"So we dutifully went to the police station and we registered our guns. Not long after they said, 'No, it didn’t help. The only way that we won’t have accidents and crimes [is] you bring the guns to the police station and then we don’t have any crimes anymore and any accidents. And if you don’t do that: capital punishment.'

◼ Nazi survivor’s warning to Americans: ‘Keep your guns and buy more guns’ - Right Wing News

A survivor of Nazi-occupied Austria who sees parallels between that dark period and the United States of today has a word of warning and advice to Americans: “Keep your guns and buy more guns.”

Katie Worthman spoke earlier this year of what she witnessed as a child in Austria during Adolph Hitler’s rise to power, which was followed by Soviet occupation of the country. She said the Nazi takeover happened gradually, as opposed to media accounts to the contrary, according to NRA News, which reported that Worthman said:

In 1938, the media reported that Hitler rode into Austria with tanks and guns and took us over. Not true at all. The Austrian people elected Hitler by 98 percent of the vote by means of the ballot box. Now you might ask how could a Christian nation… elect a monster like Hitler. The truth is at the beginning Hitler didn’t look like or talk like a monster at all. He talked like an American politician.

Worthman said gun control also began gradually, before the Nazis eventually confiscated every firearm.

We also had gun registration. All the Austrian people… had guns. But the government said, “the guns are very dangerous. Children are playing with guns. Hunting accidents happen and we really have to have total controlled safety. And we had criminals again. And the only way that we can trace the criminal was by the serial number of the gun.”

So we dutifully went to the police station and we registered our guns. Not long after they said, “No, it didn’t help. The only way that we won’t have accidents and crimes [is] you bring the guns to the police station and then we don’t have any crimes anymore and any accidents. And if you don’t do that: capital punishment.”

So that’s what we did. So dictatorship didn’t happen overnight. It took five years. Gradually, little by little to escalate up to a dictatorship.

◼ ‘I FELL ASLEEP’: LISTEN TO SURVIVOR OF (ANOTHER) NAZI GERMANY REVEAL HER ‘ONE REGRET’ AMID DISTURBING CHALLENGES TO FREEDOM SHE’S WITNESSED IN U.S. The Blaze


__________________
◼ Shoppers Stock Up On Rifles, Shotguns Before California Long Gun Registry Begins - CBS Sacramento
◼ CONNECTICUT GUN OWNERS WAIT IN LINE TO DO SOMETHING MANY GUN OWNERS HOPE THEY NEVER HAVE TO - The Blaze

State police Lt. Paul Vance said that gun owners must fill our forms completely and some may require a notary.

◼ Gun Confiscation Underway in New York - Katie Pavlich/Townhall

Nobody is coming for your guns, they said. Nobody is taking away your rights, they said. This is all about public safety, they said.

Nearly a year ago, the New York legislature passed the toughest gun control law in the country known as the S.A.F.E. Act. It was rushed through in the middle of the night and as soon as it landed on Governor Cuomo's desk, he signed it without asking questions. Now, local and state government are taking the opportunity to crack down on regulations already on the books which means for many, turn in your guns or leave.

◼ Gun reregistration begins in D.C., may lead to arrest and confiscation - Emily Miller/Washington Times

Ann Coulter mentions zombietime on the Sean Hannity Show

Look at their blind, passionate hatred for those on the other side — like George Bush. I mean you can go to this Web site zombietime which has the photos of effigies of George Bush being burned, being decapitated. They look at regular left-wing, anti-war, anti-Bush rallies: they sell hats, bags, backpacks that said “Kill Bush” on them. Can you imagine — I mean forget the reaction from the Left, can you imagine a conservative making up such a bag for Obama or Clinton? No — you oppose their policies; you don’t hate them with the hot hot hate of a thousand suns.

◼ Ann was referring of course to this classic zomblog post: ◼ Death Threats Against Bush at Protests Ignored for Years - Zombietime

...this essay exists for one reason only: To prove beyond any doubt that explicit and implicit threats to Bush’s life were commonly displayed at public protests throughout his term as president. Below this introduction you will find dozens of examples of such threats — unaltered photographs from a wide variety of sources, along with links verifying their authenticity.

Surprise! Bronze plans may cost a lot more than you expect

◼ Oh, not up front — although the bronze plan premiums do cost more than many paid before ObamaCare’s mandates went into effect. - HotAir

If you buy one of the less expensive insurance plans sold through the new health law’s marketplaces, you may be in for a surprise: Some plans won’t pay for doctor visits before you meet your annual deductible, which could be thousands of dollars.

“This could be the next shoe to drop, as people don’t realize that if they’re buying a bronze plan, they may have to pay $5,000 out of pocket before it contributes a penny,” said Carl McDonald, senior analyst with Citi Investment Research, speaking at a conference last month in Washington.

Comprehensive plans with deductibles usually cover wellness checks from the start (especially in group plans) — or at least they did until ObamaCare made the entire risk pool a lot more costly. In order to trim costs, especially with millions of new policyholders expected to flood the risk pools, insurers have shielded themselves against the larger risk. Unfortunately, that will have a dampening effect on what Democrats said would be the biggest benefit of ObamaCare — heightened access to routine care:

Experts are worrying that some new enrollees will be discouraged from seeing doctors if they have to pay the full charge, rather than simply a copayment. In Miami, for example, 40 percent of bronze plans require consumers to pay the full deductible before coverage kicks in, according to an analysis by online broker eHealthinsurance.com, a private online marketplace, for Kaiser Health News. The average deductible among the examined bronze plans in Miami is $5,735.

Put it this way: If the average deductible is $5,735 and a doctor visit is $85, it would take sixty-eight doctor visits before the insurance kicked in — more than one visit per week. And it would start all over again every year.

...(it) is the worst of both worlds. The law forces people to pay higher premiums for largely unnecessary comprehensive coverage — especially the middle class — and then forces them to pay for the routine care out of pocket anyway. Health-savings accounts that might have shielded consumers from the pain are now being discouraged, which means this comes out of their checking accounts, right along with the higher premiums.

The result? People will pay more for less coverage, and then spend thousands of dollars before seeing the first dollar in benefits, except for certain preventive tests that HHS deemed mandatory. This will discourage people from getting normal wellness care and quick intervention on illnesses, forcing them to wait until they’re very sick to see a doctor. And even that might be not so bad, considering how often people fill waiting rooms for cold and flu symptoms that could easily be handled with over-the-counter treatment, but it’s not what the Obama administration and Democrats promised. And it’s certainly not “affordable care.”

Of those 109 recalls, 73 succeeded (51 removed in a vote and another 22 resigned) — a 68 percent success rate.

◼ Power to the people? Remembering the year in recalls. - Joshua Spivak/The Week

After recalls suddenly grabbed hold of the nation's attention in 2012, anyone could have been excused for thinking they might have gone back to being little used, frequently ignored weapons this year. But 2013 proved such expectations wrong. Despite a sharp drop in their total number, recall elections once again managed to place themselves on centerstage in American politics.

