BAH! Humbug! dept: Yes, There Are Christmas Haters

CNS News   "In this special season of giving, Hollywood is willing to give people what entertainment executives think the country needs: a vicious, bloody takedown of Christmas. The Dec. 11 episode of

"*American Dad" on Fox exemplified those with a complete absence of Christmas spirit; it was titled "Season's Beatings.""....
....
The Batavia City School District in upstate New York explicitly instructed employees, "Expressions related to specific religions, e.g., 'Merry Christmas,' should not be included in any spoken or written remarks."
....
 16-year-old student Colin Curran ...prepared a playlist for an annual "holiday" breakfast for young children, a school adviser stated that the songs could not include the following words: Christmas, Hanukkah, Jesus, God or Santa Claus. "I questioned the logic behind these restrictions and was informed that since we live in an area with many different cultures, our principal does not want to offend anyone with belief-specific music." (Emphasis mine;TD)

Related, since we brought up that Fox show:Fox Television's Dung Pile "Michelle Obama says her daughters only watch Disney Channel and Nickelodeon. If her husband had a real FCC chairman, maybe Fox wouldn't be putting on a cartoon with a dog eating feces and vomit."

* American Dad  The random escapades of Stan Smith, an extreme right wing CIA agent dealing with family life and keeping America safe, all in the most absurdist way possible. (Emphasis mine, TD). Renewed

The Candidates and the Fox Debates

Gingrich; donkeyhotey

Roger L Simon: Explaining Newt   "Let’s begin here: America is in a slough of despond. In fact, it’s in close to the worst shape it’s been since the Great Depression. Negativity rules the land. Few people are happy or optimistic. Basically, this once great nation is asleep.

"And we have a president who wants us to stay there, who is banal, irritating, humorless, reactionary, self-righteous, and narcissistic all at once. He hasn’t said one interesting thing or proposed one creative idea since being in office.

"Unfortunately, the Republican candidates aren’t much better."....   (emphasis added)

One caveat this author gives about his opinions: "Now I am not a Beltway person. I am something even worse — a Hollywood & Vine person — so everything I say is suspect and should be."  This quote sounds accurate to me. I do recall A.B. Stoddard on Fox Special Report, quoting someone once serving alongside Gingrich who said he "couldn't govern himself across the room".

Paul; donkeyhotey

Debate Discussion: Showdown in Sioux City: Ron Paul’s Waterloo?  "Ron Paul had a terrible run when attempting to explain his policies on Iran’s nuclear program, ultimately losing a one-on-one confrontation with Michele Bachmann. This was Ron Paul’s worst debate."....
"Santorum, noting Iran’s attitude since 1979, explained the facts to Paul. Who will surely ignore them as he has been for years. Rick Santorum might make a fine secretary of Defense. His instincts are solid and he has a strong defense record from his days in Congress."  Also: Why Ron Paul Can't Win ; "The candidate's problem isn't better-funded opponent or media bias—it's his own views on foreign policy."
Few know that Neville Chamberlain had some excellent economic policies to help Britain out of the depression. He is forever known for that one major foreign policy failure that led to the rape of Europe. Few realize it at present, but soon the major concern of this country will be Iran and the Middle East, which Paul and Obama are most unqualified to handle. TD

Winnowing the Field   "We fear that to nominate former Speaker Newt Gingrich, the frontrunner in the polls, would be to blow this opportunity. .... That year he was kicked out by his colleagues, the most conservative ones especially, who had lost confidence in him. During his time as Speaker, he was one of the most unpopular figures in public life. Just a few months ago his campaign seemed dead after a series of gaffes and resignations. ....."

NRO: Jawing for the Presidency  "I have some scribbles for you on the latest GOP presidential debate, held in Sioux City, Iowa. Nothing major, nothing all-encompassing — just a few scribbles."

