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Politics Archives

May 22, 2008

Redneck Update, er, Red State Update

A few videos from Red State Update....

Catching Up With Edwards, Biden, Huckabee:

Hillary Wins Kentucky, Obama Takes Oregon:

From Red State Update

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July 11, 2007

Humor - Oh, he was serious!

This brings to mind the theory that the apparent collapse of Communism was a plot to lull the West into a false sense of security.

"A Creative Conspiracy Theory," by Bryan Caplan, July 10, 2007

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June 30, 2007

Sourpuss and Bitter Old Man

Through the better part of his public actions since voters in 44 states rejected him, this sourpuss [Jimmy Carter] has helped redefine the term Bitter Old Man. In order to honor that achievement, we have named this prestigious award in his honor.

"Dan Rather Wins 1st James Earl Carter Bitter Old Man Award," GayPatriot, June 29, 2007

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May 04, 2007

Fundamentalism: a manifestation of weakness and not of strength.

As with philosophy, I am not sure whether my efforts to understand Marxism were a complete waste of time, which I could and should have employed better. At any rate, when the Soviet Union collapsed, no thanks to my efforts to understand Marxism, I thought, ‘Well, at least I shall never have to struggle through any ideological nonsense again if I want to understand what is going on.’

How wrong I was! In short order, I found myself reading about Islam, a subject of great interest to scholars, no doubt, for nothing human fails to interest them, and of course also because Islam was the basis of great civilisations in the past, but not a subject (in my opinion) worth studying for any internal or new truths that it might be expected to yield me. No; I found myself reading about Islam because it had suddenly emerged as the next potential totalitarianism.

During my reading, I found myself swinging like a pendulum between taking Islam as a threat very seriously indeed, and not taking it seriously at all. The reasons for taking it seriously were that a large proportion of humanity was Muslim, that an aggressive and violent minority had emerged within that population with apparently very widespread, if largely passive, approval, and that the leadership of western countries was very weak and vacillating in the face of this, or any other, challenge. The reasons for not taking Islam seriously were that, in the modern world, it was intellectually nugatory, that the disproportion in power between the rest of the world and the Islamic world appeared to be growing rather than contracting, and that behind all the bluster about the certain possession of the unique, universal and divinely ordained truth for man was an anxiety that the whole edifice of Islam, while strong, was extremely brittle, which explained why free enquiry was so limited in Islamic countries. There was a subliminal awareness - and perhaps not always subliminal - that free philosophical and historical debate could quickly and fatally undermine the hold of Islam on various societies. Fundamentalism was therefore a manifestation of weakness and not of strength.
. . .
In both Marx and Qutb, the idea is expressed that, under the new dispensation, man will become more human, less animal. Personally, I have always found this kind of thought an appallingly arrogant slur on all the people who have lived before the thinker of it: does humanity really have to wait for Marx and Qutb before it becomes truly human?
. . .
The violent imposition of a socialist and Islamic society is justified in the same way in Marx and Qutb: if people were really free, that is to say suffering from neither false consciousness not jahilliyah (ignorance of divine guidance), they would accept the socialist or Islamic state not merely without demur, but joyously, as being for their own good freely chosen. True freedom in both Marx and Qutb is the recognition of necessity. Everything that prevents people from seeing the truth of their messages is an enemy of real, as against merely apparent, freedom.
. . .
Qutb insists that the triumph of Islam is the only way that what he calls the lordship of man over man will be abolished, just as Marx and Marxists insist that the triumph of Marxism is the only way that the exploitation of man by man will cease.

Marx believed that man once lived in a state of primitive communism which ended with the division of labour. Qutb believes (much less excusably or plausibly) that the first generations after Mohammed lived in a perfectly functioning Islamic society. He doesn’t ask himself, at least not in this book, why it was, then, that three of the four supposedly rightly-guided caliphs were brutally murdered. This is a very odd kind of perfection, to say the least. But, just as the division of labour came and spoiled primitive communism, so did Greek philosophy and other innovations come and spoil the perfect Islamic society. Why perfection should fall apart because of outside influences - could perfection be as imperfect as that? - is a question Qutb does not ask himself.

"There Is No God but Politics," by Theodore Dalrymple, New English Review, May 2007

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April 27, 2007

Guns around the world

Gun confiscation, however, is correlated with homicide--in that gun confiscation is almost always a condition precedent for genocide and other murderous atrocities by government. This was historically true in Turkish Armenia, Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, Guatemala, Cambodia, and Idi Amin's Uganda. It is still true in Ethiopia, East Timor, Srebrenica, Rwanda, Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, and Zimbabwe.

The experience of the Holocaust also shows that to the extent that victims do obtain firearms, they have a much greater chance of survival, even under the worst conditions.

In October 2005, the people of Brazil voted on a U.N.-backed gun confiscation plan, and 64% said "Não."

The confiscation campaign leader later warned his international allies, "First lesson is, don't trust direct democracy."

As Foreign Policy magazine observed in February 2006, the right to arms today "strikes a chord with people of very different backgrounds, experiences, and cultures, even when that culture has historically been anti-gun." Aggressively hostile to the right of self-defense against solitary criminals and criminal governments, today's international political and media elites are out of step not only with America, but with more and more people around the world.

"Are guns all-American? Should we be concerned that so much of the rest of the developed world believes U.S. gun laws are crazy?" All this week, David Kopel and Christopher Lockwood debate gun control. Today, the Independence Institute's Kopel and The Economist's Lockwood address the international view on guns. Los Angeles Times, April 25, 2007

I've heard people say "only in America" in the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shootings. Clearly, though, it's not only in America. Terrible incidents like these have occurred and are occurring in countries across the world, including countries that severely restrict or ban the private ownership of firearms, and countries with a reputation of peace and harmony.