Unlike in Wisconsin in 2012, the most prominent recalls of 2013 did not appear to be stark Democrat versus Republican fights. Instead, it was a hot button political issue — the fight over gun control — that allowed recalls to push their way into the spotlight.

Colorado, for instance, saw some of its most expensive state legislative elections in history: Two Democratic state senators — including the State Senate president — were kicked out and a third resigned, over the state's new gun control laws....

Already, there are at least 25 recalls scheduled for next year, starting on January 2.

Crowdsourcing the End of Free Speech

◼ The end of free speech will not necessarily come when there are soldiers in the streets, secret police in the alleyways and a mustachioed man screaming at you on a television set that can't be turned off no matter how hard you turn the knob or click the buttons. - Sultan Knish

Some of these things certainly existed in totalitarian countries. But they were there to sweep up the hardened dissenters who refused to be silenced. The vast majority of citizens did not have bugged phones or men in trench-coats following them around.

That was what their friends and neighbors were for....

You never knew lightbulbs would be a part of your freedom, did you?

◼ Time to Stock Up on Incandescent Bulbs Before They Go Out Permanently - Heritage

Beginning January 1, 2014, the federal government will ban the use of 60-watt and 40-watt incandescent light bulbs. The light bulb has become a symbol in the fight for consumer freedom and against unnecessary governmental interference into the lives of the American people....

Proponents of government-imposed efficiency standards and regulations will say, “So what? There are still plenty of lighting options on the shelves at Home Depot; we’re saving families money; and we’re reducing harmful climate change emissions.”

The “so what” is that the federal government is taking decisions out of the hands of families and businesses, destroying jobs, and restricting consumer choice in the market. We all have a wide variety of preferences regarding light bulbs. It is not the role of the federal government to override those preferences with what it believes is in our best interest.

◼ In 2014, liberty-stripping politicians take notice: the big lie for big-government Democrats may be "if you like your plan you can keep your plan," but for big-government Republicans, Edison's light bulb was something we wanted to keep, too. - CNS

Top Stories of 2013

◼ On Media: 2013's biggest media stories (and screw-ups) - Politico

◼ Excedrin headache No. 2013: 2-in-3 call it a 'bad year,' 4-in-10 a disaster for their family - Paul Bedard/Washington Examiner

◼ Liberals Go Hysterical Over List of 252 Examples of Obama’s Lying, Corruption, and Cronyism - Rand Paul Review

◼ TEN PEOPLE, GROUPS, AND COUNTRIES THROWN UNDER OBAMA'S BUS IN 2013 - Breitbart

GOP Surges Over Dems With Staggering 13-Point Switch

◼ Poll: Big gain for Republican Party - Politico

The CNN/ORC International survey shows Republicans holding a 49 percent to 44 percent lead over Democrats, a swift reversal from just two months ago, when the Democratic Party stood steady with an 8-point lead over the GOP, 50 percent to 42 percent.

This is CNN: Anderson Cooper Discusses His Mother and ‘Cunnilingus’

◼ CNN was doing one of those year in review segments, and Cooper asked (BULLY) Dan Savage for what he thought was a really good scandal story this year. Savage had to go with the amazing saga of Rob Ford, and said, “I love a good cunnilingus joke on the evening news.”

Everyone (especially Andrew Sullivan) burst out laughing, and that’s when Cooper decided to over-share.

“My mom once wrote a romance memoir about men she had dated–and I use that term loosely–and she described one guy she was currently dating––my mom was 85 at the time––as the Nijinsky of cunnilingus. And she made me proofread the book.”
__________________
◼ Vulgarity invades entire culture; few options for escape - Jonah Goldberg/Omaha.com

...as Lee Siegel wrote recently in the Wall Street Journal, vulgarity has become so common in the culture that there’s nothing rebellious about it anymore.

Elvis’ below-the-belt gyrations were taboo-breaking and suggestive. Today, there’s nothing suggestive about Miley Cyrus. Nobody watching her twerk thinks, “I wonder what she’s getting at?”

Indeed, if there’s any larger message to her routine, it is simply to announce that the exception has now become the rule: vulgarity is expected, decency a surprise....

Defenders of vulgarity, and there are many, also say that parents just need to do a better job of monitoring their kids, as if the absence of kids is, by itself, a license for gratuitous obscenity.

I don’t think the vulgarians realize how hard that is when producers and executives refuse to stay in their lanes. Even family-oriented TV shows are punctuated with commercials not just for erectile dysfunction pills and utterly unromantic romantic aids but also inappropriate ads for incredibly inappropriate movies and TV shows. And sometimes family-friendly networks are family-friendly in name only (I’m looking at you, ABC Family Channel). And don’t get me started about the Internet.

◼ America the Vulgar - Lee Siegel/Wall St. Journal

Yes, I know people are complaining. I read the news on the internet. I read blogs. I have a Twitter feed. So what? People in the Soviet Union complained. People in Cuba complain. People in China complain (quietly). Complaining isn’t the same thing as doing anything about it. In fact, much of the complaining that we hear sounds like resignation: Wow. This sucks. Oh well, this is the way things are. Too bad.

◼ We Are Not SUBJECTS (and Other Observations About Obamacare) - Laura Hollis/Townhall

The President, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid (with no small help from Justice John Roberts) take away our health care, and we allow it. They take away our insurance, and we allow it. They take away our doctors, and we allow it. They charge us thousands of dollars more a year, and we allow it. They make legal products illegal, and we allow it. They cripple our businesses, and we allow it. They announce by fiat that we must ignore our most deeply held beliefs – and we allow it.

Where is your spine, America?

...I will say it again: WE ARE NOT SUBJECTS. Not only is the Tea Party right on the fiscal issues, but it appears that they are more relevant than ever. We fought a war once to prove we did not want to be the subjects of a king, and the Boston Tea Party was just a taste of the larger conflict to come. If some people missed that lesson in history class, we can give them a refresher..

GEORGIA OPTS OUT OF OBAMACARE...

◼ South Carolina and Montana are also expected to enact similar legislation.

HB 707 declares, “The assumption of power that the federal government has made by enacting the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 interferes with the right of the people of the State of Georgia to regulate health care as they see fit and makes a mockery of James Madison’s assurance in Federalist No. 45 that the ‘powers delegated’ to the federal government are ‘few and defined,’ while those of the states are ‘numerous and indefinite.’”

◼ Obamacare Showdown: Missouri Bill to Gut Obamacare, Ban Penalties, Ban Healthcare Exchange; How Would Obama Respond?

If enough states act, we are on the way to a constitutional showdown over Obamacare. ◼ The Washington Times reports Missouri bill would gut Obamacare

Next month, the Missouri Senate will consider a bill which would effectively cripple the implementation of the Affordable Care Act within the state.

Following the lead of South Carolina, where lawmakers are fast-tracking House Bill 3101 in 2014, and Georgia, where HB707 was recently introduced by Rep. Jason Spencer, Missouri State Senator John T. Lamping (R-24) pre-filed Senate Bill 546 (SB546) to update the Health Care Freedom Act passed by Missouri voters in 2010. It passed that year with more than 70% support.

