Light blogging

I'm on an extended business trip to Tampa, and I won't have much time for blogging in the next three weeks.

I will be thinking of all of you this weekend while I'm on on Clearwater Beach, however.

Friedman joins the cult of the True Believers

I've always known that the NYT's Tom Terrific Friedman always took himself too seriously.

Here's some verification.

Too bad

Friedman was one of the last of the NYT columnists to have any credibility.

He's cured that with his gorification.

From The Other Side

"At first there was no place for us to go until someone put up that Black Granite Wall. Now, everyday and night, my Brothers and my Sisters wait to see the many people from places afar file in front of this Wall. Many stopping briefly and many for hours and some that come on a regular basis. It was hard at first, not that it's gotten any easier, but it seems that many of the attitudes towards that war that we were involved in have changed. I can only pray that the ones on the other side have learned something and more Walls as this one needn't be built.

Several members of my unit and many that I did not recognize have called me to the Wall by touching my name that is engraved upon it. the tears aren't necessary but are hard even for me to hold back. Don't feel guilty for not being with me, my Brothers. This was my destiny as it is yours, to be on that side of the Wall.

Touch the Wall, my brothers, so that we can share in the memories that we had. I have learned to put the bad memories aside and remember only the pleasant times that we had together. Tell our other Brothers out there to come and visit me, not to say Good-Bye, but to say Hello and be together again, even for a short time and to ease that pain of loss that we all share.

Today, an irresistible and loving call comes from the Wall. As I approach, I can see an elderly lady and as I get closer, I recognize her......It's Momma! As much as I have looked forward to this day, I have also regretted it because I didn't know what reaction I would have.

Next to her, I suddenly see my wife and immediately think how hard it must have been for her to come to this place and my mind floods with the pleasant memories of 30 years past. There's a young man in a military uniform standing with his arm around her.....My God! It's...it has to be my son. Look at him trying to be the man without a tear in his eye. I yearn to tell him how proud I am, seeing him standing tall, straight and proud in his uniform.

Momma comes closer and touches the Wall and I feel the soft and gentle touch I had not felt in so many years. Dad has crossed to this side of the wall and through our touch, I try to convey to her that Dad is doing fine and is no longer suffering or feeling pain. I see my wife's courage building as she sees Momma touch the Wall and approaches and lays her hand on my waiting hand. All the emotions, feelings and memories of three decades past flash between our touch and I tell her that it's all right. Carry on with your life and don't worry about me......I can see as I look into her eyes that she hears and understands me and a big burden has been lifted from her.

I watch as they lay flowers and other memories of my past. My lucky charm that was taken from me and sent to her by my CO, a tattered and worn teddy bear that I can barely remember having as I grew up as a child and several medals that I had earned and were presented to my wife. One of them is the combat Infantry Badge that I am very proud of and I noticed that my son is also wearing this medal. I had earned mine in the jungles of Vietnam and he had probably earned his in the deserts of Iraq.

I can tell that they are preparing to leave and I try to take a mental picture of them together, because I don't know when I will see them again. I wouldn't blame them if they were not to return and can only thank them that I was not forgotten. My wife and Momma near the Wall for one final touch and so many years of indecision, fear and sorrow are let go. As they turn to leave I feel my tears that had not flowed for so many years, form as if dew drops on the other side of the Wall.

They slowly move away with only a glance over their shoulder. My son suddenly stops and slowly returns. He stands straight and proud in front of me and snaps a salute. Something makes him move to the Wall and he puts his hand upon the Wall and touches my tears that had formed on the face of the wall and I can tell that he senses my presence there and the pride and the love that I have for him. He falls to his knees and the tears flow from his eyes and I try my best to reassure him that it's all right and the tears do not make him any less of a man. As he moves back wiping the tears from his eyes, he silently mouths, God Bless you, Dad..... God Bless, YOU, Son..... We WILL meet someday but in the meanwhile, go on your way..... there is no hurry..... There is no hurry at all.

As I see them walk off in the distance, I yell out to THEM and EVERYONE there today, as loud as I can, .......THANKS FOR REMEMBERING and as others on this side of the Wall join in, I noticed that the US Flag that so proudly flies in front of us everyday, is flapping and standing proudly straight out in the wind today...THANK YOU ALL FOR REMEMBERING."

(Inspiration to post this image and story came by an email of a similar nature from Fred Gregory)

Ready for your MASSIVE tax increases?

"What tax increases?", you might ask.....

THESE tax increases, says Dick Morris.

Noteworthy:

"The answer is that the party is concocting an elaborate costume
with which to disguise its coming mammoth tax increases.

Once the Democrats firmly control both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue,
they will probably:


Raise the top bracket on the income tax back up to 40 percent 
from its current 35 percent.

Increase the Capital Gains Tax from its current 15 percent 
to 30 percent or, perhaps, eliminate it entirely and tax these
gains as ordinary income (at 40 percent).

Double, triple or perhaps eliminate the ceiling on FICA taxes 
so that instead of taxing only the first $99,000 of income, the 
levy covers a much higher portion of earned income.

Repeal much of the rollback in estate taxes passed by Bush.

The combined effect of these increases will be horrific, and 
will probably trigger a recession. As Election Day 2008 nears, it 
is easy to anticipate massive sell-offs of stocks and real estate 
in anticipation of a Democratic increase in capital gains rates.

So, to induce America to swallow their tax poison, the Democrats
understand the need to camouflage their intentions and hide them 
in the rhetoric of middle-class tax cuts."

Of course, the recession could come early, perhaps first quarter 08,
if they're successful in scaring consumers and market managers into
believing that the "sub prime" meltdown is worse than it actually is.

That sort of tactic is a favorite little trick of Dems/Lefties/"Progressives"
when it suits their agenda. 

