Right on Target

Sign your donor card: Keep a rapist alive

2011-04-28T02:34:00.000-07:00

(This article first appeared at American Thinker.)
While the logic supporting Obamacare rests upon the obvious fact that health care costs are too high for Americans and continue to rise, here's a story to help illustrate the bureaucratic thinking that keeps those costs http://www.13wham.com/news/local/story/Convicted-Rapist-Being-Evaluated-For-Heart-Transpl/-J91Gfh4rE-ckPbDo11jXw.cspx escalating:
13WHAM News has learned that a convicted rapist serving up to 40 years in prison, is being evaluated for a possible heart transplant.
The report goes on to estimate the cost of the procedure at $800,000. The bill, if the procedure is completed, would be paid by New York state taxpayers.
The felon in question, Kenneth Pike, 55, began serving time in 1996 after his conviction for raping and sodomizing a 13 year-old girl in Auburn, New York. Although the hospital admits having a patient with that name in their care in guarded condition, neither the hospital nor the New York State Department of Corrections would comment further on the matter.
The state's justification for even considering using state funds (not to mention, the use of a coveted healthy heart for transplant) to prolong the life of a violent criminal is the usual mishmash of politically correct speech:
Strong Hospital doctors, nurses and staff members are committed to providing (care) without discrimination. We believe in and follow the organ allocation policies and guidelines of the federally regulated OPTN/United Network for Organ Sharing, which insures equal consideration for transplantation and access to donated organs.
How simultaneously noble and utterly imbecilic of them! But this is not the first time New York State Correction officials have socked the taxpayers to extend the lives of the criminals in their system.
State Correction Officials say four other inmates in past years have received kidney or liver transplants; 7 others had bone marrow transplants.
One can imagine a potential organ donor at the New York state Bureau of Motor Vehicles, pondering whether or not to offer to donate his organs for transplant in the event of his untimely death. Perhaps if they would post mug shots of criminals whose lives have been extended by organ donations, it would make that decision easier for potential donees.

I suppose this is just another way for the unionized corrections department to keep their jobs. Of course we would need fewer correction officers if their charges keep dying off.

Don't Tread on Trump

2011-04-21T16:33:00.000-07:00

While it's not surprising to hear Charles Krauthammer condescend to the idea of Donald Trump's presidential candidacy, it comes as something of a surprise to see the National Review featuring Mark Steyn, Jonah Goldberg and Daniel Foster pouring tubs of cold water on the populist conservative dreams of a Trump presidency. After all, Krauthammer cut his teeth writing speeches for Walter Mondale and has alternately shown ruling class contempt for Sarah Palin while showering Barack Obama with terms like “brilliant” and “elegant” when he isn't ripping the actual policies of our Affirmative Action POTUS.
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/265167/duck-it-s-donald-jonah-goldberg
Et tu, Jonah? Even David Brooks showed more respect for the Trumpster's appeal than the guys who should be rallying around the single conservative figure demonstrating the ability to get traction with the mainstream media while appealing to a wide swath of potential conservative voters.
It's almost like everybody got the memo the same day. Sort of a conserv-o-list of anti-Donaldism. http://www.theatlantic.com/daily-dish/archive/2010/07/the-corruption-of-journo-list/184567
All three of our normally conservative advocates were dismissive, insulting and condescending to Mr. Trump who has done more to invigorate the Republican party in the last 3 weeks than all three of our favorite columnists put together over the past 12 months.
Where does Jonah Goldberg get off calling Mr. Trump “a clown?” Yes, the Donald is narcissistic and self-promoting and of course he has some baggage. And while he's busy taking cheap shots, Jonah goes on to criticize Trump's expression of his Christian faith. Last time I checked, an honest profession of one's faith was sufficient to satisfy most Christians. Trump asserts that he does what Catholics consider to be their Easter duty-church attendance on Christmas and Easter and “major occasions.” Just to check if Jonah had become some sort of hyper-fundamentalist religious prude, I googled “Jonah Goldberg Obama Church Attendance” and turned up nothing. So why is Jonah tougher on Trump than on Obama?
While lingering in the spirit of unfairness that seems to have overwhelmed Goldberg, he goes on to provide ammunition to the Democrats by quoting a self-serving, sour-grapes, unofficial biography of Trump by a disgruntled former employee. Nice Republican team effort, Jonah.
Daniel Foster seems most discouraged with Trump's crowing about his wealth and success. As Babe Ruth once said, “It ain't bragging if you can back it up.” Then Foster gets all snarky about what sound like logical business tactics, impugning The Donald for his bankruptcy filings and comes off as insecure about “his habit of projecting the appearance of success.” http://www/nationalreview.com/articles/265269/trumped-daniel-foster Word up, Daniel-it ain't just an appearance. Donald Trump has made several fortunes and seems to have a pretty firm grip on the one he's got. Trump was ranked 420th on the Forbes http://blogs.forbes.com/chrisbarth/2010/03/11/donald-trump-and-nine-other-teatotalling-moguls/ list of the world's wealthiest people with $2.7 billion and a green upward-pointing arrow. An intelligent and resourceful businessman, Trump uses all of the tools and legal avenues available to grow his businesses-a trait that would be quite helpful as POTUS. The bankruptcy laws exist for a reason-to protect individuals and businesses that may have become overwhelmed by circumstances. Trump used those laws wisely and well.
Foster recognizes that Trump “has shrewdly taken stock of the political moment.” He goes on to pick apart some of The Donald's past statements reflecting a potential conflict with conservative voters. But what even the conservative intelligentsia fail to recognize is that voters aren't going to hold a celebrity businessman to positions he held when he might have just been spouting off for the press. Career politicians like Romney (and Romney Care) or Mitch Daniels and his ill-fated truce on social issues had to launch and defend their views and act on them in the political arena. Their past positions are much more securely tethered to them than any of Trump's views ever will be to The Donald.
Mark Steyn's Trump column in “The Corner” seems like more of an afterthought than any of the thoughtful and hilarious pieces regularly turned out by the English-speaking world's most brilliant columnist. Referring to Trump's cowardice is so ridiculous that it's an oxymoron. If one didn't know better from reading Steyn's earlier works, one would believe that Mark believes that the Chinese and the Saudis consider Americans as something of a joke with no ability to influence their behaviors or business policies. I know most Americans won't by that canard and most of us are willing to give Donald Trump the opportunity to test his confrontational theories on those supposed friends of ours in the international community whose practices make them seem more like our enemies.
Donald Trump is a brilliant businessman and a fearless battler in the media arena. He clearly knows how to hire and delegate and will hire the requisite policy wonks to help him navigate the path to the right policy and policy statements to reflect his America First bravado. Our conservative commentariat serves us more effectively when atypical media ruling class attitudes are left out of our favorite columns.

Rand Paul Best Choice for Republicans in 2012

2011-04-14T12:49:00.000-07:00

This article first appeared at American Thinker on April 5, 2011. As the field for the Republican presidential nomination rounds into form, it is becoming clear that the traditional standard bearers for the GOP aren't bearing up well under Tea Party scrutiny. Dominated by a raft of losing 2008 also-rans, the Republican field must yield candidates likely to live up to the demanding standards of the largest and most successful grass roots movement in the history of the Grand Old Party. The one candidate demonstrating the most consistent adherence to Tea Party http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110403/ap_on_go_ot/us_paul_iowa principles perfectly described the GOP dilemma in Iowa on Sunday: Its not enough just to be a Republican (Rand Paul told the crowd) Its not enough just for the Republican parties to exist. Political parties are empty vessels unless we imbue them with values. We have to stand for something and we have to mean it. Even Ronald Reagan never put it more clearly or plainly. While ruling class Republicans continue to practice 20th century deferential Republican politics, a few Tea Party favorites consistently stand on principle and, not surprisingly, those candidates are raising funds briskly. It would have been unthinkable in 2008 that Michelle Bachmann http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/52394.html would be out-raising Mitt Romney thus far. With Romney's strategy appearing to be to lay low and assume what one of his spokesmen described as a “statesmanlike” position, Mitt is looking more and more like just another pretty face. The Tea Party conservatives who will drive the 2012 Republican nomination are not interested in a low-key, reach-across-the-aisle statesman. Look how well that turned out for us in 2008. The Republican candidates drawing all the love from Tea Partiers are consistently vocal and unafraid of ruffling feathers. Michelle Bachmann, Sarah Palin, Chris Christie, Rand Paul and even Donald Trump are all verbalizing issues and taking stances that the mainstream media expect to be anathema to a successful Republican candidate. Compare the clear positions of Rand Paul with Mitch Daniels' desire for a truce on social issues or his unwavering support for his far-too-liberal friend Dick Lugar. There is simply no way the Tea Party will settle for ideological compromisers. The rest of the ruling class Republicans will fare no better this election. Mike Huckabee seems to want to be all things to all people, was decidedly soft on crime as Arkansas governor and is rapidly degenerating into the Republican version of Joe Biden. Newt Gingrich is an excellent idea man and was a great Speaker of the House, but these aren't your father's Republican primaries. If Newt thinks he's having a hard time living down his messy divorce, just wait until he has to explain his teaming up with Hillary Clinton http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/13/world/americas/13iht-clinton.html in 2005 on her proposed health-care legislation. Can you say toast? Now let's get back to that fund-raising issue. The leading Republican fundraiser thus far in 2011 is Ron Paul. I have never been a fan of the Texas congressman. Despite his solid conservative record, particularly his stance http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Paul on gun rights, abortion, the Fed, education and fiscal conservatism in general, he has been portrayed in the media as something of an odd-ball. The elder Paul's successful fund raising is no accident, as he is a consistent winner of Republican party straw-polls including victories at the CPAC convention in 2010 and 2011. While Ron Paul will never be a palatable Republican presidential nominee, there is a way to tap into the near rabid support he generates among libertarians and fiscal conservatives. His son, Rand Paul is the logical choice for the 2012 Republican party presidential nomination. He is an absolute budget-cutting hawk, a forceful and uncompromising speaker, and on the Tea Party side of nearly every issue. He is avowedly anti-abortion, demonstrably in favor of major education reforms (including shuttering the Department of Education), and calls for additional security on our border with Mexico and elimination of birth-right citizenship. Rand Paul opposes all gun-control legislation and same-sex marriage. Furthermore, he is decidedly in favor of major reform to the out-of-control Federal Reserve and wants America to eliminate the issuance of visas to citizens of “about ten rogue nations.” What's not to like? It's refreshing to see Senator Paul taking time out from tying Harry Reid in knots with his forceful Senate floor speeches and strategic use of amendments to float his potential candidacy for the 2012 Presidential nomination. This is the one we have been waiting for to replace the one they were hoping for.

Is playing in the NFL like Slavery?

2011-03-17T03:47:00.000-07:00

This article first appeared at American Thinker on 03/16/2011.
I have to admit I have trouble mustering up any sympathy for striking NFL players. The league minimum wage for players starts at $295,000 annually with the average player collecting about $1 million per year as reported in 2009. Although I am a huge fan, particularly of the local Indianapolis Colts, I have no more sympathy for wealthy athletes than I would have for any other millionaire entrepreneur. I expect them to negotiate their own deals and maintain responsibility for their business assets. For NFL players, the most important asset is their physical plant: their bodies.
Nevertheless, with the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement between the NFL owners and the NFLPA (the player's union,) we are faced with adversarial negotiations being conducted in the media between these two groups who have a mutual interest in maintaining the remarkable success of the NFL brand.
Until yesterday, I thought the player's union was at a distinct disadvantage, due to the militant belligerence of their chief negotiator, DeMaurice Smith. Formerly the executive director of the NFLPA, Smith orchestrated the decertification of the union in order to allow individual players to file anti-trust suits against the league's owners. According to the owner's negotiator, the union was dead set on decertification and anti-trust suits, regardless of the outcome of the latest talks. http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/03/11/nfl-and-union-start-the-blame-game/ From all reports, Smith appears to be cut from the same community organizer cloth as Andy Stern or Barack Obama.
As of yesterday, however, the player's association has acquired a new spokesman. Whether they like or not, the players are going to be stuck with the ridiculous statements of Minnesota running back, Adrian Peterson. In an interview with Doug Farrar http://www.twincities.com/ci_17619356?nclick_check=1 of Yahoo Sports, Peterson (whose annual base salary is $10.72 million) was quoted:
The players are getting robbed. They are...The owners are making so much money off of us to begin with. I don't know that I want to quote myself on that....
It's modern-day slavery, you know?...The owners are trying to get a different percentage, and bring in more money. I understand that, these are business-minded people...But as players, we have to stand our ground and say, “Hey, without us, there is no football. “
In addition to the 10's of millions of dollars Peterson earns from his on-field productivity as an NFL running back, he also has lucrative endorsement deals http://www.twincities.com/ci_17619356?nclick_check=1 with Nike, Upper Deck, Fat-Head, Vitamin-Water, Muscle Milk and many other commercial sponsors which are certain to at least double his NFL income.
Were can I sign up for some of this slavery action?

2012 Democrat Senate Campaign Slogans

2011-03-15T02:36:00.000-07:00

An edited version of this article first appeared at American Thinker on 02/09/2011.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, chaired by Patty Murray of Washington,
needs your help. As John Bresnahan http://www.politico.com/blogs/glennthrush/0311/Senate_Democrats_ask_for_help_with_their_2012_slogan.html reports at Politico, the current Washington state senator, queen of the whisker-thin, adjudicated victory, is appealing to the public for help developing a new catch-phrase for bumper stickers and additional messaging to assist in the upcoming 2012 campaign cycle. Murray, who was described quite accurately by Ann Coulter http://townhall.com/columnists/anncoulter/2010/09/29/patty_murray_the_stupidest_person_in_america/page/2 as a “lifelong public-sector union zealot” and with perhaps a tad of exaggeration as “the stupidest person in America” acquired her Senate seat after considerable subterfuge. Between getting military absentee votes discounted and the efforts of illegal aliens as campaign canvassers http://michellemalkin.com/2010/10/25/voter-fraud-watch-theyre-at-it-again/ Murray managed to squeak out another victory over beleaguered Republican, Dino Rossi. I'll bet you thought those were only Franken tactics.
Considering the 23 seats the Democrats have to defend, they will need all the help they can get. In the spirit of bi-partisanship, I am happy to reach across the aisle and hand off some scintillating new slogans for Democrat Senatorial candidates that are certain to bring some truth to their union-funded advertising. The ideas offered by the committee so far seem rather bland, including “Had Enough Tea?” and “We've got your back, Barack.” Here are my top ten new campaign slogans for the Democrat Senate candidates in 2012:
1.) Go for Broke with Barry and Biden.
2,) In your heart, you know you want Obamacare.
3.) Amnesty, Si! Border Fence, No!
4.) Don't make us go to a hotel in Illinois!
5.) Senate Democrats, Your union dues at work.
6.) Democrats, making our country safe for Islam.
7.) This wise Latina is voting Democrat.
8.) Don't ask, don't vote Republican.
9.) Democrats, beating our swords into teleprompters.
10.) Six more years of spending!

Farrakhan: Flying Saucers & Scientology

2011-03-04T02:25:00.000-08:00

This is the unedited version of an article that first appeared at American Thinker on 03/01/2011.
Just because local Chicago hustlers Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have graduated from the Windy City laboratories and taken their community organizing shell games off to Washington, D.C. doesn't mean that the Chi-town leftists have ceased being like broken washing machines. They are still stuck on agitate. While Jesse Jackson pere has taken his traveling search for the media spotlight to support Wisconsin fleebaggers, JJ fils continues to lay low in an attempt to live down his role in the former Governor Blagojovich's version of Let's Make a Deal. There is one Chicago community agitator who is unafraid to get out in front of the home folks and rouse them to action.
Why just last Sunday, Louis Eugene Walcott, better known by his adopted Muslim name of Farrakhan, rattled off a four hour stem-winder to his devoted followers from the Nation of Islam at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, to celebrate the group's annual Saviours Day convention. The increasingly eccentric Farrakhan attempted to link the rebellions in the middle eastern Arab nations to imagined events developing http://www.suntimes.com/4047358-417/louis-farrakhan-says-moammar-gadhafi-has-always-been-a-friend.html here in the United States:
What you are looking at in Tunisia, in Egypt, in Yemen, in Jordan, in Libya, in Bahrain, will soon, very soon be in all the nations of the world, and even sooner take place in America
Living in the leftist media bubble here in the states, we have become accustomed to such veiled threats from Nation of Islam leaders. Even as Farrakhan whipped up the enthusiasm of his followers, however, it became clear that the issues motivating Muslim rioters in the Middle East are somewhat removed from the issues important to Chicago Louis. While Libyan and Egyptian protestors seek to escape the dictatorial rule of corrupt despots, Farrakhan is urging American Muslims to pay more attention to flying saucers and Scientology.
To set the media record straight, Farrakhan assured his audience that Moammar Ghadafi had always been a friend. He suggested that
...no leader has been loved by 100 per cent of his people and said that if Ghadafi is (prosecuted) for crimes against humanity, the same should apply to former President George W. Bush for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Sounds reasonable enough....if you were perhaps from another planet. Maybe the fact that Farrakhan received Libya's Al-Ghadafi International Prize for Human Rights in 1996 influenced his thinking. But this was only the beginning of Crazy Louis's bizarre riff on the world as he sees it. Did you know that on Planet Farrakhan:
...that white people were created from blacks 4,000 years ago on an Aegean Island by a (mad) black scientist (?)
Or that part of the Nation of Islam belief system is based upon UFOs? Those beliefs are based on Farrakhan's recounting of what might be the only http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/28933664/ns/today-books/ recorded incidence of a black person being abducted http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/news/local/chibrknews-farrakhan-mideast-uprisings-will-come-to-us-20110227,0,1665375.story by a UFO:
Farrakhan has described a 1985 religious experience in which he ascended into a flying saucer and heard the voice of Elijah Muhammad predicting historical events.
Perhaps during Farrakhan's abduction he was introduced to Scientology. Farrakhan was apparently seeking to establish a link between the Nation of Islam and the practitioners of L. Ron Hubbard's celebrity religion when he praised Hubbard for his efforts to “civilize white people” in his Sunday diatribe. Where else might Crazy Louis have made the Scientology http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology_beliefs_and_practices connection? One of the fundamental beliefs of the Hubbardians is that
...a human is an immortal alien spiritual being, termed a thetan, that is trapped on planet Earth in a physical body.
So it must have been Farrakhan's close encounter with those enlightened thetans from the UFO that helped him develop the deep spiritual understanding that has helped him become a leader of tens of thousands of followers, most of them here in the United States.
In the eyes of the American mainstream media, the protests in the middle east are about better jobs and freedom. It seems more likely the protests are more about establishing a sharia-compliant system of governance. Mr. Farrakhan's speech suggests our streets may soon be filled with protestors as well. And while I would like to heed Mr. Farrakhan's warning about the impending rebellions anticipated here in America, his rambling speech didn't really make it clear whether it was the UFO's or the Scientologists we have to worry about most.

The Polecat of the Senate

2011-03-02T14:21:00.000-08:00

This article first appeared at American Thinker on 03/01/2011
Despite concerted resistance from the most politicized Justice Department http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/226758/politicizing-justice/andrew-c-mccarthy in the history of our great nation, Judicial Watch was finally successful in getting the full FBI files http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1361318/US-Senator-Edward-Ted-Kennedy-rented-Chilean-brothel-entire-night.html regarding Teddy Kennedy released:
Our tough fight with the Obama administration shows that it was not keen on letting the American people know that Teddy Kennedy, one of Obama's leftist politician heroes, liked to hang out with communists and prostitutes.
We will continue to investigate why the FBI improperly chose to keep this information secret.
The latest releases, while not pretty, are certainly not surprising to those familiar with the long career of the man the left hailed as “The Lion of Senate.” The facts suggests that the late Senator, well-known as a heavy drinker http://www.thesharkguys.com/celebrities/ted-kennedys-top-drunk-moments/ and the terror of young female campaign workers, was more of a cross between Alger Hiss and Charlie Sheen. The newly released files report that Kennedy arranged to rent an entire Chilean brothel to satisfy his outsized libido, and invited one of the American Embassy's chauffeurs to participate in the festivities. More like the polecat of the Senate, methinks.

It seems Senator Kennedy, in addition to his exaggerated lust for life and fermented liquids, also felt the serious need to pow-wow with the local Communists when visiting foreign countries.
..during a tour of several Latin American countries...In each country he visited he was also said to have insisted on interviewing the “angry young men” of the country as well as Communists who had extreme left-wing views.
The results of those interviews clearly informed the direction of terrible Ted's political arc. Kennedy was said to have veered so far left that he was warned off consorting with some of the targets of his curiously sought interviews. Of course, those same extreme left wing views have come too comprise the platform for the 21st century Democrat party.
It is not surprising that the Kennedy family hagiography is being unraveled, string by string. The Kennedy penchant for amorality and the willingness to use any means to justify the ends of feeding their personal pecadilloes was certain to wilt under the light of historical scrutiny. It is now the family's colluding allies in the press and government who are being exposed and who will eventually be destroyed by the horrendous karma of the Kennedy curse.

Daniels walks back his Homer Simpson moment

2011-03-01T02:49:00.000-08:00

This article first appeared at American Thinker on 02/27/2011

After a considerable amount of blowback over Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels cuddly response to the flee-bagging Indiana Democrat legislator's run-and-hide strategy to avoid facing the consequences of their electoral defeat in the 2010 mid-terms, Daniels appeared on Fox News with Neal Cavuto http://hotair.com/archives/2011/02/24/mitch-daniels-to-indianas-fleebagger-democrats-come-home-chumps/ to apologize for misspeaking.
Ed Morrissey at Hot Air asks the pertinent question:
Does (Daniel”s) vigorous damage-control over the past few days signal that he's running for president after all?
Make no mistake, Daniels operatives are pulling out all the stops in an attempt to get back out in front of the issue of dismantling the unfair advantages labor unions have garnered over the past several decades due to their symbiotic relationship with the Democrat party. The energy behind the walk-back suggests that Mitch is very serious about running for President.
Unfortunately, that energy can sometimes result in misleading information. Republican political operative Aaron Reber's response http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/02/as_the_dust_settles_mitch_dani.html to my blog reporting Daniel's inappropriate and inadequate response to the fleebaggers suggests that Daniels was misquoted by “a media source.” That media source was the Indy Star, Indiana's leading newspaper and an enthusiastic endorser http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/02/as_the_dust_settles_mitch_dani.html of Daniels' candidacy. They have printed no corrections or retractions and there will be none forthcoming because there was no misquote as Daniel's admits on Cavuto. Here is the full audio http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/02/22/indiana_gov_daniels_will_not_send_police_after_fleeing_democrats.html of Mitch's original statements exactly confirming my original blog.
I like Mitch Daniels as he has been about as good a governor of Indiana as it is possible to be. His solid record doesn't mean that he gets a free pass and can abandon the playing field to the Democrats in a fit of absent-mindedness. The Democrats are fighting us to a stand-off with a shrinking base and control of only about 20% of the voting population. They do have two things going for them that Republicans don't seem to be able to muster: solidarity and ruthlessness. Politicians are liable to make mistakes and Americans are very forgiving of those who will admit their mistakes. It seems like Daniels is heading in the right direction on this, although his Homer Simpson moment might prove to be the undoing of his candidacy. Tea partiers would like to see a bit more resolve in their leaders now to render further Democrat treachery ineffective.

Mitch Daniels Caves

2011-02-28T10:56:00.000-08:00

This is the unedited version of an article that first appeared at American Thinker on 02/23/2011
Today Governor Mitch Daniels of Indiana effectively destroyed his chances for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012 when he caved http://www.indystar.com/article/20110222/NEWS/110222004/House-Democrats-flee-Indiana-stop-votes?odyssey=modbreakingtextIndyStar.com in to the walk-out by Democrats in the Indiana House over a controversial right-to-work bill:

Daniels told reporters this afternoon that he expects House Democrats will return to work if the bill dies. It would be unfortunate if other bills are caught up in the turmoil, he said.

He will not send out state police to corral the Democrats, the Republican governor said.

The Democrat minority has (the) right to express its views, he added.

Daniels is a fiscal hawk who has won national acclaim for the bang-up job he has done steering the Indiana economy out of the mire of the recession compounded by two previous terms of Democrat irresponsibility. The governor gave a controversial speech at the CPAC convention http://www.politicsdaily.com/2011/02/14/rush-limbaugh-slams-mitch-daniels-cpac/ asking Republicans to “call a truce” on social issues while dealing with America's faltering economy.

Word to Mitch: the stifling effect of labor unions on the economy is not a social issue.

Daniels unwillingness to stand on principle on issues important to social conservatives suggested that there might be a weak spot in the former Reagan Budget Director's resume. Daniels earned the sobriquet “Mitch the Knife” for his willingness to stand on economic principle while helping trim the fat out of the federal budget.

Apparently, Daniels now wants to be known as “Mitch the Nice.” That won't work for me or any of the conservatives that I know. Now is the time to draw the proverbial line in the sand and act on the mandate provided conservatives in the 2010 mid-term elections. Reigning in union greed must be a top priority.

I'm sure teachers, federal employees, Indiana Democrats and associated union ilk are searching the thrift stores for “My Man Mitch” buttons http://www.politicsdaily.com/2011/02/14/rush-limbaugh-slams-mitch-daniels-cpac/ that they would previously have spat upon.

Sorry Mitch, but it's only taken two weeks in the national public eye to prove that you ain't no Chris Christie or Scott Walker.

RINO Watch: Richard Lugar, Carpetbagger

2011-02-23T06:07:00.000-08:00

This article first appeared at American Thinker on 02/20/2011
Following in the hallowed tradition of Hillary Clinton and Rahm Emanuel, http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/politics&id=7915809 it appears that Hoosier native Senator Richard Lugar's long tenure in Washington D.C. has helped him morph into a bit of a carpetbagger. Although pettifogger Lugar retains an ownership interest in a 604 acre corn, soybean and tree farm in Marion county Indiana along with his siblings, it appears that Beltway Dick doesn't really live there.
Lugar senior spokesman Mark Helmke acknowledged http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/02/18/questions_raised_about_lugars_residency_108946.html that the Senator stays at a hotel on his occasional return visits to Indiana. Helmke claimed that Lugar works the farm with his son once a month, “even though he doesn't live there.”
This wouldn't be the first time Lugar used the farm to further his conflicting political interests. Although elected by the people to serve as a Republican in a state with significant dependence on coal for energy, Lugar became the first farmer in Indiana to sign up with the Chicago Climate Exchange http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/05/06/chicago-climate-exchange-important-partner-sen-richard-lugar/ back in 2006. The establishment of the Exchange was planned to play a central role in Obama's $650 billion cap-and trade scam. Fortunately, the implosion of the global warming canard torpedoed that nonsensical initiative.
As a member of the CCE:
Lugar became what the exchange called an offset producer, entitling him to a financial reward in return for keeping his part of the property untouched. Lugar who was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at the time, not only participated in the Climate Exchange program. He also endorsed it in promotional advertising.
Although Lugar never cashed in the stack of off-set certificates he received,
The Climate Exchange ...profited from its association with Lugar, one of the Senate's most influential voices on foreign policy and a highly respected elder statesman...the exchange (used) Lugar's participation to promote itself to farmers and the public, in the form of a ringing endorsement from the Senator that the exchange displays in its marketing tools.
Of course the other featured endorsement in the exchange's promotional materials is from Lugar acolyte, Barack Obama. Senator Lugar also shares our wobbly President's views on strategic arms limitations and who knows what else and has served as a bit of a mentor for our very liberal POTUS.
Like many another bad liberal idea, the Chicago Climate Exchange collapsed under the weight of its own absurdity and closed in November of 2010. Unlike macrame plant hangers, earth shoes and Al Gore, however, Richard Lugar's tenure in the United States Senate continues to defy common sense and just keeps chugging along.
For now.

