(Updated) What's been happening in our schools lately? Lawsuit fears dominate.

Update: The Advancement of the Toxic Totalitarian Nanny State  "...Jonah Goldberg  (and others) have been pointing out the totalitarian nature of the “progressive” movement, which seeks to expand the government sphere into every aspect of our lives (with the apparent singular exception of whether or not we can kill unborn children)." 

Attack of the lunch police  or, "Give me a turkey sandwich, or give me death."
"The Department of Health and Human Services, which thanks to ObamaCare will soon be the most powerful and unaccountable government organization in the Western world, has really been feeling its oats lately.  Fresh from its triumph in forcing Catholics to pay for contraception, agents of the Division of Child Development and Early Education moved to seize an improperly packed lunch from a little girl at a North Carolina elementary school, and assess a modest fine against her mother."
More on HHS: 
 Forbes: HHS Death Panel
 The Kansan: Actions by Department of Health and Human Services violates First Amendment
 Heritage: House Panel Hears How HHS Mandate Tramples on Conscience Rights


The president downplays school choice in his new $3.8 trillion budget.   "Because the president's teachers union allies are opposed to school choice for poor people, Mr. Obama ignores or downplays these findings."

http://terrellaftermath.com/

Wisconsin School Punishes Christian Kid for Discouraging Gay Parenting
The article, “Should Homosexual Partners Be [Able] to Adopt?,” was written by Brandon Wegner who was assigned the task of writing a counter-point to another student’s pro-homosexual adoption article. The piece was then published as an insert in the school newspaper, the Shawano Leader.
...."According to Liberty Counsel, a First Amendment law firm, Wegner was quixotically bullied by Superintendent Carlson in an attempt to deter bullying.":

Brandon was hauled before the superintendent on charges that he had violated the school’s bullying policy. Superintendent Todd Carlson told him that the column “went against the bullying policy,” and asked him if he “regretted” writing it. When Mr. Wegner stated that he did not regret writing it, and that he stood behind his beliefs, Superintendent Carlson told him that he “had got to be one of the most ignorant kids to try to argue with him about this topic,” that “we have the power to suspend you if we want to” and that the column had “personally offended me, so I know you offended other people!”

Before you blame the schools, look no further than their fear of being sued by anyone and everyone:
The fear of being sued is stalking our schools:  Safety-obsessed madness
Update: Tony Branco cartoon:

http://conservativedailynews.com/2012/02/tyranny-on-the-menu-10/

EDUCATION WORLD: Has the Threat of Lawsuits Changed Our Schools?
"A recent survey revealed that the majority of school principals have been threatened with lawsuits -- lawsuits that have changed the atmosphere in their schools. Education World's "Principal Files" team members offer their perspectives. Included: Handling lawsuits threatened by disgruntled parents and teachers."


Doctors. Teachers. Coaches. Ministers. They all share a common fear: being sued on the job. Our litigation nation—and a plan to fix it   "Legal reform is a painfully slow process; over the past 30 years, attempts to require mediation before going to court have done little to stem the litigation wave. But the time may come when ordinary Americans recognize that for every sweepstakes winner in the legal lottery, there are millions of others who have to live with the consequences—higher taxes and insurance rates, educational and medical systems seriously warped by lawsuits, fear and uncertainty about getting sued themselves. One day, they may realize that their right to sue has become a trial for us all."

Paulnut upstages Obama

I can't support Ron Paul, but do like this picture:

Hat tip to Tom Williams at Facebook: Oregon: Tillamook County Republicans


Caption is part of the picture so I couldn't punctuate it properly. 
It wasn't my fault; I inherited the caption and it proved to be in much worse shape than anybody thought.
 It will take more than four years to fix it. TD

Grim Fairy Tale: The Budget

Hat tip to the California Chronicle

PJ Media: Obama’s Farcical Budget Betrays a Crisis-Driven Electoral Strategy   "Reelection through orchestrated upheaval?"
...."Obama’s Republican challenger and his party had better have a unified rapid-response strategy ready for such a contingency. In 2008, John McCain clearly wasn’t prepared, and as a result lost any chance he may have had of defeating Obama. This time, the country literally cannot afford for Obama’s opponent to fail."

