First, I must say that this Erick Erickson dude really knows how to throw a punch.

This past week, the Gulf States who hoped Barack Obama would actually do something to help them were stunned when he imposed a ban on deep water offshore drilling.

It is no exaggeration to say that as much as shrimping is part of the way of life in the Gulf Coast area, oil drilling is too. Barack Obama, with the stroke of a pen, put tens of thousands of men and women on the unemployment line.

That was no act of moderation. That was an overreaction — a desire by Obama to move the narrative from “do nothing” to “do something.” He did something alright. In his zeal to turn this from his Katrina to his 9/11 with a “Never Again” moment, he destroyed an entire industry.

That was not an act of moderation. It was a desperate, selfish bid to change the narrative, despite all sorts of collateral damage.

Let hear a loud OUCH! for Obama!

The rest here.

Second, one of Seth’s fun favorites, Julia Gorin and, killing two birds with one stone where saying “farewell” is concerned, one of the best commentaries we’ve yet to read concerning the (all too) clear, departing Helen Thomas.

By occasional reader and California resident Avi Zirler:

Dear Ms. Thomas:

I saw the clip where you told the Jews of Israel to get the hell out of Palestine and go back to Poland and Germany.

Really?

Ms. Thomas, one could expect a renowned journalist of your caliber to know that about half of the population of Israel consists of Middle Eastern Jews who where forced to flee Arab countries like Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Yemen, and North Africa. The number of those Jewish refugees far exceeded the number of the so-called Palestinian refugees. Some of them, particularly the Jews of Iraq who were extremely wealthy, were brutally forced to leave their wealth behind, and their assets were confiscated by the government.

Are you suggesting that those Jews should return to the countries who tormented them? Are your Arab friends ready to take them back?

Ms. Thomas, I heard that you are an American of Lebanese descent. I am not exactly sure what gives you the right to live on a land which was taken from the Native Americans. Who gave you the permission to live here?

Thus, Ms. Thomas, I believe that you should give these damn Jews a personal example. I therefore suggest that you get the hell out of America and go back to the Middle East, where you and your anti-Semitic ideas belong and fit in.

Yours,
Avi Zirler
La Canada, CA

My only correction for Helen Thomas is that, again, it’s not “Palestine” — it’s Palestein.

– APPLAUSE for that one!

And Third, speaking of earmarks… Were we speaking of earmarks? No? Well, we are now.

These things (earmarks) have become synonymous, and rightly so, with politicians on Capital Hill stealing — that’s right, blatantly STEALING, robbing, ripping off, burgling, pickpocketing — STEALING money from the American taxpayer to reward campaign contributors and other supporters or to help one another get reelection votes in their respective districts. It’s also a pure manifestation of that unconstitutionally sinful act known as “taxation without representation”.

With a rooftop pool and 24-hour concierge service, the new luxury condominiums off Frank Sinatra Drive here seem an unlikely spot in need of a multimillion-dollar federal giveaway.

Yet U.S. taxpayers doled out at least $8 million on a public walkway and park space in front of the Maxwell Place development here overlooking the New York City skyline - an amenity the development touts alongside its entertainment lounge, rooftop hot tub and theater screening room.

But the decision to use tax dollars to fund the walkway project was made after private developers had already agreed in 2003 to pay for it - indeed, it was a key condition for getting the project off the ground, according to public records and interviews.

Still, under the so-called earmarking process, by which Capitol Hill lawmakers slip requests for pet projects into larger spending bills, Sens. Frank R. Lautenberg and Robert Menendez, New Jersey Democrats, later pushed for millions of dollars in federal funding for the project.

In the swamp of federal earmark funding, $8 million isn’t a lot. But critics say the project is emblematic of why the earmark process so enrages many taxpayers.

Read on.

Have a nice day.