Desperate Wisconsin Brotherhood

2011-02-20T07:03:00.000-08:00

The Democrat state senators of Wisconsin who skipped out on the Senate session to obviate the possibly of a vote disenfranchising their union pals are engaging in what used to be called an Italian strike. Otherwise known as “work-to-rule” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work-to-rule these are actions:
..in which employees do no more than the minimum required by the rules of a workplace, and follow safety or other regulations to the letter in order to cause a slowdown rather than to serve their purpose...In some languages...it is known as an Italian strike as it is believed it was first used in Italy in 1904.
Larry Kudlow http://www.nationalreview.com/kudlows-money-politics/260030/madison-disgrace rightly describes the actions of the state representatives, in collusion with their union paymasters, as an anti-democratic disgrace. The Milwaukee teacher's union has joined the fray, staging wildcat solidarity strikes with over 1100 teachers calling in sick causing the schools to shut down. Kudlow astutely recognizes the opportunity for proponents of smaller government:
(The teachers) ought to be fired. Think Reagan PATCO in 1981. Think Calvin Coolidge police strike in 1919.
Union members are fighting mad. The enormous booty accumulated by the enforced collection of their dues was squandered in support of losing Democrats nearly nationwide. Usually, when these thugs seek to fix an election, it gets fixed and it stays fixed. This time it appears that the gig is up. The cost of benefit packages for union employees have continued to skyrocket primarily because the expense of benefit packages is easier for Democrats to hide from the public than straight up wage increases. Governor Walker's bill, and another like it in Ohio, http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/02/17/collective-bargaining-supporters-protestors-clash-at-statehouse.html?sid=101 seek to require union members to pony up a fairer share of the cost of their benefits. Only this time, Walker recognizes that those cost reductions will be rolled back by future collective bargaining arrangements, unless the right to collective bargaining is disabled for government workers.
We can hear the union pigs stuck under Governor Walker's fence squealing all the way down here in Indiana. But it's not just Governor Walker of Wisconsin calling for the end of the arrogant unionists joy ride at the expense of the rest of us. The 2010 mid-term election results foretold just such a day of reckoning for the privileged unionists.
Patrick McIlheran at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/116355379.html understands these thugs:
Union activists in Madison Tuesday spoke apocalyptically of “class war,” hinting wildly at general strikes and takeovers of the capitol. They correctly see their control of the state slipping and must figure that if they bring 13,000 shouting people to Madison, they can overrule the election.
Like their champion B.O. in the White House, http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/561796/201102021812/Obama-Invites-Crisis-If-He-Ignores-Ruling.aspx the unions have no respect for the law. Money and muscle are the order of the day and neither B.O. nor his union collaborationists will spare any expense or any show of manpower to circumvent the laws of our great nation in order to continue redistributing the wealth of the taxpayers into the pockets and bank accounts of trade unions and their partners in the disgraced, amoral, and increasingly desperate Democrat party.

2011-02-15T14:51:00.000-08:00

Opportunity is missed by most people because its dressed in overalls and it looks like work.

Thomas Edison

Obama Agonistes: A view from across the pond

2011-02-14T13:36:00.000-08:00

This article was first published at American Thinker on 02/13/2011
In order to get intellectual clarity, it is sometimes required that we step outside of our homegrown comfort zone and examine the thoughts of pundits who are somewhat more disinterested. While the typical scrum of Fleet Streetists and liberal moaners from the politically correct U.K. tabloids are no more inspiring than Maureen Dowd in high dudgeon, the musings of clear thinkers like James Delingpole and particularly Gerald Warner can be especially illuminating. Warner's latest riff at Scotland on Sunday http://news.scotsman.com/geraldwarner/Gerald-Warner-US-subversion-of.6712133.jp?articlepage=2 on Obama's clodhopper handling of the uprising in Egypt provides some remarkably clear thinking.
Warner recognizes facts that American journalists seem unwilling to admit.
The fact that Egypt, for instance, simply isn't ready for democratic elections:
Does anybody in Washington recognize what the establishment of democratic governments in the Middle East would mean? War with Israel, because that is the settled will of the Arab street. Apparently western liberals want more democratic elections like the one that gifted Gaza to Hamas in 2006.
Wishing that this weren't so doesn't make it any less true. How can any proponent of the best possible world order not see Mubarak as the lesser of two evils when compared with the murderous Muslim Brotherhood? For the path surely seems to be clear for the MB or their ally to fill the power vacuum developing in Egypt.
Warner further points out the folly of enabling an “orderly transition” under Mohamed ElBaradei, who is clearly nothing more than an Iranian stooge. Proponents of Tehran Mo point to his status as a Nobel Laureate.
Well so is the buffoon in the Oval Office, having been awarded his prize by the celebrity-stalking Nobel committee at the start of his administration, on the reasoned assumption it would be more difficult to cobble together a plausible citation at the end of it.
One would be hard put to find a better unmasking of the Muslim Brotherhood than Warner's. The fact that the MB controls nearly every major Muslim organization in the United States and has a well-funded campaign in place to “cultivate respectability on American campuses and in U.S. government circles” doesn't make their jihadist fundamentalism any more palatable. The Brotherhood is well-entrenched in Egyptian society and appears ready to assume a war footing with Israel even as it plants its p.r. nuggets in the American mainstream media.
The silver lining? Warner recognizes that this latest demonstration of B.O.'s foreign policy ineptitude should be the last nail in his re-election coffin. Out Cartering Carter, Obama now seems likely to elicit a “Who Lost Egypt?” reaction that should dwarf the “Who Lost China?” outcry that ushered Eisenhower and the Republicans into office in 1952.
If by 2012 the Middle East were in Islamist hands, the U.S. electorate would annihilate Obama, however inadequate the Republican candidate: in that scenario, Bugs Bunny could carry 50 states: what you are seeing is the meltdown of the Obama presidency.
Read the whole article here. http://news.scotsman.com/geraldwarner/Gerald-Warner-US-subversion-of.6712133.jp?articlepage=2 Not a minced word anywhere.

Bannering: Obama's latest gift to the unions

2011-02-07T03:03:00.000-08:00

This article first appeared at American Thinker on 02/05/2011

With public opinion increasingly critical of overpaid and under-performing labor unions, one might expect that union members and their representatives would be keeping a low profile while mounting a public relations campaign to repair their well-earned and sullied reputations. Not this bunch. In the face of an onslaught of public criticism of their excessive pay and absurdly generous health and retirement benefits coupled with a call for increased accountability and an end to tenure, public union members are actually becoming more strident and militant in their determination to demand what they seem to think is their entitlement.
Fresh on the heels of the National Labor Relations Board's http://www.nlrb.gov/shared_files/Press%20Releases/2010/R-2780 ruling confirming the right of unions to engage in “bannering,”a Michigan carpenter's union is vigorously pursuing the practice. It's time for a court review of this practice and these belligerent unionists are providing the perfect case to pursue.
Ken Braun at the Michigan Capitol Confidential http://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/14458
provides a detailed report on the brouhaha. It seems that the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters isn't happy negotiating solely for members of it's union. The union is now resorting to a form of extortion to influence the actions of companies who don't use their members.
The targeted company, Ritsema Associates, is a construction contractor located near Grand Rapids. Back in July, the MRCC sent a letter to Ritsema claiming that they had investigated the company and determined that they were paying sub-standard wage and benefits. Mind you, this is not a government agency performing its due diligence: the is a rival organization with interests competing with those of Ritsema. No evidence was provided in the letter suggesting how this investigation was conducted. Ritsema was informed that if they did not provide their private payroll information to the MRCC, they would be considered to be paying substandard wages.
Of course, Ritsema refused to provide their private company information. Two weeks later a dozen of it's customers received a “Notice of Labor Dispute” http://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/media/images/2011/Union/Letter.pdf stating that:
The Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters has a labor dispute with Ritsema & Associates, who does not meet area labor standards-they do not pay the standard wages to all their employees, including paying for health benefits and pension.
We want you to be aware that our new and aggressive pubic information campaign against this company will unfortunately impact all parties associated with projects where they are employed. The campaign will include highly visible lawful banner displays and distribution of handbills at the job site and premises of property owners, developers, general contractors and any other firms involved with projects involving a non area standard contractor.
Tony Soprano couldn't have said it any better.
The bannering went into effect almost immediately with the “banner lines” being manned by hired guns paid by the cash-flush union. The union hired guns were also handing out flyers from the MRCC featuring a rat chewing on an American flag. The flyer encourages phone calls to the company who had contracted Ritsema to complain about the work being done on their property.
This practiced of bannnering is nothing more than an attempt by the NLRB to achieve the same result as the discredited “card-check” legislation that the Democrats were unable to cram down our throats while they maintained an overwhelming majority in Congress. Make no mistake, Obama has pursued the aims of labor unions through the executive branch, just as he attempted to go around the Congress with the EPA 's backdoor cap-and-trade. When B.O. was unable to get his union man, Craig Becker, http://blogs.investors.com/capitalhill/index.php/home/35-politicsinvesting/2376-obama-renominates-union-man-becker-to-nlrb approved through the Senate nominating process, he went ahead and stacked the NLRB with Becker via recess appointment along with another union shill, Mark Pearce. http://workinprogress.firedoglake.com/2010/03/27/obama-appoints-two-democratic-nominees-to-nlrb-leaves-gop-nominee-behind/ This was on the advice of Richard Trumka.
The NLRB's approval of bannering appears to have Becker & Pearce's fingerprints all over it. Doesn't Congress have oversight of the NLRB? It's time for an investigation of this reprehensible practice. While the Obama administration continues to pander to their bag men in the labor unions, Ritsema Associates is in danger of losing its contract with some clients who were clearly intimidated the flagrant aggression of the MRCC. And that, of course, will lead to fewer jobs for Ritsema employees. Shall we count these as jobs uncreated or jobs unsaved?

Fed Utility Bills: Your Government at Work

2011-02-07T03:01:00.000-08:00

This article first appeared at American Thinker on 1/16/2011

One can understand the fact that federal bureaucrats earning an average of 33% more than their counterparts in the productive sectors of the economy might have America's fiscal panties in a wad. A report from WUSA Channel 9 in Washington, D.C.http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=132655&catid=158 helps us consider the expense of warehousing these parasitic mopes for the 30 years or so it takes them to start getting paid lavishly to stay at home.
Reporter Andrea McCarren kept track of the lights left on late at night at a number of our federal agency buildings including the Department of Energy, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Labor. She coupled her observations with a Freedom of Information Act request for copies of the utility bills for the agencies who seemed most noticeably to be practicing the Motel Six version of federal resource husbandry (“We'll leave the lights on for ya.”)
The results were shocking even to this jaded observer of bureaucratic incompetence:
..One month's electricity bill at the Department of Labor topped a MILLION dollars. That was a bill paid in July of last year. The month before, the Department paid a bill of nearly $700,000....The Department of Health and Human Services paid a bill last August of $799,000 for a month of service...The Department of Commerce paid a bill last June of $794,000.
Of course I understand that Kathleen Sebelius needs a support staff burning the midnight oil in order to discover and communicate to the hoi polloi the proper way to sneeze. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En0ltqPUwao But why do we need to spend a million dollars a month to illuminate the Department of Labor when we could eliminate the whole agency and replace it with the simple installation of a revolving door at the White House to facilitate the regular visits of Andy Stern and his cronies?
The first wave of Tea Party congressmen seems intent on slashing spending. Perhaps they will seriously consider the cuts suggested by freshman Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky: http://spectator.org/blog/2011/01/25/the-rand-paul-budget
..Paul would abolish the Departments of Education, Energy, and Housing and Urban Development. Completely zeroing out federal housing spending...
The Affordable Housing Program, the Commission on Fine Arts, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the State Justice Institute, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission are all eliminated. The Smithsonian is privatized.
Sounds like a good start.

2011-02-06T03:51:00.000-08:00

True love and prayer are learned in the moment when prayer has become impossible and the heart has turned to stone. Thomas Merton

In Official English Please

2011-02-03T03:15:00.000-08:00

It looks like the wave of Republican take-overs in the nation's statehouses is gearing up for action. Both Indiana and Minnesota legislators are pushing English-Only bills to require that all official state business be conducted in English. Elizabeth Llorente at Fox News Latino http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2011/02/01/states-considering-official-english-bills-sense-new-momentum/ reports that the Indiana House already passed their bill with overwhelming support, 63 to 26: it heads shortly to the state Senate. Minnesota's bill should reach a vote in their state senate once the powerful winter storm blanketing the area dies down.
A tremendous amount of momentum carrying issues important to the Tea Party has been bottled up since the powerful electoral message of conservatives was delivered at the 2010 mid-term elections. Republicans took over 19 state chambers formerly held by Democrats and control the battle for statehouse legislatures 55 to 38. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/republicans-historic-win-state-legislatures-vote-2010-election/story?id=12049040 Expect local reform to be enacted much more quickly than in the national legislative bodies. State representatives are much closer to the grass-roots and seem to be energized and fired up for the challenge of taking America back.
The English-Only bills represent the leading edge of the conservative reform movement. According to the director of U.S. English, a Washington, D.C. Lobbying group:
With the result of the last election, at state and federal levels, we have the best climate for passing (Official English) legislation that we've had in the last 15 years.
Mike Delph, our local state senator from Carmel, says that supporters of Official English:
...are tired of pressing “1” for English when calling businesses, or hearing Spanish announcements over the Wal-Mart intercom, or struggling to understand a worker in the McDonald's drive-thru.
Delph is considered one of the Tea-Party's favorite sons and is contemplating a primary challenge to Richard Lugar for the U.S. Senate. http://www.mikedelph.com/blog/2010/12/03/general/sen.-delph-speaks-out-on-us-senate-speculation-in-2012/ Delph is also championing an Arizona-style immigration law among many other conservative proposals to help correct the leftward drift of American society toward political correctness and multiculturalism and away from traditional American values.
Critics of the Official English bill have been ineffectual, making the usual charges of mean-spiritedness and discrimination. Republicans counter that the state's website shouldn't provide information in Spanish and that our public universities shouldn't even print applications for foreign students at taxpayer expense. With the conservatives prevailing and a bit of expeditious enforcement, at least going forward we can assure that our critics will have to conduct their excoriations in the king's English.

Top 10 Reasons to Keep Charlie Rangel in Congress

2010-07-29T07:39:00.000-07:00

1.) It's a tradition. Congress-crooks have been fleecing this Harlem district since Adam Clayton Powell Jr. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Clayton_Powell,_Jr. won the seat in 1945.

2.) To protect the gullible constituents of New York District 15 from electing the risible Adam Clayton Powell IV http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Clayton_Powell_IV_(politician) , continuing the tradition cited above.

3.) To keep our young men on their toes worrying about Crazy Charlie's efforts to reinstate compulsory military service http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/15/AR2010071505686.html for Americans.
Charlie Rangel has single-handedly saved or created scores of investigative jobs for forensic attorneys, forensic accountants and forensic journalists, all http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/09/charles_rangel_and_the_forensi.html employed to ferret out where the Sly Fox of Harlem stashed his ill-gotten loot. Charlie is no William Jefferson (Convicted Democrat, Louisiana) satisfied leaving his greenbacks cooling in the freezer.
4.)If Rangel retires, Congress will lose one of the last protege's of arch-Congressman Dan Rostenkowski (Convicted Democrat, Chicago) who taught Charming Charles a thing or two about the House's Ways and Means while Rosty was Chairman and Charlie ranked 3rd on the committee roster. (See Rostenkowski chased down the street by angry seniors here.) http://volokh.com/author/davidh/
5.) Even though he is a bloviating, money-grubbing hack, Rangel remains the cream of the Congressional Black Caucus http://www.cbcfinc.org/cbc/cbc-members.html , which has come rushing to Poor Chairman Charlie's aid.http://blackpoliticalthought.blogspot.com/2010/07/congressional-black-caucus-coddles.html
6.) One would be hard pressed to find a sorrier collection of shills, demagogues and grandstanders than this group led by the insufferable Sheila Jackson-Lee, Bobby Rush, and Maxine Waters.

7.) Congressman Rangel remains a living, breathing reminder of Nancy Pelosi's role as Swamp Troll http://www.examiner.com/x-6996-Louisville-Economic-Policy-Examiner~y2010m2d27-Nancy-Pelosi--Swamp-Troll to the current Congress, determining who is allowed to stay in the slough she has enlarged rather than draining it as she had promised.
8.) We must stop the hemorrhaging of cartoonish ancient Democrats from the Congressional ranks. What began as a target-rich environment with the likes of Teddy “Floater” Kennedy, Jack “Abscam” Murtha, and Robert “Exalted Cyclops” Byrd is now in danger of flushing yet another morally challenged monument to the smoke-filled room style of Democrat politics.

9.) The loss of the Democrat's black elder statesman will further strip the race-card baiters of their last line of defense: “(Rangel's is a style, a method, a politics from an age when it was simply not done to ask uncomfortable questions of a black politician, lest that politician (and his supporters) retort that the questioning was racist. That protective smokescreen of “racism” was good to men like Rangel, allowing them to go about their merry ways blithely, and untroubled. It is harder to strike pouting, Manichean postures now, when a black man holds the highest office in the land. There can be no cheap and easy shaming of critics, no slick refuge in a narrative of racial oppression.” http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-07-23/charlie-rangel-will-resign-next-week-predicts-tunku-varadarajan/ If the Democrats lose Rangel, what is to become of Jesse Jackson's pere et fils? Of Al Sharpton and his ilk?
10.) If we let Charlie Rangel off the hook with a simple resignation, we will never get the full story of exactly how large a fortune this humble servant of the people of Harlem has amassed through his skillful manipulation of Rostenkowski style Ways with whatever Means he saw necessary to promote his personal engrandizement.

The Revolution is not being Televised

2010-07-06T03:47:00.000-07:00

(This article first appeared at The American Thinker on 07/05/2010.)
Back in the glory days of the boomer generation, after it discovered its mutual affinity with the leftist American media, political demonstrations and protests ran rampant and became the hip scene. Aligning with the Chicago Seven and other useful idiots being carefully nurtured by America’s abundant supply of anarcho-leftist-trade union types, young Americans hit the streets to demonstrate their rejection of traditional American values. In their naivete, the hippies and peaceniks naturally supported the angrier, more aggressive politics of the burgeoning Black Power movement. While San Francisco loonies like Grace Slick and the Jefferson Airplane espoused an alternately druggy and pulingly angry form of revolution, the Black Power advocates including Angela Davis, Stokely Carmicheal and H. Rap Brown raucously promoted a violent revolution. In fact, while Justice Minister of the Black Panther Party, Brown became famous for his proclamation that “Violence is as American as apple pie.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._Rap_Brown

Fortunately for America, so is a life sentence for homicide, under which Brown currently remains imprisoned.

In 1970, poet/songwriter Gil Scott Heron created a spoken word poem celebrating the violent revolution anticipated by the Black Panthers, SNCC and associated Black Power groups. On an album titled “Small Talk at 125th and Lenox,” accompanied only by congas and bongo drums, Heron riffed on the post-revolutionary landscape he foresaw in a poem titled “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Revolution_Will_Not_Be_Televised

Heron’s grim choleric is actually the “B” side of a 45 rpm single with the flip-side title purely expressing the dominant emotion driving the Black Power movement: “Home is Where the Hatred is.” The revolution as envisioned by Gil Scott Heron essentially erases the evidence of traditional “white” American culture:

Green Acres, the Beverly Hillbillies and Hooterville
Junction will no longer be so damned relevant, and
Women will no longer care if Dick finally gets down with
Jane on Search for Tomorrow because Black people
Will be in the street looking for a brighter day.
The revolution will not be televised.

There will be no highlights on the eleven o’clock
news and no pictures of hairy armed women
liberationists and Jackie Onassis blowing her nose.
The theme song will not be written by Jim Webb,
Francis Scott Key, nor sung by Glen Campbell, Tom
Jones, Johnny Cash, Englebert Humperdink or the Rare Earth.
The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be right back after a message
about a white tornado, white lightning, or white people.
You will not have to worry about a dove in your
Bedroom, a tiger in your tank, or the giant in your toilet bowl.
The revolution will not go better with Coke. http://www.gilscottheron.com/lyrevol.html

Paradoxically, over the last two generations, the aging leftists have been quite successful in establishing their agenda without violence, by infiltrating and dominating the education, legal, and media establishments in our country. Teaming with the trade unions whose movement has been a tool of the International Communists for over a century, this coalition has succeeded in radically altering the American economic, political and moral landscapes. Their foothold has been so firmly established, especially in the media, that those promoting traditional American values can scarcely get their voices heard through what now amounts to the Pravda media. The formerly mainstream media is nothing more than the unofficial organ of the Democrat party, just as the original Pravda was the official house organ for the Russian Communist party.

Thank God for the rise of the alternative media and talk radio! Through the thoughtful nurturing of traditional American idealism and a determined effort to disseminate information that the mainstream media would rather keep suppressed, a genuine peaceful revolution continues to sprout from the efforts of the conservative, alternative media. Most evident in the courage and patriotism of the Tea Party movement, the corrective right-ward swing of the pendulum indicates a genuine revolution in American values is underway. Conservatives are taking back their country, albeit peacefully. There couldn’t be more important news to disseminate.

But lo and behold, just as Gil Scott Heron predicted, The Revolution is not being televised:

The Revolution is not being televised.
You will not find the smiling faces of your friends and
Neighbors marching in the streets, protesting
The arrogant contempt of the temporarily ruling regime..

Like slaves were counted in pre-Civil War
Voting rolls, government media will count
Each tea partier as one fifth of person,
Reducing its estimate of Tea Party crowds
To allay their own fears.

The Revolution will not be found on CBS,
CNN or MSNBC.
There will be no film at eleven
Showing joyous Tea Partiers in the streets
Celebrating the return to American sanity.

You will not find the video of Sarah Palin
And Marco Rubio linking arms and singing
“We have Overcome” after election night
In November signaling the triumph of excellence
In America after the pernicious cancers
Of multiculturalism and diversity
For diversity’s sake are sent whining
Into the dust-bin of history.

There will be no photos of Al Sharpton
Being run out of Harlem on a rail
With a brand new buzz-cut
Nor video of looters in Los Angeles
And New York City or the other
Havens of amnesty for the undocumented Democrats
loading up their green buses
To get out of Dodge before the new Sheriffs arrive.

You will find no High Definition
Profiles in Conservative American Courage
But you will continue to find the Housewives of Oakland,
Undocumented Apprentice, and
President-for-A-Day
On a continuous loop
Drowning out the hysterical whimpering
Of Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow
And the women of The View
Blithering on about the diminished glory of
Affirmative action, Jane Fonda and Barney Frank.

No the revolution is not being televised.
It does not need Viagra, Cialis, or Flo-max.
The revolution can do without a Snuggie,
A Sham-Wow or any trinkets from the Home Shopping Network.
The revolution will go better with Coke,
And the revolution will put you
In the driver’s seat.

The revolution has no need for video replay
Satellite photos or any commentary
From Chris Mathews, Katie Couric
Or any petty bureaucrats from the Clinton
Or Carter administrations.

The revolution is real
And it’s coming to an election booth near you
On November 2, 2010.
Be there.

Unlucky Obama?

2010-06-21T09:23:00.001-07:00

Peggy Noonan, one half of the mainstream media Sinister Spinsters providing liberal apologetics for the stumbling Obama administration along with Maureen Dowd, was actually beginning to show signs of awakening to the recognition of B.O.'s thorough incompetence. Peggy's May 29 column, titled “He was supposed to be Competent” suggested that Noonan was finally ready to acknowledge that her enthusiasm and support for the weakest man ever elected POTUS was wrong-headed:
I don't see how the president’s position and popularity can survive the spill. This is the third political disaster in his first 18 months in office. And they were all, as they say, unforced errors, meaning they were shaped by the president’s political judgment and instincts.....How could there not have been a plan? How could it all have been so ad hoc, so inadequate so embarrassing? www.peggynoonan.com/article.php?article=524
A mere 3 weeks later, Noonan demonstrates the wishful thinking that has kept Obama's approval numbers from plummeting into the 20 or 30 % range. Rasmussen's latest poll pegs B.O.'s favorable rating at 43%, although it has dipped as low as 41% earlier in the week. www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_trackir
Noonan would now like to delude her readers, as she has clearly deluded herself, into believing that the poor little Punahou Kid suffers from nothing more damning than some bad luck:
The president is starting to look snakebit. He's starting to look unlucky, like Jimmy Carter...(this) is dangerous for him because Americans get nervous when they have a snakebit president. They want presidents on whom the sun shines. (ibid WSJ)
Oh my god! There is a reason that Carter and Obama are inextricably linked to one another in the minds of Americans and it has nothing to do with contemplations of their fortuity. These two maladroit schmucks mirror one another precisely because neither was remotely qualified to hold the office of POTUS and both had the good fortune to be elected despite their formidable short-comings.
Has their ever been a luckier man than Barack Obama? Despite what appears to be a very middling intellect, regardless of the propaganda shoveled out by the main stream media pundits, B.O. Was educated at the finest American colleges, probably at public expense. Born when affirmative action was at it's apogee, his career has been high-lighted by constant promotion from one job at which he never became accomplished to the next. Now this ultimate example of The Peter Principle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Principle holds the most powerful position on earth with the biggest spending account in the universe. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize with its $1.4 million jackpot Peggy! While constantly failing at his job, weakening our defenses and our relationships with our former allies, he has spent America deep into a likely double-dip recession while undermining key American industries. In return for his destructive incompetence, Obama gets to host multi-million dollar parties for his closest friends, and has Air Force One at his disposal to whisk his wife off on date nights here and in Europe. Any one of us should be so lucky.
The American people are the ones who are snakebit. Unfortunately we elected the snakes and will have to wait for the electoral process to restore some responsibility to the executive branch and the good luck and blessings that have been the natural consequence of our remarkable American system of government.

A modest van Sloot Proposal

2010-06-14T14:21:00.000-07:00

Homicidal party-boy Joren van der Sloot apparently decided he has had enough of the Peruvian civil justice system. After being pelted with rotten tomatoes and vegetables by the locals on his way to court, the pampered, Obama-eared thug announced through his local attorney that he is finally ready to reveal details that would lead investigators to the body of Natalee Holloway.

This follows the flock of geese-chases conducted by the Slootster for the press, the Aruban police and most recently, the FBI. Despite the school of red herrings the Dutch predator has released previously, we are now supposed to believe that Joren will actually come clean, but only to Aruban authorities.

This is clearly an attempt to escape the daunting conditions the bully-boy of teen-age girls is faced with in Peru’s prison system:

(His) Peruvian attorney Sandro Monteblanco …(calls) the prison "Dante's Inferno." "You hear people talk about Turkish prisons and what not, because they haven't been to a Peruvian prison," he said. http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Media/joran-van-der-sloot-offered-give-location-natalee/story?id=10885442&page=1
Since van der Sloot has already extorted 25 large from the Holloways in a deal to reveal the whereabouts of Natalee’s body while stringing the FBI along for the ride, I have a modest proposal for the Peruvian authorities:
Considering that the over-sized thug who apparently felt no compunction at battering two young woman to death is now cowering in the face of more formidable opposition, and that he suggests that he does have information that would finally provide some peace-of-mind to the family he has effectively tortured for years, why not see how a little water-boarding works on the former Mr. Tough Guy?
After about 60 seconds, we will finally be able to mark this one: case closed.
Ralph Alter blogs at Right on Target www.rightot.blogspot.com

2010-05-23T09:01:00.000-07:00

Two bits, four bits, six bits a Euro
(This article was first published at The American Thinker on 05/23/2010.)

Despite the best efforts of the Democrat troika of Obama, Pelosi & Reid to lead the American economy down the spiraling path of European socialism, Larry Kudlow at The National Review suggests that we might soon be cheering again for King Dollar:

Amidst all of the fear, panic, and growing stock market doom and gloom, I’d like to offer an important silver lining. It’s a little piece of economic optimism. Look no further than the sharply rising U.S. dollar….For the moment, we are witnessing price stability. Not inflation, not deflation, but price stability. Would that it would last….the greenback’s surge relative to other paper currencies is depressing energy and other commodity prices….Gasoline prices have dropped 2.4 percent, despite the fact that we’re heading into the busy summer driving season. When was the last time gas prices fell heading into Memorial Day? http://www.nationalreview.com/kudlows-money-politics

While what passes for the current crop of American political leadership deserves precisely zero credit for the dollar’s resurgence, at least the Geithner-Summers-Obama hand on the wheel of economic state is held somewhat in check by the genius of the checks and balances built into our political system by the founding fathers. The American economic system still looks good compared to what’s left in the bottom of the European shake-and-bake bag. Gerald Warner at the UK Telegraph, as usual, doesn’t sugar coat it:

The European experiment has failed and is only artificially being kept alive on a life-support system of taxpayer-funded bailouts. The euro is now a zombie currency….We live in an age of mass communication: people have noticed that Europe has a few little local difficulties. http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/geraldwarner/100040178/the-eu-is-as-doomed-as-its-currency-lets-get-out-from-under-this-collapsing-monstrosity/

Everybody, that is, except the geniuses in the American Democrat party. One would think the lemmings at the back of the socialist stampede over the cliff would have an advantage over their European brethren who are already hurtling down the abyss. Yet, even in the face of strident voter opposition to their demented policies, Democrats continue to call for more spending, more debt and more government. Any fool can see where socialism has led Europe.

