Some days, my posts just seem to write themselves.

Approximately 16 hours ago,  USA Today published an opinion piece by former Massachusetts Governor, and favorite of the GOP Elite, Mitt Romney.

Entitled Romney: As first act, out with ObamaCare, the editorial begins with the following:

Health care is more than just one-sixth of the American economy. It is a source of well-being for individuals and families. We are blessed with much that is good in American health care. But we have taken a turn for the worse with ObamaCare, with its high taxes and vastly expanded federal control over our lives. I believe the better course is to empower the states to determine their own health care futures.

First, the good news: Health care in the United States has made remarkable advances in our lifetimes. Dramatic improvements in medical technology have expanded both the length and quality of life. And the U.S. health care system continues to provide consumers with many choices.

But our health care system has several well-known problems: high and rising costs, significant numbers of Americans without insurance, and glaring gaps in quality and efficiency.

We can fix these problems. Unfortunately, with the passage of ObamaCare last year, the president and the Congress took a wrong turn. ObamaCare will lead to more spending, greater federal involvement in health care and negative effects on U.S. economic activity. The president definitely forgot the admonition to “do no harm.”

My plan is to harness the power of markets to drive positive change in health insurance and health care. And we can do so with state flexibility (unlike ObamaCare’s top-down federal approach), no new taxes (as opposed to hundreds of billions of dollars of new taxes under ObamaCare), and better consumer choice (as opposed to bureaucratic, government choice under ObamaCare). This change of direction offers our best hope of preserving both innovation and value.

If I am elected president, I will issue on my first day in office an executive order paving the way for waivers from ObamaCare for all 50 states. Subsequently, I will call on Congress to fully repeal ObamaCare.

The needle on my Irony Meter just pegged so hard it snapped in two.

Back in 2006, Romney was singing a different tune as he signed a massive health-insurance overhaul into law as Governor of Massachusetts. “Romneycare” was packed with subsidies, exchanges, and mandates to extend coverage to the uninsured. Four years later, it became the model for the national nightmare known as Obamacare, the very National Healthcare Law that he now promises to eliminate.

During a New Hampshire Presidential Campaign Debate on Jan. 6, 2008, the following revealing moment transpired:

Debate moderator Charles Gibson of ABC News: “But Gov. Romney’s system has mandates in Massachusetts, although you backed away from mandates on a national basis.”

Romney: “No, no, I like mandates. The mandates work.”

GOP contender Fred Thompson: “I beg your pardon? I didn’t know you were going to admit that. You like mandates.”

Romney: “Oh, absolutely. Let me tell you what kind of mandates I like, Fred, which is this. If it weren’t –“

Thompson: “The ones you come up with. Bingo”

Later, during an April 19, 2010 interview with Newsweek’s Andrew Romano, Governor Romney added the following:

I’d like to clear something up about that federalist argument. During one of the 2008 debates, Charles Gibson said, “You seem to have backed away from mandates on a national basis.” And your response was, “No, no, I like mandates. The mandates work.” Were you saying that you supported federal mandates then, even though you say you don’t now?

No. We created an incentive for people to get insurance at the state level. Our plan is a state plan. I oppose a federal plan for purposes of federalism. It would be like saying, a father has spanked his son. Do you think that the federal government should be allowed to spank children?

So people are misinterpreting that quote?

I do not favor the federal mandates that are part of Obamacare.

Back in February 2007, you said you hoped the Massachusetts plan would “become a model for the nation.” Would you agree that it has?

I don’t … You’re going to have to get that quote. That’s not exactly accurate, I don’t believe.

I can tell you exactly what it says: “I’m proud of what we’ve done. If Massachusetts succeeds in implementing it, then that will be a model for the nation.”

It is a model for the states to be able to learn from. During the campaign, I was asked if I was proposing that what I did in Massachusetts I would do for the nation. And the answer was absolutely not. Our plan is a state plan. It is a model for other states—if you will, the nation—it is a model for them to look at what we’ve accomplished and to better it or to create their own plans.

There are obvious similarities between Obamacare and what you did in Massachusetts. Do you acknowledge that what you did in Massachusetts has become a model for nation under Obama, whether you wanted it to or not?

I can’t speak for what the president has done. I don’t know what he looks at. He never gave me a call. Neither he nor any of his colleagues [gave me] a call to ask what worked and did not work, and how would they improve upon it and so forth. If what was done at the state level, they applied at the federal level, they made a mistake. It was not designed for the nation.

The lesson for today, boys and girls? 

When is a mandate not a mandate?

When Mitt Romney signs it into law, or course.

President Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmmm) made a re-election campaign stop along our border with Mexico, yesterday.

Speaking in El Paso, Texas, Obama, using the ghost of Osama bin Laden as a campaign prop, once again made the false analogy of those who have entered our country illegally, to our immigrants of previous generations who did not:

We define ourselves as a nation of immigrants — a nation that welcomes those willing to embrace America’s precepts.

It doesn’t matter where you come from. What matters is that you believe in the ideals on which we were founded, that you believe all of us are equal. In embracing America, you can become American. That is what makes this country great.

That’s the problem, Mr. President. These illegal immigrants love the land that they come from, more than they love the country they broke into.

