Come for the Politics, Stay for the Pathologies



Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Did He Just Call Us Bitter Clingers? Again?

This clip struck me as – oh, I don’t know – maybe a bit arrogant. Dismissive. Even derisive.

Judge for yourself.

 

 

“You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not.

And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

Barack Obama comments at San Francisco fundraiser, April 6, 2008

100 Days, 100 Ways…

The MSM has been hyping this day since the O sealed the nomination. They knew it would be transformative. Indeed, it has been that.

Let’s recap the damages so far:

How many new terrorist groups have been identified?

The Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Catholics, Fundamentalist Christians, and Canadians, eh?

How many businesses/industries have been, or are targeted for nationalization?

Autos (GM for sure, maybe Chrysler) Banks/Financial Services (AIG, Citibank, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase - you get the idea), Health care (make no mistake that the Obama plan is anything short of nationalized healthcare; Charles Krauthammer is the first to rear the ugly head of "rationing" as a vital element of his plan), and quite possibly energy (if he can’t rid the country of its addiction to “conventional” energy like coal, oil and gas by fiat, perhaps he can manage it through taxation - then the government can control all new “clean” energy.)

How many CEO’s have been whacked?

Merrill Lynch’s John Thain, GM’s Richard Wagner, and BoA’s Kenneth Lewis has been kissed. For the time being Ford’s Mulally and Chrysler’s Nardelli have blocked the hit by teaming up with rival families: Mulally is casting his fate with the Capitalist family and Nardelli's sticking with the godfathers back in the old country. But watch your backs boys.

How many additional trillion dollars in debt has he plunged the country?

This is a trick question. Do you mean this year? ($1.5 trillion) or this decade? (too big to count)

How many new tyrannical dictators have been added to his Facebook friends?

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Raul Castro, Hugo Chavez, Evo Morales, Daniel Ortega, King Abdullah, : there will be more, he’s still working off the list Bill Ayers gave him.

How many apologies for America has he made?

Salzburg: apologizes for being arrogant, dismissive, even derisive (note to BHO: the preferred English pronunciation is di-ˈrī-siv - does not rhyme with “dismissive”) Prague, apologies for Guantanamo, our attitude towards the Muslim world, and the audacity of Harry Truman’s decision to put the wellbeing of his country and his country’s soldiers ahead of the enemy that launched the war against us. Now on to the South American “We Suck” Tour. Here he apologizes for the US being dictatorial in our dealings with the southern hemisphere, assuring the leaders of Central and South America of “engagement based on mutual respect and common interests and shared values.” Apology for being dictatorial? To half of the dictators on earth? And since when has the US shared values with socialist dictators? Wait, let me answer that…

How many “green” initiatives have been proposed that will drag on the economy, increase taxes and undermine the country’s ability to develop conventional domestic energy such as oil, gas, coal and nuclear. All the while promulgating the big lie of global warming, henceforth known as “climate change”?

Any, and all. Be assured, no green initiative will be left unturned. For example, O's exploring radical geoengineering solutions to global warming: shooting sulfur particles into space to block the rays of the sun. He really does think he’s the messiah. If you can take it, here's the White House view of how to save our planet. And don’t forget “Cap and Trade”, more accurately known as “Cap and Tax”: the best vehicle yet conceived to control the entire economy.

How many of our freedoms/liberties and how much of our sovereignty has he given to international entities?

Financial Regulation: At the G20 meeting he signed off on the international legislation called the Financial Stability Board. This will place every firm, including US companies, under the responsibility of an international governmental agency. The global regulator now has the authority to examine all US banks, brokerage firms and corporations including non-financial companies such as the Big Three automakers to examine operations and determine risk. Hard to believe isn’t it? Parenting: UN Treaty on Children’s Rights, about to be ratified by congress.

How many weapons (real and psychological) has he eliminated from the arsenal established to protect us from foreign enemies and terrorists?

No more Gitmo, no more enemy combatants, war on terror, or terrorism. Enhanced Interrogation - gone. And we gave our enemies the rules and guidelines so they can be prepared in case we’re ever in a position to capture and interview them. Now we’re more civilized. We have “overseas contingency operations”, and man-caused disasters. And as a result, no more terrorists, just disaster-ators.

How many departments/functions previously independent of the executive office has he moved into the purview of the White House? Bonus points if you can identify the nefarious reasons for doing so.

Besides moving the Census from Commerce to the White House, and including an additional billion dollars in funding from the Porkulus bill (the census is automatically funded), and establishing a new Health Reform Office to develop national health care, the initiatives are literally too numerous to list. For details here's an eye-opening white paper.

How many nominees for appointments withdrew either for charges of pay-to-play, failure to pay taxes, or the nebulous “personal reasons” (“personally, I don’t want to discuss my failure to pay taxes”); or, alternately, were approved despite such problems?

Bill Richardson, Tom Daschle, Nancy Killefer, Hilda Solis, Timothy Geithner, Susan Tierney, Jane Garvey, Gary Locke, Annette Nazareth, Caroline Atkinson, Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Ron Kirk. And who knows what the deal was with Caroline Kennedy. And folks, we’re done yet. There are still zoodles of unfilled positions.

And a late entry into 100 day accomplishments lists: How many Republican Senators did he persuade to defect to the Democrats?

None. What? Arlen Specter? Ha, ha. That’s a good one!

How many campaign promises already broken?

Who cares?

By any measure, it’s been a stunning 100 days. America, I hardly knew ye.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Plane Stupid…

Scareforce One, the jokes are endless. But seriously, what were they thinking? Could this really have been all about a photo op? A glamour shot of Air Force One with Ms. Liberty?  At $70k an hour to fly AF-1 and god-only-knows how much to scramble an F-16? Has the White House never heard of Photoshop? Since we’re told this was done to update an old file photo, I guess we can say it was the Bush Administration’s fault.

