From Cliff Thies:

AP is reporting that, with the permission of the family, cemetery workers quietly exhumed the body of Rudolf Hess, once the #3 man in the Nazi hierarchy, cremated it, and scattered the ashes over an undisclosed lake, as the burial site had become a shrine to neo-Nazis.

Hess had apparently become mentally ill while in Hitler's inner circle and, delusional, set off to negotiate a peace between Germany and Great Britain. He was immediately arrested and spent time in the historic Tower of London before his trial at Nuremberg. At Nuremberg, he was found guilty of conspiracy to wage war (but not of war crimes or crimes against humanity) and was given a life sentence. He eventually died, at the age of 93, in Spandau Prison in Berlin (which itself was subsequently demolished so as not to become a neo-Nazi shrine).

How could such a horror come out of a cultured people like the Germans, we may never know. But, we will never forget.

From Eric Dondero:

Yesterday, on the Senate floor. Blasting Democrats non-proposals on the national debt.

In plain English... The debt limit is a problem. But it is the least of your problems. The bigger problem is the debt. And if all you do is pass a limit on the debt, and if you don't come with a serious, substantial plan to deal with the debt, you're in big trouble.

From Cliff Thies:

A Democratic polling firm (PPP) has found that God has strong job approval ratings. "It," as they like to refer to God so as to be inoffensive, gets a relatively high approval rating of 56 percent in the area of animals, and a relatively low rating - for God - of only 50 percent in the area of natural disasters. I don't see any hypothetical match-ups in their survey, such as God versus Generic Human, but I'm thinking with these high approval numbers the "it" God doesn't have to worry too much about getting re-elected.

UPDATE: Via UK Daily Mail Online

Norway came under a double attack today in what is being described as the worst atrocity it has faced since the Second World War.

Terrorists are believed to be responsible for a massive car blast at a government office block in the capital Oslo and a man disguised as a police officer opened fire on an island hosting a youth summer camp.

. . .

More than 30 were killed - seven in Oslo and between 25 to 30 on Utoya Island, 50 miles north of the capital - where the prime minister Jens Stoltenberg had been due to attend the youth Labour Party event.

Coordinated multiple attack - much like Mumbai.

Photo credit: Allover Norway / Rex Features

By Jim Lagnese, Ran and Eric Dondero

DEVELOPING! At least one car bomb rocked Oslo, Norway, Friday July 22, 2011. One person is confirmed murdered. At least eight people have been hurt. The attack appears to have been directed at Norwegian parliamentary buildings and the Prime Minister's office. There is an unconfirmed report of a second explosion.

Stacy McCain at The Other McCain has more.

Video at YouTube:

More here at You Tube.

More here at You Tube.

"If the rating agencies are using the word you just used (default), it is not part of my vocabulary. Greece will pay its debt," -- Nicolas Sarkozy

by Eric Dondero

Felix Salmon at Reuters is reporting this morning:

The latest Greek bailout is done, and it involves Greece going into “selective default,” which is, yes, a kind of default.

This is a bail-in as well as a bail-out: while Greece is getting the €109 billion it needs to cover its fiscal deficit, both the official sector and the private sector are going to take losses on their loans to the country.

Cranmer blog agrees:

When you examine the ‘aid’ package agreed last night to bail out bankrupt Greece (again) and keep the euro afloat, it amounts to a default. When you borrow cash on agreed terms and repayments cease because your bank account is empty, you’re not suffering a temporary cash-flow problem: you’re bankrupt. So if the lender should be stupid enough to lend you even more cash simply to enable you to go on paying him, it doesn’t take a dumbed-down GCSE in maths to work out that this money merry-go-round is a fiscal illusion. But this has been hailed as another great triumph of EU solidarity, and so Presidents Barosso, Van Rompuy and Papandreou drank champagne into the early hours of the morning, in awe of their economic flair and wonder at their political skill.

But while they call it ‘aid’, ‘restructuring’ and a ‘comprehensive agreement’, it amounts to default.

