What's really going on now

What Obama has learned from W

President Obama has “learned from experience” that some of the Bush administration’s decisions on terrorism issues were necessary, according to former Vice President Dick Cheney.

In his first interview since undergoing major heart surgery last July, Cheney said he thinks OBAMA HAS BEEN FORCED TO RETHINK SOME OF HIS NATIONAL SECURITY POSITIONS now that he sits in the Oval Office.

“I THINK HE’S LEARNED THAT WHAT WE DID WAS FAR MORE APPROPRIATE THAN HE EVER GAVE US CREDIT FOR WHILE HE WAS A CANDIDATE. So I think he’s learned from experience. And part of that experience was the Democrats having a terrible showing last election.”

Cheney also asserted that Obama has learned that the prison at Guantanamo Bay simply cannot be closed, despite the promises he made while campaigning for the White House.

“I THINK HE’S LEARNED THAT HE’S NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO CLOSE GUANTANAMO,” Cheney said. “That it’s — if you didn’t have it, you’d have to create one like that. You’ve got to have some place to put terrorists who are combatants who are bound and determined to try to kill Americans

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/138341-cheney-obama-has-learned-from-experience-that-bush-moves-were-necessary


With all the talk about civility, this is one area where there is a lot of civility between Obama and the right. The left isn’t complaining too loudly, but the right actually supports the policies that Obama has kept.

House Dem calls for 'beefed up' security, special treatment for members by TSA

A top House Democrat said the attack on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) should change how members of Congress are screened at airports.


“I really believe that that is the place where we feel the most ill at ease, is going through airports,” Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), who serves as assistant minority leader in the House, said on "Fox News Sunday."

Clyburn called for the Transportation Security Administration, which administers airport security checkpoints, to interact “a little better” with the Capitol Hill Police.


“WE’VE HAD SOME INCIDENTS WHERE TSA AUTHORITIES THINK THAT CONGRESSPEOPLE SHOULD BE TREATED LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE,” he said. “Well, the fact of the matter is, we are held to a higher standard in so many other areas, and I think we need to take a hard look at exactly how the TSA interact with members of Congress.”

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/136849-house-dem-calls-for-beefed-up-security-special-treatment-by-tsa


I can’t believe he actually said that. In fact, congressmen and women should be treated like everyone else because they need to experience what all of us experience. After all, they have the power to change the way we are treated.



Endangered Dems sound alarms about redistricting

While most Democratic lawmakers are staying quiet about the looming threat that congressional redistricting poses to their seats, a FEW ARE SOUNDING ALARM BELLS AND ASKING VOTERS FOR HELP KEEPING THEIR JOBS.

One Massachusetts lawmaker has already announced his intention to run again, and at least one New York representative is signaling a readiness to fight. But Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich is making the most noise as he enters his eighth term by actively shopping around for a new district.

"I will not wait until a new Ohio map is produced to begin this crucial discussion of the consequences of congressional redistricting," Kucinich, who was first elected in 1996, wrote in an e-mail to his constituents last month, exhorting them to weigh in with suggestions and advice. "THE QUESTION WILL NOT BE: WHO IS MY OPPONENT? THE QUESTION WILL BE: WHERE IS MY DISTRICT? SERIOUSLY."

http://washingtonexaminer.com/news/2011/01/endangered-dems-sound-alarms-about-redistricting#ixzz1BTnePatr


Kucinich is worried since Ohio will lose two congressional seats. Speculation is that three democrat districts including Kucinich's will become two and Kucinich will have to run against another Democrat.

Keith Olbermann: The most dense left wing pundit on the planet

Olbermann at the beginning of his show on January 17th.

Finally tonight as promised a special comment on the nine days since Tucson. That awful night I said this: “We need to put the guns down. JUST AS IMPORTANTLY WE NEED TO PUT THE GUN METAPHORS AWAY AND PERMANENTLY - left, right, middle, politicians, and citizens, sane and insane....

Olbermann at the end of his show on January 17th.

Nine days have passed and the willful blindness hasn't slowed down yet. BESIDES THE TOTAL ABSENCE OF EVEN THE GLIMMER OF PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY THAT SENATOR MCCAIN AND I HAVE EVINCED, we learned from all this that the RIGHT LIVES IN A PERPETUAL STATE OF VICTIMHOOD. We learned that the RIGHT DOES NOT EVEN RECOGNIZE THE IRONY OF ITS CLAIM of being unfairly blamed for the violence of others WHEN IT HAS SPENT THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS DOING EXACTLY THAT TO MUSLIMS, PARTICULARLY AMERICAN MUSLIMS. ....

