Krauthammer: The arrow of history

Charles Krauthammer  . . . "Barack Obama is a classic case study in foreign policy idealism. Indeed, one of his favorite quotations is about the arrow of history: "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." He has spent nearly eight years trying to advance that arc of justice. Hence his initial "apology tour," that burst of confessional soul-searching abroad about America and its sins, from slavery to the loss of our moral compass after 9/11. Friday's trip to Hiroshima completes the arc.

Unfortunately, with "justice" did not come peace. The policies that followed — appeasing Vladimir Putin, the Iranian mullahs, the butchers of Tiananmen Square and lately the Castros — have advanced neither justice nor peace. On the contrary. The consequent withdrawal of American power, that agent of injustice or at least arrogant overreach, has yielded nothing but geopolitical chaos and immense human suffering. (See Syria.)

But now an interesting twist. Two terms as president may not have disabused Obama of his arc-of-justice idealism (see above: Hiroshima visit), but they have forced upon him at least one policy of hardheaded, indeed hardhearted, realism." . . .

Politically Incorrect Cartoon Exposes Obama’s Foreign Policy For What it REALLY is

THE BIG UNEASY; What’s roiling the liberal-arts campus?

The New Yorker  "At Oberlin, it started in December, when the temperatures ran high, although the weeping willows and the yellow poplars that had flared in the fall were bare already. Problems had a tendency to escalate. There was, to name one thing, the food fight: students had noted the inauthenticity of food at the school’s Afrikan Heritage House, and followed up with an on-site protest. (Some international students, meanwhile, complained that cafeteria dishes such as sushi and bánh mì were prepared with the wrong ingredients, making a mockery of cultural cuisine.) There was scrutiny of the curriculum: a student wanted trigger warnings on “Antigone.” And there was all the world outside. A year earlier, a black boy with a pellet gun named Tamir Rice was killed by a police officer thirty miles east of Oberlin’s campus, and the death seemed to instantiate what students had been hearing in the classroom and across the widening horizons of their lives. Class and race mattered. Power in a system would privilege its authors. After a grand jury declined to indict Rice’s shooter, the prosecutor called the death a “perfect storm of human error.” . . .  H/T to Althouse

Who and what caused the big housing crisis and economic tailspin? (Updated)

How Democrats Were Responsible For Mortgage Crisis That Led To Great Recession  . . . "The New York Times reported on this in 1999:

Fannie Mae, the nation’s biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people and felt pressure from stock holders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits. 

In addition, banks, thrift institutions and mortgage companies have been pressing Fannie Mae to help them make more loans to so-called subprime borrowers. These borrowers whose incomes, credit ratings and savings are not good enough to qualify for conventional loans, can only get loans from finance companies that charge much higher interest rates — anywhere from three to four percentage points higher than conventional loans.

"Even back then, there were skeptics. Specifically, the American Enterprise Institute raised alarms, saying if all these “low-income” mortgages fail, there would be a crisis." . . .
The one that Obama continually refers to to explain his own economic issues.

Rush brings us an economics lesson  Pay attention to this man; he is not some silly hack, but knows what goes on in government.

. . . "What really happened was in the nineties Bill Clinton ordered these loans to be made, and Janet Reno, who was the attorney general at the time, threatened these banks with investigations, open-ended investigations into whatever they might be doing if they didn't comply.  And so they did, just like they were all called into a room during the financial crisis and told they were going to take loans or subsidies or buyouts or whatever, $25 billion, even the banks that didn't need it.  This was TARP.  

"So that's what led to the subprime mortgage.  It was a disaster brought to you by the United States government as presided over by Bill Clinton at the time.  It's inarguable, this is what happened.  Your average Democrat doesn't know it.  They have bought hook, line, and sinker a total different story, including elected Democrats."  . . . 

. . . " "Last year," it says here, which would have been 1998, "44% of loans Fannie Mae purchased are from moderate and low income."  It was expanding.  The pressure was on.  Janet Reno was out demanding these banks lend the money or we're gonna investigate you for whatever we can find. " . . . 

