Robert Reich Is All Wet

Things Robert Reich does not understand:

The TEA Party movement
Conservatism
Economics
Tax history
Regulatory history
That Big Business in bed with Big Government is Crony Capitalism and not Free Market
That our debt and deficit problems are spending problems and not revenue problems

What Robert Reich pushes:

Class Envy (which is a sin)
TEA Partiers are fake
TEA Partiers are real but they’re evil and insane
Conservatives want to hurt grandma and sick people
Only insane people don’t want to raise taxes and the debt limit

HT Hot Air Headlines

Robert Reich starts out with the same old false premises and Big Government memes as all Leftists and Big Government Republicans have been pushing for decades.

Who’s more influential in the Republican Party – the so-called Tea Party or Wall Street and big business?

There’s the “TEA Party is fake” attack. And there’s the false premise that Wall Street and Big Business is Republican. Let’s see how Republican Big Business is, shall we?

The truth … for honor

I have to admit, I was a bit — just a bit — apprehensive when Mr. John Hitchcock asked me to join Truth Before Dishonor as a part-time contributor. How come? Simple: I was never a member of the Armed Forces.

That’s not to say I didn’t come this close to joining up at several times in my life.

My maternal grandmother really wanted me to try to get into Annapolis. (For the uninformed, which there are probably very few, if any, among this blog’s readers, Annapolis is home to the United States Naval Academy.) Why did she so desire? Because her first husband, Gene, was a Naval aviator in the 1940s and early 1950s. Unfortunately, when my mother was a mere seven years old, a Naval representative appeared at my grandmother’s doorstep one morning in November, 1952. His news forever changed my grandmother’s — and mother’s — life: Gene was practicing night landings on the USS Roosevelt and his plane (a Corsair, still a propeller plane at this time as this was the era of changeover from prop to jet aircraft) crashed into the Mediterranean. His body was never found. Mom never really got to know grandfather Gene, being that he was overseas so much, and my two aunts (mom’s younger sisters) really never got to know him.

I certainly considered the prospect of going to Annapolis intriguing. As you may know, in order to get in, you must at least get one of your state’s US senators to sponsor you, and only a few (two? I cannot recall) from each of the 50 states are selected. My grades in high school were certainly good enough. So, why not give it a try?

Yeah, why not? Here’s why not: I wanted to fly, just like my grandfather. But my vision sucked. I had begun to wear glasses fairly regularly since 10th grade. And wearing specs is essentially a death sentence for prospective pilots. Ultimately, I decided against Annapolis, settling instead for the University of Delaware.

Also in high school as a senior, a Marine recruiter was almost successful in getting me to join up. (He was successful in getting a couple of my track team buddies to join.) Ultimately in that case, my father got on the phone (because the recruiter called constantly) and told the guy that I wasn’t interested, even though I actually was undecided.

As a college sophomore, I went into the Armed Forces recruiting center on Main Street in Newark (DE) one day to inquire about the Reserves. Unexpectedly, the recruiter was a complete prick, basically telling me to “forget it.” I dunno what the deal was; keep in mind this was the height of the Reagan era when the military experienced a renewed respect and enrollment numbers weren’t an issue. Maybe this dude had already reached his quota. It’s not like I was an undesirable specimen, after all … I wasn’t some Steve Rogers begging to be accepted; I was in good shape. Who knows. Again, maybe it’s because the military had witnessed a new-found respect now that Ronald Reagan was president. It certainly made sense, after all.

Right before college graduation I took one more chance: I went to the Naval recruitment center on North Broad Street in Philly to take their aptitude test. It consisted of two parts — a general knowledge test, which you had to pass in order to continue on, and then a specific pilots test. There were about ten of us there, including a gent wearing a Los Angeles Rams jacket (the Rams were still in LA in the late 80s, yes) which immediately made him a kindred spirit. (If you don’t know from reading The Colossus of Rhodey, I am possibly the biggest Rams fan ever.) He and I were two of only three allowed to continue after the general knowledge test. So, on to the pilots exam. Interestingly, every multiple choice question had a choice “E” which said “I don’t know.” I figured it’d be stupid to always fill that one out if I had even a slight hankering of what the right answer was; I only filled in “E” if I had absolutely no idea of the correct response.

It wasn’t sufficient. After the test, the Navy guy basically told me that I filled in too many choice “E’s,” but that being in a plane still wasn’t out of the question. I didn’t have my glasses on, so I then told him that I wear specs a lot of the time. He was like, “Oh, I see.” But he said that I could still be in a plane — just not fly. I could be a flight officer.

