Slow Joe Bigot

Once more the curtain was pulled back a bit and a glimpse of how the libs view some of us was revealed.  Slow Joe Biden, Democratic Senator from the great state of Delaware, in an attempt to buff and polish the anointed one, Barak Obama, made the following remark:

 

I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that’s a storybook, man.

Really?  The first?  How about Frederick Douglas?  Does he count or was he not “nice-looking” enough?  Or in more recent times perhaps Condie Rice or Alan Keyes, both quite articulate are not “bright” enough.  Dr. Rice speaks Russian fluently and Dr. Keyes has an advanced degree.  Slow Joe, what advanced degree do you have?  And what is it with “clean?”  Is there some hygiene issue or moral issue?  Obama is the first ”clean” black person that you’ve known?  These are not the first remarks of this kind coming from Slow Joe’s mouth.  Remember his tribute to Asian Indians?

 

In Delaware, the largest growth of population is Indian-Americans, moving from India. You cannot go to a 7/11 or a Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I’m not joking.

You see it is not about Joe being just dumb Joe.  It’s about how many liberals and Democrats really view minorities.  What they really feel is that blacks, in particular, are not capable of success without the patronage of whites.  It is nothing more that bigotry.  It may be “the soft bigotry of low expectations,” but it is bigotry none the less.  And it may also be about guilt for the sin of slavery and a constant effort at white redemption. And only bad policy can come of such attitudes.

Watch Joe squirm in the coming days and he tries to spin the remarks.

We love ya Joe!  You’re the gift that keeps on giving to conservatives.

History Means Nothing to Socialists

It is amazing to me that liberals generally and socialists in particular have little appreication of world history.  All of them think that socialism is a good thing and but for poor execution (no pun intended), previous efforts would have transformed the world for the improvement of man’s condition.  Now comes Chavez, the socialist leader of Venezuela about to become a virtual dictator.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) – President Hugo Chavez is set to assume unbridled powers to remake Venezuelan society as the National Assembly prepares to grant him authority to enact sweeping measures by presidential decree.

The assembly, which is completely controlled by Chavez supporters, is scheduled to meet Wednesday in a Caracas plaza to approve a so-called “enabling law” that will give Chavez special powers for 18 months to transform 11 broadly defined areas, including the economy, energy and defense.

Chavez, who is beginning a fresh six-year term, says the legislation will be the start of a new era of “maximum revolution” during which he will consolidate Venezuela’s transformation into a socialist society. His critics, however, are calling it a radical lurch toward authoritarianism by a leader with unchecked power.

The former paratroop commander has already said he will use the law to decree nationalizations of Venezuela’s largest telecommunications company and the electricity sector, slap new taxes on the rich and impose greater state control over the oil and natural gas industries.

A final draft of the law shows Chavez will also be allowed to dictate unspecified measures to transform state institutions; reform banking, tax, insurance and financial regulations; decide on security and defense matters such as gun regulations and military organization; and “adapt” legislation to ensure “the equal distribution of wealth” as part of a new “social and economic model.”

Freedom departs when power is concentrated in the hands of the anointed few.  The masses have lost power in Venezuela.

But the great security against a gradual concentration of the several powers in the same department, consists in giving to those who administer each department the necessary constitutional means and personal motives to resist encroachments of the others. The provision for defense must in this, as in all other cases, be made commensurate to the danger of attack. Ambition must be made to counteract ambition. The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place. It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions. 

James Madison, Federalist Papers #51, February 6, 1788.

Ashokan Farewell and Sullivan Ballou

A friend of mine gave me a copy of the CD “The Civil War,” the soundtrack from Ken Burn’s television series of the same name.  When the third track entitled “Ashokan Farewell” played, I was moved for reasons that I could not quite grasp.  So I did some investigation on the web and found the letter from Sullivan Ballou to his wife shortly before his death on the battlefield.  Somewhere in my mind, I remember the tune played during the reading of Ballou’s letter during the TV series. The letter moved me to tears.  Ballou died on July 21, 1861.

July the 14th, 1861

Washington D.C.

My very dear Sarah:

The indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days—perhaps tomorrow. Lest I should not be able to write you again, I feel impelled to write lines that may fall under your eye when I shall be no more.