AND ULTIMATELY WE LEARNED, ESPECIALLY FROM MRS. PALIN’S FOOLISHNESS, THIS TEMPLATE OF WHAT THE RIGHT WOULD DO IN AN ACTUAL OPEN AND SHUT SLAM DUNK CASE IN WHICH A PARTISAN OF THE RIGHT ATTEMPTED TO KILL ONE OF THE LEFT, THE RIGHT WOULD BLAME THE VICTIM, BLAME HIM OR HER FOR NOT HAVING BROUGHT ENOUGH SECURITY OR FOR NOT HAVING BROUGHT A GUN

.
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2011/01/18/olbermann-if-conservative-tried-kill-liberal-right-would-blame-victim


The man is a walking contradiction. He seems to have a bigger ego than Bill O’Reilly and an intellect that is small enough to believe Nancy Pelosi when she said that "DEFICIT REDUCTION HAS BEEN A HIGH PRIORITY FOR US"

Ranking of US Presidents

Further evidence of the unwisdom of experts. A major survey of British academics has come up with a ranking of US presidents. In top place, predictably, is that old despot Franklin D Roosevelt.

What a perfect illustration of how received opinion tends to be wrong. Roosevelt is praised for having rescued the US from recession through the New Deal. IN FACT, THE NEW DEAL ALMOST CERTAINLY PROLONGED THE SLUMP. Its mass of regulations ENCOURAGED CARTELS AND CRONY CAPITALISM, BURDENED BUSINESSES AND DETERRED EMPLOYERS FROM TAKING ON WORKERS. In 2004, two economists at the UCLA, Harold L Cole and Lee A Ohanian, conducted a major study which concluded that the New Deal had in fact LENGTHENED THE RECESSION BY SEVEN YEARS…..


Anyway, here’s my list.

1. Ronald Reagan (here’s why)

2. Abraham Lincoln (here’s why)

3. Thomas Jefferson (here’s why)

4. Grover Cleveland

5. Calvin Coolidge

6. George Washington

7. John Adams

8. James Polk

9. James Madison

10. John Quincy Adams

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danielhannan/100072306/frankin-roosevelt-pah-here-are-ten-far-greater-us-presidents/


An interesting look at the US Presidents and in particular the fascist nature of Progressive politics in the first half of the 20th Century.



We’ve been lied to

By all accounts, an Internet documentary named "Zeitgeist" was the favorite movie of accused Tucson shooter Jared Loughner. Created in 2007 by New York-based conspiracy merchant Peter Joseph, "Zeitgeist" is a two-hour mash-up of old and new conspiracy theories involving religion, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and the Federal Reserve system. Its message is simple: "We've been lied to. We've been lied to by every institution."

"He wanted to watch it all the time," a teenage friend of Loughner's told the Arizona Republic. "It was cool at first. But then it got weird. It was all he wanted to do."

"Zeitgeist" has three parts. The first tells us that Christianity is a myth, and that religion in general conditions us to believe other myths. The second tells us that the most powerful of those other myths is 9/11 -- we call it an act of terrorism when it fact it was an inside job perpetrated by the U.S. government. And the third part tells us the real powers behind 9/11 and the other myths are central bankers. They're making the myths for money, while we're just being duped.

"Christianity, along with all other related theologies, is an historical fraud," the narration begins. "Zeitgeist" posits a sort of Zodiac-based foundation for all faiths and gives us insights like, "Jesus' solar Piscean personification will end when the sun enters the Age of Aquarius."

http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/2011/01/tucson-shooter-obsessed-bizarre-internet-movie#ixzz1BOULze5j

What I find ironic is that Loughner was influenced by an internet video that has as its basic premise is that we’ve been lied to. The left interpretation of what happened in Tucson was due to right wing hate radio lying to the people and influencing crazy people to kill.



Palin derangement syndrome

….Today THE CONVERSATION TURNED TO SARAH PALIN AND MY NEW ACQUAINTANCE BLURTED OUT: “OH I HATE HER.” Since she did not yet know my politics, and since we were in Los Angeles, it is clear that she expected to hear back what you usually hear back in this city: “Yeah, I hate her, too.” Instead, I ASKED HER WHY.

At this point I could have predicted her response because it’s the same response you get from Liberals no matter who on the Right you’re talking about, “BECAUSE SHE’S STUPID.” I replied: “BEING STUPID IS NO REASON TO HATE SOMEONE, BUT TELL ME, WHICH ONE OF HER POLICIES DO YOU DISAGREE WITH?” IT WASN’T HARD TO PREDICT HER RESPONSE: “ALL OF THEM!”

I continued to push. “Well, then, if it’s all of them, it should be easy for you to name one.” Her reply? “They’re too many to list.”

“So don’t list them, just give me one,” I said.