How will world markets greet the news in the coming hours and days is anyone's guess? Though, it may take a while to properly interpret the "euro-speak" for financial analysts to get a true grip on the situation.

Photo credit - UpdatesForo

From Eric Dondero:

From MSNBC "Army: Muslim soldier opposed to war is AWOL" July 21:

The Army says a Muslim soldier from Fort Campbell who won conscientious objector status but then was charged with possessing child pornography has gone AWOL.

Spokesman Rick Rzepka said Wednesday that Pfc. Naser Abdo has been absent without leave since the July 4th weekend.

Abdo, a 21-year-old infantry soldier, had applied for conscientious objector status last year saying his Muslim beliefs prohibited his service in any war.

On his refusal to be deployed to Afghanistan:

“As a Muslim, we stand against injustice, we stand against discrimination, and I feel it's my duty as an individual to do this.”

Abdo has been charged with possession of 34 images of child pornography on his personal computer.

Editor's comment - Let's see now? Places he might have fled too to avoid capture. Yemen? Somalia? Chechnya? Dearborn, Michigan? Berkely, California?

Tax-funded Parks should Honor all Vets - Yanks and Johnny Rebs

From Cliff Thies:

From Loop21.com:

Dixie ain’t dead! 150 years after the first shot rang out in the Civil War, Alabamans are still paying a little-known tax that was designed to take care of the veterans who fought in it.

The property tax once funded the Alabama Confederate Soldiers' Home, which closed down 72 years ago. Now, the tax is used to pay for Confederate Memorial Park, which sits on the same land as the old Soldiers’ home.

Tax experts have noted that they don’t know of any other taxes like this that are connected to the Civil War. One black legislator, State Rep. Alvin Holmes, has vowed to try and get rid of the tax.

We in the libertarian wing of the GOP (Republican Liberty Caucus - RLC.org) honor all those who fought honorably in war, both the Johnny Rebs and the Billie Yanks, and all those in our armies and in the armies of nations with which we were once at war, but it is time to bury the hatchet and smoke the peace pipe. We should not have a Confederate Memorial separate from any other memorial, and if the parks of a state are generally supported by contributions and trust funds, then this one should be as well. One more thing, our flag is the American flag.

Photo credit - AL.com

From Cliff Thies:

Intrade, one of the foremost gambling parlors in the world, now tabs Texas Governor Rick Perry as the favorite to win the Republican nomination, 33 to 32 percent, over former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is a distant third, at 10 percent. Others are tabbed in the single digits.

From the Washington Times"Among bettors, Perry now bests Romney for 2012 nod":

Mr. Perry’s nomination odds reached a high of 33 percent Thursday morning, eclipsing Mr. Romney for the first time. Mr. Romney, trading at 32 percent, had been Intrade’s 2012 favorite since betting on the GOP nomination began in 2008 and had even consolidated his front-runner status in recent months as his opponents stumbled and other would-be challengers opted not to run.

From Eric Dondero:

Pretty amazing that the Donald has kind words for any other Republican. But his view on Congresswoman and rising star presidential candidate Michele Bachmann is suprisingly positive.

Trump said on a recent CNN interview with Pierce Morgan (via Newsmax):

Michele Bachmann as a bright light in the Republican race for the presidential nomination. “I think she’s a very underrated person,” Trump told CNN’s Piers Morgan during a phone interview.

Trump, who decided not to run for the Republican nomination himself, said he “was very impressed with her” when the Minnesota congresswoman and founder of the House Tea Party Caucus visited him recently in New York City.

From Eric Dondero

Worldwide Libertarian Human Rights Activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali interviewed last week on the Canadian TV News program "On the Map."

At the 2:30 mark Ali states unequivocally:

Islam means submission to the will of Allah. A docrtine that requires an individual to become a slave. In my view it's bad.

Islam limits one to follow what you can find in the Koran and to follow the example of the prophet Muhammed. I think that's bad. And that's what keeps people in the Islamic world backwards.

Note - Ali is married to British libertarian historian Niall Ferguson.