Krauthammer: The wages of appeasement

Charles Krauthammer  "Barack Obama didn’t appease Osama bin Laden. He killed him. And for ordering the raid and taking the risk, Obama deserves credit. Credit for decisiveness and political courage.
"However, the bin Laden case was no test of policy. No serious person of either party ever suggested negotiation or concession. Obama demonstrated decisiveness, but forgoing a non-option says nothing about the soundness of one’s foreign policy. That comes into play when there are choices to be made.
"And here the story is different. Take Obama’s two major foreign policy initiatives — toward Russia and Iran."
....
 "The signature decision was the abrupt cancellation of a Polish- and Czech-based U.S. missile defense system bitterly opposed by Moscow.
"The cancellation deeply undercut two very pro-American allies who had aligned themselves with Washington in the face of both Russian threats and popular unease. Obama not only left them twisting in the wind, he showed the world that the Central Europeans’ hard-won independence was only partial and tentative."
.....
"On Tuesday, with Putin-like contempt, Iran demanded that Obama apologize instead. “Obama begs Iran to give him back his toy plane,” reveled the semiofficial Fars News Agency.
"Just a few hours earlier, Secretary Clinton* asserted yet again that “we want to see the Iranians engage. . . . We are not giving up on it.”
"Blessed are the cheek-turners. But do these people have no limit?"

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/2011/12/16/94561

As president, how would Hillary be stronger than Obama in foreign policy?

Nuclear knowhow, S300 are Iran's price for Russian, Chinese access to US drone  Remember, if we are nice to Iran they will be nice to us.

H.R. 3541: Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act of 2011

Overcriminalized.com   "Official Title: A bill to prohibit discrimination against the unborn on the basis of sex or race, and for other purposes."

"This bill would prohibit abortions that are “sought based on the sex, gender, color or race of the child, or the race of a parent of that child.” The proposed statute refers to this as a “sex-selection” or “race-selection” abortion."....

 www.faithmouse.com

...."Additionally, there is a reporting requirement for any “physician, physician’s assistant, nurse, counselor, or other medical or mental health professional” to report a violation to law enforcement or they would be subject to 1 year imprisonment and a fine under Title 18."

Debates: Republicans vs. Republicans

Fox: High Stakes, High Drama for Final Debate Before Voting Begins  "Here’s what’s on the line for the six men and one woman vying for the chance to confront Barack Obama:"

                                                       http://www.lucianne.com/

In new Iowa mailer, Romney keeps hammering Gingrich for his loveseat moment

" Romney’s mailer echoes the wording in a web advertisement his campaign released yesterday. Both knock Gingrich for teaming with Pelosi in 2008 for an ad that urged Americans to take global warming seriously."

CBS: What to watch in tonight's GOP debate  "Gingrich's professorial posture in early debates - when he wasn't being attacked - convinced voters to give him a second look; his task tonight will be not to say something to make them reevaluate that decision."....
 "Romney is a good debater but can seem uncomfortable when on the attack; if he can be convincingly aggressive against Gingrich, it will both diminish the frontrunner and help put to rest concerns among some Republicans that he won't take the fight to President Obama in a general election."....
"Then there are the candidates who have pinned all their hopes in Iowa: Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum and Rick Perry. All three are campaigning aggressively in the Hawkeye State in the hope that a surprise victory there will give their sputtering campaigns a shot of momentum. Expect all three to try to appeal to evangelical voters, who dominate the GOP electorate in Iowa...."
"Look for [Ron] Paul to clash with his rivals on foreign aid and the U.S. military presence abroad as well as civil liberties issues at home - and to be greeted with rapturous applause from his passionate supporters, who are usually a boisterous presence in debate audiences."

PJ Media: Tonight’s Debate: The Big One? On the last big chance before Iowa, watch for the second-tier to make some noise.   "The media tonight is focusing on what will happen between Gingrich and Romney, but both will survive Iowa. The real fight will be between Perry, Bachmann, and Santorum."
Sorry, Paul supporters, but his silly, romantic, "be- nice- to- Iran foreign policy" makes him no better than Obama to me. And I personally do not need another one of those.


Team Obama: We’ll Take The Longest Republican Primary You Have, Please

http://conservativedailynews.com/2011/12/political-battle-wounds/

Campaign In 100 Seconds: Wacky Races  "The two front runners are going head to head in a “you’re richer than I am” debate and enlisting surrogates across the board to push their message and attack their opponents."   Video.