. . . "George W. Bush was governor of Texas.  George W. Bush had nothing to do with any of this.  In fact, the truth of the matter is, George W. Bush and the inspectors general, the investigators, tried to shut it down, and Barney Frank told the investigators to go pound sand. " . . . 

Some mud wrestling on the subject:

Yes, we do fear the things Democrats believe

Bernie Sanders refuses to answer questions about socialism’s failure in Venezuela   "Facing the first hard question from a reporter he has received during this campaign, Bernie Sanders clammed up and refused to talk about it. Perhaps the fact that the question came from Leon Krauze of Spanish Language network Univision spooked him with the knowledge that the audience has access to Sapnish language media from Venezuela.

"Edgar Portela of Newsbusters reports:

When asked to explain the failure of socialist governments in Venezuela, Argentina and Brazil, Sanders completely clammed up, saying he has an opinion on the subject, but was unwilling to share it, as he is “focused on my campaign.”

Trickery: Katie Couric Edits Interview with Gun Rights Group

Every site seems to have something on this manipulated interview, so it is time I posted it as well, along with others.TD

PJ Media   "Katie Couric has made a documentary on gun violence called Under the Gun.

"Couric interviewed members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League (a pro 2A group) for the film and "edited" the interaction.

"The Washington Free Beacon reports:

Couric can be heard in the interview asking activists from the group, “If there are no background checks for gun purchasers, how do you prevent felons or terrorists from purchasing a gun?”

The documentary then shows the activists sitting silently for nine awkward seconds, unable to provide an answer. It then cuts to the next scene.

"But that's not really how the conversation went down.

However, raw audio of the interview between Katie Couric and the activists provided to the Washington Free Beacon shows the scene was deceptively edited. Instead of silence, Couric’s question is met immediately with answers from the activists. A back and forth between a number of the league’s members and Couric over the issue of background checks proceeds for more than four minutes after the original question is asked.

 Audio Shows Katie Couric Documentary Deceptively Edited Interview with Pro-Gun Activists

WordPress Link

. . . "Under the Gun has been labeled “dishonest politicking in the guise of media coverage,” “loose with the facts,” and “a full-length assault on guns and the Second Amendment” by those in the gun community since its debut on May 15.

"The Virginia Citizens Defense League labeled the deceptively edited segment featured in the film “unbelievable and extremely unprofessional.” Philip Van Cleave, the organization’s president, said the editing was done deliberately to make it appear that league members didn’t have a response to Couric’s question.

“ 'Katie Couric asked a key question during an interview of some members of our organization,” he said. 

“ 'She then intentionally removed their answers and spliced in nine seconds of some prior video of our members sitting quietly and not responding. Viewers are left with the misunderstanding that the members had no answer to her question.' ” . . .

Newsrooms dance around selective editing of Couric's gun documentary  . . . "The Times' reluctance to state this admitted fact stands in sharp contrast to how the 165-year-old newspaper reacted in 2015 to the release of more than 20 hours of undercover Planned Parenthood footage.

"When the Center for Medical Progress, a pro-life activist group, produced tapes from a three-year-long investigation of the nation's largest provider of abortions, the Times' editorial board accused the activist group repeatedly of doctoring the videos to make it appear as if Planned Parenthood was in the business of selling harvested organs for profit." . . .

"An apology, retraction, re-editing, whatever it is that filmmakers do to make amends — all of it needs to happen here," the Washington Post's Erik Wemple wrote in an article titled "Audiotape: Katie Couric documentary falsely depicts gun supporters as 'idiots.'"

The Daily Beast: Katie Couric Stands by Film’s Deceptive Edit of Pro-Gun Interviewees  

Legal Insurrection  "Gun rights advocates have criticized the documentary since it aired on May 15. The producers filed the show with gun control advocates, but lacked experts from the right:" . . .

PJ Media covered it.  But most take you back to the Washington Free Beacon.

Under a Liberal Democrat NY Is About To Become A Lot More Disgusting…

Weasel Zippers

"Rudy Giuliani cleaned it up, Bloomberg (despite being a Nanny) kept it clean. Now, De Blasio will take it back to the sewer…

"Via NY Post:

Scofflaws of New York, rejoice — the City Council has cleared the way for you to litter, loiter and pee in the street to your heart’s content.