"Sub-Saharan Africans... lynched" by mostly Arab forces

From Eric Dondero:

The London Telegraph is now reporting on massive human rights abuses by Libyan rebel forces.

The headless corpse, the mass grave and worrying questions about Libya's rebel army...

The five corpses floated disfigured and bloating in the murky bottom of the water tank. Wearing green soldiers' uniforms, the men lay belly down, decomposing in the putrid water... close to the Libyan rebels' western front line town of Al-Qawalish in the Nafusa Mountains...

the evidence of a brutal end were clear. One of the corpses had been cleanly decapitated, while the trousers of another had been ripped down to his ankles, a way of humiliating a dead enemy.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch both said there were documented cases of extra-judicial killings by rebel forces, including deaths in custody under torture... Sub-Saharan Africans accused of being mercenaries were lynched... men in rebel-held areas suspected of being members of Col Gaddafi's security services have been taken from the homes, and subsequently found dead with their hands tied.

NATO is aligned with these forces?

Photo credit - TheIslamicStandard

From Clifford Thies:

Army Reservist Track Palin and his beautiful wife (and childhood sweetheart) Britta Hanson are expecting their first child.

The London Daily Mail notes:

Sarah Palin is going to be a grandmother again - her 22-year-old son Track is expecting his first child.

The Republican politician’s new 21-year-old daughter-in-law Britta Hanson appears heavily pregnant in newly-posted photos on a friend's Facebook account.

Track spent a year with the Army in Iraq as a reservist before the wedding; Britta, the daughter of a minister, is a University of Alaska nursing student.

Britta grew up in rural Alaska not far from Wasilla. They dated all through high school, were winter sports buddies, and have known each other almost all their lives.

Describes his view as "libertarian Republican"

From an interview on CNN via WYNC.org blog:

I don’t see harm. Although, I think it would be better for stability of families if we kept marriage between a man and woman. I see more harm, however, by dwelling so much on the subject of gays and lesbians and whether it’s right or wrong in politics. We’ve got far - not necessarily more important things - but far more relevant things to talk about.

I think if you are a libertarian Republican or you have a streak of libertarian Republican, I don’t know what the heck the Republican Party wants to do getting involved in people’s sexual lives and personal lives so much for. Stay out of it and it would be much more a successful party if we stuck to our economic, conservative roots and our idea of a strong, assertive America that is not embarrassed to be the leader of the world.

Editor's comment - Our sentiments precisely here at LR; keeping marriage between a man and a woman is much preferable, however dwelling on the issue at the expense of economic conservatism and a strong defense, which unites all Republicans, is not at all helpful to the GOP.

From Eric Dondero:

Karl Dickey at The Examiner reports:

Former state House Representative Adam Hasner has less to competition in his effort to gain entry to the U.S. Senate office currently held by Bill Nelson. Thanks to state Senate president Mike Haridopolos dropping out of the race for Florida's U.S. Senate seat, Hasner has one less heavily-favored Republican to go against to win the Republican primary, though he has nine others compete with - most notably George LeMieux who has been making the rounds.

Dickey, Chair of the Palm Beach County Libertarian Party and a 2008 attendee of the Republican Liberty Caucus convention in Orlando also notes:

No Libertarians have yet to file for the office and it seems doubtful former Libertarian Party U.S. Senate candidate Alex Snitker will run for the office in 2012.

Haridolopols was a guest speaker at that same 2008 RLC Convention, and serves on the RLC advisory board.

Hasner is a pro-defense libertarian, staunchly free market, and a vehement critic of radical Islam. A Jewish American, he is a friend and former State House colleague of Senator Marco Rubio.

From Eric Dondero:

Meet Mo Brooks. He is the conservative Republican congressman from northern Alabama (Huntsville area).

Brooks was a guest on Contessa Brown's MSNBC show, and she asked him a question about his academic background. She didn't quite get the answer she was expecting.

From Brooks's bio (house.gov):

Mo graduated from Duke University in three years with a double major in political science and economics, with highest honors in economics. In 1978, he graduated from the University of Alabama Law School.

