Wisconsin and other Democratic disappointments

What’s New Today

Story #1 tells us it is beginning.  We are starting to hear the excuses for the coming election.  #2 tells of why Obama will try to dump Biden.  Hillary would be a great choice, but it is doubtful she will do it.  She gains almost nothing by joining the sinking ship and risks a lot.  #3 Eliot Spitzer think Obama should run on his record.  Of course he also thinks we’ve been using Keynesian economics for the past 70 years.  I guess he was busy in a bawdy house from 1980 to 2008.  #4 tells how the Democrats are claiming the NYT poll is biased.  It is, but it is biased toward the Democrats.  #5 tells you to remember to be careful what you ask for because what you end up getting may not be the results you were looking for especially in Wisconsin.  #6 lays out the problems in California which may act as a warning to the country.  #7 looks at what the Democrat policies mean to the cost of energy. 

Today’s Thoughts

I saw an interesting article today questioning whether we are no longer close to peak oil and we may have passed peak government.  

On the View on Tuesday, Obama told the people not to comparing him to the Almighty.  I’ve never made that mistake, have you?  

Doug Ross in his blog posted a list of translation from Californese to Texan.  Some of the translations include: Arsenal of Weapons (C)-- Gun Collection (T).. Delicate Wetlands (C)-- Swamp (T).. Undocumented Worker (C) -- Illegal Alien (T).

Latest news on the Zimmerman case shows that Zimmerman had a broken nose, multiple abrasions, and a hurt back while Trayvon Martin had bruised knuckles.  It seems the facts are supporting Zimmerman’s version of what happened. 

1. And it begins…

Asked during a television interview how close he expected the result of November's presidential election to be, Mr Obama said: "When your name is Barack Obama, it's always tight".
After a host noted that his full name was "Barack Hussein Obama," he repeated this twice, stressing the middle name that has led conspiracy theorists to claim erroneously that he is secretly Muslim.

The remarks, made on ABC's The View, appeared to be a rare admission by Mr Obama that four years after he became the first black US president, his ethnicity continues to repel some American voters. 

Asked "why do you say that now, after four years?" Mr Obama appeared to gather his thoughts and said: "I think it's going to be tight because the fact of the matter is, the country has gone through a very difficult time – the worst financial crisis, the worst economic crisis, since the 1930s."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/barackobama/9268002/US-election-When-your-name-is-Barack-Hussein-Obama-getting-elected-is-difficult.html

It’s beginning already.  Obama and the Democrats are getting their excuses in line.  When he is defeated, it won’t be because he’s failed, but rather the American public has failed.  They couldn’t support a black man.  They were too prejudiced to elect someone who believed in common decency and gay marriage. And in the final analysis, it was Bush’s fault, but he’s having to pay for it. 

2. Expect a Desperate Obama to Dump Biden
Vice President Joe Biden isn't invited to Sunday campaign strategy meetings at the White House, The New York Times reported May 4.
President Barack Obama designated Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., his top surrogate on foreign policy issues, fueling speculation he'd be secretary of state in a second Obama administration.
So Washington is abuzz with rumors the president will replace Mr. Biden with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
He ought to. Slow Joe is a national embarrassment….
…Something stupid the vice president says makes news nearly every week. Last week he suggested to a group of rabbis that the Bush administration was to blame for the Iranian nuclear weapons crisis, as opposed to Iran.
Mr. Biden may suffer from logorrhea, which Merriam-Webster defines as "pathologically excessive and often incoherent talkativeness or wordiness that is characteristic especially of the manic phase of bipolar disorder." So what the White House calls "Joe Bombs" will keep on coming, a prospect which must chill Team Obama.
But there are downsides to dumping him. The move would reek of desperation.
Dumping a loyal supporter, however feckless, would seem ruthless and selfish. These are not traits a president wants foremost in voters' minds when he's hoping that his personal-approval ratings will compensate for his low job-approval ratings.
If Mr. Obama dumps Slow Joe, he'd be admitting he chose poorly in 2008. This president can't afford to give voters more reasons for questioning his judgment.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/05/15/expect_a_desperate_obama_to_dump_biden_114154.html

I have no doubt that this has been talked about.  The question is whether Clinton would take the job.  The upside would be the VP is a kick off point to get the Democrat Nomination in 2016.  But she probably can have it then anyway and there is no guarantee they would win.   Another downside is if they win anything that goes wrong in the next four years would be her fault and would distract from her electability.  

3. Spitzer wants Obama to run on his Record

Appearing on ABC's "This Week," former Gov. Eliot Spitzer (why do they give him a forum?) offered the Democratic Party's defense of the Obama economy. The Republicans, Spitzer sputtered "want to go back to medieval medicine, the bloodletting, leeches. They want to go back to the very crazy economics that brought us over the cliff and created a cataclysm."

Ah, ABC must have hired him for his high-minded contribution to the debate. Spitzer continued: "What we tried here under Barack Obama is Keynesian economics, restructure the economy, invest where you need to. It worked for 70 years. It will work in the next 100 years. That is what the public should focus on."

Spitzer must not have been paying attention when we experienced stagflation in the 1970s -- impossible under the Keynesian model. Does Spitzer really want the public to focus on the Obama economic record? The president doesn't seem to. He scarcely mentions the nearly $1 trillion economic stimulus, Dodd-Frank or Obamacare. He seems more eager to talk about free contraceptives, gay marriage and bashing the rich. Obama doesn't seem to think there's anything to boast about. In fact, he's been creative about finding excuses. The financial crisis was worse than we knew, he says. Or it was the Japanese earthquake, the European debt crisis or the Arab Spring.

Let's take Spitzer up on his invitation and focus on the economic record. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which was supposed to jump-start the economy and keep unemployment below 8 percent, clearly failed. Unemployment topped 10 percent after the stimulus became law and has remained above 8 percent since.

http://townhall.com/columnists/monacharen/2012/05/15/spitzer_wants_to_focus_on_economy_really

Spitzer’s attack on the Republicans certainly seems to fit Jonah Goldberg’s latest book, Tyranny of Cliches.  Medieval medicine?  The bloodletting?  Leeches?  And when was the last time you heard him mention Obamacare? 

4. NYT poll biased?

It's not the first time the New York Times has been accused of bias, but it may be the funniest. Charlie Spiering of the Washington Examiner reports that the charge was leveled this morning by the Obama campaign. MSNBC host Chuck Todd asked deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter to comment on the latest Times/CBS News poll, and she said: "The methodology was significantly biased." She then "said that she didn't want to bore the viewers with talk of methodology, but repeated that she believed the poll was flawed." Pressed by Todd, she said: "It's a biased sample, so they re-biased the same sample." Glad she cleared that up.