Our movement may be one of a few days duration and full of pleasure—and it may be one of severe conflict and death to me. Not my will, but thine O God, be done. If it is necessary that I should fall on the battlefield for my country, I am ready. I have no misgivings about, or lack of confidence in, the cause in which I am engaged, and my courage does not halt or falter. I know how strongly American Civilization now leans upon the triumph of the Government, and how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the blood and suffering of the Revolution. And I am willing—perfectly willing—to lay down all my joys in this life, to help maintain this Government, and to pay that debt.

But, my dear wife, when I know that with my own joys I lay down nearly all of yours, and replace them in this life with cares and sorrows—when, after having eaten for long years the bitter fruit of orphanage myself, I must offer it as their only sustenance to my dear little children—is it weak or dishonorable, while the banner of my purpose floats calmly and proudly in the breeze, that my unbounded love for you, my darling wife and children, should struggle in fierce, though useless, contest with my love of country?

Useful Idiot(s)

Useful idiots.  That is perhaps the most charitable thing to be said about Jane Fonda (aka Hanoi Jane) and many of the vicious, uninformed protesters seen last week in our capitol city of DC.  Short are the memories of those who would permit someone as notorious as Jane to speak on behalf of their cause.  Recall that this is the same Jane who, while American servicemen were suffering at the hands of the North Vietnamese, sat happily on an anti-aircraft cannon (the very same which had downed many of our flyers who were then imprisoned) with propaganda cameras a click’n.  According to Robert J. Caldwell:

At her [Fonda's] request, she made at least 10 broadcasts on Radio Hanoi that included calling American pilots war criminals and urging them to stop bombing North Vietnam. In a propaganda gesture heavily publicized by Hanoi, she also met with a group of coerced American prisoners of war to demonstrate, as the North Vietnamese intended, that the POWs were receiving “humane” treatment.

In fact, as we know now, nearly all American POWs in North Vietnam were brutally tortured until 1969, when Hanoi’s policy changed to more selective mistreatment. One American POW was strung up from a ceiling by his broken arm until he agreed to listen to Fonda’s assertions that the prisoners were being well treated.

When the POWs returned from North Vietnam in 1973 and told of their torture, Jane Fonda declared, “the POWs are lying if they assert it was North Vietnamese policy to torture American prisoners.” For good measure, she also suggested that their recollections of torture were products of “racism” toward the Vietnamese.

Perhaps we should not be so hard on the old gal.  She did of course apologize for getting caught on camera sitting pretty on the guns (not for the more treacherous acts.) She declared on “Sixty Minutes”

I will go to my grave regretting that … It was the largest lapse of judgment that I can even imagine.

Judgement is a funny thing.  Moral judgement requires some objective “right” from which to separate good acts from bad.  I would suggest that in Ms. Fonda, as with many others of her ilk, the moral compass has been damaged beyond repair.  As has the memory of many of those that applauded Fonda last Saturday.

Kucinich the Singer

This man continues to amaze me.  He plans a run to the White House after, what, maybe 0.5% of voters cast a ballot for him in the last Democratic presidential primaries.  The usual liberal appeals to “no war”, “tax the rich”, bigger government (remember we need a Department of Peace) seemed to have no traction, so this time Dennis plans to serenade us into voting for him.  Here’s a mp3 recording of Dennis appealing to a group of Americans (courtesy of Laura Ingraham.)  This may be the most embarrassing and degrading thing that I have ever heard from a politician.  This guy is really a joke.  Too bad he represents Cleveland in congress.

Duke Professor Unrepentant

At the beginning of the Duke lacrosse case, a number of professors from Duke placed an ad in the local paper decrying the racism.  The ad, linked here, continues the usual liberal dribble about racism and sexism so very rampant on the campus.  Of course, the implication is that these white team members are oh so typical of the oppression of minorities (if women still qualify) on the Duke campus.  The boys’ names are revealed, the accuser’s is not.  The boys and the lacrosse program are condemned by the university.  All of this before the facts are known based on the statements of the stripper.  As the investigation has proceeded, the accuser’s statements have changed multiple times, the prosecutor has asked to be dismissed (after some very questionable behavior) and the case is on the verge of dismissal.  If I were one of the professors that signed the ad, I’d lay low for now.  But Professor Cathy N. Davidson just cannot keep her mouth shut.