Speaking in his usual I’m-smarter-than-you tones, Obama attacked Republican leaders for their unwavering stance on border issues:

All the stuff they asked for, we’ve done. I suspect there will be those who will try to move the goalposts one more time. … Maybe they’ll say we need a moat. Or alligators in the moat.

No moat, Mr. President. Nor alligators. America simply wants you to secure our border.  Now.

Obama continued:

They’ll never be satisfied. But that’s politics.

The most significant step we can take now to secure the borders is to fix the system as a whole so that fewer people have incentive to enter illegally in search of work in the first place. This would allow agents to focus on the worst threats on both of our borders — from drug traffickers to those who would come here to commit acts of violence or terror.

The system does not need fixing, Mr. President. The border fence needs building.

Covering himself, as to not seem too blatant in his recruitment of new Democratic voters, the president went on to say that Washington has to “secure the borders and enforce the law.” and business owners need to be punished for exploiting undocumented workers.

Regarding those who are illegally entering our country, Obama said that they have to admit they broke the law (Don’t hold your breath, Scooter.), pay taxes and a fine, learn English and be willing to undergo background checks before starting the legalization process.

The problem is, that would require an outbreak of personal responsibility. Again, don’t hold your breath waiting on that to happen, Mr. President.

The issue of illegal immigration remains a political hot potato, as evidenced by the Democratically-controlled Congress’ failure to pass the Dream Act when they had the opportunity to, at the end of last year.

Obama realizes the potential of the Latino population.  He was victorious in several Western states in 2008, such as Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada, partly on the emerging strength of the Latino vote. Democrats are hoping that Hispanic voters might swing traditionally Republican Arizona toward their side next year.

Which helps to explain why Obama’s Administration  is suing Arizona.

Obama received more than two-thirds of America’s Hispanic vote in 2008 with an approval rating among Hispanics holding around 68% during the first three months of this year, per polls commissioned by CNN.

How do average Americans feel about this Hot Button Issue?  Here are some headlines from RasmussenReports.com:

• 59% Favor Cutoff of Federal Funds to Sanctuary Cities
• 63% Still Believe Border Control Is Top Immigration Priority
• 61% Oppose U.S. Citizenship for Children Born to Illegal Immigrants
• 67% Favor Automatic Police Immigration Checks, Most Support Sanctions on Employers and Landlords
• More Voters Still Think Federal Government Encourages Illegal Immigration
• Voters Still Put Border Control Well Ahead of Legalizing Those Here Illegally
• Voters still strongly believe that gaining control of the border should be the legislative priority.
• 52% in California Say Current Policies of Federal Government Encourage Illegal Immigration
• 60% in Colorado Say Policies of Federal Government Encourage People to Enter the United States Illegally

A cursory glance at these headlines shows that the majority of Americas are absolutely not in agreement with the president on this issue.

So, why is he pushing it?

Simple.  The president needs voters. 

There are almost 12 million illegal immigrants living in the United States of America.  They total  five per cent of our country’s workforce.

By granting amnesty to these people who have broken into our country, as a burglar breaks into a home, as well as to their offspring, Obama and those who handle him, believe that they are strengthening the Democrat voter base, replenishing those ex-sycophants who figured out for themselves that Obama’s promise of Hope and Change, was not one of personal prosperity.

Hence, the illogical statement, heard time and again from Obama, that:

The most significant step we can take now to secure the borders is to fix the system as a whole so that fewer people have incentive to enter illegally in search of work in the first place.

Arizona rancher Robert Krentz, murdered on his own property by an illegal immigrant, would disagree.

You’re a Navy Chaplain. You’ve received a formal notification from the Office of the Chief of Navy Chaplains, instructing you that you have permission to perform the sacred ceremony of marriage for same sex couples, providing that homosexual marriage is legal in the state where the ceremony will be performed.  What do you do?

Far-fetched? Nope.

Per cnsnews.com, the notification was issued to all Navy Chaplains by the Chief of Navy Chaplains, Admiral Michael Tidd, on April 13th, 2011.

According to the advisory, the Chaplain Corps is bringing up-to-date its Tier I training manuals, which had previously ruled that same-sex marriages would not be authorized on federal property.

In the memo, Tidd inferred that chaplains need to be in lock-step with service-wide efforts underway to be more accepting of homosexuality and same-sex marriage as the end of the military policy on homosexuality nears.

Referencing “additional legal review” by Navy attorneys, the admiral said the Navy

…has concluded that, generally speaking, base facility use is sexual orientation neutral.

If the base is located in a state where same-sex marriage is legal, then the base facilities may be used to celebrate the marriage.

According to Admiral Tidd’s notification, chaplains now have permission to “marry” homosexual couples but the Navy will not force them to perform ceremonies:

Regarding chaplain participation, consistent with the tenets of his or her religious organization, a chaplain may officiate a same-sex, civil marriage: if it is conducted in accordance with the laws of the state which permits same-sex marriages or union; and if the chaplain is, according to applicable state and local laws, otherwise fully certified to officiate that state’s marriages.

Per Navy spokeswoman Alana Garas, the change was ordered, but then, she backtracked and told CNSNews.com that the document

…does not reflect a change in policy, but a change in Tier I training for Navy chaplains that looks forward to when Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is removed.