UPDATE 6:36 pm



It's already begun.



Excerpt:

"By arguing that preventing this tax increase
requires us to raise taxes elsewhere, Democrats
are trying to lock Congress into a system where
we are guaranteed to raise taxes by $3.5 trillion
over ten years.  
That’s right. $3.5 trillion. The baseline that the
Democrats are using for “paygo” includes
revenue from an “un-patched” AMT and from the
tax increases that occur when the 2001 and 2003
tax laws expire after 2010.  Together they total
$3.5 trillion over ten years.  If we play by
the Democrats “paygo” rules, that is the
size of the tax increase we are imposing on the
American people.  That will hurt our nation’s
competitiveness and cost us American jobs.  The
Rangel bill is the first step down a road none of
us want to follow, and I urge you to
oppose it strongly."  

Ah yes! We're all in this water shortage together, aren't we?

.......except for those who aren't.

Did it never occur to these folks to ask for an exemption from the federation in consideration of the difficult situation our area is in?

Stark apologizes for being a slimeball

It looks like the real possibility of censure convinced him that he couldn't get away with it.

Analysis from Captain Ed:

"Stark may have had to cut a deal for an apology to keep Republicans from successfully censuring him. Five Democrats voted for the measure anyway, and Nancy Pelosi publicly chastised him for the remarks shortly after the S-CHIP debate.

It seems rather sad that 196 members of Congress couldn't bring themselves to follow Pelosi's lead. One wonders what kind of remarks they would find bad enough to bring censure, a rather weak response in any case."

As expected, the Nutroots howl in righteous indignation.

Noteworthy:

"Could someone please explain how apologizing for speaking the truth to power is supposed to disprove the meme that Democrats are cowering weaklings?"

Unbelievable!

However, there is apparently no truth to the rumor that Stark has been invited to be a panelist at Converge South 2008.

Fisking Paul Krugman

His fellow left leaning academics see through the propaganda nonsense and grandstanding he passes off as "authoritative knowledge".

Excerpts:

"But Krugman the anti-economist does not believe that growing economic inequality incubated modern political conservatism. In his view, the “arrow of causation” points the other way: political change, cunningly engineered by “radicals of the right,” has spawned egregious economic disparity, as well as a toxic level of partisanship. Ever the iconoclast, Krugman says “this strongly suggests that institutions, norms and the political environment matter a lot more for the distribution of income — and that the impersonal market forces matter less — than Economics 101 might lead you to believe.” In short, it’s the politics, stupid.

The bulk of this book consists of a historical explanation for how this sorry state of affairs came to be. It’s a story that is as factually shaky as it is narratively simplified."


"For all that he inveighs against the evils of partisanship, Krugman astonishingly concludes by repudiating the chimera of “bipartisan compromise” and declaring that “to be a progressive, then, means being a partisan — at least for now.” Indeed, at times he seems more intent on settling his neocon adversaries’ hash than on advancing solutions to vexed policy issues. “Yes, Virginia, there is a vast right-wing conspiracy,” he writes, a sentence that both stylistically and substantively says much about the shortcomings of this book."


"Krugman’s shrill polemic may hearten the faithful, but it will do little to persuade the unconvinced or to advance the national discussion of the important issues it addresses. It may even deepen the very partisan divide he denounces."

Yet I guarantee that you will continue to see snippets in the blogosphere of his (lack of) wisdom and his partisan hackery passed of as the definitive explanation of any and everything.

"The Conscience of a Liberal"?

Don't make me laugh........

Stoking the moral bonfires

How the Dems/Lefties/"Progressives" template for "Iraq as Viet Nam" exposes their morally bankrupt agenda and talking points.


Excerpt:

"Once again, the left prefers to ignore and/or enable a barbaric ideology that thrives on human enslavement, misery, and death. With tedious and infinitely repetitive talking points, they continue to subscribe to the comforting notion that the US is the cause of the mayhem and butchery and ignore the real butchers.

And their deluded women's movement is more interested in forcing science to acknowledge that women are identical to men in every way possible, than they are in helping the women in the Middle East get out from under the oppression of Islam.

In other words, the MSM's Vietnam 'template' is actually nothing more than that primitive and immature psychological defense mechanism known as DENIAL."

Spinning the Senate Dems' shameless slime of Limbaugh

.....and Dingy Harry's subsequent pretentious attempt to take credit for the millions of dollars Rush raised for charity.

Noteworthy:


"As Matt Drudge correctly pointed ABC was crediting the perpetrators instead of the victim, Rush. That letter was not written to raise money — it was written to get a man fired for broadcasting opinions that 41 Democratic Senators wanted censured."

The Incredible Lightness of St. Algore the Disingenuous

The Patron Saint of the Church of the True Believers, an Ignoble Laureate.

Noteworthy:


"As for Gore, caveat emptor. He has a limitless political agenda, and he and his green minions are now weighing a draft for president using his Nobel Laureate status as a launch pad. However, the greatest obstacle to a Gore draft is the fact that he has irrevocably distinguished himself as a disingenuous politico, a case study in narcissistic personality disorder. Indeed, Gore is an ignoble laureate of the first order."

The Dems/Lefties/"Progressives" recent slime balling of Limbaugh backfires

Don't you just love it when the Law of Unintended Consequences works against the exact goal the Usual Suspects were hoping to accomplish with their flatulent rhetoric?

Be sure to click here to read the babble, dribble, drool, and spew from the Dumbocrat Underachievers.

FYI:

The bid is now over $2 million, and Limbaugh is going to match every penny.

I LOVE it when a plan comes together.......

Here's a GREAT idea for a Christmas gift

Make sure you add this to your list for all your Republican/conservative friends.

