Why conservatives have more empathy than liberals. Let's have done with "straw men"

 

Daniel Hannan  . . . " 'For too long, you have been told something that simply isn't true," Miliband assured supporters as he announced his program. "That's what's good for the richest and most powerful is always good for the whole of our country. That as long as a few individuals and companies are OK, we can just wait for the wealth to trickle down to everyone else."
"Really? We've been told that? By whom? Who has spouted such bilge? Type "trickle down economics" into Google and it'll prompt you with "myth", "criticism", "debunked" and "doesn't work." But you'll search in vain for anyone actually proposing the idea.
"Not that this deters leftist politicians, election after election, from tearing into it. Here, for example, is Barack Obama in 2008: "We can't afford four more years of the theory that says we should give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else."

 If you start from the conviction that you're standing up for the underdog, you will naturally assume that your political opponents are for the powerful. You will subliminally screen out evidence that challenges that view. As Danusha Goska put it in American Thinker not long ago, "Never, in all my years of leftist activism, did I ever hear anyone articulate accurately the position of anyone to our right. In fact, I did not even know those positions when I was a leftist."

 

Iran Literally Fired a Shot Across an American Ally’s Bow, But Obama Won’t Dump His Disastrous Deal

http://comicallyincorrect.com/

Noisy Room ... "What, if anything, would cause President Barack Obama to step away from the negotiating table with Iran?
"This is the question I find myself pondering in light of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Navy Patrol’s unchecked act of aggression on Tuesday against America’s interests in the Straits of Hormuz – an act that in a sane world would in and of itself put an end to the president’s disastrous nuclear deal with Iran.
"As of this writing, reports indicate that the Iranian Navy Patrol fired shots at and ultimately seized a commercial cargo ship, the M/V Maersk Tigris, which flies under the Marshall Islands flag. Some believe Iran was even targeting a U.S. vessel.
. . . 
"Further, this act can be seen as a brazen test of the sincerity of U.S. resolve, as it was timed to coincide with the opening of the Senate’s debate on the Corker-Menendez Iran bill." . . .

 

Contentions: Zarif’s Bluster  . . . "However he does it, that’s his problem,” Zarif said, adding that a UN resolution endorsing the agreement would have to be endorsed by the U.S., “whether Senator Cotton likes it or not.”

. . . "Oh and Zarif made clear that the lifting of sanctions would occur within weeks of the agreement being signed (contrary to White House claims that sanctions relief would be phased), while also mocking Obama’s claims that sanctions could “snap back” in the event of Iranian violations: “If people are worrying about snapback, they should be worrying about the U.S. violating its obligations and us snapping back,” he said. “That is a point that the United States should be seriously concerned about. This is not a game.”
. . .
"So desperate for an agreement, in fact, that the president is willing to overlook Iranian aggression in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen—and even to overlook Iran’s jailing of three American citizens and its seizure of a ship belonging to allies that we are pledged to defend.

"It is indicative of where we stand that there has been nary a peep of protest about the hijacking of the Maersk Tigris. The Pentagon even leaked word that the U.S. is not legally obligated to protect the Maersk Tigris, as if the U.S. cannot act to protect its moral and strategic interests even if not compelled to do so under the terms of some piece of paper."

 . . . But the problem has become much more pronounced under the Obama administration, which sees détente with Iran as its lasting legacy. That’s why Iran’s foreign minister feels free to come to New York and act like a haughty master of the universe, knowing there will not be even a peep of protest from this thoroughly intimidated administration.

Baltimore Is a Job For Super-President — Where Is He?

 

 Investors.com  ... "Leadership: Riots rage 40 miles from the White House, in a city 15 minutes away on Marine One. The one thing that President Obama is good at is speaking to a crowd. So where has he been?

"You don't lead from the Rose Garden. Jimmy Carter painfully discovered that when he chose to make himself a fellow Iran hostage, locking himself in the White House as 52 Americans suffered for 444 days.