This went on for awhile until my new acquaintance FINALLY ADMITTED THAT SHE DIDN’T KNOW ANY OF MS. PALIN’S POLICIES. Before she ran off – Democrats always run off when asked to provide facts behind their hatred for Republicans – I looked her in the eye and said, “If you don’t know any of her policies perhaps you should look into them.” She promised she would. She won’t. IF THERE ARE TWO THINGS YOU CAN COUNT ON WITH DEMOCRATS, THEY ARE FILLED WITH HATE AND EMPTY OF FACTS…..

….This is the genesis of the notion that Palin is “stupid.” LIBERALS ARE CONVINCED THAT THERE’S SOMETHING “THE MATTER” WITH PEOPLE WHO HAVE JOBS. This is what they mean by “What’s The Matter with Kansas,” Kansas being a place where people work – Hollywood, Cambridge Massachusetts, the TV studios in Manhattan are places were people talk. To the Liberal, anyone who has a job must be stupid, after all, not everyone is as good a talker as they are, but surely everyone can find one excuse or another to sit at home and collect welfare….

…If Democrats disagreed with Ms. Palin on the issues that would be one thing. BUT THEY DON’T MERELY “DISAGREE” WITH HER, THE HATE HER AND THEY HATE HER WITHOUT CARING ONE WHIT ABOUT WHERE SHE STANDS ON THE ISSUES. They hate her BECAUSE SHE IS LIVING PROOF THAT EVERYTHING ABOUT THE DEMOCRAT PARTY NARRATIVE IS A LIE and for this reason she cannot be allowed to be liked because if Democrats liked her, they might actually listen to her policies.

http://frontpagemag.com/2011/01/18/why-the-left-hates-sarah-palin/

A well thought out article. Liberals would learn a lot by reading this, but actually having an open mind and reading something like this is not in the character of most liberals.

One liberal stands up for Sarah Palin: Ed Koch

Why do I defend Palin in this case? I DON'T AGREE WITH HER POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY: She is an arch conservative. I AM A LIBERAL WITH SANITY. I know that I am setting myself up for attack when I ask, why did Emile Zola defend Dreyfus? Palin is no Dreyfus and I am certainly no Zola. BUT ALL OF US HAVE AN OBLIGATION, PARTICULARLY THOSE IN POLITICS AND PUBLIC OFFICE, TO DENOUNCE, WHEN WE CAN, THE PERPETRATORS OF HORRENDOUS LIBELS and stand up for those falsely charged. We should denounce unfair, false and wicked charges not only when they are made against ourselves, our friends or our political party but against those with whom we disagree. If we are to truly change the poisonous political atmosphere that we all complain of, including those who create it, we should speak up for fairness when we can….

….I repeat my earlier comment that she "scares the hell out of me." Nevertheless, she is entitled to fair and respectful treatment. THE FOOLS IN POLITICS TODAY IN BOTH PARTIES ARE THOSE WHO THINK SHE IS DUMB. I've never met her, but I'VE ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT SHE IS HIGHLY INTELLIGENT but not knowledgeable in many areas and politically uninformed….

…. Many women understand what she has done for their cause. She will not be silenced nor will she leave the heavy lifts to the men in her Party. She will not be falsely charged, remain silent, and look for others - men - to defend her. SHE IS PLUCKY AND UNAFRAID.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/01/18/palin_defeated_unfair_critics_at_nyt__msnbc_108561.html

Well said. I do believe that Koch is A LIBERAL WITH SANITY, and there are so few of them left.



The Liberal Agenda Backfires

America’s debate about government’s proper size and purposes has proceeded against the backdrop of European disorders, such as rioting by French young people. Some of them, although they have not yet entered the labor market (unemployment is 25 percent among those under 25), are indignant that when they do, they will have to remain in it for two extra years because the retirement age has been raised to 62.

Such demonstrations of government-induced decadence—a.k.a. THE ENTITLEMENT MENTALITY—have provided counterpoints to the Great Unraveling. THAT HAS BEEN THE FATE OF AMERICAN LIBERALS’ AGENDA IN THE 24 MONTHS SINCE BARACK OBAMA’S INAUGURATION. That event was supposed to launch a long liberal epoch, something unknown since the one that ended in 1938, when the nation recoiled against Franklin Roosevelt’s overreaching, which included his attempt to “pack” the Supreme Court by enlarging it. Because the episode that ended in 1938 had lasted only six years, counting it as an “epoch” amounts to defining “epoch” down. Today, the long list of liberal disappointments is still growing:

ORGANIZED LABOR’S TOP PRIORITY—“CARD CHECK” legislation to make unionization of workplaces easier by abolishing workers’ rights to secret ballots—is dead….

