Jonah Goldberg Discovers Creeping Fascism at the NY Times

Verum Serum  "Liberalism likes to portray itself as high-minded, and in some ways it is, but Kristof’s column shows what lies behind all that. The ideal liberal system is one in which the state comes first and the individual’s freedom–of speech, of association, of choice–matters very little. It’s a progressive daydream that has to be killed anew by each generation."

lumaxart

White House Denies Cozying Up to Special Interests; Reality Begs to Differ

Weekly Standard  "I guess Obama could argue that the wealthy folks funding his campaign aren't "special interests." But if he did so he would be lying or twisting words beyond recognition.
"Is Cecile Richards, head of uber-powerful abortion lobby Planned Parenthood not a "special interest"? Because she dined with Obama at a fundraiser in Austin earlier this year. How about Google lobbyist (unregistered) Vint Cerf, who gave the max to Obama?" Mark Hemingway

The Gossips: Curses, Sarah; we'll get you yet!

http://terrellaftermath.com

Our regulatory burden grows, still the clueless love this man's administration

Thousands of Cribs Headed to the Dump Unless Federal Agency Delays Regulation  "The inventory of cribs is not considered unsafe, a hazard to children or subject to recall. They simply don’t meet the CPSC's latest safety test. Congress mandated the agency implement the regulation, but let CPSC commissioners come up with the date retailers must comply.
"Any cribs not meeting the current standard must be destroyed if they’re not sold by June 28. Industry estimates put the number between 10,000 and 20,000 cribs. Some retailers, panicking to sell the cribs before the deadline, have offered steep discounts to consumers. Manufacturers, meanwhile, may still have stock in warehouses that must go or be junked.
"“Overregulation is going to lead to the destroying of thousands of cribs that are perfectly good — many that are better than what will come out after the new regulations,”"... (Emphasis added.)  Why can't these people leave this nation alone? Or, better yet, just leave this nation.

Obama's Regulatory Tsunami More Destructive than Taxes  "As Obama travels about the country, speaking of the need for “shared sacrifice” and the need to increase taxes, he doesn’t say a word about the tsunami of new Obama regulations ranging from light bulbs to ozone pollution to painkillers to foreign travel to vending machines that is about to hit America. Their impact will be huge and do serious damage to our economy. "....
"These new regulations will be piled atop the Mt. Everest pile of regulations Obama has already produced."
Lurita Alexis Doan is an African American conservative commentator who writes about issues affecting the federal government.
 

about.com

Red Tape Rising: Regulation in the Obama Era "Americans are endlessly paying taxes--on their income, on their property, on almost anything they purchase. But the heavy burden that the U.S. government places on its citizens does not stop there. It continues with a slew of hidden taxes imposed by an ever-larger number of government regulations. These regulatory taxes do not appear on any balance sheet, yet cost Americans about $1 trillion every year."

Coulter: Get Rid of Government-But First Make Me President!

Ron Paul
Gage Skidmore

Ann Coulter  "There are reasons we have laws governing important institutions, such as marriage. As in landscaping, you don't remove a wall until you know why it was put there.

Marriage is a legal construct with legal consequences, particularly regarding rights and duties to children. "Libertarians would be better off spearheading a movement to get rid of stop signs than to get rid of officially sanctioned marriage. A world without government stop signs would be safer than a world without government marriage.

"It's true that eventually -– theoretically -- there could be private institutions to handle many of these matters. But for anyone calling himself a libertarian to put eliminating official marriage above eliminating Social Security and Medicare is certifiable."

 

Perry will be targeted by Ambulance Chasers

American Thinker  "...Rick Perry telegraphed which issue may separate him from the herd of Republican candidates if he enters the presidential race: tort reform... Perry stated, then reiterated, that successful tort reform had played a major role in the Texas economic renaissance by establishing that state's reputation as a business-friendly environment. He pointedly mentioned the important role medical technology and research were playing in Texas' economic growth, an industry that is frequently victimized by ambulance chasers. He then rang the Liberty Bell of Legal Doom by saying that tort reform nationwide is essential in any successful campaign to turn the American economy around."
Emphasis added

What Is Tort Reform?  "While each tort reform law is different, they all share one or more of the following goals:"

•To make it more difficult for injured people to file a lawsuit.
•To make it more difficult for injured people to obtain a jury trial.
•To place limits on the amount of money injured people receive in a lawsuit.