I decided against it. It was tough, tough decision. But … I wanted to fly — do the flying. If I failed at that (and I understood the chances of that were pretty good) then fine, but I at least wanted the chance. I still have regrets about that decision, not only about accepting that I could have flown (just not as a pilot), but that I didn’t experience something like boot camp. I’ve always been intrigued as to whether I’d make it. (As a college graduate entering flight school, I assume I would have gone through an officers candidate program similar to the one seen in “An Officer and a Gentleman.”) I think I could have, and then beyond that …? Who knows.

Nevertheless, I’ve always had the very highest respect for people in the military, past and present — for the simple fact that they deserve it, above just about all others. These are people willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for you and me, and they’re willing to do it for peanuts of a salary and simple, basic living conditions. People who do not understand that, or, simply refuse to, deserve nothing but my (and your) scorn. Period.

Carry on.

Lets Be Pragmatic

Lets be pragmatic so we can be pragmatic because it’s the pragmatic thing to do. It’s what all the cool kids are doing. It’s what all the cool kids have been doing since the 1940s. After all, utilitarianism is king. Pragmatic utilitarianism (a redundancy) is the golden calf at whose altar we all need to bow down and worship. We all have to go along so that we get along. There is no right except for that which the majority of the people accept, so we need to quit holding values that are not majority positions.

OR

We can stand up for our principles. We can be heard. We can take a stand for what’s right; take a chance and stand for principle instead of bowing to outside pressure. What is right is right and it doesn’t matter if you’re the only person in the world standing up for what is right. As my byline says, I would rather be right than popular. And it’s more than a cliche I coined. It’s my way of life. Principles before hedonistic desires. Rejecting the leftist “values clarification” scheme, which is nothing more than values modification, an intentional degradation of morality and elimination of rock-solid principles.

For too long, the Left in the press, in government, in academia have been destroying ethics of principle and replacing them with licentiousness. For too long, the Ruling Class Republicans have been going along to get along as the nation shifts ever leftward, away from what is right and true and proper and towards what feels good today — always forgetting about tomorrow’s consequences. For too long, the RCRs have been telling us we cannot win without them, ignoring the fact they’re playing the gracious loser role.

It’s time for some serious Tough Love. It’s time to tell the pragmatic gracious losers that they cannot win without us and we’re no longer going to go along to get along. It’s time to take Principled stands against the cowardly moral relativists and rescue our country and our values from certain demise. That’s what the TEA Party movement is about. That’s what Glenn Beck’s 912 Project and “We Surround Them” are all about.

If I have a choice between a pro-abort Democrat and a pro-abort Republican, the pragmatists who are pragmatically pragmatic in their pragmatic desires to be pragmatic will tell me the only right choice is the pragmatic choice to pragmatically vote for the pragmatic RCR. Hogwash. I’ll vote 3rd Party. “Oh, but your 3rd Party vote is just a vote for the Democrats.” NO. It isn’t. If I have a choice between a Democrat working hard to send us rocketing toward bankrupt Big Government Central Planning Socialism and a pragmatic RCR who is working to send us more slowly in the same direction, I’ll vote 3rd Party. “Oh, but your 3rd Party vote is just a vote for the Democrats.” NO. It isn’t.

If I have to vote 3rd Party for the next 10 election cycles, I will. Because Principles aren’t principles if they’re so easily sacrificed. They’re desires. Actually worse, they’re dreams not acted upon. But the pragmatically pragmatic people who pragmatically endorse pragmatism for pragmatic reasons will pout and throw temper tantrums if I declare my Principled Tough Love position. Let them pout. Let them throw their temper tantrums. Let them stomp their feet and kick wildly at the air. Forget them.

Here’s the thing about pragmatically pragmatic Republicans: If enough people of principle actually stand up to be heard, and vocalize it (such as writing a political blog, commenting on political blogs, going to TEA Party events) then the pragmatically pragmatic Republicans will start to realize they actually cannot win without us and they will change their positions and actions to fit our Principles. And the RCRs will throw their tantrums and work like the devil to maintain control, to maintain their status as Second Class Central Planners, as they are thrown out of office one by one and a new class of Republican, a Principled class, takes hold.

And that’s the whole thing. Be very willing and able to use your nuclear weapons, as Reagan was, and your foes will surrender, as The Iron Curtain did. The 912 Project and the TEA Party movement are nothing more than an awakened people, a people realizing they are, indeed, not alone, who have decided to — finally — take a stand and say “This far and no further!”

