(MSNBC) “Your job as president is to promote the common good,” he said, comparing the job of a president to that of a private equity mogul. “That doesn’t mean that private equity guys are bad guys; they’re not. But that no more qualifies you to be president than being a plumber!”

Except, the plumber might understand economics a bit more than a community agitator. But, if the president’s job is to “promote the common good”, then why has Obama saddled the US with well over $5 trillion in new debt in just over 3 years on the job? Why did he waste hundreds of billions financed by China to repay campaign contributors? Why did he waste billions on “green” companies that were bound to fail?

Biden, who spoke to a crowd of over 450 supporters and students at Keene State College, called the private-equity business itself “legitimate,” but pushed the administration’s argument that its imperative of wealth creation for investors doesn’t translate to the skill set of a national leader.

“Folks, making money for your investors, as Romney did very well, is not the president’s job,” he said. “The president has a different job.”

Going by Obama’s job performance, it would appear that the job is to play golf, take lots and lots of vacations, bow to foreign leaders, and campaign. He rarely positions himself as President Of the USA. He mostly acts as a thin skinned dictator who brooks no disagreement.

But, Biden is kinda right: nothing qualifies anyone to be the most powerful person in the world. Some, though, have a better shot at being successful because of their backgrounds. Someone who has dealt with running a big company, who understands how the economy really works, and has been responsible to hundreds, if not thousands, of people, plus has experience being the governor of a State certainly has a better chance of not be a stuttering clusterf*ck of a miserable failure than a Marxist community agitator.

Crossed at Pirate’s Cove. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach.

(WRAL) President Barack Obama and likely Republican challenger Mitt Romney are in a virtual tie for North Carolina’s 15 electoral votes in this fall’s election, according to a WRAL News poll released Tuesday.

SurveyUSA polled 524 likely voters statewide between Friday and Monday and found that 45 percent would vote for Romney and 44 percent for Obama if the election were held now. Six percent remain undecided.

A month ago, a WRAL News poll had Obama leading in North Carolina by four points, 47 to 43 percent. That poll included registered voters, however, which is a larger group than likely voters.

Right now you’re asking yourself if Teach has gone nuts terming that 1 point lead as “slaughtering”. The nuts part is debatable, but separate from this issue. Take a look at the survey link in the first paragraph. Remember, this is likely voters as opposed to registered, and a swing for Romney. Consider that Obama only enjoys 84% of Black support in the poll, an obvious resulting from many factors, including Obama’s recent “evolution” on gay marriage, though only 36% say gay marriage is an important factor. Romney beats Obama 52% to 27% among Hispanics. Romney leads in every age group but 18-34, which tends to vote less than the other groups. But, here’s where Obama is really getting slaughtered

That’s an R/D/I sampling of 29/44/24. Democrats are given a 15 point higher sample in a state Obama won by a whopping .4% in 2008, and one that saw the General Assembly taken over by Republicans in full for the first time in 110 years in 2010. For Obama to be trailing by 1% among Likely Voters with Democrats heavily over-sampled shows just how big Obama’s troubles are in NC. Granted, it’s a long time till the general election, and anything can happen, but, for a guy who wanted to hold the Democratic National Convention in NC, this is really, really bad news.

Crossed at Pirate’s Cove. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach.

Here we have another union thug acting out a desire for violence. This time it’s Donna Dewitt, the President of the South Carolina AFL-CIO (a grand title for a chief thug, eh?), using a baseball bat to smack a piñata sporting the face of S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley on it.

Now, imagine, folks, if these were Republicans using a ball bat on an effigy of a Democrat Gov. — and a female one at that. This story would be the story of the day all over the news and would go on for weeks at a time. We’d never hear the end of it from the Old Media.

Democrats do it… and crickets.

In fact, if this was a video of Republicans doing such a thing, the GOP candidate for president would be tarred with their actions. Right now we’d be hearing calls from every last Democrat, every last member of the media (but I repeat myself) for Governor Mitt Romney to disavow this violence.

Again. Democrats do it…. and crickets.

Remember back when all Sarah Palin did was put the icon of a target on a map of targeted districts during the 2010 election? Remember how that became a symbol in the Old Media of the “violence” being urged by those evil Republicans? Well, here we have a ball bat being used on the face of a female Governor and… yep, crickets.”