A parting wave to Barney Frank

Networks Trumpet Barney Frank’s Legacy, Ignore Role in Housing Crisis " “The first line in Barney Frank’s political epitaph,” The Weekly Standard’s Stephen Hayes predicted on Monday’s FNC Special Report upon news the longtime liberal Democratic Congressman won’t seek re-election, will “be the housing crisis.” But that isn’t what those who decide the first draft of history considered relevant."...

Video: Bill O'Reilly and Barney Frank smackdown   Here we would imbed a video but still cannot install Adobe Flash. We'll just have to do it the way they did it back in the 20th century. TD

http://terrellaftermath.com/

Victor Davis Hanson; Oil-Rich America?

Victor Davis Hanson  "There were always known to be additional untapped reserves of oil and gas in the petroleum-rich Gulf of Mexico, off America’s shores, and in the American West and Alaska. But even the top energy experts never imagined just how vast the energy there was — or that it was also beneath far more unlikely places such as South Dakota, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York. Some studies suggest the United States has now expanded its known potential gas and oil reserves tenfold.
"The strategic and economic repercussions of these new finds are staggering, and remind us how a once energy-independent and thereby confident American economy soared to world dominance in the early 20th century."
....
"For the American poor and unemployed, how liberal is it, really, to keep energy prices high while stalling millions of high-paying private-sector jobs that would both lower government costs in entitlements and empower the working classes?
"In the current presidential campaign, three issues dominate: national security, fiscal solvency, and high unemployment. Development of America’s vast new gas and oil finds would address all three at once.
"The idea of vastly expanding American gas and oil production in the 21st century is almost as unbelievable as the present administration’s apparent reluctance to capitalize on its windfall."

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/2011/12/15/94587

The Moral Case For Capitalism and why it must be made.

   I am a retired union employee who carried a tool bag and spent my 45-year career on the Labor side of contracts, observing picket lines and cheering for union negotiators.  But I have never been employed by anyone outside the so-called 1% and when they suffered financially, so did we. There was a fine balance between their fiscal health and ours; as our wages went up, more contractors turned to non-union workers.
   Soon, we had priced ourselves out of the market for individual customers who needed skilled work in their homes and our only market virtually became bigger companies.
   Our enormous hourly scale translated into below-standard yearly earnings because of layoffs and a slow economy. Most of those shops who would hire us were owned by families whose yearly earnings would place them in Obama's despised "millionaires and billionaires" class that earned over $250,000. Many of this hated class would do all they could to keep us working, even at a financial loss to themselves and I knew a number of business owners who too often made less on the year than did their employees. Once when my wife was ill and I missed several days of work, my next check had the full 40 hours pay on it. When I pointed this out to my boss, he told me just to keep quiet about it.  Yet they were the "rich 1%" and we were the revered "99%".
   Business owners are despised by economic ignoramuses who know nothing of the delicate balance that is inherent in a prosperous economy. The US economy was vital and healthy while the socialistic structures in Europe and elsewhere struggled. The American free-enterprise system built continental railroads and freeway systems, then it geared up to defeat the Axis nations and the forces of Communism.
   But the "occupiers" and their cheerleader-in-chief understand nothing about this magnificent system called capitalism; they seek to vanquish it in favor of economic philosophies that brought only dreariness to half the world for nearly a century. The Tunnel Dweller

The Moral Case For Capitalism
"Voters will be hit with a blast of weaponized ignorance* in 2012, and told to forget everything that has actually happened since 2008."
"But these elements are not the core of the President’s re-election strategy. They’re meant to confuse voters and soften them up for the real sales pitch, which will be entirely moral in character. It doesn’t matter if the things Obama has done didn’t work, or even – as in the case of ObamaCare – achieved exactly the opposite results from what Obama promised. We are morally obliged to follow such policies in the interest of “fairness,” “compassion,” and so forth, even when their failure is obvious. "
....
"Betraying the morality of capitalism, and denying its unbreakable connection to liberty, has empowered the State to become its own special interest.  When property rights are fully respected, and all other rights are thus properly illuminated, public officials become public servants.  Have a look at the full transcript of Obama’s “60 Minutes” interview, and ask yourself if the man considers himself a “servant” in any meaningful sense."

http://www.worldmag.com/editorialcartoons/

*Emphasis added because I love that term. "Weaponized ignorance". Beautifully put.