As Warner suggests, the establishment of the European Union and its currency was merely an attempt to establish an expensive ruling elite, regardless of its economic and political viability. Even in the face of ruin, the Euro-nannies resist taking the appropriate medicine:

The real-life solution to the crisis would have been to let Greece and the other PIG nations default on their debt and restructure it; to return to the drachma, peseta, etc and devalue. The euro was never a real currency: it has failed and the longer the Euro-fanatics delay in recognising that reality the more they will be punished.

…there is no “if” about it – Euroland is down the plughole. The question is: how much longer is Europe going to court economic collapse that could regress its living standards by a generation, to placate the power-mad fantasies of the Unholy Roman Emperors in Brussels? The fundamental, structural flaw in the euro from its inception was that it was a currency invented to give an appearance of substance to a political aspiration – it was Brussels Monopoly Money.

Hopefully the strength of the American dollar, based upon it being issued by the strongest and most stable political and economic machine the world has ever known, will survive the current assault on it by the power-mad fantasies of the Unholy American would-be emperors from Chicago and San Francisco. I suppose we will have to wait for the time to force California and New York to default and restructure their debt. At least until we can start throwing the bums out in November.
Ralph Alter blogs at Right on Target www.rightot.blogspot.com

Vermont: If at first you don't secede...

2010-02-03T11:07:00.001-08:00

(This article was first published at The American Thinker on 02/02/2010.)
Despite being wildly over-represented in Congress considering their pint-sized population and their woeful insignificance to all but the maple syrup, macrame' plant-hanger and lib-tard industries, it looks like Vermonters would like to secede. A collection of native moon-bats has formed the ""left-libertarian, anti-big government, anti-empire, antiwar,...small is beautiful" Second Vermont Republic with plans to unhook the Green Mountain State from the tenous tether to sanity maintained by its inclusion in our 50 states.You see, Vermont, like Texas (I bet you never thought you would see those three words strung together), was an independent republic before it ever became our 14th state. Originally a French possession, Vermont was the booby prize awarded to the British in 1763 for their victory in the French and Indian War. From 1777 to 1791 Vermont was a power unto itself led by it's fierce militia. Called The Green Mountain Boys, their army was comprised of itinerant furniture makers including Ethan Allen and his crafty young recruits, Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders.After more than two centuries of statehood, however, the hearts of Vermont's Ben & Jerry's-swilling populace was broken by Barack Obama. The secessionist party's gubernatorial candidate is currently the owner of Radio Free Vermont and states the case for those northeasterners desirous of opting out of the U.S. of A.:
"People in Vermont in general are very antiwar, and all their faith was in Obama to end the wars. I ask people, 'Did you get the change you wanted?' They can't even look you in the eyes. We live in a nation that is asleep at the wheel and where the hearts are growing cold like ice." The secessionist movement already commands the support of 13% of Vermont's voters. If supporters for the state's drive to legalize the use of marijuana for the treatment of sandal fungus, windmill pox and solar panel blindness succeed, pundits expect support for secession to rise to near unanimity. The well-organized movement has a slogan: "Imagine Free Vermont." I guess living in those monts verts inspires a desire to take the high ground, with the iconoclasts from Montpelier (population 7,760) believing they have cornered the market on morality:
"The U.S. government, they said, was an immoral enterprise - engaged in imperial wars, propping up corrupt bankers and supersized corporations, crushing small businessmen, plundering the tax-base for corporate welfare, snooping on the private lives of citizens - and they wanted no more part of it."In addition, the free-thinkers from the Burlington Mutineer Factory believe that by going even greener, the residents of Vermont can cast off their corporate oppressors and achieve energy and economic indepence:
" (they can do so) with a tax structure reformed to incentivize small business and industry (and to make life difficult for large out-of-state corporations). By 2020, they foresee Vermont producing at least 75% of its own electricity and heat, using wind-, solar-, biomass- and hydro-power....(furthermore they believe that) current U.S. law enables multinational corporations to abuse Vermont as a "resource colony." Citing a 2008 study by the University of Vermont, Wagner says the state stands to gain over $1 billion a year in revenue by taxing equitably the corporate behemoths that exploit Vermont's "commons," which includes everything from the state's groundwater, surface water, wildlife and forests, to the public spectrum of the airwaves. Pardon my cynicism, but if Vermont wanders off on its own, it won't be 12 months until their native deposits of snow and Stowe-bud run out and the Birkenstock Flannel Revolution comes a cropper. That's not to say I don't like the idea of Vermont's secession: I say let 'em yoke themselves to the Mexifornians and the Tundra-Pinkoes from Wisconsin and go over the falls in a troika-barrell.

American Francophiles

2010-02-01T03:24:00.001-08:00

(This article first appeared at The American Thinker on 01/30/2010.)
Barack Obama and his allies a gauche would like to model our national economy after that of the Social Democrat statopias of Western Europe, with the model of France being a particularly attractive model for leftists. A reading of the auto-biography of Thomas Merton, The Seven Storey Mountain (Harcourt, Brace & Company 1948) suggests that the American national psyche has already gravitated toward the francophilic.Merton spent the better part of his life in cloistered monasteries, practicing a mixture of fierce Christian faith and a meditative practice that drew from the ways of Eastern spirituality. As a child, he lived in France and came to revile it and the change in the character of the French people as their sense of cultural smugness blurred their sense of place in both the world and the universe.
"..I suppose the most shocking thing about France is the corruption of French spirituality into flippancy and cynicism; of French intelligence into sophistry; of French dignity and refinement into petty vanity and theatrical self-display; of French charity into a disgusting fleshly concupiscence, and of French faith into sentimentality or puerile atheism." (pg 51 TSSM)If one were to substitute the words "America" and American for the words, "France" and "French," one would have a clear picture of the dissolution of the American character, particularly as represented in the politically correct worlds of academia and journalism.Only a return to a focus on educational principles grounded in the thorough study of history, religion and the humanities can prevent our continued slide into the economic and social morass currently inhabited by the nearly bankrupt, demographicly dead-end states of Western Europe.

Americans Wake Up to Obama's Lies

2010-02-01T03:20:00.000-08:00

(This article first appeared at The American Thinker on 01/20/2010.)
As much as Barack Obama professes his admiration for our 16th POTUS, Abraham Lincoln, B.O. still seems determined to disprove one of Honest Abe's most famous bromides:"You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time."(Abraham Lincoln ) The fact that this duplicitous non-achiever was elected in the first place proves his ability to fool nearly all of the people some of the time. Despite a near total lack of credentials, a voting record vacillating between rad-lib and "present," and a passel of communists, terrrorists, anti-Semites and criminials in his close circle of friends, Obama rather easily fooled nearly all of the people in our great land. Especially those who went to journalism school.The increasingly tin-tongued Speechifier-in-Chief seems deterrmined to flay the dead horse that Obamacare has become, just as he continues out in front of the politically correct nit-wit national security apparatus he has constructed, believing that he merely needs to find the right way to parse his promotion of these bankrupt ideas so his intellectual inferiors can finally "get it."Well, we're getting it, all right. The latest Rasmussen poll demonstrates just how much of America Obama has lost. When asked whether B.O.'s proposed freeze of discretionary federal spending would help much, fully 9% of respondents agreed that it would while 81% of those polled believed that the freeze would be little help, if any. I'm sure Joy Behar, Keith Olbermann and Henry Waxman are still on board. After all, Lincoln did state that you can fool some of the people, all of the time. The starry eyed residents of Lib La-La Land are snug in their tin-foil hats with their Obama blankie to keep them safe and warm. It appears that all Obama has left is the true believers. After nearly a year of B.O.'s fork-tongued pontificating, he is reduced to fooling almost none of the people, all of the time.

Time to Take on the Unions

2010-01-26T09:44:00.001-08:00

(This article first appeared at The American Thinker on 01/25/2010.)
The self-actualizing tea-party/townhall movement continues its remarkable job on the national political scene. Nudged by talk radio and the alternative media punditocracy, conservatives have put boots on the ground and cash in the coffers for deserving Republican candidates in New Jersey, Virginia, and Massachusetts. The near miss in the effort to elect Conservative Doug Hoffman in N.Y. District 23 may not have gone for naught either. There is another election coming there soon.
The efficacy of the movement has been based on its speed, mobility, and ability to generate cash. Once a vulnerable target like Martha Coakley has been identified, action follows swiftly and effectively. The fact that the special elections that have been held were isolated from the normal brouhaha of a full national election with hundreds of races and candidates has facilitated the effectiveness of the conservative response. The question becomes: How can conservatives approach the national political landscape now that it has proven susceptible to focused effort and amenable to the conservative message?
The dearth of additional special elections in the near future will allow the conservative movement to target the underlying causes of our ailing national economy and diminished national pride. No other single cause has been more disruptive to our economy and the principles of the American Dream than the pernicious undermining of commonsense capitalism by the greedy bullies in the teachers', auto workers', and public sector unions.
The restrictions placed upon corporate political donations by the McCain-Feingold Act simply facilitated the ability of the huge labor unions to use their cash to purchase the Democratic Party lock, stock, and Obama. SEIU's Thug-in-Chief Andy Stern was the most frequent visitor to the Obama White House reported on the W.H. Visitor list. Do you suppose he showed up empty-handed every time?
Labor unions provided protection to workers from the sharp practices of powerful companies in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Since the 1950s however, the American labor movement has taken unfair advantage of a political climate, opening doors to political influence denied others. Through collective bargaining, the unions have negotiated contracts that have bankrupted our auto industry, destroyed our public schools, and bloated state and federal government payrolls with unconscionable pension, benefit, and payroll costs.
Needless to say, it's impossible to run a company or the government when you can't fire incompetent workers, are manacled by ridiculous work rules, and pay pensions to fifty-year-olds nearly equal to their highest salary when fully employed. How did anyone ever believe that this business model would work?
Of course, the Democrats and their union pals have the solution: They want to make everybody a union member. When quizzed about the wide difference between wages for American union members and those not in unions, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis provides what passes for critical thinking on the Obama team:
As workers across the country have seen their real and nominal wages decline as a result of the recession, these numbers show a need for Congress to pass legislation to level the playing field to enable more American workers to access the benefits of union membership. This report makes clear why the administration supports the Employee Free Choice Act," a bill that would make it easier to unionize.
The report cited by Ms. Solis is the annual report of the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics on union membership, which was released last Friday. It reveals that private-sector union membership continues to decline as private businesses with unionized labor forces falter, reduce their workforce, go bankrupt, or find a way to escape the unions. Government union membership, however, continues to grow, reaching 37.4% of the total government workforce. There are significant political ramifications to this continued growth.
Meredith Jessup at townhall.com quotes senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute Fred Siegel:
At the same time the country is being squeezed, public-sector unions are a rising political force in the Democratic Party," he said. "They depend on extra money for the public sector, and that puts the Democrats in a difficult position. In four big states -- New York, New Jersey, Illinois and California -- the public-sector unions have largely been untouched by the economic downturn. In those states, you have an impeding clash between the public-sector unions and the public at large."
And therein lies the opportunity for conservative action. All across America, people of nearly every walk of life have been forced to sacrifice during the current recession. Yet the American Labor Union movement seems to think that its members should be the only ones to get through this trough without getting a haircut. It's time for the tea-party movement to encourage our elected officials to get out the coarse clippers.The Supreme Court's Citizens United decision has deprived private-sector labor unions of a key advantage over their employers, who are now able to fund election advertising. A coalition of citizens hurt by union dominance can be effective at the polls.
Ronald Reagan provided us with a blueprint demonstrating how American capitalism should deal with greedy and ineffective labor unions. On August 3, 1981, 13,000 unionized members of the Profession of Air Traffic Controllers Organization went on strike after the Federal Aviation administration refused to provide them with a 25% pay increase combined with a 20% shorter work week. President Reagan called the strike illegal and worked with air traffic managers to develop a contingency plan to cover for the striking unionists.
To the chagrin of the strikers, the FAA's contingency plans worked. Some 3,000 supervisors joined 2,000 nonstriking controllers and 900 military controllers in manning airport towers. Before long, about 80 percent of flights were operating normally. Air freight remained virtually unaffected. (Reagan stood his ground and fired all of the strikers.)
In carrying out his threat, Reagan also imposed a lifetime ban on rehiring the strikers. In October 1981, the Federal Labor Relations Authority decertified PATCO." Don't you love a happy ending? There really isn't another solution. Let's encourage our elected officials to commence wholesale pruning of the bloated state and federal workforce. At the same time, we need our best conservative legal minds to help discover a way to decertify the labor unions that continue to suck the lifeblood from the productive members of American society.

Barack Obama is Box Office Poison

2010-01-25T13:48:00.000-08:00

Apparently it has never occurred to our political pollsters that Barack Hussein Obama is the Bradley Effect http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradley_effect personified. While our floundering POTUS continues to garner approval numbers hovering in the 50% range, his policies are judged much more harshly by polled Americans. The Real Clear Politics average http://www.realclearpolitics.com/, for instance, reports B.O.’s job approval average at 49.4%. His hand-maidens in Congress however, receive only 24.5 % approval and of those asked about the direction in which our country is going, only 35.9 % believe we are headed down the right path. Just exactly who do they think is holding the steering wheel?

Obama was surrounded by wily operatives supremely attuned to the public mood during the 2008 campaign, taking maximum advantage. He won the Presidency despite a total lack of useful experience and principles precisely contrary to those needed to manage the executive branch of American government. Those same advisors have suddenly become tin-earred and hard-of-thinking, having either completely misread the wishes of the American populace or completely disregarded them. The misleading trope of “Obama’s popularity” is getting old. In the super-charged atmosphere of political correctness foisted upon us by the Kennedy/Cronkite media and their allies in academia, the polling dissonance cited above suggests that most folks just don’t feel comfortable reporting their dislike for the Lyin’ Hawaiian.

Barack Obama continues to infuriate those on both ends of the political spectrum, while merely providing major disappointment to those in the center. The combination of his narcissism and his love affair with the sound of his own voice have led him to completely over-expose himself to the point where the law of diminishing returns has kicked in. One or two Obama speeches might be inspiring. But according to the Political Hotsheet at CBS News http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2010/01/20/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry6119525.shtml Barack Obama gave a combination of 411 speeches, addresses and remarks. How can America not be tired of his visage?

To cap it all, an informed observer would have to believe that a likeable President in his first term would have some useful coat-tails to extend to those members of his party in need of a little boost when elections roll around. Well, despite B.O.’s large expenditure of Presidential capital as a fund-raiser, the formerly silver-tongued orator has provided precisely zero tangible help to struggling Dems in need of a lifeline. Obama attended 28 fundraisers to churn up electioneering cash for his party in his first year in office. Compare that to the 6 fund-raisers attended by George W. Bush in the same period. In addition, the Big O attended 7 campaign rallies for his party in year one. And here’s the rub:

“The rallies were for Gov. Jon Corzine, D-N.J., gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds, D-Va, and U.S. Senate Candidate Martha Coakley, D-Mass. All of them lost. “ (Ibid CBS)

Obama has even lost the approval of most of our children. Time for Kids http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/teachers/wr/article/0,27972,1954215,00.html provided a survey to 9-13 year olds in American schools and asked the kids to grade the President. Here are the results:

Obama's Grades:
A: 19%
B: 30%
C: 24%
D: 10%
F: 16% (Ibid TFK)

That’s right, 50% of the kids gave Obama a C or worse for his first year performance, with 16% giving him an F. Obviously B.O is not the guy you want to invite to pull you out of the ditch into which the Democrats have driven themselves.
After Scott Brown’s brilliant election victory in Massachusetts, it’s not just the Blue Dogs whose prognosis for re-election in 2010 looks grim. If Ted Kennedy’s Massachusetts seat wasn’t safe, there are no safe Democrat seats. Regardless of the dire straits they find themselves in, you can bet that the Democrat campaign trails will be strictly Obama non grata.

Who Vetted Martha Coakley?

2010-01-19T16:04:00.000-08:00

(This article first appeared at The American Thinker on 01/18/2010.)
The utter lack of seriousness on the part of the Democrat Party in Massachusetts looks likely to complicate matters significantly for the Washingtonians stumbling toward Obamacare. It seems unlikely that anyone in the bastion of liberalism on the Bay vetted
the unpalatable machine hack, Martha Coakley, who is running for the Chappaquiddick Memorial Senate seat. Where were the media stormtroopers who rushed to vet Sarah Palin when they pronounced the McCain campaign's review of Governor Palin's background insufficient? Clearly the Democrats took this one for granted, foisting a grating and belligerent candidate upon their unsuspecting allies in the media and labor union confederation.

Hopefully it is too late to rescue the under-prepared shrew from the Dan Quayle school of spelling http://blog.masslive.com/thefray/2010/01/martha_coakley_ad_misspells_massachusetts.html from ignominious defeat. Coakley's arrogant dismissal of questions from the press, her head-in-the-sand belief that Afghanistan is terrorist-free and general cluelessness combine with her thin-lipped Calvin Coolidge demeanor to provide as unattractive a candidate for national office as one could imagine.

It's a good thing the Democrats were unable to sober up one of the Kennedys long enough to contend for what should have been a win in a walk. Here's to a Brown Tuesday.

Not a Nickel for California

2009-12-28T13:16:00.000-08:00

(This article first appeared at The American Thinker on 12/27/2009.)
There isn't a single compelling reason to provide the girly-man of American gubernatorial fiscal responsibility, Arnold Schwarzenegger, with a nickel from our federal coffers. His failing California remains the poster-child for liberal fiscal insanity and it's time for the free-range chickens to come home to roost.
Investor's Business Daily reports that:

"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has an idea: He wants President Obama to give him $8 billion - or else, he says, he'll kill or slash most of the state's welfare programs, cut pay for 200,000 state workers and end two tax breaks for big corporations."

It's clearly time to start killing and slashing. For decades California has enabled its spendthrift legislators, feather-bedding public-sector employee unions and welfare recipients (comprised of both native-born and illegal immigrants) to the tune of a $21 billion annual deficit with no sign of sufficient tax revenue in sight. Meanwhile the confiscatory tax policies and unfriendly business environment of the Granola State continue to hemorrhage both businesses and jobs to more enlightened states.
According to the IBD, California is home to more than 1/3 of the nation's welfare recipients. Their abysmally underperforming schools are home to the 2nd highest paid teachers in America. Despite their utter ineptitude, the state legislators are:

"the country's highest-paid state legislators, pulling down nearly $100,000, with $30,000 in tax-free money for their "expenses" and a state-provided car for their use."

In addition, California is rated 48th out of the 50 states in terms of tax-competitiveness with over $493 billion worth of new tax regulations for businesses since the year 2000. Where is the light at the end of this tunnel?
Why should taxpayers from states like my home state of Indiana chip in to support Californians in the manner to which they have become accustomed? Governor Mitch Daniels has striven to create a climate of encouragement for both new and established businesses here while consistently exercising fiscal restraint. Why should we contribute to ensure expensive gold-plated retirement packages for the "the public employee unions that have systematically looted the public" coffers of California and now come looking for more sensible Americans to fund their fiscal insanity
Let ‘em hit the wall and file bankruptcy. It's time for the insolvent public sector in California to start turning away welfare recipients, closing government offices, and defaulting on public employee union benefits including pensions until they can be renegotiated in the light of fiscal responsibility to all Californians, not just the special pleaders.

The Obama Christmas: Mao In, Church Out

2009-12-26T12:36:00.001-08:00

Despite the recession decimating the Christmas season for many Americans, the Obamas continue to party large at the White House:

“By the new year, President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle will have hosted a marathon 17 parties and 11 open houses over three weeks of festivities. With an array of chefs and waiters to prepare mince pies and hot toddies — and a British designer to organise the decoration of their 27 Christmas trees — more than 50,000 guests will be entertained. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6962848.ece

The few nods to restraint by the Obamas in their décor seem to motivated more by political correctness or rank partisanship rather than belt-tightening:

“this year there is no fake snow or resident Santa Claus. A tree made from cranberries that has been a tradition in the Red Room since Ronald Reagan’s administration has also been scrapped.” (ibid TOL)

And that British designer who helped inject his own peculiar brand of insight into the Obama White House Christmas look? Simon Doonan is a window dresser from Barney’s of New York. For more about his unique style see the article Simon Doonan is an Obese Elf Living in a Palatial Gay Fantasia. http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2009/06/simon_doonan_is_an_obese_elf_l.html

Doonan was provided with ornaments to decorate the Official White House Christmas Tree by Michelle Obama. It was the FLOTUS’s bright idea to send out ornaments used by previous Presidential administrations to be defaced by community groups:

“Our starting point was a very simple idea," she said. "That we include people in as many places, in as many ways as we can. We took about 800 ornaments left over from the previous administrations. We sent them to 60 local community groups throughout the country and asked them to decorate them, paying tribute to a favorite local landmark, and then send them back to us for display here at the White House.
"… in the new year, we all intend to renew this effort and continue this kind of outreach, so that everyone feels like they have a place here at the White House." http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/12/23/white-house-christmas-decor-featuring-mao-zedong-comes/

Apparently she sent at least one ornament to Anita Dunn. http://michellemalkin.com/2009/10/15/anita-dunn-a-corruptocrat-flack-and-a-mao-cheerleader/ As Foxnews reports, one of the ornaments prominently displayed by the increasingly tone-deaf White House features one of Ms. Dunn’s favorite inspirations, Chairman Mao. http://www.foxnews.com/slideshow/politics/2009/12/23/white-house-christmas-tree-ornaments Despite the L.A. Times attempt to suggest the selection is simply an homage to Andy Warhol, http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2009/12/a-warhol-christmas-at-the-white-house.html another Mao tribute by an administration trying to put the Van Jones/Anita Dunn communist link behind them seems incredibly short-sighted.

Yet another ornament features a signed bauble emblazoned with the image of drag queen, Hedda Lettuce, and a third with Obama’s image affixed to an image of Mount Rushmore.

Is there anyone in the White House in charge of protocol? The lack of respect for American traditions remains a continuous and important theme for this administration.

On a related note, Time magazine celebrates the Obamas decision to dispense with the traditional attendance by the American President at church services for Christmas:

“Church, in fact, has been a surprisingly tough issue for the Obamas….The Obamas have celebrated Christmas in Hawaii, where the President grew up, nearly every year since the girls were born. But while Obama can still visit his favorite shaved ice joint and body-surfing spots, he doesn't have a childhood church home to attend. His mother wasn't a churchgoer, and Obama writes in "Dreams of My Father" that his grandparents took him to church infrequently. http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1949879,00.html?xid=rss-fullnation-yahoo

So there you have the Obama Christmas in a nutshell: Mao In, Church Attendance Out. Mele Kalikimaka http://www.dltk-holidays.com/Xmas/hawaiian.html

Pope-Tipping?

2009-12-26T04:17:00.000-08:00

Here in the Midwest, bored teens are rumored to engage in the act of cow-tipping. http://www.knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/Cow_tipping/ Apparently, in Rome, Susanna Maiolo is single-handedly trying to create the sport of Pope-tipping:

“Pope Benedict XVI delivered his traditional Christmas Day blessing Friday, looking tired and unsteady but otherwise fine, hours after being knocked down by a woman who jumped the barrier at the start of Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter's Basilica.” http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/12/24/world/main6019596.shtml?tag=cbsnewsTwoColLowerPromoArea;morenews

Fortunately the Pontiff was merely shaken and remained unharmed. This repeat of Maiolo’s attack at last year’s Midnight Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica brings to light the questionable reliability of the Vatican security contingent.

“There have been other security breaches at the Vatican . In 2007, during an open-air audience in St. Peter's Square, a mentally unstable German man jumped a security barrier and grabbed the back of the pope's open car before being swarmed by security guards. Then there was the assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II by Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca in 1981. John Paul suffered a severe abdominal wound as he rode in an open jeep at the start of his weekly audience in the Vatican piazza. The pope is protected by a combination of Swiss Guards, Vatican police and Italian police.”

He might as well be guarded by a combination of Swiss Cheese and Janet Napolitano.

Let us offer our prayers for the continued good health and safety of Pope Benedict XVI.

Ralph Alter blogs at Right on Target www.rightot.blogspot.com

Sinner in the Hands of an Angry Grand Jury

2009-12-21T03:07:00.000-08:00

With apologies to Jonathon Edwards-1741
(This article first appeared at The American Thinker on 12/16/2009.)
If Tiger Woods thinks the cold eye of the celebrity-centric media will fade with an Elin-enforced time-out, perhaps he should get a second opinion from former Vice Presidential candidate for the Democrats, John Edwards.

When last we left our hero, he was engaged in a tug-of-war with a pair of National Enquirer reporters on either side of the restroom door in the basement of a Beverly Hills hotel where smiling John had allegedly gone to visit his baby-momma, Rielle Hunter and their love-child.
Hunter was an employee of the Edwards campaign, and somehow managed to continue to enjoy a comfortable lifestyle despite her apparent lack of gainful employment. Apparently Ms. Hunter’s means of support came under the scrutiny of a grand jury interested in the appropriate use of campaign donations and that grand jury remains on the case.

Former paternity- poser, Andrew Young, is now alleging that the wealthy heiress, Rachel “Bunny” Mellon “paid some of Hunter’s bills. It’s unclear whether Mellon herself has talked to prosecutors.”

Mellon is a heavy hitter for the Democrats and dumped a load of cash into the Edwards cause:

“In 2008 Mellon's holding company gave $3.48 million to Alliance for a New America, a 527 group tied to Edwards' presidential campaign. Prosecutors investigating Edwards have talked to Mellon's attorneys.”

Just last Friday, a Raleigh TV station showed footage of John Edwards deplaning from Mellon’s private jet. Flight records indicate that the plane was returning from Mellon’s private residential airstrip. Even an ambulance-chasing lout like Edwards should be able to comprehend that his contact with potential grand jury witness Mellon could be perceived as an attempt to influence a witness or obstruct justice.

Meanwhile, parties working diligently to remain anonymous have purchased the home at 1611 Providence Road in Charlotte for $535,000, apparently with an eye toward providing a domicile for Ms. Rielle Hunter and her daughter. Nobody’s talking, not even the trio of realtors who handled the case for The Providence Road Trust.

“Three real estate agents involved in the sale would not discuss it, citing confidentiality. But another one who was not involved said agents had been buzzing with speculation about Hunter.The National Enquirer, which broke the story of Edwards' affair last year, features a picture of the house in editions that went on sale Monday. It said Hunter was scheduled to move in Dec.1 but didn't after she and Edwards got into a dispute over child support.”
This girl certainly drives a hard bargain. Although recently seen hovering in the vicinity, Ms. Hunter is temporarily out of sight:
“It was unclear where Hunter is. She has been living in Southport, according to a New Hanover County real estate agent. The Enquirer said she had checked into a Charlotte hotel prior to the anticipated Dec.1 move-in date.” Now a kindly neighbor has been forced to freeze the cookies she baked in anticipation of welcoming her new neighbor.No word on what the grand jury or Elizabeth Edwards might have waiting for the maladroitly adulterous John Edwards. I suspect it ain’t cookies.

Is that your Cell Phone in Your Pocket or Are You Just Trying to Sue Me?

