Monday, August 31, 2009

Quote of the Day

"Most people don't recognize opportunity when it appears because it's dressed in overalls and it looks like work."

-Thomas Alva Edison

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

The Art of Politically Correct Apology by Bill Maher

(This article first appeared at The American Thinker on 8/25/2009 with some editing.)
Self-proclaimed apatheist Bill Maher uses a number of Cronkite-media formats to disseminate his nihilistic, self-proclaimed “pro-death” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Maher fulminations, including a blog at The Huffington Post. The style of composition is closer to stand-up monologue than reasoned argument, generally providing ad hominem attacks on those Maher disagrees with, rather than substantive rebuttals to their positions.
Mr. Bill’s latest jeremiad comes in defense of the Obama administration’s Magical Mea Culpa Tour. Apparently not recognizing the unfortunate pun, Maher titled his rant “New Rule: No Shame in Being the Sorry Party.” http://68.142.200.12/us.f397.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_5645_ADNqv9EAAXF8So8m4w0IEB3FArE&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename=Bill+Maher+New+Rule+No+Shame+in+Being+the+Sorry+Party.htm&cred=kjP59ws76PBhRN2KilMbaO1zhqOvFrDGQC18_KWNRW_NcclnspxbKmMb3KYkyMuUIqOBwXkja44dvHdYD6T7HsA_b9oGWnkTVlvtdje.tacQ&ts=1251041037&partner=ymail&sig=kJqODlZE80BvXzWFooAY2Q-- While we are quick to agree with his assessment of the Democrats as one sorry party, we can respectfully disagree with his failure to recognize the shamefulness of the current administration’s default position of apologia.
Commencing with the straw-man slam, as liberals often do, Maher dismisses 3 prominent conservative figures who have rejected the notion of Obama as America’s Designated Expiator as somehow “empty”: Mitt Romney (empty suit), Karl Rove (empty heart) and Sarah Palin (empty head). For the sake of economy, Maher might more easily have listed his choice for President in 2008 as the Poster Pol for Emptiness. The only thing keeping Obama’s suit from being completely empty is the stash of IOU’s filling his pockets from the UAW http://thehill.com/david-keene/obama-uaw-theft-payoff-2009-05-11.html , the Service Union Employees International Union , Acorn http://backyardconservative.blogspot.com/2009/07/acorn-blago-obama-seiu.html and the Trial lawyers http://www.abajournal.com/news/trial_lawyers_shift_from_edwards_to_obama/http://www.abajournal.com/news/trial_lawyers_shift_from_edwards_to_obama/ of America, just to name a few of the special interests that have gotten into Barry’s pockets.
From listening to previous Maher-speak, I realize he might really believe that Karl Rove has an emptier heart than America’s leading proponent of partial birth abortion http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/01/AR2008040102197.html and Death Panels http://forums.hannity.com/showthread.php?p=59606591. But no one with an ounce of sense would. And has PETA and NORML board member Maher never heard Bumbling Barack when he is disconnected from his Teleprompter-his head appears to be every bit as empty as his resume, his college record and his list of achievements prior to stealing the 2008 election.
Barack Obama’s emptiness is so complete that Buddhist monks are re-composing the Buddha-dharma to include a photograph of B.O. next to the term sunyata. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%9A%C5%ABnyat%C4%81
Maher goes on to confuse the conservative revulsion at leading with America’s collective chin with the belief that our nation is perfect. Earth to Bill: the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution starts with the line: “In order to form a more perfect union” in order to offer a prescription for our constant striving. But the star of Pizza Man http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/pizza_man / and Ratboy http://www.fast-rewind.com/ratboy.htm
insists that
“One of the things that makes Republicans furious about our current president is their idea that Obama is always apologizing for America's biggest mistakes.”
Since B.O.’s election to the office of what Barry must have thought was the “Penitent of the United States,” that whole scale of “America’s biggest mistakes” needs to be re-examined. Biggest deficit? Worst legislation? Worst Cabinet? Worst first-pitch? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRGK3QfcEqw
Maher suggests a list of America’s greatest foibles that would include slavery, “the Indians,” Japanese internment camps and the possibility that “we tortured the wrong guy at Guantanamo.” Americans are indeed quite sorry that the Democrats fought so long to keep the institution of slavery intact and we agree that Franklin Delano Roosevelt made one of his myriad critical mistakes in setting up the Japanese internment camps. But aren’t the amends provided by Affirmative Action supposed to mean that white Americans can quit having to say we’re sorry? And Japanese-Americans http://library.thinkquest.org/20619/Japanese.html seem to have adjusted quite well after being released from FDR’s Folly: the average Japanese-American now earns about 45% more than the average American, for starters. Feel free to check the www.500nations.com website for the skinny on that casinos-for-tepees deal the American Indians landed as amends.
But Bill thinks conservatives are intractable.
“Conservatives think apologizing is a sign of weakness. It's what liberal pussies do, when they're not busy driving electric cars and feeling empathy.”
Not really Mr. Maher. Conservatives believe that one apologizes, makes amends and moves on. And we think self-flagellating is what you liberals do when your’re not fixing elections http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122644940271419147.html, de-stabilizing our military or engaging in sodomy.
But the cockamamie PC comic reveals the full inanity of the liberal position with his proposed model for how the apology process should work. And where does he look but to those avatars of morality in Rwanda:
In Rwanda, after a genocide that killed a million people, they set up special courts where people stood up and said, "Hey, sorry I macheted your entire family. My bad." And believe it or not, in most cases, that was enough. That's the power of an apology.
Like the rest of the chemically-induced fantasy in Mr. Maher’s cerebral landscape, this is purely blather. Of course Americans are sorry for those who suffered through slavery, internment, and being conquered. That remorse has been replayed ad infinitum and is the preface to most every political speech uttered in the United States to this day. The problem with apologies from America is that those on the receiving end refuse to accept them and would prefer cash and gifts instead. Oops, my bad. Sorry, Bill.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Madoff Working Ponzi Compassion Scheme?