SB546 would ban Missouri from taking any action that would “compel, directly or indirectly, any person, employer, or health care provider to participate in any health care system.” That means the state would be banned by law from operating a health care exchange for the federal government.

The bill also proposes suspending the licenses of insurers who accept federal subsidies which result in the “imposition of penalties contrary to the public policy” set forth in the legislation. Since it is unlikely that any insurer would then accept a subsidy, not a single employer in the state could be hit with the employer-mandate penalties those subsidies trigger.

*GRAPHIC* VIDEO: OBAMA'S PEACE PARTNERS THE TALIBAN PLAYING SOCCER WITH SEVERED HEADS...

◼ Tea partiers, constitutionalists, counter-jihadists, the people of Israel, Egyptians opposing the Muslim Brotherhood, Marines who disrespect the Taliban, Christians in Syria, Libya, Algieria, Nigeria, Malaysia, and Indonesia, Hindus in Bangladesh -- they are the enemy, but these savages? They're Obama's peace partners. - Atlas Shrugs

A&E: PHIL ROBERTSON BACK ON 'DUCK DYNASTY'

◼ A&E Welcomes Phil Robertson Back to 'Duck Dynasty' - Hollywood Reporter

Less than two weeks after his anti-gay remarks prompted an "indefinite hiatus" for the reality patriarch — and a strong fan backlash — the network says he will remain on the series.

◼ 'Duck Dynasty' to resume filming with Phil Robertson - The Hill

“...Duck Dynasty is not a show about one man's views,” the statement continued. “It resonates with a large audience because it is a show about family… a family that America has come to love. As you might have seen in many episodes, they come together to reflect and pray for unity, tolerance and forgiveness. These are three values that we at A+E Networks also feel strongly about.”

◼ BREAKING: A&E to Bring Back Papa Phil - Truth Revolt

Agree with Phil or not, this is how you deal with bullies like @glaad and the rest: No Apology. Bullies hate that. http://t.co/S6zyH4N1LL

— Yes, Nick Searcy! (@yesnicksearcy) December 27, 2013

◼ A&E Announces It's Welcoming Back Phil Robertson, and He'll Be Rejoining the Show - Ace Of Spades

This is not free speech. This is free speech as an exceptional thing -- only for those with a wide, passionate following -- not as a routine thing.

◼ This was all so very predictable - Althouse

◼ Sweet schadenfreude! With Phil Robertson back on ‘Duck Dynasty,’ is GLAAD meltdown imminent? - Twitchy, Who Said What on Twitter

◼ GLAAD Responds To Phil Robertson’s Return To A&E’s Duck Dynasty - the Right Scoop

◼ GLAAD issues statement on Phil Robertson’s return to ‘Duck Dynasty’ - Twitchy, Who Said What on Twitter

What Robertson had said to GQ was, “We never, ever judge someone on who’s going to heaven, hell. That’s the Almighty’s job. We just love ’em, give ’em the good news about Jesus—whether they’re homosexuals, drunks, terrorists. We let God sort ’em out later, you see what I’m saying?”

CRP Chairman Named To SacBee's "Californians To Watch In 2014" List

◼ The Sacramento Bee features a handful of newsmakers at the end of each year as being worthy of their readers attention – and for 2014, CRP Chairman Jim Brulte made the list. - CRP

"It’s a small leap from forcing Phil Robertson, the Boy Scouts and Rush Limbaugh out of the public square to forcing wedding photographers and cake bakers to serve gay customers against their will and mandating that Catholic medical providers and Hobby Lobby violate their religious conscience and cover abortion pills in order to stay in business."

◼ GLAAD: Lethal Enforcers of the Left’s Tolerance Mob

“Duck Dynasty’s” Phil Robertson is not alone. He’s the latest in a long, long lineup of politically incorrect targets of the left’s sensitivity mob. Founded in 1985, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) gangstas won’t stop until both the cultural and legal enforcement of their agenda are the norm.

◼ Life on GLAAD's Blacklist - Robert Oscar Lopez

GLAAD is hoping that the current surge of anger over Phil Robertson will begin and end with Duck Dynasty, and then the rest of us who have been erased and whose lives have been destroyed by this totalitarian organization can be out of the way again. Broom, meet rug -- sweep the human waste underneath, march on to the next court case, and proclaim victory.

There's only one way that GLAAD will come out of this kerfuffle unscathed -- if you, the conservatives of America, let them. Please don't. This is much bigger than one reality show.

◼ Fuss and Feathers: Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson is not the worst news for gays. - Deroy Murdock/National Review

I’m not even sure how to word the warning for this video. Adult content?

Charles Krauthammer: Hillary Will Be Relatively Weak Presidential Candidate

Woe to humanity if ever Obama’s pledge to prevent an Iranian nuke is declared "the lie of the year."

◼ Iran and Obama's 'Lie of the Year' - Melanie Sturm/Washington Examiner

Unable to ignore millions of cancellation letters and a rare presidential apology, fact-checkers at PolitiFact and the Washington Post designated “If you like your health care plan, you can keep it” as 2013's “Lie of the Year.”

Repelled by Obamacare's deceptive sales tactics, Americans dread its fallout, but know our system allows us to think again. We can repeal and replace bad laws.

But we can't reverse the fallout from Iranian nukes, which explains President Kennedy's warning that while “domestic policy can defeat us; foreign policy can kill us.”

It also explains the backlash from allies and Congress to the recently signed interim agreement with Iran, the world's most dangerous regime and self-described deceiver. As Alan Dershowitz suggested, it “could be a cataclysmic error of gigantic proportions.”...

‘Millions will begin to understand’: Byron York says Dems can’t avoid O-care in 2014

Millions will now begin to understand who actually pays for Obamacare. Middle-income thought it was safe from higher taxes, as Dems promised

— Byron York (@ByronYork) December 27, 2013

Didn't get that they would pay for others' care in form of higher rates. http://t.co/qUIhLrg0Of

— Byron York (@ByronYork) December 27, 2013

◼ Democrats are sure to ratchet up the blame on insurance companies, congressional Republicans and maybe even George W. Bush, but will their spin be enough? Not according to York, who says Dems will pay a political price for Obamacare next year as people realize health care costs more when it’s “affordable” than it did when it was too expensive (to paraphrase P.J. O’Rourke). - Twitchy

Granting millions of exemptions from the individual mandate not only serves as a formal admission that the Affordable Care Act is unaffordable for most households, it’s an admission that the law’s authors knew it would create hardships from the get-go.

◼ Obamacare chaos - LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL EDITORIAL

After nearly four years of defending the Affordable Care Act as the “law of the land,” the White House has spent the past three months revising and rewriting the federal government’s forced overhaul of American health insurance. And the closer the calendar gets to Obamacare’s full implementation on Jan. 1, the faster the administration scrambles to fix its most urgent flaws. The more it changes, the more it fails, the more it changes....This law is so bad, the only certainties are more chaos and more public unhappiness.