2009-12-21T03:05:00.001-08:00

(This article first appeared at The American Thinker on 12/20/2009.)
As the cost of supporting Democrat candidates for public office continues to skyrocket, the tort lawyers of America continue their search for vulnerable corporations with deep pockets to harass, intimidate and plunder. Sounds like a good name for a tort law firm. The concept of deep pockets is summed up nicely on Wikpedia:
"In the context of a lawsuit, the deep pocket is often the target defendant, even when the true (moral) culpability is with another party because the deep pocket has money to pay a verdict. For example, a lawyer may comment that he or she sued the manufacturer of a product rather than the seller because it is the deep pocket, meaning it has more money than the seller with which to compensate the victim."The latest target of greedy lawyers hankering for cash? Cell phone service providers:
"We all know it's dangerous to be driving a car while talking on a handheld cell phone or texting someone, right? It's the driver's fault for driving distracted and causing a collision. Bizarrely enough, certain trial lawyers might disagree with you. The finger is now being pointed not at the negligent driver, but at his cell phone carrier and manufacturer. Wireless companies appear to be the new tort target for not telling people what we all already know: driving while distracted is unsafe."For some reason, going after the errant drivers and their insurance carriers provides an insufficiently cash-rich target for the Friends of Nancy, Harry and Barack. While the pettifoggers have feasted on the carcass of the federal tobacco settlement, asbestos-liability suits and regular infusions of medical malpractice windfalls, tort pleaders remain the fixers for the Democrat party's insatiable addiction to increasing its power base. Democrats have for decades been locked in a symbiotic embrace with the tort lawyers consortium, with the shysters providing huge sums in campaign contributions and soft-money while the Donkey party labors feverishly to help government maintain its "hand's free" approach to any effort at tort reform:
"An estimated 50 cents of every dollar awarded to tort plaintiffs gets eaten up by lawyers and courts-and a great deal of that money ends up benefiting Democratic candidates. Over the last decade, the legal profession has led all other groups in campaign contributions-giving a total of $357 million to federal candidates-and 70 percent of its cash goes to Democrats. The 56,000-member Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA) was the top PAC contributor to Democratic federal candidates in the last election cycle; the organization spent $2.6 million, 86 percent of which went to Democrats....(in addition) trial lawyers ...contributed $14.5 million in soft money to Democrats last year."While the 1998 federal tobacco settlement continues to be an enormous source of filthy lucre for the tort-creeps ($3-5 billion annually for the next 25 years), you might have noticed the hush that falls upon your elected representative whenever the concept of tort reform slips into discourse regarding health care reform. While the cash-cow of medical malpractice suits may add up to $100 million annually to the cost of American health care, this apparently isn't enough to get either party fired up enough to include the concept of tort reform in any of the health care bills being currently proposed. While Republicans have shown some interest in enacting tort reform, the weakness of their position in the 2008 Congress has made any serious pursuit of that reform a moot point.And now an enterprising Oklahoma City law firm has put together a civil suit in a wrongful death case against a driver who was arrested for driving while dialing:
"The New York Times recently reported on the tragic death of a woman in Oklahoma City due to a car collision with a distracted driver who ran a red light at 45 miles-per-hour. The distracted driver was talking on his cell phone when his truck slammed into the victim's SUV in the middle of an intersection. With the endorsement of a forgiving victim's daughter, a judge sentenced the guilt-ridden driver to probation. But just this fall, the same victim's daughter filed a civil lawsuit against the distracted driver's cell phone manufacturer and wireless carrier. So the novel legal theory goes: the wireless companies have a special duty to adequately warn people that driving while talking or texting with a handheld cell phone is unsafe. In this case, lawyers are apparently claiming it wasn't enough that warnings were printed in the cell phone's user manual. (The distracted driver admits to never having read it.)" (ibid Seth Cooper)Perhaps Congress can mandate that a warning label the size of those sunscreens that cover the windshield be affixed to each cell-phone to prevent additional mayhem from distracted mouth-breathers who can't remember to drive now and dial later. It's more likely thatCongress will look the other way as the vulpine tort lawyers continue to guard the American jurisprudential henhouse.

Christmas in Obamaville

2009-12-15T06:39:00.000-08:00

(This article first appeared at The American Thinker on 12/12/2009.)
While Obamaphiles love to compare B.O. to previous American presidents Abe Lincoln and FDR, events on the ground suggest that another comparison might be more appropriate. A sign posted anonymously outside a tent city near Colorado Springs suggests that Obama's legacy is more likely to be akin to that of Herbert Hoover.
http://dougpowers.com/2009/12/12/welcome-to-obamaville-land-of-a-thousand-panhandlers/

"Welcome to Obamaville Colorado's Fastest Growing Community" reads the large banner that was temporarily posted within sight of the city's encampment of hundreds left homeless by the bumbling ineptitude of the Obama economic team. Of course the Obamaville tag refers to the Depression era shantytowns where the destitute camped out during the Hoover admistration:

" In the 1930s, Hoovervilles (shantytowns) formed coast to coast in cities of the United States. Some families were fortunate enough to stay with friends and family members that hadn't been evicted yet, but homeless men, women and children were forced to take up residence in shacks as a result of the Great Depression. Angry, cold and hungry Americans, who had no other place to reside, dubbed groups of those shacks in honor of President Herbert Hoover.
Those desperate folks blamed Hoover for the downfall of economic stability and lack of government help. The small amount of resources that the federal government actually made available often did not go to the sick, hungry and homeless. That was simply because many city officials were corrupt, and kept those valuable resources to themselves." http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1642.html

Does this sound familiar? It hardly seems a coincidence that the sign was strung up within sight of the ubiquitous American Recovery and Reinvestment Act sign touting the wasteful dispersement of U.S. tax dollars on pet projects and boondoggles lavished upon Democrat Friends of B.O. While the Obama administration focuses on saving or creating jobs like the 3 jobs rescued for Clinton pollster Mark Penn at the cost of $6 million http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/71353-mark-penn-got-6-million-from-stimulus , the unemployment rate remains above 10% for those who even bother to try to find work in the eviscerated American business landscape.

Media coverage of the tent-city phenomena http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/us/26tents.html was all the rage back in March when Oprah Winfrey featured a Lisa Ling profile of the burgeoning Obamavilles. Of course Hope and Change remained in the air during the opening months of the new administration and the time was still ripe to blame Bush for the misery.
A trillion dollars later, it's a B.O. problem and the party-of-government media has forgotten all about the Obamavilles. While the Obamas jet back and forth from Scandanavia garnering Nobel loot and posing greenly for the Gropenhagen climate conference, many Americans will spend Christmas living in tents or their automobliles.
In Oprah's most recent fawning interview with the Obamas, the munificent Barry was quoted that

"When it comes to gifts, "I give nicer stuff than I get." http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jRggfxLhG1r7tVWOwUL2m8wu7-gQ

Really? It seems Mr. Obama got the best education available at little or no
charge and regardless of his qualification for it. He was elected to office on the flimsiest of credentials and rode in on a
wave of questionablly contributed cash. Now he takes the wife and kids off on exotic shopping trips and vacations to London and Paris compliments of the American taxpayer.

Perhaps in between rounds of golf Barry can find time to look at the Christmas
lists from the folks living in Obamavilles. I bet they can't wait to see what "nicer stuff" is in store for them.

Recommended Actions in Wake of Climategate

2009-12-08T02:49:00.000-08:00

(This article originally appeared at The American Thinker on 12/06/2009.)

Over at Townhall.com, Doug Giles is ripping on the complicit fraudsters that comprise the Climate Change lobby. With raucous wit the author/minister/radio-host rips the "Euro-tools,..tree-humpers...and hairy-legged earth girls" who just got "fish-slapped with the truth" by the revelatory emails of Climategate.

No idle philosopher, Giles provides a list of the actions he will take to demonstrate his rebellion against the Warmist "academic Ponzi scheme." Here is a partial list:

1. I am going to go outside by my pool and spray two full 32oz cans of Aqua Net right at the ozone.
2. I am going to use a gas powered scooter to go from room to room in my house, which will have all the outside doors open wide while the A/C is blowing full blast.
3. I am going to buy a ‘69 GTO with no exhaust system and let it idle for 4 hours a day in my driveway every day until Jesus returns.
4. I am going to break wind as much as possible.
5. Speaking of breaking wind, I am going to feed my cows bean dip and only bean dip.
6. I am going to set my thermostat on 85 in the winter and 55 in the summer.
7. I am going to use all my curly cue fluorescent light bulbs for clay pigeons-and not clean up the mess.

While the humorless mopes of green academia pompously drone on about their peer-reviewed studies, the man on the street is laughing in their faces. Widespread ridicule is the surest sign of the demise of the Climavangelists.

Professor Slain by Saudi Grad Student

2009-12-08T02:47:00.001-08:00

(This article originally appeared at The American Thinker on 12/6/2009.)
Dr. Richard Antoun of Binghamton University, a retired professor of anthropology with a specialty in comparative religions allegedly was stabbed four times in the chest by a Saudi national, Abdulsalam Al-Zahrani, a cultural-anthropology grad student.
Professor Antoun was a peace activist, and a convert to Judaism, and was known on campus as "a really nice guy."According to the New York Times:
"He dedicated his life to trying to understand the people of the Middle East," said the professor's sister Linda Miller, of Holden, Mass. "He never said an unkind word to anyone in his life."
Ms. Miller's husband, the Rev. David J. Miller, said that Professor Antoun had been married to his wife, Rosalyn, for 17 years and had a son, Nicholas, 40.
Professor Antoun's work focused on religion and the social organization of tradition in Islamic law and ethics, among other things, according to the university's Web site. He had taught at the University of Chicago, Manchester University in England and Cairo University, according to his curriculum vitae.
New York Post:
"Student Devin Sheppard said the suspect was at the scene when cops arrived. "The police asked the grad student, 'Did you just stab him?' and he said, 'Yes.'"
The New York Times:
In his statement, Mr. Mollen said there was "no indication of religious or ethnic motivation" in the killing. He said no other arrests were expected.
That's an odd sort of thing to say, given this sample of Al-Zahrani's thinking excerpted from an email he sent in response to an article published at Tel Aviv University titled "The Arabs are the deeper failure in the history of mankind...":
"Abdulsalam Alzahrani:aalzahr1@binghamton.edu Now I have to say something to this idiot who said the Arabs are the grossest fuilure in the history of human beings. No failure equals the Israeli...your were f... up under a tolitarian rule in europe and the rule failed and you want to replicate it!!! how stupid is this? what failure is this? Einstein himself refused to join you doomed enterprience and Freud himself thought that you were theafts sealing even the moral innovatons of other people even the hummus you have stolen, the land, the water, resources of Palistine...you are a bunch of psychopath theaves and murdurers...everyone is against you because of your unethical immoral criminal actions...you killed children!!! what else you want to be convinced that you are shame of humanity."
I don't believe this was a dispute with a colleague over Al-Zahrani's spelling or punctuation.
Hat tip: William Katz, Urgent Agenda.

Code Pink Swings into Action-Against Obama

2009-12-02T17:10:00.001-08:00

(This blog originally appeared at The American Thinker on 12/02/2009.)
Barack Obama's moonbat base is at it again. Code Pink has decided that B.O.'s soon-to-be-announced quasi-surge in Afghanistan is not what they bargained for when they helped turn out the vote for him. See their latest poster here.

It seems our stumbling Commander-deep-in-Contemplation is doing a sort-of reverse Clintonian triangulation. Somehow Barack and his increasingly clueless braintrust have managed to infuriate both those on the left and the right while those in the middle want no part of Obie's parade of losing ideas either.
At this pace, Obama will be looking up at George Bush's approval ratings by next summer.

Acorn Ponders Name Change-10 Suggestions

2009-12-01T13:29:00.000-08:00

(This article originally appeared at The American Thinker on 12/01/2009.)
Jake Sherman at Politico reveals the discovery of an ACORN document suggesting that the group is considered an image-makeover and a changed moniker:
"The memo also acknowledges that it has encountered organizations and individuals who want to work with (the) group but "can only do so if [ACORN changes] its name." "(W)e should probably think through this problem carefully and figure out what it all means for our ability to survive and thrive without losing a lot of ground over the next year or two," the memo reads." By "ground" we can assume the document means the mountains of cash from which Congress recently disconnected the community agitating group. The memo mentioned was discovered in a treasure-trove of information most likely dumped in anticipation of California Attorney General Jerry Brown's half-hearted investigation of the controversial group:
"The document was found in (a) Dumpster outside of an ACORN office in San Diego, a House Republican aide said. Derrick Roach, an unsuccessful Republican candidate for statehouse in California, took thousands of documents last week from the trash outside the office. An ACORN spokesman confirmed the veracity of the document." To paraphrase Shakespeare, An ACORN by any other name would smell just as nutty. Because the community organizers have "spent 39 years building (the) reputation and track record of ACORN, " ACORN officials write that the bad image would "blow over." It would take a mighty wind indeed to blow over the misdeeds, misappropriation of funds and malpractice perpetrated by this bizarre conglomeration of street hustlers, con artists and thugs. In the spirit of comity, we would like to offer the following list of new names for Obama's former client-company to consider:
1.) Votes ‘R' Us
2.) Pimps, Prostitutes and Beyond
3.) Community Organizing, Money Management, Investment & Embezzlement Services (COMMIES)
4.) Squatters for Hope & Change
5.) Bertha & Wade's Excellent Adventure
6.) Taxes? We Don't Pay No Stinking Taxes!
7.) H & R Broke
8.) One Man-One Hundred Votes
9.) Democrat Party Junior Auxiliary
10.) Committee to Re-Elect the President II (CREEP II.).

Tiger Holed Up-Licking His Wounds

2009-11-30T13:41:00.000-08:00

(An edited version of this article first appeared at The American Thinker on 11/29/2009.)
As Tiger Woods remains at home licking his wounds, media speculation about the eventsleading up to the crash at the end of his driveway runs rampant. Thus far The Woods' team is stonewalling the media and police as they stall for time. Besides the obvious need to develop the right spin on the situation, Tiger is obviously better off if he can heal a bit from those allegedly bride-inflicted injuries to his face. You know that photos of Tiger with Elin's fresh claw marks on his face and lips will be media gold.
And those may not be the only injuries Tiger would like to heal from. The fact of Woods slipping in and out of consciousness despite the failure of the vehicle's airbagsto deploy, coupled with Elin's statement that she dragged him out of the vehicle, pose a whole new set of questions:

How did this tiny woman drag an unconscious man nearly twice her size from the vehicle? In addition, the police report suggests that both rear windows of the 2009 Escalade were broken out, allegedly by Mrs. Woods with one of Tiger's irons. Have you ever tried to break a modern automobile window made of safety glass? It is a very arduous task. If the report of the window breakage is true, Elin Nordegren was bringing some serious heat to the altercation.
So how does a world-class athlete get knocked out in what should have been a minor crash resulting in a few whiskey-dents? Is it possible Elin actually knocked Tiger out with the club? If so, the hospital's report should report evidence of the additional lumps Tiger took that night. You would think he would be icing those injuries down as well, to help keep the spin moving in the direction his management team would like it to take.

The intrepid staff at TMZ http://www.tmz.com/2009/11/28/tiger-woods-elin-nordegren-fight-accident-suv-lacerations/ continues to provide insight into the situation, and suggests that Tiger may have been under the influence of pain-killing drugs that evening, which would have contributed to his iniability to navigate the vehicle. If true, again, Tiger would want as much time as possible to pass so that any trace of pain-killers in his system would dissipate. This would provide the opportunity for Tiger to grandstand and offer to undergo toxicology tests to prove his system is clean. Of course, if the hospital did their due diligence, those toxicology tests would have been administered when he was admitted for treatment that night. With the obsequious handling of this whole event by the local authorities and media, it seems likely that Tiger was given the PC pass instead.

In any event, the aftermath of the tabloid reported l'affiare de Tigre http://www.asianews.com.pk/2009/11/tiger-woods-affair-rachel-uchitel/ remains increasingly riveting. It seems unlikely that Tiger will lose any of his corporate sponsors over this messiness. Woods simply generates far too much public interest to let a bit of sloppiness derail the media gravy train that follows in his wake. Perhaps his sponsors will offer a twist on their previous campaigns to let the public know they acknowledgehis faux pas.

A remake of The first Tiger Nike commerical, "I am Tiger Woods" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAnlcW_ILyw could bedone with other victims of domestic violence posing for the camera making the claim to be Tiger Woods. Or maybe Tiger could re-enact the crash in one of his sponsor's Buicks to demonstrate their crash-worthiness. Or better yet,how about a series of public service announcements based on the Nike slogan: "Just do it."
We could have Tiger posing next to a Buick SUV with Elin smiling, her one iron poised and ready to strike. Camera moves to a close up of Tiger deadpanning:

"Don't do it."

Giving Thanks that McCain Lost

2009-11-26T01:33:00.001-08:00

“The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.”
Eric Hoffer

As we linger in the trough of the recession, I have to admit that America has had a tough couple of Thanksgivings. Here in the midwest, the real estate market looks like Amy Winehouse’s hotel room after a weekend binge and if we were to make a movie about the local employment picture we would have to call it “Dim and Dimmer.” Friends and associates have seen their pensions de-funded, their companies shuttered, and their families strained by fear and financial insecurity. Several local car dealers have committed suicide, recalling the depths of despair reached during the Great Depression where once-wealthy tycoons leapt to their demise from tall buildings. One might expect widespread angst to pervade our daily lives and steal our joy.

But most Americans are made of sterner stuff. Thanks largely to our Christian roots, our American ideals and the common sense approach to daily life that they entail, we remain buoyed by the gift of gratitude. At least those of us here in my neck of the corn do, here in Indiana. Despite the kind-heartedness and gratitude I see in those around me, a great many Americans seem to be sorely lacking in the spirit of thankfulness we celebrate this week. Our President, for example, who probably has more reason to be grateful for the life he has been given than any of the rest of us, focuses instead on whining and complaining. Rather than recognizing the greatness of the country that made his life and rise to the most respected office in the world possible, B.O. focuses instead on apologizing for our country’s lack of perfection and derides our nation and its founding heroes at nearly every turn.

“Saying thank you is more than good manners. It is good spirituality”
Alfred Painter

The best tool in our spiritual tool-box remains our ability to focus our attention on the positive things in our lives. While our consciousness is comprised of both attention and intention, it is what we pay attention to in our lives that determines our state-of-mind and whether or not we can be happy. Unfortunately, one of our two political parties has decided its raison d’etre is to focus on, and develop grievances. Thus we have a constantly stoked sense of victimhood in that large percentage of our American population agitated and serviced by the Democrat party. Democrats attempt to maintain a nearly continual focus by their constituents on what is wrong with their lives. And my, oh my, what an unhappy bunch they are.

“There is no greater difference between men than between grateful and ungrateful people.” R.H. Blyth

I, for one, choose to be happy. So I set out this Thanksgiving week to make a list of all the things I am grateful for, that I might recognize how much I might be taking for granted, even in these somewhat difficult times. While the usual suspects populate my list: good health, lovely wife, bright, happy children, and a nice home in a good community; I realized that the things at the top of my list where somewhat more intangible.

When one sees the squalor and struggle in sub-Saharan Africa or other third world nations, it’s easy to be grateful to have been born here in our healthy, wealthy nation. Regardless of the best efforts of the American Gang of Four to create an American Cultural Revolution, the worst efforts of B.O., Nanzi Pelosi, Harry Reid and their Alinskyite Geppetto, George Soros, America still provides an opportunity for anyone from anywhere on the planet to thrive and prosper here. Yes, the American Dream lives on, even though the Gang of Four has most of us losing sleep. If one remains as positive as one can be, and as flexible as one can be, the results here in the U.S.A. remain overwhelmingly likely to be fruitful in most any pursuit.

The most startling result of the enumeration of that for which I am grateful became the realization that I am perhaps most grateful that John McCain was defeated in his pursuit of the Presidency in 2008. Of course, I reluctantly voted for him. Anyone who has read my work or has had a casual conversation with me realizes that I am no fan of Barack Obama. The evidence of his incompetence and lack of preparation at nearly every task he pursues grows daily. His domestic policies are dictatory, uninformed and childish and his foreign policy is prissy and weaker than circus lemonade. He lacks the economic comprehension of a child running a kool-aid stand while worshipping at the altar of big government-run-rampant.

The suggestion by his promoters and the sycophantic media that B.O. is a uniter is like some sort of sick joke. Except for the Civil War era, our nation has never been more divided than it is at this time. For a brief moment in time, Barack Obama was carried to the zenith of political power by an anti-establishment left working like moles beneath the radar since the late 1960’s. Embedded in various American bureaucracies, particularly in the media and education, they strove to enlarge the size of government and to expand and enforce their sacraments of multiculturalism, wealth redistribution and political correctness.

A large majority of Americans, however, remain what were once called Reagan Democrats or what Nixon termed members of The Silent Majority. The defeat of John McCain and the Plastic Man

[

over-reach by the Democrat left generated the re-birth of that long silent majority:

“The silent majority is an unspecified large majority of people in a country or group who do not express their opinions publicly… and who did not enthusiastically participate in public discourse or the media.

The Silent Majority was mostly populated with the blue collar people who allegedly didn't have the ability or the time to take an active part in politics other than to vote. They did, in some cases, support the conservative policies of many politicians. Others were not particularly conservative politically, but resented what they saw as disrespect for American institutions. (Ibid wiki)

As a result of the tin-earred, over-confident leftist majority’s over-reach, a large contingent of white-collar folks, including small business owners and professionals have joined this no longer silent majority.

If John McCain had somehow been able to defeat Barack Obama in the Presidential race in 2008, the silent majority would likely have remained silent. One might argue that this enormous block of conservative voters did, in fact, remain silent and weren’t motivated enough by the wishy-washy Republicanism of the aisle-crossing Senator from Arizona to actually come out and vote. Our first glimpse of the re-birth of the Silent Majority as an activist voting bloc came with the nomination of Sarah Palin as McCain’s Vice Presidential candidate.

With the advent of the Obama administration and its huge majority in Congress came a rush to capitalize on what the left perceived as a mandate for their policies. Obama’s electoral victory had nothing to do with policy, however, for he was never really required to reveal any policy ideas in his brief strut upon the political stage prior to his election as POTUS. Assisted by Rahm Emanuel and Nanzi Pelosi, the rush to “let no crisis go to waste” began immediately as the Democrats took power and exacted a hard left..

Many of us remain incredulous at the audacity of the leftward lurch the Democrats have tried to impose upon us. From the non-stimulating stimulus, to the government takeover of the auto industry, to the outright lies put forth to support the government takeover of our health care system and on to Obama’s mulitplicity of czars, nearly every day Americans are faced with news about some attempt at American government reform that appears to be right out of the Communist Manifesto.

If John McCain had been elected President, we would have been likely to be willing to endure the inexorable leftward drift of our country. McCain’s selection of campaign staff and the laughable campaign he ran against a thoroughly beatable candidate clearly demonstrated once and for all how it was possible for the young McCain to finish last in his class at Annapolis. Why should we believe he would be any more intelligent about running the country?

McCain’s policies on illegal immigration, global warming and the stimulus are very little different from Obama’s. And Senator McCain is every bit as vested in the whole PC- multiculturalism-diversity canard as our underperforming Scattergood-in-Chief. Don’t ever forget that it was John McCain who refused to discuss Obama’s connections to Reverand Wright and Bill Ayres, or to even utter Obama’s Islamic middle name during his campaign. In hindsight, these campaign malpractices were probably the deal-breakers.

If John McCain had been elected President, Cap and Trade may have actually passed and the chimera of bi-partisanship would have truly been enshrined in the White House. B.O.’s in-your-face patisanship has thankfully dampened Republican enthusiasm for the crossing-the-aisle shuffle. Since taking power, the left, egged on by the combativeness of Pelosi, Rahm Emanuel and Harry ”Pugilistic Dementia” Reed, has clearly drawn its lines in the sand

And the no-longer-silent majority, in the form of the tea-party movement and a revitalized Republican party continues to marshall its resources and is assuming the battlements. The results in the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial elections are only the beginning of the American pendulum’s dramatic swing back to the right. Would we have seen the dramatic blue state takeovers with cranky, old, Gang of Fourteen Johnny sitting in the White House? Not a chance. So this Thanksgiving, let’s all send out a special thanks to Steve Schmidt, Nicole Wallace and John McCain for forcing us to face the reality of the abominable leftward drift we have passively accepted these last 30 years.

Thanks to the revitalized Silent Majority, we can continuing striving for 30 and out.

“Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.
John Wooden

Cuban Health Care Says Si to Penile Implants

2009-11-23T09:20:00.001-08:00

(This article first appeared at The American Thinker on 11/21/2009.)
Just in time to tweak the noses of Americans still resisting the call to nationalized health care, those wily Fidelistas have announced the newest benefit offered in Cuba’s government-run health care program: Free penile implants.
“Men in seven Cuban provinces will be eligible for the….the silicon and silver penis implants. (U)rologist Juan Carlos Yip boasted (that the procedure) was normally "exclusive to first world countries and at a high cost.
This is just another reason for guys like Michael Moore to tout the Cuban health care system as the model for Americans to follow. Never mind that the average Cuban submitting to the procedure will be entrusting the care and modification of his manhood to a surgeon who most likely earns about 15 to 20 dollars per month:
“Medical professionals are not paid high salaries by international standards. In 2002 the mean monthly salary was 261 pesos, 1.5 times the national mean.[56] A doctor’s salary in the late 1990s was equivalent to about US $15–20 per month in purchasing power. Therefore, many prefer to work in different occupations, generally in the lucrative tourist industry (e.g. taxi drivers), where earnings can be 50 to 60 times more.
So we might expect that the average Cuban implantee may end up doing his follow-up care in the back seat of a ’57 Chevy modified into a taxicab.
Rest assued that the iron-fisted Castro government will spin this latest health care wrinkle into a success story with the help of useful idiots like Mr. Moore. After all, his cinematic ode to the wonders of the Cuban health care system failed to disclose that
““..Cuba has two (health systems): one is for party officials and foreigners like those Mr. Moore brought to Havana. “It is as good as this one here, with all the resources, the best doctors, the best medicines, and nobody pays a cent,” he said.
But for the 11 million ordinary Cubans, hospitals are often ill equipped and patients “have to bring their own food, soap, sheets — they have to bring everything.” (In addition)…up to 20,000 Cuban doctors may be working in Venezuela, creating a shortage in Cuba.
Don’t doubt the ability of the Castros and their journalistic party organ, Granma to thrust this implant program into the most favorable possible light. After all, this is the same enlightened system that “solved” their potential HIV-AIDS epidemic with forced testing and quarantines:
“Cuba compulsorily tested thousands of its citizens for HIV. Those who tested positive were taken to Los Cocos and were not allowed to leave.” (ibid Wiki)
This same shameless government hailed the benefits of the malnutrition caused by the famine that followed the elimination of Soviet aid in the early 1990’s:
“Malnutrition created epidemics, but it had positive effects too. Manuel Franco describes the Special Period as "the first, and probably the only, natural experiment, born of unfortunate circumstances, where large effects on diabetes, cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality have been related to sustained population-wide weight loss as a result of increased physical activity and reduced caloric intake.”
Sounds like a press release from the euphimizers in the Obama administration, doesn’t it? Surprisingly, Michael Moore didn’t volunteer for this particular Cuban health care innovation. Surely he will weigh in on the free Cuban penile implants.

Tibet, Dalai Lama Thrown Under the Obama Bus

2009-11-19T08:47:00.001-08:00

(This article first appeared at The American Thinker on 11/17/2009.)
In order to be able to stand on principle, one would have to have some principles to start with. Clearly this is not a problem for Barack Obama as he neared completion of his administration's abandonment of the Tibetan people in their desire to remain autonomous and throw off the yoke of Chinese Communist domination.The Times of India reports:
"We did note that while we recognise that Tibet is part of the People's Republic of China, the United States supports the early resumption of dialogue" between the Dalai Lama's representatives and Beijing," Obama said after his meeting with Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao." A dialogue about what? If the U.S. concedes that Tibet is merely a part of China, what bargaining chips remain for the Dalai Lama to use with the Chi-Comms? Our weak-kneed Bower-in-Chief has scraped before the Chinese leaders he so desperately needs to prevent his insane economic policies from destroying the American economy, as he effectively forfeited the issue of Tibetan sovereignty in favor of Hu Jintao's expansionist government.Obama's October cancellation of a tentative meeting with the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, suggested that B.O. was looking for negotiating room in anticipation of his scheduled visit to Beijing. Despite Chinese forces torching Tibetan shops and attacking its citizens, it appears the U.S. President simply folded his hand, effectively tossing the Dalai Lama and his people into the crowded undercarriage beneath the Obama bus. Of course, Hu and company were elated at the ease with which Obama was turned against countries to whom many Americans remain sympathetic:
"Chinese President Hu Jintao hailed US President Barack Obama's recognition of sovereignty issues dear to China. "China approves of President Obama's repeated reiteration of the one-China principle," Hu told reporters... Hu referred to China's "sovereignty over Taiwan and other matters" during a state visit in which some Western analysts had predicted that China would also demand an explicit declaration by Washington of China's sovereignty over the restive frontier regions of Tibet and Xinjiang." What a pathetic performance on the international stage. While Hu Jintao is confident of Barack's support for the "one-China principle" most Americans are disgusted with B.O.'s determination to promote his ½ America principle. The bully boys of the world are finding that negotiating with Barack Obama is like taking candy from a baby. America sure could use a little cowboy diplomacy.

Driving While Jihading?