(hat tip: Boortz)

Here's the other side of "net neutrality"

It's a side that you don't hear from the supporters (most Dems/Lefties/"Progressives"), who tend to characterize opposition as being in the pocket of Big Telco and Big Media, and who love to talk about "protecting the free flow of information on the internet".


Let's take a good look at what they DON'T talk about.


Noteworthy:

"In theory, net-neutrality regulation would ban Internet operators from treating some bits of online traffic or communications more favorably than others, whether for economic or political purposes. Proponents of net neutrality use the same kind of fantastic rhetoric to describe it that they once used for the Fairness Doctrine: it’s a way to “save the Internet” from “media barons,” they say, who’re apparently hell-bent on controlling all our thoughts and activities.

As City Journal’s Brian Anderson notes, 'It’s thus not hard to imagine a network neutrality law as the first step toward a Web fairness doctrine, with government trying to micromanage traffic flows to secure "equal treatment" of opposing viewpoints (read: making sure all those noisy right-wingers get put back in their place).'"

"This twisted theory of the First Amendment cannot support net-neutrality regulation. The First Amendment was intended to protect us from tyrannical, coercive government power, not the silly mistakes of private companies. And a new Fairness Doctrine for the Internet would have the same chilling effect on the vibrant exchange of ideas—especially conservative ones—that the old Fairness Doctrine for broadcast TV and radio did."

Interestingly enough, there's some sort of convergence going on in Greensboro this weekend for people who use the internet and its technology. The concept of "net neutrality" may be a subject of discussion, but I seriously doubt if the aspect of "net neutrality" discussed in this post will get any exposure there.

Worshiping the Goracle

Related babble, dribble, drool, and spew:



"In the scientific community, there was literally zero dissent [on global warming]. But at the same time...[there is] a massive propaganda campaign by the Exxon corporation and by others... that has been very, very successful at persuading the media not to cover this issue seriously and reporters simply don’t go read the science."

--Little Bobby Kennedy

"Former Vice President Al Gore wins the Nobel Peace Prize for helping awaken the world to global warming. Now is it time to run for president again?"

—ABC’s Diane Sawyer

"Yes, the prize is rightly his. No one has devoted himself with such dedication and intellectual probity to a cause as important as this one. No one. So he deserves the Nobel. And the country deserves Al Gore to make another run at the presidency, he having lost his last try through chicanery and the arrogance of a party for which lying is second nature. Or maybe first."

—Marty Peretz, The New Republic

"The worst thing about Mr. Gore, from the conservative point of view, is that he keeps being right."

—former Enron advisor Paul Krugman in The New York Times

"Even the Nobel Prize is not going to be enough to silence the naysayers, some of whom still believe that man is not responsible for global warming."

—ABC’s David Wright

"[T]he fact is that there are very few scientists that are saying [that there is no link between manmade emissions of fossil fuels and climate change]. And if you look at the small handful that are still saying this, in many cases, they’re funded by the fossil fuel industry... So there really isn’t a scientific debate anymore on this."

—CNN’s Miles O’Brien

Will this absurdity that masquerades as science EVER stop?

(hat tip: The Patriot Post US)

More information about the SCHIP nonsense

.....that the supporters of this most egregious and misbegotten legislation don't want you to know:


"Supporters of this bill know it's a fraud. They know that this bill will overturn a ruling that states must certify 95% of their uninsured poor children are covered before covering anyone else. They know that right now these states have left 750,000 poor children uncovered while expanding the program to adults and more affluent families because states have used the money to cover other people and then complained that they ran out of money.

The supporters of this bill know that the Congressional Budget Office itself has shown in a study that an overwhelming 77% of children who would be included in this expansion already have personal health insurance. As they start going off the private insurance rolls and on to government-run programs, the premiums for those still holding private coverage will rise. This in turn will encourage more people to sign up for the taxpayer-funded programs.

This is the real hidden purpose of this bill.

Everyone knows that almost anything government runs is less efficient than the private sector and health care is no exception. The cost per child for private, personal health care coverage is $2,300 while it costs the taxpayer $4,000 per child for SCHIP coverage."

-- J. William Lauderback, of the American Conservative Union

And we won't even begin to talk about the lowered quality of health care under this plan, the adults who will be covered under this, or the fact that more than 22 million new smokers will be needed to keep the funding going, or that the increased cigarette taxes are a direct blow to lower income people.......there's just too many facts about this that makes a sustained veto the only logical outcome.

Making the health care problem worse

All the health care programs touted by Dems/Lefties/"Progressives", including Hillary Care II, compound the problem instead of providing solutions.

Key point:


"But to reach the goals of reducing costs, improving quality, and achieving 100-percent coverage, consumers and a free and fair market must be the engine of change — not government.

Washington-controlled bureaucratic health care is incapable of creating the real change that we all want to achieve — it will make our problems far worse."

What the Dems/Lefties/"Progressives" won't tell you about children's health care

No SCHIP or "universal health care" program will address this problem.

Excerpt:

"The tax treatment of health insurance has created a third-party payment system that limits choices for patients and insulates them from the cost of treatments. As a result, most medical providers do not compete with each other based on cost and quality. Quality is better and prices are lower in medical sectors where patients pay directly for services, such as laser eye surgery or cosmetic surgery.

Failing to grasp this point leads to ill-conceived recommendations to improve health care: 'sensitizing' lawmakers to children’s needs, increasing government funding, etc."

Oh wait, I forgot.

I can't use anything from the Heritage Foundation, because Dave Ribar has them on his personal "not credible" list because they are a "conservative source".

Speaking of Kook Komments

Here's the analysis on the latest from my current favorite Libthinker, Paul "The Mouth" Krugman.

Noteworthy:

"Krugman is good at suggesting those who disagree with him are villainous or obsessional. Check out this sneer at the work of AT contributor (and my friend) Monica Showalter, who exposed in the pages of Investors Business Daily the inconvenient truth that Soros entities have been funding James Hansen, a NASA official whose recent actions we have questioned.