...the president shut down the government this fall because he refused to meet a Republican demand that Obamacare’s individual mandate be delayed. Now the president himself has done what Republicans — labeled as extortionists and terrorists at the time — asked him to do, though he did so without the consent of Congress, as usual.

As the White House comes to terms with the fact that there will be even more uninsured Americans in 2014 as a direct result of its “signature achievement,” it now must reconcile a new problem created by its revisions: If Obamacare-compliant insurance policies are creating so much hardship, why isn’t everyone exempt from the individual mandate?

Repeal Obamacare.

"We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission."

Ayn Rand

◼ Federal judge: The NSA’s phone metadata program is constitutional - HotAir
◼ Here’s the opinion.

Biblical films' Hollywood comeback

Mary Mother of Christ, whose title character will be played by Odeya Rush Photo: Rex Features

◼ Superheroes are being elbowed out by Noah and Mary as Hollywood makes 2014 year of the biblical epic - The Telegraph (image source)

Studio executives who have spent the past few years releasing superhero and zombie films have, it seems, had an epiphany....

“For years Hollywood bent over backwards to reach special interest groups, be it feminists or environmentalists. It has finally realised that there are 91  million evangelical Christians in America.”

For their part, studio executives have taken something of a leap of faith that films in which religious figures save the world will bring big box office receipts.

That faith is based in no small part on the success of The Bible, a television mini-series shown on the History channel earlier this year, which averaged 11.4 million viewers and became America’s most watched cable show of 2013.

“It made the Bible cool to talk about again,” said Mr Cooke. “The separation of church and state in America is so strong that people had become afraid to talk about God, at work or at school. Suddenly, these Bible stories were water cooler conversation again.”

Poll: GOP has edge in 2014 midterms

◼ Republicans lead Democrats on CNN's generic congressional ballot by 49 percent to 44 percent after the tumultuous start of ObamaCare. - The Hill

That's a huge 13-point swing from October, when Democrats had the edge following the government shutdown. At that point, Democrats were up by 50 percent to 42 percent on a generic ballot test.

The new numbers are the latest bad polling news for Democrats, indicating the GOP has a chance to pick up House seats and win control of the Senate.

The poll finds a lack of enthusiasm from both parties' bases — but especially from Democrats.

If voter fraud doesn't exist, then why did Ohio's Secretary of State just find this...

◼ This FACTUAL EVIDENCE of Voter Fraud in Ohio Should Change Democrats' Minds About Voter ID - Bubba Atkinson/IJ Review via ◼ Conservative Daily

Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted announced Wednesday that his office found 17 non-citizens illegally cast ballots in the 2012 presidential election — and has referred the case for possible prosecution.

The alleged crime would be a notable case of voter fraud in a key swing state. By law, only American citizens are allowed the privilege of casting ballots for the nation’s leaders.

To be clear, this would not have swung the election, but this is plain and clear evidence that shows beyond a reasonable doubt that the system is broken on some level. If something is broken, why don’t we try to fix it or at least improve it?

It doesn’t stop there:

As part of Ohio’s efforts to clean up the voting rolls, election officials discovered that more than 257,000 dead people were still listed as active voters.

President Obama's Top 10 Constitutional Violations Of 2013

◼ One of Barack Obama’s chief accomplishments has been to return the Constitution to a central place in our public discourse. - Ilya Shapiro/Forbes

And so, as we reach the end of another year of political strife that’s fundamentally based on clashing views on the role of government in society, I thought I’d update a list I made two years ago and hereby present President Obama’s top 10 constitutional violations of 2013.

1. Delay of Obamacare’s out-of-pocket caps.
2. Delay of Obamacare’s employer mandate.
3. Delay of Obamacare’s insurance requirements.
4. Exemption of Congress from Obamacare.
5. Expansion of the employer mandate penalty through IRS regulation.
6. Political profiling by the IRS.
7. Outlandish Supreme Court arguments.
8. Recess appointments.
9. Assault on free speech and due process on college campuses.
10. Mini-DREAM Act.
...read the whys and wherefores, at the link.

If...

So much sea ice in Antarctica that a research vessel gets stuck, in summer!

MV Akademik Shokalskiy (file photo) from expeditionsonline.com via WUWT

◼ It is summer in the southern hemisphere and yet there is still signifiicantly above normal amounts of sea ice present as the passengers and crew of one tour ship discovered. - Watts Up With That?

The icebreakers Xue Long and Aurora Australis, and a French research vessel Astrolabe are cruising towards the Akademik Shokalskiy at full throttle for rescue.... The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) is coordinating a search and rescue for a Russian passenger ship beset by ice approximately 1500 nautical miles south of Hobart.

Three ships with icebreaking capability have responded, including the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) vessel Aurora Australis, and are now en route to the area.

The closest vessels are at least two days sailing time away.

◼ ‘Least extreme U.S. weather year ever?’ 2013 shatters the record for fewest U.S. tornadoes — 15% lower than previous record — 2013 also had the fewest U.S. forest fires since 1984

NY TIMES: OBAMACARE EXTENSIONS 'A SWEEPING EXERCISE OF EXECUTIVE POWER'

◼ On Christmas Eve, the Obama administration announced yet another Obamacare enrollment extension on its HealthCare.gov blog for anyone who claims to have missed the myriad sign-up deadlines due to problems with the website. - Wynton Hall/Breitbart

The New York Times called the announcement "vague" and noted that "it was not clear on Tuesday how many people would be affected, or how consumers would prove that website errors had prevented them from signing up by the deadline on Tuesday night."

The Obama administration announcement also failed to note when the "special enrollment period" would cease; however, White House spokesperson Tara McGuinness assured Americans it is not offering a "blanket extension" but will consider "assistance to individuals on a case-by-case basis."

Insurance industry experts say the White House's endless rounds of delays and shifting deadlines create more confusion and uncertainty in an already murky market.

◼ Sign-Up Period Extended Again for Health Plan - NYT

◼ POLL: OBAMACARE SUPPORT COLLAPSES TO RECORD LOW - John Nolte/Breitbart

On the very last day to sign up for ObamaCare before the end of the year, President Obama and his signature piece of legislation received more bad news via a sympathetic media outlet. A new CNN poll shows that support for ObamaCare has collapsed to just 35%, a new record low for this poll and a five-point drop in just 30 days. Opposition sits at a whopping 62%.

Remember: In 2008, when Obama was elected, 52 percent was considered a 'blowout' 'decisive' victory

◼ What to Do When ObamaCare Unravels: Health insurance should be individual, portable across jobs, states and providers, and lifelong and renewable. - JOhn H. Cochrane/Wall St. Journal
◼ A very nervous New Year’s for Obamacare - Politico
◼ Gallup: 25% of Dems call Obamacare president's 'biggest failure' - Paul Bedard/Washington Examiner

Fewer voters now identify themselves as “socially liberal” than they have in the past.