Which, according to her, will not happen until 60 days after the president, the secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff certify to Congress that repeal will not harm military readiness.

Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, is concerned that, in its haste to “hustle-in homosexuality,” the Navy may be violating federal law – the Defense of Marriage Act.

According to Steve Taylor, communications director for Akin:

Offering up federal facilities and federal employees for same-sex marriage violates DOMA, which is still the law of the land and is bound to the duties of our military, including chaplains.

The administration and various states may be operating as if DOMA doesn’t exist, but the Navy and Marine Corps and all the Armed Services are sworn to obey the law, which this new instruction violates.

Is this a violation of the Defense of Marriage Act?

Even if it is, the President of the United States of America and his Attorney General decided, in their infinite wisdom, that DOMA was unconstitutional this past February.

Per nytimes.com:

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced the decision in a letter to members of Congress. In it, he said the administration was taking the extraordinary step of refusing to defend the law, despite having done so during Mr. Obama’s first two years in the White House.

“The president and I have concluded that classifications based on sexual orientation” should be subjected to a strict legal test intended to block unfair discrimination, Mr. Holder wrote. As a result, he said, a crucial provision of the Defense of Marriage Act “is unconstitutional.”

Presidential Decree aside, Tom McClusky, senior vice president of government relations at the Family Research Council,still thinks that this is a violation of DOMA:

You’re talking about government facilities and government employees, so it would seem to be a direct violation of DOMA. I’m not seeing a lot of wiggle room there.

MCClusky reminds us that Conservatives had sounded the warning months ago that the push to repeal the military ban on homosexuality would lead to efforts to introduce same-sex marriage, but were made the subject of ridicule at the time:

This is what we thought was going to happen, and unfortunately now it’s happening.

Unfortunately, the military is getting out in front on this issue and when you have a president who doesn’t believe the Defense of Marriage Act is a law he needs to follow, it’s no surprise that the military would follow his lead.  The president may think he’s above the law, but he’s not. If he has a problem with the Defense of Marriage Act, that’s something that he needs to address legislatively, not just by ignoring it.

Homosexual Marriage is legal in only four of these United States, plus the District of Columbia, having been voted down by Americans in approximately 30 states.  The states that allow it are: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa and New Hampshire. Vermont recognizes civil unions. Maryland, New York and Rhode Island recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states.

Liberal Ideology is famous for having a predilection for Social Engineering.

But , why do they have to use our Best and Brightest as their Lab Rats?

KJ Udpate 10/11/11 9:22 a.m. – Per mywaynews.com, under pressure from 63 House lawmakers, the Navy late Tuesday abruptly reversed its decision that would have allowed chaplains to perform same-sex unions if the Pentagon decides to recognize openly gay military service later this year.

It sounds like the Congressional switchboard melted down…again.

The Obama Administration, less than a week after sending in a Navy Seal team to kill Osama bin Laden, authorized a missile strike against radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, hiding out in Yemen.

The drone missile strike occurred in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the Yemeni affiliate of al Qaeda. The problem is, we missed.

However,Yemeni officials reported that two al Qaeda operatives were killed in last Thursday’s strike.

Who is this  Radical Imam that the U.S. Government has put a “hit” out on?

Here are some facts about this Islamic Terrorist Leader:

• He is an American citizen, born in New Mexico in 1971, Anwar al-Awlaki was an imam at mosques in California, Colorado and Washington, D.C., from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s. He left the U.S. in 2002.
• He comes from a prominent family: His father was the minister of agriculture and a university president in Yemen.
• He is a Facebook aficionado: Devoutly supported by young Muslims, al-Awlaki has exploited social networking to spread his teachings. He has groups on Facebook and MySpace and his “fans” include American high school students.
• He advocates Jihad: Al-Awlaki’s extensive pro-Jihad writings include the essay, “44 Ways to Support Jihad” — considered a key text for al Qaeda members — which calls for young Muslims to receive arms training for potential battles. (Watch Anwar al-Awlaki lecture on religious zeal.)
• He hasn’t always preached extremism: In the weeks after 9/11, al-Awlaki spoke often with Western reporters about Islam, and condemned the World Trade Center attacks.
• He is allegedly linked to Osama Bin Laden: His links to al Qaeda were first suspected by U.S. authorities as long ago as 1999, when the FBI claims he had contact with one of Osama Bin Laden’s “procurement agents.”
• He had close ties to the 9/11 attackers: Two of the terrorists who hijacked Flight 77 and crashed it into the Pentagon on 9/11 had a “close relationship” with the imam in San Diego and in Washington, D.C. In the Congressional Joint Inquiry on 9/11, al-Awlaki is referred to as one of the terrorist’s “spiritual advisor.”
• Nidal Hasan was a member of his congregation: The Fort Hood shooter — who’s reported to view the imam’s teachings with “deep respect” — attended the Washington, D.C. mosque where al-Awlaki preached.
• The U.K. has censored him: Al-Awlaki was banned from speaking via teleconference at a London event in August 2009 that raised money for Muslims held at Guantánamo Bay.
• He has written in support of the Fort Hood shootings: Al-Awlaki posted comments on his website in support of the Fort Hood attack, calling Nidal Hasan a “hero” for fighting against “American tyranny.”
• He was “presumed” killed in a previous U.S.-backed military strike: When the Yemeni military attacked a gathering of al Qaeda leaders in a mountainous province of that country last Dec. 24, officials from Yemen and the U.S. announced that al-Alwaki was believed to have been present and was presumed dead.
• Reports of his death may have been premature: Just a few days after the attack, a Yemeni journalist said he’d been contacted by al-Awlaki and that the cleric was alive and well. Al-Awlaki claimed to have been a short distance away from the site of the attack.
• His preachings may have inspired the “Underwear Bomber”: Investigators in the U.K. think it’s possible that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was inspired by al-Awlaki’s teachings. Specifically, Abdulmutallab was tied to an advocacy group that has “championed” al-Awlaki.
• He has been approved for targeted killing (as demonstated last week.) CIA operatives have been given the “extremely rare, if not unprecedented,” go-ahead to capture or kill the U.S. citizen, given his danger to America as an al-Qaeda operative.
• Faisal Shahzad says al-Awlaki inspired him to act: The man charged with trying to set off a car bomb in Times Square has reportedly told law enforcement that he is a “fan and a follower” of al-Awlaki, and that the influential imam’s teachings motivated the attempted bombing.

