Come for the Politics, Stay for the Pathologies



Friday, April 30, 2010

DNN Braking News: Obama to Golf

Washington (DNN): Moments ago, White House Press Secretary Robert “Bagdad Bob” Gibbs, when asked if President Obama plans a Gulf trip said “Absolutely. We’re gassing-up Air Force Won as we speak.”

BO SLICKDNN file photo

When pressed for details and asked who from the press was accompanying the President to the site of the oil disaster, he quickly reversed himself:

“I thought you said golf. No, the President has sent his team of expert lawyers to investigate the incident and determine which Big Oil corporations we can blame and sue. But he personally has no intention of being associated with anything that is black, oily and slick.”

Obama-Picks-Lobbyist8jan09

The historic first black American president, with the first half-black American president. DNN file photo

The American Politically Correct Liberties Union (APCLU)

As the latest entry in the “I’m shocked there’s gambling going on in this establishment” sweepstakes, there’s this from today’s  WSJ opinion piece: Constitutional law expert Floyd Abrams, former ACLU Executive Director,  Ira Glasser and Joel Gora seem surprised that the “... premier First Amendment organization in America (ACLU)...” has thrown the “1st” under the bus. The article, The ACLU Approves Limits on Speech begins:

If that headline has a certain man bites dog quality, it's because for almost 40 years the ACLU was the one major liberal organization that opposed campaign finance restrictions as violating the First Amendment.

Why this would come as a surprise to the boys is puzzling, as the ACLU has been marching down this agenda driven, partisan, politically correct path for years.

In her post “How The ACLU Lost Its Bearings,” former ACLU  board member Wendy Kaminer describes how the Executive Director of the ACLU, Anthony Romero, along with the board’s executive committee tried to silence her and fellow board member Michael Meyers for their own “speech crime” in 2005. Kaminer and Meyers had the audacity to publically criticize  “… the ACLU's reported use of data-mining practices to gather information on members and donors…”. That effort was dropped when the New York Times started sniffing around.

0123_anthony_romero APCLU Executive Director, Anthony Romero

But Romero didn’t give up, as Kaminer describes in both her post and book “WORST INSTINCTS: COWARDICE, CONFORMITY, AND THE ACLU.” She traces a disturbing pattern of politically correct and partisan actions, hardly in keeping with the charter of the ACLU. It began with a board proposal that:

… included provisions that prohibited board members from criticizing the ACLU board or staff publicly and disparaged whistle-blowing (conduct the ACLU often applauds when it occurs in other institutions)… individual directors who had reason to believe that the board had acted unethically were said to have a fiduciary duty to conceal their concerns, not disclose them

Again, when exposed by the New York Times, the Board backed off. Other hypocritical incidents identified by Kaminer:

In July 2004, the board learned that Romero had quietly agreed to screen the organization's employees against terrorist "watch lists" — the same lists the ACLU has condemned — in order to qualify as an officially approved charity for federal employees. Strossen characterized Romero's action as "clever," but it was quickly rescinded after exposure in the Times.

A year later, in 2005, Romero was caught trying to impose very broad confidentiality agreements and technology rules on ACLU employees, similar to workplace rules that the ACLU officially opposes.

Kaminer also provided examples of the types of free speech the ACLU does continue to support:

In keeping with its perverse new notion of free speech, the ACLU leadership took aim at internal board critics, particularly Michael Meyers and me. We were derided as "egocentric assholes," "diva's," and even "psychotics." One board member, subsequently elected to the board’s executive committee, suggested that we "f*** off and die" and referenced me as a "f***ed out boozy bitch." ACLU leaders also obscured the facts, spreading misinformation among board members and supporters.

The ACLU’s apparent new Post-Normal interpretation of the First Amendment was also reflected in both its actions and failure to act outside its  own chambers.

When the U.S. State Department condemned publication of the notorious Muhammad cartoons in 2005, and newspapers in the U.S. declined to publish them, the ACLU was virtually silent. In fact, talking points issued by the press office addressing torture at Abu Ghraib while the cartoon controversy was raging recommended ducking questions about the cartoons, by exhorting the U.S. government to "take the Abu Ghraib images seriously." This was predictably defended as an effort to "stay on message." Three years later, in 2008, despite a new focus on international human rights, the ACLU declined to join a free speech coalition opposing a U.N. defamation of religion resolution that targeted criticism of Islam.

Kaminer concludes her post by warning “Civil libertarians accustomed to viewing the ACLU as the leading "eloquent advocate" for a free press and free speech should be prepared for more moments of silence.”

Tell me again, guys, why you were surprised to see the “1st” thrown under the APCLU’s (American Politically Correct Liberty Union) bus. In fact, it wasn’t thrown under. It was mowed down.

"The willingness to criticize your own based on principles you would apply to others is a measure of integrity. Kaminer's important book about her beloved ACLU has that integrity. She tells a startling, sad and exceptionally well-documented story." - Ira Glasser, former executive director, ACLU 

Movie Night

I don’t usually do this, but if you must go to a movie this weekend to erase part of this week’s reality, I have a recommendation for you. Actually, the recommendation is from last January when it debuted at the Sundance Festival.  But now you can actually see it, as it is being released this weekend across the country. It’s called Please Give and you can read my review here.

Catherine Keener (l.) and Oliver Platt are shown in a scene from Nicole Holofcener's "Please Give."

Catherine Keener and Oliver Platt in “Please Give”

Or, if you prefer the review of a professional, you can read the WSJ’s Joe Morgenstern’s review here.

Mr. Morgenstern would have given this wonderful little movie an A+ , if he used such a grading system. I gave it a very solid B+, but then, I don’t grade on the curve.

Seriously, an enjoyable little flick. You should see it. You’ll like it.

LiveJournal Tags:

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Righteous Liberal Hypocrisy

I am always amused  by the instantaneous hypocrisy exhibited by rich liberal elites when they are suddenly threatened or inconvenienced  by some element of liberal dogma – like the temporary wailing and gnashing of teeth by the likes of Maureen Dowd after 9/11, when she discovered evil really does exist. More currently, take John Donald Imus: a guy who likes to pretend he’s conservative from time to time when it’s expedient, but is in reality a liberal weenie like the rest of his elitist Upper West Side Manhattan neighbors. He and his  nouveau-socialite wife, Deirdre, who used to belong to the “oh, they just come here to work” meme have recently come to the realization that perhaps that’s not always the case. Whenever liberals experience this type of “focus shift,” it’s always fun to drill down for the personal impact segment.

don_imus

Before proceeding, allow me to offer my standard disclaimer: I have no problem with people having huge multimillion dollar properties. Amass as many as you want and can, I don’t subscribe to the zero-sum economic theory. What I do have a problem with is these properties receiving special “tax exempt” treatment, regardless of their use. But that’s just me; I feel the same way about churches, which is a separate issue.

My issue with the I-Man is that for years he harangued people, including his brother Fred and producer Bernard, who wanted stringent border control to stop the flow of illegal immigration. He was totally onboard with McCain’s immigration plan, and called Lou Dobbs a rightwing nut ball for insisting we had a serious problem. So we can only wonder what has changed when we listen to this discussion between Imus, Deirdre and Lis Wiehl, in which brain-trust-Team-Imus gangs up on Lis - who’s trying to explain how the ACLU will set up a test case - calling her (albeit in jest) “liberal scum” and a liberal whiner:

If you don’t follow the I-Man, you might assume he’s just lashing out against the recent high-profile murder of a prominent Arizona rancher on his own land, presumably at the hands of Mexican drug thugs. Or perhaps he’s just speaking up in solidarity with the unfortunate ranchers on the border states who are subjected daily to the dangerous comings and goings of illegal alien drug traffickers across their property. Or it could be the real reason is closer to home, literally. The Imus family ranch-home  is located in the godforsaken out-back somewhere in New Mexico.

610x

The “Imus Ranch for Kids With Cancer, Autism, Siblings of SIDS Victims, Severe Spelling Disorders and Special VIP FOI-Ms” is located near Ribera NM where the local gendarmes are not as heavily armed, well trained or responsive as the NYPD. 

3758971459_b0da7cb67c Popular Ribera, New Mexico restaurant

i-ranch-1“Downtown Imus Ranch,” bigger than downtown Ribera 

Perhaps the Imus’ got nervous after watching the AMC series “Breaking Bad,” and finding a suspicious RV on the I-Ranch. Or perhaps they realize that being the only “Ranch” in Ribera featured in Architectural Digest with a 14,000 sq ft hacienda inspired by the TV show “Bonanza”,

DSCF0544

occupied by an urban “cowboy” who brags about carrying around  gold coins and thousand dollar bills, might just make them a target.

 

TV broadcast studio at Imus Ranch

Or maybe the parents of the 100 or so children who are chosen for a 1 week, life-changing sleep-away at the ranch each year are having second thoughts about sending their wee ones -  who are already coping with severe illness and trauma - into the “wild, wild west.” That would certainly queer the tax exemption deal.

Or I could be wrong. Maybe they just finally came to their senses.

A friend from Arizona who’s property is on the "border,” though never featured in an AD spread, is considering running for public office. He commissioned Dewey’s Flatsimile studios to come up with a campaign sign he can use in his yard and distribute around town. Here’s what we whipped up for him.

I CAN SEE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION-WM

Feel free to use it even if you’re not on the border line.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Financial Reform: It’s In There

While the President was out wagging his finger at the Republicans again for not bringing the Financial Reform Bill that will save America to the Senate floor for debate, Harry Reid was busy bringing it to the floor for debate knowing full well he didn’t have the votes to do so. This of course allowed him to call Republicans  “un-American” and cast them as obstructionists and “friends of the fiends” on Wall Street. As with most theatre, it’s mostly acting. The ‘pubs are going to bring it to the floor. Probably tomorrow.

Behind the scenes both Dems and Repubs are trying to work out changes to financial rules that both sides can agree to, since no one wants to look like they’re soft on evil  Wall Street. (even though that’s not where the housing meltdown blame belongs, as amply documented by the BlogProf) They are hampered – although not as much as they should be – by the fact that precious few members of Congress grasp even the rudimentary concepts of financial regulation or, arguably, finance itself. That reduces the posturing and “debate” to a sort of kabuki dance in the garden of good and evil.

Add to the problem the fact that it appears the Senate reform bill as drafted will allow the Federal Reserve to continue to pump trillions of dollars into major banks, should the need arise –something they are currently prohibited from doing.

Another possible purpose for the FDIC's borrowing power is to enable the agency to provide what it calls "open bank assistance." Here, instead of liquidating a failed bank, the agency keeps it in operation by paying off its creditors and avoiding the disruption a bank closing might entail. This practice is a straightforward bailout of all creditors, and it has been criticized extensively by Congress over the years. Yet here it is, back again, in the guise of an innocuous power to make additional payments to some creditors, coupled with virtually unlimited authority to borrow from the Treasury.

And this lending would be cloaked largely in secrecy, as the Senate bill doesn’t contain the House language that specifically allows the GAO to audit the Fed (including its toxic assets) and report back to Congress. Why we don’t have this now is curious, and why the most transparent administration ever wouldn’t demand it in its own legislation is even more so. But apparently neither the Treasury, the Fed not the Wall Street banks want that provision included. That should immediately set off the shit-detectors. (Which were apparently working in top form yesterday at Levin’s hearings)

Power and Control notes:

I'm convinced that there are never any accidents, oversights, or loopholes when it comes to drafting legislation. There are paid for holes and gratuitous holes. Never loop holes. Because if what Congress does is not intentional then what do we have? That would mean they do not even rise to the level of a Parliament of Whores.

Far be it from me to argue that it isn’t the later, but in this one particular case it appears the Senate drafters know exactly what they are doing: exactly what the major players want.

But that’s not even the biggest problem with the bill. As with Healthcare, the cost to taxpayers – say within a few trillion dollars or so – is hard to compute; even if they knew what they were doing, which clearly they do not. There’s this, for example:

Last week, the Congressional Budget Office reported on the costs of the Dodd bill. It reviewed the budgetary effects of the bill's $50 billion resolution fund for the large nonbank financial firms—insurance companies, securities firms, hedge funds, bank holding companies, finance companies and others—that are considered "systemically important" and thus too big to fail. These firms, among others, would be assessed for the $50 billion fund, which Mr. Obama apparently believes will not be a cost to the taxpayers.

But in a footnote the CBO reported that "such assessments would become an additional business expense for the companies required to pay them." This means the assessments will be tax deductible, and place additional costs on other U.S. taxpayers to make up the difference in government revenue. Thus, even on the face of it, taxpayers will not completely escape the tax costs that are associated with this fund.

Again, just like Healthcare, there are so many little personal trinkets buried in the Financial Reform Bill that we’ll just have to pass it to see exactly what is in there. Why is it that all of our legislation is starting to sound like Prego Spaghetti Sauce?

 

PregoImage

Legislation you can believe in. Umm, umm, umm.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

The Arrogant, Dismissive - Even Derisive - President Obama

We shouldn’t be surprised. It started when Obama threw his sweet, white grandmother under the bus, trying to sidestep the  Reverend Wright controversy:

I can no more disown (Reverend Jeremiah Wright)him than I can disown my white grandmother, a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe. The point I was making was not that my grandmother harbors any racial animosity. She doesn't. But she is a typical white person, who, if she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know there's a reaction that's been bred into our experiences that don't go away and that sometimes come out in the wrong way and that's just the nature of race in our society. 

Only to wind up having to toss the Rev under the same bus a few weeks later anyway:

The person I saw yesterday was not the person that I met 20 years ago. His comments were not only divisive and destructive but I believe they ended up giving comfort to those who prey on hate.

(some might argue that if you didn’t recognize it for 20 years you are either lying or none too bright)

Then there was Tony Rezko, Hillary Clinton, Rod Blagojevich – and many, many more. And that was just in 2008! 

But when he actually became the Won, he began to throw the whole country under the bus. Beginning in Strasbourg when president Obama told Europe:

Instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive. 

In retrospect, it appears he was correct – about America being arrogant and derisive that is: assuming that President Obama is the official representative for America. Because he certainly has shown arrogance, been dismissive and even been derisive of a lot of us.  Let’s do a quick review of some of us he holds in contempt:

  • - Small town Americans:

You go into some of 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. So it's not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

- Our Cops,  for acting stupidly or something.

- Doctors, for removing kids tonsils unnecessarily.

- Health Insurers, for being a greedy and cruel group that care nothing for every day Americans, only for profits.

 “We can’t have a system that works better for the insurance companies than it does for the American people,”

- Wall Street, for everything except contributing gobs and gobs of money to his campaign coffers.

- Ordinary citizens, exercising their first amendment rights at town halls (on August 7, 2009):

“But I don't want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking. I want them to get out of the way so we can clean up the mess. I don't mind cleaning up after them, but don't do a lot of talking."

and earlier:

"Those of you who are watching certain news channels on which I'm not very popular, and you see folks waving tea bags around…”

- Citizens of Massachusetts, who were about to elect Republican candidate Scott Brown, “anyone can buy a truck.” Um, no actually they can’t Mr. President.

- Supreme Court Justices for acting stupidly by deciding a case that "reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests -- including foreign corporations,” which is, uh,  simply not true,  Mr. President.

- Navy “corpse” man. ‘Nuff said.

- John McCain: For losing or something. “I won. I’m the president.” The campaign’s over, you little gnat .

- Vegas, baby! Because you people are too stupid not to blow the rent money on blackjack.

- Citizens who are concerned about Obama’s run away deficit spending:

"So I've been amused in recent days by these people having rallies," ( laughter) "I think they should be saying thank you." 

- The citizens of Arizona, for acting irresponsibly by passing a law to do what the federal government is mandated to do but won’t: protect our border. (BTW, Pat Buchanan has a don’t miss column where he asks “whose country is this?” If you adhere to the socialist theory of social justice, you would know full-well that it belongs to the underprivileged from third world countries that we have somehow oppressed and therefore now owe a livelihood.)

- And let’s not forget all the foreign leaders and/or heads of state he’s been dismissive, even derisive of - in America’s name (all allies, by the way):

- Queen of England,

- Gordon Brown

- Nicholas Sarkozy

- King of Norway

- Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi

- Dali Lama

- Benjamin Netanyahu

But to be fair, I should also note the people/groups Mr. Obama has not treated dismissively or derisively. To wit, unions of all ilk: UAW, AFL-CIO, SEIU, and NEA. Foreign dictators and tyrants:  Hugo Chavez, Evo Morales, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the brothers Castro, and Kim Jong Il.

And again, I remind you: that was just in the first 16 months!

Jan. 20, 2009
“President-elect Barack Obama was about to walk out to take the oath of office. Backstage at the U.S. Capitol, he took one last look at his appearance in the mirror.”
(Official White House photo by Pete Souza)

This official White House photograph is being made available only for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House. 
 Gazing at me, gazing back at me, gazing at me

President Obama: he lies, he mocks, he taunts and he swaggers. Tell me again - what was it about George Bush that you liberals hated so much? Oh yeah, the swagger.

BUSH-FLAG-WAVE2Miss Me Yet?

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Accounts Payable: Gov’t Rules Apply

The Blogprof has been running an excellent series of posts on the deceptive  GM ad/claim that they’ve paid back their TARP loan in full, plus interest. Yesterday’s  post sums them up and links to all: GM Could Be In Trouble With the FTC Over Truth In Advertising.

H/T blogprof

When you’re owned by the Government (and let’s face it, when you’re  still into the Feds for $50 billion, you are owned), you play by their rules. In GM’s case, that apparently includes using government accounting methods.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Once Upon a Time in Utah

There is a well worn cliché of “music washing over you.” Good music, even very good music does wash over you. But great music moves through you, penetrating flesh and bone, leaving a trail of DNA that, if you’re lucky, fuses with your soul and makes you a better person whether you will it to or not.

scheherazade2

Scheherazade: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s symphony based on the collection of stories contained in 1001 Arabian Nights. The book of stories itself is premised on the tale of a Persian King who, having discovered his wife cheating on him, executed her and her lover by slicing them both in half – which was apparently a culturally acceptable punishment for adultery (21st century Muslims have made progress: now they just stone the woman). Convinced now that all women were evil, false and faithless he vowed revenge by taking a new wife each day only to kill them the morning after their nuptial night together. He proceeded with this apparently culturally acceptable plan until he chose and married the wily Scheherazade, who tricks him into letting her live by telling him wondrous stories every evening, but refusing to reveal the ending until the following night. So starved for entertainment was the Caliph that he allowed this evil woman to continue her deceitful scheme for 1001 nights, by which time she had plied her wily babe-like charms on the defenseless Persian King, bore him a son and made him fall in love with her. We presume they lived happily ever after.

caliph

 

We drove into Salt Lake from Park City last night to celebrate William Shakespeare’s birthday with a performance by the Utah Symphony.

o-hai-i-upgraded-ur-language

The original program included guest conductor Gary Walker and guest percussionist Colin Currie as soloist in Steven Mackey's "Time Release" concert as well as a performance of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade. Both guest performers were stranded on the other side of the Atlantic by airborne volcanic ash, and this turned out to be our good fortune.

The symphony found a replacement conductor in the person of Michael Stern, currently musical director of the Kansas City Symphony. Unable to find a replacement for Currie, the Mackey piece was scrapped for timely selections (given the bard’s birthday) from Prokofiev's ballet music for "Romeo and Juliet" and the "Symphonic Dances from West Side Story," Bernstein's musical based on the aforementioned love story. Stern (son of violin-virtuoso Isaac Stern) conducted the entire program from memory. Along with the always excellent Orchestra, he dazzled the audience. The second half of the evening was the originally scheduled performance of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade.

There’s a reason this piece is a perennial favorite. It’s what academics  might call “accessible.” Which means there’s no need to ask questions in order to enjoy it. It’s just beautiful and fun. And it moves through you, whether you will it to or not.

By the way, in case you’ve never been to Salt Lake City (and most people haven’t) Abravanel Hall is said to be acoustically perfect.

abravanel hall 1 and it houses a large Dale Chihuly sculptural tower commissioned for the 2002 Olympics.  CDOlympic2002_037_M

It’s right across the street from Tabernacle Square

spaceball mormon tabelnacle

and the entire city is nestled into the Salt Lake Valley in the Rocky Mountains.

about_slc

and might be a bit larger than you’d think. And don’t forget: it’s on the list of cities under consideration for the Republican National Convention in 2012. 

light pollution

It has it’s charms, spaceball

as does nearby Park City, 30 miles straight up the mountain.

pc downtown Moonrise20050720-1crsm Wolf-Moon-At-Perigee-20090110-1200

Moon perigee in Park City mountains: where moon rises look like sunsets

downtown pc 

Friday, April 23, 2010

Maybe He Can Work on the Lions Next

This is the best news for Detroit out of Washington in a long, long time. Apparently the President is going to save the Tigers. As Michelle Obama told a group of kids at the White House yesterday for the annual “Take your son and daughter to work day,”

“Malia’s one issue for her father is saving the tigers. So we talk about the tigers at least once a week and what he’s doing to save the tigers. He tells her he’s working on it and there are a lot of people who are thinking about it. He hasn’t come up with a sufficient answer yet, but he’s got a couple of more years or so to fix this problem.”

300px-Detroit_tigers2

So we’ve got that going for us.

Maybe he can throw out the first pitch for one of the Tiger games too.

obamathrow2

Obama, first pitch White Sox, Miss America, first pitch Detroit Tigers

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Speeding Headlong into the Darkness

File under  “a picture is worth a thousand words.”

Don’t go gentle, America.

 picture speaks by Michael Ramirez, Click to enlarge          HT: Powerline

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.

                                                                              Dylan Thomas

Thaddeus. Not Just For Red Eye anymore.

Politico’s Ben Smith – idiot – took a shot at our personal, and favorite, Congressman, Thaddeus McCotter, for a remark he made at the SRLC. Let me rephrase that, he libeled Congressman McCotter by claiming he made a racist comment, which by extension implied that the Congressman is a racist. Did I mention Ben Smith is an idiot?

First of all, McCotter is one of maybe a half-dozen incredibly decent pols in Washington. But since he’s a Republican that makes him an R-word -  which in this case stands for “racist.”  Second, the comment itself: "It's been a pleasure to be in your presence,  the Republicans of the South, who will help us all rise again," should speak for itself.  But Smith has to inject - what else - racism, claiming that this was code for the “south shall rise again,” in the context of the secession and slavery. Honestly, do these people eat sleep and breathe racism? And are they completely clueless of history? Quick recap: Republicans. Lincoln. Union. Anti-slavery. Democrats. South. Secession. Pro-slavery. So,  Mr. Smith, once again: just exactly what was your point?

Liberals. They should not be allowed to blog while practicing  their First Amendment rights.

This will be going into Thad’s Coolest Hits Archive. Judge for yourself:

So OK, maybe his deadpan delivery won’t qualify his as the most eloquent speaker on the political circuit. But he is clean and articulate and unlike some eloquent speakers, he actually has something to say (and he gets extra points for not needing a teleprompter). Or as The Other McCain put it : “Thaddeus McCotter: because not all rhetoric has to be served in ALL CAPS with a shot of adrenaline.”

And he’s not a racist, Ben Smith. You racist idiot.

 

PS.  U.S. Representative Thaddeus G. McCotter, Chair of the Republican House Policy Committee, has written a  pamphlet, “We the People: Wide Awake for Our Newest Birth of Freedom,” in which he clearly and succinctly explains the challenges, duties, and principles the Republican Party currently faces. Available as PDF here .

 

An excerpt:

We Are Wide Awake

They were “Wide Awakes” – Americans marching through sleepy hamlets for candidate Abraham Lincoln and the cause of human freedom. They were “Republicans!”

Today, Republicans continue to embrace our enduring duty to:

1. Expand human liberty and self-government;

2. Conserve our cherished way of life and its foundations of faith, family, community and country;

3. Empower Americans to achieve constructive, necessary change; and

4. Defend America’s national security

And we act upon five permanent principles:

1. Our liberty is from God not the government;

2. Our sovereignty is in our souls not the soil;

3. Our security is from strength not surrender;

4. Our prosperity is from the private sector not the public sector; and

5. Our truths are self-evident not relative

Thad McCotter: one of the good guys. If you live in Michigan’s 11th district, be sure to get out the vote come November.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

America Asleep at the Switch

Goldman Sachs, America’s premier investment house, just announced 1Q profits of $3.6 billion. President Obama is set to throw another of his conniption fits at a speech on Wall Street later this week, no doubt vilifying Wall Street in general and Goldman in particular. They apparently weren’t listening back in 2009 when Obama said of the Wall Street investment houses: “There will be time for them to make profits, and there will be time for them to get bonuses -- now is not that time.” Got that Goldman? Now is not the time.

My question: what is wrong with making huge profits? Assuming they were made legally (but of course, we are now trained to believe that where there are huge profits, there is corruption. Thanks MSM, for doing your bit for capitalism.) There was a time when this would have been considered the American way to spread the wealth around. No longer. Obama would have you believe the government is the only one you can trust to do that: you make it, they take it. Since the masses are obviously in tax revolt mood, and with only 22% of the populace thinking that government is worth two cents – it’s clearly time to change the subject. Let’s go after Wall Street, the only target that can raise the ire of the people (again, thanks MSM and Hollywood) higher than taxes and government.

Not that I want to defend Goldman – they aren’t exactly squeaky clean – but still, that’s not why the Obama administration is vilifying them. They’re using them to sway public opinion (and therefore Congress’) against the corrupt titans of Wall Street and for the passage of the Financial Reform bill; to get government’s clutches firmly into the financial sector, via the latest self-inflicted crisis. Vilify Wall Street, get the financial controls bill – “to protect consumers and prevent a future bailout” – passed. Bad enough that it removes the responsibility from the Legislative Branch and gives it to an unelected (unaccountable) bureaucracy in the Administrative branch. Worse, it allows Obama to continue the country’s march towards socialism by giving yet more power over the economy to the government. Right out of the handbook. It you can't see it, it’s because you haven’t looked closely at what is happening right under our noses. Or you just don’t want to.

If we want to keep capitalism working in America, we have to let losers fail. There is no such thing as too big to fail. Of course, you also have to avoid idiotic legislation that promotes concepts such as “a house for everyone, whether you can afford it or not” based on principles of “social justice” - a concept that like much of communism is appealing on its face but unworkable. Next time, if banks and investment banks do stupid things, let them fail. It’s called consequences. Life doesn’t turn out very well, for either kids or companies, without them.

“Too big to fail” – an Epic Fail. By inserting the anything-but-invisible hand of government we’ve all but guaranteed a lengthier economic recovery, if not a generational recession. Which will of course make socialism even more attractive.

Would someone please wake the sleeping Lion.

detroit_lions_tuff2 Detroit Lions, last winning season, 2000. Maybe next year.

Tell me, tell me…

Vanderleun does his bit to help Democrats explain themselves:

obama-pelosi-reid

I voted Democrat because...

When your friends can't explain why they voted for Democrats, give them this list. They can then pick a reason.

10. I voted Democrat because I believe oil companies' profits of 4% on a gallon of gas are obscene but the government taxing the same gallon of gas at 15% isn't.

9. I voted Democrat because I believe the government will do a better job of spending the money I earn than I would.

8. I voted Democrat because Freedom of speech is fine as long as nobody is offended by it.

7. I voted Democrat because I'm way too irresponsible to own a gun, and I know that my local police are all I need to protect me from murderers and thieves.

6. I voted Democrat because I believe that people who can't tell us if it will rain on Friday can tell us that the polar ice caps will melt away in ten years if I don't start driving a Prius.

5. I voted Democrat because I'm not concerned about the slaughter of millions of babies through abortion so long as we keep all death row inmates alive.

4. I voted Democrat because I think illegal aliens have a right to free health care, education, and Social Security benefits.

3. I voted Democrat because I believe that business should not be allowed to make profits for themselves. They need to break even and give the rest away to the government for redistribution as the democrats see fit.

2. I voted Democrat because I believe liberal judges need to rewrite the Constitution every few days to suit some fringe kooks who would never get their agendas past the voters.

1. I voted Democrat because my head is so firmly planted up my ass it's unlikely that I'll ever have another point of view

It’s an e-mail people, pass it on.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Cocked and Loaded: Updated

The President got game.  After Obamacare passed he snottily told an audience of Obots in Iowa:

The leaders of the Republican party, they called the passage of this bill Armageddon! Armageddon. End of freedom as we know it! So after I signed the bill, I looked around to see if there were any asteroids falling. Any cracks opening up in the earth. Turns out it was a nice day.

Then at a speech at NASA headquarters (which, curiously no NASA employees who were about to lose their jobs were invited to) in which he announces a new Space Program which will include  – wait for it – a Mars Mission! And a trip to a real Asteroid! 

President Obama boldly predicted yesterday that his new plans for space exploration would lead American astronauts on historic, almost fantastic journeys to an asteroid and then to Mars, relying on rockets and propulsion still to be imagined and built.

Just like JFK, and the moon mission! Isn’t that remarkable? In the mean time, we’re shutting down the Space Shuttle program and the next planned moon landing and you’re all out of a job.

Then later at a fundraiser, he again derided his Obamacare opponents (among others), saying he’d checked with NASA scientists, and so far, no asteroids had hit the earth.

I don’t know, Big Guy, you’re getting out there on thin ice, weighed down with a lot of swagger and arrogance. It’s OK to taunt your opponents, but you might not want to mess with the REAL Big Guy. I suggest you might want to start paying closer attention to the little hints and signs  he might be sending your way:

 

 

 

On second thought, never mind. The Won may start thinking he really did cause them. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I want to be the one responsible for making him any cockier than he already is.

Update: It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature

scary face from outer space

The scream: A radar image shows the crater of Eyjafjallajokull in southeast Iceland, which looks like the nightmarish face painted by Edvard Munch

 

A commenter (D. Andrews, America, America) on the thread notes:

It's a darn good thing that the hydrocarbons being spewed from this volcano cannot get into the atmosphere or that might cause global warming. You know, the great scientist and inventor of the internet, Al Gore, said this very thing after Mount Pinatubo some years back, that volcanic pollutants cannot get into the atmosphere and affect global warming, but the deodorant I spray into my armpit in the privacy of my bedroom, now that stuff shoots straight into the stratosphere and destroys the planet! I'm so grateful for the wisdom of that Nobel laureate; without him, we might just think volcanoes could cause havoc.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Tax the Rich. Quick, Before they Disappear

With all due respect to Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, I’ll take a little more Old West, and a little less “civilization.”

Please enjoy Tax Day in any manner you deem appropriate, or can still afford. Compliments of Reason.tv via HotAir

 

If you have a little more time - and let’s face it, who doesn’t these days? – watch this one too. It looks at California as a microcosm of Obama’s plan to spread the wealth around. How’s that working out for you, Kahl-if-forn-ee-ah?

 

What’s Not to Like?

Yes, he really said it: “Whether we like it or not, we remain a dominant military superpower.”

 

As is often the case with Obama when he goes off-prompter, not only does he lose his carefully crafted illusion of eloquence, but he lets an honest sentiment slips out.

I really wish my President wasn’t so conflicted about our National Defense strategy. As Daniel Henninger points out,  in matters of national security, confusion is always dangerous.

On nuclear issues and national security, Mr. Obama's policy thrust is emerging as an odd amalgam of starry-eyed Carterism (Iran, North Korea) and clear-eyed realpolitik (Afghanistan, the drone wars).

In my experience, confusion and “odd amalgams” of concepts are generally  indicative of not merely a deeply conflicted psyche, but a weak logical basis for your position(s). In short, the dude’s in over his head.

Either that or he’s a pacifist neo-socialist ideologue, bent on transforming America. Or both.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Ye Shall Know Me by the Friends I Keep

Preview of the caliber of nominees we might expect for the Supreme Court opening: Dawn Johnsen, President Obama’s nominee to head the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel. Ms Johnsen, a constitutional law professor at Indiana University and former head of the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), once compared "forced pregnancy" with slavery. dawn johnsen

In a brief filed when she was a lawyer with the National Abortion Rights Action League, Johnsen cited a footnote that said forcing women to bear children was "disturbingly suggestive of involuntary servitude, prohibited by the 13th Amendment, in that forced pregnancy requires a woman to provide continuous physical service to the fetus in order to further the state's asserted interest."

This is what passes as nuanced philosophical thought amongst postmodern intelligentsia. (I wonder how they feel about other”involuntary servitude” “forced” by the “state’s asserted interests;” like working the first 99 days of the year to pay your federal income taxes? – so we can provide GloZell with her Obamacare.)

Republicans are threatening to filibuster the appointment, but they’ve been warned by NARAL president Nancy Keenan that “the use of the “F” word is unacceptable… and the threat will not go unanswered,” whatever that means. I sure hope they aren’t championing delayed-post-birth abortions  now.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

America:Too Big Too Fail. Since 1-20-09

Fear not America. Following the Bush administration’s 8 years of all-bad-news-all-the-time, the MSM discovered HOPE with the election of their glorious leader, the first post-racial, post-partisan president. The CHANGE  has brought us nothing but good news ever since. Don’t worry about the recession, the unemployment rate, the burgeoning federal debt or the ever increasing number of foreign countries laughing at us. No. since the coming of Obama, America’s been too big too fail.

05252009_dom_200dpi-768x1024 barak_newsweek obaman 119622-004-919C93A3

 

 

barack_obama_inauguration_2009_time_magazine_commemorative_issue_cover barack-obama-2008-time-magazine-cover-democratic-convention timemag-obama2 time-cover-poy

and my personal favorite:

the-new-deal-obama-time plus, of course:

              WashingtonPost new-york-times-february-21-2009-obama-takes-oath-and-nation-in-crisis-embraces

Well, I think you get the idea.

obama-media-group

And now, the best news yet: The Comeback of America.

 

newsweek-cover-americas-backDon’t bother your little bobble heads with the 3.2% decrease in personal income since the messiah took office. Or the 10% unemployment rate. Or the still increasing number of foreclosures. Or the fact that household debt stands at 94% of GDP. Nothing to see here. Move along. Obama’s here now: rebuilding the economy with more government debt, fueled with your increasing taxes every day. What could go wrong?

Oh, did I mention that Daniel Gross, author of Newsweek’s The Remarkable Tale of Our Economic Turnaround also authored a book in 2007 titled  Pop! Why Bubbles Are Great For The Economy? How’s that bubble working out for you, Dan-O? Moron.