The Question of Slavery

Breakpoint  "Without a doubt, Christians (or those claiming to be Christians) can commit all kinds of wrongdoing. What happened in the Old South is a serious stain on Christian history, a horror to be confessed as sin and never to be repeated. It was wrong."....

"But the abolition movement also was led by Christians, both in England and America. Christians have led in eliminating slavery everywhere we have gone. Granted, not all Christians have done so. But in the beginning, only Christians—and more recently, others whose cultures have been profoundly influenced by Christianity—did so."
"All cultures and religions have practiced slavery if they had the economic means. Only one has eliminated it. That’s telling."....
"...far from being a “moral monster,” God is good, and far from being morally backward, God’s Word has led the world forward toward human freedom."

Thomas Nast, anti-slavery art

Reset Regret: U.S. Should Rethink Relations with Russian Leaders

Heritage  "To uphold the “reset,” the Administration agreed to cut U.S. strategic nuclear forces under New START, abandoned missile defense deployment in Poland and the Czech Republic, engaged Russia in missile defense talks, pursued a policy of geopolitical neglect in the former Soviet Union, and toned down criticism of political freedom violations in Russia. However, Putin remains Russia’s “national leader” and the real power behind—and on—the throne. Top White House and State Department officials now privately recognize that they bet on the wrong horse..."

Amateurs in the White House. And you can be sure the average Obama lover has not a clue about any of this.

Restaurant Groups Sue Labor Department .

Wall Street Journal  ""Under the new regulations, the additional information required is so specific and detailed that one small misstep by an employer can result in substantial liability while not providing employees with additional helpful information," Mr. Amador says."

Don't expect this administration to do anything to help those who give their constituents jobs.

Bush Did It! Bush Didn’t Do It!

Victor Davis Hanson  "When George Bush was president, promoting democracy was derided as an arrogant neoconservative imposition of our values onto different cultures. Now pushing democracy in the Arab world is called advocacy for human rights. Yet once more, Obama never explains why he channels the prior president’s policies without even the barest reference to his name."
"Obama knows the media are invested in his success. Therefore he feels no urgency to explain to the public why policies enacted years ago deserve blame for their failures and receive no praise for their successes."...


 

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