The Time’s headline finding was that an overwhelming majority of respondents, 67%, think the president backed same-sex marriage last week "mostly for political reasons," while only 24% think he did it "mostly because he thinks it is right." This column agrees with the 24% more than the 67%, but in any case Obama has managed a neat trick: He has managed to look like a cynical opportunist while taking an unpopular position.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304192704577406352876986544.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_MIDDLETopOpinion

This poll was biased, toward the Democrats.  Looking at the demographics it had 36% Democrats, 30% Republicans and 34% Independents.  Of course it then appears that Democrats are suspicious of Obama’s motives too.    

5. Be Careful what you ask for

The labor movement and its left-wing allies in the Democratic Party thought they were doing something extremely clever when they reacted to their defeats at the hands of Scott Walker in the Wisconsin legislature by starting a recall campaign. The recall enabled the losers of the 2010 election where Walker and the GOP swept to power in the state to, in effect, get a do-over in which they could act as if the previous result didn’t really count. But as the latest polls from Wisconsin show, they are on the eve of a catastrophic loss that will not only leave Walker in power and stronger than ever but also deal the Democrats a crucial loss that may be a harbinger of more setbacks in the fall.

The latest We Ask America poll in Wisconsin shows Walker expanding his lead over the Democratic alternative, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. Walker, who was shown in previous polls to have a smaller advantage, now is ahead by a decisive 52-43 margin. With Walker going over the 50 percent mark for the first time in this race, this is a devastating result as it was assumed that once the Democrats picked their candidate the race would get closer. Instead, Barrett’s victory in the Democratic primary over a candidate preferred by the unions seems to have reminded Wisconsin voters that they already had a choice between Walker and Barrett in 2010 and picked the former….

….Walker stood his ground last year and passed measures that will prevent municipal and state worker unions from holding the state hostage and bringing it to the edge of bankruptcy. His effort to remove some — though not all — of their collective bargaining rights led to his demonization in the press and a vicious campaign aimed at making it impossible for Walker to govern.

But rather than making an example out of him and showing that any challenge to union domination of state government will be punished, the recall may turn out to have the opposite effect. It may not only elevate Walker to a figure of national stature. It could effectively demonstrate that the power of the union movement is finished….

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/05/15/labor-headed-for-catastrophe-in-wisconsin-walker-recall-vote/

What appears to be happening is not what the Democrats and the Unions thought would happen or what they need to happen.  A loss here will be a blow for both the unions and the Democrats.

6. California:  A warning of things to come

Recently, I was driving down pot-holed, two-lane, non-freeway 101 near Monterey (unchanged since the 1960s) when the radio blared that on a recent science test administered to public schools, California scored 47th in the nation. As I looked at the congested traffic on the decrepit highway and digested the idea that our public schools are competitive only with Mississippi and Alabama, I wondered — is that what we get for a more than 10 percent income tax, 10 percent state and local sales taxes, and the highest gas taxes in the nation?

To sum up why California has yet another deficit — this time a $16 billion whopper — is pretty easy: The number of demonized one-percenters who pay over 10 percent in their salary to the state has been shrinking, as thousands flee with their ideas, energy, business, and capital to nearby no-tax states, and others make less money due to more and more costs and regulations — while the number of those receiving all sorts of state housing, food, medical, education, and legal support is soaring. (In crude parlance, California increasingly is seen by some as a very bad deal, in terms of the sort of schools, safety, transportation, and housing per taxes paid in comparison to Reno, Tahoe, or Austin, but by far more people as a very good deal in comparison to the costs versus benefits in, for example, Oaxaca or El Salvador.)

In the last two decades, the number added to the prison rolls (ca. 115,000) was not that much smaller than the number of new tax-filers (150,000). And of the last 10 million added to the state’s population, 7 million are on Medicaid.

But California being California, such reductionist thinking is taboo, and we are not allowed to make any suggestion that there is a connection between fleeing entrepreneurs, massive and illegal influxes of undocumented foreign nationals in recent years, and record public salaries and unfunded pensions….

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/299975/can-california-be-fixed-victor-davis-hanson

70 percent of the people who have been added to California’s population are on Medicaid?  California is one of the 50 experiments that show us the results of policy decisions.  Progressivism doesn’t work.

7. Obama, the Greens and the Cost of Energy

[T]wenty-nine states (and the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico) have required utility companies to deliver specified minimum amounts of electricity from “renewable” sources, including wind and solar power. California recently adopted the most stringent of these so-called renewable portfolio standards (RPS), requiring 33 percent of its electricity to be renewable by 2020. …

But this patchwork of state rules—which now affects the electricity bills of about two-thirds of the U.S. population as well as countless businesses and industrial users—has sprung up in recent years without the benefit of the states fully calculating their costs. …

[W]e have compared the costs of electricity in RPS [renewable portfolio standards] and non-RPS states, using price information from the EIA. Our analysis has revealed a pattern of mostly higher costs in states with RPS mandates:

* In 2010, the average price of residential electricity in RPS states was 31.9 percent higher than it was in non-RPS states. Commercial electricity rates were 27.4 percent higher, and industrial rates were 30.7 percent higher.

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2012/05/the-high-cost-of-regulation.php

The progressives tell us about global warming and berate us if we question them.  But their policies will hurt the country and the people who live here. 

Obama and racism

Obama: Arrogance or Petulance

AFTER WATCHING THE PRESIDENT FOR THE PAST 26 MONTHS I HAVE DETERMINED HE HAS TWO NEGOTIATING POSITIONS: ARROGANT AND PETULANT.
When he had majorities in both the House and Senate he was arrogant. Shortly after having been inaugurated Obama held a meeting with Congressional leaders on the subject of the stimulus package. According to a piece in the Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire from January 23, 2009 - a full three days into his term:

"Challenged by Senate Republican whip John Kyl (R-Az) over the contents of the package, the new president, according to participants, replied: 'I WON.'"
Since his policies caused the voting public to rise up in electoral revolt last November tossing Nancy Pelosi out of the Speaker's chair and reducing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's majority to a tissue paper thin 53-47, OBAMA HAS TAKEN A NEW TACK: PETULANCE.