Quick! Somebody get Kenny MacAskill on the phone! There’s another crisis of compassion brewing right here in the U.S. of A. Yes, another morally repugnant slug is working the compassion angle: would you believe it’s Bernie Madoff? Reporters in contact with snitches inside the federal facility housing the convicted High-Toned Grifter report that:
“Madoff, who is serving 150 years at a North Carolina federal lockup after pleading guilty to swindling more than $65 billion, has been telling fellow inmates he does not have much longer to live.
"He's been taking about 20 pills a day for his cancer," said one inmate.
"He talks about it all the time. He's not doing very well."
Word gets around fast, even in prison. Bernie probably knows what worked for Libya’s Lockerbie bomber. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8212207.stm
But what if the reports are true? If Compassionate Kenny doesn’t act fast, we might have “Weekend at Bernies IV” http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098627/ filming at the Butner, North Carolina federal prison before long. I don’t think America’s compassionistas are ready for the site of Madoff, propped up between two fellow prisoners, being dragged to the mess hall and the exercise yard like a prison-clad side of beef.
While it was noted in the press that Madoff still had enough change lying around to hire a prison coach http://www.nypost.com/seven/07152009/news/nationalnews/prison_coach__madoff_will_be_fine_in_pri_179396.htm , we didn’t realize that Herb Hoelter was well versed in the Stanislavsky http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislavski's_system system:
“Meanwhile, a bare-chested Bernie has been killing time at the prison participating in Native American religious purification ceremonies held at an on-grounds "sweat lodge,"
and
“is also making new friends at the prison complex through another unlikely clique -- the homosexual posse,”
despite the fact that
“various "gangs" at the prison are trying to recruit Bernie to their crews.” http://www.nypost.com/seven/08242009/news/nationalnews/bernie_dying_in_jail_186175.htm
Sounds like Sgt. Bilko http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1qyieyjEDc&feature=related
Goes to Jail” to this reporter. Why Bernie’s even got the other inmates cooking for him:

“Some prisoners are also bending over backward trying to satisfy his hearty appetite by regularly cooking sandwich wraps for him back at their cells.
"They're trying to kiss his butt," said one source. "

Wait a minute. Are cancer patients known for their hearty appetites? I know this runs the risk of seeming less than compassionate, but Bernie wouldn't try to full a fast one now, would he?

