Earlier today, Andrew Breitbart, James O’Keefe and Shaughn Adeleye were guests on the Glenn Beck Radio Program.

In the first segment, Breitbart discuss various stories from Big Government and Big Journalism including the SEIU protests at the home of B of A executive Gregory Baer and Huffington Post & Media Matters unusual involvement in the coverage of that story.

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In the second segment, James O’Keefe and Shaughn Adeleye join Beck for a discussion of the latest video investigation surrounding the Census Bureau.

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Progressives are so good at weeding out racists in our midst, they feel obligated to share with us the words used. However, should they be called out when they use racial slurs, they lose their minds.

Case in point: Sarah Silverman used a slur and was called on it.

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From Hawaii to New York State, the Ricochet Podcast goes coast to coast this week as we talk to Ricochet contributor Heather Higgins about her role in helping to elect Republican Charles Djou in Hawaii. That’s right, Hawaii. Then Col. Chris Gibson joins us to discuss the state of his race in NY’s 12th district, and his inspiring vision for the country’s future. Finally, Rob reveals his secret career as a political voice over artist and a third world columnist.

Join the conversation at Ricochet.com or write us at podcast@ricochet.com.

The Gulf of Mexico continues to gush oil just as a whaling controversy threatens to land Australia and Japan in international court for killing protected species. Meanwhile, another less-publicized but arguably more cataclysmic oceanic disaster continues to worsen.

Overfishing threatens to destroy most of the world’s fisheries within a matter of decades. But while it’s proven difficult to save the gulf or save the whales, we know how to save the fish: Stop treating the ocean like a public bathroom, says Christopher Costello, a professor of natural resource economics at UC Santa Barbara.

Director Louis Psihoyos and his team of filmmakers embarked on an elaborate sting operation to expose Japan’s illegal dolphin hunters. The result is a documentary called The Cove, which took home the Oscar for best documentary. And days after the Academy Awards Psihoyos was back stirring things up.

Using the same cameras that were used to expose illegal dolphin hunters, Psihoyos and his team busted The Hump, a Santa Monica, California restaurant that had secretly been serving sushi made from the endangered sei whale.

“Everything in the ocean from the great whales to dolphins to plankton is being jeopardized,” Psihoyos tells Reason.tv. “We’re raping and harvesting the ocean unsustainably.”

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It’s hard to imagine that the Senate Financial Reform legislation could get worse, but thanks to an amendment offered by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), not only did the legislation get worse, it now adds insult to injury.

It’s no secret that the Financial Reform bill will end privacy for financial transactions, create a regulatory bureaucracy like we have never seen before and make bailouts of big banks and Wall Street the permanent policy of the US government.  What most people don’t realize is the latest Durbin amendment extends what amounts to a bailout to major retailers and big oil companies.

At the same time when oil companies are shattering profit records and British Petroleum (BP) is spewing hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil into the Gulf Coast polluting the environment the Senate decided to hand them a massive check — paid for by consumers.

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$15 billion. That’s the budget of the 2010 US Census. Where to begin with how it has been misspent? When we look back at the past ten years, we can see how the Census Bureau is an institution in need of major reforms because poor work has been rewarded and PR spinsters have been left running the show to make it seem like everything is hunky-dory.

The 2010 Census is currently in the non-response follow-up (NRFU) stage of operations (to track down individuals who did not mail back their 2010 Census forms on time), which is the largest and most expensive stage of the 2010 Census. 635,000 workers are involved in this operation, and it is the largest peacetime civilian hiring effort in the history of the United States. Yet this operation has been plagued by failure from the get-go. Let’s first take a look at the now infamous handheld computer debacle:

In 2006 the Census Bureau signed a contract with the Florida-based Harris Corporation to design handheld computers (HHCs) that would be used for the 2010 Census. This contract was initially worth $600 million. Yet because of poor directions and incompetence from Census Bureau officials about what they desired and a the failure on on the part of Harris Corp. to determine what specifications the government needed, the designs that were used for this project were flawed from the get-go.

Rather than creating a “fixed price contract,” the government created a “cost-plus contract” that essentially gave the Harris Corp. a blank check to fiddle around as they wished to the tune of $600 million. And, they fiddled and fiddled and fiddled and failed.