2009-11-18T09:37:00.000-08:00

How many scenes like this one are routinely shrugged off in police stations, newsrooms and at government agencies responsible for enforcing our immigration laws and providing our Homeland with security?
When the Rochester police attempted to stop Munir Mathana for driving erratically after being flagged down on South Plymouth Avenue:
“Police tried to stop Muthana but he did not stop and then struck the officer’s vehicle. A slow-speed pursuit ensued down various streets in southwest Rochester. Muthana’s Nissan Maxima hit a car at Jefferson Avenue and West Main Street.
He continued driving down Jefferson Avenue, hitting a second police vehicle driven by a K-9 sergeant at the intersection of Jefferson Avenue and Clifton Street…
Muthana is facing five counts of second-degree assault, DWI and reckless driving. He is accused of injuring six people. They are 21-year-old Dominick Nicholson, 20-year-old Tyrese Beard, 40-year-old James Pross, 50-year-old Debra Hollis, 25-year-old Luis Cruz and 49-year-old Diane Neil.”
The innocuous WHEC News-10 headline doesn’t begin to suggest anything other than a routine drunk driver:
“Rochester man pleads not guilty after Thursday police chase.”
But it seems that Munir Mathana might have a Nidal Hasan-sized chip on his shoulder:
“Then he started using swear words, cussing police and government. He said, "Ben Franklin was stupid. He should have made it so you *expletives* can't swerve the law. The Muslims will fix this country."
Sound familiar? We can concede the fact that Munir doesn’t appear to be the most articulate spokesman for Islam. However, six people are injured and the alleged perpetrator clumsily brandished his figural Soldier of Allah card when apprehended. It seems the local news agency wasn’t much interested in bringing the possible Islamic connection to their readers’ attention.
Oh, by the way:
“When bail was being set at $20,000, the prosecutor said that Muthana has ties to Yemen.”
Kind of makes you wonder if Mr. Mathana has been emailing Anwar Alwaki, spiritual guide and research associate of the Ft. Hood jihadist. Could someone at the immigration service, the FBI and Homeland Security take a look at this fellow? Perhaps we can add a charge of Driving While Jihading?

Obama: Goodbye, Dalai

2009-11-09T09:31:00.000-08:00

(This article first appeared at The American Thinker on 10/05/2009.)
“American officials told Tibetan representatives that "this president is not interested in symbolism or photo ops but in deliverables," the Asian diplomat said. "He wants something to come out of his efforts over Tibet, rather than just checking a box." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/04/AR2009100403262_2.html?hpid=topnews

Not interested in photo ops? One might say Obama has prepared himself to do little else http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/09/obamas_big_sincere_smile.html . Regardless of the underlying reasoning, the Obama administration once again is seen pandering to thuggish violators of human rights as the peripatetic, jet-setting Apologist-in-Chief can’t seem to find time to meet with one of the world’s most deeply spiritual beings. Obama, whose spirituality was nurtured under the guidance of the Reverend Jeremiah Wright http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH5ixmT83JE&feature=related for over 20 years, is said to be attempting to palliate the rulers of Communist China:

“The U.S. decision to postpone the meeting appears to be part of a strategy to improve ties with China that also includes soft-pedaling criticism of China's human rights and financial policies as well as backing efforts to elevate China's position in international institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund. Obama administration officials have termed the new policy "strategic reassurance," which entails the U.S. government taking steps to convince China that it is not out to contain the emerging Asian power.”

This despite what one might expect to be a formidable portion of the President’s leftist base inclined toward the Free Tibet Campaign. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Tibet_Campaign This popular movement

“ stands for the rights of Tibetans to determine their own future and campaigns for "an end to the Chinese occupation of Tibet and for the fundamental human rights of Tibetans to be respected."

Of course, no such concern for the tender feelings of the Chinese leaders was in evidence when Obama decided to impose a tire tariff on the import of Chinese tires designed to prop up his pals in the United Steelworkers union. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/12/AR2009091202718.html

Apparently the Chinese had already resigned themselves to the proposed meeting after some diplomatic push-pull and had abandoned pursuit of the matter. The intrepid diplomats in the Obama administration refused to accept victory when a diplomatic loss of face was still attainable:

“We've got the classic case of a Western government yet again conceding to Chinese pressure that is imaginary long after that Chinese pressure has ceased to exist," said Robert Barnett, a Tibetan expert at Columbia University . "The Chinese must be falling over themselves with astonishment at what Western diplomats will give them without being asked. I don't know what the poker analogy would be. 'Please, see all my cards and take my money, too?' " (ibid WaPo)

Sound familiar? Intrepid world leaders are rapidly finding that negotiating with the neophytes in the Obama administration is like playing high stakes poker with toddlers. The Chinese will use this affront to the Tibetan holy man in its continuing effort to prevent other nations from engaging with the Dalai Lama.

Both Tenzin Gyatso, who is the 14th Dalai Lama, and his representatives have been negotiating for months with the Obama administration to establish a meeting with the 44th President. He has met with the sitting U.S. President in the White House 10 times since 1991. The Dalai Lama remains the leader of the government-in-exile of Tibet located in Dharmsala, India since escaping over the Himalyas in 1959 after the Chinese invaded Tibet.

One familiar with diplomatic protocols would expect that a seasoned foreign policy expert with a background in Asian studies would be handling the delicate and morally compelling negotiations with the Tibetan leader. So who has Obama placed in charge of the case?

Valerie Jarrett. Yes, the same Valerie Jarrett who
“needed to be granted an "ethics waiver" in order to serve in (her) position because of her close associations with convicted felon and crooked developer Tony Rezko. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerie_Jarrett

The same Valerie Jarrett that was candidate No. 1 in Rod Blagojevitch’s scandalous attempt to satisfy the S.E.I.U. and Barack Obama by placing her in Obama’s vacated Senate seat. http://www.shopfloor.org/tag/valerie-jarrett/

And the same, tired, Chicago-style patronage that the low-life Obama administration continues to display without a single moral compunction. Hello, Thugs. Hello, Unions.
Goodbye, Dalai.

Has Farrakhan Been Talking w/Reverand Wright?

2009-11-09T09:28:00.000-08:00

(This article first appeared at The American Thinker.)
"The Earth can't take 6.5 billion people. We just can't feed that many. So what are you going to do? Kill as many as you can. We have to develop a science that kills them and makes it look as though they died from some disease,' Farrakhan said." http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2009/10/19/Farrakhan-suspicious-of-H1N1-vaccine/UPI-63931256011008/

Since President Obama has made it clear that there is almost no statement that is racist enough, anti-American enough or preposterous enough to cause him to denounce it, militant crack-pots like Louis Farrakhan feel free to continue to strain the bounds of credulity with racist theories that no reasonable person could entertain. The Nation of Islam zealot's divisive remarks came at what was called a Holy Day of Atonement for his outfit, held on the 14th anniversary of the futile Million Man March. The well-hyped demonstration provided little benefit to the black community it purported to assist and remains the subject of controversy:

"Although the march won support and participation from a number of prominent African American leaders, its legacy is plagued by controversy over several issues. The leader of the march, Louis Farrakhan, is a highly contested figure whose biting commentary on race in America has led some to wonder whether the message of the march can successfully be disentangled from the controversial messenger.[4] Further, men and women alike question the decision to focus on black men to the exclusion of black women. Although women were involved in the planning and execution of the event, it is a male-only occasion in both name and public image that, some argue, could be detrimental to the already tenuous gender relations in the African American community.[5] Finally, within the first twenty-four hours following the March a conflict between March organizers and Park Service officials erupted over crowd size estimates. The National Park Service issued an estimate of about 400,000 attendees[6], a number significantly lower than March organizers had hoped for.[7] After a heated exchange between leaders of the march and Park Service, ABC-TV funded researchers at Boston University who estimated the crowd size to be 837,000 plus or minus 20%. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Million_Man_March

It truly sounds as though Farrakhan has been talking with the Reverand Jeremiah Wright http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=617eK2XIaLk again. The Reverand Wright provided the "Prayer for Hope" listed in the program of events for the March. Clearly the two black spiritual leaders are as inextricably linked to one another as they are linked in turn to Barack Obama. I was unable to find a text of Wright's MMM speech in my research, but you can bet it was filled with the tub-thumping theatrics we have come to expect from Obama's long-time pastor. Note that this clip includes Wright's suggestion that the HIV virus was designed to kill people as well: blacks in particular. Seems to be a theme here.

As part of the Atonement Farrakhan sought to generate from his followers, he included the following disclaimer regarding President Obama:

"Farrakhan told listeners not to become complacent as a result of Barack Obama's election as the United States' first black president, the newspaper said.
'You have to understand that he was voted in to take on the affairs of a nation, not yours and mine. He is the American president, not the black president." (ibid)

This is not a particularly ringing endorsement of Obama. One would expect a strong American president to condemn the dangerous lies being pedalled by his demogogic former associates. But then we don't have a strong American president. We have Barack Obama.

Justice Sotomayor-Fashion Emergency

2009-11-09T09:25:00.000-08:00

The sartorial expression of Sotomayor chic has been the subject of controversy since the decidedly dowdy new Supreme Court Justice first appeared as nominee to the post. The Washington Post’s Robin Givhan was restrained in her criticism of the Wise Latina look:
“Her wardrobe, as she sat for her daily grilling by the Senate Judiciary Committee, did not reflect the fashion industry's constant refrain. In fact, it did not even appear to have been influenced by the 21st century. Instead, Sotomayor's clothes evoked authority in the manner of a 1980s lady power broker.
And while a wing of the fashion industry has been enraptured by the styles of the 1980s, its focus has been more on embellished military jackets, harem pants and jersey dresses that look as though they might spontaneously combust on a particularly hot day. That is not the part of 1980s fashion history Sotomayor was channeling. She embraced that period in fashion when femininity had no place in the executive suite.’
She, in Givhan's words, left her gender at the door.” http://jezebel.com/5318648/critique-of-sotomayors-fashion-choices-falls-flat
Given the seriousness and dignity of the position she was applying for, coupled with Sotomayor’s general frumpiness http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/16/judge-sotomayors-suits-wh_n_236042.html , something more feminine was probably out of the question. Showing up in spandex or a halter top would likely have put the kibosh on the carefully orchestrated Sotomayor roll-out.
As it turns out, the presentation of the Wise Latina was far more intricately organized by the Obama team image-makers than we realized. According to NBC news:
“(Sotomayor,) The Yale Law School grad talked about shopping for clothes to wear to her acceptance ceremony, but government officials took over the fashion decisions. They told her to bring five suits and then recommended which one she should wear.” http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/politics/Justice-Sotomayor-says-White-House-Left-Nothing-to-Chance-64724512.html
If B.O. and the Keystone Fashion Cops in charge of the executive branch couldn’t trust Red Sonia http://ezinearticles.com/?Red-Judge,-Blue-Judge---Science-and-Sonia-Sotomayor---Research-Reveals-Judicial-Bias-to-Be-Common&id=2612211 to pick out the right outfits to wear to her confirmation hearings, do you think they trust her to make the right decisions on the bench?

Rep. Patrick Murphy-His Record Speaks for Itself

2009-11-09T09:20:00.000-08:00

In his American Thinker blog http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/10/the_people_of_this_country_are.html George Joyce asks:

" how the “Saber Speaks” video made it past Iraq War veteran and panelist Patrick Murphy," since it depicts the defacement of an American flag.

Well, Democrat Congressman Murphy is certainly not your traditional American military veteran. His history suggests he is cut from the same cloth as Senator John Kerry who also used his military service as a springboard to political office.

Murphy became an attorney before he joined the military, rather an odd choice, at least in terms of income production. I find nothing in Murphy's on-line history to indicate that he was a battlefield veteran. Although he is listed as a paratrooper as well, Murphy's served as a JAG Corps attorney with 82nd Airborne:

" work(ing) to reconstruct the justice system and help(ing) prosecute Sheik Moyad, a lieutenant of Muqtada al-Sadr.[4] Murphy was awarded the Bronze Star for his seven months of service in Iraq." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Murphy_(politician)

Once Murphy returned home, he immediately ran in the next Congressional race for the seat in Pennsylvania's 8th Coingressional District. He defeated the incumbent by less than 1500 votes and was re-elected with a boost from the coat-tails of Barack Obama in 2008.

There is nothing in Congressman Murphy's voting record to suggest that he is particularly patriotic-his record appears to this reporter as typical for one leaning over the far leftist fringe:

"Murphy has a 100 percent rating from NARAL and "supported the interests of Planned Parenthood 100 percent in 2008.

Murphy voted for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009-the dreaded Stimulus Bill.

Murphy has a D+ rating from the NRA. [8] In 2007, Murphy co-sponsored legislation that would re-authorize a Federal ban on semi-automatic firearms.[9] In 2008, he was an original co-sponsor of legislation that would repeal the District of Columbia's ban on semi-automatic weapons and mandatory handgun registration.

Patrick Murphy opposes the military's "Don't ask, Don't Tell" policy of excusing service members from the American military because of their sexual orientation.

Murphy opposed the Surge in 2007. He was a cosponsor, with Senator Barack Obama and Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA), of the Iraq War De-Escalation Act of 2007." (all ibid Wikipedia)

What a guy! Even a cursory examination of Congressman Murphy's voting record and political inclination demonstrates that he is not the man you want protecting your flag. Even if he resigns his position as an "Expert" on Obama's Organizing for America public relations gambit, this disgraceful negligence in the face of Murphy's pledged duty as a member of the military to support America should be used to chase this purported Blue Dog Democrat out in the open.

He looks more like a Yellow Dog http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_dog_Democrat to me.

Economically Unbalanced Budget

2009-11-09T09:16:00.000-08:00

Did you ever stop to consider how in the world the United States of America, the most powerful economic engine in the history of the known universe, can end up several trillion dollars in debt? Well, take a look at the microcosmom of America evident in this report from the Denver Post:

"Thousands of tiny dead fish drifted down Cherry Creek through Denver on Tuesday morning, becoming fodder for other urban critters and bit players in an ecological mystery.
As the silvery gizzard shad began to wash ashore upstream from Confluence Park, firefighters responded, followed by city, federal and state environmental overseers." http://www.denverpost.com/ci_13655676?source=rss

So some hapless beasties, very far down the food chain, go belly up and America has teams from not only the fire department, but at every level of our government, poised and ready to strike. And with state-of-the-art equipment, I might add.

Why did the fire department respond in the first place? Did they think the fish caught fire?

Let's take a look at the Keystone Bureaucrats call-to-action over what is most likely a normally occuring act of nature:

"A state biologist (was) called to the creek

Federal scientists sampled water from Cherry Creek...

Colorado Department of Health and Environment officials (were consulted)

Federal Environmental Protection Agency experts hiked a few blocks from their regional headquarters to Cherry Creek to check out the drifting dead fish and offer help

Firefighters used an infrared device to look for contamination in the water.

(H)azmat crew Capt. C.J. Haberkorn said (, results were) "negative so far."

In addition, state parks rangers were consulted and local marina employees were interviewed. How many man-hours and how much equipment expense was rustled up in the Mystery of the Silvery Shad? I don't want to appear hard-hearted about the little semi-sentient creatures, but where is the fiscal restraint?

Across the full spectrum of the American bureaurcracy, every day tens of thousands of busy-bodies waste our tax dollars pursuing the politically correct agenda entrenched at every level of our government. Are these the jobs we continue to save and create?

Doctors Recommend Obamacare

2009-11-09T02:54:00.000-08:00

(This article first appeared at The American Thinker on 11/7/2009.)
By the late 1930's Americans began to recognize the health risks associated with smoking. The tobacco companies responded by enlisting the use of physicians and some decidedly questionable studies (see vintage Philip Morris ad here) in their advertising:

Now the Democrats attempting to foist their public option upon us have drafted physicians again to promote a raft of legislation that will do just as much harm to the public health as those disingenuous cigarette ads. Despite considerable dissension in the ranks, it appears the AMA is willing to horse-trade with the Democrats:
"Dr. James Rohack, the Temple cardiologist who heads the 250,000-member American Medical Association, said the bill isn't perfect but goes a long way toward expanding access to health coverage and making the system better. He said it must be passed with a companion bill that averts a 21 percent cut to Medicare reimbursement."
Of course, the AMA doesn't speak for all physicians:
"Sermo.com, a 3-year-old physician-only online community, has recently become a hotbed of discussion against the AMA. Its founder, Dr. Daniel Palestrant, posted that he was "joining ranks with physicians who believe the AMA no longer speaks for them."
The results of a survey of 4,156 physicians were recently posted on the site. Of the respondents, 75% are not AMA members, and 89% claim that, "The AMA does not speak for me," while 91% do not believe the AMA accurately reflects their opinions as physicians."
And the AMA, at least according to one U.S. Senator with a long history of engaging the organization, appears to be easily manipulated by politicians:
"I continue to be perplexed at the short-term focus of the AMA on this issue - over which they are willing to swallow hook, line and sinker the rest of the Pelosi bill,' Cornyn said. 'The Pelosi bill not only fails to include common-sense medical liability reform for physicians, but it includes a new government program that will have all the same problems we've seen with Medicare.'"
Cornyn last week told the Associated Press that "I can't think of a more ineffective organization when it comes to dealing with Congress" than the AMA. "The lesson I've learned ... is if you agree to fix their compensation, they will basically get in the tank with their natural adversaries." (ibid Houston Chronicle)
In short, the American public needn't be swayed by the quizzical stand taken by some physicians in support of their narrow financial interest. At least not any more than consumers should have been convinced that smoking a different brand of cigarettes would heal the effects of previous damage from smoking.

Chimp Attack Victim Seeks Damages

2009-11-05T03:46:00.001-08:00

The tragic victim of Travis the Chimpanzee in Connecticut has served notice that she is suing both the state and the late chimp’s owner, Sandra Herold. The nightmarish scene at Herold’s Stamford home ended in Permanent Bedtime for Travis http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1182571776/tt0043325 and the loss of the victim’s eyelids, hands, noses, lips and vision.

No amount of money could ever erase the horror of that unimaginably vicious attack. The victim is seeking $150 million from the state and $50 million from Herold, the chimp’s grieving owner, who may have plied the chimp with Xanax prior to his violent rampage.

Perhaps the state’s failure to prohibit Herold from keeping a potentially dangerous animal as a pet is grounds for the state’s liability. In any case, $200 million is not exactly chimp change.

The Search for the Wikipedia Libelist

2009-11-04T04:05:00.000-08:00

(This article was first published at The American Thinker.)
Thanks to an intrepid blogger with the tag Trapdoc posting a letter to Mark Steyn, the search for the Wikipedia Libelist responsible for damaging posts to the Rush Limbaugh account has been narrowed to the IP address of a New York City law firm:

"The quotes were added by a user with the IP address of 69.64.213.146. This address has been used mostly to make changes to the article about Rush, but also Karl Rove, Sean Hannity,.. James Dobson and Sara Palin from 2005 until earlier this year.
While others have noted this in various forums, no one seems to have made the connection that this IP address is used as a gateway by the law firm Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP (see here, for example) that all users from that IP address come from the pbwt.com domain.)" http://www.steynonline.com/content/blogcategory/38/113/

The firm provides a wide array of legal services with a broad spectrum of politically correct causes served:

"It is one of the first major firms in New York City to elect a woman as managing partner. In addition to its Diversity Committee, a group of Patterson Belknap attorneys formed PAC—Patterson Attorneys of Color—to assist with the enhancement of workplace diversity and the recruitment, retention and promotion of attorneys of color. Another group, Out at Patterson, focuses on issues relevant to the firm’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals, and Women Lawyers at Patterson (WLAP) focuses on women's issues." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patterson_Belknap_Webb_&_Tyler

Considering Rush's militant political incorrectness, there may be a large number of potentially culpable attorneys and/or staffers to choose from. However, a forensic data retrieval technician should surely be able to narrow the focus and identify the likely poster. Perhaps Rush can enlist the aid of PBWT alumni, Rudy Giuliani, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau or firm partner, Edward F. Cox, (son-in-law of former President, Richard M. Nixon) in his search for justice

There is no question that Mr. Limbaugh has been damaged by the salacious quotes added to his Wikipedia profile and their dissemination in the PC-stream media. Hope this helps, Rush.

You know they say the only cure for a lawyer is another lawyer.....

Top 10 David Letterman Excuses for Adultery

2009-10-06T11:36:00.000-07:00

(This article was first published at The American Thinker on October 2, 2009.)

Well, it certainly could happen to a nicer guy. The increasingly irascible and decreasingly funny late night talk show host announced to his audience Tuesday night that he has been the victim of an extortion plot. It seems the sarcastic leftist has been a serial adulterer with members of his staff, reportedly all female ones. Looks like the caustic native Hoosier has been caught without his Worldwide Pants.
Gleaned from previous Letterman riffs about other public figures, including Eliot Spitzer and Mark Sanford whose dalliances had been revealed to the public, here are the Top Ten Excuses for Letterman's Adulterous Behavior:
10.) I learned everything I needed to know from Governor Mark Sanford.
9.) If you met my wife, you'd be fooling around with staffers, too.
8.) I was just doing research for a documentary about Bill Clinton.
7.) But they were the size of canned hams!
6.) You probably didn't realize that smarmy is an aphrodisiac.
5.) There is no truth to the rumor that I had my staffers assume that "slutty flight attendant look."
4.) It wasn't really me, it was my wily alter-ego, Shag-boy.
3.) Have you seen the ratings Conan has been getting?
2.) It's not like I'm Roman Polanski or something.
And the number one excuse for David Letterman's adulterous behavior:
It might have been adultery, but it wasn't adultery-adultery.

Shoe-throwing Journalist Released from Prison, Alleges Torture

2009-09-15T14:56:00.000-07:00

Apparently the evil tentacles of Dick Chaney still reach deep into the Iraqi prison system. Muntazer Al-Zaidi, the Al-Baghdadi journalist who thought it would be cute to fling his shoes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmt2_wyDKJI at President George Bush, is scheduled for early release from prison today. The family has selected Al-Zaidi’s brother Uday as their spokesman, and he claims that Shoe-boy was tortured while in confinement. Wasn’t there another famous Iraqi named Uday? http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/03/world/after-war-uday-qusay-funeral-for-hussein-sons-call-for-death-america.html
According to this Uday:
“ Mr al-Zaidi was imprisoned at an Iraqi military compound at the former Al-Muthana Airport in Baghdad. Uday said that his brother was burned with “cigarettes behind his ears, (and) had his ribs and nose broken”. He said that the torture was the result of Mr al-Zaidi’s refusal to write and sign a letter of apology to Mr Bush and to the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, who was standing next to the President during the incident.“When Muntazer called me this morning he sounded very broken because the prison guards would not let him call us for ten days.”
Apparently regular phone service is expected to be included with each Iraqi prison package. There was no word from UK Times reporters whether the local airport http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/23/murtha.airport/ was yet another built with funds secured by Haditha http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7przeLpl2s shill, Jack Murtha and named in his honor.
Uday indicates that the Iraqi Thom McCan will head
“for physical and psychological treatment in Greece.”
“He will not go into politics, contrary to what has been said in the past.”
Instead
“He wants to do something to help the Iraqi people,” Uday said.
Lord knows, going into politics seldom helps anybody.
Whatever direction the right-handed loafer hurler chooses, we offer him some simple, helpful advice to avoid those pesky cigarette burns:
Keep your shoes on, Munty.

Kennedy Dynasty Obituary (1956-2009)

2009-09-02T15:46:00.000-07:00

“With the exception of the disgusting Joe Sr., there was genuine idealism in the tribe. The rotting left-overs can still be whiffed in Ted Kennedy’s speeches. There is something more horrible than hoodlums, churls and vipers, and this is knaves with moral justification for their cause.” P.J. O’Rourke from “Mordred Had a Point-Camelot Revisted” in Give War a Chance, 1992 Atlantic Monthly Press

While widely respected and thoroughly enjoyed as one of the finest political humorists of our generation, P.J. O’Rourke isn’t just a wise-cracker. His political insight and sense of American history matches that of any of our more somber analysts.
The preposterous pomp and circumstance surrounding the death of Ted Kennedy and the Cronkite media’s attempt to present him as some sort of errant saint brought to mind P.J.’s rousing and dead-on analysis of the Kennedy family in his 1984 review of the David Horowitz/Peter Collier book titled The Kennedys: An American Drama. This short review is perhaps Mr. O’Rourke’s finest work. It seems appropriate to recall his insight as the Kennedy dynasty winds down to its whimpering end.
O’Rourke opens with a disclaimer that the Horowitz book is an assemblage of “ugly facts and rude anecdotes” about “this large and dirty family” but couldn’t possibly be a complete collection:
“Deforestation of North America would be needed to print a book that size.”
It all began with Joe Sr.:
“Old Joseph P. Kennedy was a liar and a greedy thief, an ignoramus, adulterer, vile anti-Semite, coward and pompous ass.” Together with his wife Rose they raised “their nine whelps in an atmosphere of brutal pride and stupid competition.” Leaving out the retarded and cruelly lobotomized Rosemary:
“The remaining eight turned out foolhardy, arrogant, unprincipled, and wholly lacking in a sense of consequences.”
This led to the plane-crash deaths of Joe Jr. and Kathleen, to JFK’s reckless P.T. boat collision and Teddy’s later “skin-diving efforts” at Chappaquiddick.
Despite the family penchant for recklessness, the Kennedy’s political fortunes increased:
“Elections, intellectuals, and press adulation were purchased….Disguised as populists, they championed the definitely privileged and supposedly enlightened few...They did not know and probably couldn’t understand the idea of a free people chartering a government for the sake of convenience and paved roads…and only in the vaguest, election-fixing way did any Kennedy realize that public officials serve at the people’s sufferance.”
Sadly the Kennedy family’s political fortunes began to dim as
“Two of them were shot, but under the most romantic circumstances and not, as might have been hoped, after due process of law.”
And now, with the least of the Kennedy brothers waddled off to his eternal reward we find:
“the morally satisfying third act, when the last generation of Kennedys reaps the trust-fund dividends of sin…They overdose and get arrested and best of all, disappear from the public eye.”
And good riddance. Just a few moments in the media glare was enough to expose the woeful inadequacy of Caroline http://www.nypost.com/seven/01212009/news/politics/caroline_kennedy_ends_senate_seat_bid_151234.htm and a rehashing of Joe Kennedy’s Viva Venezuela routine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owdpbZ4ndvk should be enough to send him scurrying back to coupon-clipping and pompous do-gooderism.
So how did we end up with this toothy band of brothers who “helped bring on the age of truly elephantine government programs”?
Horowtiz and Collier suggest it was the family’s “pet intellectuals.” But
“This is giving the American public too little credit. We may be dumb, but we’re not so dumb that we ever spent a minute listening to Theodore Sorenson.”
No, as P.J. avers, it is all our fault:
“We have no one to blame for the Kennedy’s but ourselves…we did it not because we respected them or thought what they proposed was good, but because they were pretty….This may be the stupidest thing that has ever happened in a democracy.”
The expiration of Ted should be a clarion call for Americans to wake up, lest we make the same mistake again:
“Trust hubris to bring such trash as the Kennedys to their knees. They are but a few and passing evil. We are another matter. There are some (300) million of us, and we’d better start talking sense to ourselves soon. The President of the United States is our employee.”
O’Rourke’s prescience from this review written 25 years ago is amazing. If we can remember his advice, our elections will result in
“a good, dull Cincinnatus like Eisenhower or Coolidge. Our governance will be managed with quiet and economy. We’ll have no need to go looking for Kennedys to love. And no need to boil over with hatred for them later.”

Quote of the Day

2009-08-31T08:48:00.000-07:00

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

-Thomas Alva Edison

The Art of Politically Correct Apology by Bill Maher

2009-08-26T16:14:00.000-07:00

(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.

Madoff Working Ponzi Compassion Scheme?

2009-08-25T07:37:00.000-07:00

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?

Where are All the Predators When You Need One?

2009-08-21T13:53:00.001-07:00

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

Idiot Compassion for the Lockerbie Bomber

2009-08-18T02:52:00.001-07:00

(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

Issa to Emmanuel: This Ain't Chicago

2009-08-04T14:48:00.001-07:00

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.

Looking for Excuses While Black

2009-08-03T05:59:00.001-07:00

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.

Obama Failure Equals American Prosperity

2009-07-27T17:34:00.001-07:00

Larry Kudlow’s NRO analysis of last week’s surge in the American stock market averages suggests that the likelihood of President Obama’s policies failing is providing fuel for the rallies:
“Hate to say it but Obama’s disastrous press conference last night (7/23) is a big contributor to (Fri)day’s roaring stock market….Politics is not everything, but I believe that the shrinking probability of a new government insurance plan that would lead to nationalized health care — along with the demise of cap-and-trade that would nationalize energy — is very bullish for stocks….(Obama’s) whole garbled, inconsistent, and baffling defense of health care looked real bad. The president’s polls have been falling, especially on his policies. And markets see the possibility that free-market capitalism will live to see another day. http://kudlow.nationalreview.com/
Kudlow goes on to review the mixed signals in our volatile markets but concludes with guardedly bullish optimism:
“I’m not predicting a return to the all-time S&P high, which was over 1,500. There are still too many government threats to free-market capitalism emanating from Democratic Washington. But the political tide is clearly turning for the better. And so are the economic stats. If the July employment report wipes out some of the negatives of the June report, this market could really roar.” (ibid)
Moderates and Blue-dogs please take note of this interesting recipe for the return of American prosperity:
Obama failure equals American success.

