UNEXPECTEDLY: Lookit my shocked face! Obama’s prisoner swap will help Iran arm Assad, Hezbollah.  From no less an authority than John Kerry!

THE ART OF THE DEAL: Iran to build two new nuclear plants as Ayatollah Khamenei warns of American “deceit and treachery” on nuclear issues.

and in the "this is why we can't have nice things" department: GEE, I WONDER WHERE THEY GOT THAT IDEA FROM? North Korea Holding American College Student Hostage for ‘Hostile Act.’

20 false representations in one 10-minute video

Saturday Silliness – wind turbine photo of the year

And in light of this weekend's meterological events:

Shot: “In Virginia, the weather also has changed dramatically. Recently arrived residents in the northern suburbs, accustomed to today’s anemic winters, might find it astonishing to learn that there were once ski runs on Ballantrae Hill in McLean, with a rope tow and local ski club. Snow is so scarce today that most Virginia children probably don’t own a sled.”

—Robert F. Kennedy Jr., September, 2008.

Chaser: “A potentially historic snowstorm churned Friday toward the eastern United States, where it is expected to transform into a massive blizzard that could bury the nation’s capital and other large cities under more than two feet of snow.”

—“Mid-Atlantic Blizzard Could Make ‘Legitimate’ History,” NBC, today.

(Headline via the London Independent in 2000.)

Related: Will East Coast Remember Senator Barbara Boxer’s 2007 Prediction of No More Snow Because of Global Warming?

Americans are world’ s most charitable, top 1% provide 1/3rd of all donations. “ In a first of its kind survey, the Almanac found that Americans out-donate Britain and Canada two-to-one and nations like Italy and Germany 20-to-one. What’ s more, more than half of every single income class except those earning less than $25,000 donate to charity.”

Colorado Mom Sued Over Newspaper Ads Encouraging Voter Turnout in School Board Election  At issue are the two civil complaints brought against Holland by school board officials over two newspaper ads she bought, which urged the members of her community to educate themselves about the candidates up for election to the town's school board and to get out and vote. She did not advocate for or against any particular candidate. But because she had not registered as a "political committee," two complaints were filed against her, beginning her unwanted and expensive quest to defend herself against frivolous and politically-motivated attacks on her freedom of speech and right to participate in the political process. 

In a press release from IJ, Chris Dobrogosz writes that "a single email to the secretary of state can trigger full-blown litigation," that defendants have "no right to a public defender," and that there is no government oversight for a system "rife with abuse, with politicians and their allies routinely filing complaints to silence or intimidate those who would dare to criticize them."

After the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association announced it will no longer allow students or cheerleaders to taunt the other team, we asked you for a new, super-supportive cheer.

THE WINNER (Not that it’s important to win, or that Aaron Brown is any more clever than anyone else)

2-4-6-8

Let’s all just participate! -- Aaron Brown, New York, NY

SECOND PLACE (Also very good! In no way implies that Robert M., who did not remember to include his last name, city, and state, is any less clever than Aaron, who managed to follow the rules precisely while still being very funny)

We're #1 -- and so are you! – Robert M.

THIRD PLACE (Which, when you think about it, is almost more prestigious than the others, because third is like the punchline to an otherwise lame joke)

Dave, Dave, he's our man, if he can't do it, it should not be seen as a negative reflection on his inherent worth as a human being, nor as support of the patriarchal notion of competition as a valid basis for entertainment. -- Jeffrey Shapiro, Schenectady, NY

HONORABLE MENTIONS (Possibly the best of all!)

“We're very sorry that we scored,

But when you do, we'll be on board!” -- Chuck G., Santa Clarita, CA

We don't want to win,

'Cause that would hurt your feelings!

Playing for a tie

Is so much more appealing!

No one has to win!

No one has to lose!

And when we learn the truth,

We can turn to drugs and booze! – Emily Adams

"We sure love you, you are great

(Especially since you're down by eight)!"

AND:

“You can score

If everyone agrees

It all starts

When you say 'please'” (Also doubles as a ditty the kids can hum on dates.) -- Bill Fullerton, Dublin, OH

Cheerleaders:  We say PROTECT, you say FEELINGS!