◼ A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 29% of Likely U.S. Voters now consider themselves liberal on social issues such as abortion, public prayer and church-state topics. That’s the lowest number of self-identified social liberals since early last year. - Rasmussen

Just as many (30%) consider themselves moderate on such issues, the highest since October 2012, while 37% say they are conservative, up four points from September.

Edward Snowden declares mission 'accomplished'

◼ National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden declared victory in his fight with the government, saying that his "mission's already accomplished." - Washington Examiner

In an interview published Tuesday in the Washington Post, Snowden said that his disclosures about the extent of NSA surveillance on phone and internet traffic had achieved his goal of sparking a debate over the nation's intelligence operations.

“For me, in terms of personal satisfaction, the mission’s already accomplished,” said Snowden. “I already won. As soon as the journalists were able to work, everything that I had been trying to do was validated."

"I didn’t want to change society. I wanted to give society a chance to determine if it should change itself,” Snowden said about his leaks....

“All I wanted was for the public to be able to have a say in how they are governed,” Snowden told the Washington Post. “That is a milestone we left a long time ago. Right now, all we are looking at are stretch goals.”

◼ "I am still working for the NSA right now. They are the only ones who don’t realize it." Says Edward Snowden. - Althouse
◼ Edward Snowden, after months of NSA revelations, says his mission’s accomplished - Barton Gellman/Washington Post

Snowden offered vignettes from his intelligence career and from his recent life as “an indoor cat” in Russia. But he consistently steered the conversation back to surveillance, democracy and the meaning of the documents he exposed....

The NSA’s business is “information dominance,” the use of other people’s secrets to shape events. At 29, Snowden upended the agency on its own turf....

By his own terms, Snowden succeeded beyond plausible ambition. The NSA, accustomed to watching without being watched, faces scrutiny it has not endured since the 1970s, or perhaps ever....

People who accuse him of disloyalty, he said, mistake his purpose.

“I am not trying to bring down the NSA, I am working to improve the NSA,” he said. “I am still working for the NSA right now. They are the only ones who don’t realize it.”

What entitled Snowden, now 30, to take on that responsibility?

“That whole question — who elected you? — inverts the model,” he said. “They elected me. The overseers.”

He named the chairmen of the Senate and House intelligence committees.

“Dianne Feinstein elected me when she asked softball questions” in committee hearings, he said. “Mike Rogers elected me when he kept these programs hidden. . . . The FISA court elected me when they decided to legislate from the bench on things that were far beyond the mandate of what that court was ever intended to do. The system failed comprehensively, and each level of oversight, each level of responsibility that should have addressed this, abdicated their responsibility.”

◼ Greenwald Snarks at MSNBC: I Defend Snowden Like You Defend Obama ’24 Hours a Day’ - Mediaite

The fight for “tolerance,” “liberation,” and “equality” therefore becomes a fight to destroy society through intolerance, oppression, and inequality

◼ The Intolerance Towards Normalcy - Political Hat

...They themselves will refuse to show the tolerance that they demand of others. This is because they define the views they disagree with as “intolerance,” “H8,” et al. and the opposition to those views as necessarily being for “tolerance” and against “H8″ regardless of the actual lack of tolerance or hatred that they show. ◼ In other words:

“It’s pretty simple: if your choices aren’t their choices, then your choices are wrong, illegitimate, and societally harmful....”

◼ ‘We Haven’t Won Yet’: GLAAD Calls For Broader Censorship - Pat Dollard
◼ The gay advocacy organization that pressured the A&E network into silencing Phil Robertson and Duck Dynasty has repeatedly called for censorship against content with which they disagree.... - Jake Hammer/Daily Caller
◼ 'Duck Dynasty' controversy should remind Christians what they stand for - Cal Thomas/Washington Examiner

The Tax Whammy of 2014

◼ (T)here are major storm clouds on the horizon and the coming torrent is all about taxes... - Larry Johnson/No Quarter

I did not realize we were facing so many new taxes or loss of deductions. I know what I am going to do–cut back on spending. But it does not stop there.

◼ New ObamaCare fees coming in 2014 - S.A. Miller and Geoff Earle/NY Post

The cost of President Obama’s massive health-care law will hit Americans in 2014 as new taxes pile up on their insurance premiums and on their income-tax bills.

Most insurers aren’t advertising the ObamaCare taxes that are added on to premiums, opting instead to discretely pass them on to customers while quietly lobbying lawmakers for a break.

But one insurance company, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama, laid bare the taxes on its bills with a separate line item for “Affordable Care Act Fees and Taxes.”

...But ObamaCare taxes don’t stop with health-plan premiums.

Americans also will pay hidden taxes, such as the 2.3 percent medical-device tax that will inflate the cost of items such as pacemakers, stents and prosthetic limbs.

Those with high out-of-pocket medical expenses also will get smaller income-tax deductions.
Americans are currently allowed to deduct expenses that exceed 7.5 percent of their annual income. The threshold jumps to 10 percent under ObamaCare, costing taxpayers about $15 billion over 10 years.

Then there’s the new Medicare tax.

"It’s probably just a coincidence. Let’s not get paranoid."

◼ BIZARRE RADIO MELTDOWN DURING NSA INTERVIEW 'We lost control of the software. It's all going nuts' - WND

Aaron Klein’s WABC Radio show experienced what the host called a “tech meltdown” while he was conducting a live, on-air interview with the lawyer who won an injunction against the National Security Agency’s collection of phone records.

Software used by the radio station dropped the guest, Larry Klayman, and listeners who had called in to ask Klayman questions were cut off in mid-sentence. Other callers could not be put on the air due to technical difficulties at the radio station.

Audio clips saved on an independent system played at the wrong time.

Klein’s headphones had massive feedback that could be heard on the air.

At one point, the WABC call screener said, “We lost control of the software. It’s all going nuts.”

The technical difficulties started on the show about 10 minutes prior to the Klayman interview. They subsided following the two segments that featured Klayman.

“In my three years of broadcasting at WABC we never had such a technological meltdown as we are having today,” Klein told the audience.

He continued: “Calls are dropping. We cant get the guests on. Once the guests are on they are dropping. We’ve had several meltdowns. Feedback from the microphone. I can barely broadcast. … However we are going to land this airplane and we’re going to have fun doing it.”

25 Examples of What America Would Be Like if We Were All Christian Conservative Tea Partiers

◼ 1) …There would be fewer regulations, lower taxes, a business-friendly environment, and a much smaller government that would lead to considerably stronger economic growth and job creation. In fact, we’d probably have to dramatically increase the number of work permits we hand out to foreign workers, not because there are “jobs Americans won’t do” (which don’t actually exist), but because so many Americans would be employed that we’d have to bring in more people to do all of the available work. - John Hawkins/Right Wing News
2) …The richest Americans would have more money. Of course, so would the middle class and the poor. In fact, the only Americans who wouldn’t benefit economically would be the Americans who spend their lives relying on the government, instead of their own effort, to pay their bills.... read the rest at the link

Egypt Is Ahead of Us

◼ Is our State Department paying attention? - The Other McCain
◼ Egypt names Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group - AP

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's military-backed interim government declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization Wednesday, intensifying its campaign of arrests and prosecutions targeting its members and tightening the noose on the group's network of charities and businesses.

