“It’s difficult not to have a surreal feeling watching the world go by in the shadow of the growing monolith of Obama Administration scandals. Some of the government actions that have come to light would have been universally understood as signs of encroaching tyranny just a few years ago.”

Here's the deal.  The right think's they're correct and the left is wrong.  The left thinks they're right and the right is evil.  We (whoever "we" are) believe the Constitution is the law of the land and the starting point for our laws.  The left believes the Constitution is a quaint archaic remnant of a bye-gone era which is now a stumbling block to the progressive movement.  So I disagree with Katz.  These actions would NEVER be viewed as an act of tyranny when committed by a Donk.

 I'll start with Happy Father's Day

To those folks who believe that the snooping is OK "because I have nothing to hide": if you're white, you're a racist.  If you're male you're a sexist and if you're wealthy you hate the poor.  Why?  You obviously don't care about members of other races because you're white.  You obviously don't care about women because you're male.  

There.  See how silly your observation was?  Now go sit and the corner and try to reason like an edumacated adult for about ten minutes.

NSA Leaker: I Had Authority 'To Wiretap Anyone'

KILL IT? OR EXPOSE IT AS A FICTION? Ron Fournier: How Obama Scandals Threaten to Kill ‘Good Government.’

To have “good government,” you have to maintain a particular culture. Obama started undermining that culture from day one. Glenn Reynolds  noticed that in 2009. Fournier is just starting to notice now.

Welcome to Hope and Change:  Tim Lee: Has the US become the type of nation from which you have to seek asylum?

Depends on what your definition of "is" is: Clapper: I Answered in 'Least Untruthful Manner'

First.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, refashioning himself as Professor Henry Higgins from Pygmalion and My Fair Lady, has spoken: good grammar is the key to success. Bloomberg’s remarks on a radio show barely preceded a report that delineated the poor performance by New York City students on state exams. Bloomberg said:

I’ve said this a thousand times, if you don’t speak good grammar – English with good grammar – you’re not going to get the kinds of jobs that you want … you can make an argument that it shouldn’t be the case, it’s not fair, whatever, people judge each other by how well-spoken they are. If there’s a lot of jargon, double negatives, and things like that, they hurt your career prospects …that’s one of the reasons it’s so important to keep improving our schools, and give the kids the tools they need, one of which is good command of the English language …like in My Fair Lady, we do judge each other based on how well we speak …People think its cute to jive, and it may be for entertainment, but ya just still have to have great command of the English language.

It’s difficult to resist parsing Bloomberg’s remarks for egregious grammatical errors; the temptation is too great.

1. Gratuitous use of “whatever.”
2. “If there’s a lot of..." should be “If there are.”
3. “Like” in My Fair Lady should be “as.”

Bloomberg is correct that good grammar is a vital weapon in one’s arsenal when looking for many different kinds of jobs, but before he pontificates on such a subject, he might want to consult a grammarian.

Second:

Can you imagine the OUTRAGE, hatred and cries of racism has a Donk suggested that speaking good Enlish was a key to success?

AMERICA’S ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT IS FALTERING.

As an academic, I’m just an amateur capitalist. Still, over the past 15 years I’ve started small ventures in both the U.S. and the U.K. In the process I’ve learned something surprising: It’s much easier to do in the U.K. There seemed to be much more regulation in the U.S., not least the headache of sorting out health insurance for my few employees. And there were certainly more billable hours from lawyers. . . . Nearly all development economists agree that good institutions—legislatures, courts, administrative agencies—are crucial. When poor countries improve their institutions, economic growth soon accelerates. But what about rich countries? If poor countries can get rich by improving their institutions, is it not possible that rich countries can get poor by allowing their institutions to degenerate? I want to suggest that it is.

BYRON YORK: Obama To GOP On Judges: Don’t Do To Me What I Did To You.

then there's this:

Jonathan Alter showed up on PBS’s Charlie Rose Wednesday to promote the new book in which he celebrates Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection. The Bloomberg columnist doesn’t seem to understand the irony of his book’s title – The Center Holds. He really does believe President Obama is a centrist, and he attempted to explain the title from the comfort of Rose’s dark studio:

“So the reason I call the book The Center Holds is, you know, not just ObamaCare, but he has defended the American social contract against an assault by the American Right.”

It sounds like Alter is suggesting that ObamaCare is part of the American social contract, or at least that there is something centrist about it. When did we get to that point? Government meddling in the healthcare industry is alien to American character.

Alter explained further: “So he’s defended the progressive accomplishments of the 20^th century, which became centrist and supported by the broad middle of the country – things like Medicare and Social Security, aid to education -- all these things that were challenged by movement conservatives and in some cases slashed – investments in the future, medical and scientific research.”

Defending the progressive accomplishmnets of the 20th Century?  How in the hell does THAT have ANYTHING to do with defending the Social Contract?  They've torn up and/or attempted to rewrite the Social Contract .... unilaterally.