Cheerleaders: PROTECT!

Crowd: FEELINGS!

Cheerleaders: PROTECT!

Crowd: FEELINGS!

Everyone: PROTECT FEELINGS!

AND:

We've got manners yes we do!

We've got manners and of course you do too!

AND:

  "Come on beat us,

   Come on beat us

   Come on you!

   Please defeat us!" -- Chris Meier, Cumberland, WI

 “TIE, TEAM, TIE!!” --Ross Levatter, Phoeniz, AZ

"If you had fun, you won."

AND:

“Three, five, seven, nine,

Just do your best; we think that's fine." -- David J. Edmondson, Washington, D.C.

“You're almost as good as us! Just keep trying!” -- Corrie Dyer, London, KY

Two. Four. Six. Eight. We play better but you're still great! – Judy Tashbook-Safern

2 bits

4 bits

6 bits

A dollar

If you think that's too expensive and requires a government subsidy, stand up and holler -- Brad Wood, Atlanta, GA

AND FROM THE COMMENTS:

Let’s go everyone! (Clap clap)  Let’s go everyone! (Clap clap)

Don’t choose to lose!

We will, we will hug you!

Ignore that the score is a hundred to three! You are winners and so are we!

HILLARY: HEY, THIS I.G. IS JUST A REPUBLICAN STOOGE REHASHING DISCREDITED ATTACKS: “Except the [Inspector General] isn’t a Republican; indeed, he’s an Obama appointee.”

HILLARY EATS PUPPIES!: Okay, maybe not, but her private email server contained SAP (special access program) material, highly classified information that could have put the lives of Americans at risk. Which do you think would be worse for a former Secretary of State and presidential candidate–eating puppies or endangering American lives? (If you are a hard-core progressive/liberal, presumably it’s the former).

 HILLARY DISSES A THOUSAND FANS IN IOWA:

REMINDER: THE SERVER IS THE SMOKING GUN. Robert Gates: ‘Odds Are Pretty High’ That Russia, China and Iran Compromised Hillary’s Server.

That's how the left seems to view the U.S. Constitution.

Catherine Rampell at the Washington Post has a shockingly ignorant piece, “Tea Partyers Love the Constitution So Much–They Want to Blow it Up.”

[Jonathan H. Adler] Does the Obama Administration ever let the law stand in the way?

How would one test the proposition that the Obama Administration does not care about the law? The easiest way would be to look for examples of instances in which the Administration did not take a desired course of action because the law stood in the way. Helpfully, the NYT‘s Charlie Savage, author of the important new book Power Wars: Inside Obama’s Post-9/11 Presidency, has compiled such a list. He identifies eight examples:

1. Not closing Guantanamo
2. Not bombing the Bin Laden compound
3. Not keeping Daqduq in American custody
4. Not targeting al-Farekh
5. Revealing, at last, the role of warrantless surveillance in evidence presented in certain criminal cases
6. Not unilaterally bombing Syrian forces for using chemical weapons
7. Continuing to enforce DOMA
8. Not including parents of ‘Dreamers’ in DAPA

What this list shows is that the Obama Administration does observe legal constraints, at least in some instances — just not always in those cases of greatest concern to the Administration’s critics or as often as such critics would like (myself included). Another interesting thing about the list is that most of the examples come from foreign policy.

And sadly, finally, this:  METAPHOR ALERT: Building where Bill of Rights was born partially demolished. “A Pennsylvania building believed to be the birthplace of the Bill of Rights was partially demolished earlier this month because developers didn’t know the origin of the site.”

Thank You, Ted Cruz, For Helping Flint Out. How many bottles of water did Bernie Sanders send?

Well, none, but he has a new ad with Simon and Garfunkel music.