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/2012/02/14/96285

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

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/2012/02/15/96314

Navy ship-naming by Secretary mired in controversy

Rick Moran  "The USS Medgar Evers? The USS John Murtha? The USS Cesar Chavez?

Ray Mabus

"Our Navy Secretary, Ray Mabus, has this diversity thing down cold. Each one of those ships was in a class that previous names of their sister ships had nothing to do with civil rights, or corrupt Democratic politicians. Ships are usually named after states, cities, even famous explorers and war heroes.

"But Mabus has injected partisanship into this tradition, naming another ship for Democrat Gabriel Giffords, who has shown courage in her recovery from an assassination attempt but had expressed little interest in the military during her career on Capitol Hill."

Leftists run wild politicizing Navy ship names  "The catalyst for the amendment was the announcement last spring that the newest supply ship in the Navy’s inventory would be named after labor leader Cesar Chavez. This radical served briefly in the Navy after World War II but did not accomplish anything noteworthy while in uniform. His claim to fame was solely from organizing migrant laborers and agitating for the rights of illegal immigrants. 
...."Mr. Mabus was also wrong to name the amphibious ship LPD-26 after the late Rep. John P. Murtha, breaking with the tradition of naming San Antonio class ships after U.S. cities. Although Murtha was a Marine, he was criticized by veterans groups for calling the U.S. Marines facing charges for killing 24 Iraqis in Haditha, Iraq, in 2005 “cold blooded killers.” Almost all the charges were later dropped. When Murtha died in 2010, an extensive federal corruption investigation was underway against him. His name is not fit to carry our heroes to war."


Down to the Sea in Ships'--Names   "Like everyone else in the Navy, I knew vaguely that each category of naval vessels is assigned a general source from which the names of all ships of that type are drawn; states for battleships, cities for cruisers, and so on. But this is only an easy beginning. There are a lot of classes of ships, I learned."


Chart of US Navy ship's names  All you ever wanted to know on this subject here. Maybe more, but it seemed very interesting. TD

Pictured: the USS Texas. Or is it soon to be the USS Che Guevara?

How do you see our military?

From the US Infantry Facebook page.

Celebrate Black History Month: Slap a Leftist!

Andrew Klavan


"This leftist witchcraft transformed the once-great gains of the Civil Rights movement into a virtually inescapable structure of government hand-outs and dependency, establishing the Democratic Party as masters of a new plantation with black front men like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton playing the role of go-betweens and overseers. Unlike the original forms of slavery which the Democratic Party defended and upheld for so long, this program of dependency introduced a new wrinkle: it enticed blacks into facilitating and supporting their own subjection."
...."This is Black History Month. Celebrate it by watching the trailer above through to the end. Then visit the movie’s website and give it what love you can. The film is finished and the filmmakers are in the process of rolling it out with showings city to city and could use some help. If there’s any hope for our fellow Americans trapped on the government’s plantation, it’s in the fearless voices of people like the Reverend Bryant — and you."
Emphasis added. TD
Black Quill and Ink Blog:   Those "leaders" who keep scraping the scab off the healing wound;  If there are race riots in America, here are the sources of their "legitimacy"

   




Here Black, Quill and Ink quotes Booker T. Washington:

“There is another class of colored people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs, and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs — partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do do not want to lose their jobs.”

                                                                                            - – Booker T. Washington circa 1901

For a change of TW pace, lets discuss tattoos

Neal Boortz started this, not me:  

Let's start out with something completely asinine  "Clearly I’m on to something here.  Just look at this website.  It’s a Facebook page for something called change.org.  The title is “Include Body Modification in Equal Opportunity Employment.”  These fools are seeking 100,000 signatures from people who want the federal government to make it illegal to consider someone’s tattoos or other body modifications in a hiring decision.  Take a look at the girl in the picture!  Wouldn't you just be oh-so-proud to have her greet customers or clients at your professional office? 