During the press conference to which Halperin was referring, OBAMA COMPARED THE CONGRESSIONAL REPUBLICANS TO GRAMMAR SCHOOL STUDENTS - specifically his daughters - who leave their homework to the last minute.
Earlier this week he repeated his childish attempts to diminish House and Senate Republicans by TELLING THEM TO "TEAR OFF THE BAND-AID" AND "EAT OUR PEAS" in their discussions over increasing the debt limit.
http://www.mullings.com/07-13-11.htm
Neither of these are attractive traits, but it does give us a glimpse into Obama’s soul.


Racism In The Age Of Obama

Since Barack Obama's inauguration, HIS DEVOTED DEFENDERS HAVE INVOKED RACISM AS THE BASIS FOR THE BITTER OPPOSITION TO HIS LEADERSHIP.

Recent developments, however, make a better case that MUCH OF THE REMAINING SUPPORT FOR THE ADMINISTRATION'S FALTERING LEADERSHIP ACTUALLY STEMS FROM RACIAL FACTORS.

Even before the release of devastating unemployment numbers for June, leading polls showed big majorities convinced that America is headed in the wrong direction. A ZOGBY INTERACTIVE POLL (JULY 1-5) INDICATED THAT ONLY 23 PERCENT OF LIKELY VOTERS BELIEVE WE'RE GOING THE RIGHT WAY, while Rasmussen (June 26-July 2) pegged that number as a mere 26 percent. The two surveys reported nearly identical numbers (67 percent and 68 percent, respectively) who say America is moving the wrong way.

Only one significant segment of the population expresses optimism about the nation's current course and feels undiminished confidence in the president's leadership: Rasmussen reported A STARTLING 58 PERCENT OF BLACK VOTERS WHO THINK AMERICA IS MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. This compares with 24 percent of Hispanics and just 20 percent of whites who agree that the republic's on the proper course.

http://powerwall.msnbc.msn.com/politics/obamas-race-trump-card-1694864.story

I don’t think this is the kind of racism the left was thinking about when they castigated the TEA Party as racists or anyone else who criticized Obama.  But with the AA community, race trumps reality. 



The Debt Ceiling

Republicans are far more unified in their opposition to raising the debt ceiling (60% opposed, 11% in favor) than Democrats are in their support of it (39% in favor, 21% opposed). INDEPENDENTS TILT HEAVILY AGAINST RAISING THE DEBT CEILING, 46% TO 18%, ALTHOUGH 36% HAVE NO OPINION.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/148454/Debt-Ceiling-Increase-Remains-Unpopular-Americans.aspx

This is worrisome. The Democrats are on the losing side of this debate. This means they may cave. But they also may ignore the polls and pretend to have to cut social security payments because of the Republicans. This would hurt the country, but they think it might help their political chances. The people who are holding the gun to the electorates head are the Democrats.

Obama simply doesn’t get it
Asked during his Monday press conference why 69% of Americans in a recent poll indicated they did not want the debt ceiling lifted, PRESIDENT OBAMA SUGGESTED THAT MOST PEOPLE WERE NOT REALLY PAYING ATTENTION TO THE DOWN-TO-THE WIRE NEGOTIATIONS. HE’S WRONG. The entire globe is focused on how the world’s largest economy is going to right itself; so far, the process has been anything but impressive.

PRESIDENT OBAMA HAS RUN INTO A BRICK WALL. IT’S CALLED THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE. The reason he can’t force Republicans to raise the debt ceiling is that he will not countenance a deal that cuts spending but doesn’t raise taxes. HE SEEMS UNABLE TO GRASP THAT 236 REPUBLICANS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND 41 SENATORS HAVE SIGNED THE TAXPAYER PROTECTION PLEDGE, PROMISING THAT THEY WILL “OPPOSE ANY AND ALL EFFORTS TO INCREASE THE MARGINAL INCOME TAX RATES FOR INDIVIDUALS AND /OR BUSINESSES…and oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates.”

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2011/07/13/America-Is-Paying-Attention-to-the-Debt-Ceiling.aspx

Out of touch?  He has been for his entire presidency and before. 



Obama’s Popularity in Arab World Now Lower than Bush’s

James Zogby, the anti-Israel pollster who released these findings today, blames the drop in support for Obama in the Arab world on Obama’s failure to put the amount of pressure on Israel the Arab world wanted and expected. But ACCORDING TO THE POLL, THE ARAB WORLD DOESN’T SEEM TO BE HAPPY WITH ANY OF AMERICA’S FOREIGN POLICY POSITIONS. RESPONDENTS RATED OBAMA’S POLICIES AS THE LEAST POPULAR, WHEN COMPARED WITH OTHER LEADERS, INCLUDING IRANIAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD.

Killing Osama bin Laden also contributed to the Arab world’s negative views of Obama. In all six countries surveyed – Egypt, Morocco, Lebanon, Jordan, the UAE and Saudi Arabia – the majority of respondents said killing bin Laden made them “less favorable toward the U.S.” Notably, in Egypt, only 2 percent said the al Qaeda leader’s death made them view America more positively.

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/07/13/obama%e2%80%99s-popularity-in-arab-world-now-lower-than-bush%e2%80%99s/

It appears Obama’s popularity is falling everywhere.



IPAB: GOP will impose a form of rationing

Republicans say it will impose "rationing." Reform supporters claim it may "transform" the entire health care system. But TOP DEMOCRATS, FEARING A POLITICAL BACKLASH, ARGUED TUESDAY THAT OBAMACARE'S PANEL OF UNELECTED EXPERTS IS NO BIG DEAL.

Under the new health law, the Independent Payment Advisory Board is charged with ensuring that Medicare's costs do not exceed certain targets beginning in 2020. IPAB will have 15 members, nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. THEY WILL BE ABLE TO REDUCE MEDICARE'S REIMBURSEMENT RATES BUT CAN'T CHANGE MEDICARE ELIGIBILITY OR RAISE BENEFICIARIES' PREMIUMS OR COST-SHARING.

IPAB can't deny Medicare patients specific treatments directly. But IT CAN CUT THE RATES MEDICARE PAYS TO HEALTH PROVIDERS.

House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Tuesday at his committee's IPAB hearing that this is de facto rationing.

"Ultimately, don't you believe there will be a time when Medicare will so dramatically underpay for a service to a provider that they will stop providing the service?" Ryan asked Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. "Isn't that, effectively, rationing?"

SEBELIUS SIDESTEPPED THE QUESTION, ARGUING THAT OBAMACARE WILL DRIVE A "DIFFERENT STRATEGY"THAT IMPROVES QUALITY WHILE LOWERING COSTS.

