Bill Clinton and the New Civility Center

Commentary  "Mr. Clinton said in a statement that the new institute “can elevate the tone of dialogue in our country.” Perhaps, though I do wonder if a few notes of apology from our 42nd president might be in order first.

"Let’s take a journey down memory lane, shall we?"

From Woodstock to Civility Commissions "To see Alinskyites, radical intellectuals, and Woodstock yuppies lecturing fellow Americans on the virtue of civility is tiresome but unsurprising. No one is more authoritarian than a successful left-wing revolutionary: he rises to power by extolling dissent, then stays in power by suppressing it."

Somali Pirates Murder 4 Americans

Human Events  "Aggressively hunting down and killing Somali boats is a much more practical use of our limited but powerful naval resources, and transfers the initiative to our Navy instead of the pirates. It’s time to take the initiative."

Friends mourn 4 US yachters killed by Somali pirates  " Scott Adam, who is in his mid-60s, had been an associate producer in Hollywood when he turned in a spiritual direction and enrolled in Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena a decade ago, said Robert K. Johnston, a professor at the seminary.

""They were just passing out Bibles, trying to do a good thing," said Barbara Herred, who attended the Mass in Santa Monica. "It’s just so sad.""

Leaked Email: Screen Actors Guild Asks Members to Join Anti-Walker Protests in Wisconsin

Big Hollywood  Meaning you should watch for lines in your favorite TV shows where familiar characters take verbal jabs at anyone not on the side of the teachers union.
..."is an email generated by the Screen Actors Guild to “SAG Members” that was leaked to Big Hollywood. We’ve gone ahead and emphasized what we found the most interesting. Is collective bargaining enshrined in law?  How many astro-turfed actors will show up in Madison to protest Governor Scott Walker? Will Sean Penn bring his shotgun? Will Oliver Stone bring his Uncle Hugo? ..."

...On Facebook (comments are welcome):
Screen Actors Guild http://www.facebook.com/screenactorsguild
AFL-CIO http://www.facebook.com/aflcio
We Are One http://www.facebook.com/werunited
Follow us on Twitter @screenactors and @sagnews, and when tweeting supportive messages use the hash tag #wiunions.
Thank you for your attention and for your support of your Guild.
Screen Actors Guild

Unrest and Libya's Energy Industry

STRATFOR  "At the risk of oversimplifying, Libya’s population is split in half: Leader Moammar Gadhafi’s power base is in Tripoli in the extreme west, the opposition is concentrated in Benghazi in the east, with a 600 kilometer-wide gulf of nearly empty desert in between."....

"If Libya veers towards civil war, each side will have its own source of income to feed on, as well as a similar income source on the other side to target."

Dems' Dependence on Government Workers Poses Peril

Fox News  "The way it works now is that state workers’ dues are taken out on payday by the government, which then passes the dough on to union leaders. And since working in many state agencies or schools means you must join the union, there’s no choice but to pay up. The Walker plan would make government union dues voluntary, which would no doubt put a serious dent in the campaign coffers of state Democrats.
"Walker is talking about defunding the Democratic Party in a key swing state and that’s cause for serious alarm for Obama."

FDR's Ghost Is Smiling on Wisconsin's Governor

RealClearPolitics  ""The process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service," Roosevelt wrote in 1937 to the National Federation of Federal Employees. Yes, public workers may demand fair treatment, wrote Roosevelt. But, he wrote, "I want to emphasize my conviction that militant tactics have no place" in the public sector. "A strike of public employees manifests nothing less than an intent on their part to prevent or obstruct the operations of Government.""

UNIONS RUNNING THE SHOW   "But the fact is that when you get unions involved, the job at hand becomes secondary to being a member of a union. As a member of that union, you will work to get more for less. And in the case of government workers, you will work to get more taxpayer money while sacrificing nothing. Students have become secondary. Is it any wonder why our education system can't keep up with other nations?"

The White House and the Wisconsin teachers kerfuffle

Obama’s Attempt to Distance Himself From Wisconsin Rally Fails  "...But apparently someone forget to tell the DNC’s communication director Bob Woodhouse to scrub his Twitter feed to reflect this new strategy. Doug Ross has pointed out a Feb. 17 Tweet from Woodhouse saying that the White House was “proudly” playing a role in the protest."