Rogue Scholars Slander Police Officer

2009-07-24T11:52:00.001-07:00

Slander: “a false, malicious statement (spoken or published), especially one which is injurious to a person's reputation; the making of such a statement; to utter a slanderous statement.” http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1T4RNWE_enUS308US308&defl=en&q=define:slander&ei=u8xoSo35NpK8NrLa2NEF&sa=X&oi=glossary_definition&ct=title
An unlikely pair of rogue scholars seems to have engaged in the slander of Cambridge, Massachusetts Police Sergeant James Crowley. Reporters from the multi-culti media echo the sentiments expressed by Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates while referring to him in their reports as a “black scholar.” With similar credentials from the same diversity-oriented, Affirmative Action supportive universities, President Barack Obama apparently should be viewed as a scholar as well.
Scholar Obama claims that the officers involved in the Gates case, who were led by Crowley,
“acted stupidly.” http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090723/ap_on_re_us/us_harvard_scholar_disorderly "I think it's fair to say, No. 1, any of us would be pretty angry….and there is a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately, and that's just a fact."
Well, I, for one, wouldn’t be angry with a police officer attempting to assist the investigation of a potential break-in at my domicile. There goes the “any of us” argument. I believe the correct response would be gratitude.
Gates’s reaction, perhaps due to the greater depth of his scholarship, is more incendiary than Obama’s:
“He said the incident made him realize how vulnerable poor people and minorities are"to capricious forces like a rogue policeman, and this man clearly was a rogue policeman."
Anyone who has read the police report http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/07/harvard_professor_arrested_all.html describing Gates’s self-inflicted confrontation will come to a different conclusion.
Now that some background information about Crowley is coming out, it appears that the typical race-card smearing that entails any confrontation between black community activists and authority figures will be difficult to bring to fruition, even for experienced race-baiters like Al Sharpton, Scholar Gates and his mouthpiece, Charles Ogletree-yet another Harvard “scholar.”
Professor Ogletree is the Jesse Climenko Professor of Law at Harvard, and perhaps the leading American proponent of slave reparations http://www.usaweekend.com/02_issues/020818/020818reparations.html. He taught both Barack and Michelle Obama at Harvard and was disciplined for plagiarism in 2004. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Ogletree Here are a few of Scholar Ogletree’s publications, just to give you a sense of the impartiality he brings his client’s case:
From Lynch Mobs to the Killing State: Race and the Death Penalty in America (ed. with Austin Sarat, New York University Press 2006)
Beyond the Rodney King Story: An Investigation of Police Conduct in Minority Communities, (ed. with others, Northeastern University Press Boston, Massachusetts 1995)
"The Current Reparations Debate," 5 University of California Davis Law Review 36 (2003).
Why Has the G.O.P. Kept Blacks Off Federal Courts?" New York Times, August 18, 2000, Op-Ed. (ibid)
You get the idea. And now the withering attention of all of these scholars is focused on James Crowley.
Sergeant Crowley, from all reports available at the time of publication, appears to be a model police officer. Crowley, in fact, was chosen to teach fellow officers how to avoid profiling:
“Cambridge Sgt. James Crowley has taught a class about racial profiling for five years at the Lowell Police Academy after being hand-picked for the job by former police Commissioner Ronny Watson, who is black, said Academy Director Thomas Fleming…Fellow officers, black and white, say Crowley is well-liked and respected on the force. Crowley was a campus police officer at Brandeis University in July 1993 when he administered CPR trying to save the life of former Boston Celtics player Reggie Lewis. Lewis, who was black, collapsed and died during an off-season workout.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090723/ap_on_re_us/us_harvard_scholar_disorderly
Crowley’s union stands firmly behind him as he refuses to apologize for his actions:
“Crowley’s police union issued a statement saying it had reviewed the arrest of Gates and expressed “full and unqualified support’’ for his actions.
“Sergeant Crowley is a highly respected veteran supervisor with a distinguished record in the Cambridge Police Department,’’ said the Cambridge Police Superior Officers Association. “His actions at the scene of this matter were consistent with his training, with the informed policies and practices of the Department, and with applicable legal standards.’’
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/07/23/officer_at_eye_of_storm_says_he_wont_apologize/?page=2
From all appearances, the remarks the rogue scholars involved in this fiasco clearly meet the definition of slander. The statements are false and malicious and intended to injure the reputation of Sergeant Crowley, the Cambridge Police Department and American police officers across the country. The appropriate response is a civil action against Scholar Gates, Scholar Obama and any other community activists who choose to promote their diversity agenda at the expense of those who risk their lives providing Americans with protection from the real rogue elements in society.

Harvard Racialist in Police Confrontation

2009-07-23T16:15:00.000-07:00

(This article originally appeared in the American Thinker on 7/21/2009.)

Displaying all the vituperative indignation developed by the Tawana Brawley school of victimhood, Harvard professor of African-American studies, Henry Louis "Skip" Gates, Jr. did his best to incite a racial incident with Cambridge police officers who were responding to a neighbor's call regarding a possible break-in at the Gates residence. This Gates character is a class act. Here is a sampling of his alleged responses to the police officers who came to protect his domicile:
"Gates accused the investigating officer of being a racist and told him he had "no idea who he was messing with...'
Gates told the officer that he was being targeted because "I'm a black man in America.''
When asked to step outside so the officer could hear him better, Gates gallantly responded:
"Ya, I'll speak with your mama outside."
Gates was eventually arrested for being disorderly and was booked. The police reports filed by both the arresting officer and the back-up officer demonstrate respectful decorum and a thorough attempt to discern the facts on the scene:
"As I descended the stairs to the sidewalk (Gates) continued to yell at me, accusing me of racial bias and continued to tell me that I had not heard the last of him. Due to the tumultuous manner Gates had exhibited in his residence, as well as his continued tumultuous behavior outside the residence, in view of the public, I warned Gates that he was becoming disorderly. Gates ignored my warning and continued to yell, which drew the attention of both the police officers and the citizens, who appeared surprised and alarmed by Gates outburst. For a second time I warned Gates to calm down while I withdrew my department issued handcuffs from their carrying case. Gates again ignored my warning and continued to yell at me. It was at this time that I informed Gates that he was under arrest. I then stepped up the stairs, onto the porch and attempted to place handcuffs on Gates. Gates initially resisted my attempt to handcuff him, yelling that he was "disabled" and would fall without his cane. After the handcuffs were properly applied, Gates complained that they were too tight. I ordered Off. Ivey, who was among the responding officers, to handcuff Gates with his arms in front of him for his comfort while I secured a cane for Gates from his residence. I then asked Gates if he would like an officer to take possession of his house key and secure his front door, which he left wide open. Gates told me that the door was unsecurable due to a previous break attempt at the residence. Shortly thereafter a Harvard University maintenance person arrived on scene and appeared familiar with Gates. I asked Gates if he was comfortable with this Harvard University maintenance person securing his residence. He told me that he was."
The arresting officer bent over backward to give all parties the opportunity to resolve any questions and depart the scene gracefully. Gates apparently had other ideas.
Apparently, some members of the Harvard black community have no interest in resolving the situation gracefully and has the race machine ginned up and firing on all cylinders. Reportedly:
"The incident raised concerns among some Harvard faculty that Gates was a victim of racial profiling....
The arrest of such a prominent scholar under what some described as dubious circumstances shook some members of the black Harvard community."
Not surprisingly, Gates already has counsel to represent him in this dubious incident of his own making:
"Gates is being represented by Harvard Law School professor Charles Ogletree, who has taken on previous cases with racial implications." (ibid)
A race-card circus is coming our way.

Heaviest and Lightest Elements Discovered

2009-07-21T12:53:00.000-07:00

In an amazing display of chaos theory http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos_theory come true, the heaviest of elements has been added to the periodic table nearly simultaenously with the discovery of the Earth's most lightweight element.

Copernicum
"is the heaviest element in the periodic table, 277 times heavier than hydrogen. It is produced by a nuclear fusion, bombarding zinc ions onto a lead target." http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/science/sciencenews/5846349/New-element-copernicium-added-to-Periodic-Table.html

It was first discovered by Sigurd Hofman at the Centre for Heavy Ion Research in Germany during the course of fusion experiments in 1996. The element will carry the symbol Cp, in honor of Copernicus, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolaus_Copernicus, the first astronomer to formulate a heliocentric cosmology.

Meanwhile, here in the U.S., the near simultaneous discovery of Obamium was reported by conservative pundits at The American Thinker as the result of Democrat party bombardment of the U.S. economy in an attempt at Socialist fusion. The particle is such a lightweight that it is 277 times lighter than helium and has a similar effect on the voices of those promoting the current Democrat economic vision, increasingly to the unavoidable derision of the American public. The new element"s symbol, Ob, honors Barack Hussien Obama, the first politician to formulate an Obamacentric cosmology. Scientists at the American Center for Light Alphabet Research are working with graphic artists to determine how to include that funny-looking Obama symbol http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=70236 into the English alphabet, replacing the O and providing the perfect display for the element now demonstrating the periodic table's Unbearable Lightness of Being http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unbearable_Lightness_of_Being.

Obama's National Security Team: The Axis of Feeble

2009-06-29T11:36:00.000-07:00

Its 1937 all over again in Washington as our jaunty President is busy loading up the executive branch with Czars who could be doppelgangers for the boys FDR tried to pack in to the Supreme Court http://newdeal.feri.org/court/toons.htm. On the international scene, it seems Barack Obama has placed Korean kamikaze leader, Kim Jong-Il in charge of America’s holiday fireworks program. Kim has turned out to be The Little Elvis That Could http://tigger.uic.edu/~plotnick/littleng.htm with a finale planned for the 4th of July that is something of a Pearl Harbor do-over. Maybe it’s really more like 1941. The frail Asian Charles Atlas-wannabe keeps kicking sand in Obama’s face http://cagle.msnbc.com/hogan/features/atlas.asp in a vain attempt to get a manly response from our feckless chief executive. While Kim angles for a nuclear confrontation with the world’s largest arsenal of fissile material, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fissile Obama has the U.S. Navy circling the Hawaiian Islands with catcher’s mitts, hoping to intercept the probably fizzling Korean fireworks finale. Most Americans would prefer more pitching and less catching.
Gifted with the greatest break-through for Iranian freedom since before Hulagu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hulagu_Khan crushed Persia, our pusillanimous President promises to get right back to us with a firm stance, as soon as Axelrod and Emanuel finish sorting out the opinion-poll tea leaves. One thing is certain, the Iranian democracy movement http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEXyOPHbZyo&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Etailcast%2Ecom%2Fvideo%2Diranian%2Dpolice%2Dbeating%2Dfreedom%2Dfighters%2D27642%2Ehtml&feature=player_embedded and others like it can count on one sure thing from America’s mouthpiece: “Just words.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cd-AJeJvBE As Gerard Warner makes plain in the UK Telegraph:
“(President Pantywaist) is trying to steer a course between appeasement and rhetoric about the Iranian "threat", while knowing he may eventually have to knuckle down and accept a nuclear Islamic republic, since Barack doesn't do war.” http://68.142.200.12/us.f397.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_2635_ADZqv9EAAXLNSjwW2gAJlQGO390&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename=President+Pantywaist+latest+Iran+unclenches+its+fist+-+to+slap+Barack+Obama%26amp%3B%2339%3Bs+face+Gerald+Warner.htm&cred=0tSjenhex16TH_wsyrR3QAbqJnGOo1XtRCvJfyKnGkU4zn9Yha6NqV54gIrd1Slc0eOmeUwLci3HrKp89bz2D4eiZUWO8rekmPjqTUkWxMUQ&ts=1245671528&partner=ymail&sig=.b_qETAQoT12V8Ydzz6S3A--
Sadly it’s as clear as a bulldozer path through downtown Flint, Michigan http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/2009/06/not-just-walpin-3-ig-firings-being-questioned.html that Barack doesn’t do war, at least not in the conventional militaristic sense of the world. Not very well, anyway. While the administration’s current treatment of its Inspectors General www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/2009/06/not-just-walpin-3-ig-firings-being-questioned.html seems war-like, Barry and the girls back in D.C. really have no qualms with protecting the baksheesh machine he ramped up with the first few trillion dollars of the stimulus http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123318906638926749.html.
You’d have to go back to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIie9OosnEM to match the sense of wonder created by the unholy trio at the core of Obama’s national security team:
“Who are those girls?”
Not since President Peanut has our national security team been so overmatched. Almost daily America is threatened by the surviving dregs of the Axis of Evil http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axis_of_evil , while B.O. has his Axis of Feeble in charge of the Department of State, Homeland Security and purportedly representing American interests at the U.N.
Where do we start? How about over at Foggy Bottom, where Congress made a special exception to allow Hillary’s husband to continue on the payroll at the House of Saud http://www.toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/tt.pl/article/13530/Clinton__Bought_and_Paid_for_By_Saudi_Arabia_and_China while continuing in to rake in Chinese loot, too. The only way Hillary could be more demonstrably anti-Israel http://wcbstv.com/national/hillary.clinton.israel.2.945238.html would be to show up at her press conferences in a burqua. The most telling pronouncement of Clintonian vapidity had to be her pose as modern dance reviewer when asked to speak out against the America-bashing of Daniel Ortega:
“For 50 minutes, Obama sat mute, as a Marxist thug from Nicaragua delivered his diatribe, charging America with a century of terrorist aggression in Central America….
Hillary Clinton was asked to comment: "I thought the cultural performance was fascinating," she cooed.
Pressed again on Ortega's vitriol, Hillary replied: "To have those first-class Caribbean entertainers all on one stage and to see how much was done in such a small amount of space. I was overwhelmed." http://vereloqui.blogspot.com/2009/04/obama-hillary-mute-in-face-of-criticism.html
Little did we know that when that red phone at the White House rings at 3:00 a.m. it will be somebody looking for a dissertation on Latin American choreography. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yr7odFUARg
Incredible as it may seem, Pantsuit Woman is probably Obama’s ablest national security team member. Over at the Department of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano has yet to discover an illegal alien she doesn’t love, unless they are wearing ice-skates http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/05/napolitanos_politically_correc.html . This woman is just another “Obama-caused disaster” waiting to happen. How can we defeat the terrorists when the amorphous blob in charge of our domestic security prioritizes creating politically correct euphemisms rather than taking action to secure our borders? While Janet focuses on those maple-syrup swilling terrorists in mittens from the Great White North http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_TfBbR6L0M , she has exactly reversed the appropriate priority on the Mexican Border:
The Republic reported today that Janet Napolitano is “redeploying” 360 U.S. border agents from their jobs protecting American interests so that they can now devote their time (to) inspecting vehicles travelling into Mexico. http://sonoranalliance.com/?p=4452
That’s right. Bizarro Pantsuit Woman believes she is now in charge of securing the border for the Mexican government. Never mind all that focus on illegals sneaking into the U.S. and the Mexican drug cartels turning our kids into 21st century Cheeches and Chongs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ozk7fnKilU : it’s high time we investigate those going into Mexico. Maybe we can confiscate their sun-block and immodium tablets and re-distribute them to the Uyghurs vacationing at our expense in Bermuda http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/12/bermuda-accepts-guantanamo-detainees .
Somewhere, somebody is thanking Wicca that Obama saved the United Nations gig for Susan Rice. But it certainly won’t be Israelis or any of her former client states in Africa. She has benefitted from the best multi-culturalist education that European could muster up, with her
“classmates and professors at Oxford includ(ing) advocates of the role of the United Nations and international law (Sir Adam Roberts, Benedict Kingsbury),[7] of global economic governance and international economic cooperation (Ngaire Woods, Donald Markwell).” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_E._Rice
I wonder: was there any American history included in her curriculum?
Ms. Rice specialized in African studies, and used her scholarship to its fullest while serving as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs under family friend Madeleine Albright in the Clinton administration. A Newsweek article in 1998 suggested that the U.S. State Department turned a blind eye to the
Overthr(o)w (of )the notorious dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. Administration sources insisted they had no prior knowledge of the offensive, but according to one highly placed strategist of the war, Washington had promised not to oppose such an incursion. It's a fine, Clintonian, distinction. ""Anything's better than Mobutu, Susan Rice told one acquaintance at the time. But in the view of many Africa specialists, Washington's tacit complicity in the violation of the Congo's borders was dangerously destabilizing.” http://www.mafo2008.com/profiles/blogs/interesting-wikipedia-entry-on
The respected Sammy Benoit, editor of Yid with Lid , describes Rice as a Joe Wilson apologist, and places her squarely in the Clinton tinfoil bunker that rejected the Sudanese offers of shared information on terrorists including the offer to hand over Bin Laden:
according to several of her former colleagues, who say she deserves a hefty portion of blame for the fact that Osama bin Laden wasn't neutralized during the 1990s.
"The FBI, in 1996 and 1997, had their efforts to look at terrorism data and deal with the bin Laden issue overruled every single time by the State Department, by Susan Rice and her cronies, who were hell-bent on destroying the Sudan," one-time Clinton diplomatic troubleshooter Mansoor Ijaz told radio host Sean Hannity in 2002 http://yidwithlid.blogspot.com/2008/11/obamas-un-disaster-susan-rice-woman-who.html.
Let’s get this straight: while serving as the Undersecretary of State for African Affairs, Ms. Rice is reported to have actively sought to undermine the governments of Zimbabwe and the Sudan. And now she is representing all of America? How do you like our chances?
Beyond Ms. Rice’s incompetent meddling in the affairs of African clients lies her pixie-dust view of the United Nations and its spin-off, The International Criminal Court:
"The United Nations is indispensable for advancing these goals and making our world a better, safer place," she said.
(And with a straight face I might add.)
"The International Criminal Court, which has started its first trial this week, looks to become an important and credible instrument for trying to hold accountable the senior leadership responsible for atrocities committed in the Congo, Uganda and Darfur." http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2009/01/30/65331.html
Terrific. Maybe Ms. Rice can get Sonya Sotomayor http://www.daylife.com/article/073f4pG1l47Ie?q=Sonia+Sotomayor appointed to the international body instead of the Supreme Court and at least do something positive for Americans.
Ahmedinijad and Kim must be lying awake at night laughing themselves sick. As though Obama and Biden weren’t pegging the wimp meter enough by themselves, B.O. added insult to injury by going to the Affirmative Action casting couch to enlist The Axis of Feeble to head his national security effort.
May God have mercy on our souls.

Ironic Turn-About for Black-Eyed Peace Monger

2009-06-24T03:03:00.000-07:00

Two months ago, garish gossipmonger Perez Hilton trashed Carrie Prejean for honestly responding to his gay marriage litmus test question at the Miss USA Contest http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XMvviFbkf0. To say Ms. Prejean and the beauty pageant got a black eye from all the media exposure would be putting it mildly.
Yesterday Hilton’s karma destiny was fulfilled. It seems the pudgy media bully who looks like the progeny of Charles Laughton and a cockatiel got mouthy with Fergie and a couple of Black-eyed Peas. Unlike Prejean http://www.frugal-cafe.com/public_html/frugal-blog/frugal-cafe-blogzone/2009/04/20/perez-hiltons-foul-mouthed-diatribe-against-beauty-pageant-contestant-gay-marriage-issue-from-gaypatriot-bloggers-perspective/ and Lindsay Lohan http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,301150,00.html the other feckless celebrities maligned by the withering blight of Hilton’s snarkish sniping, band member Will I Am and manager Polo got up in Mr. Gay Marriage’s facebook and one of the them allegedly popped his eye black. It was reported that charges have been filed in the case.
If you have a very strong stomach and don’t mind a little gratuitous, obscene name-calling mixed with a butt-load of self-pity and oodles of revulsive puling, try to watch the palaverous whiner’s diatribe here http://www.tmz.com/2009/06/22/perez-unloads-on-will-disgusting-human-being/. It’s really hard to watch this slow motion disheveled and slobbering train wreck, but if you will listen carefully you may get the impression that Mr. Hilton is advising the Obama administration on foreign policy. (“Violence is never the answer. EV-ER. No matter what anyone says, blood should never be drawn. Another person should never be hit.”)
Just goes to show what happens when a starry-eyed idealist confronts someone in the real world who doesn’t happen to share their interest in diplomacy.
Do you think we should set up a defense fund for the Peas?

No Closet Big Enough for Colin Powell-Democrat

2009-05-27T04:15:00.001-07:00

Describing Colin Powell as a Republican is akin to describing Perez Hilton http://www.icelebz.com/celebs/perez_hilton/photo8.html as straight. No matter how often the canard is repeated in the Obamedia, it remains absurd. The self-described “C” student from City College of New York went on to become “the reluctant warrior” http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/sep/30/usa.afghanistan advising several Presidential administrations on how to best avoid military intervention while pleading for international coalitions and U.N. approval.
Pro-choice, pro-gun control and an ardent lobbyist against the use of military tribunals http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Powell there is scarcely an issue upon which Colin Powell even mildly resembles a moderate Democrat, much less a Republican. His efforts to scuttle John Bolton’s appointment as U.N. Ambassador http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YmZlZjIyY2JmYWZmMTJiNzI0N2I0ZjE4ZThkNDM4MzU= and his collaboration with Richard Armitage http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110008872 to allow Scooter Libby to twist in the wind and ultimately be wrongly convicted in Plamegate demonstrate the likelihood that the General from Affirmative Action was merely a stealth Democrat undermining the Republican administrations in which he served. Powell’s ardent support for Barack Obama’s Presidential bid surprised no one even mildly familiar with his penchant for liberal causes.
The lick-spittle media’s attempt to foist General Reluctant upon the American public as arbiter of the Republican party’s positions and direction is as transparent as the emperor’s new clothes http://deoxy.org/emperors.htm. It’s time to come out of the closet, Colin.

Who was Cruising New York on Air Force One?

2009-04-29T12:21:00.000-07:00

While Rahm Emmanuel and Obama’s Blue Angel wannabes would like New York Buzzgate to go away quietly, deeper background on White House scapegoat and Director of the White House Military Office, Louis Caldera, suggests the possibility that Obama donors might have been along for the ride that caused near panic and flight from Manhattan skyscrapers.
Described on the Washington Prowler as “a fixer in the classic sense of the term” http://spectator.org/archives/2009/04/29/flyover-launcher, Caldera was selected by Bill Clinton to serve as Secretary of the Army and tasked with “ identifying ‘politically friendly’ military personnel who would be helpful to the Clintons, as well as interacting with VIPs from Hollywood and the defense industry to keep them happy.”
The assumption is that Rahm Emmanuel brought Caldera on board the B.O. administration to perform similar functions.
This despite Mr. Caldera’s somewhat controversial background that curdles when brought to light:
1.) Caldera served on the board of directors at IndyMac Bank prior to the lender becoming one of the first of the major banks to go belly-up in the sub-prime mortgage debacle.
2.) Caldera appears to have been selected as President of the University of New Mexico with some questionable assistance from Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico despite “almost 80 percent of the faculty of University of New Mexico vot(ing) against the hiring of Caldera (ibid).

White House press secretary Robert Gates insists the flight was a “training mission” that turned into a “picture mission” and that only Air Force personnel were onboard. But Gates and White House staffers continue to protest too much, according to the former Obama defense transition team member serving as the Prowler’s source:

"This is a bigger deal than the White House is letting on, and there are some nervous people there, and I'm not clear why."

Could Obama be using Air Force One for joyrides just as Bill Clinton used the Lincoln Bedroom to ply Democrat donors?

Hillary Still Solicting Donations?

2009-04-21T16:37:00.001-07:00

It’s not in the least bit surprising to hear from Jim Geraghty at National Review Online that he is still being solicited for funds from Hillary Clinton’s campaign http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/. The Clintons just keep on cashing in. I hope someone in the Obama administration had the good sense to nail down the furniture at Foggy Bottom http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3827/is_200202/ai_n9045376/ . Did you suppose the couple amassed $109 million http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/apr2008/clin-a08.shtml in net worth based on Hillary’s eye for beef on the hoof http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/cRosett/?id=65000476 ?
Mike Judge’s brilliant Idiocracy http://www.worstpreviews.com/trailer.php?id=8&item=0 , barely circulated by 20th Century Fox but showing this week on Comedy Central , features the American Secretary of State in 2505 openly expressing the Clinton modus operandi:
“I’m Secretary of State brought to you by Carl Jr.’s.” http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387808/quotes
If you close your eyes and substitute the words “The House of Saud” for “Carl Jr.’s” you would swear you could hear the rustle of a polyester pantsuit in the background.

Pirate Gauntlet Thrown

2009-04-16T02:49:00.000-07:00

"The French and the Americans will regret starting this killing. We do not kill, but take only ransom. We shall do something to anyone we see as French or American from now," Hussein, a pirate, told Reuters by satellite phone. http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE53A1LP20090412?sp=true
The Pirate Hussein’s statement constitutes an assault on the American and French peoples according to the legal definition of assault supplied by nolo.com http://www.nolo.com/definition.cfm/term/22542b6f-fedb-450a-889a82a49ea50ceb/alpha/a/ :
A crime that occurs when one person tries to physically harm another in a way that makes the person under attack feel immediately threatened. Actual physical contact is not necessary; threatening gestures that would alarm any reasonable person can constitute an assault.
There was no indication at the time whether Hussein the Somali Pirate and Barack Hussein Obama the Chicago Socialist Pirate were related.
Of course the right to self-defense is recognized even in the fuzzy codicils of international law. The kudos the Obama administration garners from the successful termination of the Mersk Alabama hostage crisis (and the pirates who initiated it) should provide the impetus to take pre-emptive measures of self-defense. This would include the destruction of Somali ports like Eyl http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2009/04/10/2009-04-10_piracy_boon_to_somalia_economy.html where cadres of accountants, publicists and gold-digging women have shown up in search of a cut of the pirate booty. Eliminating terrorist training camps for Al Qaeda cells and the home-grown Men-Causing-Disasters http://www.newsmax.com/kessler/napolitano_terrorism/2009/03/23/194888.html led by Aden Hashi Ayro http://www.cfr.org/publication/10781/ would be a fruitful by-product of de-nesting these water-rats.
If Obama wants to counter the feeble impression left by his first 80 days of diplomatic wobble http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/adavid/2009/04/02/the-world-and-barack-obama%E2%80%99s-weakness/ , he should take the following three words of advice when pre-empting future Somali piracy:
Shock and awe http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83Smjn9wou8 .

Soon All Roads Will Lead to Chicago

2009-04-15T01:53:00.000-07:00

In what must be one of the most remarkable coincidences in the history of bald-faced snatch and grab politics, the state of Illinois has already filched over $629 million from the available pool of stimulus funds allotted by the Department of Transportation “since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act became law Feb. 17” http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=33663&seenIt=1. This accounts for over 12% of the road and bridge projects approved so far by Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood’s (Friend of Blago-Illinois) department.
If the funds were to be equally dispersed over the entire 57 states http://michellemalkin.com/2008/05/21/barack-obama-gaffe-machine/ Barry “King of the Road” Obama’s homeboys would be tussling over 1.76% of the orange-barrel booty. While fellow Earmarking Illini on the Obama team made much of the fact that LaHood actually paid his federal income taxes, his nomination as DOT Secretary was actually delayed due to ethical questions surrounding his penchant for steering Federal cash to his home state:
“The (Washington) Post reported this morning that LaHood, a seven-term Republican Congressman from Illinois who retired last month, has close ties to a Republican power-broker indicted in the pay-to-play scandal that also led to Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's recent arrest. The story also documented LaHood's sponsorship of $60 million in congressional earmarks last year, and how at least $9 million of them directly benefited his top campaign donors.” http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/01/14/lahood_confirmation_hearing_po.html
You don’t suppose any of these highway funds will find their way into Obama-LaHood donor’s pockets, do you?
If our recent trip to the Richard Daley satrapy is any indication, the highway funds will be used to provide additional toll booths on the cities highways. Apparently forcing drivers to exit once every four exits and pay tolls is providing insufficient tribute to the city to allow for the repair of crumbling interstate surfaces. Perhaps the new coin-collecting cages can be rendered as figural Obama heads, with his gaping maw gobbling up any cash left in Windy City driver’s pockets.

Are You Turned on by the WSW?