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/578083/201107121845/Dems-ObamaCares-IPAB-No-Big-Deal.htm

This is nonsense from the administration. What do you suppose would happen if the federal government took over all the public schools across the country and to balance the budgets decided to cut the salaries of the teachers. And each year they would review the finances and if the costs were still too high, they would again cut the salaries. Do you think that the best teachers would leave this system? Do you think the quality of the schools would go up or down? Would you think that this was a bad idea?




House Gop’ers Losing Patience with Obama Stall on Solyndra Loan Guarantee Documents

A House Energy and Commerce Committee subcommittee months ago asked President Obama's Office of Management and Budget for documents concerning a $335 million federal loan guarantee given to a politically correct clean energy firm. SOME OF THE DOCUMENTS WERE PROVIDED, BUT MANY MORE HAVE BEEN WITHHELD WITHOUT EXPLANATION.

Making matters worse, Jack Lew, OBAMA'S OMB DIRECTOR, FAILED TO CLEAR THE WAY FOR THE KEY OFFICIAL WITHIN HIS AGENCY ON THE LOAN GUARANTEE - OMB deputy director Jeffrey Zients - TO TESTIFY BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE TO EXPLAIN WHY THE DOCUMENTS HAD NOT BEEN PROVIDED. So committee leaders are now preparing to consider issuing a subpoena.

“After two years of zero oversight of the Obama clean energy programs, our investigation has been an exercise in good government to ensure that billions of taxpayer dollars have been spent wisely," said committee chairman Rep. Fred Upton, R-MI.

"Yet OMB has sought to delay and put off this investigation at every step of the way. Subpoenas would not be necessary if OMB had lived up to its agreement and produced the documents as requested," Upton said….

http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/2011/07/house-gopers-losing-patience-obama-stall-solyndra-loan-guarantee-#ixzz1Ryzk2F3V

Transparency anyone? No I mean it, anyone?


CSU hikes tuition, and boosts a president's salary by $100,000

MINUTES AFTER VOTING TO RAISE STUDENT TUITION BY 12 PERCENT FOR THE FALL, CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY TRUSTEES ON TUESDAY DECIDED THE SALARY FOR A NEW CAMPUS PRESIDENT SHOULD BE $100,000 GREATER THAN HIS PREDECESSOR'S.

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, a board member who voted against both the tuition increase and the compensation package, told his colleagues that the university would damage its public image by raising salary and tuition on the same day.

"I caution us today with these two decisions and I feel compelled to make this point," Newsom said. "There are plenty of people watching, and people we need as supporters."…

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/07/13/3765602/csu-hikes-tuition-and-boosts-a.html#ixzz1Rzfr7m4c

This is a salary increase from $300,000 to $400,000, a 33% increase. Glad to see California is doing so well.

Meanwhile in other California spending stories

THE HIGHEST-PAID STATE EMPLOYEE IN CALIFORNIA LAST YEAR, A PRISON SURGEON WHO TOOK HOME $777,423, HAS A HISTORY OF MENTAL ILLNESS, WAS FIRED ONCE FOR ALLEGED INCOMPETENCE AND HAS NOT BEEN ALLOWED TO TREAT AN INMATE FOR SIX YEARS because medical supervisors don't trust his clinical skills.
Since July 2005, Dr. Jeffrey Rohlfing has mostly been locked out of his job — on paid leave or fired or fighting his termination — at High Desert State Prison in Susanville, state records show. When he has been allowed inside the facility, HE HAS BEEN RELEGATED TO REVIEWING PAPER MEDICAL HISTORIES, WHAT PRISON DOCTORS CALL "MAILROOM" DUTY.
ROHLFING'S $235,740 BASE PAY, TYPICAL IN CALIFORNIA'S CORRECTIONS SYSTEM, accounted for about a third of his income last year. THE REST OF THE MONEY WAS BACK PAY FOR MORE THAN TWO YEARS WHEN HE DID NO WORK FOR THE STATE WHILE APPEALING HIS TERMINATION. A supervisor had determined that Rohlfing provided substandard care for two patients, according to state Personnel Board records.

Rohlfing won that case before the board and was rehired and assigned to "mailroom" work in late 2009….

http://www.fox40.com/news/headlines/la-me-prison-doctor-20110713,0,2806624.story

The problem with common sense these days is it isn’t common.


Fred Thomson: Why I Wish Eric Holder Watched the Anthony Trial

…My read on the case? GUILTY OF MURDER BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT. You don’t make an accident look like a murder, and you don’t place duct tape over the nose and mouth of a child who is already dead. I simply think that you had some jurors like the ones I’ve described. These things happen. People are fallible. OUR SYSTEM IS FALLIBLE.

APPARENTLY OUR OWN PRESIDENT AND ATTORNEY GENERAL DON’T UNDERSTAND THIS. It is with amazement that I read that a Somali terrorist is being imported into the United States to be tried in a U.S. civil court and accorded all the rights of an American citizen — ANYTHING TO KEEP HIM OUT OF GUANTANAMO AND THE MILITARY TRIBUNAL WHERE HE BELONGS.

We gladly run the risk of setting the guilty free in order to protect the rights of American citizens. NOW WE ARE RUNNING THE SAME RISK FOR THE BENEFIT FOR THOSE WITH WHOM WE ARE AT WAR. One principle is as old as our country. The other was invented by this administration. Clearly, they learned nothing from the Casey Anthony trial. Either that or they are willing to run the risk to us all for the sake of their rigid and misinformed ideology.

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/271499/why-i-wish-eric-holder-watched-anthony-trial-fred-thompson

Holder is almost as big a disaster to the Justice Department as Obama is to the country.

Jobs, deficits and taxes

Are the job numbers real?

DECEPTION IS A DANGEROUS THING. You never really know when a lie may turn on you.

Take, for instance, the Labor Department's annual springtime boost in the faux jobs market. While it's nice that the government thinks there is an employment boom coming, this won't be a good development if that boom turns out to be imaginary yet still causes the Federal Reserve to prematurely tighten credit conditions.

Let's start from the beginning.

EARLY THIS MONTH LABOR REPORTED THAT 216,000 NEW JOBS WERE CREATED IN MARCH. It was better than Wall Street expected.