So what did the Census Bureau do to correct this problem? They gave the same company an extra $200 million in 2008 and told them to try it again. Ultimately, Harris delivered some handheld computers that were able to be used during the Address Canvassing phase of 2010 Census operations, but employees have repeatedly claimed that these devices were extremely faulty, slow, and at times completely non-functional. (Had the Census Bureau decided to equip its employees with special versions of the Blackberry or I-Phone, such a debacle would have been avoided.)

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Regarding the recent Gaza flotilla incident…predictably, Progressive Democrats are blaming Israel. In a most intriguing case of egomaniacal projection, they are calling it “Israel’s Kent State!”

The unflappable pro-Gaza writer, MJ Rosenberg, even goes so far as to blame the current lack of knee-jerk condemnation from America toward Israel on the ‘Zionist controlled Congress.’

Meanwhile in Washington, the word is that Obama will ease the pressure on settlements and the strangulation of Gaza to keep pro-Israel donors to the Democratic party writing checks for the November election.

I certainly don’t know what will happen. However, given that nothing has changed since Bibi’s last visit, any demonstration of love from the administration will be proof that US policy is dictated by campaign contributions.

The usual suspects are already rushing to offer the usual double talk to defend what Israel did. Here is typical claptrap from the Israel-is-always-100%-right American Jewish Committee. AIPAC and its media acolytes are also out there to tell us that the Israelis are the victims, and if you don’t think so, you are an anti-Semite. Or a self-hating Jew.

But the massacre happened in international waters and the attack was launched by military commandos against civilians trying to relieve other civilians suffering under an illegal blockade.

There is only one spot in this country where the lobby will be able to sell the story that the humanitarian flotilla was the aggressor and that Israel is the victim here. That is the United States Congress.

Despite Rosenberg’s preemptive straw-man charges that he is an anti-Semite or a self-hating Jew, we will take him at his word that he is neither of those things. But in the case of the writing above, we might accuse him of having a small problem with bigotry.

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“Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions.”

True leadership is a rare attribute.  While many people have exhibited an ability to get elected, even to the presidency, that doesn’t make them a great leader.  To demonstrate the point, ask yourself how many great presidents we have had over the last 100 years.  If you count four or less, and you should, then you understand the point.  Based on nearly a year and a half of the Obama Presidency, it is likely he will be closer to the bottom four, instead of the top four, as he demonstrates his leadership by litigation mentality.

Leadership by litigation is reference to his penchant to litigate, not solve problems – to attenuate them, not end them.  Consider that Obama, the attorney, is facing a growing number of crises:  (1) a failing economy, (2) a growing number of terrorist attacks, and (3) the gulf oil crisis.  Each of those crises is getting worse, not better, and it is Obama’s lack of leadership skills that are to blame.

Working backwards, rather than demonstrate action on the gulf oil spill, i.e. approving Bobby Jindal’s request to form barrier islands or to approve the Saudi mid-ocean cleanup method, Obama is stalling on those suggestions and many more – but he is willing to file a lawsuit against BP.

With regard to terrorist attacks, the facts demonstrate that, despite Obama’s talking to the World, the number of domestic attacks rose dramatically.  Obama’s response? – have attorneys prosecute them.  And on the economy, Obama has done nothing more than talk and pander – mostly blaming Business and Bush for the problem but not acting in rational manner – unless you are one of the few people in the world who think that mimicking Greece represents economics.

At the outset of this editorial, I quoted the legendary CEO of International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT) Harold S. Geneen.  He said that “Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions.”  That could be a diplomatic way of saying you cannot talk your way out of a challenge – at least not for long – you must act.

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Speaking to CNBC in Las Vegas recently, Steve Wynn, the billionaire developer and operator of entertainment properties, said: “Washington is unpredictable these days. No one has any idea what’s next . . . the uncertainty of the business climate in America is frightening, frightening to everybody, and it’s delaying recovery.” Wynn complains of “wild, uncontrolled spending” and “unbelievable, unsustainable debt.”

Wynn also has operations in China, and he remarks that he “has no qualms about dealing with the Chinese government. Macau has been steady. The shocking, unexpected government is the one in Washington.” Not very long ago, such a statement would itself have been shocking.

The gambling and real estate magnate expresses concerns about inflation, Federal Housing Administration’s making the same mistakes Fannie and Freddie have made, and the business costs arising from the new health-care law. “We’re on our way to Greece,” he declares, “in the hands of a confused, foolish government.” Exasperated, he mutters, “It’s got to stop. It’s got to stop.”