The unprecedented executive decision likely ends any chance of reconciliation between the government and the 85-year-old Brotherhood, still Egypt's most organized political group. It marks a stunning reversal of fortunes for the long-outlawed organization that saw member Mohammed Morsi reach Egypt's highest office in the country's first democratic election, only to be ousted in a popularly backed military coup in July....

The declaration comes after another sweeping decision Tuesday aimed at draining the Brotherhood's finances by freezing the funds of more than 1,000 non-government organizations with links to the group and putting more than 100 schools run by the group under government supervision. That directly attacks the grassroots strength of the Brotherhood, where it has much of its power in Egyptian life.

Eissa said Wednesday's decision means that those who "participate in the group's activities, in the organization or promotion verbally or by writing or by any other means or financing its activities" will be facing punishment according to the law.

"It's not possible for Egypt the state nor Egypt the people to submit to the Muslim Brotherhood terrorism," Eissa said.

Into Year 6, Obama admits he’s clueless

◼ Waltzing into office five years ago with the media’s shameless aid on a high-school-style campaign pledge of “Hope and Change,” the former community organizer from Chicago spent his last press conference of the year apologizing for everything he’s done wrong — then announcing he’s “eager to skip town” to Hawaii for “a couple days of sleep and sun.” - Joseph Curl/Washington Times

One truly has to wonder how the vaunted White House staff of advisers and sycophants came up with the battle plan for Friday’s presser, the last of a terrible year: “Hey, what if he goes out, lists all the things he did wrong, apologizes repeatedly, then promises to do better next year? Anyone? OK, how about he goes out and makes a few balloon animals. C’mon, gimme’ some help, people!”

Sure, he had a compliant press filling the White House briefing room, ready to lob softballs, but still, he’d have to explain a lot: The Obamacare mess, the NSA spying debacle, America’s appeasement of Iran, the gridlock on Capitol Hill that he engendered — the list goes on and on. Perhaps that explains why he was nearly 20 minutes late to his own press conference.

◼ He faked it until he failed. - Discussion at Lucianne

George Washington crosses the Delaware on Christmas 1776

◼ As most Americans celebrate Christmas today, it's worth taking a moment to remember that on this day in 1776, Gen. George Washington made a daring crossing of the Delaware River to win a surprise victory in the Battle of Trenton. - Philip Klein/Washington Examiner @philipklein

Wishing you Joy and Peace at Christmas and throughout the New Year

"Christmas is a state of mind. It is found throughout the year whenever faith overcomes doubt...love triumphs over hate." -Ronald Reagan

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year from the Rubio Family, Paul Ryan & Elizabeth Emken

◼ Paul Ryan - 4 degrees on Christmas Eve! A perfect Wisconsin day for sledding. Merry Christmas!

◼ Elizabeth Emken - May the Christmas season fill your home with laughter and your heart with love and joy. -e

Merry Christmas!

◼ Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Deck the Halls and all that jazz - Protein Wisdom
◼ Merry Christmas - Ace Of Spades
◼ WHY DECEMBER 25? - Eric Erickson/Human Events
◼ Merry Christmas - Larry Johnson/No Quarter



◼ A blessed and joyous Christmas to all our readers! - Ed Morrissey/HotAir
◼ Merry Christmas - Red State
◼ I hope you and yours are happy, healthy, and safe. I don’t know many of you in real life, but this is a great community of people. You guys make me laugh, beat my head against the wall, smile, and think. Thanks for making my life richer. - Patterico

◼ Official NORAD Santa Tracker

Women declare War on Obamacare

◼ “Nearly all of the newfound opposition is coming from women.” - Le-gal In-sur-rec-tion

Oh, the irony.

“Opposition to Obamacare rose six points among women, from 54% in November to 60% now, while opinion of the new law remained virtually unchanged among men,” CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said. “That’s bad news for an administration that is reaching out to moms across the country in an effort to make Obamacare a success.”

And:
◼ Obamacare Is a Bad Deal for Young People - Heritage

Johnson, unlike his most recent predecessors, has never actually held an executive position governing a state or managing a complex organization. Let me summarize his relevant experience in border security, port security, airport security or immigration enforcement: Zero. Zip. Nada.

◼ THE CRONY OBAMA DONORS IN CHARGE OF DHS - Michelle Malkin/Human Events

In a recent interview with a legal website, Johnson cheerfully bragged that his initial “foray into national security was a fluke, really. The Clinton White House recruited me to be general counsel of the Air Force. I had no idea what the job was about, had never been in the military and had never set foot in the Pentagon.”

Yep, a “fluke.” That’s a public confidence booster, huh?

Johnson counts among the “big breaks” in his life a fateful meeting with Obama in 2006. He went on to shovel gobs of money into Obama’s campaigns and Democratic coffers. In 2008, this top campaign finance bundler served on the Team Obama transition team. Next, Johnson found himself — like the feather floating in “Forrest Gump” — appointed to the position of general counsel at the Defense Department. He was “involved” in ending the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and reportedly “oversaw” the use of unmanned drone strikes in Iraq and Afghanistan.

White House aides claim that Johnson is a “respected national security leader.” But respected by whom (other than Democratic fundraisers) the administration will not say.

...The inmates are running the asylum. Homeland security threats and ciphers are running the homeland security department. God help us all.

Whenever three-fourths of the public says government is the country’s biggest problem, that majority includes millions of non-ideological independents and moderates who just want to see American optimism and prosperity restored. They are more open to the conservative message now than they have been since 1980. So, don’t screw it up, Republicans.

◼ Only Republicans can prevent a conservative renaissance - Washington Examiner Editorial

This new consensus is seen in the Gallup poll's finding that three-fourths of Americans view Big Government as the most serious threat to the nation's health. Similarly, the latest Rasmussen Report finds strong majorities support “smaller government with fewer services and lower taxes.” In such a context, Republicans should be poised to regain control of both chambers of Congress in the 2014 election and then elect the next president in 2016.

But the biggest obstacles standing in the way of such renewed GOP success are the two camps that dominate the Republican field, the party's Washington establishment and its Tea Party-led grassroots. Each camp had better sober up about what is required to put the nation back on the right course and how either of them could sabotage the effort.

The establishment GOP must recognize their credibility is also in tatters. For too many years, party leaders promised less spending and elimination of wasteful, duplicative and corrupt federal programs. But it was business as usual in Washington when Republican leaders had the power to deliver on their talk. Today, party leaders will cause more electoral disasters if they think merely talking conservative reform will restore them to power.

Celebrate the year of Ted Cruz with 74 of his best quotes of 2013

◼ To celebrate Cruz’s unprecedented first year in the Senate, here are 74 of his best quotes of the year: - Charlie Spiering/Washington Examiner @charlesspiering via HYR

#6. Doing something right

“Let me say that the fact that the mainstream media and the New York Times is so hysterical about what I’m doing — to me frankly suggests that we’re doing something right. Because I tell ya, I ain’t here workin’ for the New York Times."