Considering the panic that gripped millions of workers in lower Manhattan when this harebrained scheme was unfolding, I wonder if some of the east coast elites might want to reconsider their “we’re better than that” attitude towards water boarding. I’m just saying.

Monday, April 27, 2009

It’s Never Too Late

In case you forgot to celebrate Earth Hour by living in darkness on March 29th:

 

You could move to North Korea – the Earth Hour World Champions

Sunday, April 26, 2009

A Torturous Road to Hope and Change

The furor over enhanced interrogation techniques continues, with Obama flip-flopping on the release of the internal interrogation memos, and on whether or not there will be prosecutions. Maybe the people who believe he’s getting messages beamed into his brain are right. But his decisions – no matter where they were spawned – are paralyzing. Hal Lindsey at World Net Daily elaborates:

What purpose did releasing the alleged "torture" memos serve? For our country, I mean. It is painfully obvious how it served our enemies. In war, any accurate information the enemy holds is too much information. Logic screams in pain at the arguments advanced by the government – that it intended to project "legal and moral clarity" over the issue of torture.

We have so effectively parsed and deconstructed reality that half the country no longer knows what torture is. As a result, they believe that George Bush and Dick Cheney authorized the use of illegal torture: something that the self- righteous “we are better than that” crowd would never condone because, well, they’re better than that.

First, the techniques were authorized after legal authority was obtained from the Justice Department. So you disagree with their opinion, fine. It wasn’t your job to make the call.

Second, has the country become so wussified that half of us truly don’t know what torture is? Here is the bottom line - slapping someone: not torture. Panties on the head: not torture. Caterpillars in your cell: not torture. Walling: sounds scary, but not torture. Water boarding, while decidedly unpleasant: not torture in the real world sense of the term. It’s a part of training for certain military personnel. I don’t think we’re in the practice of torturing our elite forces either.

No. The “enhanced interrogation techniques” authorized for use against those that would kill us were not even vaguely similar to torture techniques used by the Nazis (I presume this comes as a surprise to Frank Rich.) Operations without anesthesia, beatings to near death, starvation, breaking bones, gouging out eyes, removing digits, ripping fingernails out: that constitutes torture. And there are dozens of other practices that no one would dispute fall within the torture handbook. They are designed to inflict severe pain and bodily injury that may or may not ever heal. Loud music, bugs in your bed, even water boarding doesn’t do that by design. And an informative side note: Nazis slaughtered 6 million of their torture victims. Islamo-fascists frequently culminate their torture with a ritual beheading. And whether you want to concede it or not, they are our sworn enemies and remain at war with us.

The inability to differentiate between actual torture and what used to be known as “the third degree” is either the result of our culture’s embrace of relativity or an extension of the moronic “zero-tolerance” policy blithely adopted by schools and other organizations towards alcohol, drugs and weapons. In fact, they’re inter-related. Moral relativity rejects moral absolutes and leads to insane conclusions such as “all cultures are equal” and all “views are equally valid,” (except, for some reason, conservative views which are just plain wrong.) If you accept relative morality, it precludes you from being judgmental (again, unless you’re judging a conservative, who is just plain wrong).

Enter zero-tolerance programs. Here any transgression of a policy, law, or regulation is unacceptable and will be dealt with identically, whether a major or minor transgression and regardless of extenuating circumstances. This idiotic policy results in absurd outcomes such as the expulsion of a high school honor student for carrying ibuprofen in her backpack , and the suspension of a middle-school student for carrying a nail clipper. Bureaucrats love this policy. Why? Because once again, zero-tolerance requires zero-judgment. “My life is easy, and I feel noble about it at the same time.”

Not being able to differentiate between extremely unpleasant interrogations and torture is axiomatic of a hyperbolic culture that relies on cut and dried guidelines of politically correct thinking and speaking to navigate through all social discourse. When the boundaries of political correctness are breached, they fly into a rage of self-righteous indignation without so much as a pause to contemplate the severity of the offense. They don’t have to, because the proscribed reaction is at the ready. We have pre-established what we will tolerate and what we have zero-tolerance for. So why should torture be any different? The elite left has determined what qualifies as torture, so no extenuating circumstances – such as 14th century barbarians at the gate who want to kill us, or Justice department opinions that disagree with theirs– will change their minds.

As Frank Rick explains, nothing short of a few good show trials will address these egregious crimes.

President Obama can talk all he wants about not looking back, but this grotesque past is bigger than even he is. It won’t vanish into a memory hole any more than Andersonville, World War II internment camps or My Lai. The White House, Congress and politicians of both parties should get out of the way. We don’t need another commission. We don’t need any Capitol Hill witch hunts. What we must have are fair trials that at long last uphold and reclaim our nation’s commitment to the rule of law.

Nothing hyperbolic here. Way to leave the past behind. Way to ensure unity. Way to hope for a change. Way to go.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Janet Napolitano Could Be a Miss USA Finalist

So far Janet Napolitano - Secretary, Department of Homeland Security - has not really demonstrated an aptitude for the job. She’s named “right wing extremists” as potential terrorists, stated that illegally entering the country is not a crime per se and has ticked off Canada, the only remaining country that might sign us up as a friend on their Facebook, by claiming the 9/11 terrorists entered the US through their border.

Factoid check.

  1. Tea party attendees didn’t look much like rabid terrorists (aka, man-caused disasterators) and I’ve never met a vet I didn’t like .
  2. Yes, illegal entry into the USA is a crime per se and every other way. Per the Dan Stein Report:

    ENTRY WITHOUT INSPECTION IS A CRIME: In fact, pursuant to 8 U.S.C. 1325, crossing the border illegally is a crime--a misdemeanor for the first offense and a felony for the second and subsequent offenses. But of course, ignoring or mischaracterizing the law is a very convenient way for those in power to avoid the laws they find most inconvenient. Sadly, statements such as these are also a signal that Americans will have to wait a long time before their government articulates any credible immigration enforcement policy.