If you take a stand on principle; if you decide you would rather be right than popular; if you don’t bow down to the utilitarian golden calf; if you do this, you will find you are indeed not alone and you and all like-minded Principled people will make a difference. We can win this war (and it is a war) for the soul of this great nation. Pragmatically Pragmatic Republicans be damned.

Thank You, Visitors

May 2011 has surpassed May 2009 as the most viewed month here at TBD. And I couldn’t have done it without you. Actually, I had nothing to do with it. You were the ones who decided to visit; you were the ones that made my hit-count climb. Thank you. (Dana Pico, Foxfier, Hube get credit for assists.)

I announced my return to TBD on 28Apr11 after spending a year away from TBD, blogging elsewhere, and, with the help of Obama, hit the ground running.

May 6, 2009, with 898 hits, is still my busiest day, accounting for nearly 60 percent of that month’s hits, but May 2011 has already surpassed May 2009’s totals and May is not done yet. So thank you, visitors, for making my return to TBD a success. Bookmark TBD and y’all come back now, y’hear?

The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader: A Review

I had earlier written about the two previous Chronicles of Narnia movies where I praised The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and had grudging praise for Pince Caspian. As I said then, Prince Caspian had departed from CS Lewis’ epic story in some key ways, but Dawn Treader had a new director and promised to hold to CS Lewis’ vision.

The promise was shattered. Not broken, but shattered. Absolutely, beyond repair shattered.

Dawn Treader’s screenplay authors, whoever the minions may be, absolutely destroyed the story from beginning to end.

I had hoped to watch the movie in a theatre to get the full effect of Lewis’ story on a massive screen. I’m glad to report I did not get the opportunity to see this disgrace in the theatres.

What the writers got right:
Names of primary characters
Names of some of the primary places
That’s just about it.

What the writers came close to almost getting right:
The last 15 minutes of the movie
That’s it.

What the writers got wrong:
Everything, and I do mean everything.

If you watch the movie without having ever read CS Lewis’ books, you would consider the movie to be fifth-rate with third-rate special effects and with a couple top-rate actors. But if you watch the movie having read CS Lewis’ books, you will have to rivet yourself to your seat in order to get through the first ten minutes of the movie. And the viewing doesn’t get any easier from there.

The only saving grace is in the acting of the major characters, namely Ben Barnes, Skandar Keynes, and Georgie Hensley. Will Poulter as Eustace does yeoman’s work but he’s still second-rate at best. It is the story that needs to sell the movie, and for CS Lewis fans, the story is of ultimate importance. And the story is a total disaster because the director and the screenplay writers refused to follow the book.

For those who haven’t seen the movie, save your money. For those who spent their money to watch this flop, my condolences. I just got done watching this flop and I feel your pain.

Georgie Henley has a bright future ahead of her with her acting. I expect to see her in a few top-rated movies in the near future. Skandar Keynes and Ben Barnes should have such luck. Oh, they’re skilled enough from my perspective, but let’s face facts. A leading lady has more opportunities at successful roles (where quality matters over blow-it-up-idness) than does a leading man. Especially at their ages.

But back to Dawn Treader. If you haven’t spent your money, save it. Wait till it comes on TV on Fox at 8PM some Wednesday evening or something. It’s not worth paying a farthing to watch. And CS Lewis is spinning in his grave.

NARAL Decides To Invite Pro-Aborts To Upload Pics To Flickr

And a strange thing happened. As of right now, there are over 39,000 pics. And almost all of them are Pro-Life! Earlier in the day, a member of the pro-abort NARAL checked in on the site and found such a huge wave of Pro-Life all over their Flickr page and started deleting left and lefter, but couldn’t keep up.

Kathleen Gilbert of Life Site News has the story.

What’s that, NARAL? Put a face to the debate, you say? You got it!

Update 4: Victory: Pro-lifers officially took over NARAL’s Flickr photostream at about 4:30 pm, when the entire first page was pro-life – except one somewhat dowdy pic of a pro-abort guy for appropriate contrast. Since then, the musket shot has changed to cannon fire, with the whole page fluctuating in a push-and-pull of pro-life and pro-choice. (Full page image here.)

The Law of Unintended Consequences in full force. I’m sure sometime tomorrow, the whole thing will be torn down (because pic-by-pic deletion is far too inefficient). But here are some pics that were posted there.

As I said, there were over 39,000 pics, nearly all Pro-Life at the time of this posting, and many had already been removed so the totals would have been well over 40,000. I doubt the Flickr page stays up for long.