Look, my friends.  If you want hockey pucks in your ear lobes and tattoos up to your nostrils … go for it.  But don’t ask someone else to consider your behavior as anything close to normal .. and don’t presume that you have the right to affect some business owners bottom line by forcing him to hire your absurd self to place before his clientele." 

http://www.filthylucre.com/humor/your-tattoo

http://becauseilive.hubpages.com/hub/ReallyBadTattoos

Chevy Volt Awarded Car of the Year...by Cartoonists. Lets discuss it, shall we?

http://terrellaftermath.com/

http://evworld.com/news.cfm?newsid=23754

http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/pulitzercartoons/ig/2011-Pulitzer-Prize-Cartoons/Chevy-Volt.htm

http://terrellaftermath.com/

Obama Hikes Failing Chevy Volt Subsidies   "The White House intends to boost government subsidies for wealthy buyers of the Chevy Volt and other new-technology vehicles — to $10,000 per buyer.
"That mammoth subsidy would cost taxpayers $100 million each year if it is approved by Congress, presuming only 10,000 new-technology autos are sold each year.
"But the administration wants to get 1 million new-tech autos on the road by 2015. The subsidy cost of that goal could reach $10 billion."

Motor Trend: "A Car of the Future You Can Drive Today"  "The Volt boasts some of the most advanced engineering ever seen in a mainstream American automobile. The powertrain allows the car to run as an EV, a series hybrid, or a parallel hybrid, depending on how far you drive and how you drive." 

Independent Sentinel takes issue with Motor Trend:   "Motor Trend Magazine picked the Chevy Volt as car of the year last year before they knew a thing about it so if you ever wonder whether these magazines are legitimate or based on politics, wonder no more. You won’t find me buying a Government Motors car."

Mediaite: Motor Trend Editor To Rush Limbaugh: “Driving And Oxycontin Don’t Mix”
MT editor Todd Lassa  then debunked some of the political and economic rumors surrounding the Volt, calling out both Limbaugh and Washington Post‘s “partisan clown” George Will for characterizing the car as “un-American.”


RedState responded to Lassa: Todd Lassa, Is it that time again?  "While Motor Trend hails the Volt as a “game changer,” Car and Driver and Investor’s Business Daily give a less glowing report.

"Car and Driver points out the fact that it is government intervention that pushed the Volt forward, and the many detracting qualities of the Volt, namely, it’s many hidden costs.  "Investor’s Business Daily was very caustic, calling the Volt a fraud, and bringing up many concerns including,

...".Lassa is a fool for his attack on Rush. All Rush did was give an opinion, Lassa lashed out like menstruating woman would."  Oh, did I mention this response was written by Jennifer Kuznicki?

Obama, and Iran's perception of him

Victor Davis Hanson:  Iran 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0    "At no point did candidate Obama stop to consider that the Iranians could view his loud politicking and opportunistic criticism of Bush’s hostility toward Iran — identical to standard US bipartisan policy under at least the four prior presidents — as weakness to be manipulated rather than magnanimity to be appreciated."
...."Due to Obama’s hostility toward Israel, the United States now has far less knowledge about, and influence with, the Israeli military. And the long-appeased Iranian theocracy is now more likely to miscalculate, thinking either that the confused Obama administration won’t stop it, or that any American attempt to stop it would be only half-hearted."
In other words, liberal pacifism kills people.

Bruce Thornton:  Obama’s Assault on America’s Prestige   "Power is not just about material resources, but also the perceptions of others that power will be used, a perception that works as a force multiplier. As Vergil says in the Aeneid, “They have power because they seem to have power.” "
....
"In short, thanks to Obama’s foreign policy, our enemies and rivals do not believe that we will vigorously defend our interests and citizens. We have the most lethal military power in the history of the world, but we lack the prestige based on the certainty of friend and foe alike that we will use that power to protect our friends and punish our enemies. Great powers decline for many reasons, but losing respect for their power is surely one of them."

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

Tucker Carlson Discusses Media Matters on the O’Reilly Show

Verum Serum  "I’m loving this series. Today’s entry reveals Media Matters plans to hire investigators to dig into the personal lives of Fox News employees:

What Frisch proceeded to suggest, however, went well beyond what legitimate presidential campaigns attempt. “We should hire private investigators to look into the personal lives of Fox News anchors, hosts, reporters, prominent contributors, senior network and corporate staff,” he wrote…

The memo goes on to suggest new and unusual ways to harass Fox News: “detailed opposition research” on the network’s staff and executives, attacks against Fox News employees on Facebook and other social media, mailing anti-Fox News literature to their homes and placing “yard signs and outdoor advertising in their neighborhoods.”

"None of this is really surprising, but it is something to actually have the proof. Kudos to Tucker Carlson for digging into this (and likely setting himself at the top of the Media Matters target list)."