  3. If the 9/11 terrorists had come through Canada, they would have had to come through US Immigration (see #2). In fact they didn’t come through Canada. They flew direct. With visa in hand. In fairness, we do have huge problems on both north and south borders, and with the entire immigration enforcement system. How about we work on that and stop spending so much time worrying about right wingers?

Calls for Napolitano’s resignation begin to mount. Is it because she’s ignorant and ill-informed? Or, more insidiously, because she’s an ideologue willing to pursue an agenda despite any laws standing in the way? I tend to agree with Knight_of_the_Mind who seems to come down on the stupid side.

Secretary Janet Napolitano has disgraced America already in manifold ways. She is well on the way to making Jamie Gorlick appear patriotic; Joe Biden look suave and ethical and Joseph McCarthy appear fair-minded in comparison. The woman even manages to make Timothy Geithner look competent against the lush verdant background of her vastly ineluctable stupidity.

News flash to Perez Hilton, ( another vacuous celebrity famous only for being famous) interrogator of Miss USA finalists: apparently you don’t have to be a blond b---h to be stupid.

,

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Compare/Contrast

Pop quiz: What do Carrie Prejean (Miss California 2009) and Barack Obama have in common? How are they different?

U.S. President Barack Obama smiles during a news conference ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answers

Have in common:

  1. They both have stated publically that they think marriage is between a man and a woman.
  2. They both have great, flashy smiles.
  3. They both look hot in bathing suits.

Differ:

  1. She’s a white babe
  2. He’s  a  Half-rican American stud
  3. She lost her major USA beauty pageant, he won his

Sean and the FOBO’s (Friends of Barack Obama)

It started even before BHO was selected as the Democrat’s Great White Hope (“I hope I can stop feeling guilty about never having voted for a black president”). Sean Hannity did his best to bring people to their senses by pointing out that – black or not – he had a strange coterie of friends of the radical persuasion.

So 100 times a day, or so it seemed, the list of the O’s questionable friends would roll off his tongue : William Ayers, Bernadine Dohrn, Louis Farahkan, Father Pflegar, Tony Resko, Jeremiah Wright, and, sometimes, Khalid al-Mansour. A band of terrorists, racists and mobsters – not the run of the mill friends of those who would be president, but then BHO was not your run of the mill nominee.

Although he won the election (in case you haven’t been reminded of that by a Dem lately) Sean still likes to regularly remind everyone of Obama’s questionable taste in friends and associates. I’m guessing he just wants to keep in shape for the next election. The problem is, the list just keeps growing. Since the Onaugeration we already have to add (alphabetically, so no one’s nose gets bent) Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, Kim Jong-il and Daniel Ortega.

I’m not sure even Sean, who reels off multiples like a Gatling gun, can keep up with all of the FOBO’s ( or HOBO’s - Homies of Barack Obama’s - if you’re from the ‘hood.) Whew! This guy needs a Facebook.

Even Sean might have to take a breath.

You can watch Sean question his choice of friends, part 1 if you’d like. There are 5 other segments, but who’s got time for all of the FOBO’s?

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Today's Dew Point

Do Not Go Gentle
 

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rage at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Dylan Thomas

A Tree Could Grow in Detroit

I’m tired of pirates- especially that one with a smirk on his face. Weary of endless apologies on behalf of America by the O who somehow thinks protocol calls for prostrating himself to anyone who doesn’t speak English as a first language. I’ve grown fatigued by the MSM’s teabag jokes and other juvenile  hijinx (otherwise known as news). And  I’m sick – CAN YOU HEAR ME? - SICK to DEATH of  criminal tyrants, thugs and petty dictators  cheesing in on Oprah’s gig: Hugo’s Book Selection of the Month, and all the free advice on how to run our country from a pack of megalomaniacs who don’t seem to have their own houses in order, if you get my drift.  But then I guess racist, fascist, socialist regimes just aren’t for everyone.

And speaking of racists, fascists and socialists: I’m definitely sick of being called “racist” by the racists, fascists and socialists in the media and/or the media’s eye (also known as our “intellectual betters”). I’m only going to say this once: I’m not a racist. See, I’m not shouting.   So please, just  shut up.

Thank you. I feel better now.

Enough so to turn my attention to something more important: the  world’s world's first carbon neutral man. This man actually grew a tree in his lung. A TREE! In his LUNG! So why can’t Detroit make a car that gets 250 miles a gallon? And runs on water.

Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?

The Single-Ply Solution

They say a picture is worth a 1000 words (closer to a trillion now), so here’s a gem from heritage.org. to put the Administration's cost cutting efforts in perspective. Think of the earth in relation to the sun.

obamacuts

Once again we see – graphically here – what happens when community organizers try to do budgets. They decide to order single-ply instead of double-ply toilet paper.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Let the Controversy at Notre Dame Rage On

This gem is lifted in whole from Barack Obama's Teleprompter's Blog. You really should visit if you haven’t yet. Nobody does Barry better.

 

If It's Sunday ... It's Time to Sleep In

Given that some of you may be church-going folk, I thought Sunday might be a good time to address the controversy from last week at Georgetown, where the White House asked the school to obscure a symbol of Jesus Christ that was in the background of the room where Big Guy spoke.
A lot of people have misconstrued the request to cover the "IHS" symbol that would have been over Big Guy's head during the speech.  It wasn't that he was anti-religious.  He just didn't want to confuse all of you. Big Guy is the messiah, but he's not the Messiah ... at least not yet.  I think.  Anyway, one messiah in a room at one time is enough, don't you think?  Two would have just been overkill.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Shut Up you Racist!