Federalism and Tort Reform  "In this post*, I explained why federally mandated tort reform is, in most cases, both constitutionally dubious and unnecessary. The better way to restrict abusive tort suits is through interstate competition combined with constraints on states’ ability to regulate conduct outside their borders."....

*Even Alabama, notorious for being the nation’s worst tort “hellhole” in the 1980s and 90s, has to a large extent cleaned up its act. Alabama ultimately replaced its pro-plaintiff state supreme court justices with ones that took a dimmer view of tort litigation. State leaders worried that Alabama would lose business if they did not. In most cases, “voting with your feet” is an excellent solution to the problem of runaway state tort law.

Liberals and the Arabs

Epic Fail: Obama Supporters Try to Defend His Middle East Policy   "What fascinates me is that on the rare occasions when Obama supporters defend his policy against real and informed criticism, they cannot come up with anything good. Only by forgetting history, distorting it, or leaving out huge chunks of reality can they make a case.
"The only way they can “win” arguments is in media, where the other side is basically not permitted to speak at all." Barry Rubin, who also wrote The Myth that the MSM Understands the Middle East

Andrew Sullivan Formally Joins the Arabist Crowd  "Why is it logical that the US vote for Palestinian statehood, since the Palestinians, from the start of Israel’s existence, have made it quite clear that they have rejected any chance given them over and over to actually form a state that would live in peace side by side with Israel? Instead of supporting negotiations with the Palestinians that would result in an actual two-state solution, Sullivan accuses the U.S. of being an “enabler of Israeli intransigence.”"  Ron Radosh  is an Adjunct Senior Fellow at The Hudson Institute, and a Prof. Emeritus of History at the City University of New York. He is the author or co-author of 14 books

LAPD Dep. Chief Downing: ‘We should not demonize the Muslim Brotherhood’  "Downing’s claims that “we should not demonize the Muslim Brotherhood” are particularly curious since the leader of the international Muslim Brotherhood declared war on the United States during a press conference last October (a transcript of his comments is available at MEMRI). It seems the Muslim Brotherhood does a good job of demonizing itself."

http://www.mideasttruth.com/cartoons.html

Who Can Beat Obama?

Phyllis Chesler  "Given the extraordinary pathology of Bush Derangement Syndrome, and short of Armeggedon, I do not believe that enough Americans will, without doubt, elect another white male Republican. No matter what his politics may be, he himself will be seen as retrograde, anti-woman, anti-gay marriage, anti-abortion, pro-racism, pro-war and as both dull and evil. The media, combined with Soros and Saudi monies and our intelligentsia have poisoned the minds of millions.
"Hence, I offer a desperate but interesting idea for a desperate and interesting time."

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/henrypayne

 

Media versus the Republicans

Smart GOP Would Cancel All MSM Debates and Stage Their Own  "***UPDATE: The DNC just released a video that makes my case perfectly. CNN asks a series of dumb questions that have little to do with the important issues of the day and the DNC exploits this with a viral-video mocking our candidates for ignoring the most important issues of the day.
"If you think this is by accident, you haven’t been paying attention."

Sound Bite For the Day: Shame On You For Answering the Debate Questions  "The real issue is who is choosing the venue for the debates? Why in the world would the RNC use CNN or the Alphabet networks for their debates? ....The RNC should sit down with these networks and lay out a clear agenda of pertinant(sic) questions that should be addressed, they should make the list of topics and questions they requested available well before the debates available to the public via the social networks of the internet. By doing this they would make it more difficult for the lamestreet media to tailor the debate for the benefit of their benefactors the Democrat party." From the comments to this post. 