Wisconsin Puts Obama Between Competing Desires   "The battle in Wisconsin over public employee unions has left President Obama facing a tricky balance between showing solidarity with longtime political supporters and projecting a message in favor of deep spending cuts to reduce the debt."

Barack Obama’s Stand With Unions in Wisconsin is Hurting Him  "Supporting public sector unions in Wisconsin must be hurting Barack Obama. We know because he is using the New York Times to back away from his earlier statements and the tactics of his own Organizing for America."

Why Obama and the Dems Blundered in Wisconsin  "The White House, which for the last two years seemed so tone deaf over health care, jobs, and the economy, may again be displaying a stunning political miscalculation. Unless the Democrats pull the plug on their ill-conceived Wisconsin campaign, the statewide and national backlash now beginning to emerge may continue to resonate all the way to the 2012 presidential elections."

http://townhall.com/cartoons/ericallie

Lovely: Kathy Griffin to Play Palin-esque Tea Party Candidate on 'Glee'

Newsbusters  "This is the same Kathy Griffin who said she would "like to push Sarah Palin down the stairs" and was heartily booed at a USO event after mocking Palin's daughter Bristol.

"Griffin's lowlights also include calling Sen. Scott Brown's daughters prostitutes, and telling both Jesus Christ and "View" host Elizabeth Hasselbeck to "suck it."
"In short, Griffin's appearance will be exactly what you'd expect from a Palin impersonator on "Glee"."

With Governor Walker’s Proposal, Wisconsin Once Again Leads the Nation in Education Reform

Heritage  "Far from draconian, Walker’s proposal would limit collective bargaining power and reform public employee benefit plans. For the first time, state employees would be responsible for making a 5.8 percent contribution into their pension plans and pick up the tab for 12 percent of their health care benefits. As it currently stands, Wisconsin taxpayers bear 100 percent of the costs."

http://townhall.com/cartoons/garyvarvel

Collective Bargaining in the Public Sector

National Review  "By leveraging their numbers and resources, their organizations can become major players in politics. At election time, public employees can therefore play a large role in choosing their own employers or bosses (by getting certain people elected and not others), which of course no private-sector union can do. At all levels of government today, public-worker unions are among the biggest political donors. Between elections, they can use that political power to influence those elected officials and the political process more generally to improve their pay, benefits, or conditions, and also to increase demand for their services through legislation that increases the size or role of government..."

US warships box in Iranian flotilla, delay Suez passage

DEBKAfile  "The repeated delays and contradictory statements about the two Iranian warships' transit of the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean is accounted for by a standoff between the Iranian flotilla and five US warships deployed in recent days at the waterway's southern entrance and along its course, debkafile's sources disclose."

Cairo and Tehran connive to slip Iranian warships through Suez after fake delays  "debkafile reports: Israel has learned that the Iranian cruiser Kharg is carrying long-range missiles for Hizballah which it plans to unload at a Syrian port or Beirut harbor.
"US State Department spokesman P.J Crowley said he was "highly skeptical" of the Syrian claim that the two ships' visit was for training. "If the ships move through the canal, we will evaluate what they actually do. It's not really about the ships. It's about what the ships are carrying, what's their destination, what's the cargo on board, where's it going, to whom and for what benefit," Crowley told a news conference."

Media Silence As Tolerant Left Wishes Death on Governor Scott Walker

Big Journalism "You may remember President Obama’s recent call for civil discourse this past January. Well, it appears that the Left is still very much struggling with the #newtone online. Unless, of course, you consider a persistent stream of steady death threats against Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker a display of etiquette straight from the Emily Post Etipedia of manners."

A reminder to let Wisconsin Republicans known you’ve got their backs  "If you haven’t already sent emails expressing support to Wisconsin Gov. Walker and the Republican Senators, you must. Here are the email addresses:"  From BookwormRoom

Rent a Mob - Wisconsin Protests Intensify  "Today's post is about the Wisconsin Protests that are happening in Madison over Governor Walker's plan to have the Public Sector Unions contribute a little more to their health care and pension. Specifically, The bill, which also bans collective bargaining rights for teachers, requires educators to contribute 5.8 percent to their pensions and 12.6 percent to their health care. Currently, educators pay 0.2 percent for their pensions and 4 to 6 percent of their health care costs." Numerous links on this subject from Common Cents