In the event that the “Shut-up” response as proposed by Klavan doesn’t work for the Left – which of course it didn’t at last Wednesday’s tea parties – they will whip out the infallible Liberal response to all things right of center: “You’re a racist! An ignorant, brain-dead psychopathic racist!”

Pul-eeeze, Janeane. Stuff a sock in it. I realize that you are much more intelligent and much better educated, informed and enlightened  than we ignoramuses of small brain. That’s why you have a degree in American Studies, that’s a tough one, no? And that’s why Keith Olberman let’s you run on  and on. You’re the only person on earth that makes him look intelligent.

Well, try pushing all that brain matter around in your huge skull and figure out how exerting one’s First Amendment right to protest actions by the government equates to racism. I’m sure that was covered somewhere in American studies. No? You can get back to me on that. And by the way, it’s an open book test.

 

Bonus Q&A from Janeane’s interview with the Village Voice (another adventure in what passes for intelligence in an alternative universe):

 

Have you ever thought about running for political office?

Good god no. Good god no. Not only am I not qualified to hold any office, I would not be interested in going into politics. At all.

Al Franken probably thought the same thing when he was your age.

He is qualified.

 

And so are you Janey.  At least as qualified as you are to run off at the mouth. Besides, what’s one more comedian in office who thinks that everyone that disagrees with her is a racist, sexist homophobe moron.

And oh by the way – nice tats.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Almost Funny on Friday

From Caleb at RedState comes this pithy evolution of the Obama message:

 

Throughout the campaign and on into January of this year:

February’s phase II:

March and April “World Apology Tour” theme:

 

Skills That Will Soon Be Obsolete

Another photo of an angry right wing extremist at a tea party. This one from Des Moines.

 

teapartydesmoines

Spanish will be much more useful.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

I’ll Tell You What’s Inappropriate For Family Viewing

Wow. I barely get a chance to publish the  "Katie Couric Journalist Propagandist" of the year post, and along comes this gem to underscore my point. It’s going to be a great day:

Susan Roesgen can’t spit out those Democratic talking points quickly enough, nor can she cut this man with the baby off quickly enough when he gets “off point”. I love her cut away line: “this is inappropriate for family viewing,” uh, yes. But for reasons other than those she considered (for crying out loud, he was talking about liberty when she yanked the mic.)

Meanwhile over at MSNBC, tax day tea party coverage really was inappropriate for family viewing. Keith Olberman, Rachel Maddow, Anna Marie Cox and David Schuster have been yucking  it up like  a gaggle of sophomores all week about the “tea baggers” – which is, for those of you not in on the “joke,”   a crude term for oral sex of a kinky persuasion. That’s what passes for news amongst the MSM intelligentsia. But hey, it’s ok. After all, they won.

On Second Thought, This Might Say More About Walter Cronkite than Katie

The USC Annenberg School for Communication presented CBS “Evening News” anchor Katie Couric with the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Television Journalism yesterday. Specifically, the award was for her “interview” with Sarah Palin. Isn’t it odd that in a year of the most historic presidential election ever, this prize is awarded for a vice-presidential interview?

As reported  by John Ziegler:

Of course, there is no disputing the fact that the perception created by Couric’s interview and the ensuing media and entertainment coverage of it clearly had an enormous impact on the 2008 presidential election. But is this the kind of “achievement” that journalism is supposed to be honoring? (If it is, shouldn’t the award really go to Tina Fey?) And is there any doubt that if Couric asked Palin the exact same questions and she had been viewed as performing well (or if one of her softball interviews with Barack Obama had brought down his candidacy) that there would be no awards for her from USC or anyone else of note?

It is obvious that Couric is being rewarded for the political result of her interview –the shooting down of a conservative superstar just in time to save the Obama campaign. It’s not about the “journalism” at all. But even that truth is not the most outrageous aspect of this absurdity. What’s even more absurd is that not only shouldn’t Couric be getting rewarded for her Palin interview, if we lived in a world where journalistic standards still mattered at all, she would have been roundly condemned for it.

 

But therein lies the truth: journalistic standards don’t matter a whit. In fact, the MSM no longer employs journalists, they hire propagandists. So if you are an aspiring journalism student or recent graduate, here are a few role models – in addition to Katie - that you might want to emulate. Follow their lead and you too might one day win an esteemed “wink, wink” journalism award.

Joseph Goebbles: although not technically a journalist, he greatly admired journalistic technique. He was a German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. So talented as a spinmeister, he was able to effectively promote Kristallnacht as an anti-gun rally.

He was a huge proponent of modern psychological manipulation. His most famous propaganda technique was accusing his enemies of plotting to defeat the Motherland (sound familiar?), which garnered support for their destruction. And he all but invented the technique of blaming the victims.

Definitely a  Hall of Fame contender.

Squealer (aka Animal Farm’s spokesperson for the pigs): again, not technically a journalist but he exhibits all of the required skills necessary in today’s world of news. He is Napolean’s (the pig leader, not the frog)  propaganda minister.

He uses his powers of persuasion,eloquent language and charisma along with a selective use of facts and self serving interpretations  to con the other animals into siding with Napoleon over Farmer Jones (again, sound familiar?) Squealer is best known as Michael Moore’s patron saint – for multiple reasons. 

Hanoi Hannah: almost a real journalist. A Vietnamese radio personality, HH did propaganda broadcasts for North Vietnam directed at American GI’s during the Vietnam war. Her broadcasts consisted of reporting troop casualties, and POW’s - often by name - playing American anti-war songs and otherwise trying to undermine the moral of the US troops. While there were legends that she possessed the uncanny powers of a seer, it turned out she got most of her information from copies of Stars and Stripes (hat tip to Al Gore).

Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, aka Baghdad Bob: At last! A trained journalist (Baghdad U). This explains the expert play-by-play commentary that he provided during the 2003 march on Baghdad:

“They're not even [within] 100 miles [of Baghdad]. They are not in any place. They hold no place in Iraq. This is an illusion... they are trying to sell to the others an illusion.” and, “Today, the tide has turned, we are destroying them.” and, “We're giving them a real lesson today. Heavy doesn't accurately describe the level of casualties we have inflicted.” … as the US troop rolled into Baghdad virtually unopposed. But of course, the best propaganda communiqué from BB is this denial of plausibility: “It has been rumored that we have fired scud missiles into Kuwait. I am here now to tell you, we do not have any scud missiles and I don't know why they were fired into Kuwait.”

Now that’s journalism we can believe in! Come to think of it, maybe there should be a Baghdad Bob Journalism award. An entire slew of potential candidates come to mind:  Dan Rather, Keith Olberman, Chris Matthews, and the entire staff of the New York Times.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Warning to Rush

Shut up, or you might wind up on BO’s enemies list too.

Tea and Toast

On February 13, 2009 both Houses of Congress passed the Porkulus bill stuffed with over 8000 pork projects and nearly a trillion dollars of deficit spending for economic “stimulus”.  This was on the heels of another trillion dollar bailout package passed late last year.  And despite this out-of-control spending, Obama continues to claim that there will be middle tax cuts. He has not fooled most of the people (well, not since the election anyway).

Today, the people speak. They were not organized by  FOX NEWS, Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity, but by real people. They received no funding from the likes of George Soros; just grassroots moms, pops and other hard working people. They speak not to the MSM (who will of course play down the event since they didn’t hear about it first via a  MoveOn.org  broadcast message on their Blackberries) but to their duly elected representatives who seem to have gone tone deaf to their constituents murmur of discontent.

Here’s a man who has summed it up quite succinctly (from Temple of Mut.) Pay attention to our tea party, or you’re toast. Got it?

 

Remember: every additional $ in taxes is one less $ of freedom for you, and one additional $ of power for government.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

You Might Be a Redneck if…

Well, according to the Department of Homeland Security, if you’re reading this blog.

Apparently if you are conservative, you might be on the government’s “watch-list.” If you object to the federal government destroying liberty and economic freedom you are one of the  “right wing extremists -  categorized right up there with racists, fascists and other violent anti-American groups.

Michelle Malkin covers the territory best, although it was first covered (or uncovered) by Roger Hedgecock. Here is just a snippet :

From the report, p.2:

Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.

  Hedgecock says in his summary:

This report smacks of profiling and harassing American citizens based on their political views, and specifically based on their opposition to the Obama administration's proposals.

This used to be called "democracy" and "free speech" protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution. But under Obama, "Homeland Security" has become an instrument of oppression of opposing points of view.

According the the Washington Times, the administration is backing away from the DHS’s report. Really? Maybe they sense that non-Obama’s draw the line at being compared to William Ayers.

Monday, April 13, 2009

A Little Credit Where Credit is Due

I was going to write this post about the rescue of Captain Phillips, but Bruce McQuain at Q and O beat me. He said the left is wrong about it being a “military victory”, and the right is wrong about it being “nothin’.” Quite so. Obama didn’t stare down the Communist Chinese army: it was a raft with 4 Somali pirates in it. Nor was he oblivious and uninvolved as the right would have us think. For god’s sake, that’s what the left would’ve said about Bush.

McQuain summarizes:

So? So Obama did the right thing (at the right level of visibility) and so did the military. The situation was resolved. To the right - Obama did a good job. Get over it and understand that it wasn’t his job to “call the shot.” He gave the on-scene commander, through his authorization to use deadly force, the latitude to make that call himself without seeking further permission.

To the left - this was no more a “military victory” than was Ruby Ridge or Waco. Quit trying to make it more than it is. If you think popping 3 rag-tag pirates is going to be interpreted by Iran or North Korea as a demonstration of our military might, you’re dreaming. Obviously, had it gone bad, it would have reflected badly on the US. However it didn’t (thankfully). But it proves nothing more than in the situation presented - a hostage situation - we were able to resolve it to our advantage. That’s good and it reflects well on us. But a “military victory”? For heaven sake, get a clue.

This is what we want our president to do: make the right choice and get out of the way. No doubt the over-the-top adulation from the MSM will continue. Maybe all that positive reinforcement will turn our little community organizer into Rambo (I think Rahmbo would like that.)

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Hallelujah!

Wow! Was that good timing or what? The poll results finally arrived at the White House this morning. Among the critical issues covered in Rahm’s poll this week:

Which church should the royal family plop their butts in on Sunday,

What to name the new dog (BO!? You’re kidding right?),

And, oh yeah – most of the country thinks that it would be ok to go a step or two further with the Somali pirates situation. They think you should save the harsh stare and stern words for the little pot-bellied pig in NoKo. Blow the scum sucking pirates from here to Tripoli.

Bless the Navy Seals. Welcome home Capt. Phillips.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

When Polls Take Precedence Over Principal

A small article on page 2 of the April 10 Wall Street Journal outlined the Democrats strategy to retain control in the 21st  century. It entails duplicating a proven 20th century strategy: create a  large constituency of victims beholden to you - this time Hispanics.

The article delineates Rahm Emanuel’s  evolving position on immigration. While he was in the Clinton White House, he positioned himself and Clinton as tough on immigration, antagonizing Hispanic lawmakers and activists. That position, like everything else in the Clinton era, was poll driven.

Mr. Emanuel has long been a voice of caution on easing rules for immigrants, fearing such a position could hurt Democrats at the polls…

Now, shifting attitudes, or at least shifting poll results, indicate  that the Hispanic vote can be bought with Democratic promises just as Black votes always have been.  Emanuel “read the numbers” and saw “the impact of the Latino vote.”  This new found wisdom informed Emanuel’s  sensibilities and led to his cosmic shift. Pragmatists tend to be like that.