Friday, August 21, 2009

Where are All the Predators When You Need One?

True to weak-kneed, politically correct form, the Mighty Kenny, the man who passes for Secretary of Justice in Scotland, has freed the Lockerbie bomber to return to Libya. The Times of London reports that Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi had his private jet http://68.142.200.12/us.f397.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_1477720_ADFqv9EAAAHGSoyMtg01hmENFSM&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename=Lockerbie+bomber%26amp%3B%2339%3Bs+private+jet+to+freedom+courtesy+of+Gaddafi+-+Times+Online.htm&cred=_qUJPTz5NexCzJdj66cOM6nBEMnY1Fmot0VbxcGeAX4lGUqGo8H3GHkKc2_Z75XUR56q..oLV7mWjFFd6tCeDDdHF5vDx7na0dIrQcDdFLav&ts=1250788047&partner=ymail&sig=xgbrFSpkU9_mrUzp7emDQw-- on stand-by to retrieve Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, most likely to a hero’s welcome in Tripoli.
The U.S., through Obama’s Department of Apology, expressed that it “’deeply regrets" the decision to release him, a statement from the White House said.” http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20090820/twl-lockerbie-bomber-freed-to-go-home-to-3fd0ae9.html Al Megrahi’s release was preceded by the usual whining and puling from Hillary Clinton, America’s SOSINO (Secretary of State in Name Only).
“Hillary Rodham Clinton has talked to Mr. MacAskill and "expressed strongly" the US view that Mr. Megrahi should not be released.” http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0819/p02s21-usfp.html
In an unprecedented show of what it perceives as strength by the Obama administration:
Attorney General Eric Holder has also contacted MacAskill, as have seven US senators, including Sens. Edward Kennedy (D) and John Kerry (D), both of Massachusetts.
All to no avail. The only person ever intimidated by this gaggle of invertebrates was Elian Gonzales. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/625829.stm
If only Mrs. Clinton were able to “channel her husband.” http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/08/lost-in-translation-clinton-says-she-not-bill-is-the-secretary-of-state.html The Cronkitized media reminds us that what this country needs in order to take a stand on the international stage is more of the Big Dog. http://www.zimbio.com/Bill+Clinton/articles/rvU2UeZcdBx/Watch+Jon+Stewart+Hails+Return+Bill+Dog+Clinton
Do you think Colonel Gaddafi remembers the message Ronald Reagan had delivered to him on April 14, 1986 by combined forces from the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marines? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Libya Those of us who believe America has better ways of demanding respect will have to be satisfied with the fantasy of Bill Clinton riding on the nose of a predator headed for the Tripoli airport like Slim Pickens in the movie Dr. Strangelove. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcW_Ygs6hm0&feature=related

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Idiot Compassion for the Lockerbie Bomber

(This article first appeared in The American Thinker on 8/16/2007.)