Additionally, this is violence being acted out on a female politician. Again, imagine if Republicans were being so sexist against a female Democrat. That is yet another angle that Democrats would include in their lies about the so-called “Republican war on women.”

Democrats do it… more crickets.

If you ever wanted to see an example of the double standard of the Old Media establishment, this is one.

This video was originally posted by Becci Robbins, the communications director for the SC Progressive Network. I captured it just in case they try to send the video down the Internet memory hole.

(Hat Tip Corey Hutchins)

Matthew Continetti gives the President a D plus in his grade for his first term in office and with a grade that low, let’s hope it is his only term in office.

Continetti notes that Obama awarded himself a “a good, solid, B-plus” not long ago but when he visited the cacklers at ABC’s The View he decided that he shouldn’t assign himself a letter grade because his term is “incomplete.”

Actually, as Continetti points out, his first term is essentially finished, at least legislatively. Congress won’t be doing much more serious business until after the coming election, so his work is practically done. Since the work is basically done, Continetti feels a letter grade is quite apropos and he gives Obama a D plus.

“One arrives at such a low mark only after a thorough–and scientific–examination of the president’s record of broken promises and unfulfilled expectations,” Continetti writes.

Obama’s failures are chronicled in Continetti’s grading, from foreign policy, to jobs and the economy, to the healthcare debacle that few Americans want, but the more interesting point Matthew makes is in what he thinks Obama has done for conservatives.

Obama’s single achievement is something he scarcely intended and likely will lament for the rest of his days: the reinvigoration and reorientation of the right to first principles in the aftermath of the Bush presidency. Prior to Obama’s ascendance, the right was riven between big-government conservatives, libertarians, social conservatives, interventionists, activists, and intellectuals. The right was more interested in its divisions than its commonalities. Years of power had made us sloppy and complacent and sometimes corrupt.

Then came Obama to unite the right, says Continetti.

Maybe he’s right. Let’s hope he’s right. Conservatives have always spent far more time in purity tests amongst themselves while allowing the left to steal march after march and drive their armies to victory while conservatives are still at home base bickering.

This election coming will be the tell. Can we get the right together long enough to depose this most destructive president in American history. Continetti is confident but time will tell.

Capitalism, led only by faith and freedom, has deep roots in America’s history. It is the economic system that built the greatest nation on earth, yet today it is under assault. For those who choose achievement over government dependence, it is important to go to ground zero in today’s economy: Houston, Texas. Why Houston? A global city, Houston’s economy ranks #1 as the fastest growing metropolitan area in the United States and tops New York as America’s most ethnically diverse. Nationwide, as companies flounder in a down economy, insight is gleaned from three of Houston’s top business leaders. Through them, the primacy of American Capitalism is on full display.

JIM “MACK” MCINGVALE – RETAIL

How do you become the owner of the largest furniture retail company in history? Two words, work ethic. Those words aptly describe Jim “Mack” McIngvale, founder and owner of a sprawling retail complex in Houston known as Gallery Furniture. McIngvale’s vast acreage of furniture for every family ranks as the sales-per-square foot leader for any furniture store in the United States. Upon entering the store, his employees appear as ethnically diverse as his variety of styles of furniture. An early morning pep talk is underway to his sales staff reminding them that as practicing capitalists, “their time is their money.” Fully hands-on in every aspect of his business, Jim “Mack” McIngvale practices what he preaches from greeting customers coming through the door to making television commercials where he regales that buying at his stores, “Saves you money!” A business changing paradigm occurred when he guaranteed customers “same day delivery.” He grins, “Find out what customers want and deliver it to them, imagine that.” Known locally as “Mattress Mack,” McIngvale lives and breathes the Judeo-Christian work ethic he got from his father. His creed is, “Work wins.”

Coming from Mississippi in 1981, McIngvale eventually landed in Houston with $5,000 in his pocket and built his business to over $200 million in annual sales. He did it the old-fashioned way; he worked for it. The question is: With consumer spending sluggish at best, if Mattress Mack were starting his business in today’s economy, could he succeed? McIngvale concedes it would be much harder under current conditions with tightened regulations on business, depressed incomes on buyers and economic uncertainty. He says the answer is to “outlast them,” alluding to heavy-handed government interference. His message to the government is, “Let my people go. Turn them loose. Big brother does not know how to operate this business. Let some succeed and some fail – by failure you learn what you did wrong and you will do it better next time. In this country, people should pursue dreams and stand up and say I am accountable for it.” He admires Wimbledon champ Billie Jean King’s advice, “Be accomplished, then famous.”