New legislation dubbed the “Criminal Justice Reform Act” was passed by lawmakers Wednesday, giving miscreants a get-out-of-jail-free card by eliminating the criminal penalties on a raft of quality-of-life crimes.

The disgusting and disturbing acts that the council voted to decriminalize include drinking alcohol out of a paper bag, lurking in parks after hours, urinating in the street and making enough of a racket to violate the noise code.

Under the legislation, which Mayor Bill de Blasio is expected to sign, offenders will face only civil summonses instead of criminal citations.

The main part of the “reform” act sponsored by Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito deals with reducing the penalty for public urination and other quality-of-life offenses. It passed by a 40-9 vote in the liberal-leaning council.

It aims to keep offenders from getting a permanent criminal record and requires the NYPD to “develop guidance” for cops on when to issue criminal instead of civil summonses.

Montana’s Fort Peck Indian Tribe Passes Transgender Bathroom Policy Modeled On North Carolina Law…

Weasel Zippers

"DOJ to sue in 3, 2, 1…  "Via KRTV:

Tribal leaders of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation have adopted a transgender bathroom policy that mirrors the controversial bill in North Carolina recently opposed by President Obama.

With a majority vote in favor, the tribal executive board approved a policy Monday that requires people use the bathroom according to the gender on their birth certificate, not the gender they identify as.

According to the motion, which was carried, the tribe will mirror its policy after the language used by the state of North Carolina.

The policy was approved by nine council members and denied by one. Two members of the council were not present for the vote.

Opponents of the policy call it discriminatory toward transgender people.

Councilman Ed Bauer, who seconded the initial motion, was recorded in the meeting minutes as saying, “What people do in their bedrooms is their business. How public bathrooms are used is (my) business.”

Keep reading…

Big Brother is Watching: Obama Admin. Sued Business Because It Kept Male Employee Out Of Women’s Room

Daily Caller

"The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sued a private business for sex discrimination and harassment after a male employee — who announced he was switching genders to become a woman — was barred from using the women’s restroom and was referred to with male pronouns by his coworkers.

"Deluxe Financial Services, a Minnesota-based company that helps small businesses with marketing, denied that it violated any anti-discrimination laws but agreed to settle the case for $115,000 in order to avoid further costs of litigation, according to the settlement agreement.

"The male employee, who now goes by the name Britney Austin, publicly presented himself as male when he was hired by Deluxe Financial but later opted to begin identifying as a woman.

"According to a press release from last summer — when the EEOC filed the lawsuit — Austin’s coworkers subjected him to a “hostile work environment,” such as “intentionally using the wrong gender pronouns to refer to [him].”

"In response, Austin hired lawyer Jillian T. Weiss, whose law practice specializes in suing people for allegedly discriminating against transgenders, to team up with the EEOC against Deluxe Financial, seeking unspecified monetary damages.

"The two parties arrived at a settlement in January 2016, requiring the company to shell out $115,000 to Austin and his attorneys within five days of the agreement." . . .

Watch it; those improper pronouns are a business-killer.

Disney SLAMS Sanders With A Simple Question: “How Many Jobs Have You Created?”

“To Bernie Sanders: We created 11,000 new jobs at Disneyland in the past decade, and our company has created 18,000 in the U.S. in the last five years. How many jobs have you created? What have you contributed to the U.S. economy?”

RedState   . . . "Iger is right to ask, and I’ll give him the answer.

"In Sanders’ state of Vermont, private sector jobs shrank 1.2% from 2000 – 2011. To be fair, government jobs skyrocketed by 7.5%. But it will likely not see an increase in the private sector, because Vermont’s high taxes keep businesses from wanting to settle there. So if you want to work at the DMV, you’re good to go, but if you want to climb the corporate ladder, you might want to just go away. And according to Vermontians, that’s exactly what people do. Once you graduate high school, you leave the state.

"Maybe to Disney California for a job.