'Investor's Business Daily recently declared that the prominence of James Hansen, the NASA researcher who first made climate change a national issue two decades ago, is actually due to the nefarious schemes of - who else? - George Soros.'

Krugman's attempts to marginalize those who follow the tradition of scientific skepticism will no doubt be lapped up by those readers who know about conservatives from what they read in the New York Times. But for anyone familiar with the actual arguments against global warming, they are laughably self-serving delusions."

Equal marriage rights for all!

Coming to you in the not-so distant future!

A Cherry 2000 model just for you!

Kook Komment Korner

"Now the people in the Administration of George Bush better remember their Miranda rights, because when I'm elected President I'm going to see that they are arrested. I'm not kidding here!"

-- Dennis Kucinich



Kook Kos Klan Poll of the Day:

" Would Bush order Blackwater mercs to kill Americans to save his ass from war crimes charges?"


....from the demented at Dumbocrat Underachievers.

(hat tip: Right Wing News)

Dems dumb down again

I wonder if any of them are actually paying attention to their previous lapses in common sense?

Key point:

"The tenor of the current left is best captured by something Lionel Trilling said in 1949 about conservatives: They do not 'express themselves in ideas but only in action or in irritable mental gestures which seek to resemble ideas.'"

"You pick the caption" contest

Here's my entry:

"Wow! Cake and ice cream!

What a great celebration party.......thanks, True Believers!

Just for that, I'll cut my usual speaking fee in half!"

Q and A for the day

Q: What is the real value of Algore's Nobel "Peace" Prize?


A: It will raise the value of his speeches by at least 10,000 gallons of jet fuel.


(from Classical Values)

"Why my family needs SCHIP"

"Life is tough for some families. Thank God for SCHIP. And if the Dems get their way, there's a new and improved SCHIP headed your way, regardless of what those evil conservative bloggers have to say about it."


Noteworthy:

"The other day I came down with a wicked attack of tennis elbow at the club and had to be rushed to the emergency room. The chauffeur made record time, though and I had the free health insurance my friends the Democrats made sure I got. So you see, that's why dad and mom wanted me to talk to you about how good the Democrats are. And those evil Republicans want to take that insurance away from poor kids like me."

Headline of the Day

"Analysis: Odds Against Gore Run"

Further information: Regular People Are Against It Too.

(hat tip: WSJ Best of the Web Today)

Why the Dems always get it wrong

Live blogging from the Conservative Leadership Conference

.....courtesy of Captain Ed.

On spending and taxes:

"We can't end spending while discussing tax increases. Tax increases 'feed the beast' and only whets the appetite of those who divide the spoils -- and worse, it encourages more groups to come to the table to get more of the revenue. We cannot cut spending without first removing the incentive to spend, and that comes from tax increases."

On General Sanchez' Iraq speech, as mutilated by our Lame Stream pals, specifically the WaPo:

"..... it seems highly ironic that the journalists covering the story attempted to cover up the acidic, biting, and mostly accurate criticisms of their own performance in this war while giving front-page treatment to Sanchez' criticisms of the political structure at the same time. "

(Imagine that!)

"If Sanchez has such credibility and standing to bring this kind of criticism to bear on Washington, why didn't the Post and other news agencies give the same level of exposure to his media criticisms as well? He basically accuses them of cynically selling out the soldiers to defeat American efforts to win the war, and made sure that those accusations came first before his assessment of the political failures, but you'd never know that from the Post."

On Mitt Romney's speech:

"Romney is doing a great job of firing up the crowd on a low-taxes platform. He committed to 'killing the death tax', and he wants to eliminate taxes on savings accounts altogether in order to encourage savings.

He told a joke about John Edwards' tax plan to allow people to save $250 a year without taxes, which Romney said wouldn't pay for a house, a college education, or even a John Edwards haircut."

Come hear our next governor speak

Republican Gubernatorial Debate


The High Point Republican Party and the12th Congressional
District Executive Committee are pleased to sponsor the
Republican Gubernatorial Debate Saturday, October 20,
2007.

The debate will begin at 2:00 PM. The location is
the beautiful Haworth Fine Arts Building on the campus
of High Point University, High Point, NC.

The Gubernatorial Candidates Senator Fred Smith, Judge
Robert Orr, and Mr. Bill Graham will be present. The
Moderator is John Hood, President of The John Locke
Foundation. Master of Ceremonies Jim Snyder. Reverend
Jim Bention, Invocation.


The debate is open and free to the public.

Gaming the system for the Libthink agenda

Mark Tapscott and Dan Riehl discuss the " Positive Feedback Loops" of nutrooter Chris Bowers.

Excerpts from Mark:


"What are Positive Feedback Loops? They are policies and programs designed to 'make America a more progressive place, and thus make all other progressive policy more likely to be enacted.' In other words, they are ways to rig the game to insure that the Left wins."

"Either way, individual liberty is sacrificed on the altar of advancing social progress at the barrel of a gun because after all is said and done, government is pure and simply force organized to achieve somebody's idea of the way things ought to be."


From Dan:

"Take a look at the real Democrat vision for America. If you're a freedom loving conservative, or Libertarian, it might be even more frightening than you imagined."

Inch by inch, measure by measure, the Dems/Lefties/"Progressives" are working to put The Agenda in place.

They're counting on you not to notice until it's too late.

Vote for Billy Jones!

.....as a write-in candidate for Mayor of Greensboro

Does anyone actually think there is a more honest and sincere person for the job than Billy?

I sure don't...........

"The award for alarmism and hyperbole goes to...."

No, not the N&R, nor Ed Cone.....it goes to the one, the only algore!