BUT THE FIGURE INCLUDED 117,000 JOBS THAT THE DEPARTMENT THINKS, BUT CAN'T PROVE, WERE CREATED BY NEWLY FORMED COMPANIES THAT MIGHT NOT EVEN EXIST. In fact, the department is getting so optimistic about the labor market that it increased this imaginary job count from just 81,000 in March, 2010.

As I've been telling you for months, THE SPRING ALWAYS CAUSES THE LABOR DEPARTMENT TO GOOSE ITS JOB-CREATION NUMBERS. And maybe sometime in the future this process will be warranted. But DURING 2009 AND 2010 THESE SPRINGTIME ASSUMPTIONS -- WHICH ARE OFFICIALLY CALLED THE BIRTH/DEATH MODEL BY LABOR -- LED TO MAJOR ERRORS IN THE ANNUAL JOB COUNT.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/faux_job_numbers_could_lead_to_real_3zKnIS84fd4XYOLbEK48GL#ixzz1JJc0qZ1S

These jobs numbers are going to come back and bite the Democrats. As actual new jobs are created, more people will come back into the job pool and you will see real progress being made even while the unemployment rate increases.



The Ryan Plan: A good plan

Ryan’s alternative to Medicare hardly seems as terrible as Paul Krugman makes out. Seniors would enter the health care world the rest of us live in, with co-payments, deductibles and managed care. EVENTUALLY, COST CONTROL WOULD REQUIRE SOME TOUGH DECISIONS ABOUT END-OF-LIFE CARE AND THE RATIONING OF HIGH-TECH TREATMENTS THAT HAVE LIMITED EFFICACY. But starting with a value of $15,000 per year, per senior—the amount government now spends on Medicare—RYAN’S VOUCHERS SHOULD PROVIDE EXCELLENT COVERAGE. His change would amount to a minor amendment to the social contract, not a fundamental revision of it.

Effectively constraining the growth of Medicare could make it possible for Democrats to do a lot else that’s important to them in the future. … Growing at more than 7 percent a year, MEDICARE IS PROJECTED TO EVENTUALLY CONSUME NEARLY ALL FEDERAL TAX REVENUES. It is crowding out everything else that Washington does or might want to do. Conversely, cutting Medicare’s growth rate to near the overall rate of the economy would do more than anything else to enable the kind of activist government liberals support—investment in kids, education, jobs, and infrastructure. …

http://www.slate.com/id/2290509

Rather than “death panels” this plan would allow the individual to decide when they didn’t think it was wise to continue heroic medicine. I expect to see Obama castigate this plan tomorrow night and try to scare seniors with his rhetoric.

Public Financing and Obama’s hypocrisy

In 2008, candidate Barack Obama didn't just ask for donations. His website asked donors to "declare their independence from a broken system by supporting the first presidential election truly funded by the people." At the time, NO ONE EXPECTED THAT BY "THE PEOPLE" HE MEANT A BUNCH OF MILLIONAIRES, BUT THIS IS THE CONCLUSION WE DRAW FROM OBAMA'S LATEST CAMPAIGN INITIATIVE. Politico reported last week that Obama, having raised three-quarters of a billion dollars in his 2008 race, IS NOW SEEKING OUT 400 ELITE CAMPAIGN CASH BUNDLERS TO RAISE $700,000 APIECE FOR HIS 2012 RE-ELECTION. If the plan succeeds, it will raise $280 million in seed money for his campaign, which will be plowed into raising more money on the Internet from old campaign lists. This guarantees that Obama will reject public funding in election 2012, just as he did in 2008.

OBAMA'S HYPOCRISY ON THIS ISSUE IS MANIFEST. He once declared he was "a big believer in public financing of campaigns," and even CHALLENGED HIS POTENTIAL REPUBLICAN OPPONENTS TO PLEDGE THEY WOULD ACCEPT FEDERAL MATCHING FUNDS AND THE SPENDING LIMITS THAT COME WITH THEM. He also promised to "aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election." BUT ONCE HE REALIZED HE COULD RAISE NEARLY A BILLION DOLLARS ON HIS OWN, THOSE PROMISES ALL WENT OUT THE WINDOW.

http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/2011/04/examiner-editorial-fix-public-campaign-financing-ending-it#ixzz1JJk2ZSED

This should have been a huge warning sign for the supports of BHO. President Obama is not a pragmatist or a realist. He is an opportunist. Well he says he missing anonymity and with the 2012 election coming up, we have an opportunity to give him back his anonymity.



President Obama's two minds on the deficit

When it comes to deficit reduction and entitlement reform, PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA HAS BEEN A MASTER OF MIXED SIGNALS, his critics say.

As a candidate, OBAMA PROMISED TO DEAL WITH THE EXPLODING DEFICIT – so committed to tackling the underlying issue of entitlement reform that HE TOLD THE WASHINGTON POST HE’D MAKE THE “HARD DECISIONS… UNDER MY WATCH” shortly before his inauguration almost 27 months ago.

But as president, such high-minded goals have run headlong into a tanking economy and more mundane political imperatives, like positioning himself for his 2012 re-election campaign…..

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/52980.html#ixzz1JJlX0mYC


Yet another bit of hypocrisy.


A “People’s Budget” is proposed by Democrat Progressives

….The "People's Budget" is the liberals' answer to House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan's 2012 budget proposal, which is "leading us down a road to ruin," according to caucus co-chairmen Reps. Raul Grijalva and Keith Ellison. THE "PEOPLE'S BUDGET," GRIJALVA AND ELLISON CLAIM, WOULD ELIMINATE THE DEFICIT IN JUST 10 YEARS (RYAN'S PLAN WOULD TAKE MORE THAN 25 YEARS) WHILE EXPANDING, NOT CUTTING, MEDICARE, MEDICAID AND SOCIAL SECURITY. "This budget saves the American people from the recklessness of the Republican majority," Grijalva and Ellison write in a letter to Rep. Chris Van Hollen, senior Democrat on the House Budget Committee.

How can such fiscal miracles be accomplished? By tax increases that would make even some top Democrats gasp. Perhaps the most extraordinary is the caucus plan to raise the Social Security tax to cover nearly all of a taxpayer's income. Right now, the tax is imposed on the first $106,000 of earnings. For people who make more than that, the caucus would tax a full 90 percent of income -- no matter how high it goes. The caucus would raise the Social Security tax that employers pay as well.

The caucus would create THREE NEW INDIVIDUAL TAX BRACKETS FOR THE HIGHEST INCOMES, topping out at 47 percent. It would also raise the capital gains tax, the estate tax and corporate taxes. It would create something called a "financial crisis responsibility fee" and a "financial speculation tax." And of course it would repeal the Bush tax cuts.

