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According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, support for Obamacare has risen after the recent court ruling.

According to Rasmussen, approval ratings for the Supreme Court have fallen since the ruling. More respondents believe justices pursue their own political agendum rather than remaining impartial, than thought so before the ruling. A higher percentage of respondents also now believe the court is too liberal.

Alec Rawls at Flopping Aces weighs in on the SCOTUS ruling.

Perhaps the best (i.e. most fact-based and straightforward) overview/analysis I've read to date.

Google is now apparently not allowing searches on "google shopping" (a service I wasn't aware of, let alone use) for guns, ammunition, or gun accessories.

Now, I don't own or use a gun. And Google is a private company, free to allow or not allow what they want through their service.

But I am also a free person, and I choose not to use Google at all in the future as a result of this policy. It's not too far a reach from disallowing searches of perfectly legal products and accessories to disallowing searches for perfectly legal political points of view. I refuse to be a customer/patron/user of their service.

Google censors gun results

EBD; 10:04p.m. --

This kind of information is what I find so exasperating about the health care debate in the United States. The SCOTUS ruling has apparently meant nothing to the outcome of the public policy debate, in spite of the resources that have been poured into the court challenge. The only possible exception to this conclusion is that the ruling has bolstered (hopefully on a very short-term basis) Obama's chances of re-election.

And reading some of the commentary elsewhere is no more reassuring: we are now seeing the most arcane arguments about the commerce clause versus the general welfare clause, blah, blah, blah, with conservative commentators criticizing each other about the longer-term implications for other unrelated issues that may or may not come before SCOTUS, blah, blah, blah.

The only grim recompense in this divisive debate is that the Democrats have made the bone-headed move of positioning Obamacare as "not a tax", when in fact one or more of their legal representatives at the Court admitted it was a tax, a position with which the Court evidently agreed.

Surely there are some minds within the GOP that understand that everything is not fine with the cost and financing of US health care -- the most important concern, from my perspective, being that the system is nearly twice as expensive (as a percentage of GDP) as the OECD average and is thereby hurting the US economy (upon which Canada depends at least for now). In my view, way too much effort has been spent on "We'll repeal Obamacare" and "Obamacare is illegal", the latter of which argument now appears to be bogus and the former of which doesn't mesh with other legitimate views of many Americans, thereby pushing some of them toward Obama (re-election of whom will be a continuing drag on the US economy in a myriad of ways beyond this particular issue).

The GOP could use a few lessons from Mr. Harper, who has progressively neutralized the issue from a political perspective, reinvented the Canada Health Act to create opportunities for more efficiency- and market-based solutions to the problems of cost, finance and service outcomes and defeated the deeply insulting implied Liberal/NDP line of twaddle that "you people are smart enough to vote for a strong federal government that will impose rigid and inflexible health care constraints, but you're not smart enough to vote for provincial governments that will protect your health care system."

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbm=shop&q=hunting+rifles+for+sale&oq=hunting+rifles&gs_l=products

I dunno, Kevin B, I wasn't aware of Google Shopping either, but when I typed it in and typed "hunting rifles" in the "search", I found lots of sites featuring all kinds of them.

David, I agree that the ruling didn't have the long-anticipated effect of clarifying the public policy debate; if anything, it has provoked a scatter-shot response from the conservative side of the aisle. It will be interesting to see what Romney's tactical approach/response to the judgement will be.

Re the surfeit of "arcane arguments": after reading a variety of analyses from the two conservative camps (the minority who think the decision is positive in the long run, and those who see it as a bad defeat) it seems to me that those who argue that the ruling will be beneficial (to conservatives) in the long run are wearing rose-tinted glasses and using pretzel logic to justify their conclusions, while those who see the ruling as a clear loss for America and for personal liberty are looking more at what the ruling actually means, i.e. what it allows big government to get away with in real terms, both now and in the future.

The analyses of those in the former camp, including the WSJ's Holman Jenkins ("Obamacare -- Upheld and Doomed") and George Will --

"Conservatives won a substantial victory on Thursday….[…]...By persuading the court to reject a Commerce Clause rationale for a president's signature act, the conservative legal insurgency against Obamacare has won a huge victory for the long haul…"

-- all seem to have the faintest whiff of denial about them, and an excessive focus on the proverbial two birds in the bush. John Yoo's assessment -

"Justice Roberts's opinion provides a constitutional road map for architects of the next great expansion of the welfare state. Congress may not be able to directly force us to buy electric cars, eat organic kale, or replace oil heaters with solar panels. But if it enforces the mandates with a financial penalty then suddenly, thanks to Justice Roberts's tortured reasoning in Sebelius, the mandate is transformed into a constitutional exercise of Congress's power to tax."