Noteworthy:

"Former Vice President Al Gore how has a Nobel Peace Prize to go along with his Oscar for his efforts to advance the cause of global warming by misstating data and frankly lying about its effects."

"Judge Michael Burton essentially endorsed the film for use, but only with the caveat that An Inconvenient Truth was not a science film, but a political film. In fact, it's propaganda. Scientists, even those who support the anthropomorphic climate change theory, have pointed out the same 'nine errors' and more ever since the film's release. Gore's supporters shrug this off, apparently comfortable with flat-out untruths in pursuit of their political goals."

"Do you suppose the Nobel committee wants Al Gore to try a different job in the near future, and hopes to boost his chances to get it?"

Appropriate quotes:


"It’s not the first time those (un)wise people at the Nobel committee have given the Nobel “Peace” Prize to a left-wing politician – other recent recipients include Jimmy Carter and Yasser Arafat."


From the Goracle himself:

"The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity. It is also our greatest opportunity to lift global consciousness to a higher level."

WAY too funny to even comment on.....

Dem SCHIP poster child Graeme Frost really does have a serious affliction: MCS

Manipulated Child Syndrome.


Noteworthy:

"....... but for Democrats the only important SCHIP question is WHY DO YOU HATE CHILDREN SO MUCH?"

More bad news for the Church of the True Believers of the Goricle

The Antarctic Ice Cap's growth has reached record levels.

Ah, but what do you want to bet that they'll give Big Al the Nobel Prize anyway?

UPDATE:

I was right.


What a sick perversion of what was once a dignified and respected honor.

Cartoon of the Day

This is going to be the end result if the Dems are successful in overriding the President's veto on their execrable SCHIP legislation.

They will need to produce more than 22 million new smokers to make the funding work. and that's not counting the effect of all the illegal aliens they're sure to add to the list.

On the other hand, they COULD get the all the kids hooked, couldn't they?

Quotes of the Day

"[I]f [Democrats] can expand [SCHIP] coverage to families up to 400% of the poverty line and individuals up to the age of 25, Democrats can go to 800% of poverty ($160,000 per year) and individuals up to 65 (when Medicare kicks in). National. Health. Insurance."

—Rich Galen

That's the general idea, Rich.


“Unlike Republicans in most cases, the Democrats actually know they are lying. They just don’t care.”

—Jonah Goldberg


Veritas vos liberabit.

(from the Patriot Post US)

Neocommunists:The Hard Left wingers

The parallels are obvious and striking.

Noteworthy:


"Over time, the Democrats became more totalitarian in spirit and practice after the first wave of the New Left started its takeover of the Party in the 1970s and 80s."


"Today the voters have not yet caught on to the real radicalism of the Left. If they do, Democrats will once again have to choose between the totalitarian impulse and being small d-democrats. Because our Democrats are emphatically not small-d democrats. They will use and manipulate their voters, but they don't listen to them. Whenever possible, they accomplish unpopular policy initiatives through the courts, our least democratic government mechanism, one never designed to lead in formulating social policy."



"Winning against Neo-Communism is a matter of reaching hearts and minds, as it always is. Yes, you can love the sinners, just don't fool yourself about the sin. It all starts with telling the truth that is right in front of our eyes."

None are so blind as those who will not see.

That's two days in a row I've used that old saying for good reason

(hat tip: jaycee)

Some Dems/Lefties/"Progressives" think that Hillary is a lock to win the Presidency

They need to think again.

(Video is about 14 minutes long, but well worth watching)

This is certainly not the only case that will be brought to the public's attention.

Don't be surprised if Dems, not Republicans, are the ones to bring this up early next summer.

Revisiting the American Dream

Let's have more of Norman Vincent Peale, Dale Carnegie, and Napoleon Hill, and less (a LOT less) of the "progressive" agenda of class warfare, entitlement and victimization.

Noteworthy wisdom:

"Let the skeptics scoff. The American gospel of success has given millions like me their first vivid picture of the American dream. If you want to achieve the American Dream, you have to see it and believe it first."

However, we need to remember that there are none so blind as those who will not see.

Cartoon of the Day

(from The Troublemaker)

Greensboro primary results are in

The at large field will be:

Mary Rakestraw
Sandra Anderson- Groat
Robbie Perkins
Bill Knight
Kevin Green
Marikay Abuzuaiter

D1

Diane Bellamy-Small
Tonya Clinkscale

D3

Zack Matheny
Joe Wilson

D5

Trudy Wade
Sandy Carmany



Several things stand out:

Bellamy-Small and Carmany are in trouble. No big surprise there. Their losses in the general election will be a big plus for the city.

Those of us who feel strongly about sending a message to Mitch Johnson and cohorts at City Hall over the Wray Crucifixion need to make sure that Rakestraw, Knight, Wilson, and Wade are elected.

We need to make all the rest of the candidates make their positions known in this matter, with no equivocation in their answers.

The end results will also send a message to the meddlers/enablers at the News and Record that we will not further tolerate their interference in Greensboro's internal affairs by their use of the trial by newspaper strategy.

Today is Primary Day

Do your part.


Help us change the city government.


Send a message of "No Confidence" to Mitch Johnson, Linda Miles, Keith Holliday, and the current city council.


Take a stand against the execrable and intolerable treatment of David Wray.


Take a stand against the special interests who want to maintain the status quo for their financial and/or social agendas.


Tell our city government that it's time to stop paying lip service to the gang problem in Greensboro.


Tell the power brokers that control our city government that the "business as usual" philosophy will no longer be tolerated.


Make sure we bring Bill Knight (at large), Trudy Wade (District 5), and Joe Wilson (District 3) through the primary and into office in the November election.


Spread the word far and wide.

Sometimes comments from Dem/Lefty/"Progressive" bloggers just make you want to go "Whaaat?"