UPDATE:
As of 2055 today, those over 39,000 pics have been reduced to 2,304 pics, or less than 6 percent of last night’s total when I checked it last. Remember, NARAL had already done an afternoon purge earlier, so what remains is clearly less than 5 percent of the total actual pics. I have read that NARAL re-worked their submission process, requiring submissions go to a different address where a screening process took place (Imagine a hate group like NARAL forgetting to have a screening process.) and a couple other steps were added. I don’t know if NARAL did a complete purge or just went through and eliminated only the Pro-Life pics (like the ones in this article I found on their site), but, given the very low percentage of pics today compared to pics last night (after a previous purge), it would actually look better for NARAL’s numbers if they did do a complete purge first. I mean, after at least two different purges of Pro-Life pics, less than 1 in 20 pics survived? It would look better if NARAL claimed to have done a total purge and “reset button” on their Flickr page, whether that’s what they did or no.

A father who reared his son poorly wants to have his son at home.

The rotten father who reared a son who betrayed his country, a son who wouldn’t even use his father’s name until he got in trouble and needed help, is whining that his poor, innocent, dear boy should be released. From the OpEd page of :

Bin Laden’s Gone. Can My Son Come Home?

By Frank R. Lindh
Published: May 21, 2011

ON the evening of May 1, we learned that Osama bin Laden had been killed. The following dawn, I left my house in the Bay Area to catch a bus to Oakland International Airport. I flew to Indianapolis for a scheduled visit with my son, John Walker Lindh, at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind.

I love my son. I enjoy our periodic visits and our weekly telephone calls, but this visit felt different. “If Bin Laden is dead,” I kept thinking, “why can’t John come home?”

A convert to Islam, John was found, unarmed and wounded, in a warlord’s fortress in northern Afghanistan in December 2001. He was subjected to physical and psychological abuse — a precursor to the mistreatment of many prisoners, in both Afghanistan and Iraq, by the American military during the George W. Bush era. Marines took a photograph of John, blindfolded, bound and naked. It was published and broadcast worldwide.

In post-9/11 America, John became a symbol of “the other.” He was called the American Taliban. A traitor. Detainee No. 1 in the war on terrorism.

The answer for the distraught Mr Lindh is this: yes, your son can come home . . . in 2022, when the twenty year sentence to which he agreed has been served.

The elder Mr Lindh would have us believe that Sulayman al-Faris, the name that young Mr Lindh used while in Afghanistan, or Abu Sulayman al-Irlandi, the name he apparently appears to prefer in prison, was really just an innocent lad, and his decision to join the Taliban was “rash and blindly idealistic, but not sinister or traitorous.”

Yet, what would the young Mr Lindh say about his decision? He wrote a (bad) poem, which has been published, saying in part:

Like blight they spread from crags to plains
To hilly dusty turf
To rocky lunar landscapes ‘neath
The rooftop of the earth

They hid behind the highest clouds
To fly as swift as sound
With daisy cutters cluster bombs
And spies upon the ground

Their leader stepped out swaggering
Declaring a crusade
He called the world to follow him
And most of them obeyed

For wolves may foam and bark and bite
And gnash and gnaw and hiss
But if a sheep should dare bite back
He’d be a terrorist

He signed it Abu Sulayman al-Irlandi, Detainee #001, Ramadan 1431. Ramadan 1431 began on the evening of Tuesday, 10 August 2010, so this isn’t something he wrote early in his captivity and has since eschewed.

The elder Mr Lindh is selling one story, and perhaps he even believes it, but what his poorly reared son is saying, directly, does not match the story his understandably upset father wrote in the Times. The younger Mr Lindh has, of course, freedom of speech, and can say whatever he wishes, and we have the freedom to take him at his word.

Not that it matters: “Sulayman al-Faris” admitted, in a signed statement, that he committed felonies against the United States, in a plea bargain in which he agreed to a twenty-year prison term, to avoid being tried on charges which could have resulted in three life sentences plus an additional ninety years. Perhaps the younger Mr Lindh’s attorneys didn’t think that they could beat enough of the charges to get him a sentence shorter than two decades, or perhaps “Sulayman al-Faris’s” iron will to jihad didn’t include fighting in court, but, in the normal course of events, the elder Mr Lindh will get to see his son, alive and free, something he might well never have seen.

The elder Mr Lindh concluded:

John was a scapegoat, wrongly accused of terrorism at a moment when our grieving country needed someone to blame because the real terrorist had gotten away. Now that Bin Laden is dead, I hope President Obama, and the American people, can find it in their hearts to release John, and let him come home. Ten years is enough.