Those resourceful twits minding the store in U.K. bureaucracies continue to amaze and confound with the depth and breadth of their moral myopia. Scotland's Justice Secretary, Kenny McAskill, has decided to release the Lockerbie bomber responsible for the deaths of 270 on the 1988 Pan Am flight 103 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Am_Flight_103_bombing_trial.
It seems that the crack medical specialists at the British National Health Services have determined that Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi:

" would ‘not be expected to live for more than three months (if he were to remain in prison).
Megrahi was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year but the disease has spread through his bones to his spine and pelvis. He is having chemotherapy treatment." http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1206835/Lockerbie-bomber-die-cancer-3-months-qualifies-release-compassionate-grounds.html
Why couldn't he just take the pain pill? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-dQfb8WQvo
Besides the questionable matter of leaving one's national decisions about the administration of justice to a grown man named "Kenny," one must wonder:
did no one consider that this calculating murderer is the perfect dead-ender? What better candidate to fulfill a suicide mission than a proven remorseless killer with only months to live?
Unless another agency intercedes, Al Megrahi will be released within days to return to Libya. Perhaps if Kenny were to consult with the like-minded busybodies in the Obama administration, the Lockerbie killer might be able to spend his last few months enjoying the sunny beaches of Bermuda with his Uighur comrades in arms. http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2009/06/terrorists-excellent-vacation-gitmo-terrorists-off-to-bermuda.html

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Issa to Emmanuel: This Ain't Chicago

In a terse press release from the Committee on Oversight and Political Reform, Republican Ranking member Darrell Issa of California provides the strongest indication to date that Republicans refuse to be intimidated by the Chicago-style politics of Barack Obama and his capo, Rahm Emmanuel.
Issa’s stirring release came in response to a group of 4 letters issued by Obama cabinet members to Republican Governor Brewer of Arizona whose Senator, John Kyl, questioned the soundness of the Obama stimulus package:
“Following Senator Kyl's remarks, according to Politico, you coordinated an "assault" on
Senator Kyl and other critics of your policies by directing four cabinet secretaries to write
to Jan Brewer, the Governor of Arizona, asking pointedly if, in light of Senator Kyl's
remarks, Governor Brewer wished to forfeit taxpayer money directed to Arizona by the
stimulus.” http://republicans.oversight.house.gov/media/letters/20090804EmanuelStimulus.pdf
The letters to Brewer were issued nearly simultaneously and with very similar language by 4 different cabinet members. The pointed language in each letter seems designed to drive a wedge between the state Governor and the Senator who represents Arizona:
Letter from Ray LaHood, Secretary of Transportation:
On Sunday, Arizona Senator Jon Kyl publicly questioned whether the stimulus is working and stated that he wants to cancel projects that aren’t presently underway. I believe the stimulus has been very effective in creating job opportunities throughout the country. However, if you prefer to forfeit the money we are making available to your state, as Senator Kyl suggests, please let me know [emphasis added].

Letter from Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior:
Some key Republican leaders in Congress have publicly questioned whether the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is working and suggested cancelling all projects that are not currently in progress. I believe they are wrong. The stimulus funds provided through the Recovery Act are a very effective way to create job opportunities throughout the Country. However, if you prefer to forfeit the money we are making available to Arizona, please let me know [emphasis added]. http://republicans.oversight.house.gov/News/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=625
Congressman Issa contends that these missives were intended to obstruct the ability of members of Congress to do their jobs:
“At what point do you believe your practice of Chicago-style politics violates a public official’s right to speak out in favor of alternative policies,” Issa asks. “The American people have a right to know what role you played in developing the threatening letters to Governor Brewer and whether you intend to continue to engage in these tactics in the future.”
He then calls for specific responses and documents from Rahm Emmanuel:

In order to assist the Committee with its investigation of this issue, please provide
the following information by close of business on Tuesday, August I1,2009:
1. Your response to Politico 's report that "White House chief of staff Rahm
Emanuel directed that the letters from the Cabinet secretaries be sent to
[Governor] Brewer, according to two administration officials."la
2. A full and complete explanation of the development of the four July 13 letters
from the cabinet secretaries to Governor Brewer, including but not limited to the
role you or any other White House official played in writing the letters or
encouraging the writing of the letters.
3. All records and communications between you and Secretary LaHood, Secretary
Salazar, Secretary Donovan, and Secretary Vilsack refening or relating to the
decision to send the July 13 letters to Governor Brewer.
4. A full and complete explanation of the role of the Democratic National
Committee and the White House Office of Political Affairs in authoring,
encouraging, facilitating, or directing the four July 13 letters from the cabinet
secretaries to Governor Brewer.” http://republicans.oversight.house.gov/media/letters/20090804EmanuelStimulus.pdf
Cleary the bullying tactics that are the specialty of the Chicago political machine work best when done behind the scenes. Congressman Issa’s bold attempt to shed some daylight on the calculated machinations of the Obamanistas illuminates both the unwillingness of this administration to tolerate criticism of their failing policies and the unethical practices its members are willing to pursue in order to achieve their political goals. We haven’t seen dirty tricks like these since the Nixon administration. It appears that Richard Nixon was a choir boy compared to these Chicago thugs.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Looking for Excuses While Black

