Friday, July 29, 2011

Ideals vs. Realities; Point/ Counterpoint (updated)

Thomas Sowell  "Now that the Republicans seem to have gotten the Democrats off their higher taxes kick, the question is whether a minority of the House Republicans will refuse to pass the Boehner legislation that could lead to a deal that will spare the country a major economic disruption and spare the Republicans from losing the 2012 elections by being blamed - rightly or wrongly - for the disruptions.
"Is the Boehner legislation the best legislation possible? Of course not! You don't get your heart's desire when you control only one house of Congress and face a presidential veto."

We've Been Played for Saps, Folks: Boehner Bill Will Become Reid Bill   "There's no Obama bill. There's nothing set down on paper. So the Reid bill will become the Obama bill. The Boehner plan will become the Obama plan. I think that's the trap. And, of course, the establishment, Republicans are all gung ho. "Gotta get this done. It's the best we can get." Because they're telling themselves there aren't any tax increases in it, and there aren't. There aren't any tax increases in the Boehner bill. And there are spending cuts and there are caps, but what happens when that goes over to the Senate and Reid says, "You know what, I like some of this and I don't like that. Let's take some of this out and put some of this in," and gets his votes for it and the Boehner bill becomes something unrecognizable, then goes back to the House, what are they going to do? They've already passed the Boehner bill under the guise that we can't wait any longer, that AAA credit rating is in jeopardy, all this rotgut BS." Rush Limbaugh

Demagoguery exemplifiedThat Daily Caller article  referred to by Rush.

Andy McCarthy: Against the Boehner Plan "Ask any rational person: “When a government is so addicted to reckless spending that it has run up a crushing $14.3 trillion debt that it has no plan to pay back — when it is borrowing $180 million per hour because it has taken on more obligations than it could ever hope to satisfy — would it be better to extend that government’s credit line another $2.5 trillion so it can continue heedlessly along, or to take every available opportunity to force it to alter course dramatically?” There is only one right answer to that question."

  : The great divide   "I have every sympathy with the conservative counterrevolutionaries. Their containment of the Obama experiment has been remarkable. But reversal — rollback, in Cold War parlance — is simply not achievable until conservatives receive a mandate to govern from the White House."

Raging Elephants; G.O.P. is the New Black

Email to Tunnel Dweller from friends in the DFW area with the enclosed commentary about this man:
Claver
J----, S----- and I attended a tea party meeting last night and wanted to share with you. The man speaking was a young black named Apostle Claver (don’t let the name bother you). He is a strong conservative Christian who is trying to reach out to blacks and turn them Republican (conservative). His message was strong—the Republicans have lost the black vote and although many blacks live their lives as conservatives, they continue over and over to vote Democrat. I wish I could give you his message as to why they continue to do that, but perhaps if you go to his site and listen to some of his speeches you’ll find out. He contends that our nation is (what he calls) turning brown and in 25 years, the white people will be the minority. He contends that if conservatives don’t capture a percentage of the black vote, we’re in danger of losing our conservative movement in elections. He gave us a lesson on how our demographics and trends have changed over the past few years and it was scary. ...

Some articles in this site from July 28th:

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Obama's Iraq Abdication

MARISA COCHRANE SULLIVAN   "Upon taking office in 2009, President Obama inherited a winning hand in Iraq—and yet his administration has played it like a losing one. I recently returned from three weeks in that country, where I had dozens of meetings with Iraqi officials from across the political spectrum. They agreed on very little, except that the Obama administration is dangerously disengaged from the situation in their country.
""U.S. influence is waning," one senior official told me glumly. "Iran and Turkey now have more influence and they are taking advantage of what the U.S. has sacrificed for in Iraq." Another prominent leader joked that Iraq must have disappeared from every White House map."
....
"Failing to sign a new U.S.-Iraqi security agreement would redound to Iran's great benefit. The Obama administration has a fleeting opportunity that it cannot afford to squander." Article

The only adult in the room

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/ericallie
Obama an easy mark on debt ceiling  "“Vintage Obama!” rejoiced Democrats. “I, for one, am happy with a president who is seemingly the last adult in the room,” read a letter to The New York Times. Obama, the thinking went, was following the wisdom of Kenny Rogers: He knew “when to fold ‘em.”
"The problem is that Obama tipped his hand. His professed unwillingness to see hostages harmed — even when polls showed public support for his position — told Boehner that all he needed to do was raise the stakes and Obama would concede."

Why I Read the New York Times



Bruce S. Thornton  "That culture-wide assumption that combat veterans are victims to be pitied rather than heroes to be admired inhibits their reintegration into civilian life as much as the alleged societal myopia about the “horrors of war.” And beyond the impact on veterans, this exclusive focus on the evils of war and its crippling traumas can have a pernicious impact on foreign policy. The obsession with the horrors of World War I led to a “never again” mentality that helped paved the way for the policy of appeasement in the Thirties. A similar brooding over the alleged horrific crimes of Vietnam made our abandonment of South Vietnam more politically palatable, which in turn facilitated American retreat and Soviet expansionism in the 70s. And today the same sort of coverage of Iraq and Afghanistan may camouflage an over-hasty withdrawal from those countries."