The near invisibility and complete futility of last month’s Cancún conference ON CLIMATE CHANGE marked the exhaustion of a U.N. delusion…


Things that liberals thought would be gone by now include: GUANTÁNAMO, THE PATRIOT ACT, AND THE BUSH TAX RATES…

 

http://www.newsweek.com/2011/01/15/defining-epoch-down.html



26 States Join Suit Against Obama Health Law

SIX MORE STATES JOINED A LAWSUIT IN FLORIDA AGAINST PRESIDENT OBAMA'S HEALTH CARE OVERHAUL on Tuesday, meaning more than half of the country is challenging the law

The announcement was made as House members in Washington, led by Republicans, debated whether to repeal the law.

The six additional states, all with Republican attorneys general, joined Florida and 19 others in the legal action, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi said.

"IT SENDS A STRONG MESSAGE THAT MORE THAN HALF OF THE STATES CONSIDER THE HEALTH CARE LAW UNCONSTITUTIONAL AND ARE WILLING TO FIGHT IT IN COURT," she said in a statement.

The states claim the health care law is unconstitutional and violates people's rights by forcing them to buy health insurance by 2014 or face penalties.

Joining the coalition in the Florida case were: IOWA, KANSAS, MAINE, OHIO, WISCONSIN AND WYOMING.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/01/18/states-join-obama-health-care-lawsuit-fla/


Elections do have consequences.

Obama and the left: Two different responses to the shootings

NY Times doesn’t read its own findings

It seems that Jared Loughner did not even like or watch TV or the news, according to his friends:

He did not watch TV. He disliked the news. He didn’t listen to political radio. He didn’t take sides. He wasn’t on the left. He wasn’t on the right.

The friends went on to describe deep seated rage: "Osler says his friend wasn’t shooting at people, "'HE WAS SHOOTING AT THE WORLD.'"


This would MAKE HIM TYPICAL OF OTHER MASS SHOOTERS according to a study 0f 102 rampage killers done by the New York Times:


The Times found, however, that the debate may have largely overlooked a critical issue: AT LEAST HALF OF THE KILLERS SHOWED SIGNS OF SERIOUS MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS. ...


It seems that A NUMBER OF THE TIMES'S COLUMNISTS OVERLOOKED THE PAPER'S OWN FINDINGS on rampage killings when first discussing the Arizona shooting. Do they even bother doing any research? For example, KRUGMAN BLAMED TALK RADIO, THE CULTURE OF RIGHT LEANING HATE AND RUSH LIMBAUGH. A NYT'S EDITORIAL MADE THE SAME POINTS. Maybe if someone there had taken the time to reflect on their own study, they would have reached a different and more even-handed conclusion.

http://drhelen.blogspot.com/2011/01/osler-says-his-friend-wasnt-shooting-at.html


The lack of facts and a propensity not to actually check to see if there are any facts seems to be a hallmark of the left.



What if Jared Loughner had be Muslim?

Shamefully and sadly, the media would have covered his horrific assassination attempt of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz) and slaying and maiming of innocent Arizonans in a more responsible manner. THEY WOULD HAVE CALLED FOR RESTRAINT AND NOT VIOLATED THE JOURNALISTIC TENET OF NOT ASSUMING ANYTHING, a tenet they purportedly (and often facetiously sanctimoniously) claim to hold dear.

But because Loughner was not a member of one of the mainstream media’s protected classes, they used Loughner’s heinous act to go on liberal crusades against conservatives and Tea Partiers, to promote gun control, amnesty, and rail against those who may oppose ethnic study programs that erroneously teach students that the Southwestern part of the United States is a part of Mexico.

Immediately after this senseless tragedy, The New York Times opined that “it is legitimate to hold Republicans and particularly their most virulent supporters in the media responsible for the gale of anger that has produced the vast majority of these threats, setting the nation on edge…..

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=41136


This is an interesting piece speculating on how the left wouldn’t be speculating about the right. What we’ve seen is not journalism but political opportunism played out on a national scale by the left.



What the left did wrong

By Jennifer Rubin

Why were the last four days a mini-disaster for the swampland of the left? It boils down to: facts, response and time.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/right-turn/2011/01/what_the_left_did_wrong.html


This is a very worthwhile read. I found this to be very insightful, “The final lesson for the left is this: for the sake of a second term, the president is willing to throw liberals under the bus.”




Why the Left Lost It

There has been a great effort this week to come to grips with the American left's reaction to the Tucson shooting. Paul Krugman of the New York Times and its editorial page, George Packer of the New Yorker, E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post, Jonathan Alter of Newsweek and others, in varying degrees, HAVE LINKED THE MURDERS TO THE INTENSITY OF OPPOSITION TO THE POLICIES AND PRESIDENCY OF BARACK OBAMA. As Mr. Krugman asked in his Monday commentary: "Were you, at some level, expecting something like this atrocity to happen?"

The "you" would be his audience, and the answer is yes, they thought that in these times "something like this" could happen in the United States. Other media commentators, without a microbe of conservatism in their bloodstreams, have rejected this suggestion.