In September, the Yemeni government said it had surrounded Awlaki in the village of Houta. Then, strangely. the Yemenis reported that they had captured two-dozen al Qaeda fighters and a “vital terror headquarters” instead of their primary target.

Hmmmm.

The Yemeni Government then released a statement saying that the military was still “combing the area, searching for militants before declaring the area safe for its residents to return.” The military says the battle began after a unsuccessful attack by AQAP on a pipeline. Thousands of civilians had to flee their homes in the wake of the fighting.

According to the Yemenis, Awlaki was near the village with a group of suspected al Qaeda militants. But a Yemeni diplomat who had spoken to military commanders on the scene told ABC News the Government had no confirmation that Awlaki was at the location.

It sounds like the Yemeni Government is playing games with us, doesn’t it? Either that, or they’re grossly incompetent.

Whatever’s going on, the Obama Administration had better not rely on the Yemeni Government for any more intel about Awlaki.

American lives are at stake.

Memphis made international news this week twice. Once for the flooding of the Mississippi River, which I detailed to you in yesterday’s post. The other news affected considerably fewer people than the flooding, but you would have thought that it was some sort of international incident.

Two Islamic religious leaders were asked to leave a commercial airliner in Memphis after the pilot refused to fly with them aboard.

Masudur Rahman and another Islamic leader had boarded their Delta Connection flight from Memphis, Tennessee, to Charlotte, North Carolina before they were unexpectedly asked to get off the plane.

The ironic thing is, the Muslim men were headed to a North American Imams conference, where the topic was Islamophobia or fears of Islam and discrimination against American Muslims.

According to  Rahman:

It’s racism and bias because of our religion and appearance and because of misinformation about our religion. If they understood Islam, they wouldn’t do this.

How can it be racism when it’s a religion comprised of people of several races?

Rahman recounted that he and Mohamed Zaghloul, both members of the Islamic Association of Greater Memphis, were cleared by the TSA and boarded the plane for an 8.40am departure.

After the plane left the gate, the pilot then announced the plane must return, per Rahman.

At that time, the men were asked to return to the boarding gate. When they got there, they were told the pilot was refusing to accept them because some other passengers could be uncomfortable.

Rahman said Delta officials conferred with the pilot for more than thirty minutes, but he still refused to fly with them aboard.

The men were escorted to a lounge and were booked on a later flight. They left for Charlotte later the same day.

According to Rahman, a Delta manager apologized for the pilot’s actions, but that he and Mr Zaghloul never met face-to-face with the pilot.

Both Muslims are Memphians. Rahman, an adjunct instructor of Arabic at the University of Memphis, was dressed in traditional Indian clothing.

Zaghloul was dressed in Arab clothing, including traditional headgear.

According to TSA spokesman, Jon Allen in Atlanta, the incident was not initiated by that agency.

A Delta Air Lines spokesman reported that the flight was operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines, which is also based in Atlanta.

Jarek Beem, a spokesman for Atlantic Southeast, said the incident was under investigation:

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused.

Rahman and Zaghloul have contacted the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the well-known and infamous Muslim civil rights and advocacy group in Washington, D.C.

I’m shocked.

Per spokesman Ibrahim Hooper, the group will follow up with the airline and with the TSA to help ensure such incidents do not continue to occur.

Here’s some background information about CAIR, per discoverthenetworks.org:

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) describes itself as a “non-profit, grassroots membership organization … established to promote a positive image of Islam and Muslims in America,” to protect Muslims from hate crimes and discrimination, and to present “an Islamic perspective on issues of importance to the American public.” According to the Council’s Director of Communications, Ibrahim Hooper, “We are similar to a Muslim NAACP.” As of June 2007, CAIR claimed 32 branch affiliates in the United States and one in Canada.