We are in the midst of a social disaster where 18 percent of the American population lives below the poverty line and a disproportionate number of those are African-American. We live in the midst of a social disaster where 30 percent of our students do not graduate from high school (making the U.S. No. 17 in the world). We live in the midst of a social disaster where women’s salaries for similar jobs are substantially less than men’s (and, as of this year, starting to go down again, not up). We live in the midst of a social disaster where we do not have national health care or affordable childcare. And we live in a situation where a group of white athletes at a prominent university can get drunk and call out for a stripper the way they would a pizza.

Who is that exotic dancer? A single mother who takes off her clothes for hire partly to pay for tuition at a distinguished historically black college. Of course the lacrosse story makes Americans of conscience cringe.

There is also a different kind of social disaster in this incident, one that we didn’t know about in April. I refer to a prosecutor who may well have acted unprofessionally, irresponsibly and unethically, possibly from the most cynical political motives. If it turns out that Mike Nifong has no evidence (as he insisted he did back in the spring), he will have betrayed the trust of an entire community and caused torment to these young men and their families. He will have added greater skepticism at every imaginable level to an already shaky legal system.

Nor is it only the lacrosse players who will be marked forever by this case. Will future rape victims dare to step forward after such a spectacle? Will African-Americans with legitimate grievances be willing to demand justice in the wake of this public debacle? On every level, this has been a social disaster.

That is why I signed the ad. It is an educator’s job to bring the lessons of history to bear as we try to understand the full and on-going social implications of what happened long before March 13, 2006, and will continue long after. Studying this social disaster must be on the lesson plan for our future, no matter what happens next in this miserable incident.

You see, for the professor, the white players are but props in her liberal drama of “racism and sexism” on the campus.  The lesson is not that one should hold judgement until the facts are known.  The lesson according to the professor is that even though this young “lady” lied and destroyed the lives of several young men, non the less, we should know that racism and sexism are alive and well on campus.  Indeed, we should be most concerned that blacks and women may not now come forth with “real” cases of racism and sexism.

Notice that the accuser, who has lied (perhaps criminally) and virtually destroyed the lives of the white men in this story is sympathetically characterized as “ a single mother who takes off her clothes for hire partly to pay for tuition at a distinguished historically black college.”  No mention of the semen of multiple other men (none of whom play on the Duke lacrosse team; must be another team) or the intoxicated state of this businesswoman.  Just an innocent girl trying to make ends meet.  No such sympathy for the young men is required.   They belong to the oppressive majority. 

The professor believes that “lessons of history” should be told by educators, yet the judgement and condemnation of the players proceeded long before the history was clear.  I would suggest that the professor, like most liberals, would prefer to distort and use rather then convey history.

I propose that the professor and her like minded liberal friends are the real “social disasters” in this case.

Mayor Ray Nagins, Gov. Kathleen Blanco Fail New Orleans Again

Mayor Ray Nagins, who failed to mobilize transportation that could have moved thousands out of New Orleans prior to Catrina and Gov. Kathleen Blanco, who failed to move National Guard troops into New Orleans immediately after Catrina, have both failed the city again.  This time, they have failed to keep law and order resulting in unpresidented numbers of murders this year.  Citizens of this city are angry and Nagins has demurred.  According to the AP:

More than 3,000 people marched on City Hall on Thursday, seeking an end to the violence that has claimed nine lives in this struggling city since New Year’s Day.

Mayor Ray Nagin, the object of many marchers’ jeers and protest signs, watched from behind a podium but did not take part in the rally at the behest of organizers.

And finally, Blanco will move to try to improve order in the city.

On Wednesday, Gov. Kathleen Blanco endorsed a plan announced earlier this week to increase patrols and use checkpoints to crack down on criminals. State police and the National Guard have been supplementing city officers since June.

And as for making the city of New Orleans “chocolate” (in the words of Major Nagins):

In a black-majority city where most murder victims have been black, the crowd was predominantly white.

“It’s not about white. It’s not about black. I think now people are realizing that because everybody’s blood is red,” said Keqante Brown, 30, a black woman who said five family members have been murdered in the last 12 years.

Its never about race unless, of course, one is Republican or conservative.  I wonder how they plan to blame Bush for this mess that they have created?