2009-04-03T08:48:00.001-07:00

Hillary Clinton’s diplomacy gig continues to founder as the Foggiest Bottom in memory can’t seem to take the time to research the nations http://americaswatchtower.com/2009/03/06/hillary-clinton-says-americas-democracy-has-been-around-a-lot-longer-than-europes-democracy/ , cultures http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/03/hillary_who_painted_guadalupe.html , languages http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/19719.html or dignitaries http://digg.com/d1lpq6 it courts.
The self-proclaimed (or perhaps more accurately, staff-proclaimed) World’s Smartest Woman is certainly setting the bar low. Or perhaps it’s just the arrogance of over-confidence causing our Secretary of State to wade into each new diplomatic encounter completely unprepared. Then again, it might just be a variation of Muhammad Ali’s rope-a-dope http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rope-a-dope tactic: by leading nation’s around the world to believe that we are totally incompetent, we may be able to lull them into making strategic blunders.
In any case, the latest foozle foisted upon us by the current holder of the office first held by Thomas Jefferson involves a bit of misdirection. Reporters calling in to the State Department for briefings were surprised to find that:
Instead of hearing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and National Security Advisor Jim Jones on the other end laying out foreign policy and security threats, reporters were greeted by a recording on a phone sex line.
"Do you have any hidden desires? If you feel like getting nasty, then you came to the right place," said a suggestive-sounding woman. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/
One can only hope this was another blunder and not a career move for Mrs. Clinton. Now if you will excuse me, I am creeped out and need to take a hot shower.

The New Hybrid Fedsels

2009-04-03T08:12:00.000-07:00

The Ford and Honda hybrids due out this month are among dozens planned for the coming years as automakers try to meet new fuel-efficiency standards and please politicians overseeing the industry's multibillion-dollar bailout.Unfortunately for the automakers, hybrids are a tough sell these days. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hybrid17-2009mar17,0,6682265.story

When a gallon of gasoline cost about the same as a pack of cigarettes and Americans were having their pockets remodeled to hold all the disposable income stuffed in them, buying a hybrid vehicle seemed hip, cool and smart. Now that Wahabi Regular is down around $2.00 per gallon and U.S. residents are treating quarters like they are manhole covers, buying a Prius or a Chevy Volt looks like obtuse posing or the hasty choice of an AIG exec flush with ill-gotten bonus, desperate to provide one last stimulus to his personal economy.
Despite consumer distaste for the pricey, modern-day Edsels, automakers are resigned to the continued production of unwanted, over-priced but tax subsidized http://autos.aol.com/article/green-cars/harnessing-hybrid-tax-credits/20080227172409990016 vehicles dictated by the fleet fuel-economy standards established by the marketing geniuses at the Environmental Protection Agency. Yes, the same tree-huggers sporting bad haircuts and ill-fitting pocket protectors who encourage the use of windmills and solar heating while discouraging the use of nuclear energy and drilling for our own oil are increasingly empowered to determine product development for American industries. Looks like the National Resources Defense Council has called in their chits for the $75 million in Democrat donations from the last campaign cycle and are assuming positions of influence at EPA and on important Congressional sub-committees http://spectator.org/archives/2009/03/23/its-not-about-the-money . This can only mean that fuel-economy guidelines will become increasingly disconnected from the personal tastes and finances of American consumers. The industries that have demonstrated incompetence (Auto, Banking, News Media) in the market place will come to resemble the very government bureaucracies in charge of regulating them. How do you suppose this will turn out?
"The automakers are in the situation of needing to pacify politicians that are in the position to bail them out with expensive fuel-efficient cars," said Rebecca Lindland, auto analyst with IHS Global Insight. "But shouldn't it be more about satisfying the needs of the American consumer?" (ibid)
Maybe in the real world, but Washington’s current crop of propeller-hat wearing daydreamers is racing the clock to dispose of out-dated notions like marketability and profit:
In January, President Obama called on the industry to "thrive by building the cars of tomorrow" and prepare for federal and state regulations that could push average fuel economy above 40 miles per gallon by 2020. (ibid)
Although President Obama’s college transcripts are unavailable, it appears that he majored in Soviet Factory Management with a minor in Zimbabwean Currency Stabilization http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2008/03/worlds-highest-inflation-rate-of-100000.html. PBO apparently doesn’t understand that the hybrids sitting unwanted on dealer lots today are the same cars that will be sitting there for many tomorrows. Nor does he understand the dynamnics of manufacturing and marketing automobiles. But he went ahead and fired GM CEO Rick Wagoner anyway. With Obama’s foot jammed firmly in the door, the government is re-assuring auto owners that their warranties will be honored http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/30/understanding-obamas-auto-warranty-plan/?hp . You have to sell some of these Fedsels in order to activate the warranty, however.
AutoNation in January reported a 148 day supply of the Civic hybrid with the automakers gearing up to dump more unwanted “image” hybrid cars from across the manufacturing spectrum on dealer lots. Dealers will be discounting, rebating and trying to hype a path out from under these turgid political solutions to market problems.
Marketing experts hold the Edsel up as a supreme example of corporate America’s failure to understand the nature of the American consumer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edsel
Not only has corporate America not learned from the colossal failure of the Edsel, it has now abandoned the entire concept of a causal relationship between the proper implementation of its manufacturing capabilities and the needs, wants and desires of the end-users of its products. And the government auto-neophytes taking over the failing automakers have even fewer clues.
Do you think maybe the nouveau automotive PRO’s (Pelosi, Reid and Obama) will mandate the purchase of the cars they are mandating automakers to manufacture? When the federally owned banks are mandated to finance the mandatory purchase of autos designed by federal fiat, the lunatic loop will be complete. If the current interventionist trends continue, it won’t be long before letters like the one that follows will start to appear in taxpayer mailboxes
Greetings Citizen:
Please report to Federal Motors on Monday to accept delivery of your assigned Fedsel Hybrid. The payments will begin to be deducted from your paycheck beginning next week or you may elect to pay for it in full from what’s left of your 401k. Thanks for your hope and we know you will appreciate the change.
Rhetorically yours,
The Institutional Friends of Barry.

Bye Bye All You Socialist Creeps

2009-03-31T17:25:00.000-07:00

Bye Bye All You Socialist Creeps
(Sung to the Tune of Don McClean's "American Pie")

A short, short time ago
I can still remember
How the stories used to make me irked
But I knew that if we had our chance
We could change the circumstance
And get our nation back to work.
January made me nauseous
The Republicans were just too cautious
Commies in the West Wing
I couldn’t take one more thing
I can’t remember if I shouted
The day the Socialists were outed
The day America died.
So bye, bye all you Socialist creeps
Drove my Prius
Just to see us
Make that Communist leap
Them good old boys were taking methamphetamine
Singing America has now up and died,
America has gone up and died.
Did you write the book of Marx
With the preface inked by Rosa Parks
Because old Darwin told you so…
Do you believe in pop and rap
Can you hear music in this crap
And can you get me on to Dance with the Stars?
Well I know that you voted for Obama
I saw you hooked on his campaign drama
You both bowled a couple of frames
Man I love those Special Olympic Games
I was a middle age Banker in an SUV
With shoes and jacket by Guc-ci
But I thought that I would never see
The day America died.
I started singin’
Bye, bye all you Socialist creeps
Drove my Prius
Just to see us
Make that Communist leap
Them good ol’ boys was being anything but green
Singin’ America has gone up and died,
Yes, America has gone up and died.
For three months now we’ve been on our own
With the President right outta Rolling Stone
But that’s not how it’s supposed to be,
When the jester named king and consort
In a pair of Leon Trotsky’s shorts
And a voice that came from 1984…
And while the king was reading script
From the teleprompter, sounding hip
The press conference was delayed
By Barney Frank’s babble and spray,
While Leahy read a book on Engle
Gays and lesbians began to mingle
Chris Mathews’ leg began to tingle
The day
America died.
We were singing
Bye, bye all you Socialist creeps
Drove my Prius
Just to see us
Make that Communist leap.
Them gold ol’ boys were planning CIA leaks
Singin’ this’ll be the day America dies
America has gone up and died.
Climate change was all that mattered
And Al Gore just kept getting fatter
8 feet wide and full of gas
The kicker tried for an extra point
While Dems pushed for legal joints
And the jester on the sideline peddling grass
Now the half-time air was thick with smoke
As Obots got their legal tokes
We all got up to leave
But the RINO’s got a reprieve
The soldiers tried to take the field
But the bean-counters refused to yield
Did you recall Obama’s New Deal
The day
American died.
We started singin’
Bye, bye all you Socialist creeps
Drove my Prius
Just to see us
Take that Communist Leap
Them good ol’ boys refused to be beat
Singin’ America ain’t gone up and Died,
No, America ain’t gone up and died.
Oh then Pelosi spent all our dough
A trillion has how many zeroes?
And the O generation will get the check,
Come on, Barack be nimble Barack be quick
Barack just lit the burning wick
And the tea-parties are just where it all begins,
Each time I watch him read his lines
I think what a terrible thing a mind
Is to waste
And we’ve only had 2 months taste
As the debt piles high and outta sight
In a Socialistic pagan rite
I saw George Soros laughing with delight
The day
America died.
He was singin;
Bye, bye all you Socialist creeps
Drove my Prius
Just to see us
Make that Communist leap
Them good ol’ boys are storing gold in their teeth
Singin’ America ain’t gone up and died
No, America ain’t gone up and died.
I met a girl whose shirt said “Vegan”
And asked if she knew Ronald Reagan,
But she just turned and passed some gas.
Then I went down to the Humanist store,
Which replaced the churches from days of yore,
But the sign there hanging said “No mas.”
And in the streets the children chanted
Dear Leader’s name as they recanted
The sins of their lovely capitalist days.
Nothing left for buyin’
The markets all were dyin’
And the three men we admired least
Obama, Biden and that Hillary Beast
Sat down to dine on a royal feast
The day
America died.
We started singin’
Bye, bye all you Socialist creeps
Drove my Prius
Just to see us
Make that Communist leap
Then good ol’ boys are takin’ cover and deep
Saying this won’t be the day that we die,
No,
We won’t let American die.

The Donee from Connecticut

2009-03-24T06:21:00.000-07:00

Ever more compelling evidence continues to surface that the Obama administration’s formerly cozy relationship with fellow AIG campaign donation beneficiary http://www.newstimes.com/latestnews/ci_11941866 , Chris Dodd (D-Countrywide) was a case of letting the fox write policy for the henhouse. Of course, now Dodd claims to be returning those unseemly donations.
Well what about the income Mrs. Dodd received as a director of IPC, an AIG-controlled, Bermuda based company http://www.newstimes.com/latestnews/ci_11941866 ? Jackie Clegg Dodd received $12,000 per year plus $1,000 per director’s meeting attended and was a prolific attendee, appearing at over 75% of the company’s meetings.
Senator Dodd already has tire tracks on his back from his new position under the Obama bus. Revelations of the Dodd family’s rather intimate connection to the media’s banking & insurance scapegoat can only increase the sour taste left by the The Donee from Connecticut.

Department of Defense Starts Ammo Control

2009-03-23T05:41:00.000-07:00

If you need further proof that this current crop of liberal Democrats is the sneakiest we have seen, take a look at the latest Department of Defense position on once-fired brass. This term refers to spent ammunition casings that have historically been collected and sold at a premium to ammunition manufacturers.
The reuse of bullet casings is a thoroughly “green” process, recycling a valuable metal and eliminating the costly and potentially environmentally troublesome process of manufacturing new shell casings for ammunition. It is also economical, with the DOD collecting nearly $2.00 per pound of once-fired casings as opposed to a mere $0.35 per pound for demilled brass scrap http://blogostuff.blogspot.com/2009/03/dla-no-longer-selling-once-fired-brass.html .
So why have the bureaucrats at the Pentagon discontinued the sale of once-fired brass? According to Confederate Yankee http://confederateyankee.mu.nu/archives/284397.php , the DOD directive originated in the Obama administration and appears to be an end-run on the issue of gun-control. It really won’t matter that you have a gun if you can’t get ammunition for it.
Insightful gun-owners continue their long run on guns and ammo purchases in anticipation of anti-2nd amendment activity by the Oh Bambi’s. Sales are reported to have increased by 20% or more with some dealers hanging Obama’s photo in their displays hailed as “Salesman of the Year” http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090208/OPINION03/902080310/1008/OPINION01 .
Additional consequences of this politically correct directive that show no common sense include:
· directly caus(ing) the firing of workers at ammunition factories who cannot get the brass cases they relied upon as a key material
· purposefully undermin(ing) the reloaded ammunition market, and forc(ing) federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to buy top-of-the-line ammunition for training qualification, meaning either departments will have to get by with less training for their officers, or citizens will have to pay even more in taxes. (ibid Conf. Yankee)
I wonder if these eliminated jobs will count as “jobs lost” or simply “jobs not created?” Second Amendment proponents are just beginning to gin up a grass roots campaign to expose the perfidy of the Obambi’s regarding once fired brass. Apparently the B.O. administration failed to poll-test this issue as the best advice available on 2nd Amendment advocates is: “Don’t Tread on These Guys.”

Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Teleprompter

2009-03-19T01:36:00.000-07:00

With a resume thinner than Joe Biden’s pubic-ly reinforced hairline, it has been demonstrated of late that the reason Barack Obama finally left his last real job was because, like Mortimer Snerd http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAO7ucHerWc , he got too big for the guy’s lap.
Thank God for technology. Now we are regularly entertained by the unholy strains of the politically correct choir providing Obama’s policy pronouncements filtered through David Axelrod’s tinklings on the idiot board. Besides, Barry wouldn’t look quite so sleek and Presidential propped up on Axelrod’s lap.
Obama’s campaign manager has proven to be a brilliant manipulator in the mold of Colonel Tom Parker. When Parker was notified of the death of his most famous client, Elvis Presley, he chillingly stated: “This changes nothing!” http://blocprojects.co.uk/programme/exhibitions/2006/this-changes-nothing-anachron-gen/ At least Axelrod’s success effectively reduced the puling serial losers, Terry McAuliffe and Bob Shrum, to murmuring cameos as tinpot Democrat shills. Tweedledim and Tweedledumb. But the former Chicago newspaperman and Hitler doppelganger couldn’t possibly be the source of all the far-fetched, goofball leftist ideology flowing from the B.O. teleprompter.
Only an old-fashioned urban political Machine getting cash transfusions from mobsters and union goons and ideological support from avid students of Karl Marx http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Alinsky could produce a cast of characters capable of providing the panoply of crack-pot Trotsky-isms pouring from the Obama autocue. It’s as though Chicago and our current Presidential administration survive in a time warp belched up from the days of Alger Hiss and the Rosenbergs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethel_and_Julius_Rosenberg during the rise of the American Communist Party in the 1950’s. None of these Obamacons would have escaped the intense scrutiny of Joe McCarthy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army-McCarthy_Hearings and his pair of martinet point men: Bobby Kennedy http://books.google.com/books?id=_QpECR5E7_0C&pg=PA75&lpg=PA75&dq=kennedy+joe+mccarthy&source=bl&ots=HwMuik0wJH&sig=HzYiB-lijMx3-hFu3cQYRFAaWU8&hl=en&ei=ncW_SeCbOMavtwfvqORc&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result and Roy Cohn. And today these two would be liberals.
Like Philip Alden Robinson’s Field of Dreams http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_of_Dreams , Barack Hussein Obama’s Chicago provided the perfect setting to attract the sinister consortium of peace-at-any-price creeps http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=2169 , sanctimonious race-baiters http://video.google.com/videosearch?sourceid=navclient&rlz=1T4RNWE_enUS308US308&q=reverend+wright&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=ic6_SdjXNKCytweR3eFR&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title# , union weasels, windmill fetishists, pimps for Gaza http://michellemalkin.com/2009/03/10/and-another-one-bites-the-dust-charles-freeman-out/ , alternating warming and cooling alarmists, queer marriage touts, abortion and suicide-assistance mongers, and death-to-the-Western-Alliance hack diplomats necessary to start the pendulum swinging back Reagan-ward. Axelrod built it and here they come. Now if we can get them to come out from behind the teleprompter long enough, we can start swatting them back to their inverted ivory towers mired upside down in the amoral swamps of Chicagoland.

The God Particle-Let There Be Hubris

2009-03-09T01:24:00.000-07:00

"We live - as Madonna reminds us - in a material world. What then, we might ask, is the material of the material world made out of?" http://68.142.200.12/us.f397.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_708177_ADRqv9EAAJzUSasVEgmeu1KL9wo&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename=%26%2339%3BGOD+PARTICLE%26%2339%3B+SCIENTISTS+ARE+ON+THE+VERGE+OF+UNLOCKING+HOW+THE+UNIVERSE+FORMED+-+New+York+Post.htm&cred=RskslpNu6M3KcvUAs2yhX5CCom4qxp_nfxYJHyau65ls19Bw2qEhTMCZnS6jUv4jUeoK6y4gbkWJtvvWhkNQSlC1sq2pexQHUDtDX4eix.Be&ts=1236033368&partner=ymail&sig=JFXx8Qyeo29663MXgz1BpA--
Paraphrasing a line from noted metaphysician and quantum cosmologist, Madonna Ciccone http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madonna_(entertainer) , Christopher Potter takes a whimsical and unserious tact in reporting the progress physicists have made in their search for the so-called “God particle.” Notwithstanding the release of his new book on the subject, Mr. Potter seems particularly excited about the Nobel prizes expected to result from the scientific quest to confirm the standard quantum model of the universe. The fact that the Nobel prize has become a politically correct reward for adherence to a leftist political and quack scientific agenda (see Al Gore-he’s hard to miss) hasn’t dampened Mr. Potter’s enthusiasm for Nobellian accolades or cash.
The author’s conclusions unfortunately hinge upon a number of assumptions to which all readers are not ready to concede. Particularly not this reader.
The God Particle is the colloquial term used to describe the Higgs Boson: In particle physics, the Higgs boson is a massive scalar elementary particle predicted to exist by the Standard Model.
The Higgs boson is the only Standard Model particle that has not yet been observed. Experimental detection of the Higgs boson would help explain how massless elementary particles can have mass. More specifically, the Higgs boson would explain the difference between the massless photon, which mediates electromagnetism, and the massive W and Z bosons, which mediate the weak force. If the Higgs boson exists, it is an integral and pervasive component of the material world. (my italics) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higgs_boson

Now if is a mighty big word: if the queen had balls,for instance, she would be king. Non-materialists would likely posit a different theoretical construct as the source of mediated electromagnetism and the weak force and everything else for that matter: for instance, God.
Thus, the vernacular description of the Higgs boson as the God particle. The term originated in Nobel-prize winning particle physicist Leon Lederman’s http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_M._Lederman book: The God Particle: If the Universe is the answer, What is the Question?
Returning to Mr. Potter’s update on the state of the quest for this posited particle, we find the New York Post’s presumptuous headline:
LET THERE BE LIGHT" -- THEN WHAT? SCIENTISTS ARE ON THE VERGE OF UNLOCKING HOW THE UNIVERSE FORMED (ibid).
The article reviews the race to discover this elusive boson between two teams of quantum physicists using particle accelerators: the Tevraton in Illinois and the much larger machine known as the Large Hadron Collider located in Geneva.
Pardon my skepticism, but teams of 99th percentile Thomas Dolbys smashing neutrinos into quarks in a glorified Jimmy Neutron particle bowling alley just doesn’t seem likely to yield much useful information about the origin of the universe! Most cultures have texts which are considered sacred and provide equally feasible alternative ideas about the origin.
While the Big-bang theory http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bang seems plausible enough once a considerable string of assumptions are conceded, it is still a theoretical construct. Mr. Potter appears to be afflicted like the other Dolbys-“She Blinded Me with Science!”
Like so many other rational thinkers and materialists, Potter has unwittingly made what Soren Kierkegaard calls the Leap of Faith:
Kierkegaard's point is that no matter how rigorous your logical system, there will always be gaps. As these gaps are logical gaps, it is futile to try and bridge them. Instead, they can only be breached by a leap of faith. What characterizes a leap of faith is the absolute uncertainty that underlies it. Faith is by definition that which cannot be proven or disproved. http://www.philosophers.co.uk/cafe/phil_sep2001.htm

The rationalist’s faith in the scientific method, and the power of human intellect, allows him to bridge gaps that more spiritually inclined thinkers might consider unbridgeable. The concept of a “God particle” reveals one such gap.
From a more spiritual perspective, one might make the leap to believe that all particles are God particles. From this same perspective, the idea that we are material beings might seem less conceivable than the idea that we are spiritual beings, temporarily enjoying a material experience. One need not have a creationist http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creationism bent to be satisfied with the idea that the miracle of our existence and the splendor of this amazing universe might just be beyond explication via the human intellect. Explaining the origin of the universe by parsing the results of particle collisions with human consciousness is akin to measuring the radiation emitted from distant black holes with a ruler: the tool is simply not up to the job.
So when Christopher Potter makes a declarative statement such as: “The story of the universe begins with a Big Bang - a very hot and dense spot of radiation of almost no size that expands rapidly,”
His leap of faith has already been extended. How about starting that sentence with a qualifier, like: “Scientists believe” or “Quantum mechanics suggest?” In the same paragraph Potter goes on to inform us that the initial creation of matter suggested by the BB theory
“ has evolved into all the structures of matter we find in the universe, including observers like ourselves who tell this story.”
So not only is the Big Bang Theory established fact according to Potter, but the fact of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution is assumed as easily as NBA players assume Muslim names. I would like to hear Mr. Potter debate Ann Coulter about that:
“This beady-eyed fly-torturer (Darwin) gave us a conclusionary theory that has become a crucial part of how we are programmed to think in nonspiritual terms.”
Evolution, Alchemy, and other “Settled” Scientific Theories, page 106 from If Democrats had any Brains, They’d be Republicans, Ann Coulter
Although Potter’s article is lively and interesting, it remains replete with similar assumptions that suggest that modern science has nearly all the answers and that we are running out of questions:
Particle accelerators recreate the conditions of the universe as it was close to the Big Bang.
Is this according to eye-witness accounts?
The Higgs boson tells us how light became stuff.
And then God said “Let there be Stuff.” But here is Potter’s clincher:
The story of science as we understand it today can now trace our descent - and the descent of all things - back to the origins of the universe. Surely that makes science the greatest story ever told.
It seems unlikely Potter selected this turn of phrase in a vacuum. I seem to recall a 1965 movie of the same name http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Greatest_Story_Ever_Told that was about Jesus of Nazareth.
I just don’t recall the men in lab coats with pocket protectors.
I am not carrying a brief for the creationists here, just the need to admit the assumptions that underlie our various leaps of faith. I believe Ken Wilber, in A Brief History of Everything, gets it right:
“Calculations done by scientists from Fred Hoyle to F.B. Salisbury consistently show that twelve billion years isn’t even enough to produce a single enzyme by chance. In other words, something other than chance is pushing the universe…..chance is what the universe is laboring mightily to overcome…. Creativity, not chance, builds a universe. But it does not follow that you can then equate creativity with your own favorite and particular God…..I prefer “Emptiness” as a term for Spirit because it means unbounded or unquantifiable.”
“The Pattern that Connects” page 25, from A Brief History of Everything, Ken Wilber
Nothing like 12 billion year-long, nearly infinite parade of “light and stuff” to provide a sense of our small and simple place in this universe. Unless you are one of the Potterish guys who’s got it all figured out.

Real Compassion

2009-03-07T09:31:00.000-08:00

"Real compassion kicks butt and takes names, and it is not pleasant on certain days. If you are not ready for this fire, then find a new-age, sweetness-and-light, soft-speaking, perpetually smiling teacher, and learn to relabel your ego with spiritual-sounding terms. But stay away from those who practice real compassion, because they will fry your ass, my friend. What most people mean by "compassion" is: please be nice to my ego. Well your ego is your own worst enemy, and anybody being nice to it is not being compassionate to you."
One Taste, page 93, Ken Wilber

IRS Pension Plan Form Fun

2009-03-06T02:11:00.001-08:00

This article originally appeared at The American Thinker on March 1, 2009

My brother-in-law manages his own pension-funding company, helping small to middling businessmen to develop and maintain retirement programs for themselves and their employees. Needless to say, it has not been a banner year for pension-funders or their clients. But of course the appropriate forms must be completed and filed with the IRS.
In the course of completing IRS Form 5500 Schedule I question 4f regarding his company pension plan, a wry client was faced with the following question:
"Did the plan have a loss, whether or not reimbursed by the plan's fidelity bond that was caused by fraud or dishonesty?"
The client circled "Yes" but these yes-or-no questions on the government tax form require an explanation if the answer is yes. In the space provided for explanation the client had cryptically printed:
"Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Chuck Schumer."
QED
Hat tip: Ed Ferguson

Are Jewish Americans Ready to Bail on Barack?

2009-03-04T14:13:00.001-08:00

Contrary to the experience of other ethnic groups such as the Irish and Italians, the ascent of Jews up the economic and social ladder has not been accompanied by a political move to the right. As Milton Himmelfarb noted some three decades ago, Jews earn money like Episcopalians but vote like Puerto Ricans. http://www.leaderu.com/ftissues/ft9812/reviews/shapiro.html
Finally, we detect a tepid ripple from Jewish leaders in response to the Obama administration’s clear diminution of American support for Israel. Not surprisingly that indignation is directed at Hillary Clinton who is rapidly becoming the lightning rod for Jewish displeasure with the Obama administration’s Hamas-ward lurch:
Hillary had Mrs. Arafat here and she invited Mrs. Arafat for lunch when she was the first lady," (said) Babak Chafe of Great Neck. "She is pro-Palestinian 100 percent, really. Of course, we always knew it." http://68.142.200.12/us.f397.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_691387_ADFqv9EAAG6lSac5Cgn0h0r%2Bf00&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename=Jewish+Leaders+Blast+Clinton+Over+Israel+Criticism+-+wcbstv.com.htm&cred=asto3Gh63sjA1AOk0DhP7MLkz6BSxIl0NWXxtc3oMIlMskNU6i3AysPMBud3hUHnaK5pWNBQTlREiRSnsDfGpuTAXMMkKNvMfRovi_TS1QP.&ts=1235839308&partner=ymail&sig=P7JndCiYP87tD_VLYG_K2w--

This belated indignation belies the fact of overwhelming Jewish support for her boss, Barack Obama, as a Presidential candidate, despite significant evidence of his similar predilection for the Palestinian cause.
Just what did American Jews expect from a Democrat administration with friends and advisers like Rashid Khalidi, http://therealbarackobama.wordpress.com/2008/10/04/obama-and-pro-palestinian-supporter-rashid-khalidi/, Anthony Lake, Susan Rice, Zbigniew Bzrezinski and Robert O. Malley? According to Sammy Benoit, editor at Yid with Lid :
“Obama has assembled a veritable all-star team of Israel haters as his chief foreign policy experts.” http://yidwithlid.blogspot.com/2008/01/obamas-scary-anti-israel-advisors.html

One has to admire Obama’s adroit deployment of Hillary as a sort of human-shield against the onset of Jewish vitriol. Meanwhile his lower profile pro-Palestinian policy wonks can proceed to effectively dismantle the American-Israeli alliance.
The question remains: why weren’t these leaders of the Jewish-American community sounding the alarm while Obama was peddling Hope & minimizing attention to his intended Israeli Policy Change? Fully 78% of Jewish voters supported Barack Obama in November 2008: does this mean that 78% of American Jews are indifferent to the continued existence of the nation of Israel?
In his book, Jews Against Prejudice, American Jews and the Fight for Civil Liberties, Stuart Svonkin suggests that American Jews continue to consider themselves primarily as likely victims of oppression, even today in America. Perhaps this self-image renders any identification with the Israeli nation as a secondary consideration:
American Jews, despite their remarkable social and economic ascent (before and after) the Great Depression, continued to see themselves as victims threatened by malevolent forces, whether these emanated from town hall, the military, the White House, or the corporate boardroom. As a result, they identified their interests with other oppressed groups such as blacks, the working class, and the falsely accused.
The focus of Jewish political organizations exacerbated this perception:
Jews Against Prejudice chronicles the activities of the three major national Jewish "defense" organizations: the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith, and the American Jewish Congress. After World War II, they refocused their work from the defense of purely Jewish interests to a broader assault on all forms of prejudice. They now argued that anti-Semitism was not unique but part of a broad phenomenon involving bigotry and authoritarianism, and that the fate of America’s Jews was inextricably tied to that of other minority groups, particularly blacks.
World history since WWII however, suggests that anti-Semitism, is, in fact, unique in both its power and scope. There is no doubt that Anti-Semitism is embedded deep in the theological underpinnings of the Muslim religion. The celebrated “Islamic Personality of the Year for 2006,” Abdul Rahman Ibn Abdul Aziz as-Sudais an-Najdi(Hanbali, lead imam at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, for instance:
has been decried as an anti-Semite for publicly praying to God to ‘terminate’ the Jews,[6] and as a result has been barred from conferences in America,[6] and been refused entry to Canada.[7]
On April 19, 2002, in his sermon Al-Aqsa Is Crying Out For Help! Al-Sudais called the Jews "monkeys and pigs" among other invective.[8]
Al-Sudais has been listed as an example of theological anti-Semitism by the Anti-Defamation League, when he called curses down upon Jews and labeled them “scum of the earth” in his sermons. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Rahman_Al-Sudais
While the deep-rooted animus of Europeans toward the Jews was seemingly stifled after WWII, the passage of time combined with the influx of Muslim immigrants into European societies has allowed the open hatred of Jews to become resurgent. Manfred Gerstenfeld, among others, has suggested that anti-Semitism is “integral to European culture.” http://www.jcpa.org/phas/phas-19.htm In fact the increasingly radical left-wing, quasi-socialist governments of Europe have linked arms with Muslim nations to effectively institutionalize anti-Semitism at the United Nations, the Red Cross and Amnesty International among other examples of multi-national organizations whose policies drip with the poison of anti-Semitism.
It’s obvious that American Jews have been unduly complacent, living in the great freedom-loving melting-pot of the United States, where anti-Semitism has truly been limited. Only in the last 12 months have we begun to see demonstrations of anti-Semitism in public, especially in New York and San Francisco http://zombietime.com/gaza_war_protest. While American Jews have chosen to throw in their lot with blacks, the ACLU, and other minorities, the nation of Israel continues to face an escalating series of existential threats on a near daily basis.
Hopefully this stirring of anti-Hillary sentiment in the American Jewish community is an indication that Jews now recognize that the support they have provided for American blacks throughout the Civil Rights movement, is hardly reciprocated. Recall Jesse Jackson’s Hymietown rant http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/frenzy/jackson.htm , Louis Farrakhan’s long history of anti-Semitism http://www.adl.org/special_reports/farrakhan_own_words2/farrakhan_own_words.asp ,and Barack Obama’s serial associations with anti-Semites like the Reverend Jeremiah Wright http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnI431s1r6s , the afore-mentioned Khalidi http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/5917 , and a litany of other anti-Israeli Democrats http://conservativecolloquium.wordpress.com/2008/02/28/barack-obama-israel-and-anti-semitism/.
The Democrat party in general, and American blacks in particular, appear ready to stow support for Israel beneath that bus carrying all the baggage for the Obama administration and to a lesser extent, the Clintons. Is the American Jewish community finally signaling that it is no longer reluctant to stand up for its family in Israel, even if that means breaking up the old Civil Rights alliances?