We hired the wrong man

Neal Boortz:  Taxes, they matter  ..."Americans are leaving states that have high taxes and forced union membership for states with lower taxes and right-to-work laws.  This confounds libs and progs.  They just can’t understand why people, businesses and wealth are repelled by higher taxes and forced unionization.  So their solution was to have a liberal think tank work on this issue.  Somewhere, somehow a different explanation for these migrations had to be created.  It just can’t be taxes, and it certainly can’t be the wonderful unions … so come up with another reason!"...

Walter E. Williams: Economic Fairness  "...and that includes 35 percent of Congressional Black Caucus members, who tend to vote against school choice. Their actions are dictated by what's good for the National Education Association, not low-income black children. Do you think that's fair? By the way, teachers at public schools are twice as likely as other parents to send their own children to private schools. That ought to tell us something."

149 Years ago: The Battle of Fredericksburg, Va. (BAD LINKS REPLACED)

The Battle of Fredericksburg : "The Battle of Fredericksburg, fought December 11-15, 1862, was one of the largest and deadliest of the Civil War. It featured the first major opposed river crossing in American military history. Union and Confederate troops fought in the streets of Fredericksburg, the Civil War’s first urban combat. And with nearly 200,000 combatants, no other Civil War battle featured a larger concentration of soldiers."

 Below, the stone wall that no Yankee ever reached until 2nd Fredericksburg the following year. Beyond this wall the field was carpeted with the prone blue forms of Union dead and wounded .

http://usa-civil-war.com/Fredericksburg/fdksbg_2.html

TD regrets the links formerly in this spot are no longer active. Let's hope these will be sufficient for you:

NPS: Sunken Road/Stone Wall Sector of Fredericksburg Battlefield

Sunken Road Walking Trail

Tourist's account of the battlefield tour

From "God's and Generals": The 20th Maine charges the stone wall You may want your speakers turned down-it's kind of a rock video. I'm just sayin'. 

 Here's a scene featuring the Irish Brigade in "Gods and Generals".

The Angel of the Battlefield;   

Cycling through Civil War history ,

Then and now photos of the Union approaches to the stone wall:  Sad to see how so much hallowed ground was covered by development.

Go here for a more detailed Battle account; Maps of the theater here.

Many NPS links here:  Virtual Tour of Fredericksburg Battlefield

"The Fredericksburg Battlefield driving tour consists of six stops. There are also links to battle sites not on the tour route as well as additional information on touring Fredericksburg Battlefield and learning about the battle."

Dramatic and excellent: Animated timeline map of the battle
Turn your speakers on. Civil war enthusiasts, turn 'em way, way up and also notice the controls at the bottom of the map frame that you can use. Keep your eye on the narrative at the bottom center describing each event of the battle as it occurs.  (Requires Adobe Shockwave)

Updates follow:

The Union Commander, General Ambrose Burnside "Burnside took part in the battle at Antietam (September, 1862) and afterwards President Abraham Lincoln asked him to replace George McClellan as commander of the Army of the Potomac. After the complaints that had been made by President Abraham Lincoln and the Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton, about the inaction of the Union Army, Burnside was determined to immediately launch an attack on the Confederate Army.....

 "After the disastrous battle at Fredericksburg Burnside was replaced by Joseph Hooker. Burnside was put in charge of the Army of Ohio in March, 1863 and succeeded in capturing Morgan's Raiders and performed well at the siege of Knoxville."