"It might be my anti-big government bias, but watching Disney slap around officials that couldn’t run a lemonade stand has been a welcome break from all the slapping around big government has done to us over the years."

Commentary on Hillary's Emails

State Department Inspector General’s report demolishes Hillary’s excuses about her private email server  "The 83 page State Department Inspector General’s report on Hillary Clinton’s private email server puts the lie to many of Hillary Clinton’s repeated claims about her unprecedented private email server. No, it was not permitted, and she never asked. And if she had asked, she would have been told it was not permitted. Even the Washington Post editorial board is appalled, publishing a collective rebuke titled, “Clinton’s inexcusable, willful disregard for the rules.” . . .

. . . "As Roger L. Simon notes this morning, the person who could realty move this issue forward is Bernie Sanders, who is on record as being sick and tired of the “damn emails.' ” . . .

Only sexist pigs would dare find fault with her actions 

"Still, Democrats hold to the official party line that no matter how disappointing their presumptive nominee’s negatives appear to be, Donald Trump’s are worse. " 

Hanging Hillary with her own ugly words   "Donald Trump would do himself and this country a huge favor if he would do to Hillary what the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth did to John Kerry in the 2004 election: bring together the people from her past who know the off-stage, off-camera, hard-focus Hillary, and let them share with America their experiences with this woman who would be queen." . . . 

. . .Hillary, angered over the time it was taking the children to find the eggs, reportedly stormed up to a state trooper and raged, "When are they going to get those f****** ree-tards out of here?!"

And the article refers to her general character with this: 

Sorry for the crude language in this piece, but it is necessary, just as those troopers and Secret Service agents accurately quoting the foul-mouthed Hillary Clinton is, to show how the woman is simply too profane, hateful, angry, and unseemly to occupy the Oval Office.

Links to today's commentary of the emails: 
Via Lucianne:
Damning report on Emailgate shows Hillary can’t be trusted

FNC’s Bret Baier Absolutely Dismantles Hillary Spox on IG Report About Her E-Mail Server

Hillary Clinton aide moves to block release of deposition video

NBC, ABC Cover for Hillary After Release of Damaging E-Mail Report

Emails Add to Hillary Clinton’s Central Problem: Voters Just Don’t Trust Her

Tom Cotton Verbally Dismembers Harry Reid On The Senate Floor

The Hayride  "If you haven’t seen the video of the tongue-lashing that Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) delivered to Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid after the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act, we have it for you.

"Cotton starts off talking about how, as a junior senator who gets some of the lousy jobs in the body, he has to preside over the senate in the early mornings and he doesn’t have a problem doing so other than that he’s forced to hear Reid deliver his speeches – “I am forced to listen to the bitter, vulgar, incoherent ramblings of the minority leader.”

"It doesn’t get any nicer from there. This is serious drop-the-mic stuff."

"And here was Harry Reid’s response, which is a bit understated for him – you almost get the impression that his head is spinning after the rhetorical beatdown Cotton laid down on him…"

American Silliness 5/25/2016

New York City Lets You Choose From 31 Different Gender Identities

. . . "The city does not provide definitions of the various gender identities, but TheDC was able to define several of them from glossaries provided online by the University of Wisconsin and the University of California Berkeley.
"Someone who identifies as “genderqueer,” for example, is a “person whose gender identity is neither man nor woman, is between or beyond genders, or is some combination of genders.” The list does go on. . . 
. . . 
"If someone is “pangender,” their “gender identity is comprised of all or many gender expressions.”
"The full list of gender identities can be viewed online in a document provided by the city’s Commission on Human Rights."

Cross memorial for fallen veterans back up after public outcry  "The 79 white, handmade crosses posted on public property along state Highway 92 in Hiram, Ga., were meant to represent the 79 Paulding County residents who died in America’s wars, according to town officials. 

"But the crosses were abruptly taken down last Friday after someone called Hiram City Hall questioning whether the soldiers were all Christian."  Hat tip to Lucianne for several of these posts.

K-12 School Proposes Removing Urinals and Making Bathrooms Gender Neutral