Uhhh, no. He was not “wrongly accused of terrorism,” but signed a legal document which agreed that his actions constituted “supplying services to the Taliban, by fighting in support of the Taliban, constituted a felony that involved, or was intended to promote, a federal crime of terrorism within the meaning of U.S.S.G. § 3A1.4, in that the Taliban’s control of Afghanistan, and the activities of those individuals fighting in support of the Taliban, provided protection and sanctuary to al Qaeda, a designated foreign terrorist organization,” and that “the Government would so prove at trial by proof beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Mr Lindh, your son’s sentence is almost half over. He served an evil man and an evil cause, one in which he willingly participated to attack his own country and to try to spread Islamist oppression over the local people of Afghanistan. That, absent unforeseen events, your son will return to you is something that many fathers cannot say about their sons, due to the Taliban, due to al Qaeda, due to the causes for which your son fought.

I found the cited article through a blurb which had just the title: “Bin Laden’s Gone. Can My Son Come Home?” My first impression was that this was by a Cindy Sheehan type, whose son had volunteered for the military and was now serving in Afghanistan. I was going to point out that the son’s service was brave and noble and voluntary.

[UPDATE (JH): Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion made this the Post of the Day]

The Republican Path To The Presidency

The lamestream media wants to nominate the Republican Presidential candidate for us like it did in 2008 with the help of Democrats voting in the Republican Primary. Then, they propped up the squishiest of candidates until McCain gained the nomination. And KABLOWIE!!! The lamestream media turned on him in an instant, printing unsubstantiated rumors that turned out to be lies, and attacking him with everything they had. But only after he beat out more conservative candidates. McCain didn’t help matters by absolutely refusing to fight Obama and refusing to allow his people to fight Obama. And throwing a hissy fit when other people fought Obama. McCain’s only saving grace was choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate. Suddenly, many people were willing to vote for the Republican Ticket. I, myself, was ready to vote Third Party until he chose Palin. No way was I going to vote McCain, and I didn’t — I voted Palin.

Once again, the lamestream media is trying to nominate the Republican candidate — a candidate they won’t vote for, regardless. And the Big Government Republican machine is acting as the accomplice. You see, the Ruling Class Republicans are more afeared of the Grass Roots than they are of Democrats. And that’s the huge problem.

7 in 10 grass-roots Republicans and a majority of independents deem the Ruling Class Republicans (inside the beltway Republicans) to be out of touch with and to the left of the base.
42 percent Conservative
36 percent Moderate
20 percent Liberal
And the Ruling Class Republicans are Moderate, the whole lot of them. “You cannot win without us” is a two-way street, folks, and don’t you forget it. Lamestream media and the RCR want you to forget that. The RCR cannot win without you and they want to keep you down and ignorant and stupid so you vote for RCR-approved candidates instead of voting your conscience.

Due to my weak research skills, I couldn’t find the famous quote from the famous European writer who described Americans as rubes and country-class folk who eschewed aristocracy and governed themselves. But that’s how Americans were until the 20th Century. And that’s what made America great. The 20th Century rolled around and the Ruling Class gained power, and that has been the downfall of the US. Our 20th Century achievements have been made as a result of inertia and world events (WWI and WWII propelling the US onto the World Stage because nobody else was able to produce). Ruling Class Socialism in the US began prior to World War One and has caused the deterioration of the US since then.

But I did find some very worthwhile quotes.

“The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission.” — John F Kennedy (Too bad the Democrats absolutely demand surrender and submission today.)

“I think the most un-American thing you can say is, “You can’t say that”.” — Garrison Keillor (And the Left is very busily working hard to prevent anyone on the Right from being able to say anything. The same goes for the RCRs and the grass-roots.)

“I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.” — Thomas Jefferson (Hello, Democrats and RCRs.)

“We can have no “50-50″ allegiance in this country. Either a man is an American and nothing else, or he is not an American at all.” — Theodore Roosevelt (Hello, Democrats and Barack Obama)

“America’s abundance was not created by public sacrifices to “the common good”, but by the productive genius of free men who pursued their own personal interests and the making of their own private fortunes.” — Ayn Rand (Hello, Democrats and Barack Obama and RCRs.)

“The character inherent in the American people has done all that has been accomplished; and it would have done somewhat more, if the government had not sometimes got in its way.” — Henry David Thoreau (Hello, Democrats and Barack Obama and RCRs.)

For most of American History, Americans have rejected the Aristocracy, the Ruling Class mentality of Europe. And for most of American History, we have outclassed the entirety of the world in every measure (except barbarity). But as the 20th Century rolled in, we started giving in to Socialism (which has never, anywhere, succeeded) and European-style Aristocracy. And that has been to our demise. Ronald Reagan changed that picture.