Obama’s Continuing Assault on the Constitution

Morning Bell:  "Obamacare’s anti-conscience mandate did not change in a final rule that was posted later that day. And even if the president’s hypothetical became reality, Heritage’s Jennifer Marshall explains that the religious liberty problem still remains:..." 
...."In a government where there are no practical limits on executive overreach, there are likewise no limits on the government’s ability to impose its will on the people. With the president’s trampling of religious liberties, the country is getting its first taste of the consequences of Obama’s unmitigated power grab. And if this power remains unchecked, there are certainly more consequences to come."


Michelle Malkin: Will Jack Lew please report to the Obama “Truth Team” desk now?  "So far, no word from the “Truth Team” about Obama chief of staff Jack Lew’s big whopper about the fundamentals of the budget process:..."


On this week's  Fox News Sunday, Chris Wallace asked White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew where Obama got the authority to mandate that insurance companies provide contraceptives. Lew told Wallace that “The president has the authority under the Affordable Care Act* to have these kinds of rules take effect...” 

*Known as "ObamaCare", in case you are an #Occupier.

More from Heritage here.

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/2012/02/14/96256

Also from Heritage: Obama ‘Manifestly Wrong’ on U.S. Constitution, Says Sen. Mike Lee

Few lawmakers have expressed as much outrage over President Obama’s unconstitutional “recess” appointments as Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT). (video)


What motivated Obama's HHS mandate?   "While one could argue that a president who hides all of his college grades and test scores might not be super-bright, almost everyone would probably admit that Obama is politically astute. So why did he, in effect, pick a fight with the Catholic Church in an election year? There seem to be two possible explanations for it beyond a dedication to "reproductive rights." "

Deroy Murdock  The HHS Mandate: Why?  "More than anything else, the issue here is mandates. If Obama gets away with this, why could he not compel, say, Gay Men’s Health Crisis to counsel heterosexual women on achieving or avoiding pregnancy? GMHC might prefer to help gay men address myriad medical matters. Obama, however, simply could reply: “Never mind. I know best. So, hop to it." ”


NRO: Wherefore Art Thou ACLU?  "Only certain civil liberties need apply."

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

Liberal gets mugged by reality; The High Price of Telling the Truth About Islam

FrontpageMag  "[Editor's note: The article below is written by Eric Allen Bell, a filmmaker who was recently banned from blogging at  the “Daily Kos” because he wrote three articles that ran afoul of the mindset there, specifically naming “Loonwatch.com” as a “terrorist spin control network.” This article first appeared in our Feb 7 issue and we have decided to rerun it due to the massive interest and reaction it received..."

"But something kept nagging at me on a gut level.  Something about all of this didn’t quite feel right.  The Arab Spring, which I supported, started to degenerate into the Islamist Winter, and I grew more and more concerned.  I flew back to Nashville to shoot a conference on whether or not Islam was conducive with Democratic Values and on the way to my hotel room I learned that my cab driver was from Egypt.  I asked him how he felt about the fall of Mubarak, a dictator worth over $70 billion dollars while so much of his country was living in poverty and he told me he was concerned.  Concerned?  Wasn’t this good news?  The cab driver was a Coptic Christian and he told me that he feared for his family back home.  “If the Muslims take control, and they will, it will be very dangerous for my parents and my sisters.  I’m scared for them right now”.  After that conversation, I started to pay more attention to the news coming from the Islamic world in the Middle East."  
Hat tip to Janice in Conservative Underground

More on Mr. Bell here, here, here and here:

TD left this comment on Mr. Bell's Facebook page: 

  Mr. Bell, I honor your courage and empathize with you as you speak contrary to leftist PC. There is nobody more vindictive than "tolerant progressives" and they will do everything in their power to create a toxic environment for you and all those who hold an opinion they consider "conservative".

Just as the left tries to shut down conservative speech on campus and in public forums, so too do they do it in this media as well. I fear for public discourse in America. TD


Update: Mr Bell responded to my comment shortly thereafter:

Eric Allen Bell What you have just described is often just as much a human trait as a trait of the left or the right. Generally speaking it is hard for most people to re-examine tightly held beliefs, whatever they are. My feeling is that it is important for all of us to have more questions than conclusions. Thanks for the encouragement :) Eric