As witness this nonsense from Kevin Drum, as reported at Redstate.


Not a particularly big surprise, given that Kevin is sometimes a little slow on the uptake.


Example:


"Kevin Drum has apparently just discovered that some folks see a link between eugenics, abortion, and stem cell research. Ross Douthat tries to bring him up to speed, but even a moment with Google might have been helpful in establishing that this is hardly a new debate."

On the campaign trail with Hillary

Try as she might, she continues to prove that her negative image is well deserved.

The bottom line:


"It was an insult," he fumed following the event. "It was basically calling me stupid. That I can't think on my own. That I don't have the ability to research or come up with a coherent or concrete thought on my own. How dare she!"

He continued, "She never did answer the question. She just, what I say is, bitch-slapped me."

"Oh, but we can't AFFORD health insurance"

"We're innocent victims of our oppressive society! We need more SCHIP!"

Noteworthy:


"The children attend the private Park School, where tuition is $20,000 a year each. Maybe that is subsidized. Interesting that public schools aren’t good enough for their kids but public health insurance is."

Mark Steyn digs a little deeper.

Key point:

"Bad things happen to good people, and they cause financial problems and tough choices. But, if this is the face of the "needy" in America, then no-one is not needy. And, if everyone needs assistance from the federal government, so be it. But I don't think I want to drive down the road where Bonnie Frost wants to take us - because at the end of it there are no free-born citizens, just a nation where everyone is a ward of the state."

Captain Ed has more:

"So what this amounts to is a school voucher system for the middle class. The Frosts can affort to spend $20,000 per year on private-school tuition because they don't have to spend money on health insurance for their children. That allows them a better break than urban students get, because under S-CHIP as it was originally conceived, the health insurance subsidies allowed the family to spend money on frivolities like food and utilities.

This demonstrates the absurdity of expanding programs like S-CHIP into the middle class. Children in homes like the Frost's don't lack insurance coverage out of a lack of opportunity or resources, but from the choices made by their parents. Freedom entails making choices and living with the consequences. It certainly doesn't entail subsidizing poor decisions, or in this particular case, taking money from primarily lower-income workers who smoke to subsidize health insurance for kids who go to expensive private schools.

If we had school vouchers, the Frosts could afford both private education and health care, because their tax dollars would not go to the education monopoly owned by the government. It would also allow poorer families to have access to the kind of private education that the Frost children receive, forcing public schools to improve to meet the competition. The same holds true for the coming monopoly in health care, if the Democrats who support this Trojan horse S-CHIP expansion get their way."

Meet the new John Edwards

....same as the old John Edwards.

Excerpt:

"'Have you shifted your views for political expediency, or has there been a profound philosophical change within you?' Mr. Russert asked.

'I am exactly the same person I was in 2004,' said Mr. Edwards,'but changes have arisen 'both in America and in the world.'

You sure are the same person, John-Boy.......an opportunist who shifts and morphs into whatever he thinks will pander most effectively to the different voter segments at any given time. Just like Hillary does.

Out of the three front runners for the Dem nomination, only Obama retains any intellectual integrity at all.

Who's the presidential candidate who most closely lines up with your views?

Make choices from the options provided. If your position on an issue is not accurately listed, you can leave it blank.

http://www.wqad.com/Global/link.asp?L=259460



My results showed that Rudy and McCain tied for number one.

The Dems/Lefties/"Progressives" have a new smear tactic in use against Clarence Thomas

....."A 'bitter' and 'angry' man who really has no reason to feel that way."


Excerpt:

"Just days before--and we'd completely forgotten about this, as it was overshadowed by the Hill circus--someone at the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, where Thomas then served, leaked a copy of a draft opinion Thomas had written. As he explains on page 246:

'This breach of confidentiality was unprecedented. One of the hallmarks of the federal judiciary had always been the absolute secrecy in which it worked. Leaks were unthinkable--until now. The case in question involved preferences given to women by the Federal Communications Commission in awarding radio-station licenses, and it was clear that my opinion had been leaked by a person or persons who wanted to portray me as unsympathetic to women's causes.'

With this pair of leaks, Thomas's political foes managed to violate the integrity of the FBI, the Senate and the D.C. Circuit--that is, of all three branches of government. This behavior was unethical, unconscionable and possibly criminal, and no one has ever been held to account for it.

Thomas's opponents believed that the end justified the means, as a former foe tells the justice's wife on page 232:

'Years later a young woman who had worked for one of the many groups opposed to my nomination approached Virginia. "We didn't think of your husband as human, and I'm sorry," she said, tears streaming down her face. "We thought that anything was justified because our access to abortions and sex was at risk." The woman went on to explain that she had subsequently had a religious conversion and now felt that it was her duty to apologize to us.'

Now, those who remain unrepentant are reduced to arguing, pathetically, that Justice Thomas--and the rest of us--should countenance the means because they failed to realize the end."

The smearing of Justice Thomas now is just as reprehensible as the smearing done years ago during his confirmation hearings.

The ideologues who are responsible for this are despicable and beneath contempt.

"Viva la Raza! Viva Aztlan!"

Watch the video then listen to the interview by Mike Gallagher.

(hat tip: jaycee)

Blackwater: Here's what they do

And this is what the Dems/Lefties/"Progressives"' grandstanding and political bluster intends to stop.


It's just one more example of how Dems/Lefties/"Progressives" will say or do anything to gain and consolidate political, social, and economic power, regardless of the cost or damage it does to the nation,to our people, and to our national interests.