"Ronald Reagan proved it when he stood before the Brandenburg Gate and demanded, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" It wouldn't have worked too well saying it 4,000 miles away in the East Room.

"Consider how much traveling this president does. Last month, Judicial Watch announced its findings that the first family's annual Hawaiian Christmas trips over the past three years have cost taxpayers $15.5 million just for the travel costs.

"But a visit to burning Baltimore is apparently too much to ask.". . .

: Read More At Investor's Business Daily

Former Al Jazeera employee sues network, alleging anti-Semitism, anti-Americanism

http://comicallyincorrect.com/

WaPo  "A former employee of Al Jazeera America has filed suit against the network for workplace retaliation, leveling a number of allegations that a manager engaged in discriminatory conduct toward women and made offensive remarks about Israel and the United States.

"Matthew Luke started at Al Jazeera America in 2013 in New York City, prior to the network’s U.S. launch, and served initially as its supervisor of media and archive management. In his early days on the job, notes the complaint, Luke was a happy employee, working closely with Jeff Polikoff, who now holds the title of acting executive vice president of operations & technology. “Luke worked diligently to assist AJAM to prepare for the launch of its U.S. news network in August of 2013, and, along with the team that he managed, was instrumental in making that launch a logistical suc[c]ess,” notes the lawsuit.

"A couple of months after the launch, AJAM hired Osman Mahmud as a news editor, the complaint states. Over time, Mahmud would rise through the ranks, ultimately securing the title of senior vice president of broadcast operations & technology — a position in which he supervised Luke. The complaint levels a whole sheath of claims in the direction of Mahmud:" . . .
Full article here

Democrat chickens coming home to roost in Baltimore?

 Hillary joins Obama chorus in deflecting blame for city's woes

WND
 

"President Obama and several key Democrats have taken to national media in recent hours to assign fault in any direction but their own for the recent violent uprisings and protests in Baltimore.

"Obama, in his first public statement on the days-long unrest that began after Freddie Gray died due to injuries suffered during police custody, slammed the city’s thuggery – but also Congress for blocking his agenda.

“ 'I’m under no illusion that under this Congress we’re going to get massive investments in urban communities,” he said, speaking of the Republican-dominated House and Senate, various media reported.

"Obama also roped in police to the blame game, subtly criticizing their perceived shortcomings during a Tuesday joint press conference with Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, in the Rose Garden."  . . .

In “Scam: How the Black Leadership Exploits Black America,” Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson – a true black leader whom many affectionately call “the other Jesse” – shows how the civil rights establishment has made a lucrative career out of keeping racial strife alive in America.


 The Left Defends Riots, Looting, Arson in Baltimore
" Even as the riots in Baltimore Monday night left a string of injured bodies and burned businesses, voices on the left were out in public defending the chaos."

 Maxine Waters: Tea Parties Bad, Riots Good   . . . "The Breitbart video very effectively makes the case that Waters is guilty of hypocrisy. Her behavior at the rally is at least as unattractive as her description of the tea partiers’ conduct. On the other hand, so what? When has a politician ever complained about the other side’s incivility without being guilty of hypocrisy?

 "But a look further back into Waters’s history reveals her hypocrisy to be far worse than is typical. The last time America experienced political mob violence–the Los Angeles riots of 1992–Waters was there offering excuses and justifications." . . .

Sharpton: We Cannot “Tolerate” People On The “Far Right” That Don’t Care About Freddie Gray… 

16 Photos Show The Peaceful Side Of The Baltimore Protest

Buzzfeed

 

See the rest here.

Just Another Race Riot

Warning Signs . . . "So, as Baltimore cleans up the mess left behind by the latest riot, be assured that another is right around the corner somewhere. There is a core of law-breakers and angry blacks for whom virtually anything is excuse enough for a riot.