New York Times Reader Kills Dozens in Norway

Ann Coulter  "Had anyone at the Times actually read Breivik's manifesto, they would have seen that he uses the word "Christian" as a handy moniker to mean "European, non-Islamic" -- not a religious Christian or even a vague monotheist. In fact, at several points in his manifesto, Breivik stresses that he has a beef with Christians for their soft-heartedness. (I suppose that's why the Times is never worried about a "Christian backlash.")
"A casual perusal of Breivik's manifesto clearly shows that he uses the word "Christian" similarly to the way some Jewish New Yorkers use it to mean "non-Jewish." In this usage, Christopher Hitchens and Madalyn Murray O'Hair are "Christians.""

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg
Norway PM: After attacks, make country more open
"Stoltenberg strongly defended the right to speak freely - even if it includes extremist views such as those held by Anders Behring Breivik, the 32-year-old Norwegian who has confessed to the attacks and claimed they were necessary to fight what he called Muslim colonization and multiculturalism."
""We have to be very clear to distinguish between extreme views, opinions - that's completely legal, legitimate to have. What is not legitimate is to try to implement those extreme views by using violence," he said in English." World Magazine

But be in no doubt whatsoever that Mother nature will demand they pay the heaviest price for their arrogance and she will not care one iota if the entire white race has to pay too. Mother nature knows not pity as even self-righteous Liberal-Multiculturalists will find to their cost, you can be completely assured of that. From his "manifesto".

Families toss wrench in 'gay' indoctrination plan

WND  "Family leaders in California have thrown a wrench in the public school system's newest "gay" indoctrination plan, with the filing of the paperwork for a referendum on SB48, approved by the Democrats in the legislature and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, in recent days. "
....
""This effort will require us all to sacrifice and work together. We cannot afford to stay silent or stand on the sidelines. Californians are extremely tolerant, but we draw the line when history is revised to please a special interest group," he said"


Hat tip to the California Chronicle

Obama's balanced approach

Blitz Britain: Amazing colour pictures of London under siege from Nazi bombers during World War II

UK Daily Mail  "For many, photographs from the World War II have only been seen in grainy black and white. But now, new colour images have emerged that show the full horror of the destruction inflicted by Nazi bombings across London.
"The powerful images were released to mark the 70th anniversary of the launch of Winston Churchill's 'V for Victory' campaign on July 19, 1941." Via National Review Online

White House Switchboard Swamped

American Thinker  "President Obama's speech last night called for Americans to contact their Congressional representatives in an effort to demonstrate their displeasure with the progress of the debt ceiling negotiations."
....
"President Obama may have been hoping that Congress would be bullied by a cascade of phone calls to Congress making demands for higher taxes on their fellow citizens. As an orchestrated tactic, it appears to have worked. Unfortunately for the President, it seems that his call to his dwindling supporters has also rallied those who oppose him and Speaker Boehner didn't even have to plot a phone call mob on his behalf."
Political Cartoons by Michael Ramirez
http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/michaelramirez
Obama Shameless as Debt Crisis Looms  "While factually correct, this is bad economic policy, policy that Obama should accept the blame for just as much as he tried to claim credit for it when he and his administration were pretending their efforts to fix the economy were working."

President Obama and the Debt Crisis: Detached, Alone, and Passive   "Politico’s Thrush identified this key vulnerability on Sunday when he wrote:"
Can anyone envision a more devastating line than “Barack Obama, the man who lost America’s AAA credit rating — and brought you 9 percent unemployment”?

•Class warfare, complete with evil corporate jets - check. •One sided shared sacrifice - check. •Blame Bush - check.

Another Black Conservative   "No where in Obama's 15 minute speech did Obama offer a clear cut path plan of action. Instead, it was the usual dump it all in Congress' lap and then take to the podium to play the role of college professor. Of course in doing so, Obama made his usual massive contradictions. Like this gem:"...

"And Boehner mocked Obama's rhetoric: "The president has often said we need a 'balanced' approach--which in Washington means we spend more, you pay more." One might observe that the partisan sniping was mutual. But the president is the higher-status player. He diminishes himself by punching down."

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Identifying a Psychopath

Warning Signs  "Anyone who would blow up a government building and gun down children, thinking that he was going to ignite a revolution against Muslims in Europe is not dealing with a full deck.
"The event initiated a torrent of news coverage and comment. Much of the initial coverage was wrong. Breivik was not a “fundamentalist Christian” and he was not linked to any particular group. He was the classic lone wolf. Like the Unabomber, Theodore Kaczynski, Breivik had his own “manifesto.” "
....
" “What distinguishes psychopaths from normal people? Principally, it is a total absence of what we typically take to be moral qualities; sympathy, empathy, compassion, guilt, remorse, conscience, loyalty, truth telling, and a sense of fairness.”
"“Psychopaths are highly narcissistic. Not only are they extremely self-centered, but they also think of themselves as being of a higher nature than the rest of us,” " By Alan Caruba