Sunday, April 10, 2011

Chronicles of liberal Demogoguery

Rep. Louise Slaughter Accuses GOP Freshmen of Coming to Washington to ‘Kill Women’  "Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) said today that the new Republicans elected to the House of Representatives last November came to Congress “to kill women.”"

CBS Goes to Statue of Liberty to Hype Shutdown's 'Ripple Effect'  "Nguyen began with the shutdown's possible effect on the visitors to the monument in New York Harbor and expanded out to what might be the negative effects at all of the national parks, along with the government-funded sights in Washington, DC:"

Videos: Dem Reps compete for title of Most Hyperbolic Demagogue of 2011  "Here’s non-voting DC Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton calling a shutdown the “functional equivalent of bombing innocent civilians”:" 

Lefty Facebook Page Embraces New Civility: ‘Let’s Dump Trash at Boehner’s House’  "Filed Under Moonbats"

The Democrats' Shameful Rhetoric   "Obama may think that calling the opposition "children" is a good way to remain above the fray, but this irresponsible ploy doesn't do the country any good. It's the same thing as calling the tea party "extremists," as Sen. Chuck Schumer did last week (or suggesting they were fascists as Nancy Pelosi was doing a year ago). Likewise, labeling your opponent the "Party of No" says nothing about your own party and its agenda."

 Maxine Waters on the Rodney King riots and the near-killing of Reginald Denny  "...she called it a rebellion – Waters excused the gang of black thugs who nearly murdered white truck driver Reginald Denny, saying, "The anger in my district is righteous. I'm just as angry as they are." She also dismissed those who looted Korean-owned stores by saying, "They were mothers who took this as an opportunity to take some milk, to take some bread, to take some shoes. They are not crooks."

George Soros; “the single most destructive leftist demagogue in the country.”  "...As it is, one of the wealthiest men in the world is using his billions to impose a radical agenda on America."

Here's one from the right: WaPo’s Ezra Klein Supports Killing Black Babies   "Don’t Worry, It’s Not Racist. He Just Wants Black Children To Die To Save Money."

Thomas Sowell discusses the issue here: Dangerous Demagoguery  "The time is long overdue for voters to demand specifics instead of rhetoric that turns their emotions on and their minds off."

Try this cartoon from Ted Rall:
Background for recognizing a demagogue: Learn the term "ad hominem"

More here from fallacyfiles:  "For instance, the charge of "ad hominem" is often raised during American political campaigns, but is seldom logically warranted. We vote for, elect, and are governed by politicians, not platforms; in fact, political platforms are primarily symbolic and seldom enacted. So, personal criticisms are logically relevant to deciding who to vote for. Of course, such criticisms may be logically relevant but factually mistaken, or wrong in some other non-logical way." Fallacy Files

If I may digress, here is a mildly related misuse of a term that gets my goat: "beg the question":
"Begging the question is a fallacious form of argument.
Therefore, to beg the question is to argue fallaciously." This term is too often used to mean "raises (or prompts) the question". 
 We've gone too far onto a tangent so we'll save "I could care less" for another time.

[Leftist] Media Matters Techniques: The Pile-On

Big Journalism  "Welcome to another installment of my series exposing the techniques of “watchdog group“ Media Matters for America. If you are new, please take a second to watch this video I made discussing why I think debunking Media Matters is important."




Saturday, April 9, 2011

Panic over military pay

comicallyincorrect.com














Obama: I’ll veto funding for the troops " Really?  Will Obama really argue that he can’t abide a one-week CR so much that he’s willing to shut down the government and leave the troops without income for an indeterminate amount of time?" 

A Clash of Integrities: Moral and Religious Liberty in the Armed Forces

Heritage  "The repeal of the 1993 law prohibiting open homosexuality in the military poses significant risk for military service members and chaplains who, as matters of religious or moral conviction, hold to traditional values regarding marriage and sexual behavior. The report of the Pentagon’s Comprehensive Review Working Group and the steps taken to date to implement the repeal do not allay concerns that the religious liberty and free speech rights of these service members and chaplains will be compromised to the detriment of their military careers."
MSNBC  er, WAIT! What?














Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell: Time for Cautious Judgment  "Current law is clear: Under the federal Defense of Marriage Act, marriage is solely the union of a man and a woman, and that applies fully to the armed forces. Certainly, the Obama Administration’s increasingly shameless attempts in federal court to undermine the Defense of Marriage Act and the current law on open service by homosexual persons inspires no confidence in the intentions of this report’s framers."