And from the irreplacable MARK STEYN: The All-Seeing State: The inevitable corruption of the permanent bureaucracy. “When Nixon tried to sic the IRS on a few powerful political enemies, the IRS told him to take a hike. When Obama’s courtiers tried to sic the IRS on thousands of ordinary American citizens, the agency went along, and very enthusiastically. This is a scale of depravity hitherto unknown to the tax authorities of the United States, and for that reason alone they should be disarmed and disbanded — and rebuilt from scratch with far more circumscribed powers. . . . It may be that the strange synchronicity between the president and the permanent bureaucracy is mere happenstance and not, as it might sound to the casual ear, the sinister merging of party and state. Either way, they need to be pried apart. When the state has the capability to know everything except the difference between right and wrong, it won’t end well.”

I suppose hangings are a step too far.

Haven't waded into this quagmire yet so a langourous Saturday morning may be just the time.

1.  The whole thing is, of course, Bush's fault.  He made Congress vote for it back in the day.  It got bipartisan support.  Many Donks and a few Elphs opposed it.  Notable opponenets were the newly minted Senator from illinois.  (On NSA Spying, Sen. Obama Would've Disagreed Big Time With Pres. Obama) The opponenets main concern was that it would be used against Citizens.  Many hearings were held and many amendments were discussed and added to avoid that unintended consequence.

2.  Every time this has come up for renewal <insert most of above 'graph here.>  And every tie we've been assured that it was not being used willy nilly (I promise to not use that phrase here again for at LEAST one year) against US Citizens.

3.  The most recent assurances were made in late December and again in March.  Apparently either one, both or all os said assurances have been false.

4.  IMHO It's a good, necissary program if used within the proper scope.  At some point it started exceeding that scope.  We KNOW it exceeded it during the Obama administration and all Donks are convinced it was exceeded during the Bush administration.  I'm not saying it wasn't.  I'm just saying I haven't seen the proof yet.  And at this point, really, what difference does it make?

Now, on with the roundup:

Obama Preps Army of Straw Men, False Choices to Defend NSA Surveillance

Obama: If People 'Can't Trust' Government, 'We're Going to Have Some Problems Here'  Why yes. Yes we are.

The NYT teases us all:

Within hours of the disclosure that federal authorities routinely collect data on phone calls Americans make, regardless of whether they have any bearing on a counterterrorism investigation, the Obama administration issued the same platitude it has offered every time President Obama has been caught overreaching in the use of his powers: Terrorists are a real menace and you should just trust us to deal with them because we have internal mechanisms (that we are not going to tell you about) to make sure we do not violate your rights.  

Those reassurances have never been persuasive — whether on secret warrants to scoop up a news agency’s phone records or secret orders to kill an American suspected of terrorism — especially coming from a president who once promised transparency and accountability. 

The administration has now lost all credibility on this issue. (bold mine)

More rubes self-identify: Americans Are Outraged Because in Voting for Obama, They Thought They Were Rejecting Bush. Meet the new boss, yada yada.

Obama’s Apology Letter To George W. Bush. “I am sorry that, as a United States senator and presidential candidate, I was critical of you about so many things I now, myself, am doing. . . . You can take heart that, even though I am a Democrat, I decided to keep going nearly all your vision and plans on national security and even take it to all-new levels.”

and that should keep you busy for a few hours.

Ilya Shapiro (Cato) has the scoop. An excerpt:

On April 29, Sir Jay Merchant was knighted by Ambassador Rudolf Bekink on behalf of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. Merchant is the “international relations adviser” in the Office of the Administrator of CMS, which is the agency’s highest executive office.

While this may seem like just a neat factoid for inside-the-Beltway water-cooler amusement, there’s actually a constitutional problem that precludes this gallant story from having a fairytale ending. Article I, Section 9, Clause 8 (the “Emoluments” or “Titles of Nobility” Clause) states:

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

In other words, it’s illegal for someone holding a federal “office of profit or trust” to accept a knighthood or other noble title. And this isn’t some archaic provision that hasn’t been dusted off since knights wore suits of armor. Believe it or not — and nothing is unbelievable when it comes to Obamacare implementation — this isn’t the first time this issue has arisen. It’s not even the first time in the last decade!

A Justice Department memorandum by our own John Elwood, related to the “Emolument[s]” part of the clause, makes an appearance. Ilya’s view is that the acceptance of the knighthood is indeed a constitutional violation, unless Congress consents. “[D]espite the word ‘adviser’ in his title, Merchant is not just a member on a government advisory board .... [H]e was not given approval by Congress to be knighted, as required by Section 9, and there is no public mention of his having requested such approval.”

just to keep you sharp.

Feds to Grab $130B in Fines from Employers Thanks to Obamacare

becomes

Feds to Suck $130B Out of the Economy Thanks to Obamacare

after my FiL's anti Fox comment earlier this week, I'm a little sensative to these:

Chris Matthews Swoons: Obama Has ‘Never Done Anything Wrong in His Life’

Chris Matthews Ignorantly Proclaims ‘We Don’t Have Any’ Black Senators

WH: 'President's Record on Transparency Is Broad and Significant'

MSNBC: George Wallace a . . . Republican?

Sleazy Matthews: Ted Cruz, Bill O'Reilly Are the Same as Nazi Sympathizer Father Coughlin, Huey Long

I used to LOVE his show, btw.  Myfamily kids me about my daily ritual of watching the Crossball Factor!