As if anyone needed reminding, THE "PEOPLE'S BUDGET" IS PROOF THAT THE LIBERAL IDEA OF BUDGET BALANCING IS TAX, TAX, TAX. IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR SPENDING CUTS, YOU'LL FIND JUST ONE REALLY BIG ONE: NATIONAL DEFENSE. The liberals would end "overseas contingency operations" -- the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- starting in 2013. They would save more money by "reducing strategic capabilities, conventional forces, procurement, and research & development programs." In other words, they would gut the United States' ability to defend itself, today and long into the future.

What would the liberals spend money on? The "People's Budget" is essentially a newer and bigger stimulus bill. Grijalva and Ellison pledge TO "INVEST $1.45 TRILLION IN JOB CREATION, EARLY CHILDHOOD, K-12 AND SPECIAL EDUCATION, QUALITY CHILD CARE, ENERGY AND BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE, HOUSING, AND RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT," along with billions more for stimuluslike road and other transportation programs…..

http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/2011/04/liberals-plan-gut-defense-and-tax-tax-tax#ixzz1JJmxgRIR

This is a liberal nirvana and a conservative’s hell. Fortunately 42% of the population identify as conservative and only 20% identify themselves as liberals. It doesn’t stand a chance of being passed.



California in the Balance

We calibrate California’s decline by its myriad of paradoxes. THE NATION’S HIGHEST BUNDLE OF GAS, SALES, AND INCOME TAXES CANNOT CLOSE THE NATION’S LARGEST ANNUAL DEFICIT AT $25 BILLION. TEST SCORES ARE AT THE COUNTRY’S NEAR BOTTOM; TEACHERS’ SALARIES AT THE VERY TOP. Scores of the affluent are leaving each week; scores of the indigent are arriving. The nation’s most richly endowed state is also the most regulated; the most liberal of our residents are also the most ready to practice apartheid in their Bel Air or Palo Alto enclaves.

We now see highway patrolmen and city police, in the manner of South American law enforcement, out in force. Everywhere they are monitoring, watching, ticketing — no warnings, no margins of error — DESPERATE TO EARN TRAFFIC FINES THAT MIGHT FEED THE STATE THAT FEEDS THEM. I could go on. But you get the picture that we are living on the fumes of a rich state that our forefathers brilliantly exploited, and now there is not much energy left in the fading exhaust to keep us going.

I see CALIFORNIA IN TERMS NOW OF THE RAZOR’S EDGE WITH DISASTER NOT FAR IN EITHER DIRECTION. A postmodern affluent lifestyle hangs in the balance here without a margin of error....

http://pajamasmedia.com/victordavishanson/the-razors-edge/

California demonstrates the ills of liberalism. It is the state most like the EU’s PIGGS where people turn down tax increases but want to continue the benefits California has given them. In fact, that is the attitude the left is trying to instill in the rest of the country. Fortunately we aren’t there yet.



Ideological intransigence

IN THE END, PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA WAS THE ONE WHO REFUSED TO BLINK ON PLANNED PARENTHOOD. Another way of saying it is this: THE PRESIDENT WAS WILLING TO SHUT DOWN THE ENTIRE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT RATHER THAN SEE PLANNED PARENTHOOD’S FEDERAL FUNDING CUT.

According to press accounts leaked by Democratic aides, House Speaker John Boehner argued for the funding cut late into the evening. THE PRESIDENT ANSWERED, “NOPE, ZERO.” He then said, “John, this is it.” Mr. Boehner accepted the budget deal without that cut.

A Republican aide confirmed more or less the same account to me. He said it was “chilling” to see how inflexible Mr. Obama was. You might call it ideological.

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/264468/re-culture-life-win-thanks-house-kathryn-jean-lopez

You can only have a fight over an ideological position if both sides have an ideological position.



Now Elections don’t matter

From Nancy Pelosi’s speech at Tufts University

To my Republican friends: take back your party. So that it doesn’t matter so much who wins the election, because we have shared values about the education of our children, the growth of our economy, how we defend our country, our security and civil liberties, how we respect our seniors. Because there are so many things at risk right now -- perhaps in another question I'll go into them, if you want. BUT THE FACT IS THAT ELECTIONS SHOULDN'T MATTER AS MUCH AS THEY DO...But when it comes to a place where there doesn't seem to be shared values then that can be problematic for the country, as I think you can see right now.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/nancy-pelosi-elections-shouldnt-matter-much-they-do_557307.html

It appears elections only matter if you are a liberal and you win. All you have to do is to look at what is happening around the country. In Wisconsin you had all the Democrat Senators flee from the state to keep last November’s election from counting. And here we have the ex-SOTH proclaim that elections shouldn’t matter as much as they do. It also seems to me that Pelosi is calling for the congress to be more conservative and to not change the status quo.



Liberalism: Black America’s greatest enemy

…. In the 1950s when racism truly was a problem for blacks in America, MOST BLACK KIDS GREW UP IN TWO PARENT HOMES. TODAY, AFTER 60 YEARS OF LIBERAL DEMOCRAT ENTITLEMENT PROGRAMS, MOST BLACK KIDS ARE GROWING UP IN FATHERLESS HOMES. No matter how you slice it, something is seriously wrong in the black community. And it has nothing to do with white folks nor Republicans.



These fatherless black boys make babies and join gangs. Typical of liberal screwed up thinking, I HEARD A PHD ON TV SAY, "THERE IS NOTHING A FATHER CAN TEACH HIS SON WHICH THE CHILD CANNOT LEARN FROM HIS SINGLE MOTHER." I thought, "Good lord, this woman went to college to learn this crap!" Newsflash libs: males crave male bonding and leadership. Why do you think they join gangs? This is not rocket science!...

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/04/liberalism_black_americas_grea.html


This was from a black journalist who sees the truth.



T Boone Pickens makes his case

…..Hence the allure of natural gas: Pickens claims the U.S. HAS NATURAL GAS RESERVES EQUIVALENT TO THREE TIMES THAT OF SAUDI ARABIA’S KNOWN 260 BILLION-BARREL OIL RESERVE when you use a Barrel of Oil Equivalent (BOE) comparison.

– Using BOE, NATURAL GAS, AT ITS CURRENT PRICE, WOULD BE ABOUT $1.50 PER GALLON CHEAPER THAN DIESEL FUEL.