Flint Lead Poisoning: The Anatomy of Government Failure

EPA AWARDS HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS IN GRANTS IT CAN’T SHOW IMPROVE AIR QUALITY: Diesel emissions, for example, are particularly harmful to air quality, so EPA awarded multiple grants between 2009 and 2014 aimed at reducing such emissions. And $532 million later, an EPA spokesman – who understandably insisted on not being named – conceded to the Daily Caller News Foundation Investigative Group’s Ethan Barton that “we cannot definitively establish cause and effect on one project’s impact on a city’s air quality.” The DCNF IG analysis is based on a database of more than 100,000 EPA grants compiled by Open The Books. BTW, if you aren’t familiar with Open The Books, you should be because those guys are doing incredible work bringing government spending at all levels out in the open.

METAPHOR ALERT: On coldest night of 2016, Birmingham’s homeless warming station used for Sanders rally.

Every nightly news show would play story in a loop — a 24/7 loop at MSNBC — if it involved a Republican presidential candidate.

“I SAID BE CAREFUL, THAT OLD MAN IS REALLY A COMMIE:” “That song is an awful choice for a political campaign. It’s not about hope and promise. It’s about looking for America and not finding it. The lovers hop on the bus hopefully enough, but by the end they’re out of cigarettes and out of things to talk about, and she’s flipping through a magazine rather than looking out the window at the country rolling by. . . . A sad, superannuated song for a sad, superannuated candidate.”

a little gun news:

UPDATE NEWSPEAK DICTIONARIES ACCORDINGLY: “Let’s banish the term ‘gun control’: the better expression is ‘gun safety,’” claims the New York Times’ Nick Kristof in full Ministry of Truth mode.

I’m not sure which is crazier — reinventing the language, or “a moral sanction against gun metaphors similar to the ‘N’ word,” as one of Chris Matthews’ guests proposed immediately after Tuscon.

BARACK OBAMA, ARMING OUR ENEMIES AND DISARMING OUR CITIZENS SINCE 2009: ‘Fast & Furious’ rifle capable of taking down helicopter found in ‘El Chapo’ cache. “A .50-caliber rifle found at Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s hideout in Mexico was funneled through the gun-smuggling investigation known as Fast and Furious, sources confirmed Tuesday to Fox News. . . . When agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives checked serial numbers of the eight weapons found in his possession, they found one of the two .50-caliber weapons traced back to the ATF program, sources said.”

Remember, the purpose of this program was to put weapons in Mexican gangsters’ hands that could be traced back to American sales, as a pretext for stricter gun regulations here. They were willing to accept increased deaths as collateral damage.

IT’ S NOT LIKE SHE TOOK AN OATH TO UPHOLD IT OR ANYTHING: Dem Senator Says She Wants To Avoid ‘Constitutional Arguments’ During Hearing On Obama’s Executive Gun Action.

so that must mean it's still going down the crapper.

EVERYBODY THINKS WHAT NOBODY BELIEVES ABOUT OBAMACARE: Megan McArdle is “an honest broker, but I have to wonder about a couple of her phrases in the passage I quoted…Maybe those lines were merely the rhetorical sugar required to make the medicine go down easier for the typical Bloomberg reader.”

BEING AN OBAMACARE BOSS MEANS NEVER HAVING TO SAY YOU’RE SORRY: Andy Slavitt, President Obama’s choice to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, which manages Obamacare and its struggling co-ops, is testifying before the Senate today. Half of those co-ops have gone belly-up, costing taxpayers somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.6 billion. But don’t expect Slavitt to say he’s sorry, even though he’s been the acting CMS administrator and the deputy before that. The Daily Caller News Foundation Investigative Group’s Richard Pollock, who has covered the co-ops from their inception, is on the story today.

Good question.  I daresay not much longer: How Long Will Health Insurers Continue to Put Up With Obamacare?

hot off our server!

“NO INDIVIDUAL TOO BIG TO JAIL:” Hillary’s subconscious acts up in Dem debate, provides 6 words that will haunt her.

IT MAY NOT BE A SMOKING GUN BUT, BOY, IS IT GONNA HURT! New email release shows Hillary resisted urging by careerists at State Department to use state.gov email and equipment. Daily Caller’s Chuck Ross has the story, based on a document release forced by federal court.

SURE WE CAN TRUST HER WITH THE PRESIDENCY: Clinton emails may have been classified above top secret.