- like that of Alec Rawls (link at 10:09), just seems a little more grounded in reality. Will's take, in comparison -

"This victory will help revive a venerable tradition of America's political culture, that of viewing congressional actions with a skeptical constitution squint, searching for congruence with the Constitution's architecture of enumerated powers…"

-- sounds a bit like someone losing his mind in a foxhole while under heavy fire.

I partially agree with you about the advisability of campaigning on a platform to repeal Obamacare; I think it would be a mistake for the Republicans to focus excessively on repealing Obamacare - the primary focus should be on the economy in general, and on issues of presidential competence -- but, IMO, they should make repealing it a part of their campaign platform. Every poll I've ever seen suggests that more Americans are opposed to Obamacare than are in favour of it, for one thing, but also, more importantly, it's an unprecedented, socialist expansion of big-state rights over the rights of the individual, and should be repealed for that reason.

If you wake up tomorrow (Sunday) morning feeling unusually alert and well-rested, well, here's why.

Essential reading this long weekend: Daniel Greenfield's ("Sultan Knish's") "There Ain't No More Middle Ground".

Excerpt:

This is no longer a nation founded on the curious premise that the government should leave people alone unless they are causing problems. That peculiar idea was held by a nation of farmers and merchants who fled religious persecution, and whose great contribution to human history was the notion that governments shouldn't be all-powerful and that everyone should mind their own business when it comes to other people's affairs. Our present-day rulers revile them as racist slave owners who only cared about money, but they also happen to be racist slave owners who only care about money, and they have far more of both.

Later,

You, sitting right there in your chair, watching these words move across your screen, are the problem. A problem 311,591,917 human souls strong. You eat too much or you don't pay enough taxes, you drive your car too often, you haven't bought solar panels for your roof, you browse extremist websites when you should be browsing government informational sites for tips on how to do or not do all of the above. But most of all... you still don't understand what a great problem you are for the people running this country into the ground between the Atlantic and the Pacific. They keep trying to solve you, but you don't go away.

There is no neutrality when dealing with people who reject the very concept of neutrality. Who draw everyone into the long columns of their spreadsheets and catch everyone in their spider's web. There is no middle ground with people who don't believe there is a middle ground, who believe that every human on earth is part of the problem and can only opt out of being the problem by joining up with them and following their directives.

Read the whole thing. Twice.

Sorry it took me so long to come back with my Small Dead Contest.
+100000 Internets two lines from an obscure '80s thrash band
Mission Impossible.
Sorry, duck and cover,

Anthrax preforming Milk (Ode to Billy)

THRASH METAL WARNING this is not for the faint of heart,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiENfvSf9PY

And since the Attack of the Killer 'Bs is up.
Language warning, the most offensive song of 1989?
All about censorship, funny now, just not Ha Ha funny more like the left wing Fascists will have you arrested for saying bad words funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiENfvSf9PY

More Anthrax ( is that a CISIS trigger word?)

Hell I'll talk to them, maybe they will be smater than the local yocals....
D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poTA34hKbZw
wrong link, my bad
not that sh!tfrack$atanDeathrapedrugsextaint will not wake you up...

Socialism Abounding: Yerp & OntarioMcGuinty.

...-

Yerp:

"9.12am: Europe's manufacturing companies suffered a torrid June, and bosses expect worse times ahead.

That's the key message from this morning's manufacturing data, which showed that factory output across the eurozone fell sharply in June. The monthly PMI, measured by Markit, came in at 45.1 - a repeat of May's figure, which was already the worsst since June 2009.

That signals a big contraction in a crucial sector for Europe -- the part of the economy that actually makes things to sell to the rest of the world.

The number of jobs being cut across the sector hit its highest level since the start of 2010, which is a sign that firms are bracing for more trouble."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jul/02/eurozone-crisis-optimism-eu-summit

...-

OntarioMcGuinty:

"Ontario’s Power Trip: Discounts and windmills"

"Granting discounts to industry while spending on wind means chaos

With Ontario set for the highest electricity rates of any jurisdiction in North America by 2013, the McGuinty government is slapping another Band-Aid on the wounds of electricity consumers. Like so many of his previous Band-Aids, Premier Dalton McGuinty’s new quick fix will bring more long-term pain."

http://opinion.financialpost.com/2012/06/27/ontarios-power-trip-discounts-and-windmills/

EBD, 2:36 a.m. --

I agree that Obamacare is going to be nothing but a heap of trouble for the US if it is allowed to continue; it should be repealed. You're right about it being a bait-and-switch tactic to legitimize the otherwise non-winning views of the good forty-percent of American voters who have been bitten by the socialist bug.