"We had to pass through a Civil War to resolve the race-based ills of that era. Americans elected the first black American as President in 2008, but his race has not reduced riots during his time in office." . . . Alan Caruba   Photos added by TD

       Uncle Sam's Misguided Children

Branco Cartoon – That Was Then  This is now

http://legalinsurrection.com/2015/04/branco-cartoon-that-was-then/

Lloyd Marcus: Another Thrilling Episode of Blacks Behaving Badly

Lloyd Marcus

http://www.investors.com/editorial-cartoons/michael-ramirez/750058

. . . "I thought, I have seen this stupid evil horror movie before (Ferguson) and I “ain't gonna” watch it again.

"The media is reporting that some black leaders are calling for peace. Well, I am sorry, but that is too little too late. How do you expect black youths to react to the Left's orchestrated campaign to convince them that white Republicans and conservatives are racist and out to get them, that white cops murder them at will, that the rich got rich stealing from them, and that business owners are selfish and evil?

"These lies have been sold to black youths by the highest black voices in the country -- Obama, Oprah, Sharpton, Holder, Jackson, the NAACP, the Congressional Black Caucus, and assorted other race exploiting scumbags. …if I sound angry, it is because I am." . . . 
Full article

By Lloyd Marcus, The Unhyphenated American.

Where Do Old Bumper Cars Go?

Hat tip to Gail Downie; Nehalem, OR. for this great article.
 

Futurity Arts West
" Remember driving the bumper cars at the Fun Zone, amusement parks, or a fair don't you? They were so much fun! Well, now what do you do with old bumper cars? (Check out the license plates!)"

...

"Yes, you read that right; these little beasties are street legal.

"They run on either Kawasaki or Honda motorcycle engines, and co-opt vintage bumper car bodies into the most awesome form of mini-car we've seen in a long time. There are seven of these little monsters floating around California, and they're all the creation of one man, Tom Wright, a builder in the outskirts of San Diego, who figured the leftovers of the Long Beach Pike amusement park needed a more dignified end than the trash heap.

"They were originally powered by two cylinder Harley-Davidson motorcycle engines, but they rattled because of the two cylinder vibration, and Tom replaced them with four cylinder Honda or Kawasaki 750's. A couple have been measured as capable of 160 MPH, which is terrifyingly fast in machines with such a short wheelbase. By the way, they are almost indestructible in accidents!"  More photos here.

If Only President Obama Weren’t Black (Got your attention, didn't we?)

RedState

 “If only President Obama weren’t black, maybe he would realize that people don’t dislike him because he is black, they dislike him because he is a self-absorbed ass.”

. . . " But there was a President of the United States willing to make jokes about the “F-word” and an Imperial Court to worship him.

"Byron York notes that much of President Obama’s speech to the White House Correspondents Dinner centered around “black anger.” In other words, President Obama let loose over the weekend that he has concluded all the opposition to him is because he is black.

"It must be comfortable and convenient for President Obama to assume the opposition to him is because of his race. He can negotiate a bad deal with Iran and conclude the public hates it because he is black. He can tell people they can keep their doctors then take their doctors away from them and console himself that the anger of the public is just racist. He can see a solid position in Iraq and Afghanistan squandered as ISIS overruns us and, when people point it out, conclude it’s just because of his skin color. People can drop out of the workforce because they can’t find jobs and when their stomachs rumble and their mouths grumble, President Obama can look himself in the mirror and think it’d all be different if he were not a black man.
"If only President Obama weren’t black, maybe he would realize that people don’t dislike him because he is black, they dislike him because he is a self-absorbed ass." . . .

Emphasis mine, TD

As another US city burns with rage, is Obama going to be the President who did less for black Americans than a white one did?. . . "Barack Obama was elected President on a tidal wave of hope, optimism and genuine belief from tens of millions of African-Americans that he would finally get them true justice and equality.

"What’s the point being the first black president if you CAN’T do that?

"But he’s failed.

"Many black Americans feel even more marginalized than they did before he came to power. They feel even less ‘equal’, even more exposed to injustice. Most are just as poor and badly educated as they were before Obama got to the White House.

. . .

 

"The President needs to do more than just utter yet more platitudes from the Oval Office.

He should be down in Baltimore today, talking directly to the people who feel he has betrayed them.