While certainly a great strategy for the Democrats, it’s bad for everyone else - from taxpayers to the Hispanic community. The Dems are now teaming up with groups like La Raza - itself a racist organization not unlike  Rev. Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition band of hucksters and criminals - to herd Hispanics into a special interest voting block. But Hispanics, who we are told over and over again come to this country to work and to improve their lives, might want to look at the fate of Blacks after 50 years of doting care and feeding by Democratic social engineers. Here’s the final score:

The black family has been effectively destroyed.  The out-of wedlock birthrate for blacks is now over 70%: fatherless families are the norm.

Education quality in black communities continues to decline and the drop-out rate continues to rise – less than 25% of children in Detroit's public school system graduate from high school – while the amount of money poured into this failed system continues to increase. Detroit’s public school budget this year is over $1.1 billion to educate fewer than 95,000 students - of which fewer than 24,ooo will graduate. You do the math.

Black leaders in Black run cities - like Detroit’s  Kwame Kilpatrick -continue the rhetoric of racial injustice while running political organizations seething with graft and corruption. Their administrations effectively siphon off millions of dollars and redirect them into the pockets of cronies and crooks while leaving their citizens and cities in  a cesspool of decline and ruin.

A sense of community and family has been replaced by drug culture and  hip-hop jive.

If Hispanics can’t connect the dots between this cause and effect, they’ve probably been educated in an inner-city school: brought to you by liberals in sheep’s clothing.

 

Friday, April 10, 2009

Dialogue With a Liberal: Or Something Like It

The Pirates of Penzance (and Fraance)

Jon at ExUrban League does a send-up on Barack and the Pirates. When all you can do is laugh to keep from crying. Below are excerpts of BHO's "remarks." Be sure to read the whole thing.

Since the pirates are still holding the captain, I have sent FBI negotiators to facilitate his safe and speedy release. I assure his friends and family that I will not stop until this man-made disaster is resolved in a peaceful, tolerant and ecologically-sound manner.


Obviously, this incident has raised many concerns among Americans. There have been calls for justice and even violence against the misguided perpetrators. But such an emotional reaction has led to the disparagement of entire groups with which we are unfamiliar. We have seen this throughout history.

For too long, America has been too dismissive of the proud culture and invaluable contributions of the Pirate Community. Whether it is their pioneering work with prosthetics, husbandry of tropical birds or fanciful fashion sense, America owes a deep debt to Pirates.


The past eight years have shown a failure to appreciate the historic role of these noble seafarers. Instead of celebrating their entreprenuerial spirit and seeking to partner with them to meet common challenges, there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive.

Meanwhile, the French (the FRENCH!) are making us look bad. Sacre Bleu!

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Goodbye Columbus

Apparently Brown University’s faculty found Christopher Columbus’s “overseas contingency planning” objectionable. Their faculty voted to replace the campus Columbus Day holiday with a “Fall Weekend,” holiday, saying:

The faculty of the Ivy League university voted at a meeting Tuesday to establish a new academic and administrative holiday in October called "Fall Weekend" that coincides with Columbus Day, but that doesn't bear the name of the explorer.

Hundreds of Brown students had asked the Providence, R.I. school to stop observing Columbus Day, saying Christopher Columbus's violent treatment of Native Americans he encountered was inconsistent with Brown's values.

Also today, Rasmussen released the results of a poll showing that only 53% of American adults think that capitalism is better than socialism. The age breakdown is predictable:

Adults under 30 are essentially evenly divided: 37% prefer capitalism, 33% socialism, and 30% are undecided. Thirty-somethings are a bit more supportive of the free-enterprise approach with 49% for capitalism and 26% for socialism. Adults over 40 strongly favor capitalism, and just 13% of those older Americans believe socialism is better.

What do these stories have in common? Everything.

They both reflect the results of a generation of liberal-socialist propaganda spouted by teachers at all levels of education. As I wrote in Government-Education Complex part 2, what enters the classroom in one decade emerges as mainstream 15 years later. Social engineering has been taking shape in America’s class rooms for decades. While promoting principals such as relativism, collectivism and multiculturalism, basic principals of our American culture are left wanting. As Dr. Sanity has noted:

The moral case for capitalism is not taught in our schools, nor is it argued much in our culture. In fact it has been more or less universally accepted by the intellectual elites that systems such as communism and socialism are "morally superior" to capitalism (hence more "socially just")--even though in practice such systems have led to the death and enslavement of millions...”

When you combine the social engineering principals of political correctness and social justice you get results like Brown’s “Fall Holiday” decision and Rasmussen’s survey results: a rejection not only of the explorer that made the building of our great country possible, but the political philosophy that made it a great country.

PS: if the students are outraged by the savagery of Europeans over 5 centuries ago, presumably they are equally outraged at the atrocities committed by Islamo-fascists today – as they are still utilizing essentially the same methods of torture and death in the name of religion as the Spaniards did. Only, as noted, after 5 centuries the rest of the civilized world has moved on to a better place.

PPS: Since the O hasn't apologized to anyone in days, he can apologize to the native Americans that Columbus brutalized. In case he's having apology withdrawal.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

I Think the French Invented Irony

From the Wednesday, April 8, 2009 Wall Street Journal:

OB-DL388_protes_G_20090407210850

Cyril Cavali

Xavier Renou, left, is taking on capitalism by offering courses in protest techniques in France. He charges students as much as $67 a head for a weekend class.

According to the article, for their money the “students learn key techniques, such as blocking roads by lying on the ground.” Jeeze, who’d of thought?

