The Constitution Club

by Hugh HewittIn a stunningly short time, Barack Obama has gone from complete unknown to presidential front-runner – largely by capturing the imagination of America’s young people. Never before in the history of the country has the youth vote become such a critical factor in deciding a national election.

But author and radio host Hugh Hewitt argues that young Americans are being misled by Obama; underneath his veneer of exceptional rhetoric and youthful hipness lies a conventional liberal who is moreover thoroughly unqualified to be President of the United States.

In a time of intense crises at home and abroad, Hewitt argues, we can ill-afford a president who lacks experience in either foreign or economic policy, and frequently demonstrates a shocking naiveté about the threats we face.

In a heartfelt appeal directed to America’s young people, as well as to their parents, Hewitt pulls back the curtain on Obama, making clear what an Obama Administration would really mean in practice. Buy it for the young Obamaniac in your family!

“Even if you agree with their bottom line, do Justice Kennedy and the justices in Kennedy v. Louisiana have a clue about how offensive it is to write this line in rationalizing why a man who has savagely raped his eight-year-old step-daughter should not be executed by the humane process of lethal objection: ‘Evolving standards of decency must embrace and express respect for the dignity of the person’… And as for their ‘proportional’ punishment argue, I think it’s silly on its face—read the almost unreadable (because it’s so excruciating) account of the rape and ask yourself whether it is really ‘disproportionate’ to administer lethal-objection execution to a man who committed this type of barbaric a sexual assault on a child. But let’s give him that one for argument’s sake. The Eighth Amendment talks about punishment that is cruel. First, punishment does not become cruel just because it’s disproportionate. And second, are we really striving here for proportionality? If a crime is cruel—as it clearly was in this case—wouldn’t a proportionate punishment also have to be cruel, and thus in violation of the Eighth Amendment?”

—Andrew McCarthy

Planet of the Apes – Statue of Liberty scene

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In an attempt to repopulate the country with brilliant good looking people such as myself my family has undertaken a successful campaign to multiply en masse.  Above is my beautiful new niece Emma who is one of 4 new babies my family has been blessed with in the last month and a half. Both of my brother’s wives, one cousin and one cousin’s wife managed to get pregnant within a remarkably short period of time last year and yours truly was deathly afraid to drink the water at Christmas dinner for fear that this thing was contagious. Unfortunately I do not yet have digital photos of Aris, Vivianna, and Sophie but I am sure there are many to come. Sidenote: I need to get a scanner one of these days.

All are healthy and happy and I feel like God is smiling down upon us right now. Life is indeed a sweet sweet gift and we all get reminded of that every now and then. As for me you haven’t been able to wipe the smile off of my face for months.

President Bush on Monday signed a bill that will pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through the remainder of his presidency and into spring 2009.

The supplemental spending bill provides nearly $162 billion in war funding without the restrictions congressional Democrats vowed to put into place since they took control of Congress nearly two years ago.

After signing the bill, Bush said the men and woman of the armed services are owed “our unflinching support, and the best way to demonstrate that support is to give them the resources they need to do their jobs and to prevail.”

Bush also said he appreciated that “Republicans and Democrats in Congress agreed to provide these vital funds without tying the hands of our commanders and without an artificial timetable of withdrawal from Iraq.”

Okay, so in the last week Barack Obama has changed his support for FISA telecom immunity, NAFTA renegotiation, handgun bans, and his pledge to take public campaign financing.  Now these aren’t necessarily little things like pandering to religious conservatives by talking about originalist judges.  These are major policy shifts that Obama used to seize the left and win the primaries with.  At this point it is clear that Obama could advocate immediate strikes on Iran and drilling of ANWR and the left would applaud and say, “I told you that’s what needed to be done!  That is leadership!” 

So just where is Obama on the current war?  The conservatives here have said repeatedly that when the Dems win the White House, the reality of the office will show just how foolish their calls for immediate withdrawl were.  The Obama team understands this and have scheduled their man to fly to Iraq very soon.  These events are not lost on McCain blogger Michael Goldfarb (formerly of the Weekly Standard). 

Playing to the Democrartic party’s antiwar base, Obama pledged to withdraw troops regardless of the facts on the ground. He opposed the surge, and even warned that it would make the violence worse. And as progress became apparent, he stubbornly refused to recognize the gains our troops were making.

Yet now that Obama has indicated he will take any position needed to seize the center, it looks like Iraq will be his next flip-flop:

So what issue will he shift on next? After looking at the numbers from yesterday’s Quinnipiac battleground polls, we’re betting Iraq. It turns out that Americans as a whole aren’t nearly so eager for surrender as the left-wing of the Democratic party, and Obama isn’t much for staking out unpopular positions.

I don’t really find the new positions Obama has staked out or will stake out soon, objectionable.  I just find myself repulsed by the way the media and his apologists haven’t the slightest bit of courage to call him on them (except for Glen Greenwald).  Change you can believe in, my ass.

“No freeman shall be debarred the use of arms.”

—Thomas Jefferson

Johnny Ringo and Doc Holiday – “Latin scene” from Tombstone

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Remember, there is a big different between being a serf, subject or slave and a free citizen. It increasingly seems that few know and understand the difference. The right of a man to exercise that whether his antagonist be foreign or domestic, a rogue government or a savage criminal is a fundamental right of being a free man. That right is now less important, and many would argue even more so, than the right to free speech, assembly, press, or the freedom of a man to worship God without government persecution. A man has not just the right, but I believe the obligation, to protect his children, his family, his neighborhood, community and nation.

A Nation of Riflemen First Needs Men

The concept of a “nation of riflemen” was not the product of some unhealthy cultural obsession with weapons, nor did it arise from any remarkable immediate threat to popular safety. The concept was the natural outgrowth of spirit evident in the very founding of the United States, the spirit that made Americans unique and America great. The rifle is, implicitly, the symbol of the self-reliant American.

Why use a rifle as the symbol of self-reliance? Because no other thing, word, or sign is nearly as fitting. In The Prince, Nicolo Machievelli wrote, “[B]etween an armed and an unarmed man, there is no comparison whatsoever . . . .” An unarmed man is, by definition, a dependent. He is incapable of securing his own safety. He must depend on someone else to defend him against attack, whether from a stray dog, a lone criminal, an organized gang, or a foreign army. He rightly fears any separation from society, because solitude separates him from those who can defend him and singles him out as a target for those who might wish to harm him. He is tied by his interest in self-preservation to whoever assumes the burden of defending him. His need to be defended puts him at the mercy of his defender, and over time, he by neccesity becomes their subject.

“You don’t have to be straight to be in the military; you just have to shoot straight”  – Barry Goldwater (RINO-AZ)

Democrats have worked hard to ensure that Americans pay as much for gas as Europeans do. After a quarter-century of gas tax hikes, a ban on drilling for oil and a complete destruction of the nuclear power industry in America, I guess liberals can declare: Mission accomplished!

In response to skyrocketing gas prices, liberals say, practically in unison, “We can’t drill our way out of this crisis.”

What does that mean? This is like telling a starving man, “You can’t eat your way out of being hungry!” “You can’t water your way out of drought!” “You can’t sleep your way out of tiredness!” “You can’t drink yourself out of dehydration!”

Seriously, what does it mean? Finding more oil isn’t going to increase the supply of oil?

It is the typical Democratic strategy to babble meaningless slogans, as if they have a plan. Their plan is: the permanent twilight of the human race.

-Ann Coulter

We all have certain favorite scenes from movies. Tonight Unforgiven starring Clint Eastwood was on T.V. The last fifteen minutes of Unforgiven is one of my all time favorite scenes in a movie. I can, and have, watched this over and over. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you William Munny out of Missouri, killer of women and children.

I know I feel safer.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Decorated Army Sergeant Darren Manzella has been discharged under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law banning lesbian, gay and bisexual Americans from military service, effective June 10. The Iraq war veteran was one of the first openly gay active duty service members to speak with the media while serving inside a war zone. In December 2007, Manzella was profiled by the CBS news magazine 60 Minutes. He told correspondent Lesley Stahl that he served openly during much of his time in the Army, with the full support of his colleagues and command.
…

Manzella, 30, enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2002 and was twice deployed to the Middle East in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. While under fire on the streets of Baghdad, he provided medical care to his fellow soldiers, Iraqi National Guardsmen and civilians. He was awarded the Combat Medical Badge, and also received several other awards recognizing his courage and service.

Every single guy I know here in San Diego who is gay and serving in the military is out to most of his fellow sailors (or in one case Marines).   This is no longer my father’s military.   The generation who now fills the ranks of enlisted men no longer really cares about the issue.   They grew up with openly gay classmates, and often gay friends.  If there was really a “homosexual agenda” to make people realize that we are people too, it worked.

Markos said a while ago (even before the final nail of the SCOTUS decision) that the gun issue is over, the NRA won, and that liberals just need to accept that.  Well, the same is true of this.  Can we now just move on and say that patriots who choose to serve their country no longer have to lie in order to do so?  We can still debate whether marriage is reserved for one man and one woman, or about how stupid hate crimes laws are, and they are, but can we just agree that making people pretend to be something they are not is so 1993?

The SCOTUS ruling restoring common sense to gun ownership in Washington D.C. most certainly has gun grabbers throughout the nation wringing their hands.  In Chicago, Mayor Richard Daley is piping hot!

An “outraged” Mayor Daley this morning denounced a U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning Washington D.C.’s handgun ban as a “frightening decision” and a “return to the days of the Wild West.”

Frightening indeed!  As safe as Chicago is, one can only ponder the reasons why one would cling to God or guns.  From the A.P.:

But all the talk about greater freedoms for gun owners doesn’t begin to explain what the ruling means in Chicago, which has seen a recent spate of gun violence.

Nine people were killed in 36 shootings during one weekend this spring. The next week, five people were found shot to death inside a South Side home.

Chicago Public Schools officials say 27 students have been killed by gunfire since September.

Pamela Bosley lost her 18-year-old son two years ago, when a bullet struck him as he helped a fellow student unload instruments outside a South Side Church.

“If you didn’t have the guns, we’d still have our children,” she said.

Annette Nance-Holt, whose 16-year-old son was killed on a city bus last spring when someone sprayed bullets inside it, was livid with the court’s decision.

“I’m still trying to figure out who we are more in love with, our children or our guns,” she said. “It’s crazy. I’m safer being a deer knowing people are hunting you.”

I wonder what they put in the water in Chicago that makes the population there so devoid of common sense?  With the toughest gun laws on the books they seem perplexed as to why gun violence continues to be out of control?!  Daley rails about the days of the “wild west” seemingly unaware that wild west towns never had weekends with 36 shootings. 

Oh, and I won’t spend too much time looking for the ACLU or Glenn Greenwalds statements of gratitude that peoples constitutional rights in many big cities are going to be restored.  For them, the Constitutional Amendments begin at one and skip to four and beyond.

I often rail about the hate-mongers on the left who base their policy support and opposition only on whether or not Bush is for or against it.  Such hacks show no propensity to think outside of what the nutroot blogs tell them to think.  So when Glenn Greenwald has a minor spat with Keith Olbermann over FISA, I am comforted by the fact that the savy Greenwald is at least a man of principle. 

This episode doesn’t really originate with either Greenwald nor Olbermann.  It actually centers around yet another Barack Obama flip-flop (shocker!).  Apprently, after vehement opposition last year, Obama is now planning to vote for an update to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.  The update he supports will give telecoms immunity from prosecution if they cooperate with the government’s Terrorist Surveillance Program.  Greenwald wrongly opposes such immunity and believes that lawsuits are an acceptable way to protect the Fourth Amendment rights of citiznes.  Olbermann also opposed such immunity going so far as to rant against it in one of his “Special Comments” last January.  Greenwald details the rest:

In a 10-minute “Special Comment,” the MSNBC star condemned Bush for wanting to “retroactively immunize corporate criminals,” and said that telecom immnity is “an ex post facto law, which would clear the phone giants from responsibility for their systematic, aggressive and blatant collaboration with [Bush's] illegal and unjustified spying on Americans under this flimsy guise of looking for any terrorists who are stupid enough to make a collect call or send a mass email.”

Olbermann added that telecom amnesty was a “shameless, breathless, literally textbook example of Fascism — the merged efforts of government and corporations that answer to no government.” Noting the numerous telecom lobbyists connected to the Bush administration.

But as Greenwald notes, that was “five whole months ago.”

Now that Barack Obama supports a law that does the same thing — and now that Obama justifies that support by claiming that this bill is necessary to keep us Safe from the Terrorists — everything has changed.

 Last night, Olbermann invited Newsweek’s Jonathan Alter onto his show to discuss Obama’s support for the FISA and telecom amnesty bill (video of the segment is here). There wasn’t a syllable uttered about “immunizing corporate criminals” or “textbook examples of Fascism” or the Third Reich. There wasn’t a word of rational criticism of the bill either. Instead, the two media stars jointly hailed Obama’s bravery and strength — as evidenced by his “standing up to the left” in order to support this important centrist FISA compromise:

Make no mistake about it; Olbermann, Alter and Obama are snakes.  Obama will say or do anything to get elected.  Alter is perfectly content to whore himself and his magazine out to the left and Olbermann doesn’t have a shred of credibility with his unhinged, hate-filled tirades against George Bush (You SIR!).  But on this issue, they are correct.  Greenwald, on the other hand, is a fringe left constitutionalist who recently wrote a book about manipulative electoral tactics used by the GOP ignoring the stellar voting patterns of Democrats. 

But on this issue, at least he is consistent.  I encourage you to pick through the links and the replies by Olbermann on DailyKos.  He only makes more of an ass of himself as he tries to defend his 180 degree turn. 

“Today, according to the most recent CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey, ‘71 percent of the American public disapproves of how Bush is handling his job as President, an all-time high in polling.’ His position can be compared with that of Harry Truman who left Washington unpopular and alone in 1953. Today, with the passage of time, most historians and certainly the American people, see Truman in a different light, primarily for his willingness to stand firm against Soviet aggression, whether against Greece or South Korea, and proclaim the Truman Doctrine, effectively defending the free world from Soviet efforts to expand their hegemony. Like Truman, George W. Bush, in my view, will be seen as one of the few world leaders who recognized the danger of Islamic terrorism and was willing with Tony Blair to stand up to it and not capitulate… The reason I believe history will redeem President George W. Bush is that he is one of the few leaders on the planet today who understands the larger picture. He has not lost his courage and vision of the future. He knows what calamities await the world if it engages in appeasement and deserts an ally in order to buy an illusory peace. We will recognize his worth long after he is gone.”

—former New York City Democrat Mayor Ed Koch

Just in case you had missed it earlier in the week. This was really one odd piece of campaign strategy. It’s like watching a kid playing president at times. But at least he’ll “slow the rising of the oceans” when he’s POTUS. That will be a good thing, won’t it?

The stunning part of today’s SCOTUS ruling was not that the right of individuals to utilize their second amendment rights was upheld, but that gun grabbing liberal judges who love to legislate from the bench voted against today’s ruling. What should have been a no-brainer, unanimous decision instead shows how an Obama presidency and his future Supreme Court nominees would be incredibly dangerous to the rights of the individual. Equally stunning would have been SCOTUS ruling that you have the right to attend church or blog your thoughts on the Internet. The Founders were very clear that the right of the individual to keep and bear arms was not to be questioned and was almost universally exercised at the time. So three cheers for liberty, and a wake up call at the society that “progressives’ desire for us all. I suggest we all celebrate by picking up another gun or two and some ammo and head on out to the range. God Bless America!

High court affirms guns rights in historic decision

President Bush said: “I applaud the Supreme Court’s historic decision today confirming what has always been clear in the Constitution: the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear firearms.”

The full implications of the decision, however, are not sorted out. Still to be seen, for example, is the extent to which the right to have a gun for protection in the home may extend outside the home.

Scalia said the Constitution does not permit “the absolute prohibition of handguns held and used for self-defense in the home.” The court also struck down D.C. requirements that firearms be equipped with trigger locks or kept disassembled, but left intact the licensing of guns. The district allows shotguns and rifles to be kept in homes if they are registered, kept unloaded and taken apart or equipped with trigger locks.

See also:

McCain: Obama’s gun position ‘elitist’

McCain hailed the ruling as a “landmark victory” for gun rights. Referring to remarks Obama made during the primary campaign, McCain said Obama is out of touch with Americans on gun rights.

“Unlike the elitist view that believes Americans cling to guns out of bitterness, today’s ruling recognizes that gun ownership is a fundamental right — sacred, just as the right to free speech and assembly,” the Arizona senator said.

That deserves an “atta boy” for the senior senator from Arizona.

Fox News picked up this study from Captain Obvious. . .

Study: Many teens get alcohol from adults

And in other news, babies are born from females, gamblers are found in Las Vegas, and water is often wet.

It truly is “the forgotten war“. Try finding a headline about this in the MSM today. It was a bloody war with a series of ebbs and flows with each side all but overwhelming and destroying the other at one time or another. It is also the only “hot war” we have ever fought with China with the US inflicting some 100,000 casualties on Mao’s troops. Nearly six decades later we see the results of their sacrifices. In the South, a prosperous free people who have plenty to eat with electricity, modern conveniences, and a high standard of living is the norm. In the North, millions of people live in what is virtually a giant gulag in deplorable conditions with terror, starvation and oppression the rule rather than the exception. When the rogue regime of North Korea finally falls the true level of the horrors those poor people have endured will finally be fully known. 

Our heartfelt thanks today to the brave men who fought in horrible conditions against a vast, overwhelming and fanatical enemy. They “stood on the wall” to protect the free world from the sick ideology of communism and tens of thousands of them paid the ultimate price.

The Korean War Remembered

Fifty-eight years ago, a war broke out on the Korean peninsula, and today, the two sides – South and North Korea – remain technically at war and divided.Although it has been more than five decades, there are still South Koreans – who were soldiers at the time – being kept against their will in North Korea.

One of the prisoners of war (POW), Kim Jin Soo, recently escaped the North. The 74-year-old POW fought in the Korean War at the age of 17 and was captured by the North Koreans in 1953.

All these years, he had been living in the communist state working as a coal miner. But earlier this month, he managed to escape North Korea and seek help from the South Korean authorities. He is now waiting to return home for the first time in 55 years

Kim is one of the hundreds of POWs who were never sent back home after the three-year Korean War ended with the signing of an armistice in 1953.

The Korean government admits there are more than 500 POWs in North Korea, but there are no official talks underway between the two Koreas to bring them back home

 

 

 

 

 

And if we elect a government that subverts or weakens or ends our war against terrorism, we can count on this: We will soon face enemies that will make 9/11 look like stubbing our toe, and they will attack us with the confidence and determination that come from knowing that we don’t have the will to sustain a war all the way to the end.

-Orson Scott Card: Nebula-award winning author.

The literal hysteria when it comes to global warming is bringing the nuts out of the woodwork. It’s just amazing to watch, and would be humorous if these people didn’t wield power and prestige. This clown draws a government paycheck. And I’ve been attacked for comparing such tactics to fascism. I should demand yet another apology from my critics.

Put Global Warming Skeptics on Trial

It was reported in the London Guardian that NASA Scientist James Hansen (pictured), in prepared remarks to a House committee, “will today call for the chief executives of large fossil fuel companies to be put on trial for high crimes against humanity and nature, accusing them of actively spreading doubt about global warming in the same way that tobacco companies blurred the links between smoking and cancer.”

I have a different vision of the future, one in which government bureaucrats like Hansen and radical environmentalists are held accountable for creating a multi-trillion dollar climate crisis in order to get more government funding and grow their own political and cultural influence.

Hat tip to English Fail

“There is only one way to drive down the rising cost of gasoline for the long term: significantly increase the domestic supply of oil. We are the only nation in the world with access to known oil deposits on our own land or off our shores that essentially refuses to tap those resources. The main stumbling block is a lack of political consensus, which is in especially short supply in an election year. Instead of coming up with real solutions to our growing energy crisis, the Democrats in Congress would rather rail against the oil companies. But oil company executives don’t set the price of oil—and taxing their companies more won’t do anything to lower the cost of gasoline at the pump… It’s time Congress put election-year politics aside and get serious about allowing domestic oil production to solve this crisis.”

 —Linda Chavez

Its every dads dream and every mothers nightmare.  A youth golf league participating in Broomfield, CO had its tournament interrupted by limousines bearing strippers.

Young golfers, ages 7 to 12, had not completed their Monday morning tournament before participants arrived in limousines for the Shotgun Willie’s Charity Golf Tournament.

The latter event featured patrons of the strip club paired with dancers who served as caddies. “It was mis-timing,” said Eagle Trace Manager Evelyn Koch. . .

The woman, who asked not to be identified, contacted 9NEWS after the story was first reported. She says she felt Eagle Trace Golf Club was trying to minimize what happened. She says her children had quite a few questions on the ride home.

“‘Mom, why is she only wearing underwear?’” she recalled. “‘Mom, why are the girls wearing white and why do the men have water guns?’”

I’m sure the young boys on the course would disagree with the managers assessment as a “mis-timing.”

I can think of a few other questions the boys may have asked: “Mom, why are there dollars in her underwear?”  Mom, are those girls really named Destiny, Cherry and Peaches?”  Mom, can I get another round in for practice?”

Did I miss any other questions?  Let me know. 

Congressman doubts China imports answer to U.S. energy crisis

Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, says his objection is very basic – the Constitution doesn’t authorize Congress to do anything remotely like banning a product that has been used safely and efficiently for more than 100 years in favor of Chinese-imported compact fluorescent light bulbs that pose considerable health and safety risks.

Poe cited the dangers associated with CFLs, which carry small amounts of mercury that can enter the environment through breakage and disposal. He also objected to reliance on the CFL alternatives when, currently, all are made in China.

Personally….

For Dave and his GOP buddies who seem to be scared to death of an Obama presidency.

I love me some RATM.

“The big difference between Republicans and liberal Democrats is the way each party views people. Republicans see us as individuals and respect our God-given human dignity. To liberal Democrats, we’re not individuals; we’re members of a herd with all the dignity of a cow or pig dependent on its owner for daily rations of hay or slop. Democrats see us as being white or as blacks or as straights or as gays, or as lesbians or as heterosexuals, or as rich or poor, or as Christians or as Jews or as Muslims, or as young or as old, as working or as retired, or as housewives or as career women. They submerge us into pools that define us as members of groups instead of as what we are as God sees us—as any father sees his children—each being different from one another, and each child being a separate and distinct individual with his or her own specific talents and abilities, and all deserving of his love… This Marxist view of human nature embraces group-think, despises individuality, and seeks to eliminate all vestiges of the dignity to which every human being created in the image and likeness of God is entitled. Only the hopes and aspirations of the groups matter, and they matter solely because they create dependency on the state—which seeks to supplant God as the source of all that is good and necessary for survival.”

—Michael Reagan

When you look at the number of factors in play at this point in history, the only conclusion that can be drawn is that air strikes are imminent.  The real question now is, to what extent will U.S. airpower be involved?  The key factors are as follows:

• Iran will not negotiate.  They have made it perfectly clear that there is nothing the international community can do to get them to cease the enrichment of uranium. 
• The U.N. is utterly impotent to do anything about Iran.  Economic sanctions are impossible to get through Russia and China.  Nuclear inspectors don’t care.  The Iranian economy, while severely recessed, continues to plug along. 
• Exacerbating the point, Israel no longer believes that sanctions against Iran will work anyway.
• Israel has used some very high level diplomats to underscore the point that airstrikes are on the table.  Included in that list are Ambassador to the United States, Sallai Merador, and Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz. 
• George Bush has insisted that “all options are on the table.  He has even hinted that there is a great deal of urgency in the voices of the Israelis.
• The impending POTUS, Barack Obama, has repeatedly said he is willing to negotiate with Iran “without precondition.”  Israel is understandably concerned that the next leader of their most trusted ally has no more foreign policy sense than a freshman in college.
• Russia has been selling anti-aircraft technology to Iran.  This technology is expected to be operational sometime around years end. 
• Nicholas Sarkozy was well received today in the Knesset becoming the first French President to visit Israel in 12 years.  His money quote; “I ask you to trust us because we want to help you… France is ready to provide its guarantee, ready to mobilise its diplomatic service, its resources, its soldiers. You can trust France.”
• In March, Dick Cheney took a little trip to the Middle East.  His last stop?  Turkey.  Some speculate that he need to shore up possible support for the continued use of air bases in Turkey.   
• And the smoking gun is what has taken place earlier this month in the Mediterranean Sea.  Israel performed a not-so-secret exercise with over 100 aircraft near Greece.  The range of their exercise was within the same range as Iran.  By letting the Western media in on their maneuvers, they have now put the world on notice that they will never stand idly by while those who promise their destruction continue to develop the means to carry out said destruction.  Appeasement is not an option for Israel.  Their very survival may depend on the success of this mission and the willingness of the United States to provide support for it.  Time has run out for the fanatical nuclear ambitions of Iran.

This video from CBS News gives a good look at the Israeli maneuvers in the Mediterranean.

Can I just get a hat tip?

Meanwhile, the only person bringing up race outside of the media is Barack Obama.  In a foreshadowing of just how low Obama will stoop, on Friday Obama stated that the scary Republicans will try to make voters afraid of him and scare up votes for John McCain.  He cuts right to the age-old Democratic tactics of painting Republicans as racists who are trying to keep the black man down. . .

So now we know what the Democratic response will be should John McCain win the election this November.  It will have nothing to do with Obama’s dearth of foreign policy experience.  It will be totally unrelated to his desire to raise taxes on Americans.  It will have nothing to do with the fact that he has been on the national scene for all of four years.  And his inability to connect to working class white voters and some females will have nothing to do with it.  It will have everything to do with the terrible Republican racists in the U.S. of KKK – A.        Me, June 22, 2008

Of course, if Obama is right that voters reject “that old stuff,” then none of this should matter. You ought to be able to choose between Obama and McCain on their merits, irrespective of race. It is Obama himself who, by calling attention to his race in this way, is employing the “old stuff”: trying to take advantage of white guilt and black fear.     James Taranto  -  June 23, 2008

More proof that the wisdom of Conclub is always ahead of the curve.

In the previous post, Dave pointed out the true intentions of the modern day green movement.  While environmentalism is a minor concern, the true intention of the watermelon left (green on the outside, red on the inside) is nothing less than socialist-style control over individuals, families, and businesses.  Certainly the economic interests of the American nation-state are of no concern to them.  And most assuredly, America’s national security is at the bottom of their wish list.  To illustrate this, one needs to only look at the responses to two Supreme Court decisions regarding national security.

This morning, the Supreme Court refused to hear one case and review another case involving national security and worries over environmental issues.  The Court refused to hear a case involving environmental attempts to halt construction of 700 miles of security fence along the southern border.  Normally, the building of such a fence would require the multiple layers of slow, difficult environmental reviews that other public and private projects are forced to endure.  Although I am not crazy about the government not following its own dictates, I think it is smart to charge on toward the construction of the wall.  The environmental reviews are costly and time consuming and will do nothing but give time for millions of illegals to continue to pour through the open borderlands.   The Sierra Club is up in arms over the construction.  Oliver Bernstien, a spokesman for the group said, “This decision leaves one man — the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security — with the extraordinary power to ignore any and all of the laws designed to protect the American people, our lands, and our natural resources,”  Of course only a rabid environmentalist would believe that a fence designed to protect the American people doesn’t meet its intended goal.  But I’m sure his intentions are to protect the arid desert lands of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California, right?  Right?  And Democratic Representative Bennie Thompson believes the use of the waiver authority will only spare the Homeland Security Department from addressing “the real issue: their lack of a comprehensive border security plan.”  Hmmm. . . it seems to me that building a wall is squarely at the top of most peoples border security plan.  Call me kooky.

In the case the Court agreed to review, a lower court stopped the navy from using a powerful sonar off of the coast of southern California.  The sonar is apparently too strong and environmentalists fear it will hurt or disorient the poor whales and dolphins.  I am sure that there is no proof of harm, but in the world of radical environmentalism, one only needs to speculate before that theory becomes gospel.  After all, environmentalists are the only people in the world who can ring the siren of impending doom to the earth and have it met with anything but sneers or straight jackets.  The Administration argued that claims of harm to aquatic wildlife were being exaggerated.  This line of reasoning seems entirely plausible since entire careers have been made by exaggerating claims.  Just ask Al Gore. 

Both cases illustrate just how far removed from common sense we have wandered.  The lands, resources, creatures and plants are all very nice and necessary in our free society.  But if we entrust aquatic life to protect our national security, then it better have a big ‘A’ for a belt buckle and be able to command the force of thousands of animals to reap destruction on evil doers.  Frankly, I would just prefer the goverment have the ability to detect sea-bourne danger and keep out those that don’t belong without having to use the bat signal or any other environmentally nefarious device. 

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their consciences.” —-C.S. Lewis

If the government gets into the business of regulating and controlling carbon emissions it will be an unparalleled concentration of power far exceeding the New Deal under Roosevelt. The government will be in complete control over what businesses and average citizens consume and produce. It is the gateway excuse to rule, regulate and control your daily life in a fashion that we have never tolerated before but are now expected to meekly accept as we attempt to bailout the bathtub with a teaspoon. Never have Americans been so willing to hand over the most fundamental financial, transportation and quality of life decisions to a central authority on such questionable grounds.

We have been brainwashed that climate change is mainly caused by human activity and that somehow carbon taxes, economic socialism, monitoring lawn mower emissions, criticizing cow flatulence and flailing away at the faceless evil that is “oil” will somehow make a difference on climate changes we are only barely beginning to understand, let alone significantly influence one way or another.

Rather disturbingly, presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama made the following statement while campaigning in Oregon.

“We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times … and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK.” “That’s not leadership,” Obama declared. “That’s not going to happen.”

Read the rest of this entry »

I remember when I was in junior high/high school, I was really into new comedy records like Chris Rock and Adam Sandler. Don’t know how many times I played those. Then I started looking further into it, and Carlin wasn’t far along. Gotta say that he had an influence on me, and it’s hard not to. Very few people have done a better job of pointing out the absurdities of life. Dozens of similar comedians came along that tried to do the kind of social commentary he did, and they all couldn’t hold a candle to him. It really says something when a comic can still keep fresh and insightful social commentary over the course of over 30 years.

RIP, George. Hope you still manage to find a good seat. Here’s one of my favorite bits that showed how insightful he could be about the most mundane aspects of American life, Baseball & Football.

“Whatever the military success, and progress that may have been made, the surge didn’t accomplish its goal. And some of the success of the surge is that the goodwill of the Iranians—they decided in Basra when the fighting would end, they negotiated that cessation of hostilities—the Iranians.”

—House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Midway through the primary cycle in March, the race of Barack Obama became a primary topic when Hillary supporter and fellow feminist Geraldine Ferraro claimed that, “If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position, and if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.”  On this site there was a mixture of opinions on this statement.  My take on it (and the correct take) was that in politics, a candidate is who he or she is and the sum of those parts appeal to a variety of different people.  Being black helps Obama in the way that being a vet helps McCain. 

On the issue of race, one could literally get ten different opinions on how race will affect the election.  An ABC News poll shows that whites are largely unaffected by race.  Similarly, a Fox News poll shows that two-thirds of Americans would be proud to have Obama as president.  The Guardian in the U.K. chose to focus on that other third by saying that “a third of those polled – including both white and African-American voters – admitted to feelings of racial prejudice.” 

And certainly, double standards will permeate the campaign when dealing with race, gender, class, and age.  Dave made a good observation the other day when he noted the chimp moniker for President Bush that would never be tolerated for a candidate/President Obama.  Similarly, it is chic in this campaign to discriminate based on age or gender but don’t you dare make your decision based on race (unless you are a white yuppie liberal that bathes in the muddy waters of racial guilt). 

Meanwhile, the only person bringing up race outside of the media is Barack Obama.  In a foreshadowing of just how low Obama will stoop, on Friday Obama stated that the scary Republicans will try to make voters afraid of him and scare up votes for John McCain.  He cuts right to the age-old Democratic tactics of painting Republicans as racists who are trying to keep the black man down:

“We know what kind of campaign they’re going to run. They’re going to try to make you afraid,” Obama said at the fundraiser. “They’re going to try to make you afraid of me. He’s young and inexperienced and he’s got a funny name. And did I mention he’s black? He’s got a feisty wife.”

So now we know what the Democratic response will be should John McCain win the election this November.  It will have nothing to do with Obama’s dearth of foreign policy experience.  It will be totally unrelated to his desire to raise taxes on Americans.  It will have nothing to do with the fact that he has been on the national scene for all of four years.  And his inability to connect to working class white voters and some females will have nothing to do with it.  It will have everything to do with the terrible Republican racists in the U.S. of KKK – A. 

New York Times Outs CIA Operative

In an astonishing stroke of irony, the New York Times has outed the name of the CIA operative who interrogated 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, over the objections of CIA Director Michael V. Hayden and a lawyer representing the operative.

Agency officials and legal counsel told the Times that publishing the agent’s name would “invade his privacy and put him at risk of retaliation from terrorists or harassment from critics of the agency.”

In an Editor’s Note linked from the story on KSM’s interrogation, the Times defended its decision by stating that “other government employees” had been “named publicly in books and published articles” or had chosen to go public themselves, by explaining that its policy “is to withhold the name of a news subject only very rarely,” and by arguing the operative’s name “was necessary for the credibility and completeness of the article.”

I used part of the following article and quote in my upcoming column The Coming Fascist State that I am writing for Watchblog (and will be reprinted here) and should hopefully be out sometime this week.

The Question of Global Warming

lf the books that I have seen about the science and economics of global warming … miss the main point. The main point is religious rather than scientific.

“There is a worldwide secular religion which we may call environmentalism, holding that we are stewards of the earth, that despoiling the planet with waste products of our luxurious living is a sin, and that the path of righteousness is to live as frugally as possible.

“The ethics of environmentalism are being taught to children in kindergartens, schools, and colleges all over the world.

“Environmentalism has replaced socialism as the leading secular religion. And the ethics of environmentalism are fundamentally sound. Scientists and economists can agree with Buddhist monks and Christian activists that ruthless destruction of natural habitats is evil and careful preservation of birds and butterflies is good.

Read the rest of this entry »

This is a repost of a very old post from 2006 from when I was blogging indepentently as “theinfidelsage” but I believe it to be timeless and well worth revisiting.

You Are More than Your Vagina, No Matter What Neofeminists Tell You

Women traditionally have been looked upon as sexual objects. So what do these neofeminists do? Celebrate and proclaim liberation in being a sex object, of course. Frat boys on campus look at these poor girls as a vagina on two legs and they want to slap that idea on a T-shirt and sell it. They’ve gone one step further from the prostitution of women to preaching harlotry. The difference between a prostitute and a harlot is that the prostitute at least has enough self respect to demand payment for services rendered.

What the “patriarchy” has tried to establish for centuries is whole-heartedly embraced and celebrated, ironically, by self-styled icons of feminism. The results of such puerile notions have been nothing short of tragic.

Every study on the subject has shown that women who buy into the inner-slut mentality of neofeminism are devastated. They suffer from depression, low self-esteem, STDs, single motherhood and they generally feel rejected in life. They grow into jaded women who think that the path to fulfillment is in imitating the worst men among us….

Have you ever wondered how the modern day Maoist philosophies of ‘Multiculturalism, Diversity, Tolerance and Political Correctness’ originated and managed to gain such a foothold in our society? FrontPageMagazine provides a great window into the origins of ‘Diversity training’ and the rampant white guilt ideology it produced. Be sure to read the whole thing.

In diversity role-playing, whites are guilty until proven innocent – and of course, they will never get to prove it. Its role-playing exercises are far removed from experiments observing behavior in an authoritarian environment, a la Stanley Milgram and Philip Zimbardo.[xiii] There, participation was voluntary, conducted under tightly controlled settings, and did not proceed from assumptions about collective guilt. By contrast, diversity training, Jane Elliott-style, requires that everyone participate and confess.

Jane Elliott’s vision is being realized. To say that the blue eyes/brown eyes exercise is “kid stuff” is true enough. But more to the point, its role-playing reduces adults to the level of children — fearful, whimpering and apologetic for nonexistent offenses. Far from combating white resentment of nonwhites, such “training” actually creates it. School multicultural programs, Thomas Sowell observes, has produced “mounting evidence of increasing (italics author’s) animosities among students of different backgrounds.”[xiv] Apparently, that’s also true in the adult world. In Britain, where Elliott is virtually lionized by multiculturalists, a former government diversity specialist explained the effects of diversity training:[xv]

You cannot over-estimate the damage to race relations that “diversity awareness” training is causing in this country. It’s having the opposite effect to that intended, causing divisions, resentment, and an increase in judgments based on race, where previously such things were actually quite rare. How do I know this? I was involved in putting together a diversity “toolkit” for a government department, and saw first-hand the effect it had as it was rammed down the throats of staff.

If Jane Elliott and her diversity minions are going to be defeated, more people like this, here and abroad, are going to have to speak out, and at whatever risk to their careers.

Who will protect us from he who wishes to “protect us” by disarming us?

Is a Democrat and my favorite author. He also in not a big fan of Obama and radical environmentalism. Andre once basically asked (sarcastically) “which is it, is Obama a Muslim or a nutty Christian?” Card believes the answer is that Obama’s true religion is environmentalism. He is probably right.

Obama’s Real Religion

No, what troubles me most is what he said right after that, while campaigning in Oregon: “We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times … and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK.”

“That’s not leadership,” Obama declared. “That’s not going to happen.”

What’s not going to happen? Us continuing to drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes at 72 degrees? Or other nations saying OK?

We already know, from Obama’s comments at a private meeting with big-pocket donors in San Francisco, that he’s an elitist who sneers at the common people who cling to religion and guns because they’re bitter about job losses twenty years ago.

But what this statement reveals is that Obama’s real religion has nothing to do with Reverend Wright.

Obama is a true believer in the religion of Environmentalism.

““[T]here is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes. The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account. ”

-Maj. General Anthony Taguba (Ret.), who was in charge of investigating the Abu Ghraib affair. Obviously, he hates America.

“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and
lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”
– Abraham Lincoln

How Chinese cyber-espionage threatens American security

You’ve got to love the Chicoms. Both parties are so nervouse about ticking off the Red Chinese that they can do virtually anything they want, whenever they want. As long as they continue to produce vast quantities of cheap consumer goods the US continues to turn a blind eye to their worldwide shananagins. Nothing to see here folks, move it along. Thank you, thank you very much.

China’s largest cyber-raid in the United States occurred in 2004. The assault was so massive that American security authorities gave it a code name, “Titan Rain.” Computers in several defense and space installations were targeted and thousands of unclassified documents, both military and industrial, were stolen. Fortunately, classified military information is not directly connected to the internet; but data found in those unclassified networks can also be of a sensitive nature.

 

Equally brazen was a 2007 cyber attack on Pentagon computers. That attack saw Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’ computer system compromised. The perpetrator in this case was believed to have been the People’s Liberation Army.

We can only hope.

Mr. Zebari’s Message: Iraq’s Foreign Minister has a chat with Barack Obama

The foreign minister said “my message” to Mr. Obama “was very clear. . . . Really, we are making progress. I hope any actions you will take will not endanger this progress.” He said he was reassured by the candidate’s response, which caused him to think that Mr. Obama might not differ all that much from Mr. McCain. Mr. Zebari said that in addition to promising a visit, Mr. Obama said that “if there would be a Democratic administration, it will not take any irresponsible, reckless, sudden decisions or action to endanger your gains, your achievements, your stability or security. Whatever decision he will reach will be made through close consultation with the Iraqi government and U.S. military commanders in the field.” Certainly, it makes sense to consult with those who, like Mr. Zebari, have put their lives on the line for an Iraq that would be a democratic U.S. ally. Mr. Obama ought to listen carefully to what they are saying.

“Now that the Supreme Court has seen fit to affirm a variety of rights of terror suspects held at Guantanamo, a new book is out exposing the harsh realities of Gitmo—the diet on which detainees have gained weight—the soccer fields and basketball courts—the letters home about mild weather and beautiful sunsets—and the detainees who don’t want to leave.”

—James Robbins  

 ”Once upon another time, namely Franklin Roosevelt’s, most of a group of German saboteurs that had infiltrated this country were caught, tried by a military tribunal that was convened by executive order for that purpose, promptly convicted and then executed—all within seven weeks. Can anyone imagine that kind of swift and effective justice from this court?”

—Paul Greenberg

I’m in Boulder for a team football camp but in the small amount of time that I have to thumb through the site I thought I would make this observation:  someone else can now win a golf tournament.  The U.S. Open was a masterful display of why a handicapped Tiger Woods is still slightly better than anyone else.  He is a freak of nature.  He is glorious to watch.  And with surgery on a torn ACL looming, few will care to watch a very average field of golfers. 

It will be very interesting to see how he recovers and if he can continue to run toward Jack Nicklaus’ 18 major championships.  My prediction: he will not finish in the top 10 in the Masters but will win the 2009 U.S. Open.

Had enough? Sign the Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less petition. Over 950,000 other Americans have.