– Cruz responding to media criticism

12. Look around

“A friend of mine, a Hispanic entrepreneur asked me a question some time ago. He said, ‘When is the last time you saw a Hispanic panhandler?’ I think it’s a great question.

– Cruz on hard-working Hispanics

13. Take us to your leader

"I am perfectly happy to compromise and work with anybody. Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians. I’ll work with Martians. If — and the if is critical — they're willing to cut spending and reduce the debt."

– Cruz on his willingness to compromise

"The Talk"

(Photo: Wayne Dupree Show/Facebook)

◼ GOP should try again to delay Obamacare's individual mandate - Byron York/Washington Examiner @ByronYork

Last July, after President Obama unilaterally delayed the Obamacare employer mandate for a year, House Republicans asked why the break should apply only to businesses. Why shouldn't individuals be relieved of the burden, too?

So the House voted, 251 to 174, to delay the individual mandate. Twenty-two Democrats joined Republicans in voting for delay. A total of 174 Democrats voted to keep the mandate as is.

Of course the move went nowhere in the Democratic-controlled Senate. But that was before Obamacare implementation began Oct. 1. It was before the canceled policies, the higher premiums, the higher deductibles, and narrower doctor networks that have come to define Obamacare for millions of Americans....

A clean vote on the individual mandate would be infinitely more effective for Republicans. That's not to say it would succeed. Of course, many House Democrats will still vote against delay, and Senate Democrats will kill it.

But Republicans held dozens and dozens of votes on Obamacare in years past when the public had little idea what was at stake. Republicans warned that Obamacare would be a disaster, but voters didn't know what was coming. Now, they do. Maybe it's time for the House to start voting again.
__________________
HAVE "THE TALK:"
◼ About Common Core
◼ About Benghazi
◼ About Gun Control
◼ About The IRS targeting Conservatives
◼ About Government Invasion of Privacy
◼ About The NSA spying on all Americans
◼ About The Obama SCANDALS
◼ About Fast and Furious gunrunning
◼ About the Propaganda
◼ About the lies...
◼ And yes, about Obamacare

Even if they were intellectually rigorous, these unitary standards would imperil individual liberty, parental rights, and local stewardship of education because they define official knowledge that will be subject to boundless political manipulation.

◼ IS COMMON CORE “RIGOROUS,” OR MORE NEARLY THE OPPOSITE? - Robert Holland/Human Events

◼ WHY PUBLIC EDUCATION IS SO CONTENTIOUS - Neal McCluskey/Human Events

Public schooling politics is a zero-sum game: all people pay in, but only those with political power get control. That is exactly why public schools drive such vitriol and anger. It is like politics generally, but with the emotionally charged, added stakes that people’s children and, often, their basic values, hang in the balance. Making matters worse is that basic decisions about crucial questions—including who is held “accountable,” how, and what children will learn—have for roughly 50 years been increasingly made at the federal level. As a result, people who want something different can’t move to another district or even state. There is no more flight. There is only fight.

...Ultimately, understanding why public schools are the source of unceasing conflict—and why it worsens the more that control is centralized—requires the simplest of logic: One government school system cannot possibly serve all, diverse people equally. And the higher decision-making goes, the more diversity the monolithic system quashes.

Government schooling essentially guarantees war without end, and increasing centralization only puts peace further out of reach.
__________________
◼ More links regarding Common Core

◼ Attention, parents: Common Core opt-out form available HERE - Michelle Malkin

OBAMACARE SIGN-UP DEADLINE TODAYUPDATE: Administration Extends Deadline for Obamacare Sign-Up Through Christmas Eve

◼ The deadline for enrolling in Obamacare is today and the newest poll shows approval rating for it is at all-time low. - HOTAIR

CNN poll: ObamaCare support cratering at 35/62... By the way, the opposition to ObamaCare is nearly identical for all income types. The approval rating for those making less than $50K is 35/60; above $50K, it’s 36/63. Among those 18-34 years of age, the approval rating is 38/59. That’s bad news for Democrats.

◼ Want coverage on Jan. 1? Today is your last chance to get it. - Sam Baker/NATIONAL JOURNAL

There are still another three months to buy coverage, but a lot of people need it on Jan. 1. It's an important deadline for people with preexisting conditions who had been priced out or overtly locked out of the individual insurance market and are now eager to get covered. And it's an important deadline for the millions of people whose insurance policies were canceled because of the Affordable Care Act.

Both groups were largely unable to shop for new plans in October and most of November, when HealthCare.gov was mired in technological problems. The White House has reported an enrollment surge in December, ahead of the deadline to sign up in time for Jan. 1—the earliest possible start date for plans sold through the law's insurance exchanges.

Critics have raised the possibility that because of plan cancellations and the broken website, more people will have lost coverage on Jan. 1 than gained it.

◼ HEALTH PLAN STICKER SHOCK AHEAD FOR SOME BUYERS - AP via BREITBART

Increasingly, experts in health insurance are becoming concerned that many of these first-time buyers will be in for a shock when they get medical care next year and discover they're on the hook for most of the initial cost.

The prospect of sticker shock after Jan. 1, when those who sign up for policies now can begin getting coverage, is seen as a looming problem for a new national system that has been plagued by trouble since the new marketplaces went online in the states in October.

For those without insurance _ about 15 percent of the population_ "the lesson is it's important to understand the total cost of ownership of a plan," said Matt Eyles, a vice president of Avalere Health, a market analysis firm. "You just don't want to look only at the premium."

◼ Administration Secretly Extends Deadline for Obamacare Sign-Up Through Christmas Eve - Eliana Johnson/National Review

The clock to sign up for Obamacare coverage that begins January 1 was supposed to run out at midnight on Monday, but administration officials have extended it 24 hours, through Christmas eve, according to the Washington Post. The Post reports that they did so without any public announcement of the change:

Over the weekend, government officials and outside IT contractors working on the online marketplace’s computer system made a software change that automatically gives people a Jan. 1 start date for their new coverage as long as they enroll by 11:59 p.m. on Christmas Eve.

RT @Doc_0: @MelissaTweets If you enroll today, insurance MIGHT be yours on Jan 1. It's like a lottery. And we all love lotteries, right?

— Melissa Clouthier (@MelissaTweets) December 23, 2013

On the 12th day of ObamaCare, Democrats gave to me twelve parts delaying, online hackers stealing, lots of paychecks shrinking, all the unions begging, coverage a’ dropping, businesses-a-closing,

...six-in-ten disapprovin', five million cancelled plans, Four-Oh-Four errors, fewer physicians, two times the cost and a nightmare for my family.

◼ link

It seems Jesse Jackson, the alleged “reverend” who once smeared all Jews as “Hymies” and the city of New York as “Hymietown,” is not too happy with the fact that A&E decided to bring Phil Robertson back, and told Newsmax’s Steve Malzberg Show that Robertson needs to be more “repentant” and “contrite” for espousing the Christian position on gays — that while God hates sin, He loves the sinner and we are all sinners in His eyes.

◼ Jesse Jackson demands Phil Robertson ‘repent’ for espousing Christian stand on gays - Wyane Dupree/NewsNinja

In short, Jackson wants Robertson to essentially turn his back on biblical teachings of the subject.

Most recently, he demanded executives from A&E and Cracker Barrel meet with him over Robertson’s comments in what appeared to be part of an effort to secure some form of sanctions from the two companies....

Robertson, however, has said that he won’t back down.

Duck Off: "You will be made to care."

◼ I’m not a fan of Duck Dynasty. There, I said it. I know that’s not something a conservative is supposed to say because we’re all stereotypes in the eyes of progressives, but I had to unburden myself of that. It’s nothing personal, it’s just, to steal a line from Bob Dylan, not my cup of meat. - Derek Hunter/Townhall

So when I first heard the story that Robertson patriarch Phil made “anti-gay remarks,” I didn’t really care. Most Americans didn’t care either. But, as my friend Erick Erickson says, “You will be made to care.”

...For his words, Phil Robertson has been labeled “anti-gay” and “intolerant.” Those labeling him have routinely mocked him as ignorant, stupid, a redneck, hillbilly, trash and pretty much every pejorative you can think of to describe someone of his background. How tolerant.

Tolerance is a one-way street, and it has nothing to do with tolerance at all....

We have gone from the Land of the Free to the family living in fear in the Twilight Zone episode “It’s a Good Life.” Upset the child with enormous powers and be thought out of existence.

I’m generally indifferent on so-called “gay issues.” I don’t care what anyone does in their personal lives as long as whoever they do it with is old enough and willing. I oppose gay marriage on grounds of language, not morality. On the issue of sin – it’s not government’s job and they can explain their lives to God, as I’ll have to explain mine. But fascism is fascism, and it has to stop.

It has to stop not only from gay groups, but from every progressive victim-porn peddler organization. And for their own good, too. If they care at all, and I mean really care, about the causes they claim to fight for, crying “wolf” will serve only to numb the public to real affronts to individuals by others.

◼ If it talks like a duck: Is America at war with itself? - FRANK MIELE/Daily Inter Lake

I can honestly say that the last thing I wanted to write about on the Sunday before Christmas was “Duck Dynasty.”

Nonetheless, as I read about the continuing controversy over the comments made by “Dynasty” star Phil Robertson regarding homosexuality, I started to feel like it might be a topic worth exploring.

Let me say first off that I have never watched an episode of “Duck Dynasty,” and don’t plan to start now... (But...)

This has nothing at all to do with whether A&E gives Phil Robertson and his family a TV show, which is why the controversy over “Duck Dynasty” is overblown.

But it has everything to do with Phil Robertson’s belief system, and that is why the controversy could be just the start of a larger backlash against those forces that want to criminalize Christianity.

We already know the people who hate Phil Robertson hate him because of what he stands for; now we are waiting to find out whether the people who support Robertson like him because he has a long beard and talks funny or because they identify with his values.

If it is the latter, then Robertson may turn out to be more than just a reality TV star; he may be an unlikely culture hero whose plainspoken words reveal the growing rift in American society and force it to be addressed.

No wonder A&E is scared. That may be just a bit too much reality for reality TV.
________________
On a lighter note:



◼ Cracker Barrel: "We screwed up big time... We were flat out wrong....Our intent was to avoid offending but that’s just what we’ve done... You told us we made a mistake. And, you weren’t shy about it. You wrote, you called and you took to social media to express your thoughts and feelings.... Today, we are putting all our Duck Dynasty products back in our stores,” Cracker Barrel stated. “And, we apologize for offending you." - Todd Stanes/FOX

◼ 'Duck Dynasty': Twitter Blocks 'iStandWithPhil.com' Content... Links to the pro-Phil Robertson online petition drive have been flagged for content on the social media platform. - Hollywood Reporter
________________
◼ Watch back episodes of DUCK DYNASTY at A&E.

More Obama Propaganda Revealed:

◼ ‘Pajama boy’ is an OFA employee who attended UW-Madison - HotAir

Of course he is. The Washington Examiner’s Charlie Spiering lands, er, “the scoop:”

After I found Pajamaboy Ethan Krupp he made his Instagram account private and deleted his YouTube account http://t.co/z3QB8OWiLM

— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) December 19, 2013

It looks like he hurriedly deleted his Twitter account, too. You embarrassed, bro? Mr. Krupp appears to have graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Madison just last winter, suggesting that he may be eligible to remain on his parents’ healthcare plan for several more years under Obamacare. Why would such a “child” need to have “the talk” with his parents?

◼ Meet Ethan Krupp: Pajamacare boy and Organizing for Action employee - Charlie Spiering/Washington Examiner @CharlieSpiering

I do get tired of your hissing and fizzing about the noble sex to which I belong. Mercy, I cry. It is not my fault that Michael Douglas didn’t marry you. He didn’t marry me either, but I don’t hate men because of it. (In fact I am grateful to him, and doubtless he to me).

◼ Is Maureen Dowd Obsolete? - Fred Reed
◼ Gender in the 21st Century: Be it resolved, men are obsolete… - Munk Debates

On the 11th day of ObamaCare, Democrats gave to me online hackers stealing, lots of paychecks shrinking, all the unions begging, coverage a’ dropping, businesses-a-closing, six-in-ten disapprovin',

...five million cancelled plans, Four-Oh-Four errors, fewer physicians, two times the cost and a nightmare for my family.

◼ RNC

◼ Obamacare: Crash Of The Arrogant Amateurs - AJ Strata

I have been quietly watching the disaster that is “Obamacare” unfold over the last month. Watching as I see the collapse of a program so screwed up it boggles the imagination. So screwed up, because it is the nexus of shallow, liberal thinking.

...This debacle is a great example of liberal thinking. You know the kind. Where a cursory assessment by a self-proclaimed genius decides the entire human race had missed the obvious. That a simple fix could right an infinite number of wrongs in a very complex environment covering 100′s of millions of patients and tens of millions of care givers would fix wrongs introduced by reality. Like the “wrong” of having genes that predispose some to illnesses and not others.

Some things cannot be fixed via policy. Liberals have yet to become enlightened enough to grasp this fact.

The fact is: life is diverse. Therefore life creates diverse strengths and weaknesses. Instead of trying to level the playing field, humanity should be leveling the opportunities, and expanding the resources that lift those up who need a bit of a hand. Not tear everyone down to a lesser state.

Right now, Obamacare is creating more uninsured. It is doing this by dramatically RAISING the cost of health care (premiums and deductibles). The administration is doing this to cover a few people who did not have the financial resources or support to deal with serious illnesses and conditions. Is this a good trade? Obviously not.

Worse yet, Obamacare attempts to cover the elderly and sick by sticking the bill to the young and the healthy.