Let’s Roll

The crew of the  first US-flagged ship to be captured by Somali pirates has apparently taken their ship back. Reports have one pirate in custody and the rest, regrettably, “in the water.”

Are you guys out there at GM,  Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citi, et al paying attention? For god’s sake, take your ships back. Toss the pirates overboard. Let’s roll.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

World Tour Wrap-up

Is there anyone that BHO didn’t either apologize to or insult on his rock tour?

After apologizing all week for America’s arrogant liberation of Iraq, the O rolls into Bagdad to speak to the troops. He’s received as a rock star there too. The advance team must have started the kegger early.

Carol Negro has a great take on Obama’s apology tour remarks:

He told them America is not a good leader, that we are just one of many nations, that we are arrogant, pushy, derisive of their great wisdom and partnership, and will not act unilaterally in the future.
Now. Let me translate: "America won't be saving your ass ever again. You're on your own."
… But Obama's apologies are carrier-waves for a deeper message that everyone seem to have missed — especially the cheering throngs of European Obamaniacs.
When they really need us next time, we won't be there to help. We won't do a thing without the political permission of the governments of Europe, and the direct participation of their 'armies'. We're disarming and weakening our military -- for peace -- as you all have done. We're going to spend our money on "social justice" and progressive programs, not our warmongering military.

Her conclusion: Obama doesn’t like Europe any better than he likes America.

Today’s Bonus Round: Charles Krauthammer’s take on Obama’s “arrogance” comment in the Strasbourg speech from Friday’s Special Report with Bret Baier .



This is the “long” version as the short YouTube version has been (curiously) pulled. Definitely worth it. Krauthammer is linguistically everything Obama is not: thoughtful, rational, literate, well-informed and articulate – even without a teleprompter. For all I know, he may be clean too.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Revenge of the Nerds

He comes from the right family, went to the right schools, and has the right resume. But let’s face it: he was, and is, a nerd.

am i in the club nowPP

And what’s more frightening that a nerd with power? A government bureaucrat nerd with a LOT of power.

If you are a financial services CEO, and you have ever dissed Toxic Tim you might want to have your lawyer review the fine print in your platinum parachute.

Oh yeah, one more thing. Here’s the exception to the time honored political axiom “Never give the money back”. Give the money back, NOW. If Timmy won’t take it back, inject a little stimulus money into your lawyers pockets.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Barack Obama World Tour: Big Box Office Success, But Profits Lagging

A re-cap of the BHO World Tour before we tally the take.

Protocol:

The O’s gave another crummy gift to the Brits, this time the queen. “The President of the Free World comes to the G20 meeting in London, and all I got was this stupid iPod.”

M’Obama hugs the queen. OH NO!

B’Obama bows to the Saudi Arabian King. OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Let’s hope this is just BHO showing the king that he knows how arrogant Americans can be, and that it doesn’t have anything to do with campaign contributions.

BHO refuses to kiss French First Lady Carla Bruni. Or was it the other way around? Don’t you just love a good foreign intrigue ?

World Economy:

Got the G20 to give the IMF another $1 trillion that they can loan to “emerging markets” who will never be able to repay it.

Did not get the world to follow our illustrious example of deficit stimulus spending. France and Germany just said no. Have they been listening to that know-it-all Daniel Hannan?

There will, however, be international regulations established for all banks, financial institutions and hedge funds – because we wouldn’t want our domestic agencies that are responsible for regulation of banks, financial institutions and hedge funds, to establish those regulatory rules. They’ll also address executive compensation, thank you, because that’s also too important for our domestic boards of directors and shareholders to handle.

The G20 is going to crack down on off-shore tax havens. Swell. Someone better tell Charlie Rangel.

There’s still more! We’re going to reopen the DOHA trade talks, and have the WTO give a stern lecture to anyone who pursues a hateful “ financial protectionism” policy. Ouch.

NATO:

Hell no, the chocolatiers won’t go! Keep up the good work Uncle Sam.

Communication with the Adoring Fans:

G20: BHO says it’s a turning point for the economic recovery. Everyone believed him. The world loves this hopey-changey crap.

Strasbourg: Great campaign speech. If he was running for president of the EU.Those Euros love to hear about arrogant, xenophobic Americans.

Prague: Another great campaign speech! We’re going to put an end to nuclear weapons. “Rahm, make sure my buddy Kim gets that memo, ok?” Otherwise there will be more harsh words.

High fives and knuckle bumps all around for POTUS, FLOTUS and TOTUS. Rock stars all.

Score so far:

POTUS++
FLOTUS+++
TOTUS++++
NEW WORLD ORDER++
USA--

You’re About to Enter the No-spin Zone

"North Korea broke the rules once more by testing a rocket that could be used for a long-range missile," Obama said. "This provocation underscores the need for action — not just this afternoon at the U.N. Security Council, but in our determination to prevent the spread of these weapons."

Yikes! That’s quite a tongue-lashing. The Russian foreign minister went even further:

"We urge all states concerned to show restraint in judgments and action in the current situation, and to be guided by objective data on the nature of North Korea's launch,"

It sounds like he wants to take a fair and balanced approach to the little pot-bellied pig. Watch out Kim! We’re going to sic Billy O’Reilly on you!

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Dewey from Detroit’s 2010 New Years Mosaic Key

Hello loyal Dewey from Detroit readers. My name is Raj.

How is the weather where you are?

MOTUS, to whom I provide prompt, reliable technical support, has requested that I, Raj, provide the same quality field support to our friend, Dewey from Detroit. MOTUS has advised that Dewey has also a Happy New Tear 2010 Mosaic which, like MOTUS’ Happy New Year Mosaic, contains millions of tiny pictures of people and web sites.