But it seems to me that, for all the time we've known about how this issue was going to play out before the American public, the GOP could have produced a clear, concise and agreed-to two pager stating the problems and solutions as they see them and that satisfies the concerns of the other sixty percent of Americans. Where is it, 120 days before the election?

"If you wake up tomorrow (Sunday) morning..."

Posted by: EBD at July 2, 2012 2:55 AM

I'm upset and confused.

Someone give Tim Hudak a heads up that his future success is laid bare right here, right now on Kate MacMillan's miraculous "Small Dead Animals" blog, this minute.

Tim, set your ego aside right now, get Christine Elliott, Ernie Hardeman and Frank Klees into your office.
Listen to their advice on a number of issues such as:

Why should the Giant Brewer conglomerates control the sale of alcohol in Ontario as opposed to "Mom & Pop variety stores as in Quebec and Newfoundland?
David Peterson won an election based on giving small business owners the right to sell beer or wine in their shops.
The the lieing bastard renegged.

Just imagine the small business vote in Toronto, Tim if a true Conservative Hudak, Elliott, Hardeman, Klees government offered Ontarians that option!
Tim. contact Mark Bonokoski or Lorrie Goldstein at QMI Sun TV and listen to what they have to say about how the McGuinty Libs are neutering the second largest agriculturally related industry in Ontario (totatlly sustained by gaming, by the way!)
Even hardcore Liberal supporters in the harness racing filed will support you, Tim Hudak on this issue.

Who am I?
I am Joseph (Joe) Molnar, in Woodstock, Ontario.

My family and I used to breed and race Standardbred harness horses in Ontario.
Our number 2 (Second born) son and daughter-in-law are to this day involved in racing a mare as an hobby, but have mega-bucks invested even as hobbyists, therefore, even a blind person can understand the ancillary money involved in the gaming only supported sport.
Take a stand for the Ontario Horsemen Tim, Christine, Ernie and Frank and forget your own egos and do what is right for Ontarians.

And make no mistake, Ontario Conservatism is the saviour from the socialist bastard Liberals and New Democrat COMMUNISTS!!!!!!!

I AM,
Joseph (Joe) Molnar,

Woodstock, Ontario.

Sorry to have so concerned you, Black Mamba (8:42). I had typed up the tip hours earlier when it was still July 1st, but then a neighbour stopped by with an assortment of bottles of Belgian lambic…..Fresca, and the comment got waylaid until the old troublemaker went home.

Despite such prevailing circumstances, though, do you not feel extra-well rested this morning?

RT: Obama in a private happy moment.

Daily Caller is reporting that a Fast and Furious protest is happening this morning in front of the White House at 10am.

http://dailycaller.com/2012/07/01/at-the-gates-protesters-to-converge-on-white-house-calling-for-fast-and-furious-justice/

100 to 1 says that not a word of this protest will be found anywhere in the Canadian media.

Flashback...CBC covers a 200 person protest against George Bush last October.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/10/20/bc-george-w-bush-protest-surrey.html

But... EBD... it's Monday. I mean I could swear it's Monday. What's in this Fresca?

"...do you not feel extra-well rested this morning?"

Oddly, yes, thanks for asking.

I'm not going to argue with you about what day it is, not when you know I'm feeling so upset.

test

But... EBD... it's Monday. I mean I could swear it's Monday. What's in this Fresca?

I thought I missed a week.

Murray Rothbard from 1995 on the history of government intervention in health care going way back to 1910 and some of the reasons health care is so expensive that it triggers calls for socialization.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2167656/Two-men-suspected-trying-hijack-flight-China-beaten-death-passengers.html

Yet more proof that China will overtake the US.

"Two men suspected of trying to hijack a flight in China were beaten to death by passengers "

The only way to deal with, and discourage future attempts.

Meanwhile, the US Army tries to pretend that Islamists in the army are not a problem.

Shocka!*

(*The fact that anyone at all is still watching CNN and therefore knows who Anderson Vanderbilt is, I mean.)

Black Mamba,the Anderson Cooper "shocker" was only exceeded in history when Al Sharpton came out a few years ago and admitted he was Black.

Cooper is the gayest person on TV since Liberace,although a lot less talented.

Looks like Barry is getting some help from Mitt; Mitt does not think that his brainchild (obamacare) is a tax. Makes a person wonder which side the Repub's Ken Doll is fighting on this time out.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jul/2/romney-adviser-health-care-not-a-tax/

Ron Paul would follow the Constitution and send 'health care' back to the states. The thuggery of the Mitt campaign in the primaries aimed at Ron Paul supporters just isn't there when he is dealing with Barry O! Things that make me go "Heaven help US."

George admits he's an inveterate Red-Green moonbat. Does George realize he's growing older every day?

Here is the condensed Red-Green dogma: "The great profusion of life in the past – fossilised in the form of flammable carbon – now jeopardises the great profusion of life in the present.'"

...-

"We were wrong on peak oil. There's enough to fry us all"

"A boom in oil production has made a mockery of our predictions. Good news for capitalists – but a disaster for humanity"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jul/02/peak-oil-we-we-wrong

Chrétien's Legacy Lives!

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/SOMNIA/article4384407/

Sikorsky International Operations Inc. was supposed to deliver the first of 28 state-of-the-art CH-148 Cyclones in June, after the Harper government agreed in late 2008 to extend the deadline on the $5.7-billion contract by 43 months.

In the latest in a string of missteps in military procurements, Sikorsky is pushing back on the delivery, with still no official date being offered for the completion of the contract.

“Sikorsky has yet to start delivering the Cyclones,” said Sébastien Bois, a spokesman for Public Works and Government Services Canada.

"You Can’t Take It With You
July 2nd, 2012 - 2:42 pm

One of Rush Limbaugh’s latest shows begins with this taunt.

If you’re in the DC area, are you happy you don’t have an electric car? Yeah, with the power outages, are you happy you don’t have an electric car? Because two million, five million, three schmillion, whatever. Aren’t you glad you don’t have an electric car? By the way, how are those windmills working out for you? How are the windmills and solar panels working out? Are they running your air-conditioning for you? As you sit there and sweat away, how are things doing in the nation’s capital? All those windmills are really working out, huh? Solar panels, yeah, man, that’s the future. There you are, sitting there, sweating, stinking like a stuck pig for three days, and it’s gonna be this way for another week. It’s a good thing you don’t have an electric car or you couldn’t get around, you couldn’t escape. Isn’t it amazing.

It brought back memories of a barbecue I attended a couple of months with a political figure in Australia. He maintained that current policies failed to take into account the fact that while Oz had a lot of coal resources, it was still dependent on imported oil for moving-around fuel. An international disturbance, he said, would be distinctly unpleasant for those accustomed to sipping white wine along the beautiful beaches of the Australian East coast. (more…)"

http://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/

...-

"The Carbon Tax starts down under
Posted on July 2, 2012 by Anthony Watts

On July 1st, the much hated Carbon Tax was implemented in Australia. Given that PM Gillard made a promise for no Carbon Tax on video at the beginning of her term in August 2010, then broke that promise, followed by a devil may care attitude, I can’t imagine anything that would enrage Australians as much as this.

Since there is so much coverage on this epic failure of the Gillard government, I thought I’d create a collage of coverage here. Follow the links to the appropriate essays and news articles. There’s also a speech at the end. First up is Jo Nova:
The-Tax-Whose-Name-Shall-Not-Be-Spoken Begins

Australians will pay $77 million per week in carbon taxes, while Europe with the 30 most green countries pays just one third of that, according to the Mineral Council of Australia.

Continue reading →"

http://wattsupwiththat.com/

O'narcissist:

"In a phone call from Air Force One, the President reportedly told a group of top donors "I can't do this by myself" and urged them to open their cheque books to "meet or exceed what you did in 2008".

Noting that most had "maxed out to my campaign last time," Mr Obama told them: "I really need you to do the same this time," according to a leaked transcript."

...-

"US election: Barack Obama begs donors for more as Mitt Romney rakes it in"

"Barack Obama has issued a plea for wealthy supporters to give him more money and stop his re-election campaign being outspent by Mitt Romney and the Republican's billionaire backers."

"Mr Obama received another warning yesterday as Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of News Corporation, indicated that he would throw his influence behind Mr Romney"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/barackobama/9371011/US-election-Barack-Obama-begs-donors-for-more-as-Mitt-Romney-rakes-it-in.html

EBD 2:36a.m. (A propos of my comments above and in Reader Tips from June 30, 2012):

This isn't good: check out Victor Davis Hanson today -- he seems to be feeling the same way I do about things:

www.pjmedia.com/victordavishanson/good-news-what-good-news

And Jema54 5:47p.m.'s post above provides astonishing information that will seriously compound the problem.

It's time for the GOP to hunker down and get the job done. Time is marching on...

O & P & B challenge M.

The Three Amigos take on Mohammed.

...-

"US, Russia, UN plan their next moves in Syria standoff
Globe and Mail"