Hooker



Burnside's replacement: Gen. Joe Hooker and another disaster.  "After three months of Burnside, Lincoln decided to give overall command to Hooker. Aware of behind the scenes maneuvering while Burnside was in command and statements made by Hooker about the "country needing a dictator," the President wrote a famous letter  to Hooker"... "in which he stated which candidly discusses Hooker's strengths and weaknesses. Although Hooker failed to deliver the results Lincoln expected he was touched by the letter's tone. He told reporter Noah Brooks "That is just such a letter as a father might write to his son. It is a beautiful letter, and, although I think he was harder on me than I deserved, I will say that I love the man who wrote it."
 Lincoln said of Hooker's bombast and promises, "The hen is the wisest of all the animal creation because she never cackles until after the egg has been laid."

Newt: Speak Bombastically and Carry a Tiny Stick



DonkeyHotey



Ann Coulter  "Fellow right-wingers: Is our objective to taunt Obama by accusing him of "Kenyan, anti-colonial behavior," of being "authentically dishonest" and a "wonderful con" -- and then lose the election -- or is it to defeat Obama, repeal ObamaCare, secure the borders, enforce e-verify, reform entitlement programs, reduce the size of government and save the country?

"If all you want is to lob rhetorical bombs at Obama and then lose, Newt Gingrich -- like recent favorite Donald Trump -- is your candidate. But if you want to save the country, Newt's not your guy."

....


"It's true that Newt has had some good ideas -- but also boatloads of bad ones, such as his support for experimentation on human embryos, cap and trade, policies to combat imaginary man-made global warming, an individual health insurance mandate, Dede Scozzafava (Romney supported the tea party candidate), amnesty for illegal aliens, Al Gore​'s bill to establish an "Office of Critical Trends Analysis" to prepare government reports on "alternative futures" (co-sponsored by Gingrich), and thinking he could get away with taking $1.6 million from Freddie Mac without anyone noticing."

Our free, unfettered journalistic watchdogs

Atlas Shrugs: More on Muslim Gunmen in Belgium   "Herman Van Rompuy, a former Belgian prime minister who is now president of the European Council, said he was badly shaken by the attack. “There is no explanation whatsoever,” Van Rompuy said. “It leaves me perplexed and shocked.”

"Of course there is an explanation. Amrani was a Muslim and he was waging his personal Jihad against the infidels. After over 18,000 terrorist attacks by the followers of the religion of peace sincer 9/11, the only thing that is inexplicable and indeed shocking is the surprise of the politicians to connect the dots and that these terrorists are Muslims and they are practicing the many teachings of their prophet.

"Two days earlier, another Muslim, calmly pointed his handgun and opened fire on passing cars near Vine Street and Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood while shouting Allahu Akbar. He injured one passerby before being killed by the police. In both cases the media refused to identify the killer as Muslim terrorist."

"The Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo said the attack was the act of a “lone assailant,” a man known to police who had “no links to terrorism.” “The whole country shares in the pain. This is an isolated case. This is not about terrorism,” he stressed."

Mendacious Media Manipulation  "After the recent shootings in Belgium and Hollywood, most media outlets adamantly refuse to identify the shooters as Muslims, as Pamela Geller notes.

"Now a gunman has killed several vendors in Florence. But, as we see in this HuffPo article, the MSM is wasting no time identifying the shooter as a “right-wing racist terrorist.” "

The LA Times: ALWAYS in Barack’s Corner  "I don’t think Obama’s a Muslim. I don’t think he’s anything. He’s more than likely an agnostic who attends church when he has to for political expediency. America is a largely religious country, after all. He certainly is not a regular church-goer, unless three times a year constitutes regular.

"Of course, this is all quite obvious and the folks at the LAT know it as well as I do. So they lie or gild the lily or prevaricate or whatever you want to call it to protect their man, even in relatively monitor situations like this. It is engrained(sic) in them. They are probably not capable of writing or even seeing the truth.

"To do something as significant as producing the Khalidi Tapes would probably cause the institution to have a breakdown."