– Using BOE, natural gas emits 30% less carbon

Boone Pickens wants to convert America’s 140,000-unit fleet of 18-wheel truckers to run on natural gas. Pickens says the cost of converting the next-generation fleet of 18-wheelers would be about $60,000 per vehicle – or roughly $9 billion for the entire 140,000 fleet. Where will that money come from?....

http://blogs.forbes.com/richkarlgaard/2011/04/11/what-i-learned-about-natural-gas-from-boone-pickens/

America is awash in fossil fuels and natural gas is one of the best. But it seems to environmentalists, nothing really works other than solar and wind power. Natural gas and nuclear are the real choices if you want to decrease the amount of carbon we are putting in the air.

Chronicles of Failed Doomsaying

Gregg Easterbrook, author of one of the better books on the environment over the last 20 years (1995's A Moment on the Earth: The Coming Age of Environmental Optimism) COINED WHAT HE CALLED "EASTERBROOK'S LAW OF DOOMSAYING"--"PREDICT DREADFUL EVENTS WHOSE ARRIVAL IMPENDS NO SOONER THAN 5 YEARS HENCE, NO LATER THAN 10. THAT TIME WINDOW IS NEAR ENOUGH TO CAUSE WORRY, FAR ENOUGH OFF THAT WHEN IT ACTUALLY ROLLS AROUND EVERYONE WILL HAVE FORGOTTEN WHAT YOU PREDICTED."

But in the age of Google, it is easier to go back and check on these serial blunders. So as Britain was paralyzed with huge snowstorm a few months ago a number of folks went back and dredged up the climate campaign's predictions that winter snowfalls in Britain would soon (as in, by now) be a thing of historical memory.

Yesterday, GAVIN ATKINS OF ASIAN CORRESPONDENT.COM NOTES THAT JUST A FEW YEARS AGO THE UN ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME PREDICTED THERE WOULD BE 50 MILLION CLIMATE REFUGEES BY THE YEAR 2010. And so Atkins sensibly asks, um. . . WHERE ARE THEY? He noted we have census figures for THE AREAS IDENTIFIED AS MOST VULNERABLE, SUCH AS THE TUVALU ISLANDS, AND FINDS IN EVERY CASE THAT POPULATION IS STILL GROWING.

http://nlt.ashbrook.org/2011/04/chronicles-of-failed-doomsaying.php

Making predictions is tough work especially if it’s about the future.

Abortion, Wikileaks, First Amendment, Cap and Tax, and Ronald Reagan

Lila Rose--adding headaches to the left

For Lila Rose, Planned Parenthood video 'sting' is about revolution

….PLANNED PARENTHOOD IS THE TARGET OF THE DAY. But the ultimate goal of this new generation of right-wing muckrakers is the OVERTHROW OF THE PERCEIVED LIBERAL-LEANING MAINSTREAM MEDIA NARRATIVE on touchstone political issues such as guns, racism, and abortion. Rose casts her work in light of the civil-rights movement of the 1960s, and her videos are the tinder for peaceful social insurrection.

"REAL SOCIAL REVOLUTIONS ARE BASICALLY MEDIA REVOLUTIONS ... AND THIS IS A MEDIA REVOLUTION," says Brian Anse Patrick, author of "Rise of the Anti-Media" and a communications professor at the University of Toledo in Ohio. "There's a battle going on between orthodoxies. What was unthinkable or not discussed – well, here we are, we're talking about it."

Who is Lila Rose?

ROSE, A DEVOUT CATHOLIC AND ASPIRING ACTRESS, founded Live Action as a 15-year-old, and started making films three years later. Since then, she has BECOME A LEADING LIGHT OF THE ANTIABORTION MOVEMENT, frequently giving speeches and appearing on cable news shows.

"We take the video cameras, and we use them because in a way they're a weapon. THEY CAN REVEAL TRUTH AND SHOW WHAT'S REALLY HAPPENING, SAY, INSIDE AN ABORTION CLINIC," Rose, a soft-spoken California native, said in a CNN profile.

In her work, Rose has focused on issues like the high abortion rate in the black community – AN EFFORT SUPPORTED BY ALVEDA KING, MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.'S NIECE. Rose recently quoted King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail and his exhortation for activists to use "creative extremism" to fight for civil rights. …

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2011/0204/For-Lila-Rose-Planned-Parenthood-video-sting-is-about-revolution


This is an interesting article about a new breed of conservative. Young, hip and dedicated, Lila Rose seems to be a thorn in the side of the liberal establishment.



Politico Does Planned Parenthood’s Dirty Work

Well… not THAT dirty work, but pretty close.

In an article released in today’s Politico, reporter Kate Nocera excitedly declared to her readers that she had “exclusively obtained” a letter signed by 27 liberal groups addressed to Congress calling on lawmakers to continue the federal financial support for Planned Parenthood in the wake of the undercover investigation conducted by Live Action.

Ms. Nocera’s article is peppered with quotes from the exclusively obtained letter, from Media Matters and from People for the American Way. Missing is a quote from Live Action, the target of the smear campaign which Big Journalism has learned was orchestrated by Media Matters on a conference call yesterday afternoon. That’s right, in her one-sided article that reads almost like a press release from Planned Parenthood, Ms. Nocera didn’t bother to get a reaction from Lila Rose or Live Action.

http://bigjournalism.com/sright/2011/02/05/politico-does-planned-parenthoods-dirty-work/

This issue still divides the country.  Both sides are absolutely convinced of the righteousness of their position and it shows in the stories being written.
WikiLeaks cables: US agrees to tell Russia Britain's nuclear secrets

INFORMATION ABOUT EVERY TRIDENT MISSILE THE US SUPPLIES TO BRITAIN WILL BE GIVEN TO RUSSIA AS PART OF AN ARMS CONTROL DEAL SIGNED BY PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA NEXT WEEK.


Defence analysts claim the agreement risks undermining Britain’s policy of refusing to confirm the exact size of its nuclear arsenal.

The fact that the AMERICANS USED BRITISH NUCLEAR SECRETS AS A BARGAINING CHIP also sheds new light on the so-called “special relationship”, which is shown often to be a one-sided affair by US diplomatic communications obtained by the WikiLeaks website.

Details of the behind-the-scenes talks are contained in more than 1,400 US embassy cables published to date by the Telegraph, including almost 800 sent from the London Embassy, which are published online today. The documents also show that:……

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8304654/WikiLeaks-cables-US-agrees-to-tell-Russia-Britains-nuclear-secrets.html#


It appears with the Obama Administration in power, you are probably better of being an adversary rather than a friend to the United States.