I understand that millions of Dewey from Detroit’s loyal followers will also not prefer to be so diligent as to find all of the people in the mosaic and would like a handy “cheat-sheet”. As I previously mentioned, MOTUS explained to me what is a “cheat-sheet” because we do not have these assistance devices in my home village.

Having a now complete understanding of my field assignment, I have helped to provide you promptly with a useful key (in merely alphabetical order) to help you unlock the secrets of who is reflected in Dewey from Detroit’s Happy New Year Mosaic.

May I say to all of you from me, Raj, thank you for allowing me the honor of providing prompt, reliable technical support, and please resume enjoying a very Happy New Year.

FRIENDS IN DEWEY FROM DETROIT’S

2010 NEW YEAR MOSAIC

AMERICAN DIGEST

ANDREA TANTAROS

ANDREW BREITBART

ANDREW KLAVAN

ANN COULTER

ARTEMISRETREIVER

BERNARD GOLDBERG

TOTUS

BLOGPROF

CAL THOMAS

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER

DANA ROHRBACH

DANIEL HENNINGER

DAVID HOROWITZ

DENNIS MILLER

Dewey From Detroit-You are Here

DICK CHENEY

DOUG ROSS JOURNAL

DR SANITY

DUNCAN HUNTER

Dutch Tourist Hero – Jasper Schuringa

FRANK BECKMANN

FRED THOMPSON

GEORGE WILL

GLENN BECK

GREG GUTFELD

GWB

HANNAH GILES

Hillbuzz

JAMES O’KEEFE

JC WATTS

JOHN FUND

JON VOIGHT

JONAH GOLDBERG

LARRY ELDER

LAURA INGRAHAM

LEGAL INSURRECTION

LIBERTY BELL

LIZ CHENEY

LYNNE CHENEY

MARK LEVIN

MARK STEYN

MATT DRUDGE

MICHAEL SAVAGE

MICHELLE BACHMAN

MICHELLE MALKIN

MIKE PENCE

MIKE ROGERS

MITT ROMNEY

MONICA CROWLEY

MOTOR CITY TIMES

MOTUS

NEIL BOORTZ

Neoneocon

OLIVER NORTH

PAM GELLER

Pundit & Pundette

RATIONAL JINGO

RON PAUL

RUDY GIULIANI

RUSH LIMBAUGH

SARAH PALIN

S E BRODAN

S E CUPP

SEAN HANNITY

SHELBY STEELE

SMALL DEAD ANIMALS

SMART GIRL POLITICS

STEVE CROWDER

TAMMY BRUCE

THADDEUS MCCOTTER

THOMAS SOWELL

TOUCHED WITH FIRE

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON

WALTER WILLIAMS

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Europe to US: Stop the Madness!

Who is lecturing us on economics? Sweden, France and Germany?! Yes. They think we’re spending too much money and becoming too socialist.

What’s going on here? These people invented oppressive government. They made Socialism cool. Hollywood,Obama and the rest of the intelligentsia idolize them. How spiteful of them to now wave us off from the promised land. Is it because they’re still ticked off that the United States implemented the Marshall Plan in 1947? We only did it to save their sorry asses from falling into the clutches of communism, anarchy, starvation or all of the above. Apparently the aphorism that “people beholden to you wind up hating you” is true.

But no, they’re not that petty. Europe is warning us because they know that they can’t continue their nanny-state socialist ways unless someone, somewhere still has a huge, thriving market driven economy, That’s right, an economy that dares not speak its name: free-market capitalism. Without free-market economies, socialist economies burdened with oppressive socialist programs would collapse under their own weight.

It’s simple. If countries don’t make things and sell things that somebody is willing to buy, the tax base will be insufficient to pay for all the swell programs that serve to equalize the proletariat. Zip,zero,nada. Egalitarianism loses a lot of its charm when it is reduced to the least common denominator.

But you can’t tell that to the idiot class that shows up at every meeting of world leaders to protest the evils of capitalism. Without the filthy capitalists, financial institutions, and money that they detest – these useless idiots would have to brush up on their hunting and gathering skills. (An aside: That these yahoos who find each other over the internet and organize demonstrations against capitalism across the globe call themselves “anarchists” is an insult to anarchists and capitalism, (which is economic anarchy) but that’s another post.) But what these “anarchists” are protesting – capitalism in general and the United States brand of it in particular – European leaders understand they need: a market for their goods and services.

Without the United States to buy the crap they make, their socialist economies fold like a cheap suitcase. America’s higher GDP and lower tax rate allow its citizens to enjoy a higher percentage of disposable income than any of the European nations (a whopping 32% differential). This provides Europe with a market for Nokias, Mercedes, Brie, Bordeaux and all that tasteful contemporary crap cranked out by IKEA. Without us humming in the background, the rest of the world is thrown off key.

There is another reason Europe’s leaders don’t want the United States to collapse into a socialist morass. Countries bogged down by the cost of social entitlement programs can’t afford much in the way of a standing army. That’s why Europe's armies have become mostly ceremonial and ill-equipped for real conflict. They have a small band of combat troops, but by and large today’s continental armies train more chefs, chocolatiers and musicians than real soldiers. They need NATO forces in the event their puny economies collapse and the peasants revolt; and even more so if a country with a real army (e.g. China, Russia) decides they want to annex some vineyards or ski resorts.

And let’s be clear, NATO is the United States: predominantly staffed with American men, women, guns and gear. Europe needs NATO, which is to say, they hate NATO (see aphorism above.) They can’t afford to have it disappear, or even be cut back, if the United States economy becomes as unsustainable as their own.

The consequences of an ever growing burden of socialist programs and nanny-state entitlements is clear to European heads of state who’ve dealt with the downside for years. That’s why the United States is getting the avuncular lecture. Europe can’t extricate themselves from the trap they’ve become ensnared it. Our own leaders, blinders firmly in place, hasten to follow them down the rabbit hole.