An experienced entrepreneur who had to work for success, McIngvale cites less taxes and smaller government coupled with self-reliance as the means to rebuilding a viable business environment that leads to jobs and family security. He blames Democrat President and former Texas Governor Lyndon Baines Johnson for the cycle of welfare that robs able-bodied people of their dignity and incentive to work. “LBJ’s Great Society in 1964 had huge unintended consequences,” he says. After hiring hundreds into his work force, McIngvale concludes that, “Welfare does not provide values. People who work are happier, more productive and they grow as human beings and as citizens. Sitting home and watching TV all day – you don’t grow.”

McIngvale worries about his grandchildren’s generation. Socialism is the road to failure for a nation and its people. McIngvale points to the failed Soviet and European experience, “Capitalism and free enterprise must prevail. Everyone must pull their own weight.” A businessman in the business of creating jobs for over three decades, McIngvale embodies the benefits of capitalism for himself and his employees, “It is criminal not to let people work. Giving welfare to those who are able to work demeans human life.” As an employer of hundreds over the years and giving others a hand-up even when he was in need of one himself, he advises that if you are out of work, go to your church to seek guidance. As a practicing Catholic, he singles out his admiration for the Mormon model of the importance of work for both communities and families.

While proclaiming, “Work is one of life’s greatest therapies,” the heart of this purveyor of capitalism lies in giving back to his community. Annually, his Christmas Furniture Giveaway provides relief for those in need. As his furniture business grew, the greater his gifts became to scholarship programs, medical care, young future farmers, and to those who needed a helping hand to get back on track. Today, as thanks to America’s military, Gallery Furniture is redesigning and refurbishing 130 USO Centers worldwide.

After 31 years of becoming “an overnight success” under capitalism and free enterprise, Jim “Mack” McIngvale says he firmly “believes in the power of the American people, not the power of government.” His message to government is, “What will save the country is a four letter word – work. Put people to work and everything improves. Their self-esteem, their ability to solve problems, their mental health, everything improves with that magical word – work.” McIngvale set out to run his own business, satisfy customers and give back to his community. Setting the gold standard for the work ethic that he learned from his father, Jim McIngvale attained and exemplifies success through capitalism in a free America.

See also: PROFILES IN CAPITALISM: REAL ESTATE – Martha Turner (Part Two)

PROFILES IN CAPITALISM: CHARITIES – George Strake (Part Three)

Permission to reprint is granted.

(Washington Post) After Egyptian women stood shoulder to shoulder with men in the protests that toppled Hosni Mubarak, many looked forward to a role in the revolution’s next steps. But 15 months later, as Egyptians prepare to vote for a new president this week, rights activists complain that women are being excluded from key decisions.

“At the time of the revolution, women were needed to fill out the numbers,” said Hoda Badran, head of the Egyptian Feminist Union, which was banned under Mubarak but reinstated last year. “Now, the decision-makers don’t need women, and we’re back to this idea that femininity is inferior and masculinity superior.”

Women hold just over 2 percent of the seats in Egypt’s new parliament, down from about 12 percent in the last elections held under Mubarak. The sharp decline followed the elimination of a quota to ensure women’s representation, which had been seen by many as a way to stack the body with members of Mubarak’s political party.

After Mubarak was deposed, the ruling military did not include them in the writing of new Constitutional amendments. And

Badran and other women’s rights activists are particularly worried that the well-organized Muslim Brotherhood will use its religious and charitable groups to encourage uneducated and poor women to vote for its candidate, Mohammed Morsi. Morsi opposes women being allowed to serve in the presidency. He has called for the implementation of Islamic law and, at campaign rallies, referred to Islam’s holy book, the Koran, as the constitution.

Islamists taking over, women being treated poorly – kinda what people said would happen. Egypt has some of the best protections for women of any Islamic country, but

But the Islamist-dominated parliament is discussing several proposals that could change women’s status here. They include lowering the legal age of marriage for girls from 18 to 13 and revoking divorced mothers’ custody of their boys at age 7 and girls at 9, rather than at 15, a move that would be in accordance with a strict interpretation of Islamic law.