CAIR was co-founded in 1994 by Nihad Awad and Omar Ahmad, both of whom had close ties to the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), which was established by senior Hamas operative Mousa Abu Marzook and functioned as Hamas’ public relations and recruitment arm in the United States. Awad and Ahmad previously had served, respectively, as IAP’s Public Relations Director and President. Thus it can be said that CAIR was an outgrowth of IAP.

…From its inception, CAIR has sought to portray itself as a moderate, mainstream organization, and as early as 1996 its officials became frequent guests at State Department and White House events. In the aftermath of 9/11, when the Bush administration tried to reassure American Muslims that Islam was not the target of the war on terrorism, CAIR officials were prominent among the invitees. CAIR was the main Islamic group to gain U.S. media access in the post-9/11 period, providing the “Muslim view” of the terrorist attacks and of America’s response to them. As self-acclaimed Muslim spokesmen, CAIR officials typically refused to “simplify the situation” by blaming Osama bin Laden for the attacks on America. Moreover, while they eventually were induced by journalists to condemn Palestinian suicide terror in a pro forma manner, they hedged their disavowals by describing it as an understandable response to Israeli brutality.

These are Moderate Muslims?

Why did the pilot react like that?  Because, just like the rest of Americans, he’s on edge, due to the promised retaliation by Islamic Extremists over the assassination of Osama bin Laden.

And Rightfully so.

The other thing that contributes to average Americans’ uneasiness around Muslims,  who currently comprise just 1.5 % of our population, is the deafening silence by Moderate Muslims concerning the cowardly, murderous actions of their Islamic brethren.  Instead, outspoken groups like CAIR continue to fan the flames of distrust.

Until  Moderate Muslims start speaking up and condemning Islamic Terrorism, incidents like the one in Memphis will continue.

While President Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmmm) continued his victory lap in a clown car yesterday, in celebration of his gustsy call in ordering the death of Osama bin Laden, residents of the Mid-South were being forced out of their homes by the worst flood of the Mighty Mississippi River since 1937.

In my hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, volunteers and convicts have spent that last few days filling sandbags in an attempt to somehow stem the flooding of America’s largest waterway.

As of this morning, Ol’ Muddy was sitting at 46.2 feet, on it’s way to 48 feet by this Wednesday.  The community of Frayser, in North Memphis, is flooded, with one of it’s main throughfares, Highway 51 and Watkins, completely closed to traffic.

Riverside Drive and historic Beale Street are closed due to the backing up of storm drains.

Mud Island River Park, which you may have seen featured in the Tom Cruise movie, The Firm, is closed due to the flood, and the high income residential community, Harbor Town, on the other end of the island, is being evacuated , for reasons shown by the picture below.

And, for the first time in its history, the annual World Famous Memphis in May Barbeque Cook-off, which draws contestants from all over the world,  has had to be moved from Tom Lee Park, beside the river, to Tiger Lane, beside Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.

Bob Nations, director of emergency management for Shelby County, which includes Memphis, said there was still time to get out, with the crest not expected until Wednesday.

Speaking of the evacuation notices that they were handing out door-to-door, Nations said:

This does not mean that water is at your doorstep. This means you are in a high-impact area.

About 950 households in Memphis and about 135 other homes in Shelby County were getting the notices. Shelters were opened, and the fliers include a phone number to arrange transportation for people who need it.

Down in the Delta town of Tunica, Mississippi, reborn as Las Vegas South, the flooding is having a horrible impact.  Per commercialappeal.com:

Tunica County stands to lose $3.5 million in gaming revenue tax collections, and the state another $7 million, if the county’s nine casinos remain closed for all of May because of high water.

“The closing of our nine casino properties will only exacerbate an already major economic crisis on a state and local level,” Webster Franklin, CEO of the Tunica Convention & Visitors Bureau, said in releasing some startling economic impact numbers Tuesday.

…Numbers released Tuesday by the Tunica Convention & Visitors Bureau reveal the anticipated economic impact of flooding on Tunica’s casino operations:

Tunica’s nine casinos have averaged about $87 million in gross gaming revenue during May over the past three years. Based on that average, closing the casinos for all of May would mean a loss of about $10.5 million in state and local collections from the Mississippi gaming tax imposed on the gross revenues.

About 4,600 hotel rooms have been closed, meaning a loss of about $6.2 million in room revenue for the month based on a 75 percent occupancy rate.

About 38 percent of the total square footage of gaming space in the state, or about 521,410 square feet, is affected by the closings.

About 9,300 jobs, with a monthly payroll of about $18 million, have been lost temporarily. Most casinos have announced plans to compensate employees for at least two weeks’ pay while they’re off, but the circumstances vary from property to property.

After speaking to several  casino employees this week, I’ve been told that they’ve been encouraged by the casino human resources departments to file for Unemployment Compensation from the state of Mississippi while they are off work due to the flooding.

Workers from the Mississippi Department of Wildlife and Fish and from the Department of Homeland Security are assisting local law enforcement in keeping looters and the overly curious away from the casino properties.

Americans are suffering, where is the President of the United States? 

He’s been busy wrapping up his self-congratulatory-I-got-bin-Laden-Magical-Mystery-Tour, which included his first trip to Ground Zero in New York City since 2008.

Yesterday, he went to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, to congratulate those involved in the assassination of bin  Laden.  Of course, he gave a speech, making sure the cameras were catching every word.