So what was the point? Why attempt the gymnastic logic of asserting that the act of a deranged personality was linked to the tea parties and the American right? Two reasons: POLITICAL CALCULATION AND PERSONAL BELIEF.

The calculation flows from the shock of the midterm elections of November 2010. That was no ordinary election. WHAT VOTERS DID HAS THE POTENTIAL TO CHANGE THE CONTENT AND DIRECTION OF THE U.S. POLITICAL SYSTEM, POSSIBLY FOR A GENERATION.

Only 24 months after Barack Obama's own historic election and a rising Democratic tide, the country flipped. Not just control of the U.S. House, but deep in the body politic. REPUBLICANS NOW CONTROL MORE STATE LEGISLATIVE SEATS THAN ANY TIME SINCE 1928.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703791904576076373704758778.html?mod=WSJ_newsreel_opinion

If you know history, you know before 1928 (read that the Great Depression), the Republicans had been the dominate party since 1860. The massive movement to the Republicans does and should concern the Democrats.

World Freest Economy

HONG KONG WAS RATED THE WORLD'S FREEST ECONOMY FOR A 17TH STRAIGHT YEAR in a ranking by the U.S.-based Heritage Foundation, above rivals Singapore and Australia for the title.


HONG KONG, WITH A SCORE OF 89.7, IS WELL ABOVE THE WORLD AVERAGE OF 59.7, the Washington-based Heritage Foundation said in its 2011 Index of Economic Freedom report released on Wednesday.


The study assesses 183 economies, out of which mainland China ranks 135th.


"Hong Kong, one of the world's most competitive financial and business centers, demonstrated a high degree of resilience during the global financial crisis," the report said.

Freedom in trade and finance was the biggest boost to Hong Kong's ranking, while investment freedom and property rights, business and monetary freedom all scored highly.

THE UNITED STATES FELL TO THE 9TH FREEST FROM 8TH LAST YEAR and United Kingdom slipped to 16 place from 11 in 2010 due to more policy responses to the global economic turmoil, it added.

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Hong+Kong+reigns+world+freest+economy+17th+straight+year/4097106/story.html#ixzz1Av4p5fJP



Arizona: Let’s start thinking about locking up lunatics

In my Washington Examiner column “Systematic assassinations not part of our politics,” I wrote of the Arizona murders:

IF ANY BLAME ATTACHES TO OTHERS, IT IS TO AUTHORITIES WHO HAD NOTICE OF HIS MADNESS AND DID NOT DO ENOUGH TO CONFINE HIM OR PREVENT HIM FROM BUYING A GUN. The Pima County sheriff, who was quick to suggest the attack was among the "consequences" of Republican rhetoric, also reported that the shooter's bizarre behavior was brought to the attention of authorities.

Arizona reportedly gives authorities more leeway than most states to put such an individual under restraint or at least prevent him from buying a gun. Perhaps there is some good reason this was not done; but at least there are questions that need to be asked.

Or to put it more bluntly, SHOULDN’T THIS GUY HAVE BEEN LOCKED UP? I am pleased to see that William Galston, writing in his New Republic blog, has the same idea, and calls for a reconsideration of the laws that have reduced the possibility of involuntary commitment. Psychiatrist E. Fuller Torrey, writing in the Wall Street Journal, makes the same case and adds interesting detail. Jennifer Rubin, on her new Right Turn blog at the Washington Post notices that, as her headline reads, “Left gives up on guns, moves on to mental health,” and applauds the move.

http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/2011/01/arizona-let-s-start-thinking-about-locking-lunatics#ixzz1AvFicr7D


While Michael Barone zeros in on the failure here, the anti-gun cabal is acting like a teacher who punishes the entire class for the disruption of one student. To them the answer is to deny everyone the “Legal” right to own a gun. Even Dupnik wouldn’t go along with that idea as he encouraged everyone to buy a gun as his deputies couldn’t keep them from harm.



Autism Fraud

The report that first triggered scares that a vaccine to prevent measles, mumps and rubella might cause autism in children has received another devastating blow to its credibility. The BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL HAS DECLARED THAT THE RESEARCH WAS NOT SIMPLY BAD SCIENCE, AS HAS BEEN KNOWN FOR YEARS, BUT A DELIBERATE FRAUD….

Some parents still consider Dr. Wakefield a hero, and others have moved on to other theories, equally unsupported by scientific evidence, as to how vaccines might cause autism.


THEY NEED TO RECOGNIZE THAT FAILURE TO VACCINATE THEIR CHILDREN LEAVES THEM TRULY VULNERABLE TO DISEASES THAT CAN CAUSE ENORMOUS HARM.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/13/opinion/13thu2.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha211



Surely criminal action should be taken against Dr. Wakefield. He was a pied piper who led parents to put their children at terrible risk.



Obama does well—his audience, not so much

Never before in the annals of national moments of mourning have the words spoken been so wildly mismatched by the spirit in which they were received.