It’s interesting to note that none of the usual suspects are making waves about this real war on women, much like they tend to ignore how women and gays are treated in Iran.

Crossed at Pirate’s Cove. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach.

(CNS News) The Archdiocese of New York, headed by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., headed by Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the University of Notre Dame, and 40 other Catholic dioceses and organizations around the country announced on Monday that they are suing the Obama administration for violating their freedom of religion, which is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution.

The dioceses and organizations, in different combinations, are filing 12 different lawsuits filed in federal courts around the country.

The Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. has established a special website–preservereligiousfreedom.org–to explain its lawsuit and present news and developments concerning it.

“This lawsuit is about an unprecedented attack by the federal government on one of America’s most cherished freedoms: the freedom to practice one’s religion without government interference,” the archdiocese says on the website. “It is not about whether people have access to certain services; it is about whether the government may force religious institutions and individuals to facilitate and fund services which violate their religious beliefs.”

It’s not often that lawsuits are filed about being able to freely practice one’s religion. They’re usually about removing religion from view, filed by people with delicate sensibilities. The 1st Amendment states that Congress shall pass no law denying the free practice of religion, and that is what Obamacare has done, in giving HHS the power to simply create any rule they want.

Liberals may not like this suit, in their kneejerk, thoughtless support of Obama and socialized government run healthcare, but this will highlight whether or not Liberals support the Constitution/Bill Of Rights. The NY Sun writes

Congratulations are in order for the Catholic Church, whose archdioceses in America went to federal court today to challenge the Obama administration on the contraception mandates. Something like a dozen federal lawsuits were filed against the administration by something on the order of 43 plaintiffs, including the Archdiocese of New York, among others, and the crown jewel in Catholic education in America, Notre Dame.* It seems the liberal institutions within the Catholic world have come together with the conservative ones to stand up for the rights of religious Catholics — and by extension, the rest of us — to be free of government mandates in respect of their religion.

This also begs the question “how will Catholics vote in November?” The Washington Post’s Michael Gerson discusses, and notices Obama’s flagging Catholic support. Obama seems to be doing everything possible to annoy Catholics, as well as other groups. His campaign is not about bringing people together, but dividing them.

Crossed at Pirate’s Cove. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach.

As a young consultant who arrived at the office before anyone else, Mr. Romney was being “deseret,” a term from the Book of Mormon meaning industrious as a honeybee, and he recruited colleagues and clients with the zeal of the missionary he once was. Mitt and Ann Romney’s marriage is strong because they believe they will live together in an eternal afterlife, relatives and friends say, which motivates them to iron out conflicts.

Mr. Romney’s penchant for rules mirrors that of his church, where he once excommunicated adulterers and sometimes discouraged mothers from working outside the home. He may have many reasons for abhorring debt, wanting to limit federal power, promoting self-reliance and stressing the unique destiny of the United States, but those are all traditionally Mormon traits as well.

Outside the spotlight, Mr. Romney can be demonstrative about his faith: belting out hymns (“What a Friend We Have in Jesus”) while horseback riding, fasting on designated days and finding a Mormon congregation to slip into on Sundays, no matter where he is.

And, *gasp*, he prays. A lot. Obvioiusly, that means he is a bad choice for president. How dare he have faith!

The Washington Post also took a stab at Mitt’s Mormon roots: Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith tangles with a quirk of Arkansas history

On the wildflower-studded slopes of the Ozarks, where memories run long and family ties run thick, a little-known and long-ago chapter of history still simmers.

On Sept. 11, 1857, a wagon train from this part of Arkansas met with a gruesome fate in Utah, where most of the travelers were slaughtered by a Mormon militia in an episode known as the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Hundreds of the victims’ descendants still populate these hills and commemorate the killings, which they have come to call “the first 9/11.”

Many of the locals grew up hearing denunciations of Mormonism from the pulpit on Sundays, and tales of the massacre from older relatives who considered Mormons “evil.”

Those are the first three paragraphs of the story, meant to put Mormonism, and Mitt, in a bad light. And then we find out

And yet, there is scant evidence that Romney’s religion is making much difference in how voters here are thinking about the presidential election and whether they are willing to back the former Massachusetts governor.