CBS Badgers Republicans on the Economy; Went Easier on Obama  "Bob Schieffer, Erica Hill, and Rebecca Jarvis pressed Reps. Paul Ryan and Allen West, Senator Tom Coburn, and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley to consider tax hikes to deal with the deficit. Schieffer also specifically accused the three members of Congress of "doing nothing" to fix the economy." Apparently these so-called "professional Journalists" cannot even be shamed into having integrity.

CNN Gives Maher Platform to Accuse GOP Candidates of 'Horrible Society-Killing Ideas,' Call Cheney 'More Psychotic' Than Weiner   Anderson Cooper to Bill Maher: "You've been pretty hard on the field of GOP candidates so far. I think you said at one point that you've seen, and I quote, “more appealing lineups on an episode of Law and Order Special Victims Unit.” Did you change your mind at all after last night's debate?"   What a set-up.

drawfortruth.wordpress.com

If there is civil unrest, it's because of the GOP  Video from MSNBC-naturally.

Pause and give thanks unto President Obama

Thanks Obama!  "Among those who have been hit the hardest are black Americans … 96% of the black vote in 2008 went to Barack Obama.   When Obama was inaugurated, the unemployment rate among blacks stood at 12.6%.  How are things looking in May 2011?  The unemployment rate for blacks is 16.2%." Neal Boortz

And While We're Thanking Obama   "Let’s all give pause to consider some of the other wonderful things this great man – a man who actually Terry Moran of ABC News said had to “step down” to the presidency; a man who Evan Thomas of Newsweek referred to as “Sort of a God;” … let’s take a look at some other headlines and stories he has brought to us:"....
"This guy is a disaster … but he’s going to get the vote of people who think that he’s the best because he looks like them … and the support of those who vote for a living; the moochers. Will there be enough producers to step forward and save our Republic from this anti-free market socialist menace?"
Boortz gives this warning about a TEA Party candidate.   Neal Boortz

If You’re Worried About Crime, You’re a Racist

Pajamas Media  "Michelle Alexander and Ruth Wilson Gilmore spent more than 800 words in the June 5th Sacramento Bee to make the point I just made in my headline with eight. But whether laid out pithily in eight words or belabored for 800 — or 8,000 for that matter — twaddle is still twaddle.
"The authors begin their piece as follows: “The fearmongering responses to the U.S. Supreme Court declaring California’s prison system ‘cruel and unusual’ in violation of the Eighth Amendment were predictable.”"....
“Jack Dunphy” is the pseudonym of an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department. The opinions expressed are his own and almost certainly do not reflect those of the LAPD management.

Is This Obama Cartoon Grotesque and Racist?

"We’ve had numerous discussions here about the unique difficulties that come into play when your exaggerating features and caricaturing the nation’s first black president. Is Press right about this Darkow cartoon being “grotesque and racist,” or is he just being too sensitive to race and the art of a political cartoonist to exaggerate the features of his subject, in this case President Obama?"

This is what political cartoonists do, dummy.  As with George Bush, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, More here; All of them on one page.  Good grief.

About that 3am phone call: "Iranian Official: ‘We Will Use Our Missiles To Protect Other Muslim States’"

Reza Kahlili  "Will the West take this threat seriously, or will we allow the jihadists to expand their power? Delusional leaders bring nothing but destruction and pain to the world; it is certain that the Iranian leaders are delusional. They believe the Islamic prophecies, the Hadith, say they can bring about the Islamic conquest of the world by destroying Israel and America. They intend to try.' "
Maybe it's time for Obama to send the Iranians another friendly video. What a terrible time to have a juvenile-ish amateur in charge of our foreign policy.

http://isurvived.org/Iran-holocaust_contest.html

Is the US deliberately harming Israeli covert ops in Iran?  "The Stuxnet story shows the problematic flipside of trade embargos against rogue states like Iran. The less access you have to enemy markets, the less ability you have to gather information about enemy targets and the less capacity you have to sabotage enemy targets. The more access you have, the more capacity you can build to infiltrate, gather information and sabotage enemy targets."  Caroline Glick