Editor's note - We supported Brooks's Tea Party opponent in the 2010 GOP primary.

QUOTE OF THE DAY!

From CNS:

In order to pay our bills, Republicans would require us to pass a Constitutional amendment that would permanently enshrine their partisan budget priorities in law and make it virtually impossible to raise revenue -- House Minority Whip Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland

Editor's comment - And that's precisely the point Steny.

Photo credit - Raw Story

by Clifford F. Thies

"It’s a good thing Barack Obama won’t be running against 'Generic Republican,' says one blogger. "There’s little chance of another Mr. Smith going to Washington," says another. "There’s just one small problem," says a third, "any time an actual candidate gets entered into the mix, the number drops."

Dream on!

At this juncture in the election cycle, it is not surprising that Generic Republican is ahead of even the best-performing named Republican. Let's look back to the 2004 election cycle. President Bush was presumed to be the Republican nominee; and, the Democratic nomination was up for grabs. Among the possible nominees paired against Bush in "match-ups" were Al Gore, Joe Lieberman, Hillary Clinton, Richard Gephardt, Welsley Clark, Al Sharpton, John Kerry and Jonathan Edwards.

I have compared the performance of Generic Democrat versus the best-performing named Democrat from the mid-term elections of 2002 to the end of 2003. Sometimes, the same poll-taking organization soliticited preferences in match-ups involving both the Generic Democrat and named Democrats. More often, certain pollsters used the Generic Democrat match-up and other pollsters the named Democrat match-ups.

For each month, I averaged all the available match-ups. As the accompanying chart shows, Generic Democrat consistently did about five points better in match-ups against President Bush in the monthly averages.

As to why Generic Democrat did better than the best-performing Democrat back in 2003, and why Generic Republican is doing better than the best-performing Republican this year should be obvious. It is not because the better-performing candidates are weak. It is because not all those who are inclined to support whomever will be the nominee of the challenging party is equally supportive of all possible contenders in advance of the nomination being decided. Some are more supportive of one candidate or another, and and reluctant to indicate to pollsters that, in the end, they will support whomever their party nominates.

This kind of result is typical in polling in Governor or U.S. Senate when one party, and not the other, has a contested primary. The candidate who doesn't have a contested primary will look artificially strong until the primary is concluded and the winner has had an opportunity to unite his party. One obvious way a nominee for President can do this is by naming a candidate for Vice President that helps to unify his party. Almost always, those who win their party's nomination are able to unite their party; although, from time to time, example 1964, the nominee is unable to accomplish this task.

One more thing: some pollsters ask a third form of match-ups, the incumdent versus "somebody else." Logically, "somebody else" includes potential independent and third-party candidates and even challengers for the nomination of the incumbent's party. Accordingly, "somebody else" tends to do even better than the Mr. Generic. In the 2004 election cycle, I found that "somebody else" outperformed Generic Democrat by an average of three points.

From Cliff Thies:

Last time we commented on the U.S. national polls, it was Gallup showing Generic Republican ahead of President Obama by 8 points. We now have a similar showing in the Rasmussen Poll. Generic Republican ahead by 6 points, 47 to 41.

President Obama now earns his lowest level of support yet against a generic Republican candidate in a hypothetical 2012 election matchup.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that a generic Republican earns support from 47% of Likely Voters, while the president picks up 41% of the vote. Four percent (4%) favor some other candidate, and eight percent (8%) are undecided.

From Right Guy:

From 7:00-8:00PM CST Thursday

Russell Pearce is president of the Arizona Senate and a strong border hawk. He drafted SB 1070. We will have a panel that includes:

Mike O'Neil, President of O'Neil Research, an Arizona polling firm, former congressman from Colorado Tom Tancredo, Matt Toman, chairman of Citizens opposed to the Pearce Recall and Cad Snow, chairman of Citizens for a Better Arizona, who support recalling Russell Pearce.

From 8:00-9:00PM TBA

Host Andre Traversa

Co-host Jim Lagnese

Call in at 949-203-4821 or stream here.