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Now that we are well into the 6th week (Day 43) of the catastrophe in the Gulf, furiously gushing oil continues to destroy one of the world’s most gorgeous and valuable estuaries: it’s lapping up in and around New Orleans and the rest of the Louisiana coast, as well as the coastlines of Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida. The destruction to the Gulf region is now reaching—and some say even surpassing—the levels of damage inflicted by Hurricane Katrina.

Here’s a question:  I wonder when Spike Lee is going to make a film about the oil spill like the one he did about Katrina, with the underlying theme being that New Orleans was abandoned by the essentially racist federal government led by President Bush.  I also wonder when we’ll hear from Kanye West, who raged on national television that “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”

The oil spill is destroying the exact same areas in the Gulf region.  Hey, Spike: Does Obama’s lethargic and passionless response to the oil disaster make him a racist?  Hey, Kanye: Does Obama’s lack of any kind of coordinated and effective federal response make him a hater of black people?

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What a shock. A majority of the arrested “peace activists” who brutally attacked the Israeli soldiers with pipes, metal rods. chairs and knives are linked to terror groups including Al-Qaeda. Several are members of the Muslim Brotherhood. The activists include Turks, Yemenites and Indonesians. And, many of the arrested “peace” fanatics have no identification papers.

The terror-linked “peace activists” even brought their own “Hezbollah slingshots” with them on their “peace” mission. (IDF)

YNET News reported:

The ongoing interrogation of passengers who were aboard the Marmara – the Gaza aid flotilla’s flagship – revealed that the majority of those who attacked the Israeli Naval Commandos boarding the ship have direct and indirect Global Jihad ties.

Israel’s investigation has revealed some 100 people infiltrated the peace and humanitarian aid activists making their way to Gaza, with the explicit design to attack Israeli soldiers using cold arms.

Some among that group are believed to have ties with World Jihad groups, mainly al-Qaeda.

The majority of suspects are Turks, but some are Yemenites and Indonesian. One Yemenite Islamist was photographed with a dagger in his belt prior to the raid.

The suspects are not cooperating with investigators. Most of them have no identification papers, and Israeli authorities are still trying to ascertain their identity.

So, will the Western media omit this from their reports, too?

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From May 3rd to May 8th of this year, I worked for the United States Census Bureau in Lafayette, Louisiana.  With the aid of a hidden camera, I witnessed and captured evidence of wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars–one systemic failure after another of this a Constitutionally mandated entity during a time of great recession and high unemployment.

The training course consisted of four three-hour days and one eight-hour day. I was paid for a total of 20.75 hours, 3.5 of which I did not work. I was paid with your money, money that was stolen from you.

On multiple occasions I was given three 15-minute breaks over the course of three hours and was instructed to fill out false ending times. When I confronted the supervisor about the discrepancy, she said she was just “giving us this time” and told me “I think you’re worrying over nothing.”  At any business, this would be theft.

We were also coached to indicate government phone numbers were in fact our personal cell phone numbers (a blatant lie) in order to prevent people from calling and harassing us. (more…)

President Obama has once again shown his lack of judgment, by sending Attorney General Eric Holder down to the Gulf of Mexico to investigate possible litigation. Clearly, the White House has misplaced priorities, instead of sending more engineers and experts, we are sending down trial lawyers to determine possible punitive damages. The President makes time in his daily schedule to appear regularly on television programs, yet his recent trip to Louisiana only lasted a handful of hours. Instead of concentrating on stemming the ongoing oil spill, the Obama administration is opening up a new gusher, full of litigation and trial lawyers. Is this the best President Obama can do to stop the oil spill?

“Our Country! In her intercourse with foreign nations, may she always be in the right; but right or wrong, our country!”  Those words first voiced in 1815 by Captain Stephen Decatur Jr., America’s first post-revolution hero and, to this day, the youngest Captain ever commissioned by the US Navy, should be on the mind of every American President and every American Secretary of State every waking hour.

Though condensed and trivialized over time to the over simplified, “My country right or wrong,” and ridiculed by those who are embarrassed by patriotism, Decatur’s words, we believe, revealed a prescient understanding that future leaders of the then still very young republic would be called upon to make difficult decisions if the unique quality of American Liberty was to be preserved…decisions that could drastically impact the lives of many Americans.  Decatur also understood that while mistakes might be made from time to time, as long as the mission was the preservation of liberty and freedom, the republic deserved the support of the people.