Yo-mama-gate http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/07/a_teachable_moment_indeed.html continues to linger in the news as Barack Obama hosted a Diversity-fest beer bash at the White House http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25863207-2703,00.html. The Emmanuel/Axelrod polling data must have shown that what appeals most to those Americans offended by the race-card grandstanding of Professor Hollerin’ Henry Gates is beer. You can almost hear the PC crowd snickering in the background of their reports about Obama’s attempt to make Sergeant James Crowley and Henry “The African-American Leprechaun” Gates into beery blood-brothers. It has even been reported that they have a common ancestry. According to Niall O’Dowd both men trace their ancestry back to a 4th century Irish Chieftain named Niall of the Nine Hostages http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/07/29/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5195781.shtml.
Let us be grateful that the common ancestor wasn’t William of the Nine Baby-mamas or Brendan, Bad-Dancing Keeper-o-the Cheese-Whiz.
While conservatives remain leery of the photo-op afforded Obama to atone for his bungled response to Gates’ alleged misconduct, the race industry continues to hone their spin on the privileged professor’s arrest, hammering away on the topic of racial profiling.
The ACLU website indicates that they are poised and ready to take advantage of the coverage of Yo-mama-gate:
“THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST RACIAL PROFILING The Racial Justice Program's Campaign Against Racial Profiling fights law enforcement and private security practices that disproportionately target people of color and Muslims for investigation and enforcement. We represent individuals who have been victims of racial profiling by airlines, police, and government agencies. Our present work also encompasses major initiatives in public education, including the creation of a film, a bustcard, a “Know Your Rights” brochure, and a fact sheet on Highlights in the Fight Against Racial Profiling . Our advocacy also includes lobbying for the passage of data collection and anti-profiling legislation and litigation of egregious airline and highway profiling cases.” http://www.aclu.org/racialjustice/racialprofiling/index.html
Among other things, this statement implies that Muslims are not people of color and that the goal of the ACLU is to fight law enforcement. The shameless hustlers at the ACLU are trolling in shallow waters throughout this statement. I suppose it’s harder to chase racist cops than ambulances-this way the ACLU can bring Mohammed to the mountain.
Now wouldn’t that bustcard http://www.aclu.org/pdfs/racialjustice/rp_bustcard_20090518.pdf have come in handy for Hollerin” Henry?
Instead, little Henry recited the “Big Cheese Mantra: You have no idea who you are messin’ with.” http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/jul/30/racial-power-equation-missing-in-gates-incident/ Then the diminutive screamer escalated his vituperance to the point of earning some time in the penalty box. Of course, race card hustlers see things in their own imaginative light:
“Gates is once again regarded with suspicion because, as the cultural critic Michael Eric Dyson put it in an interview, he has committed the crime of being H.W.B., Housed While Black.” http://community.thenest.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/19671931.aspx You say “cultural critic,” I say race hustler. Dyson’s absurd statement is an extension of the prevalent profiling canard that most police stops of black Americans are for the offense of “Driving While Black.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driving_While_Black
Au contraire, mes noir frères. Most black Americans stopped by police are stopped with reasonable cause:
“having more evidence for than against; a reasonable belief that a crime has or is being committed and is the basis for all lawful searches and arrests.” http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1T4RNWE_enUS308US308&defl=en&q=define:probable+cause&ei=txNzSrL5DormMb3poLEM&sa=X&oi=glossary_definition&ct=title
Andrew Klavan gives the issue its proper perspective in this excerpt from Pajamas Media:
““racial profiling.” Is it wrong? Is it even racial? I don’t think so. I think it’s just an evil-sounding name for basic, normal police work. I think any cop who doesn’t do it isn’t doing his job properly. If you’re in a neighborhood or a town or a country where crime is more likely to be committed by a guy with brown skin, then a guy with brown skin is more suspicious-looking than other people by definition. It’s not that people with brown skin are criminals, it’s that, in that locality, criminals are more likely to have brown skin. That’s a fact a policeman has to include in his assessment of a situation. It may be unfortunate – even crummy – that he has to do that, but what other reasonable choice does he have?” http://pajamasmedia.com/andrewklavan/2009/07/28/in-praise-of-racial-profiling/
The last leg is kicked out from under the ACLU/ Gates/Dyson victimology agenda by Heather Mac Donald in a powerful accounting of the statistics concerning police stops and relative crime rates for blacks and whites:
“The ACLU and other anti-police activists have alleged for years that blacks are the victims of disproportionate and unjustified traffic stops, a charge that has become received wisdom among large swathes of the population. It happens to be contradicted by drivers themselves. The Bureau of Justice Statistics regularly polls tens of thousands of civilians about their contacts with the police. Virtually identical proportions of white, black, and Hispanic drivers — 9 percent — report being stopped by the police, ….
As for urban policing — where the police have victim identifications and contextual and behavioral cues to work with — blacks are stopped more, but only in comparison with their proportion of the entire population. Measured against their crime rate, they are understopped. New York City is perfectly typical of the black police-stop and crime rates. In the first three months of 2009, 52 percent of all people stopped for questioning by the police in New York City were black, though blacks are just 24 percent of the population. But according to the victims of and witnesses to crime, blacks commit about 68 percent of all violent crime in the city. Blacks commit 82 percent of all shootings and 72 percent of all robberies, whereas whites, who make up 35 percent of the city's population, commit about 5 percent of all violent crimes, 1 percent of shootings, and about 4 percent of robberies.
These figures are not police-generated; they come from the overwhelmingly minority victims of crime in their reports to the police. Such crime reports mean that when the police respond to community demands for protection against crime, information-based police deployment will send officers to minority neighborhoods where crime is highest. When the police respond to a call about a shooting, they will almost never be told that the shooter was white, and thus will not be searching for a white suspect. ..
National crime patterns are the same. Black males between the ages of 18 and 24 commit homicide at ten times the rate of whites and Hispanics combined. Such vastly disproportionate crime rates must lead, if the police are going after crime in a color-blind fashion, to disproportionate stop and arrest rates. To criticize the police for crime-determined enforcement activity is to blame the messenger. http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YTU4MGE4MDkwYzhiYjY4OTk2OWRlZjcyMWY0MjFkNmE=&w=Mg==
This places the responsibility for the prevalence of black police stops where it belongs: on the shoulders of the leaders of the black community starting with President Obama. If blacks want to be stopped less frequently by police officers, than the community needs to do something about the young men in their community who are Murdering While Black; Armed Robbing While Black; Assaulting While Black; and Car-jacking While Black. All the moralistic posing and race card theatre from Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and the Reverend Jeremiah Wright and their ilk hasn’t lowered black on black crime one iota in America. In fact, their grandstanding and disrespect for the police and the courts helps elevate the crime rate in black communities. Responsible blacks should demand that similarly responsible black leaders like Bill Cosby and Juan Williams stand up for the black community and start leading a path out of the bleak miasma of victimhood cultivated by the race hustlers and profiling pimps that have hijacked black leadership in America.