Today, he gave his weekly address.  Did he mention the thousands of Americans being affected by the flooding of the Mississippi River?

Nope.  He spoke about Clean, Green (as in money) Energy.  Per whitehouse.gov:

Speaking to the American people from Indianapolis, Indiana, President Obama said that clean energy companies like Allison Transmissions will keep the economy growing, create new jobs, and make sure America remains the most prosperous nation on Earth.  Clean energy is also part of the ultimate solution to high gas prices.  Until we reduce our dependence on oil, we will be held hostage to the ups and downs of the oil markets.  That means we need to continue to invest in clean, alternative sources of energy – like advanced biofuels and natural gas – and more efficient cars, buses and trucks.

Great, while thousands of Americans are being effecting by the flooding and the recent Southern tornadoes, on top of the 1/6th receiving food stamps and all those who are unemployed, instead of addressing the suffering of Americans, Scooter is worried about making money for his buddy Jeffrey Immelt and his company G.E., and their pie-in-the-sky plans for building windmills to produce energy.  Meanwhile, gas prices continue to climb out of control and average Americans are struggling horribly to keep a roof over their heads.

And the President of the United States, like  Ol’ Man River, just keeps rollin’ along.

President Barack Hussein Obama’s (mm mmm mmmm) campaign stop at 9/11’s Ground Zero in New York City yesterday was strangely understated for a politician who is always ready to toot his own horn.  To quote the great Jim Treacher of The Daily Caller, the event was building up to have all the class of a victory lap in a clown car.  Of course, that was before his two predecessors, Presidents Clinton and Bush 43, backed out of attending yesterday’s photo op, forcing Obama to cancel his plans for a self-congratulatory speech.

While in New York City, Obama met with the firefighters serving at Engine 54, Ladder 4, Battalion 9, a station that lost 15 firefighter during the collapse of the Twin Towers. While there, he posed for the cameras and said:

This is a symbolic site of the extraordinary sacrifice that was made on that terrible day.

He later met with police before visiting the site of the most horrific Islamic Terrorist attack ever on U.S. Soil, a site which he has not taken the time to visit since 2008.

While at the site where 3,000 innocent people were murdered, he said that  the American pursuit of the bin Laden

…sent a message around the world but also sent a message here back home that when we say we will never forget, we mean what we say, that our commitment to making sure that justice is done is something that transcended politics, transcended party.

Making sure the cameras were on, Obama closed his eyes and clasped his hands where the twin towers of the World Trade Center once were a signature edifice in the Manhattan skyline.

Today, a 60 stories high contested memorial of fountains and reflecting pools note the place where the towers fell and Americans jumped to their deaths or were crushed under the weight of concrete and steel.

While at Ground Zero, Obama spoke with 50 administration-selected representatives of families who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001. Per freerepublic.com:

The administration apparently sent out form-letter invites to 50 hand-picked relatives of 9/11 victims, which began “Dear 9/11 family member.” At least one family has turned down the request, saying that they felt the letter was impersonal.

“If this form letter was the invitation, it was kinda lame,” said John Vigiano, who lost two heroic sons – one a firefighter and the other a police officer – in the attack. “I’m honored the president of the United States is coming to New York,” he said. “[But] to me it’s just going to be a photo op.”

While making his brief comments, Obama called for a new spirit of national unity. He spoke of the raid on bin Laden’s compound, saying that he hoped that bin Laden’s death showed the world that:

…we did what we said we were going to do, and that Americans, even in the midst of tragedy, will come together, across the years, across politics, across party, across administrations, to make sure that justice is done.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, dubbed by the press and his own PR people America’s Mayor, because of his leadership after the attack, appeared with Obama yesterday.

Some of those directed impacted by 9/11 did not think very highly of President Obama’s day-long photo op.

David Beamer, father of 9/11 hero Todd Beamer, told FOX News:

I feel some chagrin now, though, about how the rest of it has been handled. And frankly it started May Day, 2011 when the president announced what had happened. The excessive use of the personal pronoun that he used in his remarks, I really felt that was the beginning of the Commander-in-Chief putting too much spotlight on himself, taking too much credit for what the remarkable Americans had done. And of course it’s only now accelerated to a greater degree in the media.

He’s not the only one who was not impressed. Debra Burlingame, the sister of Charles “Chic” Burlingame (pilot of the plane that crashed into the Pentagon) , tried to bend Obama’s sizable ear yesterday. According to Burlingame, she confronted Obama about Attorney General Eric Holder prosecuting the men who interrogated KSM, which may have been responsible for intelligence leading us to bin Laden.

Burlingame recounts her conversation with The President of the United States:

As a former attorney I know you can’t tell the Attorney General what to do, he said, ‘No, I can’t.’ But I said ‘we — that shouldn’t stop you from giving your opinion. We wouldn’t be here today if they hadn’t done their jobs. Can’t you at least give them your opinion.’ And he said ‘no I won’t,’ and he turned around and walked away.

Sorry, Debra.  He’s can’t be bothered helping a bunch of Federal Government Employees.  He has to go congratulate a bunch of them….Huh?

Obama’s excellent campaign adventure continues today.