We don’t believe Decatur was being cavalier and we don’t wish to be either.  He had seen war up close and personal, having commanded an incredibly heroic raid at Tripoli harbor that the legendary British Admiral Horatio Nelson, later called “the most bold and daring act of the age.”  Decatur had been dispatched, along with the newly established First Marines, by Thomas Jefferson to the shores of Tripoli on the Barbary Coast in support of what may have been the most important and long enduring foreign policy decision since the birth of the new American nation.  America would protect its interests, any place, any time and at any cost.  Defending liberty has always required determination and a clear sense of purpose.  Often its cost would be high.  Thirty-five American servicemen were lost on the Barbary Coast as the young nation first asserted its right to sail the high seas anywhere in the world.

A century and a half later John F. Kennedy made the same point when he pronounced, “we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” Nothing ambiguous about Jefferson’s policies, or those of James Monroe, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John Kennedy or those of most any other American Administration up until the Iran hostage crisis in 1979 when Jimmy Carter’s vacillation and lack of resolve caused foreign leaders to doubt America’s willingness to defend its interests even in the face of an act of war against it.

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The Free Enterprise Alliance’s Halt The Assault campaign has been raising red flags about Sen. Bob Casey’s dangerous bill granting the full faith and credit of the United States Treasury to bail out multi-employer pensions (a favorite of unions). Thankfully, the issue is getting more and more attention — most recently from today’s Wall Street Journal.

The paper accurately decries the “Union Pension Bailout” as “a scheme for taxpayers to cover mismanaged multi-employer plans.” Here’s a quick video explanation of the problem:

Just for a little more shock and a lot of awe-no-they-didn’t, watch this video from a recent Senate hearing on Sen. Casey’s bill.

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It might be 2010 but because the Obama White House has taken another page out of the Clinton White House play book, it feels a lot like it is 1998.

This latest episode features the Congressman Joe Sestak Affair and the-job-offer-for-the-non-paying-job-to-fix-an-election-scandal. Sestak-Jobgate appears to be a dubious remake loosely based on the 1998 impeachment success: the it-was-all-about-sex (not obstruction of justice) Clinton-Lewinsky scandal.

Some of the notable differences, however, include President Bill Clinton’s paramour, Monica Lewinsky, a Pentagon staffer at the time, thanks to the Clinton White House, received more than one paying job offer as opposed to Mr. Sestak’s alleged non-paying offer. Moreover, Ms. Lewinsky could accept the job, as opposed to Mr. Sestak, a sitting member of Congress, who is barred from serving on a federal panel.

It was before the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal erupted in January 1998, in the most “ethical” administration in history-– pre-Obama, when some Clintonista’s helped Ms. Lewinsky find a job. Critics claimed, in part, that job hunt activity constituted obstruction of justice in the ongoing Paula Jones sexual harassment lawsuit against President Clinton in which Lewinsky was ultimately called to testify.

Words like ‘felony,’ ‘perjury’ ‘impeachment,’ and ‘special prosecutor” peppered the political dialogue; similar words that are attributed to the Obama White House today thanks to Sestak-Jobgate.

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From ABC News:

The conservative filmmaker arrested this year for an undercover attempt to tape staffers at a U.S. senator’s office said his next target — the Census Bureau — is another example of government waste.

James O’Keefe, fresh off sentencing for his role in the attempted sting on Sen. Mary Landrieu’s Louisiana office in January, signed up to work for the Census in hopes of exposing what he alleges is the bureau’s waste of taxpayer money.

O’Keefe said in an exclusive interview today with “Good Morning America” that he has no plans to stop his undercover operations.

“You’re on notice…if you are doing things behind closed doors, we will find you and we will film you,” O’Keefe said.

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Today James O’Keefe and I had the privilege to go on ABC News’ Good Morning America to launch O’Keefe’s new set of undercover videos – the Census. While most of the feedback email of the contentious segment is running negative against George Stephanopoulos for emphasizing long debunked and retracted smears and for using the word “criminal” throughout the piece, what is missing is an acknowledgment of how courageous Stephanopoulos was to put O’Keefe and me on the air in the first place.

ABC NEWS and Stephanopoulos are not immune from partisan propaganda campaigns to ignore points of view that run counter to their already center-left mainstream media line. In fact, Stephanopoulos himself was the person who delayed the mainstream media’s report on the Clinton/Lewinsky story by stopping Bill Kristol in his tracks on ABC News’ This Week in January, 1998. He was also the political operative who internally attacked ABC News brass for booking former White House FBI agent and New York Times bestseller, Gary Aldrich. Twice Stephanopoulos tried to use his political skills to kill a story.

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