THE SENTENCES AND PARAGRAPHS OF PRESIDENT OBAMA'S SPEECH LAST NIGHT WERE BEAUTIFUL AND MOVING AND POWERFUL. But for the most part they didn't quite transcend THE WILDLY INAPPROPRIATE SETTING IN WHICH HE DELIVERED THEM.

There was something about the choice of place, a college arena with the appropriate name of the McKale Memorial Center, that made the event turn literally sophomoric.

If there is one thing we expect from occasions of national mourning, it is, at the very least, A MODICUM OF GRAVITY. That gravity was present in the president's speech from first to last -- especially in the pitch-perfect response to the disgusting national political debate

 

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/prez_perfect_but_the_crowd_was_appalling_j08cf0Fajllkht0yZ4W7GM#ixzz1AvIQZIQq


Obama did make a good speech. Wild cheers from the crowd reminded me of the Paul Wellstone memorial service. Let’s give credit where it is due (President Obama) and hope that the left learns the proper way to mourn.


A Tawdry Start to the 2012 Election Campaign

Four years of a Democratically-controlled Congress, coupled with two years of the Obama administration, gave the American progressive movement more power than it had ever achieved before. Not Democrats, progressives. Democrats have had control of the White House and substantial majorities in both houses of Congress prior to 2008, but NEVER WITH A PARTY COMPRISED OF PEOPLE TILTED SO FAR TO THE PROGRESSIVE side of the ledger. Thinking they had achieved what political strategist James Carville referred to as the beginning of a “40 YEAR ASCENDANCY,” THEY BEGAN IMPLEMENTING THEIR AGENDA WITH LITTLE REGARD FOR PUBLIC CONCERN. ON NOVEMBER 2ND, A CONCERNED PUBLIC THOROUGHLY REJECTED THEM.

So what do far-left ideologues do when they have recently endured a clear-cut rejection of their ideology? Apparently A GOOD NUMBER OF THEM TAKE TO THE AIRWAVES AND TELL THE AMERICAN PUBLIC–WITH SMUG CERTAINTY, NO LESS–WHAT MOTIVATES A MADMAN. Facts, as demonstrated by progressives who have sought to tie the tragedy in Arizona to anything and everything conservative absent a shred of evidence, do not matter. Alleged shooter Jared Loughner has become the “vehicle du jour” for a progressive movement in utter denial of reality. IT IS A DENIAL SO PROFOUND that they would rather believe what happened on election day was a spasm of national insanity

http://frontpagemag.com/2011/01/13/a-tawdry-start-to-the-2012-election-campaign/


Are the Progressives crazy or just kidding themselves? Do they really think that their charges against the right will sway the public?



The Golden No-Vitriol Age Wasn’t So Golden

Denunciations of media vitriol in the wake of the Tucson shootings look back to an age of civil media discourse. That golden age existed in living memory: the 1960s and 1970s, when the mainstream media almost universally hewed to a belief in professional, objective, neutral journalism. The news industry could enforce this line, since it was more oligopolistic than at any time before or since. MOST CITIES HAD ONLY A FEW DOMINANT NEWSPAPERS. Television penetrated about 90 percent of American homes by the late 1950s, and the classic era of network television news began in September 1963, when the Huntley-Brinkley Report on NBC and the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite expanded from 15 minutes to 30 minutes. THESE NEWSCASTS RAPIDLY BECAME THE PRIMARY NEWS SOURCE FOR MOST AMERICANS. NO CABLE NEWS, NO INTERNET.

The result? TWO DECADES OF ASSASSINATIONS AND ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTS against major political figures, starting with JFK ….

You could even argue that the golden-age mainstream media made violence more likely by shutting out marginal voices; but IT’S MORE LIKELY THAT THE TONE OF THE MEDIA HAS LITTLE TO DO WITH THE VIOLENT ACTIONS OF RADICALS AND CRAZIES.

http://blog.american.com/?p=24876


Well said and something to think about.




A Rising Star: Chris Christie

I happened to see this NJ Gov. Christie appearance on Morning Joe (MSNBC) yesterday morning and I THOUGHT YOU MIGHT TAKE TEN MINUTES TO SEE HOW A POLITICIAN SHOULD BOTH SEEM AND BE, how he should think aloud, how he should talk. Very impressive, and very disarming. You can tell how his interlocutors--even those who want to disagree with him--are disarmed, even persuaded. HIS CHARACTER AND PERSONALITY FOR A POLITICIAN ARE NEARLY PERFECT, in my opinion. You cannot help liking him. HONEST, CLEAR, AMUSING, LUCID--notice that there is no "uhming and ahing" at any time, no hesitation--clearly deeply thoughtful and knowledgeable, he speaks with an authority that is rare. Very persuasive. Also, he's fat, lards the lean earth as he walks along, he's thrice wider than other men. therefore worthy of our entire trust. IT IS NOT POSSIBLE THAT THIS MAN WILL NOT RUN FOR PRESIDENT.

http://nlt.ashbrook.org/2011/01/chris-christie.php


I’m keeping an eye on him. He is impressive.

Democrats and a climate of hate

The Climate of Hate

Shortly after November's electoral defeat for the Democrats, pollster MARK PENN appeared on Chris Matthews's TV show and remarked that WHAT PRESIDENT OBAMA NEEDED TO RECONNECT WITH THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WAS ANOTHER OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING. To judge from the reaction to Saturday's tragic shootings in Arizona, many on the left (and in the press) agree, and for a while hoped that Jared Lee Loughner's killing spree might fill the bill.

With only the barest outline of events available, PUNDITS AND REPORTERS SEEMED TO AGREE THAT THE MASSACRE HAD TO BE THE FAULT OF THE TEA PARTY MOVEMENT IN GENERAL, AND OF SARAH PALIN IN PARTICULAR. Why? Because they had created, in New York Times columnist Paul Krugman's words, a "climate of hate."

THE CRITICS WERE A BIT SHORT ON PARTICULARS AS TO WHAT THAT MEANT. Mrs. Palin has used some martial metaphors—"lock and load"—and talked about "targeting" opponents. But as media writer Howard Kurtz noted in The Daily Beast, such metaphors are common in politics. PALIN CRITIC MARKOS MOULITSAS, ON HIS DAILY KOS BLOG, HAD EVEN INCLUDED REP. GABRIELLE GIFFORDS'S DISTRICT ON A LIST OF CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS "BULLSEYED" FOR PRIMARY CHALLENGES. When Democrats use language like this—or even harsher language like Mr. Obama's famous remark, in Philadelphia during the 2008 campaign, "IF THEY BRING A KNIFE TO THE FIGHT, WE BRING A GUN"—it's just evidence of high spirits, apparently. But if Republicans do it, it somehow creates a climate of hate.

There's a climate of hate out there, all right, but it doesn't derive from the innocuous use of political clichés. And FORMER GOV. PALIN AND THE TEA PARTY MOVEMENT ARE MORE THE TARGETS THAN THE SOURCE.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703667904576071913818696964.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop


Glenn Reynolds is right on target on this one. Oops, I mean he hits the bulls eye. Oops that doesn’t work either. He nails this one cold (better, but a left winger could still accuse me of inciting violence)



The charlatans' response to the Tucson tragedy

Let us hope that DEAN IS THE LAST GASP OF THE GENERATION OF LIBERALS WHOSE DEFAULT POSITION IN ANY ARGUMENT IS TO INDICT OPPONENTS AS RACISTS. This McCarthyism of the left - DEVOID OF INTELLECTUAL CONTENT, unsupported by data - is a mental tic, not an idea but a tactic for avoiding engagement with ideas. It expresses LIMITLESS CONTEMPT FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, who have reciprocated by reducing liberalism to its current characteristics of electoral weakness and bad sociology.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/10/AR2011011003685.html


George Will zero’s in on what the left is doing with this tragedy.

Arizona's New Star Sheriff

Dupnik, a Texas native who joined the Tucson Police Department in 1958, became AN OVERNIGHT INTERNET SENSATION after taking over the probe into Saturday’s bloodbath. PROMINENT LIBERAL BLOGS HAILED HIM AS A PARAGON OF VIRTUE, and urged readers to email their thanks for announcing that hate speech can have dangerous consequences. Fans set up a new Facebook page, dubbed “Clarence Dupnik is my Hero,” after he denounced his home state as a “Mecca for prejudice and bigotry” and BLAMED POLITICAL “VITRIOL” FOR THE ACTIONS OF THE GUNMAN who left Rep. Giffords on the operating table, shot through the brain and fighting for survival, still in critical condition more than 24 hours after the incident. He’s even scheduling press interviews as early as 4 a.m.

On Sunday, Dupnik, looking tired and angry, really played against type, BLASTING ARIZONA’S LAX GUN LAWS—including a new measure aimed at allowing anyone over 21 to carry guns on college campuses—and confessing, in a rare personal moment, “extreme sadness, sorrow, and shock” over the shooting of the congresswoman, a friend and political ally.

. http://news.yahoo.com/s/dailybeast/11766_gabriellegiffordsshootingsheriffclarencedupniksprobewinsliberalraves;_ylt=AkGWh0gcSJkcf1HOoyalX4eOoswF;_ylu=X3oDMTRyM2txNzUzBGFzc2V0Ay9zL2RhaWx5YmVhc3QvMTE3NjZfZ2FicmllbGxlZ2lmZm9yZHNzaG9vdGluZ3NoZXJpZmZjbGFyZW5jZWR1cG5pa3Nwcm9iZXdpbnNsaWJlcmFscmF2ZXMEY2NvZGUDcmRuYmUEY3BvcwMzBHBvcwMzBHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcmllcwRzbGsDYXJpem9uYXNuZXdz


If you want to see a good interview of the Sheriff, watch this one with Megyn Kelly. The sheriff like many liberals can basically say, don’t confuse the issue with facts (or the lack of them), “I have my opinion.”

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/256732/megyn-kelly-calls-sheriffs-bluff-politicizing-shooting-shannen-coffin



Redstate: Outspoken Sheriff Accused Of Dismissing Loughner Death Threats

Reportedly, LOUGHNER HAD A HISTORY OF MAKING PUBLIC DEATH THREATS THAT BEEN IGNORED BY THE PIMA COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT...

What the The Cholla Jumps site is alleging - and which has not yet been confirmed- is the following:
Jared Loughner has been making death threats by phone to many people in Pima County including staff of Pima Community College, radio personalities and local bloggers. When Pima County Sheriff's Office was informed, HIS DEPUTIES ASSURED THE VICTIMS THAT HE WAS BEING WELL MANAGED BY THE MENTAL HEALTH SYSTEM. It was also suggested that FURTHER PRESSING OF CHARGES WOULD BE UNNECESSARY and probably cause more problems than it solved as Jared Loughner has a family member that works for Pima County.
The question is, is this true?

http://nation.foxnews.com/arizona-shooting-rampage/2011/01/10/redstate-outspoken-sheriff-accused-dismissing-loughner-death-thr



I normally wouldn’t post something like this that is not confirmed. But in view of Sheriff Dupnik’s speculation on the case it seems fair.



Dupnik was asked by the Democrats to apologize for remarks in the past

(Dupnik) ONCE BLAMED POLICYMAKERS FOR VIOLENCE IN HIS COUNTY BECAUSE THEY HAD STOPPED INSTITUTIONALIZING MENTALLY ILL PEOPLE.
Dupnik also suggested that local SCHOOLS SHOULD CHECK THE IMMIGRATION STATUS of students and that many of the social problems in his county were attributable to illegal immigration--remarks that some fellow Democrats cited as “inflammatory” while demanding an apology from the sheriff.

Additionally, Dupnik once TOLD RESIDENTS IN PART OF HIS COUNTY TO BUY GUNS TO PROTECT THEMSELVES because he did not believe his department, given its limited resources, could adequately do the job themselves.
Dupnik expressed his views about mentally ill people not being institutionalized to the Tucson Citizen newspaper in September 1999 after four people had been shot by local law enforcement officers in the course of a single week. The Citizen published the sheriff’s remarks in its Sept. 21, 1999 edition in a story by staff writer Michael R. Graham that ran under the headline “Dupnik: guns, drink making streets unsafe.”

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/sheriff-dupnik-blamed-mentally-ill-and-i


His new view that talk radio etc. was the cause of the current shooting reeks political self interest.



Gabrielle Giffords shooting: Jared Loughner 'believed he could fly'

A schoolfriend of Jared Loughner, the main suspect in the shooting of Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, has spoken about his friend's OBSESSIONS WITH DREAMS, CHAOS AND GOVERNMENT.

Mr Tierney said: "I SAW HIS DREAM JOURNAL ONCE. That's the golden piece of evidence. You want to know what goes on in Jared Loughner's mind, there's a dream journal that will tell you everything."

He said that Loughner sometimes approached strangers and would say "weird" things.

"He would do it because he thought people were below him and he knew they wouldn't know what he was talking about."

By the beginning of 2010, Loughner's imaginary world was taking precedence over his everyday life, Mr Tierney said.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/us-politics/8251472/Gabrielle-Giffords-shooting-Jared-Loughner-believed-he-could-fly.html


SNL skit parallels what happened in Tuscan

TED KOPPEL: (voice-over)

John David Stutts spent his childhood here, in this modest home in Lima, Ohio. Everyone who knew him called him a loner, a quiet young man. Stutts attended Sunday school at the Mercy Seat Baptist Church.

MERCY SEAT BAPTIST CHURCH PASTOR:

He was a loner, and a quiet young man. He attended church, and Sunday school. I remember he was always very polite.

TED KOPPEL: (off camera)

Do you believe he killed Buckwheat?

MERCY SEAT BAPTIST CHURCH PASTOR: (without hesitation)

Oh, yes. Definitely. That’s all he talked about.

http://www.angelfire.com/mo/stewie/thingy/buckwheat2.html


Of course the skit was from 1983, but it parallels what happened in Tuscan this past weekend.  Do you think this skit could have caused Loughner to shoot all those people?  That makes as much sense as do the Liberal trying to blame the Republicans for the shooting.