(hat tip: jaycee)

UPDATE:

Look what this semi-famous noxious nutroot slime slinger spews out about Blackwater:

"Jeremy Scahill reports that Blackwater intentionally recruits former military and paramilitary personnel from regimes that specialize in neofascist repression of their own populations and who train their paramilitary and military in the torture and subjugation of their own critics, journalists, political leaders and other civil society figures: Ecuadorans, Nigerians, Chileans, Syrians. That is who we can find ourselves facing in the streets of New York — or Kansas City — tomorrow unless Congress rolls back the horrific laws that gave the President and Prince these dark-side powers."


That's just another good example of the type of Kook Kos Klanner that we can expect to have great influence if the Dems take the Presidency in 08.

At what point did algore lie about Saddam, Iraq and terrorism?

Has it just been in recent years when he wanted to score political points for his fellow Dems/Lefties/"Progressives", and support the Usual Suspects' denial about the proven pre-war Saddam/al Qaeda links?

Or was it in September of 1992, when he wanted to score political points to get Bill Clinton and himself elected?

Watch and decide.

(hat tip: Fred Gregory)

More bad news for the "Scientific Consensus" on "Anthropogenic Global Warming" crowd

The Sun is still the main force in climate change.

Key point:


"'When the response of the climate system to the solar cycle is apparent in the troposphere and ocean, but not in the global surface temperature, one can only wonder about the quality of the surface temperature record,' Svensmark and Friis-Christensen say."

(hat tip: Fred Gregory)

More perspective on security and contractors in Iraq

They're working themselves out of a job.

Noteworthy:

"Now the challenge in Iraq is the path to democracy and the implied task therein of reconciliation between Sunni and Shia, Arab and Kurd. Department of Defense contractors have been critical to the mission here. As General Petraeus wrote in a thank-you letter, after I gave him a copy of my book: 'Our nation is indebted to the services provided by contractors, and I appreciate your efforts in helping the Coalition bring safety and stability to Iraq.'

The time is drawing near when the role of contractor combatant will fade away, hopefully permanently."


But the shameless Dem/Lefty/"Progressive" grandstanding campaign on this non-scandal goes on.

The Iranian regime escalates their so-called "shadow" war on the West

They're apparently arming the Taliban with the same weapons that al Qaeda uses to kill our troops in Iraq.

Here's the point for all of our reality-challenged Dems/Lefties/"Progressives":


"Iran seems determined to push its way into the war. Even the British recognize the Iranian design and manufacture of these terrorist devices, and they're not exactly champing at the bit for a war with the mullahs. At some point, Iran has to pay a price for its actions in supplying our enemies and contributing to the deaths of our troops."

When do we start dealing with this MAJOR problem?

Here's the reason the Blackwater theme suddenly gained traction in Congress

Robert Novak:


"Frustration over getting their act together on any resolution on removing U.S. troops from Iraq has led congressional Democrats eagerly to seize on the use of Blackwater company private security forces.

In fact, the commotion about Blackwater has been instigated by lawyers for the families of former Blackwater employees killed by insurgents and seeking a massive cash settlement.

The question of 'mercenary' forces is a phony issue and a sign of Democratic inability to address the war."



There is no question at all about the veracity of that last statement.

Regarding Blackwater and the topic of security and contractors in the Iraqi war zone, here is the comment jaycee made on another thread here:

"In general, this congressional hearing is just bogus.

The representative's questions are really political statements made for the benefit of the cameras. They care not whether they make any sense; they just make their statement/question and then start talking to staffers or each other or reading something and pay no attention to the answer.

The contractor business in the war theaters is necessary in order to free up combat troops to fight the war. All government agencies use contractors. If you go by the police department at night you won't find sworn, uniformed officers on which the City spent $100,000 in training and equipping emptying the trash and buffing the floors. You don’t hire a PHD accountant to answer the phone in the Accounting Office. As taxpayers we would consider it a gross mis-expenditure of public funds if we didn’t use our resources wisely. The City does not provide security guards at Carlyle’s Jewelers or the Mall. They are either private security guards or off-duty officers working for pay.

It is not the responsibility of the US Gov't to provide soldiers as security guards for each and every compound lived in by reconstruction, assistance, NGO, and other groups in Iraq. If so, we would have to pay tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars to enlist, train, transport, and equip a soldier to stand watching a warehouse in the middle of the night. Drive through Ft. Bragg and look at the gates. They’re manned by contract police/guards, not by MP’s. MP’s are combat soldiers, and it’s a waste of taxpayer dollars to pay them for standing on a gate in the middle of nowhere.

That trained soldier should be used in the war effort, not as a security guard for a private company at taxpayer expense.

We also use thousands of contractors to serve food in the chow halls, clean up the bases, drive trucks, load trucks, wash cars, do laundry, cut hair, etc. Should each of these jobs be done by a trained, equipped, and taxpayer funded combat soldier? Of course not. Only a small percentage of special ops troops have the training and experience to provide Protective Security Detail (PSD) services as currently provided by private security companies in the war zone.

If we eliminated security contractors it would take each and every current special ops soldier to fill that gap. And then most of them would be watching warehouses in the middle of the night.
Most security contractors in Iraq are former special ops or specially trained former soldiers. Even if we put soldiers in these slots it would take an inordinate amount of time to train them up to the standards of the private contractors currently performing those duties.

The rules and regulations imposed on security contractors by the contracting agency or company are often much stricter than those of our military. It’s easy to get fired as a security contractor; in the military you just get punished and continue on in your job.

One thing not often mentioned is that much of this work is for the Department of State, our diplomatic corps. Traditionally, and rightfully so, the DoS has operated entirely separate from the Department of Defense. DoS does not desire to have a military affiliation when they’re pursuing diplomatic avenues, particularly in a dangerous atmosphere. Soldiers standing next to diplomats in a social situation may be intimidating and would surely inject a military presence that might inhibit diplomatic relations. DoS does NOT want the military involved in their efforts.