Pelosi:Let the Beatification Begin

Normally the Catholic Church waits until after the death of a holy person to begin to consider the cause for beatification.  And this will remain the tradition unless the Democrats in the US House of Representatives can find a political way around the current Vatican rules.  You see, they would like to propose Nancy Pelosi, the newly elected Majority Leader, for sainthood and see no reason to delay what they feel is inevitable.  We all know by now that women of the US, and in fact the world, have been waiting over 200 years for this moment.  She said so herself.  And the cause for the beatification include most of the MSM.  Take Ellen Goodman:

But Pelosi married young, bore five children in six years, raised them, and didn’t run for office until her youngest was ready for college. She was 47 when she got onto the fast track. She won the Speaker’s cup at 66.

Pelosi was not plucked from the kitchen to Congress. The stay-at-home mom label may be politically correct these days but technically incorrect. Pelosi, offspring of a political family, was always involved in a campaign, she says, “no matter how little my babies were, if I was wheeling them in a carriage or carrying them in my stomach.”

Nevertheless, she was the real mom McCoy, the cupcake-baking, Jeep-driving, school-trip mother who made the pink and silver angel costume that her youngest daughter still has. When she first ran for Congress against 13 other candidates, she had to face billboards aimed snidely at that resume, asking whether she was “a legislator or a dilettante?”

Now, a grandmother of six and leader of 233 Democrats, Pelosi brags about her first career rather than burying it in her resume. So she may end up as one of the success stories that changes the way people think about “opting out” and “opting in.”

And it continues on and on.  I would like the cause to promote Pelosi for patroness of working mothers, grandmothers (of six), modest politicians and of course unfaithful Catholics who serve in political office. 

Saint Nancy Pelosi—praAAay for us!

Global Warming: Scientific Consensus?

Think that the scientific community is united in opinion regarding global warming?  Have you ever noted the MSM giving anything more than lip service to the idea that there may be varied scientific opinion regarding global climate change?  Here’s a little jewel tucked away and excluded from the MSM.

It is very difficult to read a news article or watch a newscast regarding global warming without encountering an assertion that “the debate is over” — that all, or virtually all, scientists agree humans are causing a dramatic and harmful change in the Earth’s climate.

Quite notably, no hard data is ever cited to support such a conclusion. A survey conducted by the National Registry of Environmental Professionals (NREP), released Nov. 16, shows why: The debate is still very much alive in the professional community.
More than 12,000 environmental scientists and practitioners participated in the survey, which found:
* 34 percent disagree that global warming is a serious problem facing the planet,
* 41 percent disagree that the planet’s recent warmth “can be, in large part, attributed to human activity,”
* 71 percent disagree that recent hurricane activity is significantly attributable to human activity,
* 33 percent disagree that the U.S. government is not doing enough to address global warming, and
* 47 percent disagree that international agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol provide a solid framework for combating global climate change.

Clearly the MSM considers 40% of 12,000 climate scientists as a fringe minority.

Media Bias? Really?

Michelle Malkin reports on a most deceptive piece in the New Liberal (York) Times concerning the case of a woman who was reportedly imprisoned for undergoing an abortion in El Salvador.

Remember this name: Carmen Climaco.

The next time you hear a New York Times columnist defend the paper’s commitment to accuracy, fairness, and ethical standards, give them two words: Carmen Climaco.

The next time an MSM apologist denies liberal bias, repeat: Carmen Climaco.

Today’s Vent covers ombudsman Byron Calame’s stunning Sunday column calling the Times to task for its false, sloppy, and unrepentant pro-abortion propganda packaged as a New York Times Magazine cover story on abortion in El Salvador by freelance writer Jack Hitt.

The sensational piece alleged that women there had been thrown in prison for 30-year terms for having had abortions. Hitt described his visit to one of them, inmate Carmen Climaco. “She is now 26 years old, four years into her 30-year sentence” for aborting an 18-week-old fetus.

Cruel. Horrible. Outrageous. And utterly, demonstrably, false. Climaco had actually been convicted of murder for strangling her newborn baby.

Lifesite first exposed the truth after easily obtaining court documents in the case. Calame followed up and also independently obtained the documents easily—records which Hitt didn’t bother to try and get for himself to verify the propaganda being fed to him.

Yet another example of how the progressive(ly) liberal media create stories and reports to promote their own values and beliefs.  Forget the truth and fair reporting, what matters most to the MSM is creating the image of women in the US being imprisoned if abortion becomes illegal.  Amazing.