A Month of B.O.

2009-02-28T01:57:00.000-08:00

This article originally appeared at The American Thinker on 02/25/2009

Has it been but a single B.O. Presidential moon? It's hard to believe the sheer volume of hyperactive bumbling the Obama administration has crammed into the space of a mere 30 some days. Perhaps it's the technological superiority of the Obamanauts that has enabled them to ratchet up the level of administrative dysfunction so thoroughly.
Recall the dismay expressed by Obie One's staffers when they found that the White House technology apparently consisted of a few rickety abacuses and an intercom made of a series of tin cans cobbled together with string. While this primitive gear may have sufficed for the Bush administration to do their cipherin' out by the White House cement pond, it was woefully unacceptable to the hip new Prez and his Windy City Rollers.
With their exceptional technical wizardry, the new administration was able to nominate nearly twice as many Cabinet candidates as previous Presidential administrations, sometimes several to a single post. The nomination process has been the first truly bi-partisan effort by an American president, as Obama's selections have included both tax-payers and non-tax-payers.
As he hit the ground talking, our new chief executive was hardly remiss in promoting his appointments and policies. In fact, the Great Leader spent more than a third of his first month (11 days) on the road in an attempt to gin up support for his wobbly opening gambits. Obama emoted by radio address, press conference, town-hall meeting and even a bizarre interview with Al-Arabiya in an attempt to show what he believes is leadership right out of the gate.
Unfortunately, all his locutions just sound like more campaign rhetoric. What else can Obama do? Try to remember that when the only tool you have is a hammer, all of your problems begin to look like nails. What evidence do we have of BHO possessing any other skills relating to his new job? Better buckle in for 4 more years of detached, grandstanding flourish left untethered by an incurious media.
The Chicago crew has delivered a mixed bag at best in the foreign policy arena. On the plus side, Obama dispatched Hillary Clinton on a mission just about as far away as one can possibly get from the United States. Surprisingly, the normally pugnacious Mrs. Clinton has picked up on the new administration's developing two-fold diplomatic strategy characterized by the grandiose and self-effacing extension of olive branches, followed immediately by groveling. One might have expected an experienced politician with leftist credentials like Hillary's to carry a brief for the beleaguered Tibetans along on her visit with the Chinese Communists, but Ms. Foggy Bottom clearly acceded to the new Administration's priorities:
Clinton (sought) to focus on economic and environmental issues in Beijing, saying Washington's concerns about the human rights situation in China should not be a distraction from those vital matters.
Just keep turning yuan into dollars and we will forget about your little Tibetan problem: so nice to see such a principled stance from our new administration.
Likewise, the new kids on the Pennsylvania Avenue block are offering a fuzzy and nearly unilateral kind of nuclear disarmament in the face of Putin's muscling up on the Eastern Europeans and the various I-would-like-to-buy- a-vowel-istans. Obama's reaching out to the Iranians has accomplished precisely a demand for an elaborate act of contrition for our imagined Persian-directed sins as well as the end of our support for Israel.
With all the pro-Palestinians filling Obama's staff chairs, an independent observer might believe that he is considering tossing Israel under the bus, not that there is any room left down there. If it weren't for the providential squeaker of a victory by Bibi Netanyahu in the Israeli elections, the formerly committed Western alliance in the Middle East would resemble a beached school of 98 pound weaklings begging to have sand kicked in our faces. And the other guys have a lot of sand.
Of course none of the above is a top priority for the Hope & Changers. Just as in the Chicago Machine that birthed his political career, with Obama it's all about the Benjamins. And with the stimulating collusion of Pelosi and Reid, B.O. is rapidly making the Daley arm-twisters look like pikers. After what must have been a careful review of Karl Marx's Theory of Surplus Value , the Community-Organizer-in-Chief has begun the stimulation of the U.S. economy from rock-bottom up by holding town-hall meetings where the American Idle now get to engage in sympathy contests a la Queen for a Day. Henrietta Hughes? Come on down!
On the economic front, early indications suggest that the Obama administration will look to Brother Gettelfinger and the UAW for guidance, as the overpaid and over-benefitted union that drove our car industry into desperate shape has effectively solved Marx's Surplus Value dilemma: in the American auto industry, there is no surplus value. The value of the products manufactured these days is the same as its cost of production (or less.) If we leave it up to the Illini politicos, before long we won't even have to worry about capping CEO salaries: gross output production quotas can simply be assigned by the appropriate Federal Bureau. The Hurry-up & Changers have a similar cure in mind for the American banking system. And the health care system. And their sycophantic newspaper/media buddies. Ad nauseum ad infinitum.
All of this in B.O.'s first month, and this report barely begins to scratch the surface of his attempted Chicagofication of America. Our new President provides the perfect combination of hubris, narcissism, naïveté and unjustified self-confidence to continue to step well beyond the bounds of the limited mandate he acquired with his enormous campaign funds, the stilted lick-spittle media coverage, and unquestioning support from youths and minorities. Continuing attempted change at this pace will assure the rapid expenditure of Obama's diminishing political capital. Can you say Jimmy Carter?

Quote of the Week

2009-02-24T07:07:00.000-08:00

Rasputin, a Siberian peasant, was a televangelist. TV had not been invented however, so he had to swindle people one at a time.

P.J. O'Rourke, Eat the Rich, A Treatise on Economics, 1996

Obama's Airness Doctrine

2009-02-19T15:32:00.000-08:00

As soon as the Obama juggernaut began to transition away from the campaign mode and into governing, the slobbering Obie media began humming with talk of the great pragmatism of The Politician Formerly Known as The One. Getting down to the nuts and bolts of cabinet selection and legislative enactment was expected to have a grounding effect. It seemed unlikely we would be treated to the grandiose claims of Barry’s loftiest campaign hyperbole:
“this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal.”
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D912VD200&show_article=1,
Well, maybe not.
In an interview with Lisa P. Jackson, Obama’s new E.P.A. administrator, she suggested that the agency
is expected to act for the first time to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that scientists blame for the warming of the planet. http://68.142.200.12/us.f397.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?clean=0&fid=Inbox&mid=1_662040_ADRqv9EAADGbSZ0kRQsMyCJdLTk&pid=2&tnef=&prefFilename=E.P.A.+Expected+to+Regulate+Carbon+Dioxide+and+Other+Heat-Trapping+Gases+-+NYTimes.com.htm&cred=.XRXdF1VjvxWFXKunovVZG0gYP5cK9T302PRVqWHAHn_OF40mKmBjBz6AAu7iTFtdfsyz1xT8Pal0XCzs1HAOutNaP79INq6cBp_oi5QElgs&ts=1235040611&partner=ymail&sig=vS7EifhZ4FsdxFzLpbbTpQ--
Not quite prepared to tackle the oceans, the Obamalibs are nonetheless quite ready to provide us with some inhalation therapy.

Ben LaBolt, described as a White House Spokesman (and not a French superhero) added ominously:
If the environmental agency determines that carbon dioxide is a dangerous pollutant to be regulated under the Clean Air Act, it would set off one of the most extensive regulatory rule makings in history.
Someone should alert the plants and trees that inhale carbon dioxide just as we homo sapiens take up oxygen.
No word in this report concerning the new Administration’s position on that other, as yet non-controversial, gaseous potential pollutant: Oxygen. If the New Democrats in charge decide to commence regulating the oxygen supply, look for the emphasis to focus on red states. This is surely only the beginning of Obama’s Airness Doctrine.

Totally Political Science

2009-02-16T13:53:00.000-08:00

Al Gore’s politically correct culte verte really has nothing to do with science, but it continues to fill the slender science sections of our mainstream media outlets. Thankfully we find the news this week loaded with the results of actual scientific inquiry. Our task here at Totally Political Science is to find the intersection of politics and science and report them without poking our tongues through our cheeks.
The National Science Foundation released a fascinating report on the discovery of the remains of an enormous prehistoric snake:
Scientists have recovered fossils from a 60-million-year-old South American snake whose length and weight might make today's anacondas seem like garter snakes.
Named Titanoboa cerrejonensis by its discoverers, the size of the snake's vertebrae suggest it weighed 1,140 kilograms (2,500 pounds) and measured 13 meters (42.7 feet) nose to tail tip. http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=114112
Now that’s a snake, son! An ophidian this large would barely fit through your office door and laying flat, would stand hip-high to the average man. To determine just how these ancient reptiles became so huge, scientists turned to an examination of the earth’s temperature 60 million years ago when this behemoth still slithered the earth:
Scientists have long known of a rough correlation between a period or epoch's temperature and the size of its poikilotherms [cold-blooded creatures]," said Paul Filmer, program director in the National Science Foundation (NSF)'s Division of Earth Sciences, which co-funded the research. "As Earth's temperature increases, so does the upper size limit on poikilotherms." (ibid)
Researchers determined that the earth’s mean temperature must have been 7-10 degrees warmer back during Super-slinky’s hey-day. There was no correlation found in this report between the earth’s current slightly increasing temperature (reportedly 1 degree hotter in the last century http://news.cnet.com/Earths-temperature-at-400-year-high/2100-11395_3-6087108.html and the rapid expansion in girth of the world’s largest pork-ilotherm, Al Gore. There was neither any conjecture in the report regarding the selection of the Latin term, titanoboa cerrejonensis for the ancient basilisk http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilisk. It would seem more fitting that we name it after the biggest snake currently thriving on our planet: and Giganaconda chuckschumerensis really has a certain ring to it.
Moving up what the Darwinists call the evolutionary ladder in the news, we find a report regarding the order Chiroptera http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat, specifically the rodent- like flying mammals we refer to commonly as bats. A scourge is ravaging the caved communities of bats hibernating in northern New York and Vermont. The creepy little critters are dying off in droves. Scientists are puzzling out the cause:
The most obvious symptom involved in the die-off is a white fungus encircling the noses of some, but not all, of the bats.
Bat with white nose syndrome (Photo courtesy West Virginia Association for Cave Studies)
Called "white nose syndrome," the fungus is believed to be associated with the problem, but it may not contribute to the actual cause of death. (http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jan2008/2008-01-31-094.asp)
The disease has thus far been affecting primarily four species of bats:
Indiana bats, a state and federally endangered species, are perhaps the most vulnerable….Eastern pipistrelle, northern long-eared and little brown bats are also dying. Little brown bats, the most common hibernating species in the state, have sustained the largest number of deaths. (ibid)
Therein lies the expected rub. Reports suggest that the Reverend Jeremiah Wright has gotten wind of the near epidemic and is suspicious of the origins of the disease: “Just like the CIA helped distribute cocaine and crack in the inner cities to powder the noses of young black men, now those same powerful forces are dusting up the noses of Chiroptero-Americans-especially the little brown ones!”
No word yet on whether Wright or his doppelganger the Reverend Al Sharpton are planning demonstrations at the mouths of New York caves. Both ministers are thought to be consulting with former Washington D.C. Mayor, Marion Barry, Jr. to strategize. Barry is, of course, an expert in the field of nasally ingested powdery substances.
Finally, from the European insect world (pardon the redundance), we find a study demonstrating how a cagey species of caterpillar gains the royal treatment from ant colonies by mimicking the noises made by their queen:
Ants of the species Myrmica schencki can be fooled into carrying certain caterpillars into the colony nurseries where the fakers enjoy full care and five-star dining, explains Jeremy Thomas of the University of Oxford in England. http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/40606/title/Caterpillar_noise_tricks_ants_into_service_
This caterpillar-with-ant-queen-microphone shtick is so convincing to the worker ants, that the imposters are given treatment preferable to that given their own species:
Queen-mimicry could explain the VIP treatment caterpillars receive in the ant colony. “Quite often they’re treated as superior beings,” Thomas says. In a crisis, worker ants rescue caterpillars before a regular ant brood. And in famine, workers will kill their own brood and feed it to the caterpillar. Ibid
This type of behavior, when exhibited in supposedly more highly evolved species, would help explain the results of the 2008 American Presidential election. The Democrat candidate, Barack Obama, by making sounds that worker (and should-be working) humans interpreted as the sounds of their leaders, gave Obama preferential treatment (especially in the media) and protection from the vicissitudes of having to actually demonstrate his ability to do anything. Just making the right noises was all that was required for Obama to secure the American homo sapiens equivalent of the ant-queen’s throne.
Investigation of the methods of sound production for the comparative species is particularly enlightening:
Advances in miniature electronics made the new study possible. Specially built ant-scale microphones and speakers allowed researchers to record both queen and worker ants under normal conditions and then play back the noises and observe ant behavior.
To a human ear, queens and caterpillars don’t sound at all similar, Thomas warns. Yet ants perceive noises differently, picking up vibrations with sensors in the legs. Ibid
This revelation helps explain the Chris Mathews “tingle up my leg” syndrome, experienced each time the Hardball anchor hears Barack Obama speak. Little did we know that this syndrome was just an evolutionary throwback to the response of an ancestral species to communicable chicanery. One wonders just how many Obamaniacs are still interpreting the messages from the New President femurally.
That’s all we have this week from the realm of ants, bats, snakes and Democrats. Look for more Totally Political Science next week on these same pages.

The Bill Gates Mosquito Circus

2009-02-10T08:44:00.001-08:00

This article was first published at The American Thinker on 02/08/2009

"Malaria is spread by mosquitoes," Gates said while opening a jar onstage at the Technology, Entertainment, Design Conference - a gathering known to attract technology kings, politicians, and Hollywood stars.
"I brought some. Here I'll let them roam around. There is no reason only poor people should be infected." (Fox News)
Historically a staunch supporter of free enterprise, Bill Gates has battled the regulators and his competitors every step of the way to maintain his Microsoft patents and to continue to profit from them. Since his incredible fortune has matured, Gates has turned to philanthropy, donating literally billions to a bevy of charitable causes. The Microsoft founder exhibits the occasional bout of quirkiness however, which one might expect from the uber-nerd who brainstormed his way to status as the richest man on the planet.
His latest stroll through the news, however, involves something like a parlor trick and seems more suited to the Howard Hughes school of eccentric billionaires. To make his point about the deadly and fearsome plague of malaria, Gates released a glass full of mosquitoes on the unsuspecting crowd at the Technology, Entertainment Design Conference in Long Beach, California. Did Gates plan on infecting some rich folks to prove his point? The answer is yes, although Gates quickly pointed out that the pests released were not malarial. Mr. Moneybags only intended to infect his audience with guilt. And guilt-inducement is the last refuge of the liberal scoundrel. It has become the go-to move for so-called progressives when intellectual argument fails and one can't muster the facts to support one's case.
While the cause of eradicating malaria remains noble, the Gates Foundation apparently failed to get the Rachel Carson memo so widely distributed in the non-Sierra Club press. According to eFluxMedia:
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are great supporters of finding effective treatments for malaria, and ultimately eradicating the disease by 2015. The Foundation is currently working with partners around the world to help discover and develop malaria vaccines, in addition to working on developing effective prevention strategies.
One has to admit, his intentions are good. Providing paving stones on the road to hell is the ultimate moral justification for most liberal causes: results don't matter, just having significant compassion. This focus on what Ken Wilber calls Idiot Compassion enables liberal thinkers to support abortion but reject the death penalty for serial killers or to whine about the disproportion of an Israeli response to decades of terrorist attacks. Or to remain mindlessly in support of the ban on DDT when it's implementation could save millions of lives.
In this case, the good intentions of The Gates Foundation overlook the simple fact that their efforts are redundant: Malaria was nearly eradicated in the 1960's. And then came Rachel Carson and her wrong-headed book, Silent Spring. Since Ms. Carson's tome was published, spring has been permanently silent for millions of Africans:
Rachel Carson's major impact on the planet has been to discourage the use of a safe, cheap pesticide called DDT to suppress disease-bearing mosquitoes. North America and Europe used DDT to eradicate malaria. After our children were safe, we told the Third World not to use it because it might harm their bird populations.
The absence of DDT has led to the needless deaths of at least 30 million people from malaria and yellow fever in the tropics. (Five times as many as Hitler killed in his concentrations death camps, albeit inadvertently). Most of them were helpless African children. In addition, malaria has been allowed to blight the lives of perhaps 1 billion chronic malaria sufferers, who are too often unable to work and further erode economic resources by requiring family nursing care. The millions of malaria cases in the tropics may, just by themselves, explain half of the poverty and human degradation on the planet today.
Ms. Carson's misguided compassion for a few species of birds which might possibly have been harmed by DDT made her an inspiration to the proto-PETA types who helped found the modern environmental movement. And who do you suppose filled the seats in the auditorium where Gates made his unorthodox demonstration? Right. Environmentalist wackos who would never approve of the use of DDT, regardless of its proven safety and effectiveness:
One of the most effective Third World uses of DDT is to spray the inside of homes. It's the most cost-effective mosquito repellent known. Instead of a mosquito entering the home; biting someone; spreading the disease; and dying hours later, the mosquito never comes in. One application every six months is enough to reduce malaria rates by 60 percent. DDT is the only highly effective strategy we have for suppressing this massive problem. If malaria made a comeback in America, the EPA would have to re-register DDT.
The U.S. Agency for International Development is now offering modest funding for the indoor use of DDT in poor tropical countries-30 years late.
I know I am no Bill Gates, but the solution looks disarmingly simple from here: Hey Bill: put down the mosquito circus and write a large check to the U.S. Agency for International Development. (Feel free to consult with Timothy Geithner on the required # of 0's.) You can afford it. Oh, and come out publicly for the reversal of the beatification of Rachel Carson.

Obama Struggling to Find Photo-Op Republicans

2009-02-06T04:50:00.000-08:00

This article was first pubished at The American Thinker on 02/02/2009:

Looks like President Barack Obama has got another think coming. The Acorn Wonder is trying a combination of bombardment and enticement to gain bipartisan support needed to give him cover for the Pelosi Pork Stimulator 2009. Obama's display of less than gracious disrespect ("I won") for the formerly wobbly guys across the aisle fell flatter than Caroline Kennedy's political EKG. The Congressional GOP bucked up and left Obama and Pelosi to garner all the accolades (or all the blame) for the results of this porcine enhancer.
Even the fact of zero Republican support for the bill couldn't wipe the rictal grin off the face of Nancy Pelosi as she helped ram the Pork Stimulator through Congress on the basis of the more plebian chamber's overwhelming Democrat majority. In celebration of the Democrats' pyrrhic victory, BO Plenty had a bipartisan soiree for Congressional leaders over to the White House. Even tempting the opposition with expensive wagyu steaks wasn't flying however, as the report out of the American equivalent of the House of Lords suggests that Pelosi's Pork may need a bit of Viagra. Mitch McConnell certainly didn't candy-coat it:

"I can't believe that the president isn't embarrassed about the products that have been produced so far."

While President Obama may be wet behind the ears, he is surrounded by enough experience to help him recognize that when even that old aisle-crosser hisself, John McCain, refuses to play along, the chances of garnering bipartisan support are between slim and none. If the Democrats remain arrogant enough to take their chances and shoulder all the responsibility for this Calydonian Boar of a bill, a slim chance remains that one of the Northeastern Republicans will provide token support for the Pelosian fiasco. It probably wouldn't hurt the careers of Olympia Snowe (RINO-ME), Susan Collins(Ditto) or Obama's new buddy, Gregg Judd(RINO-NH-and probably Commerce Secretary) to appear in flagrante de picto standing behind President BO Plenty as he signs the equivalent of an adjustable-rate, no document, sub-prime mortgage on our grandchildren's future. It looks like that's the only cover Obama is likely to get, if any.

Americans Go into Spending Rehab

2009-02-06T04:45:00.001-08:00

This article was first published at Pajamas Media on 02/02/2009:

“I don’t think we will live the same way for 10 years,” says Howard Davidowitz, chairman of New York-based retail consultant and investment bank Davidowitz & Associates. “People are so scared they’re starting to save.”
The concept of our citizens putting money into savings is not a condition that has been seriously considered any time recently by American retailers. Riding a bifurcated wave of prosperity and debt-fueled consumption, the industry has ballooned to outrageously unsupportable proportions, blanketing our nation and the developing world with malls and storefronts that are unlikely to be of much further use in their current orientation.
Don’t get me wrong, I like a good cup of coffee as much as the next guy. But until quite recently, Starbucks, the Seattle mega-coffee retailer, was reported to have been operating 17,000 stores in 94 countries. God bless the guys who figured out they could sell $6.00 cups of coffee on even a small scale. Now layoffs and store closings are the order of the day. Under what economic system was expanding to 17,000 boutique coffee shops considered a viable long-term business plan? Apparently the American one.
Laissez-faire capitalism helped created the retail circus that America has been running in all three rings for the past two decades. OK, so McDonald’s has more than 31,000 outlets in 119 countries, but Ray Kroc’s brainchild sells hamburgers in a volume that can only be understood by Timothy Geithner, and they have a pre-school indoctrination program that the Democrats would like to get their hands on. In fact, McDonald’s profits were reported to have increased 80% in 2008.
These remarkable numbers were produced in the teeth of a recession that is decimating over-extended companies like Starbucks. And the overreachers are legion. The signs beneath the McDonald’s arches have become a piece of genuine Americana and might even reach “One Trillion Sold” before Obama’s deficit does. Starbucks, if it is to survive Barackonomics at all, needs a lot more than a face-lift. Financial bariatric surgery is more likely in order. This fits Davidowitz’s retail analysis:
Narrow specialties (Sprint’s cellphones) and high prices (Starbucks’ coffee) are tough sells as the consumer mood turns thrifty. What plagues Starbucks will also affect other upscale goody chains like Mrs. Fields’ Cookies, and causal dining outlets like Applebee’s and Cheesecake Factory. Any of the neighborhood outlets for those restaurant chains could be a casualty this year. For too many customers now, it’s McDonald’s or bust.
Now the nearly 20 year-long expansion is spent and the painful retraction is tearing through retailers like peanut butter and salmonella sandwiches through a retirement home.
And it isn’t just Starbucks getting reverse-biggie-sized. Circuit City, an electronics retailer, is closing all 567 of it’s stores; Charming Shoppes (Lane Bryant, Catherine’s, & Fashion Bug) closed 150 stores and announced the closing of another 100; Office Depot is closing 112 locations; and the outdoorsy Timberland & Eddie Bauer, 69 between them. Many retailers are simply closing all of their stores: Steve & Barry’s (173 units), Tweaker (a Bostonian electronics retailer-150 stores), Mervyns (149), Whitehall Jewelers (373), Club Libby Lu (98), and Linen’s N’ Things (however many they had.)
When Andrea Mitchell’s hubby Alan Greenspan described the go-go tech stocks boom of the 90s, he asked precisely the question American retailers should be asking themselves each time they open another storefront:
But how do we know when irrational exuberance has unduly escalated asset values, which then become subject to unexpected and prolonged contractions as they (did) in Japan (in the 1980’s?)
I’ll take this one: We know now. The free market works. Despite suggestions from Democrats to the contrary, the evidence of failure on an increasingly grand scale is proof of precisely how the market was meant to work. Capitalism doesn’t mean that prosperity is continuous and uninterrupted. There are winners and losers. As an Indiana farmer once explained it to me: “Pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered.”
Bankers lending money based upon a logical credit and collateral analysis results in fatter bankers getting fatter paychecks. Bankers lending money on the basis of politically correct bromides results in Indymac sausage.
Retail expansion based upon demographic analysis coupled with clear-eyed economic forecasting creates larger, healthier corporations. Retail expansion to the point of nine Starbucks locations in my hometown of Carmel, Indiana (population 68,000), creates the corporate personification of the law of diminishing returns. While 10 or maybe even 200 trendy latte shops might be a good thing, 17,000 U.S. barista-training centers more than likely spells irrational exuberance indeed.

Seeing the Kennedys in the Rearview Mirror

2009-02-01T10:04:00.000-08:00

"The Kennedys were more than a rich, bad family who gained temporary political power. They were demagogues of oligarchy. Disguised as populists, they championed the definitely privileged and supposedly enlightened few....There is something more horrible than hoodlums, churls and vipers and this is knaves with moral justification for their cause. The Kennedy's thought the world would be a better place for having them run it."

Mordred had a Point-Camelot Revisited, P.J. O'Rourke in Give War a Chance, 1992

How the Dems Can Fund Their Stimulus

2009-02-01T10:02:00.000-08:00

Is it just me or does the Obama administration seem to gravitate toward cabinet nominees who can’t shoot straight? Now Tom Daschle, Obama’s designated selection for the position of Health & Human Services Secretary, appears to have filed his income taxes using the Tim Geithner school of income disclosure. The former Senate Democrat Majority Leader is smack dab in the middle of a dust-up:
The controversy deals with a car and driver lent to Daschle by a wealthy Democratic friend, a chauffeur service the former senator used for years without declaring it on his taxes.( http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/01/bumps-in-the-ro.html)
Once again, the vetting process sharpened the nominee’s memory, as it did in the case of Mr. Geithner, and Daschle handed over a check to the taxman for $101,943. Of course a spokesman for Daschle qualified the action by
adding that Daschle had asked his accountant to look into the tax implications of the car and driver five months before Mr. Obama won the presidency. (ibid)
Of course he did. The fanciful taxes filed by Mr. Geithner, Mr. Daschle and the reigning Democrat Chairman of the House Ways & Means committee, Charles Rangel, have made it quite clear that the accountants available for hire in Washington, D.C. are writing lots of taxes, mostly fiction. Why would one expect an accountant from this fiduciary wasteland to be able to generate enough spin to amend a tax return in a mere 7 months?
While I am not an economist and don’t even play one on TV, this new method of tax collection seems perfectly suited to helping fund the litany of porcine entitlements proposed in the Obama-Pelosi Stimululator 2009. IRS coffers are already nearly 150k richer thanks to the Geithner & Daschle vetting processes. Why not set up the cabinet Secretary positions on a weekly rotating basis? Members of the Democrat party could be chosen at random from Congress, the Senate and various state-level positions around the nation. By vetting each of the 15 cabinet positions weekly, we would collect an additional $27 million annually, assuming the average Democrat tax dodge at around the current figure of $75,000 each.
Now $27 million sounds like a drop in the bucket compared to a trillion dollar stimulus. But if we started in the New Orleans and Chicago regions, the averages could rise much higher and faster. Oops, my bad. We did start in Chicago.