Per the Associated Press:

A White House official says President Barack Obama will meet with some of those involved in the military assault that killed Osama bin Laden when he visits Fort Campbell, Ky., on Friday.

A team of Navy SEALs raided a compound in Pakistan, killing the terrorist mastermind. Bin Laden was later buried at sea. Fort Campbell is home to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, which participated in the raid against bin Laden.

The aide requested anonymity to speak before the official announcement of Obama’s meeting.

And, finally, lest we all forget whose decision it was to kill bin Laden:

Per weeklystandard.com:

Obama’s not one to “spike the football” after a victory (or after killing Osama bin Laden), but it seems his campaign team (or some of his ardent supporters) doesn’t feel the same way. Check out http://www.gutsycall.com — it redirects users to Obama’s campaign website, http://www.barackobama.com. Could it be that his reelection campaign made this call? Or is it just a couple of his most steadfast supporters?

According to this domain lookup website, the website was purchased yesterday, May 4. The purchaser, though, remains anonymous.

Unbelievably presidential, huh?  Man, I miss George W.  Bush.  Heck, at this point, I may even miss Jimmy Carter….Naw…that’s who we have now…on steroids.

As United States President Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmmm) deals with the aftermath of the death of the world’s most famous Islamic Terrorist, he and his administration are trying to decide whether of not to release a photograph of Osama bin Laden, taken after our American Special Forces team assisted him in achieving room temperature.

The White House describes the photograph of a dead Osama bin Laden as “gruesome” and worries “it could be inflammatory” if released.

According to White House press secretary Jay Carney, the White House is trying to decide whether to make the photo public. Obama and his administration are concerned about the “sensitivity” of doing so. Carney admitted at yesterday’s daily press briefing that there is a discussion internally about the best to handle it but “there is not some roiling debate here about this.”

Monday, John Brennan, President Barack Obama’s top counter-terrorism adviser and well-known Muslim sympathizer, speaking on National Public Radio, said:

What we don’t want to do is to release anything that might be either misunderstood or that would cause other problems.

It’s way too late for that, Skippy.

In the preceding video, an Imam from the al-Asqa Mosque in Jersalem proclaims:

The western dogs are rejoicing after killing one of our Islamic lions. From Al-Aqsa Mosque, where the future caliphate will originate with the help of God, we say to them – the dogs will not rejoice too much for killing the lions. The dogs will remain dogs and the lion, even if he is dead, will remain a lion.

Speaking to Obama, he then says:

You personally instructed to kill Muslims. You should know that soon you’ll hang together with Bush Junior.

We are a nation of billions, a good nation. We’ll teach you about politics and military ways very soon, with god’s help.

Evidently, the Imam is not impressed by the full Muslim funeral that our forces gave bin Laden, just before they consigned him to Davy Jones’ Locker.

Per dailymail.uk.co:

Some Muslims yesterday disputed the U.S. claim that Bin Laden’s burial at sea was in accordance with Islamic tradition.

A U.S. government spokesman said it had been decided it would be difficult to find a country prepared to accept the body and then bury it within 24 hours of death as dictated by Islamic custom. But he said it had been instead respectfully interred in the waves of the Indian Ocean off Pakistan from the U.S. aircraft carrier the Carl Vinson.

Muslim scholars said that while sea burials have long been an occasional accepted necessity, there was no such need in this case.

The head of Egypt’s prestigious seat of Sunni Muslim learning, al-Azhar, said the sea burial ‘contradicts all the religious values and human norms’.

…Muslim clerics are predicting revenge attacks against American targets because of the way the government decided to dispose of the leader’s body.

A wide range of Islamic scholars interpreted it as a humiliating disregard for the standard Muslim practice of placing the body in a grave with the head pointed toward the holy city of Mecca.

Sea burials can be allowed, they said, but only in special cases where the death occurred aboard a ship far from the coast.

Mohammed al-Qubaisi, Dubai’s grand mufti, said about Bin Laden’s burial:

They can say they buried him at sea, but they cannot say they did it according to Islam. If the family does not want him, it’s really simple in Islam: You dig up a grave anywhere, even on a remote island, you say the prayers and that’s it.

Sea burials are permissible for Muslims in extraordinary circumstances. This is not one of them.

Other scholars said that even those who are criminals and murderers are given the Islamic rite of burial.

As the Muslim World reacts to the outcome of the mission known by the code name Geronimo, Obama prepares for a photo op…err…presidential excursion to Ground Zero this Thursday…alone.

Former President George W. Bush yesterday turned down President Barack Obama’s invitation to join him at ground zero, citing his desire to avoid the spotlight.

Bush spokesman David Sherzer told politico.com in an email Tuesday night:

President Bush appreciated the invite, but has chosen in his post-presidency to remain largely out of the spotlight.He continues to celebrate with all Americans this important victory in the war on terror.

Uh huh. It’s a little strange that the same guy who blasted Booosh! for going to Iraq, instead of going after bin Laden, now wants him to appear arm-in-arm with him at Ground Zero.

Obama has not been to Ground Zero, the site of the largest Islamic Terrorist ever on American soil, since 2008. The past two years, he has sent Vice-President Joe Biden to the memorial Services there on September 11th, instead of making the trip himself.

He is supposed to meet with family members of some of the victims, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and other local officials.

