posing the question, "in another thirty years, will our children still be free?"

Saying that question wasn't hyperbole, he characterized the upcoming elections as being "a test of national character," featuring, "two dramatically different world views."

He said the Democrat's pursuit of ever bigger, more intrusive government over the last two years, hastening under Obama, has forever, "abolished the myth of the moderate Democrat."
Mr. Harmer identified in rapid-fire manner some of the most problematic aspects of president Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid's philosophy, criticizing the Democrat approach. He attacked the current healthcare legislation as an effort to "create a top down, command and control one size fits all bureaucratic monstrosity."

Common sense free market approach

On cap and trade he stressed that the administration's intent is to, "increase costs...to create artificial scarcity just to fit some utopian's notion of how we should live," adding almost parenthetically that, "we don't have resource problems, we have regulatory problems."

Noting the congressional district's rise in joblessness when, "unemployment is pushing 20% if you count discouraged workers," Harmer asked why we were still, "spending money we don't have on programs we don't need."

David Harmer is an attorney and businessman with a long record of public service. The son of former California State Senator and Lt. Governor John Harmer, David began his lifelong involvement in politics at age four, when he walked precincts for his father, who won an upset victory in the Glendale-based 21st district and went on to become one of Governor Reagan's key allies in the state legislature.

Inspiration for Liberty ideals from libertarian think tanks

Early in his career, David took his expertise in constitutional law to Pacific Legal Foundation, where he defended property rights and other freedoms in state and federal courts. David was also a Resident Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, and his book on education reform was published by the Cato Institute, America's foremost market-oriented public policy organization.

Popular Congressman and national taxpayer advocate Jeff Flake (R-Arizona) announced his support for David Harmer for California’s 11th. Flake is known for his tough, no-nonsense taxpayer advocacy, and he brings a well developed national network of conservative donors and activists which will provide a solid national foundation of support to the Harmer campaign effort.

“The national momentum has clearly swung back toward fiscal conservatism, and now is the time to recapture districts like California’s 11th,” said Congressman Flake. “In order to turn back the tide of federal spending, we need fiscal conservatives like David Harmer in Congress. He’ll be a strong, principled voice for limited government, and I’m happy to support his campaign for Congress.”

HarmerforCongress.com

Editor's Note - Please note that much of the information from this article came from the blog PipelineNews.org

Charlie Rangel slapped by House Ethics panel for taking paid Vacations from Lobbyists

BREAKING NEWS OVERNIGHT!!

Rangel admits Fun in the Sun at Caribbean hideaways

Longtime Democrat incumbent Rep. Charlie Rangel held an unusual "midnight" media availability to announce a negative finding by the House Ethics Panel probing allegations of mis-use of taxpayer dollars by his Congressional office.

From Fox News:

Embattled House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., said Thursday night the Ethics Committee will publicly admonish him for allowing a private corporation to pay for trips he and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus took to the Caribbean in 2007 and 2008.

"The trip was approved. Whether it should have been approved is a serious issue," Rangel said. "Now what information they had that I should have had, that's another matter."

As he read from the report, Rangel said the committee indicated that two of his staff members were versed in the trips and knew that private corporations were footing the bill.

Rangel said that one of those aides has now been "discharged," but he didn't name either employee.

One of the employees in quetion was his former chief of staff and close confidante George Dalley. The gregarious Dalley was a well-known fixture on Capitol Hill.

Rangel declined to answer a reporter's question as to whether he will now step down as Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Ethics problems draws opponent for first time in 40 years

Rangel may be allowed by the Democrat House leadership to finish out his term. It remains an open question if he will be permitted to remain Chairman of House Ways and Means.

However, the the powerful Congressman may now face a serious challenge to his incumbency on another front. He has drawn a challenger for the first time in 40 years for his House seat. And the gentleman is running as a Republican (and perhaps also on New York's Independent, Conservative and Other Party lines).

The Reverand Michel J. Faulkner is a former player with the New York Jets. He's also a community activist involved in numerous charitable causes. He led a Drug Rehab Center, was director of the well-known Lamb's Church in Times Square for many years, and was Senior Pastor at the Central Baptist Church in Manhattan.

Rev. Faulkner also served in Republican Mayor Rudy Giuliani's administration on the City Task Force for Charter Review.

Rangel more about stuffing his pockets, than Jobs for the District

From Rev. Michel Faulkner, NY Post Feb 26:

My opponent is 40-year incumbent, Charles Rangel. Unfortunately Mr. Rangel has come to epitomize what is wrong with Washington today. His gross underpayment of federal income taxes while chairing the House Ways and Means Committee shows the hypocrisy of our Congress. Furthermore, his occupation of four rent-stabilized apartments (while so many in our community are in desperate need of affordable housing), demonstrates his disconnect from our needs and struggles. It could not be clearer that the people of this city deserve a new direction and need new leadership.

My priorities are this: We need to bring government spending under control. Those who control the purse-strings in DC have irresponsibly spent our nation into near bankruptcy and mortgaged our futures.

While the national unemployment rate has been making headlines lately, the need for job creation in my community has been at a critical level for generations. To address this crisis, we must recognize that nearly 80% of all jobs in America today are created by small businesses, and for that reason we need to reduce the red-tape and tax burden on these critical economic engines. I also intend to promote programs that use microfinance initiatives to support a path to economic self-reliance, to expand economic opportunities for individuals and to foster community economic development.

Rangel's district includes Harlem, the upper Westside and a slice of Queens.

For more info FaulknerforCongress.com

Trouble in the Tom Campbell camp: Accepted contributions from Jihadist Sympathizer

Funds from Radical Islamic Sympathizer Sami Al-Arian kept by Campbell campaign

by Tim Daniel

A simple idiom - that a man may be judged by the company that he keeps. For a politician it may be that a man is judged by the contributions that he keeps. In the case of Tom Campbell, former California congressman and GOP nod hopeful for the Senate nod, it is a case of special donations from a jihadist sympathising former college professor Sami Al-Arian. And yes, Tom Campbell may by judged by that contribution (and company) that he kept. Tom Campbell claims that he made a mistake with accepting a jihadist sympathizers donation but claims that it was all for a noble cause - bettering American relations with the Muslim world. Afer that, he then claimed to a different source that he didn't even receive a donation from Sami Al-Arian. Which one is it, Mr. Campbell?

From Politico:

A bespectacled former college professor who has pleaded guilty to aiding the group Palestinian Islamic Jihad helped tip the balance in a 2004 Senate contest in Florida. Now, six years later, Sami Al-Arian could be on the verge of doing it again, this time in California.

Campbell further muddied the waters on the Al-Arian issue this week by denying in an interview with the New Ledger website that he had ever taken any contributions from Al-Arian. Yet a Federal Election Commission report showed a donation of $1,000 on May 2, 2000, and of an additional $300 later reattributed to Al-Arian’s wife, Nahla. The candidate said Wednesday that he simply goofed.

DeVore’s campaign issued an even harder-hitting response, calling Campbell “a friend to our foes.”

“Tom Campbell has a long history in his public life ... of fellow traveling with what might best be called the American-based Islamist movement,” said DeVore spokesman Joshua Trevino. “The fact that he received donations is not the problem. The problem is, he had a pretty undesirable relationship with Al-Arian and his associates — visiting his brother-in-law in jail, writing a letter on his behalf.”

Support Chuck DeVore libertarian-conservative for US Senate

Can you see through the lies? Does not this story speak volumes to the character, intent and discretion of Tom Campbell? To the proper discernment needed in today's brave new world? This story speaks volumes for the need a true conservative candidate with the moral fiber and common sense to do the right thing - even when no one is watching.

Please take a look at Chuck DeVore for the United States Senate. A man of principle. A man that knows his Constitution. A man much needed at this time in America and for the people of California.

Via Memeorandum

Note - Chuck DeVore is a Veteran of the US Military. In contrast, Rep. Campbell who never served in the US Armed Forces, was heavily supported in his past campaigns by San Francisco AntiWar activists Justin Raimondo and Eric Garris, of AntiWar.com. Both served in various capacities at his San Francisco campaign offices.

Tim Daniel's blog is Left Coast Rebel.

American of India heritage runs as Republican for US Congress: Staunchly opposes Radical Islam

Vijay Kumar is one of 8 Republicans running for US Congress in Tennessee's 5th CD (Nashville.) The seat is currently held by longtime incumbent Democrat Jim Cooper, a Blue Dog, but considered very vulnerable. Tennessee has moved increasingly dark red Republican in recent years, and Cooper is one of the very last Democrat hold-outs.

Kumar ran in the 2008 primaries and received nearly 1/3rd of the vote. He says now:

I am an immigrant from India who has lived in Nashville for twenty-one years... I am running again because Congress has failed to take leadership on the issues of illegal immigration, taxation, English as our official language, our economy, healthcare reform, abortion, and the War on Terror.

Kumar's top issue is opposing Radical Islam, according to IndiaWest:

Radical Islam is “more dangerous than either Nazism or Communism,” because those other ideologies “do not claim to be a religious faith.”

Radical Jihad, he added, “has been around for 1,400 years” and is a pressing threat to the American way of life.

Kumar's solution? Work with allies to stop the spread of radical islamic ideology:

"America is not alone in this struggle. We can accomplish our goals by engaging our allies. Inclusion and diplomacy should be our catchwords. We must strengthen our alliances and develop a strategy of cultural defense for Western Europe, Great Britain, India, and other nations that have been victims of Islamic terrorism..."

Watch a video presenting his views on Islamic Terorism at KumarforCongress.com

A Free Market Marxist? Is that even possible??

Interview with Dr. John C. Drew, former Marxist friend of Obama

Knew Barack Obama in early 1980s, from Occidental University.

"He was a pure Marxist"

From CNBC, Obama speaking to the Business Roundtable yesterday:

"Contrary to the claims of some of my critics, I am an ardent believer in the free market,"

"We have arrived at a juncture in our politics where reasonable efforts to update our regulations, or make basic investments in our future, are too often greeted with cries of 'government takeover' or even 'socialism'," Obama said.

"Getting this balance right has less to do with big government or small government than it does smart government. It's not about being anti-business or pro-government; it's about being pro-growth and pro-jobs," he said.

Inconvenient Data: The lies and deceipt of Albert Gore

by Clifford F. Thies

Senator James Inhofe (R-OK), ranking member on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, has called for a Senate investigation into "climategate." While the Democrats, who run the Senate, will probably not act on the request, the global-warming industry must be nervous since polls point to a Republican takeover of the House of Representatives and possibly also the Senate. Then, the issues of academic fraud, misrepresentation, and the over-statement of scientific evidence will be discussed in a forum open to the entire world.

From Pajama's Media, "Senator Inhofe to ask for DOJ investigation" Feb. 23:

Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) today asked the Obama administration to investigate what he called “the greatest scientific scandal of our generation” — the actions of climate scientists revealed by the Climategate files, and the subsequent admissions by the editors of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (AR4).

Senator Inhofe also called for former Vice President Al Gore to be called back to the Senate to testify.

“In [Gore's] science fiction movie, every assertion has been rebutted,” Inhofe said. He believes Vice President Gore should defend himself and his movie before Congress.

It should not be a surprise that scientific disciplines include people with values ranging from the mainstream to any number of weird extremes. We might suppose that science is "value-free," but, this is a statement of the results of free inquiry, not a statement of individual scientists. The process of free inquiry should allow "the data to speak;" but, the domination of the academic world by the left and the arrogant assertion that certain matters are settled, threatens free inquiry.

We might also suppose that scientific findings are replicable, but, at the edges of scientific inquiry, controlled experiments may be impossible or nearly so. This is particularly true of disciplines that investigate global phenomenon, such as macroeconomics and the emerging field of climatology. When multitudes of variables are constantly changing, each potentially a cause and an effect of the other, distinguishing cause from mere correlation is a challenge.

As against free inquiry, we have the polemics of global warming. The evidence of human-induced global warming, the so-called Hockey Stick, we now know is bogus. The Hockey Stick has been massively contradicted by subsequent research. We know that there is a lot of natural variation.

What we don't know is to what extent man is contributing to variation in global temperature. I'm kind of persuaded by the climatologists who say that industrial emissions account for about one-fourth of the build-up of CO2 in the atmosphere, and this build-up of CO2 in the atmospheres accounts for about 3 percent of the increase of global temperature since 1970 of about 1 degree Celsius. But, I'm an economist, so what do I know?

When the Hockey Stick was found to be contradicted by subsequent research, the National Academy of Science reviewed the matter. It said that the Hockey Stick was not inconsistent with the data available at the time it was constructed. Such a thing is not uncommon in the advance of science. Somebody puts a finding out there; and, others follow-up, confirming it or challenging it. Either way, science advances.

But, we now know that the developer of the Hockey Stick filtered and truncated his own data. He discarded measurements that did not fit his preconceived views. Because of these new revelations, this fellow's colleagues at The Pennsylvania State University conducted an investigation. Here is their finding: "He did not add any false data to his sample."

They call that an exoneration?

Scientific inquiry, according to the academic community, allows excluding data inconsistent with your preconceived views. This standard is certainly a matter for the taxpayers who finance academic-based research to consider.

Editor's Note - Dr. Thies is a professor of econo-metrics and statistics at Shenandoah Univ. in Virginia.

Surprise! The Government's largely to blame for Toyota's failures

by Ron Hart

Congress dragged Toyota, kicking and bowing, to Washington to testify this week in one of their indignant show trials they so love. I wish they would subpoena themselves and bring Congress before a Senate hearing under oath and the red hot lights of TV cameras. Then we might get to the root of most problems in America, which is too much government intervention, confusing rules, and second-guessing politicians.

Congress will say Toyota executives knew about a few break problems and just “drug their feet” on the matter.

It has been a tough year for Prius owners all around. It turns out there is no global warming.

It is so embarrassing for Prius owners that Toyota has also recalled that sanctimonious smug look drivers have on their face when they talk about how they are saving the world with their car. But on the bright side for liberals, they now are victims and they love that about as much.

The Democratic Congress’ poll numbers have plummeted so quickly that they should post them on the downhill Olympic race where they would be our best shot at a medal. They are trying to divert America’s dislike of them toward big bad business. It is what they do best.

In fact this problem with electronic braking came about because of Federal pressures on CAFE standards where manufacturers were attempting to make lighter cars. Politicians, as they often do, point the finger at big bad business. Then out comes a memo where Toyota cut a deal with their Washington regulators last year on the braking issue. Like with most finger pointing politicians do, usually at least three fingers are pointing right back at them.

The reality is that the businesses we have had the most difficulty with like banking, insurance and mortgage lending, and now car companies, are the ones most regulated. Less regulated businesses who are more free-market regulated have done fine like Wal-Mart, Coke, Google, Caterpillar and Home Depot.

Washington still does not get it; we are taxed and regulated to death. The lone Democrat Senator in Massachusetts and the man who was unable to beat George Bush, John Kerry still wants to push through cap and trade. This is the same man who had the insight and vision to tap John Edwards as his Vice Presidential choice (while Edwards was doing his own tapping of employees) ignores all the recent data uncovered saying that the “global warming” data is dishonest and agenda driven.

The fact that we are broke and man-made global warming has been a hoax does not seem to stop Kerry and other Democrats who do not let the facts get in the way of an opportunity to control and tax more of the economy.

Toyota has all the business incentive in the world to protect their reputation. It is what drives business to do the right thing. When plaintiff’s attorneys and their brethren in the Democratic Congress make it difficult to address a problem for fear of class-action litigation or humiliation then they stall.

And for an administration that is the new owner/operator of GM, but still aspires to get rid the world of the combustion engine, Obama finds it easy to jump on foreign owned Toyota. They must however remember, when U.S. Toyota sales go down they lay off employees at Toyota plants all across the South. The global economy has done more to tie the world together than any Kumbaya political rhetoric.

Clearly politicians do not understand economics or they would not be making all the bad long-term decisions they have of late for our country.

Editor's Note - our friend Ron Hart will be traveling today to see a speech in Florida, by libertarian humorist P.J. O'Rourke,sponsored by the Cato Institute.

Sad day for America: Obama shuts down Hummer

Under Obama, Another One Bites the Dust

From Eric Dondero:

The Obama administration is shutting down yet another iconic American company: Hummer. An overseas acquisition sale fell through, and rather than choosing to save American jobs, mostly in the hardhit Mid-West, and keep the company afloat, the administration has selected a "slow scale down of operations."

Reports Bloomberg via Business Week:

Winding down the brand will take several months, Nick Richards, a GM spokesman, said yesterday. Some of the 3,000 people now employed at Hummer work on other vehicles, so GM doesn’t know how many jobs will be lost, he said.

The Hummer brand was iconic of Americanist values; Strength, vitality, even patriotism. The vehicle was a favorite of surivalists concerned over increasing Islamic attacks on the United States and incursions on the US border from illegal aliens. Continuing:

Hummer sales began in 1999 with the $140,000 H1, a 7,600- pound SUV (3,400 kilograms) patterned after the all-terrain military vehicle popularized for road use by actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, now California’s governor. The 6,600-pound H2 debuted in 2002, followed by the 4,700-pound H3 in 2005.

From CarandDriver.com:

the company first catapulted into the spotlight for the unflinching, survivalist nature of its military vehicles...

Regulations and massive oversight with Approval Process may have finally killed Hummer

There are subtle indications of a direct link to the Obama administration's policies and big bureaucracy at government-owned General Motors. Jared Gall of CarandDriver opines this morning:

We also wouldn’t ignore the fact that the history of the Chinese auto industry suggests that, if a company really wants to build a Hummer, it will just go ahead and build something that looks exactly like a Hummer without going through the convoluted process of buying rights and proper tooling.

From the HummerGuy.net:

news reports were indicating that there were obstacles in the approval process, but offered no official statements from GMnews...

Naturally Hummer fans are distraught. From HummerGuy.net comments:

* Yeah, and that obstacle is our magical Kenyan. But don’t feel singled out, Hummer-lovers, Obama is f**king things up all over this great country.

* F*****g Obama! and F**K GENERAL MOTORS!

* It is sad that so many American workers are going to lose their jobs.

Photo of Hummer HX model premiered in 2008, to attract young customers and first time buyers.

Jeb Bush questions Obama's patriotism; says his policy views "not American"

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush gave a stunningly frank assessment of the Obama presidency to the libertarian-conservative site NewsMax yesterday.

From NewsMax:

"instead of trying to solve that problem [jobs, economic growth] with common-sense American solutions, [he] is trying to take advantage of it to redefine who we are as a nation."

Bush said he tries to avoid such labels but went on to say: "If he believes that government ought to consume 40 percent of the economy, of the economic output, I don’t know what you’d call that, but it’s not American."

"If he believes that redistributing wealth will create more prosperity for more people, that’s been tried and it’s failed. What he should believe is that the interaction of millions of people freely pursuing their dreams will create more prosperity for more people than any government program. That’s the American way."

Bush went on to call Obama's inner circle of advisors in the White House, "all academics and political hacks."

Arizona Republicans pass bill in House to require Obama birth certificate before re-election

No Birth Certificate: No Ballot Status for AZ

From Conservative American News (via AP report):

Nearly half of the Arizona Legislature wants to force President Barack Obama to show his birth certificate to state officials if he runs for re-election. A state House committee on Tuesday approved the measure sponsored by 40 of the state's 90 legislators. It would require presidential candidates who want to appear on the ballot in Arizona to submit documents proving they meet the requirements to be president.

All 40 of the House co-sponsors are Republicans. The initiator of the bill is Skull Valley Republican Rep. Judy Burges who commented:

"If people have to prove their citizenship to apply for a job or get a passport, they should have to prove it to run for president."

Rep. Burgess is best known for having recently sponsored and helped to pass a bill "stipulating that the State of Arizona claim sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution."

New Poll: Perry on the verge of avoiding Run-off, now at 48%

New Rasmussen numbers released last night, show Texas Governor Rick Perry with a commanding lead against his two GOP primary rivals. What's more, Perry's gain has come at the expense of his nearest rival Kay B. Hutchison who has seen her poll numbers decline.

From Rasmussen:

Just days before Texas Republicans pick their nominee for governor, incumbent Rick Perry has his biggest lead yet.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely Republican Primary voters finds Perry leading Senate Kay Bailey Hutchison 48% to 27%, with Tea Party activist Debra Medina earning 16% of the vote. Nine percent (9%) of Texas GOP voters remain undecided.

Hutchison was at 29% in the last poll conducted last month.

Additionally, Debra Medina who had been surging in previous polls, appears to have suffered a serious set-back:

Just 35% now have a favorable view of Medina... This includes nine percent (9%) with a very favorable regard for her. Forty-seven percent (47%) view her unfavorably, with 18% very unfavorable.

Banking Privacy: Know your Customer violates individual rights

New from Dan Mitchell

Is there any financial privacy left now that new banking regulations have taken effect?

"Republitarian" Larry Elder Live Webcast to be launched in two months

LIBERTARIAN REPUBLICAN EXCLUSIVE!!

Libertarian Republican has learned that former KABC Los Angeles and nationally syndicated radio talk show host Larry Elder has been tapped to host a soon-to-be launched live webcast to premier in the next couple of months.

A spokesman for the new subscriber-based network confirmed that talk fans worldwide will have the opportunity to hear a super-charged, no-holds-barred Larry for 2 hours each weekday without commercial interruption. He will be commenting as we know and love on the issues of the day from his own "Republitarian" perspective, only this time without the pressures and oversight of a politically-correct corporate machine. This new medium promises to showcase Larry at his 'sage' best - the way 'freedom of speech' is meant to be heard.

Developing...Stay tuned to Libertarian Republican for more details...