So, what was the point of the story? Mitt wasn’t alive during that time period, nor does it appear as if his ancestors were involved. Much like the Times’ article, this one seems to be an attempt to make a dig at Mormonism. The Times’ article spent quite a bit of time delving into the history of Mormonism. These aren’t the first articles that take subtle (and not so subtle) digs at Mormonism and Mitt Romeny, and certainly won’t be the last.

But, where are the articles on Obama? The original title of the Times’ article was “How the Mormon Church shaped Mitt Romney.” When will we get the one entitled “How Jeremiah Wright’s Hate Church Shaped Barack Obama”? Will we see one from the Post entitled “Barack Obama’s Black Liberation Theology Tangles With Those Who Don’t Believe In The Phrase “No, no, no, God Damn America!”?

As the media does their pro-Obama magic, will we finally hear about the polygamy of Barack H. Obama’s father, who was married to three women at once? We’ve certainly heard about the polygamy of Romney’s ancestors over a century ago (with the Left’s penchant for being against traditional marriage, why, exactly, is polygamy bad? Perhaps a liberal could explain it). It’s an obvious political bias from the media, and they wonder why people call them biased.

But, then, they really do not want to spend much time comparing and contrasting the economic records of Obama and Romney, because that doesn’t look good for Obama.

Crossed at Pirate’s Cove. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach.

(Zee News) The United States is accelerating its plan with Middle Eastern allies to secure Syria’s vast stockpile of chemical weapons as that crisis in that country continues to worsen, according to a report.

According to America and Middle Eastern officials, the planning, involving intelligence and military officials from at least seven countries, includes detailed arrangements for securing chemical arms with special operations troops in the event that parts of Syria are seized by militants.

The stepped-up preparations have coincided with increased military training in the region, including an unusually large multinational military exercise underway this month in Jordan, Syria’s southern neighbour, The Washington Post reports.

Do we doubt that Syria has WMD? No. We know they do. We knew Iraq had them, and was running programs to develop more. We also know that the protesters in Syria are continually becoming more and more tied to Islamic extremist groups. The bigger question is “will liberals protest with a Democrat in the White House if he goes fishing for WMD?”

Crossed at Pirate’s Cove. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach.

(Chicago Sun Times) A band of out-of-state “domestic terrorists” was accused Saturday of planning to attack President Barack Obama’s campaign headquarters and Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s home — and firebomb police stations and squad cars — declaring that after the NATO Summit “the city will never be the same,” police and prosecutors said.

One of the conspirators warned: “The city doesn’t know what it’s in for,” prosecutors said.

But undercover Chicago Police officers infiltrated the group of NATO Summit protesters in recent weeks. They were with the protesters while they allegedly made Molotov cocktails — bottles filled with flammable liquid that are used as firebombs, sources said.

“We have people watching them do it,” one law enforcement source told the Chicago Sun-Times.

The trio includes Brian Church, 22, of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; Jared Chase, 27, of Keene, N.H.; and Brent Vincent Betterly, 24, of Oakland Park, Fla. Each was ordered held on a $1.5 million bond Saturday.

They’re charged with possession of an explosive or incendiary device, conspiracy to commit terrorism and providing material support to terrorism. Federal charges are possible, but unlikely, sources said.

Of course, the trio, their lawyers, and left leaning supporters are claiming entrapment and such. Because being caught with a few Molotov cocktails, having purchased gasoline to build them, and having all sorts of weapons, such as a “mortar gun, swords, a crossbow, a throwing star, ninja knives, knives with brass-knuckle handles”, oh, “and written plans for the assembly of pipe bombs” proves that they are simply peaceful protesters. One wanted to purchase assault rifles to “point back at cops”…wait, I thought those types of guns were completely evil in Liberal World?

Alas, Lefties are actually sympathetic towards these “mostly peaceful” comrades, and #NATO3 is trending on Twitter. I’m seeing ones about there being a big conspiracy, about the Chicago PD running over protesters, that this is an FBI plot and the materials were planted, and more silliness. Weird, I figured Liberals would be upset over the NATO3 wanting to bomb Obama’s OFA HQ. How else would liberals get their talking points and marching orders?

Crossed at Pirate’s Cove. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach.