Workingclass Conservative

I know I Probably SHOULDN’T...

2009-11-11T05:46:00.000-08:00

...BUT, I Live for Moments like THIS!

First, I would humbly ask all who like me (yes, BOTH of you) to please indulge me this particular vice of mine. Secondly, this post was delayed a couple of days, due to a good friend and former professor requesting that I re-consider “humiliating” another blogger “merely for disagreeing with me.”

I did that (carefully considered this action) and I’ve decided to go forward with it because (1) I am not doing this to “humiliate” or embarrass anyone, and I’m not taking this extraordinary step merely because another person “merely disagreed with me,” (2) I DO NOT believe, as my friend offered, that this other person may be a juvenile or perhaps even “someone with some clinical emotional issues,” the blogger in question has been online since at least 2000, so I surmise they are at least in their late 20s and even IF he did suffer from some emotional issues, I don’t believe that requires that such views not be confronted and finally (3) during the time I was re-considering this action, that blogger chose, instead of deleting my comments to edit them instead...that seemed to invite and even necessitate this response.

I love to exchanging views and opinions and so I routinely do so both here, also in a vigorous email exchange with various people and in numerous other venues around the worldwide web.

One of my favorite things is going around to various sites and challenging views that I see as naïve, wrong-headed, misguided...or even evil. I do that fairly often and I'm always very open to hearing why certain people believe the things they claim to, whether I agree or not.

As background to all this, on the day after the worst jihadist terror on American soil since 9-11-01, a “Kos Kid” (my less than affectionate nickname for the army of misfits that Markos Moulitsas Zúñiga has gathered over at the D-Kos) who goes by the name of BlueWind (BlueWind at Blue and White Blog:

http://blueandwhite96.blogspot.com/) blogged about a BBC report about a Muslim couple sentenced to death by stoning in Somalia...not a single word, let alone entry about the Fort Hood terror attack.

That wasn’t a mere oversight or affront, in my view, that was pure and unadulterated America-hatred demonstrated by a reflexive disdain for the U.S. Military.

BlueWind’s (BW) entry went like this;

From the BBC link above:

"Islamists in southern Somalia have stoned a man to death for adultery but spared his pregnant girlfriend until she gives birth"

and then the article continues:

"Abas Hussein Abdirahman, 33, was killed in front of a crowd of some 300 people in the port town of Merka.

"He was screaming and blood was pouring from his head during the stoning. After seven minutes he stopped moving," an eyewitness told the BBC.

That is an example of how horrendous and criminal theocratic beliefs can be. The criminals who killed this man probably believe they were acting in "gods will".

But where it gets even more scary and chilling, is this part:

"An official from the al-Shabab group said the woman would be killed after she has had her baby."

This is pure horror. An innocent woman is waiting to be killed after she delivers her baby, in the hands of a bizarre group of criminal theocrats. What is the civilized world doing to stop this? I hope that the United Nations and groups for civil liberties will do something to save this woman.

I also hope that the Obama administration and governments of other civilized parts of the world will try to interfere to stop the completion of that horrendous crime.

http://blueandwhite96.blogspot.com/2009/11/pure-horror.html

His previous blog entry was two days earlier on Wednesday when he commented about Tuesday, November 3^rd’s Election Day results...nothing on Thursday or Friday about the terror attack at Fort Hood.

So, I responded like THIS;

“There’s an irony in your naïve ignorance BW.

“You deride these people for following their own moral dictates, their own strictly codified “morality,” such as it is, while you do the VERY SAME thing they do - “you assert that YOUR OWN “morality” (such as IT is) as “the only right one” ”.

“The fact is, ALL conventional moralities are arbitrary, capricious and ultimately, fictitious. The very concepts of “right and wrong” are religious concepts. With the West’s view rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition, and the Muslim world’s rooted in Islam’s Sharia (moral) laws.

“In ALL cases, however, as the great Robert Anton Wilson (RAW) so presciently said, “Reality is what you can get away with.”

“Since I’m not possessed of the lyrical gifts of RAW, I put it simply, “All morality is optional, as all morality is based on an arbitrary and capricious set of standards that serve those on top most of all.” And THAT works....for ALL of us!

“The Muslim world defends its moral strictures and its strict proscriptions against sexual indiscretions as serving to protect WOMEN.

“Their view is that an adulterer (male or female) puts their spouse/partner at risk for a myriad of STDs and other illnesses. Winking and nodding at such behaviors can be said to “weaken the familial bonds.”

“Whether we in the West accept that, or not, they ultimately, they have a right to interpret their morality as THEY see fit, just as you and I do ours.

“But you are really not all that different, at least not any less dogmatic and wrong-headed than they are, as you seem to believe inane things like, “violence never solves anything.”

“Worse yet, you naively seem to think most in the West share that view.

“I can assure you, they most certainly do NOT.

“As you probably already suspect, I don’t share that view at all.

“I KNOW that violence solves a myriad of problems.

“Our own moral conflict and Fort Hood; “winning hearts and minds” (convincing those who hate us – jihadist Muslims) that we’re nice people...vs. “crushing an enemy ideology” as we did with Nazism, communism and Japanese Imperialism.

“I favor the latter, folks like yourself the former.

“The former (YOUR way... trying to “win hearts and minds” ALWAYS results ion failures like the one at Fort Hood and 9/11), the path I favor, tends to lead to what happened to our enemies in WW II.

“See the difference?

“Much as I disdain your pseudo-morality, I accept your right to choose that (for YOURself)...not to foist it on others, of course, and NOT to even proselytize it to others. I accept that in the same vain that accept these Somali’s right to their own morality and moral dictates, as well as the Saudis, who recently sentenced a man to 50 lashes for merely “boasting about his sexual exploits in public,” and even more recently sentenced a pedophile to beheading, followed by his remains being crucified and put on display thereafter.

“That harsh, swift and merciless morality is simply, “their way,” just as your soft-jelly centered “let’s all just get along” morality is “your way.” Neither of you can be anything different than what you are.” (JMK)

“I would not expect any less idiotic comments from you JMK. You are doing fine in your classic tradition of total idiocy.” (BW)

I didn't just give you an opinion BW, I gave you a set of fundamental truths; the first is that morality ALL morality is rooted in religion....our Western concepts of "right" and "wrong" are rooted in the Biblical principles n which they are found.

There is NOTHING that anchors those concepts other than......religious traditions.

The second is that such traditions differ widely across cultures and yes, between INDIVIDUALS, as well.

No one should hold an opinion on human affairs, politics, economics, etc. without first understanding such a basic truth. Which is why I've said, nearly since I've known you, YOU should not be putting forth your views, they are too naive, too thoughtless, too devoid of reason and divorced from how the world operates to have any value.

That's not a criticism, it's an objective assessment. The fact that you have never been able to defend any of your views, indicates you haven't even really thought about them, let alone thought them through.

Suffice to say, the Muslim world's "morality," codified in its Sharia Laws IS the established "morality" for about 20% of this planet.

Just as we would not want Sharia Law foisted on the West, we have NO RIGHT to foist our own (and especially YOUR OWN...you hold to a pacifist morality that is a tiny minority within the Western tradition) moral dictates upon them.

Your "control freak" tendencies (your desire to control others who "have too much," don't act as you like," etc.) SHOULD BE incompatible with your professed affinity for freedom, but then again, you don't really understand that "freedom" is only SELF-OWNERSHIP, nothing more....so maybe that's part of the problem. (JMK)

"Self-ownership" is freedom? Do you really think you just made an intelligent point? You think you just had a unique idea? How does it feel being an idiot? Just curious.” (BW)

Again the main point isn't what you don't understand (that's virtually everything), but that you're sense of "We should STOP them from following their moral code," is the SAME view that THEY hold! You see, they want to "kill the infidel" precisely because we don't subscribe to their moral code.

That, in a nutshell, is what makes YOU and THEM the same.

In your case, your own "morality," such as it is, seems to be dependent on your whim at the moment.

After all, you didn't cry out that we should've stopped Saddam Hussein's regime when he was routinely putting people through plastic shredders, or filling mass graves with upwards of half a million bodies. No, then it was, "Iraq's a sovereign country and we have no right to...."

And I agree that we had no right to stop practices we feel are barbaric, merely because we feel they are.

We DO have a right to protect our own interests, geo-political and economic, wherever those interests are, which is what we did later on, of course.

Almost typically, in the wake of the worst act of Islamic terrorism on U.S. soil since 9/11/01 (Fort Hood) your sympathies go half a world away to two people who knowingly and willingly violated the moral precepts and laws (Sharia Law is the law of that country) in Somalia....NOT to the American service-people and their families impacted by this latest bout of Islamic terror. Perfectly "liberal," of you. (JMK)

JMK,

Keep up the idiotic comments. You may eventually brake the world record of idiocy (currently shared by your idol George W. Bush and by the woman of your dreams, Sarah Palin). (BW)

Yikes!

I guess you don't realize that it's always "the idiots" who can't defend what they believe in (hint: in this case, that would be YOU).

I've shown that morality is (1) fluid and continually open to change, (2) ALWAYS rooted in religious traditions and (3) relative, that is to say, differing widely across cultures and often between individuals as well.

Moreover, and this is the MOST ironic thing of all, YOUR assertion that We should go in there and stop these people from following their own moral dictates and their own moral code (Sharia law) is really functionally NO DIFFERENT than that which makes radicalized Islam so dangerous - their refusal to accept others following their own moral dictates.

In the end, BOTH YOU and the radical Islamists want to force your own morality on a group of unwilling others.

That's undeniable, given your initial statement "I also hope that the Obama administration and governments of other civilized parts of the world will try to interfere to stop the completion of that horrendous crime."

YOU want to enforce your own morality on these Sharia adherents, just as THEY want to enforce theirs on YOU and everyone else in the West.

I understand why you haven't made a single argument to defend your viewpoint....it's because you CAN'T. (JMK)

JMK,

I have been tolerating your incoherent rants, but I am getting tired of them. Next time I may ban you altogether. (BW)

Look, THIS is all I’ve wanted from the start, that you simply cede this argument and acknowledge that I’m right on this. Yes, you’d pretty much done that from the beginning by not defending what you claim to believe, but this is a much more clearer surrender.

I didn’t offer you an opinion here, BW, I explained some very basic facts, (1) that all morality is rooted in religious traditions, (2) that morality is fluid and differs widely across cultures, as well as between individuals within the same culture and (3) that people have a right to follow the moral precepts of their own innate culture.

On the day after the 2^nd worst jihadist terror attack on U.S. soil, your heart goes out, not to America’s service-people gunned down by a jihadist in Fort Hood, but half a world away to two Muslims, who THEMSELVES adhere to the Muslim moral code, ensconced in Sharia Law, who are being punished, albeit in a most draconian way, to Western eyes, for violating their own culture’s moral precepts.

The irony in all this is that YOU then assert the SAME thing the jihadists do – that “All others should live by YOUR moral code.” The Islamists want the entire world ruled by Sharia and folks like you demand that the entire world live by your own version of Western morality.

You "think" of yourself as a caring person," but you're really a self-centered, mean-spirited control freak at heart. You don’t care about these victims of Sharia Law any more than you do the 13 dead soldiers at Fort Hood, you’re primary concern here is what it is in EVERY issue, you rationalizing your control over others...and that’s disgusting.

The only odd thing about all this is that you don’t even get that irony. (JMK)

A day later, BW deleted all of my comments from his blog.

I took that as his surrender, at least his willingness to accept that he couldn’t defend what he claimed to believe (same thing).

In an email to my former teacher, I mentioned this and talked about blogging about this relatively minor “triumph” – getting a Leftist to openly admit, openly DEMONSTRATE that they don’t believe in dialogue or the free exchange of ideas and opinions, that they actually believe in stifling dissent and silencing all who disagree with them.

That friend suggested for a whole host of reasons (mostly concern for the other party) that I not do that and I DID very seriously consider that...UNTIL....BW subsequently edited my comments, which, in my view, as I said, both invited and necessitated some response.

Here are the edits BW left up;

Edited By Siteowner
JMK

I understand why you haven't made a single argument to defend your viewpoint....it's because you CAN'T. (JMK)

Edited By Siteowner
JMK |

You "think" of yourself as a caring person," but you're really a self-centered, mean-spirited control freak at heart. (JMK)

Edited By Siteowner
JMK

JMK,
I have been tolerating your incoherent rants, but I am getting tired of them. Next time I may ban you altogether. (BW)

All I've wanted from the start was for you to throw in the towel and cede the discussion, which amounts to tacitly accepting that you acknowledge I'm right. You'd pretty much done that by failing to defend what you claim to believe, but I wanted more than

Edited By Siteowner
JMK

So, there it is!

I was able to get a far-Left “Kos Kid” to DEMONSTRATE his outright revulsion for the free exchange of ideas and opinions.

One of my friend’s rationales for not posting this was that BW’s views were “not Liberal ones at all,” but that’s untrue!

Sure, they aren’t traditional Liberal views, but they ARE very much in step with the bulk of those you'll find at the Daily Kos and the membership of organizations like MoveOn and MediaMatters. BW’s views are indeed VERY TYPICAL of today’s “far-Left.”

Bottom-line, I didn’t go out of my way to use BW as a weapon against illiberal Liberalism, he made HIMSELF one. I don't believe I've been at all unfair about this at all, though I'm open to any and all arguments to the contrary.

Moreover, I have no concerns about being challenged by BW or others of his ilk. I DO believe in the free and open exchange of ideas and opinions and of course, I CAN and WILL always defend what I believe in and confront that which I do not.

Come on! If BW didn’t confront me and defend his views on HIS site, he’s going to come here and find a voice to confront me on mine?

Hardly likely.

The FAILURE of Government is Becoming More Apparent...

2009-11-10T19:27:00.001-08:00

Liberals are misguided for a whole host of reasons, from their penchant for emotion over logic, to their being driven primarily by envy – fearing some “other guy” out there “has too much.” All of that leads Liberals to revile the private sector and its “vile profit motive,” and to embrace government as the “best possible solution to most problems."

Liberalism’s favorite mantra, “People before profits,” in effect turns Reaganism on its head. While Ronald Reagan famously said, “Government isn’t the solution, government IS the problem,” contemporary Liberalism says in effect, “Profit is the problem and government is the cure.”

Unfortunately for Liberals, Reagan’s legacy pretty much proves that wrong. In January, 1981 Ronald Reagan inherited the real "worst U.S. economy since the Great Depression," with rising unemployment and high inflation rates wreaking havoc. When he took office, the Misery Index (the combined inflation and unemployment rates) stood at 21 (20.8) with an inflation rate of 13.6% and an unemployment rate of 7.2%, at the end of Reagan's first year the Misery Index was dropped to 18 (17.97) with an inflation rate of 10.3% and an unemployment rate of 7.6 AND the Supply Side policies that administration brought in continued to drop the Misery Index and improve the economy over the next five years until the Misery Index reached single digits for the first time in 14 years! By 1986, the Misery Index hadn't seen single digits since 1972.

Compare that to the current administration which inherited a Misery Index of 9.61, the highest since 1993 (9.87). The unemployment rate when Barack Obama took office was 7.6%, the highest it had been since September of 1992.

Of course it now stands at 10.2%, the highest its been since April of 1983!

We’re moving in the WRONG direction!

While Reagan’s Supply Side policies improved the economy that first year, the Keynesian policies of the Obama administration have only worsened this one.

Worse yet, the failure of government is looking more and more systemic!

California just ran out of money and added a 10% income tax surcharge to its already punishing tax burden.

Now New York’s Governor David Paterson say that New York State will be bankrupt before Christmas!

If government is “the cure,” it’s certainly looking like a lethal one!

"We're going to run out of cash in four and a half weeks. We are going to run out of money. Unless we do something about it, (it will) threaten generations," Paterson said.

And that statement has triggered a showdown between the Governor and the NY State Legislature.

The governor says $3.2 billion in cuts must be enacted immediately. The cuts he’s proposed range from $500 million in agency spending to over $1 billion in already committed in aid to school districts and hospitals.

"I will mortgage my political career, but I will not mortgage the fate of the State of New York," Paterson said.

The governor has ordered lawmakers into special session Tuesday to close the budget gap. Right now there’s no agreement and he could twist some legislative arms by keeping them here until an agreement is reached. Of course, New York’s ultra-Liberal legislature’s immediate agenda includes bills to legalize gay marriage, toughen drunk-driving laws and reform the state's public authorities.

Hello?!

Anybody HOME???

Terrorism and Liberalism...Yet Another Connection....

2009-11-09T18:54:00.000-08:00

In the wake of the disclosure that the Fort Hood jihadist, Nidal Malik Hasan, attended a Virginia mosque at the same time as two of the 9/11 hijackers, emails have been confirmed of Major Nidal Hasan reaching out to al Qaida operatives overseas in the days preceding his Fort Hood terror attack.

Again, two things about this highlight the gross incompetence of this administration, the first is the way this administration clearly made sure that political correctness hampered the way the feds dealt with Major Hasan, compared to say, ho, Dave Koresh or randy Weaver, for instance.

The second is the way its mandated that the Military focus primarily on an imagined “anti-Muslim backlash.” In fact, that has been the focus so much so, that many Military members have reported being fearful of coming forward to report legitimately suspicious behavior BECAUSE of the suspicious acting person being Muslim!

How insane is THAT?!

But none of that should be all that surprising, considering how linked jihadist terrorism and American Liberalism really are.

As an example, I’ll call Exhibit A, a Seattle man, named Christopher John Monfort (pictured above), believed to be the man who pulled up next to a Seattle Police cruiser last Saturday (10-31-2009) and opened fire, killing one officer, Timothy Brenton and wounding another, Britt Sweeney.

Since that shooting, Seattle Police had been looking for the Datsun 210 coupe, which had driven by Officer Brenton’s and Officer Sweeney's patrol car at 9:46 p.m. Saturday while they were on a traffic stop. An image of the vehicle was captured by the cruiser's dash camera.

Twenty minutes later, while the officers were parked at 29th Avenue and East Yesler Way, a car drove alongside and unleashed a fusillade of rifle fire into the patrol car.

Brenton was killed instantly and Sweeney, who sensed danger and ducked, was grazed.

What makes Mr. Monfort a little more interesting is his left-wing lunacy and his penchant for misanthropic, anti-American violence a la Bill Ayers.

According to a Seattle Times report, early “Friday (11-06-09), Seattle and Tukwila police went to an apartment complex in the 13700 block of 56th Avenue South after receiving a tip about a car matching the description of the early 1980s Datsun 210 coupe seen near the site where Brenton was slain, said a source close to the investigation.

“Police found a Datsun, draped with a car cover. They waited until a man approached the vehicle, said Tukwila police spokesman Mike Murphy.

“King County sheriff's Sgt. John Urquhart said three detectives confronted the man in the complex's parking lot and asked to speak with him. The man ran away, bolting up an exterior staircase where he turned, pulled out a handgun and pointed it at the officers.

"For some reason, it didn't go off," said Urquhart.

“The man then turned and ran again, with the detectives in close pursuit.

"They caught up to him after a relatively short distance, whereupon this individual turned again, presented the gun and was shot by the detectives," Urquhart said.

“Police have since detained two other men, one at a bus stop near the apartment complex and another in Federal Way. The men may have ties to the wounded man and the apartment, a source said.”

It was also noted that Monfort had recently been laid off from his job as a security guard.

Yeah!...THAT’S the reason, not his sociopathic hatred for America and America’s criminal justice system...

But WAIT! Again, as they say, there’s even MORE! That same Seattle Times report notes that “Law-enforcement sources said Monfort also is suspected of the Oct. 22 bombing and arson of a Seattle maintenance yard, where three police cars and an RV used as a mobile precinct were damaged.

“Before Monfort was identified, police found distinct evidence that leads them to believe the same person was involved in that crime and the Brenton shooting, sources said.

“A note threatening to kill police officers was left at the bombing site, according to sources. One source described the note as containing a general threat against police officers.”

Last year, Monfort belonged to the McNair Scholars Program, part of the university's office of Minority Affairs and Diversity. The program aims to steep undergraduate students in sophisticated research, preparing them for graduate work.

Monfort provided this title for his project with the McNair program: “The Power of Citizenship Your Government Doesn't Want You to Know About: How to Change the Inequity of the Criminal Justice System Immediately, Through Active Citizen Nullification of Laws, As a Juror.”

"In an abstract of his project, Monfort said he planned to “illuminate and further” the scholarship of Paul Butler, a law professor at George Washington University. Butler is a proponent of jury nullification, a controversial principle whereby jurors feel free to disregard a judge's instructions and acquit a defendant no matter the strength of the evidence.

"Paul Butler has said, “It is the moral responsibility of black jurors to emancipate some guilty black outlaws,” Butler wrote in a 1995 Yale Law Journal article, adding: “My goal is the subversion of American criminal justice, at least as it now exists.”

So, there it is, this cop killer, Christopher John Monfort, was a hate-filled, left-wing radical out on a personal jihad against American law enforcement.

Terrorism and Liberalism – yet ANOTHER connection.

I’m going to chronicle as many such instances I can over the coming months, because this connection is all too real and all too threatening to the heart and soul of this nation.

Fry Him!...

2009-11-09T17:36:00.000-08:00

If for no other than THIS idiotic reasoning;

Scott Roeder 51, of Kansas City, Mo. (pictured above), even now, defiant and remorseless, the man accused of shooting a Kansas abortion provider (Dr. George Tiller) confessed to the slaying Monday, telling The Associated Press that he killed the doctor to protect unborn children.

Roeder told reporters that he plans to argue at trial that he was justified in shooting the late-term abortion provider at the doctorr's Wichita church, "Because of the fact pre-born children's lives were in imminent danger this was the action I chose...I want to make sure that the focus is, of course, obviously on the pre-born children and the necessity to defend them."

OK, the problem here is that THIS is about as much of a defense as a woman who kills her allegedly abusive husband or boyfriend while the guy is asleep.

That’s a guaranteed conviction because the killing is in no way linked to an imminent threat or danger.

In the woman’s case, she simply could have left the scene. Her actions were unjustified because there were other less draconian options available.

In Roeder’s case, he’s making a rationale that, at best would be justified within the confines of Dr. Tiller’s operating room, where a late-term abortion was about to be performed, it does NOT justify confronting the Doctor in Church! In fact, it wouldn't justify it in the first instance either, as late-term abortion is legal in Kansas.

What Dr. Tiller did, providing late term abortions, was almost certainly despicable and it’s also true that over 2/3s of Americans oppose late-term abortion, but in the state of Kansas it is NOT against the law.

It IS, however, very much against the law to gun down a physician in a Church, at his home, or anywhere else.

Scott Roeder is an embarrassment to the cause he claims to represent and in the end, he’s as much a murderer, as the doctor he claimed was a wanton killer.

Senate Calls Pelosi-Care "Mortally Wounded" and "DOA"...Translation, “Well Tinker Around the Edges, YOU’LL Still Pay Through the Nose”...

2009-11-09T10:46:00.000-08:00

According to today’s New York Post, “President Obama's victory dance yesterday for the House-passed health-care bill came as Senate foes -- mainly Republicans with one key Democrat moderate -- pronounced the measure mortally wounded, if not outright DOA.” (http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/obamacare_legislation_in_trouble_n12JvzOZLO36ngE5VaFVmI)

Senator Lieberman (I-CN), whose vote Democrats need to overcome a GOP filibusters, told Fox News Sunday, that if a government plan is part of the deal, "as a matter of conscience, I will not allow this bill to come to a final vote."

Lieberman expressed concern over the mounting Deficit and about how new government spending the health-care legislation would only make that situation even more dire.

On this wave of excess spending, Senator Lieberman has said, "I don't want to do that to our children and grandchildren."

At nearly the same time, Sunday (11-8-2009) Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), was on CBS's Face the Nation, where he declared that, "The House bill is dead on arrival in the Senate."

"It was bill written by liberals for liberals, and people like Joe Lieberman are not going to get anywhere near the House bill . . . It is a nonstarter in the Senate."

He said he firmly believes "the public option will destroy private health care."

The overhaul would lead to the biggest changes in the $2.5 trillion health-care system -- which accounts for one-sixth of the US economy -- since the 1965 creation of the Medicare government health-insurance program for the elderly.

While I appreciate this bit of political theater and the obligatory bravado from the “opposition,” I expect nothing less than a very flawed “compromise" that serves the interests of Insurance Companies and has the 85% of Americans already covered, along with small business owners saddled with additional, and in many cases crippling added costs...and THAT’S not even counting the HUGE tax wallop that’s virtually assured of coming along with this ridiculous boondoggle.

See full articel: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/obamacare_legislation_in_trouble_n12JvzOZLO36ngE5VaFVmI

In the meantime, here's a start on what this monstrosity exactly entails;

Betsy McCaughey, the former Lt. Governor of New York state explained some of the passages in a Wall Street Journal article this past weekend (Saturday, November 7, 2009).

• Sec. 224 (p. 118) provides that 18 months after the bill becomes law, the Secretary of Health and Human Services will decide what a "qualified plan" covers and how much you'll be legally required to pay for it. That's like a banker telling you to sign the loan agreement now, then filling in the interest rate and repayment terms 18 months later.

Protestors wave signs in front of the Capitol on Thursday.

On Nov. 2, the Congressional Budget Office estimated what the plans will likely cost. An individual earning $44,000 before taxes who purchases his own insurance will have to pay a $5,300 premium and an estimated $2,000 in out-of-pocket expenses, for a total of $7,300 a year, which is 17% of his pre-tax income. A family earning $102,100 a year before taxes will have to pay a $15,000 premium plus an estimated $5,300 out-of-pocket, for a $20,300 total, or 20% of its pre-tax income. Individuals and families earning less than these amounts will be eligible for subsidies paid directly to their insurer.

• Sec. 59b (pp. 297-299) says that when you file your taxes, you must include proof that you are in a qualified plan. If not, you will be fined thousands of dollars. Illegal immigrants are exempt from this requirement.

• Sec. 412 (p. 272) says that employers must provide a "qualified plan" for their employees and pay 72.5% of the cost, and a smaller share of family coverage, or incur an 8% payroll tax. Small businesses, with payrolls from $500,000 to $750,000, are fined less.

In addition to reducing future Medicare funding by an estimated $500 billion, the bill fundamentally changes how Medicare pays doctors and hospitals, permitting the government to dictate treatment decisions.

• Sec. 1302 (pp. 672-692) moves Medicare from a fee-for-service payment system, in which patients choose which doctors to see and doctors are paid for each service they provide, toward what's called a "medical home."

• Sec. 1114 (pp. 391-393) replaces physicians with physician assistants in overseeing care for hospice patients.

• Secs. 1158-1160 (pp. 499-520) initiates programs to reduce payments for patient care to what it costs in the lowest cost regions of the country. This will reduce payments for care (and by implication the standard of care) for hospital patients in higher cost areas such as New York and Florida.

• Sec. 1161 (pp. 520-545) cuts payments to Medicare Advantage plans (used by 20% of seniors). Advantage plans have warned this will result in reductions in optional benefits such as vision and dental care.

• Sec. 1402 (p. 756) says that the results of comparative effectiveness research conducted by the government will be delivered to doctors electronically to guide their use of "medical items and services." (This means rationing by government fiat. The government will punish doctors who offer more expensive, better care)

While the bill will slash Medicare funding, it will also direct billions of dollars to numerous inner-city social work and diversity programs with vague standards of accountability.

• Sec. 399V (p. 1422) provides for grants to community "entities" with no required qualifications except having "documented community activity and experience with community healthcare workers" to "educate, guide, and provide experiential learning opportunities" aimed at drug abuse, poor nutrition, smoking and obesity. "Each community health worker program receiving funds under the grant will provide services in the cultural context most appropriate for the individual served by the program."

• Sec. 222 (p. 617) provides reimbursement for culturally and linguistically appropriate services. This program will train health-care workers to inform Medicare beneficiaries of their "right" to have an interpreter at all times and with no co-pays for language services.

• Secs. 2521 and 2533 (pp. 1379 and 1437) establishes racial and ethnic preferences in awarding grants for training nurses and creating secondary-school health science programs. For example, grants for nursing schools should "give preference to programs that provide for improving the diversity of new nurse graduates to reflect changes in the demographics of the patient population." And secondary-school grants should go to schools "graduating students from disadvantaged backgrounds including racial and ethnic minorities." (Nice backdoor move to embrace even MORE racial quotas!)

See Betsy McCoughy's full WSJ article at:http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052748704795604574519671055918380-lMyQjAxMDA5MDAwNzEwNDcyWj.html#printMode

The NEXT Nidal???....

2009-11-08T09:17:00.000-08:00

Homegrown and radicalized jihadist terror lurks right here at home in the good’ol USA!

Yes, the Fort Hood attack, the worst act of Islamic terrorism on U.S. soil since 9/11/01, certainly proves that...but wait!... as they say, there’s even MORE!

From a truly disgusting and frightening article in today’s (Sunday, November 8, 2009) New York Post (http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/queens/america_hater_in_qns_hails_hood_HvD7Z20qSwe9dp4obu8L7L), “The soldiers at Fort Hood had it coming, says a radical Muslim in Queens who travels to mosques around the city spreading anti-American hate and has sent a "Get Well Soon" message to the major behind the Texas massacre.”

The homegrown radical jihadist is a Queens, NY man named Yousef al-Khattab (pictured above), on whose blog “Revolution Muslim” (http://revolutionmuslim.com/) "An officer and a gentleman was injured while partaking in a pre-emptive attack. Get well soon Major Nidal. We love you."

According to John Doyle and Janon Fisher of the NY Post, “In the twisted logic of al-Khattab, who was born Jewish in New Jersey and converted to Islam in 2004, the 13 slain and 38 wounded Army victims gunned down by the radical one-man sleeper cell were "terrorists" who deserved to die.

Amazingly enough, just as the federal authorities were “aware of” Major Nidal’s increasingly radicalized rantings, the FBI is also well aware of al-Khattab's dangerous online hate-mongering, but claim they are unable to do much about it as he just skirts the line between protected speech and inciting violence.

REALLY?

Is espousing, encouraging and CONGRATULATING acts of unspeakable terror “protected?” You mean that Major Nidal and Mr. al-Khattab can’t be brought in for some psychiatric “observation?”

I believe people have been taken off American streets for ranting and acting aggressively, most of them wind up at places like Bellevue for some psychiatric observation. These kinds of vicious rants don’t warrant something similar?

The NY Post article quotes Barry Covert, a First Amendment lawyer from Buffalo, who says, "It's terrible. It's reprehensible. For the mosques it's a p.r. nightmare. He's probably putting members of the mosque in danger from attacks from non-Muslims, but he's not breaking the law."

According to the report, Mr. Covert said, “that unless al-Khattab incites people to immediate acts of violence, the Constitution protects him.”

To their credit, the NY Post reports that a number of Imams in Manhattan have been appalled by al-Khattab’s message and have tried to get the police to stop him from spreading his radical hate.

According to the NY Post, "We spoke to law enforcement about them, because we are disgusted with their behavior," said Shamsi Ali, an imam at the Islamic Cultural Center of New York, a mosque at 96th Street and Third Avenue.

He said that at a recent Muslim parade, al-Khattab and his followers were preaching violence, but despite complaints from the congregation, the NYPD could only watch.

"They say that as long as there is not a physical threat, there's nothing that they can do." said Ali. "They say it's a free-speech issue."

Last month (October 18, 2009 online at http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/bike_cab_jihad_jerk_is_hate_pedaler_LlEQZryG5TFodacQYTT4oJ) the NY Post wrote another article on Yousef al-Khattab, which started, “This jihadist wannabe is a "terror" on the road.

“Yousef al-Khattab is a Jewish-born, Jersey-raised convert to Islam who schleps tourists on his pedicab by day and propagandizes for the terrorists he idolizes by night.

"I give a real tour of the city -- 47th Street, this is where they launder drug money for Colombia, this is the Garment District, from here they run the slave shops of the world," the attention-loving al-Khattab, 41, said.”

That report went to note that according to Police sources, “He's on the radar of both the FBI and the NYPD, but he's not considered a real threat.”

Gregg Zukowski, president of the NYC Pedicab Association, said he was unaware of al-Khattab's jihadi side until contacted by a reporter.

"He's out there and working hard," Zukowski said. "[His beliefs] don't impact on his business."

This is the kind of thing that highlights the perils of an open society. Those who cherish that openness must also support a heightened vigilance in order to keep it that way.

NY Post full article: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/queens/america_hater_in_qns_hails_hood_HvD7Z20qSwe9dp4obu8L7L

Yousef al-Khattab’s blog "Revolution Muslim": http://revolutionmuslim.com/

Pelosi-Care PASSES...THANKS to the GOP!!!...

2009-11-08T06:34:00.000-08:00

The House Healthcare Bill (Pelosi-Care) passed last night 220- 215...and you can (without much of a stretch) blame the GOP for playing a big part in its passage.

I blame DUMB and DISINGENUOUS Republicans in voting to pass the Stupak Amendment with 176 Republican votes!

That gave the entire Democratic Party (not just the Blue Dogs) cover, and it signaled, "We're really not all that much against this monstrosity, it's just about politics as usual," from the GOP.

The GOP's OBVIOUS "best strategy" in all this, was to vote “PRESENT” on Stupak and let the Democrats fight among themselves....if the Blue Dogs caved, they'd lose BIG next election, surrendering all those vulnerable seats and if the Liberals caved, they'd face furor from the far-Left.

There was absolutely NO DOWNSIDE to voting "present," and a LOT of upside!

Again, this is another one of those things I CAN'T accept as a "mistake," it's actually too dumb to be an accident.

Maybe they really DO have to purge the so-called "Moderates" from the GOP.

Although, an even scarier thought is that the Rockefeller-wing might not have been the driving force behind that....

Liberal Democrats Dither as the American Economy Burns...

2009-11-07T17:44:00.000-08:00

In October 2008, the candidate Barack Obama delivered a major economic speech in Toledo, Ohio, in which he said: “Right now, we face an immediate economic emergency, and that requires urgent action. We can’t wait to help workers and families and communities who are struggling right now — who don’t know if their job or their retirement will be there tomorrow; who don’t know if next week’s paycheck will cover this month’s bills. ... We need to pass an economic rescue plan for the middle-class, and we need to do it not five years from now, not next year, we need to do it right now.

“So today I’m proposing a number of steps that we should take immediately to stabilize our financial system, provide relief to families and communities and help struggling homeowners.”

Just about a year later, and a full ten months into Barack Obama’s first term, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released unemployment figures for October 2009 this past Friday (11-6-09). The official rate is now a staggering 10.2 percent, up more than 50 percent from the time that candidate Obama gave that speech.

(Worse still, the underemployment rate, which includes part-time workers who want to work full time and those who’ve given up searching, is a staggering 17.5 percent.)

President Obama has been reduced to asking the people for patience and offering excuses. He’s even tried to sell the view that at least things are getting worse at a slower pace, but his subtext is always, “Don’t blame me, blame Bush.”

The global credit crisis was a bipartisan disaster, although the crisis took hold on Bush’s watch, but that pain hasn’t been reduced, it’s increased under the Obama administration.

For better or worse, this is now Obama’s crisis, it’s HIS economy and that fact carries some serious political realities along with it. And THIS is the comparison Barack Obama is faced with, for better or worse, he'll be compared to the last President who took office during a major economic downturn, Ronald Reagan. Reagan inherited the real "worst U.S. economy since the Great Depression," with rising unemployment and high inflation rates wreaking havoc. When he took office, the Misery Index (the combined inflation and unemployment rates) stood at 21 (20.8) with an inflation rate of 13.6% and an unemployment rate of 7.2%, at the end of Reagan's first year the Misery Index was dropped to 18 (17.97) with an inflation rate of 10.3% and an unemployment rate of 7.6 AND the Supply Side policies that administration brought in continued to drop the Misery Index and improve the economy over the next five years until the Misery Index reached single digits for the first time in 14 years! By 1986, the Misery Index hadn't seen single digits since 1972.

But, the economy and JOBS aren’t high on the Democratic agenda, even though that’s the NUMBER 1 issue with the vast majority of Americans!

Even David Rockefeller (D-WV) has recently wondered aloud whether the Democrat’s agenda of Healthcare and Cap and Trade is out of step with the American people’s concerns over the economy and JOBS.

When David Rockefeller is questioning his Party’s conventional wisdom, something’s very wrong.

But let’s look at the costs of the Democrat’s big government agenda;

Actual 10-year Cost of Pelosi Healthcare Plan: $1.8 Trillion

The CBO reports that, in their true first 10 years, the House bill would cost $1.8 trillion, and the Senate bill would cost $1.7 trillion. Pelosi would raise Americans’ taxes by $1.1 trillion over that period, while Reid would hike them by $1 trillion. In other words, the Democrats have relied on accounting gimmicks to lie about the true costs of the bills.

OK, there’s a TRILLION USD in new taxes piled on an already over-taxed nation.

How about Cap and Trade? What will that cost?

The Projected Costs of Cap and Trade

http://blog.heritage.org/2009/06/22/cbo-grossly-underestimates-costs-of-cap-and-trade/

“The Heritage Foundation’s analysis of the Waxman-Markey climate change legislation, the GDP hit in 2020 was $161 billion (2009 dollars). For a family of four, that is $1,870 that even the CBO ignore.

“Higher energy costs create a significantly slower economy and reduce America’s growth potential. Heritage analysis finds that by 2035, a projected 2.5 million jobs are lost below the baseline (without a cap and trade bill). The average Gross Domestic Product (GDP) lost is $393 billion, hitting a high of $662 billion in 2035. The negative economic impacts accumulate, and the national debt is no exception. The increase in family-of-four debt, solely because of Waxman-Markey, hits an almost unbelievable $114,915 by 2035.

“Whatever the costs, we will get almost nothing in exchange. According to climatologist Chip Knappenberger, Waxman-Markey would moderate temperatures by only hundredths of a degree in 2050 and no more than two-tenths of a degree at the end of the century.”

So, while nearly 1 out of every 5 Americans is looking for a better economy and MORE jobs (which requires more investment), the Democrats seem intent on adding an unmanageable and ill-conceived healthcare overhaul and a tremendously expensive Cap and trade that will deliver negligible results at BEST!

Yes, the Liberals in government want to add over $2 TRILLION in taxes over the next decade, while at the same time saddling the average American family of four with an incredible $114,915 by 2035!

The Blue Dog Democrats CAN help avert these disasters, but ONLY IF they remain true to their Conservative ideology!

Funny Stuff??? - Democrats Fight to Protect Pedophiles, but Bar Vets From Hate Crimes Protections

2009-11-07T17:08:00.001-08:00

Here is a video presentation of Rep. Steven King's (R-IA) amendment to the recent “hate crimes” Bill, an amendment that would merely exclude pedophiles from the hate crimes protections of that Bill, being voted down by Democrats, along with Rep. Tom Rooney's (R-FL) amendment that would've merely offered our nation's veterans those same protections, being ridiculed by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL)!

And Not so Funny Stuff - Obama gives a "shout-out" before addressing tragedy

2009-11-07T15:52:00.001-08:00

Just prior to addressing the nation about the mass murder/domestic terrorism at Fort Hood, POTUS, Barack Obama gives a number of odd "shout-outs," including one to a "Dr. Joe Medicine Crow," mistakenly calling him a "Congressional Medal of Honor winner," when, in fact, he'd been given the Medal of Freedom. The CMH is an honor ONLY bestowed for extreme valor in combat....showing a complete and willful disadian and ignorance about the U.S. Military, by President Obama. That was a truly disgusting display by a sitting Commander-in-Chief.

Surveillance Video Of Fort Hood Shooter - Radicalized Muslim Major Nidal Malik Hasan

2009-11-06T05:49:00.001-08:00

No, the fact that Major Nidal Malik Hasan was a radicalized Muslim had "absolutely NOTHING" to do with the fact that when he got upset about being deployed to Iraq, he sought to slaughter other American soldiers....NOT (of course) himself. Seriously though, these radicalized Muslims are fitting in great here in the USA, aren't they? Yup, at least just as well as those radicalized pedophiles of NAMBLA....

Free Commodities and the Slavery Ethos...

2009-11-05T09:16:00.000-08:00

Without understanding what FREEDOM is, it’s impossible to really know what SLAVERY is either.

Freedom is NOT “license” – The ability to do whatever we’d like.

It is also NOT “free stuff.” It is most definitely not “free stuff,” as free stuff/commodities, actually ALWAYS results in the antithesis of true freedom - a universal slavery for all.

FREEDOM is merely self-ownership. That’s all.

FREEDOM is hard. Freedom is the more difficult, risky and arduous path. FREEDOM is NOT the preferable path of most people.

People who don’t understand what freedom really is, always ultimately wind up opting for slavery...for “free stuff,” free protection in exchange for ownership over themselves.

The same poor dolts who believe “the poor should get their health-care at the expense of others,” are the SAME idiots who claim things like, “Health-care, like FOOD, CLOTHING and SHELTER are “basic human rights,” and as such, no one should make money of those things.”

The FACT IS, that health-care, like FOOD, CLOTHING and SHELTER is a COMMODITY. As a commodity, it is produced by people and those people MUST BE paid for their labors and health-care workers are relatively HIGHLY PAID workers. NO ONE has a right to any commodity at the expense of another person….that’s called SLAVERY (one person being entitled to the fruits of another individual’s labors).

One person CAN’T be entitled to another person’s property (income or the fruits of their labors) WITHOUT either themselves, or the State OWNING that other person.

Those who make such arguments and support “NEED” conferring “entitlement,” are according to those very arguments, spoiled, self-centered, "ME-FIRSTERS."

They routinely become outraged whenever the government finally does the correct thing and looks to keep scammers and freeloaders from getting over on everyone else, for instance “senior citizens” who seek to divest themselves of their homes, cash and other assets within an allotted time period, before sliding onto the government dole (Medicaid) in their a-hem "Golden Years."

That indeed is the crux of many such people’s arguments IN FAVOR of the current health-care overhaul.

Ironically enough, within the 2,000 pages of the current monstrosity, there's absolutely NOTHING that would undo what the Deficit Reduction Act did to expand the “Lookback period!”

For instance, the current Pelosi Bill was written almost ENTIRELY by lobbyists, including the INSURANCE Co. lobbyists.

Those insurers want all those younger LOW-COST customers, paying HIGHER premiums, to pay for the older, more expensive customers.

The slavery-supporters want others to pay for their “free stuff,” and that (looking to entitle themselves and others to what others produce) makes them SLAVERY-supporters...and that’s disgusting to ANYONE who believes in freedom/self-ownership.

Personally, I have a much better....a much MORE Conservative idea....Let's all start bucking up and fending for ourselves a little more and stop looking to make the young and naive pay for the whole party! Let’s just all be at least a little MORE FAIR and little LESS “Me-FIRST” about such issues.

Maine Says No to Gay Marriage...

2009-11-04T08:22:00.000-08:00

Lost in all the hub-bub about the Virginia sweep, the upset in very BLUE New Jersey and NY’s 23^rd, the gay Marriage ballot in Maine was largely overlooked. Certainly, that issue is often seen as a bell-weather for how socially Liberal America is becoming, with Liberals always searching for something, ANY thing to hang their collectivist hats on. But THIS is sort of funny, actually! I mean I know “hope springs eternal,” but apparently, where Liberals are concerned, so does disappointment. Ah, such is life!

Going into yesterday, Politico was reporting said, “A Public Policy Polling automated survey released Monday showed the initiative striking down gay marriage leading by four points, 51 percent to 47 percent, but two polls last week contradicted that finding by reporting opponents of the measure ahead by four and 11 points.”

Surely that last line and the huge efforts that gay rights advocates were making across that state had Liberals hoping to ring in that bell-weather and stoke the view that “America IS becoming more socially Liberal.”

Well, predictably it (and Liberal hopes along with it) went down to defeat (53% - 46%).

Not only that, but the people of Maine opposed to Gay Marriage by legislative fiat had to vote “YES”...for the REPEAL of that law!

The politicians made it as difficult as possible for voters to defeat their legislative over-reach, but in the end, common sense prevailed – the voters have it, most politicians, sadly, DON’T.

It’s hard to really say which was more unpopular in Maine, the idea of Gay Marriage itself (often feared as an “and-around” the 1^st Amendment’s religious protections) OR the independent-minded people of Maine bristling at an arrogant state legislature foisting something on them without input from their bosses (the people).

Well, as yesterday’s headlines went, “As Maine Goes, So Goes Gay Marriage.”

OK, well, in that case, see ya!

A GREAT audio Presentation From Nobel Laureate, Professor Milton Friedman (from 1978).....

2009-11-03T18:27:00.000-08:00

This is a GREAT audio presentation by the legendary Nobel Prize Winner in Economics, Professor Milton Friedman, from back in 1978. Here Dr. Friedman talks about Capitalism's open market economy benefits disparaged and dispossessed groups, like the Jews, the most.

Ironically enough, Dr. Friedman wryly notes that, "While no group on earth has benefited from Capitalism more than the Jews, no group has done so much to undermine the intellectual underpinnings of Capitalism."

Milton Friedman; "Capitalism and the Jews"

This recording of University of Chicago Professor of Economics Milton Friedman was recorded on October 15, 1978 by James H. Fox, JD '78.

The speech was originally scheduled for the B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundation, but was moved to the University of Chicago Law School Auditorium upon the announcement the week before of his Nobel Prize in Economics.

LISTEN AT:

http://www.law.uchicago.edu/audio/by/title/milton_friedman_capitalism_and_the_jews

H/T to the great Fuzzy @ Fuzzy Logic Blog (http://fuzislippers.blogspot.com/)...and her GREAT reading section.

A Brief Conversation About Race...

2009-11-03T03:05:00.000-08:00

OK, we’re supposed to be in this NEW “post-racial” world I keep hearing so much about.

Sounds GREAT! Almost sounds too good to be true.

Still, I keep getting mixed signals.

While I’m told we NEED “an honest discussion about race in America,” I’m also still being told that whites, especially white males should avoid talking about race, as they are usually apt to offend non-whites and non-males and, of course, it goes without saying, Liberal (guilt-ridden) whites....perhaps THEM most of all.

Really?...I mean, is that really true? If so, why should that really matter? After all, virtually EVERYTHING that ANYONE Left-of-Center, non-white or non-male says about race tends to offend the hell out of me...I just don’t whine about it when it happens.

So, it seems the “conversation” that’s wanted is the one where “oppressed minorities” list their grievances against “white males” and we beg their forgiveness and apologize for being so greedy, so oppressive, so white and so male.

The problem is, no one, at least no one on this end really wants to have that “discussion,” primarily because it’s inherently DISHONEST.

An “HONEST Conversation about race,” isn’t going to be very pretty, I’m afraid and it WILL almost certainly be offensive to those who believe in today’s “grievance politics,” that asserts that the various and sundry “protected minority’s” grievances need to be heard and respected.

I’m very aware of those “grievances,” but if those grievances deserve a hearing (and they've had one), then so do our side’s.

What I’m about to give you is the perspective of virtually EVERY sane, rational white male in America (sorry white Liberals, you don’t qualify as either).

WoW! 205 words and no real “discussion” yet. Man, this jump-starting this “honest conversation” really IS a lot harder than I’d originally thought it would be.

Let me start off with a brief DISCLAIMER: I am about to give a white, male perspective on race. I can’t give a non-white, or non-male perspective because I am neither of those things.

(I know, I’m stalling, right? I mean that wasn’t a “disclaimer," it was stating the god-damned obvious. I mean my picture is right in the upper left-hand portion of this blog, so...yeah, I know, I’m stalling again....Man, am I just GREAT at this stalling shit, or what?...)

OK, look, sometimes the best way, in fact the ONLY way to kick off a discussion like this is to just “let it fly,” or “come right out with it,” as they say. Alright, let me jump right in here with a list of just a few of the things that bother me about the current state of race-relations in America;

Yes, it bothers me that in most locales "urban" (a/k/a/ “predominantly black”) school districts get the lion’s share of the school funding, apparently as a reward for garnering the lowest test scores and graduation rates. I mean it MUST BE a “reward” because we all know that when those same “failing schools” turn over from predominantly black to predominantly Asian (as a number have in places like the South Bronx and parts of California), those same “failing schools,” with the same teachers, the same books and the same old dirty walls, suddenly see test scores rise and drop-out rates fall and THAT is often followed up with budget cuts, so that other or “newly failing schools” can get rewarded with more cash for failures.

In nearby New Jersey, over 50% of that state’s school revenues (funded primarily by property taxes) go to just 31 of the state’s 568 districts. Those “lucky 31” are, of course all “urban” school districts. So, while failing school districts like Atlantic City’s and Newark’s get 800% and 600% return on their property tax dollar (that’s $8 for every $1 and $6 for every $1), respectively back in education dollars, suburban communities, like Mendham average a paltry 4% (yes, that’s 4-cents for every $1 they send in) ...and YES, that bothers me.

And yes, it bothers me greatly that when covering the incredibly rare white-on-black violent crime, the races of both victim and suspects are routinely published, while the races of those involved in the far more common black-on-white violent crime are rarely, if EVER published. It leads one to erroneously believe that one of those kinds of crimes is somehow “worse than” the other. And YES, again THAT bothers me.

It also bothers me a great deal that when blacks do poorly on various standardized exams that’s called “disparate impact,” and is alleged to be “proof of discrimination,” But when blacks comprise 65% of the MTA or 80% of the NBA that’s called “a racial achievement.”

Worse yet, is having to hear some of the inane rationales some blacks give for their doing poorer (on average) than other groups on such exams, such as “Blacks are more social than whites and don’t have as much time for studying,” OR “Blacks value things differently than whites.” These are sickening excuses, because those things described are individual/personal failings, known as “lack of discipline” and “lack of focus.” They are NOT ethnic or GROUP traits, they are individual flaws or failings and it’s an affront to all blacks who DO NOT possess those failings and YES, that bothers the hell out of me!

It also bothers me that Police Departments across the country automatically file virtually all white-on-black violent crimes as a “hate crimes,” while only labeling black-on-white crimes as “hate crimes” when the evidence is both overwhelming and undeniable.

That is an absurd double standard, especially in light of the fact that, each year, approximately 1.2 million violent crimes involving blacks and whites occur nationwide. In just over 90 percent of those cases, according to U.S. Justice Department figures, the perpetrators are black and the victims are white. Violent white felons choose black victims for fewer than 3 percent of their attacks, whereas violent black felons choose white victims about 56 percent of the time. Statistically, the "average" African American is an astonishing 56 times more likely to attack a white than vice versa.

And YES...that last god-damned statistic bothers the living SHIT OUT OF ME!!!

Whoops! I went a little ballistic on that last one – still, I meant all of that.

Moreover, I look forward to anyone who is either offended or incensed by this brief list to explain in the most painstaking of detail why I should NOT be offended by any of this. I will respond to all such responses with all the due haste, patience and politeness as the respondent accords to me.

First, some basic ground rules;

DO NOT tell me that any of the things I said here are “not true,” they ALL are.

DO NOT tell me something like, “You have to understand that blacks are rightfully angry at whites for...” because quite frankly, I DON’T have to understand excuses for vile ethnic bigotry and I do not choose to do that.

YOU CAN challenge any point so long as you provide links and documented evidence to support your contention...AND YOU CAN assert any opinion, no matter how odious and/or invalid, so long as you can avoid the tasty trap of invective and personal attacks.

Boy oh BOY! I don’t know if anyone else feels any better after reading this, but I sure feel a whole LOT better having written it and gotten some of that off my chest.

Man! I can’t wait for this honest discussion of race in America to begin!

Uh-Oh...That Fake Prosperity We Just Got a Dose of is REALLY Gonna Cost Us!...

2009-11-03T02:41:00.000-08:00

You know that 3.5% GDP rise last quarter that briefly spiked the stock market back over 10,000, that turned out NOT to be a real rise and tanked the stock market a day later?

Well, turns out there’s even MORE to that story.

A lot of that spike was attributed to the vaunted “Cash-For-Clunkers” program and according to the automotive Web site Edmunds.com, while some 690,000 new vehicles were purchased under the Cash for Clunkers program last summer, Edmonds.com claims that only 125,000 of those were vehicles that would not have been sold anyway, according to their analysis released last Wednesday (10-28-2009).

There’s no denying that auto sales contributed heavily to the economy's expansion in the third quarter, as they added a robust nearly 2 percentage points (1.7) to the nation's gross domestic product growth.

The Cash for Clunkers program gave car buyers rebates of up to $4,500 if they traded in less fuel-efficient vehicles for new vehicles that met certain fuel economy requirements. A total of $2 billion, later expanded to $3 billion was allotted for those rebates.

The average rebate was appx. $4,000. But at least according to Edmonds.com the overwhelming majority of sales would have taken place anyway at some time in the last half of 2009. If true, that would mean the government ended up spelling out about $24,000 each for those 125,000 additional vehicle sales.

OH BOY! I can’t wait for all this NEW prosperity to start kicking in!

WTF am I saying?!!!

What I really mean is “Holy SHI...I mean HOLLL-D ONTO YOU WALLET! This fake prosperity is gonna wind up kicking us hard in the hip pocket big time!”

Well, pucker up buttercup.

Please DON’T Read Too Much Into Today’s Results

2009-11-03T02:36:00.000-08:00

Early election polling shows trends that should have America's Conservatives ecstatic come breakfast tomorrow.

I don’t mean to be a wet blanket here, BUT no matter what, THIS is NOT 1994...at least not YET.

The GOP is still in disarray. Just look at what New York’s state’s GOP did to Gingrich, Boehner and Cantor over their nominating “the ACORN Republican,” Dede Scozzafava.

The fact that the Rockefeller-wing of the GOP found her a “suitable candidate" for a largely Conservative upstate New York District shows you where those guy’s heads are...

Moreover, the Liberals will still control Congress for another full year, so there’s a LOT more damage they can do.

PLUS, there’s the ACORN factor.

As Conservatives get energized and encouraged by today’s expected results in Virginia (an expected GOP sweep of all top three spots), New York’s 23^rd, where a third Party Conservative may well win and even New Jersey where a very flawed Republican (Chris Christie) may take out incumbent Democrat Governor John Corzine, the Left will first panic, then organize.

And ACORN has a year to ratchet up its vaunted voter-fraud...er...“get out the vote” machine.

No matter what happens today, 2010 is going to be a very tall order for Conservatives. The Liberal Dems will pull out all the stops to block what’s appearing as an anti-incumbent and anti-Liberal tsunami.

Add to that, the fact that the GOP has NO Newt Gingrich figure on the horizon this year.

Sadly, now-a-days even Newt Gingrich isn’t “Gingrichian” any more. Just look at what the NY-23 debacle did to him.

Those Semi-Professional Journalists Get it Righ...uh...WRONG, Yet AGAIN!...

2009-11-01T19:53:00.000-08:00

Could you imagine a paid (“professional” journalist) listening to a speech by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia claiming he'd have dissented against Plessy V Ferguson (the Decision that inculcated "Separate but Equal" segregation) and hearing that, "Justice Scalia would’ve dissented on Brown V Board of Education?” (the case that eradicated segregation)....No, neither can I.

Does that sound anything like a “mistake?”

Of course not...Plessy V Ferguson was the case that instituted “Separate but Equal” and it sounds nothing like Brown V Board of Education...there’s nothing in the names of those two cases that make confusing the two even possible.

So either By Howard Fischer of Capitol Media Services is grossly incompetent and thus not even really “semi-pro"or sub-blogger (a distinct possibility, I'll admit), OR (and THIS seems far more likely) he’s a vile, virtually insane ideological bigot. On the proverbial "bright side," it does provide yet more proof that America's "blogging rabble," as off-the-cuff and unvetted as many often are, actually have a track record no worse than that of our "vaunted mainstream media," so Mr. Fischer should be thanked for providing at least that.

I don’t know about you, but I’m guessing it’s the latter.

The article is still up (http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/146308) but with this editor’s note: “Editor’s note: This is an updated version of a story that was originally posted Oct. 26. It removes an incorrect reference to Brown v. Board of Education in the initial version.”

As Ace at Ace of Spades HQ (http://ace.mu.nu) wryly notes, “But the truth is: The media gets very little right at all. Even the most basic stuff, they blow. They're not merely biased and partisan, but hapless and incompetent at what is, at the end of the day, a fairly simple job.”

I’m still not buying the “honest mistake" here...because this is one of those that’s just too incredibly STUPID to be a mistake....and oh yeah....the Lefty bloggers have bought and ran with it hook, line...and stinker.

You Know All That Crazy Stuff Those Whacky Conservatives Were Saying About Dede Scozzafava?...SURPRISE!!!!....It's ALL True!...

2009-11-01T19:25:00.000-08:00

Well, the "ACORN Republican," Dede Scozzafava of NY's 23rd District WAS "the most Progressive Candidate in that race" after all...and to prove it, she's come out and endorsed fellow Liberal Democrat Bill Owens for the 23rd! SWEET! Here's a portion of her "coming out" statement;

"You know me, and throughout my career, I have been always been an independent voice for the people I represent. I have stood for our honest principles, and a truthful discussion of the issues, even when it cost me personally and politically. Since beginning my campaign, I have told you that this election is not about me; it’s about the people of this District.

"It is in this spirit that I am writing to let you know I am supporting Bill Owens for Congress and urge you to do the same.

"It’s not in the cards for me to be your representative, but I strongly believe Bill is the only candidate who can build upon John McHugh's lasting legacy in the U.S. Congress. John and I worked together on the expansion of Fort Drum and I know how important that base is to the economy of this region. I am confident that Bill will be able to provide the leadership and continuity of support to Drum Country just as John did during his tenure in Congress.

"In Bill Owens, I see a sense of duty and integrity that will guide him beyond political partisanship. He will be an independent voice devoted to doing what is right for New York. Bill understands this district and its people, and when he represents us in Congress he will put our interests first.

"Please join me in voting for Bill Owens on Tuesday. To address the tough challenges ahead, we must rise above partisanship and politics and work together. There's too much at stake in this election to do otherwise."

My fervent hope is that the good people of New York's 23rd District disappoint daffy Dede one more time, by electing Mr. Hoffman.

I’ve Long Said, “We Haven’t Seen Anything Yet...The Worst is Yet to Come”...and Peggy Noonan Explains WHY That’s Right...

2009-10-31T18:37:00.000-07:00

When the Keynesian meddling in the U.S. mortgage market finally imploded the Housing Bubble and brought on a staggering Global Credit Crisis and an ongoing recession, I said and have since, that “We haven’t seen anything yet...the WORST is yet to come.”

I am more convinced of that than ever.

Since the previous milqtoast Keynesian left office, our current hyper-Keynesian-in-Chief has ratcheted UP the Deficit to a mind boggling $1.6 TRILLION...4X what it was at his predecessor’s highest, the National Debt has surpassed $12 TRILLION (approaching 80% of GDP) virtually assured of rising to over $15 TRILLION (or more) before the end of Mr. Obama’s first term.

Unemployment has risen to near 10% and despite the fact that economists are now claiming the Credit Crisis is largely behind us and the recession appears over, we aren’t merely in the midst of a “jobless recovery,” we’re actually in what might best be described as a “job-shedding recovery,” which would seem an oxymoron.

Here’s why I believe the worst is yet to come.

This recession is structurally DIFFERENT.

The government meddling in the credit markets have deeply, perhaps fatally eroded international confidence in U.S. investment vehicles.

Worse still, a new administration has approached a problem caused by Keynesian (big-government) economic policies and treated it as though it were a failure of a “too free market.”

The result has been that they’ve applied MORE Keynesianism, even hyper-Keynesianism to a Keynesian disaster!

What is ongoing right now is the settling of the crash...the building, or structure is down, but the dust hasn’t settled yet. None of us actually see how bad it really is.

How bad is it?

Well, Wall Street is NOT, contrary to our over-optimistic reports “coming back.” It’ll probably never come back to what it once was. With it is gone tons of revenues that the local, state and federal government all depended upon.

To make matters worse, high tax, Blue states like California, New York and New Jersey are hemorrhaging people AND tax dollars. They will lose Congressional seats with the 2010 Census and Red States like Texas, Florida and Arizona are about to gain seats.

But that’s the least of our (“the people’s” problem, that’s a mere political shift), what’s staring those in places like California, New York and New Jersey in the face is a fiscal tsunami that no one appears to see coming.

New York state lost 1.6 million people between 2002 and 2008, New Jersey lost 800,000 between 2002 and 2006. These weren’t “the freeloading poor,” who left, these were retirees who could no longer afford the tax burdens on a fixed income, and the entrepreneurial class...these people took tens of BILLIONS (USD) in tax dollars away with them.

Those states all have mandates for things like Medicaid spending, Education spending and Municipal Pensions locked in by their state Constitutions. They can’t cut those things, so they’ll be forced to raise taxes even more...chasing even MORE of the most productive remaining people away from those states.

Massive public sector layoffs will ultimately and inevitably ensue and by the time that shock wave hits, the dire 1970s will look like the “Roaring 20’s” by comparison.

With all this economic dislocation, those places will suffer a return to some of the worst levels of violent crime those locales have ever seen. This time, much if it may be fueled by “the rage of a once privileged class” – government, or public sector employees...or more aptly by then, former employees.

As Ms. Noonan remarked in her prescient column, “No one believes the bad time is over. No one thinks we're entering a new age of abundance. No one thinks it will ever be the same as before 2008. Economists, statisticians, forecasters and market specialists will argue about what the new numbers mean, but no one believes them, either. Among the things swept away in 2008 was public confidence in the experts. The experts missed the crash. They'll miss the meaning of this moment, too.”

She’s right. No one trusts “the experts” any more, in fact, fewer trust in government or Corporations either.

Too many of us are convinced, after seeing the parade of dolts touted as “experts” sounding like utter nitwits, that “there are no real experts.” In short that “They’re all full of sh*t.”

Peggy Nonnan goes on, “The biggest threat to America right now is not government spending, huge deficits, foreign ownership of our debt, world terrorism, two wars, potential epidemics or nuts with nukes. The biggest long-term threat is that people are becoming and have become disheartened, that this condition is reaching critical mass, and that it afflicts most broadly and deeply those members of the American leadership class who are not in Washington, most especially those in business.”

And once again, absolutely RIGHT!

Actions and inaction have consequences.

The previous administration’s inaction in the realm of enforcement (taking, or at least leaving the teeth out of the SEC and the CFTC) allowed Derivatives markets to run amok, and for schemes like the “Credit Default Swap” to come into incredible overuse, while it’s actions (ponderous overspending and regulation – Oxley-Sarbannes was one of the most expensive and far-reaching pieces of financial regulation in decades) put a four-anchor drag on an already slowing economy.

And today, the Liberal Democrats have pressed down on the Keynesian throttle, which is heading us toward a seizing of this incredible engine of prosperity.

How?

How about this from Peggy Noonan, “Rep. Barney Frank had just said on some cable show that the Democrats of the White House and Congress "are trying on every front to increase the role of government in the regulatory area." The executive said of Washington: "They don't understand that people can just stop, get out. I have friends and colleagues who've said to me 'I'm done.'" He spoke of his own increasing tax burden and said, "They don't understand that if they start to tax me so that I'm paying 60%, 55%, I'll stop."

Yes, “THEY” will stop.

The producers CAN and WILL ultimately stop, once the rewards are set too low and the costs and risks too high.

And what THAT would do would be to make what’s about to happen to hapless locales like California, New Jersey and New York a nationwide phenomenon.

Imagine a government without the revenues to take care of its most basic mandates, let alone fulfill the incredible and unrealistic promises it’s made over most of the last century? Imagine the massive jettisoning and cuts in once untouchable programs, like Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and the myriad anti-poverty programs, just as the private sector gasps, in gacking up even more jobs, while government at EVERY level shedding personnel in a panicked attempt to balance the books to repay the mere interest on a debt it can no longer even finance! Imagine sky-high interest rates (25% and more), massive unemployment (over 20%) and inflation we haven’t seen in decades (15% or higher)...with literally no place to turn!

Ms. Noonan knows this all too well as she concludes her piece, “We are governed at all levels by America's luckiest children, sons and daughters of the abundance, and they call themselves optimists but they're not optimists — they're unimaginative. They don't have faith, they've just never been foreclosed on. They are stupid and they are callous, and they don't mind it when people become disheartened. They don't even notice.”

So, THIS is that “long winter of discontent” that we now face, this is the nightmare that awaits.

There’s no question about it’s coming, the problem and our disaster right now appears to be that NONE of us have either faith or the moral courage to believe in and realize that freeing the individual (economic freedom) and unleashing the innate ingenuity of free men is not only the best, but the ONLY path back toward prosperity.

Such freedom is out of vogue today, because it’s been proven so “UNFAIR.”

See Peggy Noonan’s entire Op-Ed in today’s Weekend Wall Street Journal (10-31-2009) at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703363704574503631430926354.html?mod=djmr_octuse6npurl2

Why The GOP May Have Screwed New Jersey AGAIN!...

2009-10-31T17:30:00.000-07:00

I was among the many Conservatives disappointed YET AGAIN, by the Garden State’s elective malfeasance when that state’s GOP got behind Party hack Chris Christie instead of the true Conservative, Steve Lonnegan in this year's GOP Primary.

I was disappointed, but NOT surprised. I used to look longingly across the Hudson, not much, and for a long time now...New Jersey is every bit as corrupt, over-taxed and over-regulated as New York is.
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Last time around, they virtually tanked the Governor’s race by pushing another ill-conceived and ill-considered political hack, Douglas Forrester, over the maverick, Libertarian/Conservative Brett Schundler, who’d transformed Jersey City, winning in a town with a Democratic registration edge of better than 4 to 1!
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The GOP’s backing the more Moderate and politically connected Christie over Steve Lonnegan may yet come back to haunt that star-crossed Party. That state’s PRIMARY issue is its property tax burden, the highest in the nation and yet Christie seems to have NO PLAN on how to exactly deal with that.
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As Phil Mulshine of the Newark Star Ledger recently wrote, “New Jersey's constitution gives the state legislature the power to distribute proceeds of the state's income tax to aid local education and partially relieve the burden of property taxes. But in a succession of school-funding cases over the years, the state Supreme Court has taken control of the $11 billion Property Tax Relief Fund.
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"The result is a perennial property-tax crisis. The court sends more than half of the state aid to 31 largely urban "special needs" school districts, the special needs of which were for the most part created by decades of Democratic mismanagement. The remaining 554 largely suburban towns fight over the rest.
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"Perhaps the best example of the court's profligacy is Asbury Park. With beautiful beaches and historic downtown served by a train line to Manhattan, the city could rank among the most desirable destinations on the coast. But a succession of corrupt and incompetent administrations turned the town into a wasteland.

"The public schools produce dismal test scores. Yet thanks to the court they are subsidized at almost incomprehensible levels. The city gets $29,895 per-pupil annually in education aid from the state. The total per-pupil cost exceeds $35,000 annually— enough to ship the kids off to prep schools where they would get top-notch schooling and room and board. The average per-pupil cost across the state is about $18,000.
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"It's impossible to solve New Jersey's property-tax problem without addressing the imbalance in state education funding."
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That’s been the problem for the New Jersey GOP and, for that matter, for the entire Northeast’s GOP – the Moderate Republican hierarchy can’t make effective arguments for Reaganism and Conservatism. They’ve mistakenly come to believe that such arguments can’t be made (“Well, if we can’t make them...”) but truth be told, it’s merely a matter of their being unable to make an argument for an ideology they don’t really subscribe to or believe in.
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Brett Schundler PROVED that such arguments CAN be made and in the heart of liberal Democratic urban areas. But does the northeast GOP support and recruit the likes of Brett Schundler?
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No, they revile them.
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For that reason, the northeast’s GOP has become a cancer on the body politic and a blight on the national GOP.
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The GOP's RINOs are BOTH moral cowards and people devoid of any real ideas.
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That was clearly on display today in the “ACORN Republican,” Dede Scozzafava abandoning the GOP slot in the race for New York’s 23rd District, allowing Mike Steele and Newt Gingrich to save a little face by belatedly jumping on the surging Hoffman bandwagon.
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The National GOP acceded to the NYS GOP in endorsing Ms. Scozzafava, claiming it was “safer to go with a Moderate” (and by “moderate” they mean a card check-supporting, ACORN-loving, big-government tax and spender)...yeah that sounds about right.
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Look, the National GOP desperately NEEDS to take stock of itself. Haven’t the Moderates, the Rockefeller-wing of that Party humiliated you guys enough?!
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Either straighten those dopes out or simply excommunicate them from your Party. They’re KILLING YOU!
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So, by comparison, just how bad are things in New Jersey? Well, again, according to Mr. Mulshine, “Suburban property taxes are high because the state Supreme Court has turned the property-tax system into a massive scheme to transfer wealth from the suburbs to the cities.
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“Thanks to the court's meddling, Mendham gets back in education aid a mere 4% of the tax dollars paid by its residents to the state. That's typical for a suburb. Asbury Park gets back 800% and Newark 600%. “During the spring primary race, both of Mr. Christie's opponents said they would confront the court to win equal funding for the suburbs. Both also said that, with four openings expected on the court in the next governor's term, they would use the opportunity to remake the court.”
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Why?...WHY?...WHY???

Why does ANY Republican support this inane kind of “FROM each according to his abilities or worth and TO each according to his needs or wants?”
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That’s NOT a winning strategy at all. Besides, when voters are faced with a choice between a tepid Liberal (“moderate” Republican) and a confident, full-blown liberal ("progressive" Democrat), they’ll choose the REAL liberal (the Democrat) EVERY time! At least THAT candidate is adhering to some set of "core values."
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The GOP can’t afford to offer “Liberalism-Light.” Simply put, no one wants that. They’re faced, for better or worse, with offering Conservatism, or nothing at all.
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Think I’m wrong? Guess again. As Mr. Mulshine concludes, “Meanwhile, independent candidate Chris Daggett has proven how potent property tax reform is. He proposes expanding sales taxes and using the proceeds to fund a 25% property-tax cut. It's not a great plan. But with it Mr. Daggett, a 59-year-old former Republican who served as an environmental administrator under President Ronald Reagan, climbed to double digits in the polls.
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“Most observers believe Mr. Daggett's following is at Mr. Christie's expense and could pave the way for Mr. Corzine to win re-election with much less than 50% of the vote. A race that was supposed to be a Republican runaway is now too close to call. The Republican's reticence on what should have been his strongest issue may end up costing him the governorship.”
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Read it and weep you northeast RINOs.
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See Phil Mulshine's full article in the Weekend Journal (10-31-09) at

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703574604574499722466073690.html

A Tale of Two Rape-Tortures...

2009-10-31T10:17:00.000-07:00

What an odd juxtaposition of events.

Ironically enough, on the very same week that Megan Williams (pictured above, left), the black West Virginia woman who was the center of a media sensation trial in 2007, one that resulted in seven alleged attackers all being convicted and sent to prison for kidnapping, rape and torture, recanted her story, now claiming she made up the kidnapping, torture story because she was mad at a boyfriend who’d beat her, four arrests were made in a savage gang rape (unlawful imprisonment and rape-torture) at Richmond High School, right outside San Francisco.

In the case of Megan Williams recanting her story, the Associated Press reported, “An attorney for a black woman who claimed torture by a white group in West Virginia says his client fabricated the story to get back at a boyfriend who had beaten her up.

“Megan Williams' attorney, Byron Potts, said at a news conference Wednesday that Williams came forward because she no longer wants to live a lie. Potts encouraged West Virginia authorities to re-evaluate the case.

“Williams told authorities in 2007 that she had been beaten, raped, forced to eat animal feces and taunted with racial slurs for days. She now lives in Columbus.”

As for the Richmond gang rape, the AP reported, “Four teens could appear in court as early as Thursday after being charged in the alleged gang rape of a 15-year-old girl outside her high school homecoming dance in Northern California.

“The four — ages 15, 16, 17 and 19 — were charged Wednesday with rape and enhancements that they acted in concert, which could make them eligible for life in prison."

Something's very DIFFERENT in the coverage of those two cases...hmmmm, what could it possibly be?

Can you see the difference?

In the first story, about a black victim who is recanting her accusations, the race of BOTH the alleged “victim”/false accuser AND her alleged attackers is made known (as were BOTH races mentioned in all the original reports back in 2007)...in the second, in which a white 15 y/o girl was raped and tortured (“Besides rape, the 19-year-old, Manuel Ortega (pictured above, right) of Richmond, was charged with robbery and assault causing great bodily injury...The other three face one count each of felony rape with a foreign object...” – that’s “TORTURE”) NEITHER the race of the victim OR the alleged attackers was made known.

You know, if it weren’t for the very passionate protestations from the press claiming that “we’re always careful in protecting the identities of both victims and suspects in such highly sensitive incidents,” you might easily get the idea that maybe there’s some deliberate policy with America’s news media that allows black victims of white attackers to be treated different/BETTER than white victims attacked by racial minorities.

Of course, I’m sure anyone in the news media would quickly assert how silly such an assumption would be...right?

Moreover, in that second case, “Police believe as many as 10 people ranging in age from 15 to mid-20s attacked the girl for more than two hours in a dimly lit area. As many as two dozen people witnessed the rape without notifying police.” Apparently a white teenaged victim merits about as much sympathy in “the hood” as she’s likely to get in, say, your average American newsroom.

Something I saw, this same week on Lawrence Auster’s GREAT blog, A View From the Right (http://www.amnation.com/vfr/) really puts some of this into a clearer perspective. Perhaps nothing I’ve read recently hast better put into perspective the sense of the innately pernicious nature of modern liberalism than THIS, from one of Lawrence Auster’s readers, Kevin V., who wrote;

“As I've told you, as a young man I was a very earnest left-winger. I attended Cal and was active in left wing politics as an undergrad, primary with the Socialist Worker's Party and, later, with Michael Harrington's Democratic Socialists of America. For most of this time I lived in the city of Albany, California, which, if you look at a map of the East Bay on Google you'll find nestled between Berkeley and Richmond, with San Pablo Avenue being a main thoroughfare through all three cities.

“My life - education, work, socializing, leisure, political activity, going out to eat, everything - was centered around this part of Contra Costa County for six long years. Years that are, by far, the absolute worst years of my life. It was during this painful period that I experienced two life-changing realizations.

“First, the earlier, was that the type of society that my ideals produced was not one I wished to live in. Simply put, liberalism didn't work. Interpersonal relations were coarse, the culture low, the work atmosphere almost unbearable, the racial tension was hateful, government at all levels simply did not function properly, public transport was a dangerous shambles, and everywhere the result of this failed state of affairs was the de facto rule of the tough guy, the thug.

“That was hard enough to go through - the loss of one's ideals is no easy to take even if necessary - but it was the second realization that was the most painful of all. After spending a certain amount of time in Richmond and Berkeley I realized that it wasn't simply that liberalism is wrong-headed and does not work, but that it is actively evil. Interpersonal relations are coarse because liberals actively hate real people and are endlessly self-absorbed. The culture is low because the culture is evil, it actively works to debase, to debauch, to tear down anything having anything to do with beauty or truth, because it is a standing rebuke. The work atmosphere was unbearable because each person was concerned about his rights to an obsessive degree, with every simple request becoming an assault on a liberal's personhood and individual sovereignty.

“And, worse, that racial tension was high not just because of liberalism but because blacks and Latinos actively despise white people, they hate us, with a burning passion.

“And at the heart of this evil was the rancid city of Richmond, whose streets I had to pass through every night on the way home from work. Every night, the same whooping mob cheering on a 25-on-1 assault in a convenience store parking lot, the push-and-shove match between competing tribes of top dogs outside the bars and nightclubs, the barely understandable swear-word filled tirades of crying, out-of-control black women, the same beat-up squad cars responding to the same places dealing with the same people over and over and over again, night after night. The bars on the windows, the razor wire along business rooftops, the trash strewn about, the mocking laughter of packs of young men--always in packs.

“So, no, I'm not surprised. And I say this by way of explaining my initial reaction to the story: Any white parent who would send their daughter to school in such a place is beyond mere idiocy, beyond mere lunacy, beyond mere misjudgment. Such a person is an ideologue who is deliberately exposing their child to danger in the name of their ideology, because to do otherwise, to recognize the evil in the air there would bring their entire world view down around them.

“And I was once one of them, though, thankfully, not when I had children.”

(http://www.amnation.com/vfr/archives/014633.html)

Yes, that last bit might sound a little like blaming the victim, but it’s really blaming utopianist and irresponsible parenting, by (probably) well-meaning, but hopelessly naïve parents...THAT and all of ours failure to come to grips with the 800 pound gorilla in the room – non-white ethnic bigotry.

WHY???

2009-10-29T09:33:00.000-07:00

Just a few things to consider;

WHY has the current administration, which promised CHANGE, followed the exact SAME economic course as the previous one...bailouts, non-stimulating stimulus packages and more than 4X the amount of reckless overspending? The Deficit has been quadrupled over the last year, and the National Debt has climbed to over $12 TRILLION well on its way to a staggering $15 TRILLION!

Given the 2008 Global Credit Crisis was triggered by the 0% down FHA mortgage that G W Bush signed onto, and the government pressing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy up/guarantee all those subprime loans, WHY has none of that been permanently been stopped BY LAW?

There’s been absolutely NOTHING stopping the Democrats from passing those laws.

Subprime loans are still legal to dole out and for Fannie and Freddie to package, the 0% down FHA loan has not been eliminated and why has Glass Spiegel, which everyone has lambasted as creating the “Too Big To Fail” scenario, NOT been restored by law? In fact, the subprime loan mentality is still on display with the “Cash for Clunkers” lunacy and the 0% loans for appliances.

In fact, if this administration sought to change course at all, then WHY are Larry Summers and Robert Rubin (Alan Greenspan’s two protégés), not to mention Rubin’s protégé Timothy Geithner continuing on in their duties as part of the Obama administration’s economic team?

For that matter, WHY is the current administration continuing so many of the Bush anti-terror policies? Why the continuation of the NSA Surveillance Program when the current President had campaigned against it? Why no draw down in Iraq? Why the build-UP in Afghanistan, which again the current President campaigned on opposing? Why the increased use of rendition? Why hasn’t Guantanamo Bay been closed, when its closing was a focal point of the current administration’s campaign?

But the biggest question mark for me is the economic policies. Given that it was the Bush administration’s Keynesianism that started us off on the disastrous path that led to 2008, yes, over his last two years with a big assist from the Pelosi-Reid Congress, WHY has the current administration so fully embraced that failed Keynesianism and even gone so far as to retain three of the major architects of that disaster, Summers, Rubin and Geithner?

WHY???

A Whopping $60 BILLION/Year in Medicare Fraud...and THEY Want to EXPAND the Public Option?...

2009-10-28T07:58:00.000-07:00

Three major facts are too often overlooked in the ongoing debate over healthcare reform in the U.S., the first is that America’s healthcare is the most expensive because it provides the MOST testing and the most advanced techniques to all, which is why Americans with early detected prostate and breast cancer have a virtually 100% chance of living for over 5 years compared to just 77% for second place England. The second is that one of the things crushing America’s healthcare system is the unfunded mandate that dictates that hospitals treat ALL regardless of their ability to pay or citizenship status. Those costs are not “eaten” by doctors and hospitals, they’re passed on...to you and me. And the third major fact that is too often overlooked is that “We already have a “public option” and it’s failing miserably!”

Medicaid is irredeemably broke and I mean flat busted, not just unworkable. It’s over $17 BILLION in the whole and growing AND the fraud and abuse, which is systemic in that system is even harder to ferret out than Medicare fraud, as Medicaid is apportioned and overseen by each state!

But a recent 60 Minutes piece chronicling the incredible $60 BILLION/year Medicare fraud problem proved just how pervasive the abuse of even that system has become!

SEE: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/23/60minutes/main5414390.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody

The federal government already controls about half of the U.S. healthcare market via Medicare and Medicaid and THAT “public option” is the part that’s failing the worst!

Why don’t more people notice that?!

Look, it’s one thing for dolts, like the one featured below this piece to pontificate about how a government-run health system would work better, but when people who should and DO know better fail to make the basic argument that goes, “Look, IF a government-run healthcare system, or "public option" COULD work better, why ISN’T IT? Why are our current public options failing worse than the rest of our healthcare system?”

Not only would Alan Grayson be unable to answer that, no one else could either, because there is no defense for that!

Only "ONE Fry Short of a Happy Meal?" TryMore Than a Few...

2009-10-28T07:43:00.000-07:00

Freshman Congressman, Alan Grayson (D-Fl) has proven that what he suffers from is NOT merely some here-to-fore unknown and incredibly severe version of “foot-in-mouth disease, no, he’s full-on and over the line to certifiably insane.

Perhaps fellow democrat Anthony Weiner (D-NY) put it most charitably when he noted dryly, “Is this news to you that this guy’s one fry short of a Happy Meal?”

No, it’s not news, but sadly it’s impossible to ignore as well.

After being forced to apologize for calling America’s existing healthcare system a “holocaust,” and inanely claiming the GOP plan, which would allow insurers to compete across state lines, creating MORE price busting competition, was best described as “Die quickly.”

In his latest guffaw he’s called Linda Robertson, an adviser to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, a “K Street whore.”

He’s since apologized for the idiotic remark, but only after initially, lamely standing by it, claiming, "Let’s be clear about the context," he said. "The attack was on her professional career, not her personal life."

With Rangel’s tax woes and Grayson’s intemperate antics providing GOP cannon fodder, this couldn’t be worse news for Democratic Senators trying to hold onto their jobs next election – Nevada’s Harry Reid and Connecticut’s Chris Dodd have been trailing in the polls for months and though “a lot can happen between now and next November,” a LOT of that could also be BAD, meaning “worse” for these incumbents.