Bottom line, security and other contractors provide a service that is cost efficient, and allows our government to use soldiers as soldiers, not as watchmen, laundry boys, or dish washers. They are experienced, trained, regulated, and strictly supervised."

Well and authoritatively said, jaycee.

The wrong -headed SCHIP is vetoed

Here's a perspective about this atrocious legislation that the Usual Suspects never bothered to tell you about:



"The recent SCHIP bill was riddled with earmarks and yet not one sponsor of these provisions was ever identified. Republican Leader Boehner has offered a simple resolution to clean up the process of earmarks but not a single Democrat has signed on in support."


Why are we not surprised to find this out?

Regarding the Dems/Lefties/"Progressives" recent campaign to intimidate and smear Conservatives in the media

Hugh Hewitt correctly assesses the attacks on Limbaugh as just another in a long line of smear strategies, this time over their disastrous "General Betray Us" ad.

Noteworthy:

"Everybody with a brain knows that Rush didn't slander anti-war soldiers, and that the whole phoney phoney story was an attempt by the left and especially Senate Democrats to change the subject from the MoveOn.org ad which has branded them as anti-military in a way far more significant than Dick Durbin's memorable comparison of American troops at Gitmo to Nazis, the Soviets or Pol Pot followers or John Kerry's slam on the intelligence or capabilities of the troops that led to the famous photo from Iraq."


"The American people know this. Ten years ago the MSM might have been able to facilitate such an attack on Rush, but it is simply impossible today. Pushing a smear in the new media environment is a profoundly self-destructive bit of bad political theater that insults the audience's intelligence while revealing the attackers' character."


That last quote applies to the recent smears on O'Reilly and the regurgitation of the old smears on Clarence Thomas too.

Yet another verification of the al Qaeda-Saddam link

....that our Dem/Lefty/"Progressive" pals insist never existed..

Noteworthy:

"He was definitely not in Iraq to fight against Saddam Hussein. This new revelation puts the Saddam regime and al Qaeda on the same side against Coalition forces in the initial invasion. "

Busting the so-called "Mythbusters" on SCHIP

The Dems/Lefties/"Progressives" are working overtime to try to get this incremental universal health care proposal enacted.

Here's the effective counter to those who think we're practicing mythification on this issue.

Key points:

"The intent is clear - expansion of the program beyond its original charter to provide insurance coverage to poor children."


"Make no mistake, this is an earnest attempt by Democrats to incrementally expand government subsidized health care as a prelude to a larger attempt. President Bush is right to veto this bill. And regardless of the polls and banner headlines of the newspapers announcing 'popular support' for its passage, rest assured the vast majority of that support comes from people thinking they're taking care of poor kids, not middle class kids."

Mark Tapscott has more:

"The first lesson here for conservatives is this - Transparency is Big Government's worst enemy, so making Big Government as transparent as possible in every aspect not essential to national security or law enforcement should be a major priority for conservatives.The second lesson is this: Where you start determines the direction of a compromise, so make the opposition compromise toward your basic principles.

The SCHIP program was created in 1997 by the Republican majority in Congress as a compromise with the Clinton administration, which after the collapse of Hillarycare in 93 fell back to seeking incremental implementation of universal coverage."

Thank you, Move On!

Isn't the Law of Unintended Consequences a marvelous thing to behold?

Noteworthy:

"Not only has the MoveOn debacle confirmed the American public's suspicion that Democrats, since the 1960s, remain beholden to the far-left fringe of their party's base, but it also speaks to the more current problem that Democrats face, which is their inability to act decisively on any measure..."

The "Right Thing To Do" in Michigan?

Actually, it's just the Libthink thing to do.

Captain Ed:

"It’s a disaster in slow motion. Instead of taking a critical look at the reasons why Michigan’s economy has plunged, the state legislature has punted and stuck its citizens with the bill.

That’s hardly a profile in courage."



Eternal truth:


You CAN NOT tax your way to "prosperity".

Mr. Market's starting to think that the correction's over

UBS, Citigroup's actions indicate that their markdowns are based on worst case scenarios.

Investors respond.

J. P. Morgan's Kian Abouhossein:

"Equities looks like a good place to be, rates and foreign exchange are a good place to be.''

And of course, DJIA is over 14000.....

Once again, good news in Iraq is bad news for Dems/Lefties/"Progressives"

The albatross is ready for hanging.

Noteworthy:

"McGovernism and “Come Home, America,” which remained political liabilities for Democrats decades after they entered the political scene, will return once again, and with similar results. That may not be clear now (it wasn’t clear in 1972, either, when the Vietnam War was deeply unpopular), but it will become more clear with the passage of time. Being advocates of defeat in a war, especially when the war seems to be going our way, is not a wise place for a major American political party to be. Americans want to win this war—and for the first time in a long time, there are grounds for real hope. Surely members of both parties can agree on that. Can’t they?"

Can't they?

What do YOU think?

Regarding Justice Thomas

CBS did an amazingly fair interview on "60 Minutes" last night with Clarence Thomas.

Wendy Long and Kathryn Jean Lopez provide insight over at NRO.

Excerpt from the Long post:

"Justice Thomas's exhortation to blacks (and to all of us) to resist being 'victims' and to resist 'whining' is a call to avoid excuses for working hard and doing our best. It is a call, most specifically, to avoid dealing with the past evil of slavery and with lingering racism and bigotry by resorting to social engineering or government intervention to solve all our problems. Justice Thomas has never to my knowledge said, and I do not understand him to say now, that one should simply ignore actual, personal injustice or persecution and pretend that it doesn't exist."

Exactly.

Ignore all the garbage the Dems/Lefties/"Progressives" hurl back on this point.

It's just more of the same old tired rhetoric that is the essence of any pushback statement when one of their cherished agenda items is proven wrong or bad for our society.