I’m pretty sure that Obama, whose announcement of the killing of bin Laden last Sunday night reminded of the old song, The Night has a Thousand Eyes (I’s),will be taking a victory lap this Thursday in New York City.

What I’m afraid of is, that, perhaps, he’ll also use the opportunity to reach out, as the son of a Muslim, to the Muslim World, and turn this moment of American justice into a second University of Cairo Speech.

And that would be inappropriate.

After some of America’s Best and Brightest, United States Seal Team 6, completed with extreme prejudice their mission against the Muslim Monster, Osama bin Laden, I was wondering what the Muslim World thought about the mission, its results, and the President of the United States who ordered it, Barack Hussein Obama (peace be upon him).

Some Arabs are mourning the mass murderer as a holy warrior and martyr, while others rightfully judge bin Laden as “pillar of evil” whose Holy Jihad against The Great Satan brought about a firestorm of hard feelings against Muslims throughout the world.

The death of the world’s best known Islamic Terrorist has illuminated the deep divide between subjects and rulers, radicals and moderates throughout the Muslim World.

The Palestinian Authority, embraced by Obama’s Administration, said that bin Laden’s killing was “good for the cause of peace.” Hamas, long known to be an Islamic beehive of Terrorist activity, is literally up in arms over the assassination of bin Laden.

Ismail Haniyeh, leader of the Hamas administration in Gaza, proclaimed:

We condemn the assassination and the killing of an Arab holy warrior. We regard this as a continuation of the American policy based on oppression and the shedding of Muslim and Arab blood.

Believe it or not,  Hamas is currently being challenged by al Qaeda-inspired groups that consider it too moderate.

The Muslims who believed bin Laden was a prophet of Allah, are having problems dealing with the fact that he’s gone. Other Muslims feel that he had it coming.

There are others who are claiming that the Islamic Revolution going on in the Mid-East is far more important that the killing of bin Laden in a raid by U.S. forces in Pakistan.

Nadim Houry of Human Rights Watch in Beirut does not seem too torn up by the whole thing:

Bin Laden is just a bad memory. The region has moved way beyond that, with massive broad-based upheavals that are game-changers.

There are those Muslims who think that bin Laden and al Qaeda brought catastrophe on the Muslim world with the attack on the Uniteds States as the U.S. hit back with two wars, in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the word “Islam” became forever intertwined with “terrorism.”

Mahmoud Sabbagh, a Saudi, on Twitter:

The damage bin Laden had caused Islam is beyond appalling and a collective shame.

Ahmed Saleh, a 58-year-old retired Palestinian, said:

The world is better without bin Laden. It has removed a pillar of evil from the world. His heinous actions were exploited to allow hostile policies toward the Arabs and Muslims.

Other Muslims think that Osama was justified in his murder of 3,000 innocents on September 11th, 2001.

According to Egyptian Abdullah Ali, a Salafist taxi driver in his 60s:

Bin Laden defended the dignity of Muslims and now the U.S. and the West will answer for their occupation.

Abdel-Qader Abu Shaaban, a 53-year-old Palestinian from Gaza, described bin Laden’s killing as “a very criminal act.”

Tareq al-Zumar of Egypt’s Islamist group al-Gama’a al-Islamiya, which took up arms against the state in the 1990s said:

Bin Laden will become a symbol of resistance to occupation… The U.S. killing of bin Laden will undoubtedly galvanize reaction and retaliation attempts.

Many Muslims in Saudi Arabia are grieving bin Laden. One man taking a cigarette break outside his office in Riyadh, said:

He would be a loss to all Muslims because he had good qualities. He portrayed Muslims in a good and strong way… He is the person that left the worldly riches for jihad.

No doubt these Muslims remember their joyous celebration upon hearing the news of the attack on September 11th, 2001:

So, what does the Muslim World think about their “son”,  President Barack Hussein Obama, who addressed them on June 4, 2009, at the University of Cairo, where he said:

As a student of history, I also know civilization’s debt to Islam. It was Islam — at places like Al-Azhar — that carried the light of learning through so many centuries, paving the way for Europe’s Renaissance and Enlightenment. It was innovation in Muslim communities — (applause) — it was innovation in Muslim communities that developed the order of algebra; our magnetic compass and tools of navigation; our mastery of pens and printing; our understanding of how disease spreads and how it can be healed. Islamic culture has given us majestic arches and soaring spires; timeless poetry and cherished music; elegant calligraphy and places of peaceful contemplation. And throughout history, Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality. (Applause.)

I also know that Islam has always been a part of America’s story. The first nation to recognize my country was Morocco. In signing the Treaty of Tripoli in 1796, our second President, John Adams, wrote, “The United States has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Muslims.” And since our founding, American Muslims have enriched the United States. They have fought in our wars, they have served in our government, they have stood for civil rights, they have started businesses, they have taught at our universities, they’ve excelled in our sports arenas, they’ve won Nobel Prizes, built our tallest building, and lit the Olympic Torch. And when the first Muslim American was recently elected to Congress, he took the oath to defend our Constitution using the same Holy Koran that one of our Founding Fathers — Thomas Jefferson — kept in his personal library. (Applause.)

So far, the silence is deafening.