Why the NY TIMES editorials are never “wrong”

…“OUR POLICY IS THAT IF WE GET A LETTER ASSERTING THAT WE MADE A FACTUAL ERROR, WE CHECK to see if that is the case,” she told The Daily Caller via e-mail. “IF WE WERE IN ERROR, WE PUBLISH A CORRECTION. If not, then we don’t. It is of no value to our readers to have someone say “this fact is wrong” in a letter without telling them whether that is indeed the case.”…

…AN EDITORIAL IS, AT ITS CORE, THE OPINION OF OUR EDITORIAL PAGE, so it’s difficult to call an editorial wrong,” Murphy countered. “YOU MAY NOT AGREE WITH IT, BUT THAT’S DIFFERENT THAN SOMETHING BEING WRONG.”…

http://dailycaller.com/2011/02/04/york-times-wrong/#ixzz1D6YGUymb


I think the NY TIMES is (wrong, mistaken, incorrect), about this. Hey that policy works really well if you want to hamstring your critics.

It appears NBC doesn’t honor the First Amendment

If this is true, it’s very sad. Last week, an amazing video from 1994 was posted online showing Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel sitting on the Today set and TRYING TO WRAP THEIR HEADS AROUND THIS WHOLE “INTERNET” THING. The video instantly went viral and was posted on countless websites (including Mediaite). WELL, NOW IT WOULD APPEAR THAT THE GUY WHO POSTED IT HAS BEEN FIRED BY NBC FOR LEAKING IT.

http://www.mediaite.com/online/the-guy-who-posted-the-hilarious-today-show-what-is-the-internet-reportedly-fired-by-nbc/


It appears Katie was having a Sarah Palin moment. Watch the video, it’s pretty funny.

Judge stops implementation of California’s cap and tax

A challenge to the law, based on other environmental laws, specifically CEQA, (the California Environmental Quality Act), FINALLY PROMPTED A JUDGE TO HALT THE LAW’S IMPLEMENTATION. CEQA says that legislation that has an impact on the economy or the environment has to be analyzed for less destructive alternatives. Such an analysis was not adequately done according to the judge. CEQA was signed by then Governor Ronald Reagan. (May he rest in peace.)

Ironically, the group that brought the legal challenge to the law was not the coalition of businesses that would be directly affected. IT WAS A GROUP OF RACIST, ENVIRO-WHACKOS CALLING THEMSELVES, THE CENTER ON RACE, POVERTY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, ABBREVIATED CRAP. This group claims to defend minorities from the ravages of the environment. THE REASON THAT CRAP FILED THE LAWSUIT IS THAT THEY THOUGHT THE LEGISLATION WAS TOO BUSINESS FRIENDLY! ….

http://biggovernment.com/asparks/2011/02/05/judge-halts-implementation-of-california-cap-and-tax/


Once again someone with common sense it keeping liberals from committing hari-kari and taking us all with them.

EGYPT: The more you know….

NINE OUT OF TEN EGYPTIAN WOMEN SUFFER GENITAL MUTILATION. US President Barack Obama said Jan. 29, “The right to peaceful assembly and association, the right to free speech, and the ability to determine their own destiny … are human rights. And the United States will stand up for them everywhere.” DOES OBAMA THINK THAT GENITAL MUTILATION IS A HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION? To expect Egypt to leap from the intimate violence of traditional society to the full rights of a modern democracy seems whimsical.

IN FACT, THE VAST MAJORITY OF EGYPTIANS HAS PRACTICED CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE AGAINST THE MUBARAK REGIME FOR YEARS. The Mubarak government announced a “complete” ban on genital mutilation in 2007, the second time it has done so – without success, for THE EGYPTIAN POPULATION IGNORED THE ENLIGHTENED PRONOUNCEMENTS OF ITS GOVERNMENT. DO WESTERN LIBERALS CHEER AT THIS QUIET REVOLT AGAINST MUBARAK’S AUTHORITY?

Suzanne Mubarak, Egypt’s First Lady, continues to campaign against the practice, which she has denounced as “physical and psychological violence against children.” Last May 1, she appeared at Aswan City alongside the provincial governor and other local officials to declare the province free of it. And on October 28, Mrs Mubarak inaugurated an African conference on stopping genital mutilation.

The most authoritative Egyptian Muslim scholars continue to recommend genital mutilation.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MB02Ak01.html

Egypt is a tough situation to get your hands around. However, the comment: “To expect Egypt to leap from the intimate violence of traditional society to the full rights of a modern democracy seems whimsical” seems on target except I would substitute “irrational” for “whimsical.”

Left does right about

THE ONLY GOOD CONSERVATIVE IS A DEAD CONSERVATIVE. That, in a nutshell, describes the age-old tradition of liberals suddenly discovering that once-reviled conservatives were OK after all. IT’S JUST WE-THE-LIVING WHO ARE HATEFUL OGRES, TROGLODYTES AND MOPERERS.

Over the last decade or so, as the giants of the founding generation of modern American conservatism have died, each has been rehabilitated into a gentleman-statesman of a bygone era of conservative decency and open-mindedness….

…..But it’s Ronald Reagan who really stands out. As we celebrate the 100th anniversary of his birth, THE GIPPER IS ENJOYING YET ANOTHER STATUS UPGRADE AMONG LIBERALS.

Barack Obama took a Reagan biography with him on his vacation. A slew of liberals and mainstream journalists (but I repeat myself) complimented Obama’s State of the Union address as “Reaganesque.” Time magazine recently featured the cover story “Why Obama (Hearts) Reagan.” Meanwhile, THE USUAL SUSPECTS ARE REWRITING THE SAME COLUMNS ABOUT HOW REAGAN WAS A PRAGMATIST WHO COULDN’T RUN FOR PRESIDENT TODAY BECAUSE HE WAS TOO NICE, TOO REASONABLE, TOO (SHUDDER) LIBERAL FOR TODAY’S REPUBLICAN PARTY.

On one hand, there’s something wonderful about the overflowing of love for Reagan. When presidents leave office or die, their partisan affiliation fades and, for the great ones, eventually withers away. Reagan was a truly great president, one of the greatest according to even liberal historians

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/op_ed/view/2011_0205left_does_rightabout/


When I read how liberals are declaring that Reagan couldn’t run for President today, I’m reminded of Winston Churchill’s comment, “History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.” Happy 100th birthday to Ronald Reagan.