"HIS people, with HIS skin colour, who voted for HIM because they thought HE would change the system.

"Less talk, more action, Mr President.

"Or you will go down in history as the guy who did less for blacks in America than Lyndon Johnson – a white man."

Alan Caruba Predicts Israel Will Attack Iran Soon

Warning Signs

 

Netanyahu told Congress this year: "Once Iran produces atomic bombs, all the charm and all the smiles will suddenly disappear. They’ll just vanish. It’s then that the ayatollahs will show their true face and unleash their aggressive fanaticism on the entire world.” He offered a comparable message to a joint meeting of Congress in March of this year.

"Is anyone listening? Not President Obama. On April 25, writing in The Wall Street Journal, Mortimer Zuckerman, the chairman and editor in chief of the U.S. News and World Report, said “President Obama has been chasing a rainbow in his negotiations with Iran. He has forsaken decades of pledges to the civilized world from presidents of both parties. He has misled the American people in repeatedly affirming that the U.S. would never allow revolutionary Iran to acquire nuclear weapons.”

It’s bad enough when you can’t trust your nation’s enemies, but when you cannot trust your own President you have a very big problem because Iran is not just a threat to America and Israel, but to the entire world." . . .

Surprise Attack on Iran: Can Israel Do It?  " According to a report in March by the Israeli daily Haaretz, Israel continues to prepare for a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Quoting anonymous members of the Knesset who were present during hearings on the military budget, officials in the Israel Defense Force (IDF) have allegedly received instructions to continue preparing for a strike and a special budget has been allocating for that purpose." . . .

Iran says powerful air defense system to be ready in 2015  ..."The Russian version of the missile shield can trace around 100 flying targets simultaneously and destroy a number of them, while the Iranian adaptation is said to possess a higher targeting capability, among a number of optimized features.

"Iran has also upgraded the S-200 missile defense system, improving its mobility and a narrower ready-for-operation time."

Kristallnacht in America

Kristallnacht – The Night of Broken Glass 

 

 ... “ 'What happened in Germany was a consequence of racism, hate, and prejudice. Every new generation must be aware that the cancer of hate and prejudice is also with us today. There is no way anyone can walk away from messages that contain racism, prejudice, and name-calling. You must always stand up against racism and prejudice, even if you are not being directly persecuted.”
-Survivor of the Holocaust, Werner Coppel, now living in Cincinnati, OH   

And what led to this frightful, violent night? This: 
. . . "Initially denied entry into their native Poland, Grynszpan's parents and the other expelled Polish Jews found themselves stranded in a refugee camp near the town of Zbaszyn in the border region between Poland and Germany. Already living illegally in Paris himself, a desperate Grynszpan apparently sought revenge for his family's precarious circumstances by appearing at the German embassy and shooting the diplomatic official assigned to assist him.
. . . "The Nazi Party leadership, assembled in Munich for the commemoration, chose to use the occasion as a pretext to launch a night of antisemitic excesses. Propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, a chief instigator of the pogrom, intimated to the convened Nazi 'Old Guard' that 'World Jewry' had conspired to commit the assassination and announced that, "the Führer has decided that … demonstrations should not be prepared or organized by the Party, but insofar as they erupt spontaneously, they are not to be hampered."

"It was vom Rath’s murder which sparked the “spontaneous” outburst of violence against the Jews, or so the Nazis said. .  .  The Nazis’ actions in 1938, however, suggest that they were preparing their most ruthless anti-Jewish operation yet - and vom Rath’s assassination was a convenient catalyst for such a strike." . . .

Baltimore Mayor gives rioters 'space to destroy'
. . . " in effect, that the rioters had permission to have at it. They did so with a will in a day long orgy of looting, burning, and mayhem that made the city resemble a war zone that local police seemed helpless and unwilling to prevent."

And loot they did: 

 

What is happening in the streets of Baltimore and Ferguson is sheer, unpolluted racism.    

 Horrific video shows Baltimore store owner hauled from his premises, sucker punched and kicked as he lay in the street