The Democrats absolutely ate him alive. The lamestream media absolutely ate him alive (but I’m repeating myself). The RCRs, including George Herbert Walker Bush, absolutely ate him alive. But he won anyway, despite being called a dunce and considered stupid, ignorant, unwise, a fool by both the Democrats and the RCRs. He won because he appealed to the regular people. He made sense to the regular people, who eschewed Aristocracy and Socialism and held to the original American Values that made this country great.

Reagan was mostly victorious against the Democrats and the RCRs. Reagan absolutely brought about the collapse of the Stalinist Iron Curtain and ushered in a new age of Freedom to Eastern Europeans. Reagan oversaw the crushing of the Carter Malaise/Stagflation and brought about the greatest economic boom since the 1940s.

Then came the RCR Bush 41 and his “read my lips” lie, which brought on the Big Government “think with his prick” Democrat perjurist Clinton and the RCR Bush 43. And the free-fall into Socialist Hell was once again in full swing. But Barack Obama changed all that. The Socialist Democrat Barack Obama put a jet-pack on the free-falling US to send us into total Socialist impoverishment (as all Socialist schemes inevitably lead to impoverishment).

But there is a cure. And it’s pretty much the same cure Ronald Reagan used. Ignore the lamestream media which has sold its soul to the Far Left and focus on the people themselves. But today is very different than 1980. Today, true American Values cannot be found in some regions, so those regions may as well be written off from the get-go (and repaired later in the process).

As such, my view for a Conservative Republican’s path to the Presidency:
1. Forget about California’s Primary.
California will vote majority Democrat, regardless of who runs.
California’s Republicans are majority RCR regardless, and a candidate who wins the RCR vote will not defeat the Democrat who scores higher in the areas the RCRs work in.

2. Forget about most of New England.
Aside from maybe New Hampshire (and possibly Maine), the Democrat will win New England regardless of the Republican candidate.
The majority of New England Republicans are RCR types and the Democrat scores higher on RCR values than RCR candidates.

3. Forget about the lamestream media.
While they will try to pick the Republican nominee like they did in 2008, they will still destroy that nominee and vote for the Democrat, so their opinions are worth less than a possum skin after it was run over by a CSX train.

4. Focus on the grass-roots Conservatives outside California and New England.
The best chance for a Republican victory resides everywhere except the West Coast and New England. As such, those are the Primary and Caucus voters the Republican candidates need to focus on.

5. Don’t be “me, too” to the Democrat or RCR position. Provide a true contrast in agendas.
Too many people see the two Party monstrosities as basically the same thing. Six of one, half a dozen of another. Provide a true difference from the “government owns and rules all” Democrats and RCRs. As Reagan proved, and the TEA Party groups demand, this is the winning hand. A return to what made America great is what the people demand, not a “me, too” Aristocracy and continued government dominance over every aspect of Americans’ lives.

Note to you RCRs out there: Be warned, you are on your way out of grace. This includes Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Karl “Tokyo” Rove, and others.

What Those Self-Proclaimed Right Wing Extremist™ Blogs Are Saying

Since the radical Leftist government wants to keep track of Right Wing Extremist™ activities, I figured I’d help them out. Here are some of the things the Self-Proclaimed Right Wing Extremist™ blogs are saying:

Beers with Demo on Indiana eradicating the US Fourth Amendment:

One gets the sense that the ruling views the 4th amendment as somewhat anachronistic in that the threat of brutish red coats violating the sovereignty of our property is long past and that any apparent violations can be addressed in the refined civility of the court room. There may no longer be any red coats but we don’t see how that is justification for relaxing our guard against tyranny via the unwarranted search and seizure of our property by the government or anyone else for that matter.

Common Sense Political Thought on more of Socialist Noam Chomsky’s idiocy (this time regarding the Islamic Terrorist bin Laden):

He could have been shot in the back of the head without it being “execution-style,” if he happened to turn around in fear. But, quite frankly, if the SEALs had him down on his knees, and did shoot him in the back of the head, it was absolutely the right thing to do. Capturing him alive, and bringing him to the United States or anywhere else for trial would have led to years of outlandish legal actions and provided the impetus for God only knows how many terrorist kidnappings and attacks in “exchange” for the captured al Qaeda leader.

Head Noises on Herman Cain and Israel (that she cross-posted here at my behest):

“The Palestinian right of return” is NOT an explanation when someone responds “right of return?”
I thought the interviewer had at least said something like “the ability for those Palestinians who use to live in the land that is now Israel to return to Israel.” Sure, the interviewer explained it a little more afterwards, and Cain reiterated that IT IS UP TO ISRAEL. Not seeing a big problem, there, if one ignores the automatic baggage. Anybody with some unbiased brain power knows that Israel, left to her own choices, is pretty good at surviving.

The Other McCain on AP’s disgraceful radically left-weighted polling:

‘That’s Not a Poll That’s Psy-Ops!’

So says Da Tech Guy about an Associated Press poll that surveyed nearly twice as many Democrats (35%) as Republicans (18%). You will perhaps not be surprised that this poll shows Obama with a 63% approval rating.

Speaking of “psy-ops” — psychological warfare — let me explain something: Nothing so sways the independent voter as bandwagon psychology.

On to those Right Wing Extremist™ blogs who are not self-proclaimed but just trying to hide it…

The Liberator Today discusses the TEA Party and Presidential Issues (and I’m not in full agreement, and that’s obvious when you read the article).

Michelle Malkin writes about consummate insider and Statist Republican Newt Gringrich trying to make like an outsider.

The Wintery Knight pushes for a Michele Bachmann Presidential candidacy.

Caffeinated Thoughts explains why same-sex marriage is not a civil rights issue.

Secondhand Smoke discusses the ObamaNation threatening to cut off Indiana’s poor from Medicaid since Indiana cut off the abortion mill Planned Parenthood.

There, I think I helped the radical Leftist government keep track of the Right Wing Extremist™ blogs enough… and helped sane people realize what’s going on with the radical Leftist, America-hating ObamaNation Administration of late.

Outstanding, Marine!

Sergeant Thomas Brooks, I have two words for you: Semper Fi. You should be proud of your fiancee as she is of you.

And visitors should click through to the Hot Air article.

The Armed Forces Foundation is doing a wonderful job. And various businesses’ aiding the AFF should be commended as well.

Comment Rescue: JudgeRight on Liberal Racism And Historical Revisionism

JudgeRight posted a comment on my article Liberal Racism And Historical Revisionism which I believe deserves a second look. As he was commenting on a new (to him) site, he didn’t make use of paragraph breaks (Some sites don’t allow for paragraph breaks. Crazy but true.) but his words rang true then and still ring true now. And with everything going on in the world and in the US, his words should be seen again. And that’s why I’m posting them now.

Its painfully obvious to me, John that Ben is religiously Liberal Democrat. No evidence will suffice for him. It was Zo from Zonation now on PJTV which turned me on to the correct history of civil rights. With a little deeper study, I learned the first black representative serving in Congress was in 1822 long before the Civil War. Blacks have a proud history of service in the United States Government and all were Republican because the Democrats initiated the KKK as an organization to assassinate Republicans who supported the black inclusion in American culture on equal basis. Since all blacks were Republican, they were easier to identify and thus, the plethora of evidence of persecution against the blacks was by Democrats. However, the Democrats created cards with names and addresses as well as pictures of prominent Republicans they wanted targeted by those KKK members. The more you know, the more you distrust liberals. The uninvolved, uninformed, uninterested voter is the most dangerous element in American culture today. I have learned everything I thought I knew about everything was a pack of lies. Jesus did not mean for Christians never to use their judgment. America is not an imperialist, expansionist, genocidal, culture and government. Anti-religion forces shed vastly more blood over the 20th century than all the religions combined over the rest of history. The Crusades did involve terrible abuses, particularly of Jews, however they were preceded by 400 years of Islamic murderous aggression in Christian lands and thus was a defensive endeavor. Creation has better evidential scientific support than evolution. Palestinians are Arab and are refugees not because of Israel but because of Arabs. You should never accept even expert advice without skepticism. Appeasing a bully makes the bully meaner and bolder. Appeasing a despot or a genocidal maniac or even a junk yard dog is no different. Sometimes, fighting (war) is the only answer. Work is ennobling, business is not inherently evil, government is inherently evil. And thousands of other liberal reversal nuggets.

Truth Before Dishonor + Facebook

I have now created a Truth Before Dishonor page on Facebook to go along with my NetworkedBlogs syndication. Hopefully I’ll learn something so I can make my TBD FB page remotely presentable. Or maybe not.

Anyway, I hope you “like” my FB page and I hope I can fix it up sometime.

Herman Cain and Israel

…I’m not seeing the big problem.