Civility: A Compilation of 'the GOP is Insane/Terrorists/Extremists' Articles   "The most heavy-- and even obscene terms are being thrown at the GOP. Below are just some examples from this month alone."There are some legitimately non-hyperbolic editorials coming out from the Left. However-- a disproportionate amount coming from actual establishment news organizations and writers should be cause for alarm. Yes, there is the regular alarm-pulling at the Nation and the Daily Kos-- but there is a troubling trend. The most heavy-- and even obscene terms are being thrown at the GOP. Below are just some examples from this month alone.":  Links active in the article.

- William Yeomans, Politico: Tea Party's Terrorist Tactics
- Paul Waldman, American Prospect: Underestimating Right Wing Insanity
- Nicholas Kristof, NY Times: GOP Zealots Threatening America's Security
- Andrew Leonard, Salon: New GOP Hostage Demand: Kill ObamaCare
- E.J. Dionne, Washington Post: Tea Party Extremism Endangering Nation
- Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA): "Cult Fringe" Holding Up Debt Ceiling Increase
- Gene Lyons, Salon: A Republican Party Divorced From Sanity
- Gary Younge, The Guardian: Debt Ceiling Crisis Exposing GOP Madness
- Bill Maher: Maher: Where Were The "Teabaggers" Before "Blackie McBlackman?"
- Senator John Kerry (D-MA): Kerry: Tea Party Republicans a "Group of Absolutists, Extremists"
- Robert Kuttner, American Prospect: The Joys of Fanaticism
- Paul Krugman, New York Times: The GOP Went Insane Long Ago
- Robert Reich, Huffington Post: The Wrecking Ball Right
- Joan Walsh, Salon: GOP's Extremist 2012 Field Helps Obama
- Jonathan Chait, The New Republic: The Republican Crazy Is Not an Act
- Mike Littwin, Denver Post: Tea Partier Crazies Want U.S. to Default
- Tina Brown, MSNBC: GOP Are Suicide Bombers in Debt Negotiations
- Martin Frost, Politico: The tea party Taliban
- Politico Cartoon: Norquist as the Mad Hatter
- Fmr Governor Ted Strickland (D-OH): 'Crazy'-sounding candidates can't beat Obama
-George Zornick, the Nation: The 'Right-Wing Nutters' Who Are Pushing the Country to the Brink
- Katrina vanden Heuvel, the Nation: The GOP Wants to Sabotage the Economy
- Andrew Leonard, Salon: The House GOP's debt ceiling hara-kiri
- Morning Joe, MSNBC: Is GOP Extremism the Problem in Politics Today?
- Steve Benen / Washington Monthly: How big is the House GOP's sane contingent?

"And this is without delving into Kos, TPM, FireDogLake, Democratic Underground and others. Does anyone else see a meme or is it just me?"

Obama, the guardian of our nation

Dick Cheney: Why didn’t Obama just destroy the drone when he had the chance? "That’s a good question — and according to former VP Dick Cheney’s contacts, Barack Obama didn’t lack for options to keep the highly-classified drone from falling into the Iranian military’s hands. In an interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett, Cheney wonders why Obama didn’t order an air strike on the downed aircraft while he still had the chance:"...
"...“was told the president had three options on his desk and he rejected all of them.” The options all involved destroying the drone on the ground.
" “You can do that from the air,” he said. “And, in effect, make it impossible for them to benefit from having captured that drone.” "

Romney: Obama’s A Wimp For Not Destroying That Drone

He (Obama) was extraordinarily weak and timid in a time of … a critical moment. This will have severe implications for us, long term, and it was a terrible mistake on his part. I find it incomprehensible that he didn’t destroy it, or go get it. I think destroying it would have been a good deal easier. Destroy it immediately, or go get it. But the idea of letting it fall into the hands of people who will use it against us, use the intelligence capacity against us, is an extremely enormous mistake on the part of this president.

DEBKAfile: Iran propositions Saudis, seeks anti-US pact, offers nuclear cooperation "This TV item informed Tehran exactly how high the Saudis rate Iran's regional standing and the stability of its government."
Also this: Iran to practice Strait of Hormuz closure while unlocking US drone secrets

Via Iranian.com: US asks Iran to return captured drone