More here.  Many find it disgusting that a political party with a base that hates the military ("loathes", I believe, was the word Bill Clinton used.) would use it to show off before their antiwar supporters. The Democrat Party has many in it who would dismantle our military, yet they are the ones who now direct our military and set it's policies. Sickening.

Senate and President Obama to Blame for Partial Government Shutdown

Heritage  "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) will get special blame, primarily because he has not allowed a full and fair debate on H.R. 1, the long-term spending measure that that would cut $61 billion from the budget for the remainder of this fiscal year. That bill also prevents the funding of elements of ObamaCare, Planned Parenthood and EPA Global Warming regulations.
"The President earned a percentage of the blame for his pledge to veto a House passed short-term one week funding measure, further increasing the likelihood of a federal government shutdown. If one studies the legislative history of the battle over funding the discretionary functions of the government for the remainder of the year, the blame clearly shifts to the United States Senate and the President."

Commander-in-Chief Turns His Back on America’s Military

Heritage  "The American military is engaged in multiple conflicts and humanitarian missions around the world, yet President Obama promised to veto legislation funding the troops for the remainder of 2011. This is a reprehensible political stunt, and it comes at the expense of our servicemen and women and the families they support."

MSNBC's Brewer Denounces GOP Bill to Fund Military Paychecks  She asks Rep Linda Sanchez (D-Ca), "How frustrated are you that members of the House, your colleagues – maybe across the aisle but colleagues nevertheless – are willing to see our military people forgo paychecks because they want to see the EPA hurt or they want to see Planned Parenthood hurt?" Who leaps at this personal invitation disguised as news...

Friday, April 8, 2011

A Chronicle Of Obama’s Failures

Big Peace  "As the Presidential campaign season begins, it is important to reflect on President Obama accomplishments after his first two years. Rather than rehash all his achievements and failures, a simple chart can be more effective in telling the story."

Posted by Sean Hazlett Apr 8th 2011 at 11:54 am in Economy, Energy, Foreign Policy, Obama
Comments (7)



After Ryan’s leap, a rush of deficit demagoguery

Charles Krauthammer  "Ryan’s overall plan tilts at every windmill imaginable, including corporate welfare and agricultural subsidies. The only thing left out is Social Security. Which proves only that Ryan is not completely suicidal.
"But the blueprint is brave and profoundly forward-looking. It seeks nothing less than to adapt the currently unsustainable welfare state to the demographic realities of the 21st century. Will it survive the inevitable barrage of mindless, election-driven, 30-second attack ads (see above)? Alternate question: Does Obama have half of Ryan’s courage?
"I think not (on both counts). But let’s hope so."
http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/ericallie



Music of the American Civil War

Lincoln and Liberty - 1860 Campaign Song  From the Ken Burns documentary extra, "Songs of the Civil War".

American Civil War Music "Tinny electronic music, but if you want to know how each tune sounded, this is pretty extensive."

The Civil War Music Store.  "The top half is just ordering information. Scroll down and you will find sound bites of Union and Confederate songs."

Band Music from the Civil War Era and beyond.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/cwmhtml/cwmpres07.html

Law & Order & conservatives

I just surfed past "Law and Order, SVU" last evening and heard only the words "conservative bigot" spoken by Richard Belzer in the role of Munch. So I searched the words "conservative bigot law and order". Links included here are some of what came up.

Law [and] Order: Conservative Victims Unit  "This isn't the first time Law [and] Order writers have fantasized about murdering outspoken conservatives.  Last October, The View's Elisabeth Hasselbeck was left shaken when an episode of Law [and] Order: SVU featured a character that was raped twice and then murdered by a serial killer.  The victim's name was Elizabeth Hassenbeck."

 Rush Limbaugh Called a Drug Addict in NBC's New Legal Drama 'Harry's Law' "As the show's star Kathy Bates argued for the legalization of drugs while her client was being cross-examined by a totally hapless district attorney, she claimed the idea was first raised by Republicans, "When the party had thinkers, before it was hijacked by the likes of Rush Limbaugh, a drug addict himself" "

Ramirez on the Obama Energy Policy

Hamas moving toward war with Israel

Yid With Lid  "Why, then, is Hamas provoking a new war? Part of the answer, of course, is ideology.
Hamas believes that the deity is on its side, that victory is inevitable, and that martyrdom is a substitute for good military strategy and strength. Hamas is also indifferent to casualties, material damage, and the suffering of its own people. Its goal is total victory, Israel’s destruction, and the mass murder of Israeli Jews.
"But none of that is new. What is new is a shift in the strategic situation..." Barry Rubin
The Dry Bones Blog