Here’s the quote, at the location I read it:

“I don’t think Israel has any problem with Palestinians’ returning,”

Don’t think like a politician, think like a normal human who didn’t know what all the baggage involved in “right of return” might be, not being familiar with the term itself.

I KNOW that Israel doesn’t have a problem with Palestinians being in Israel, and I’m guessing that they care more about “are you a freaking psycho who wants to kill us?” than “did your ancestors ever live in the area” or even “were your ancestors at any level among those who attacked our nation?”

It’s the same trick used for “are you pro-choice?” or “do you want to protect the environment?” or even “do you believe in global warming?”

Heck, I don’t even like talking about “Palestinians” as some kind of racial group— a quasi-national-regional-political one?  OK, even though it goes back to the Romans being blankers to the Jews, which isn’t really odd.

I’d guess Mr. Cain doesn’t know enough to respond “how about letting the Palestinians return to their home nations like Jordan?” or any other really cool response.

Heh, while checking to see if there was a video of the answer like I remembered, I noticed that I’m not the only one who took the answer this way.

K, watched the video.

“The Palestinian right of return” is NOT an explanation when someone responds “right of return?”
I thought the interviewer had at least said something like “the ability for those Palestinians who use to live in the land that is now Israel to return to Israel.”  Sure, the interviewer explained it a little more afterwards, and Cain reiterated that IT IS UP TO ISRAEL. Not seeing a big problem, there, if one ignores the automatic baggage.  Anybody with some unbiased brain power knows that Israel, left to her own choices, is pretty good at surviving.

I know that I’d love to see the refugee camps gone.

Real important part of his quote: “It is up to Israel to determine what they will accept.”

Of course, I’m fond of this– from the primary source, the page for the Fox News interview:

Cain was asked what he’d give the Palestinian’s in a peace deal. He replied, “Nothing. Because I’m not convinced that the Palestinians are really interested in peace… if we look at history, it has been clear that the Palestinians have always wanted to push Israelis and push Israel for more and more and more.”

Come on, folks, don’t let people spin this into a story instead of a report.

Rather annoyed that Ms. Berlinski apparently got all that from a second or third hand source that couldn’t be bothered to link to even where the video would be. (The Commentary piece was posted at 9:19AM, no time zone listed; the Fox page I linked was put up at 11:16AM ET; it looks like Commentary is Pacific, but I don’t care enough to support that solidly.)

On the off hand, I’m laughing a bit because it’s WAY smaller than Daniels’ “truce” thing, with far less polish involved… and it sure seems like a bunch of angry Daniels fans are jumping on it, though that may be a bit of bias on my part.  Only good salad bar I’ve ever had at a pizza place– let alone one aimed at families– was at a Godfather’s.
(Very late flight, my mom came to pick me up, and there was NOTHING open besides that anywhere near the motel–  it was good enough that mom even enjoyed it.)

[Edit by JH] Cross-posted on Head Noises

Senate Democrats To Ignore Federal Law

From Power Line:

Reid confirmed on Thursday that the Democrats have no intention of giving the American people a plan to stave off fiscal disaster

That’s right, the Senate Democrats have no intention of breaking with their most recent tradition of ignoring the Law that states they need to have an annual budget. The Democrats have staked their illegal and unconstitutional position. Now, we need Common Sense Constitutional Conservatives to go in and clean up the mess the Democrats and Big Government Republicans made. And to do that, we’ll once again have to bypass the RNC, NRSC, NRCC just like we did in 2010. Our nation’s survival depends on it.

Mitch Daniels Declares

… that he is not running for the Republican nomination for President.

HT Hot Air headlines

From the Los Angeles Times:

May 21, 2011, 11:30 p.m.
WASHINGTON—
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels said early Sunday that he won’t run for president because of family considerations, narrowing the field in the race for the GOP nomination.

“In the end, I was able to resolve every competing consideration but one,” Daniels said, disclosing his decision in an e-mail to supporters. “The interests and wishes of my family, is the most important consideration of all. If I have disappointed you, I will always be sorry.”

The e-mail, sent by the governor through Eric Holcomb, the Indiana Republican Party chairman and one of Daniels’ closest advisers, was confirmed by another aide close to Daniels on the condition of anonymity to avoid publicly pre-empting the governor’s announcement.

While many Republicans considered him Conservative, I personally considered him weak. And I wasn’t alone in that opinion. But the real question now is: Who will his supporters back? I believe due to his Conservative persona, his supporters won’t be backing Mitt Romney but rather another Conservative. T-Paw? Cain? Palin? That’s where I think his supporters will go, further weakening the squish opportunity for a 2008 repeat.