"'Only in America'? Gunning Down a Claim," by Steve Stanek, TCS Daily, April 20, 2007

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April 25, 2007

The Audacity of Hype

Then there's Obama. I like the guy. "Too cool and laid-back to be a really good professor" is how one of my friends remembered him in a conversation we had a couple of months ago. (Our law school class overlapped with his tenure as a law prof/state senator.) I never had him as a prof, but I can picture it.

He's to the left of 87 percent of his Senate colleagues on economic issues. And I don't like that. But what I really don't like is his vacuous "up with people!" message--I'm for new ideas! and against old political labels! It offends me with its inoffensiveness. If you read Obama's 2004 Democratic Convention speech, you learn that the Audacity of Hope is the promise of redemption through presidential politics. Is audacious the right word for believing in that? The idea that the president's capable of righting all the country's wrongs is just about the stupidest thing a person could believe in, and liberals who embrace it forfeit all right to get snooty with creationist yokels. "Intelligent Design" at least seems pretty much nonfalsifiable, whereas presidential salvationism gets falsified just about every day of the week, every week of the year, every year of every administration of any living American's lifetime.

"Least Dangerous Democrat," by Gene Healy, AFF, April 16, 2007

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April 13, 2007

The Great Global Warming Swindle

A Google video via Jim Clark.

I agree with the view that much of the global warming frenzy is driven by those who are opposed to capitalism and hold dear anti-wealth and anti-human philosophies (i.e., death culture). Seems to me that much of the environmental movement is actually a religious movement that combines modern Malthusianism (there are too many people, especially too many poor people), hubris (we are smart and benighted and we can solve it for you ignorant rubes - trust us - and we humans are more significant than, say, the sun), and despair (the danger is imminent and if it weren't for so many stupid idiots we would live in paradise - woe unto us, the sky is falling, etc.).

Also see

• "The Siren Call of Fear"
  
• "Global Warming and Fear Mongering"
  
• "The End is Near! - II"
  
• "The End Is Near!!!!!"
  

And why should the world's poorest people be forced to use the most expensive energy?

James Shikwati (ISIL profile), Inter Region Economic Network,

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April 11, 2007

"The Only Man Nancy Pelosi Won't Meet With?"

Maybe Don Imus too -- someone might ask. But here, from CQ, the president of the United States:

"What the president invited us to do was come to his office so that we could accept, without any discussion, the bill that he wants," Pelosi said at an afternoon news conference in San Francisco to discuss her trip to the Middle East last week. "That's not worthy of the concerns of the American people. And I join with Senator Reid in rejecting an invitation of that kind."

"The Only Man Nancy Pelosi Won't Meet With?" by Kathryn Jean Lopez, The Corner, April 11, 2007

OK to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad (and wtf was that all about?), but not the President of the United States? Ai yi yi....

See "Where in Syria is Nancy Pelosi?" (yes, we know these are photoshopped) And don't miss David Lunde's design for the Summer Olympics 2008 in China

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March 27, 2007

"Dangerous Demagoguery"

If the war in Iraq is such an unnecessary and futile expenditure of blood and treasure as Pelosi et al. have been saying, why not put an end to it?

But to do that would mean taking responsibility for the consequences — and those consequences would be disastrous and lasting. They would probably still be lasting when the 2008 elections come around.

The Democrats cannot risk that. They have taken over Congress by a very clever and very disciplined strategy of constantly criticizing the Republicans, without taking the risk of presenting an alternative for whose results they can be held responsible.

"Dangerous Demagoguery: Everyone sees through it," by Thomas Sowell, NRO, March 27, 2007

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March 22, 2007

Barack Obama is not Tiger Woods

Although the biracial [Barack] Obama is frequently lumped with the multiracial golfer Tiger Woods as evidence of the socially healing power of interracial marriage, their attitudes are quite different. Woods turned down Nike’s suggestion that because African-American celebrities are so popular today, he should identify himself solely as black. He didn’t want to disown his mother. Woods instead calls himself black and Thai, or, at times, “Caublinasian,” in tribute to his Caucasian, black, American Indian, and Asian ancestors.
. . .
[Obama] cherishes every cause for complaint he can discern against white folks. He is constantly distressed at being half-white. Obama says he “ceased to advertise my mother’s race at the age of twelve or thirteen, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites,” even though he surely realizes that his media-sensation status stems from how much white people love highly accomplished blacks who speak with white accents. He wouldn’t be a serious candidate for president at age 45 if he weren’t part black.
. . .
The message much of white America hopes to send to black America by electing Obama is: Don’t Be So Black. Act More Barack. Perhaps this explains why blacks haven’t been all that enthusiastic.
. . .
Obama was accepted into posh Occidental College in Los Angeles, which then had a black mayor, Tom Bradley. But Oxy wasn’t black enough, so in search of a community to belong to, he transferred to Harlem … well, to be precise, to that prestigious university on the edge of Harlem, Columbia. (A recurrent theme in Obama’s career is Power to the People gestures and Ivy League results.)
. . .
Most authors who write about African-Americans’ social problems appear to know nothing--and don’t seem to want to learn anything--about Africans. Our pundits and academics assume that the social history of black Americans traces to that day in 1619 when the first slaves were herded on to that dock in Virginia, but no farther back. We could call it the Black Blank Slate theory.

In refreshing contrast, in Obama’s account of race and inheritance, the continuities between Africa and African-America are clear. Kenya seems like an incipient Chicago housing project, preserved only by its inability to afford the welfare state that has ruined the inner city. His aunt’s Nairobi home is “just like the apartments in Altgeld, I realized. The same chain of mothers and daughters and children. … The same absence of men.”

"Obama’s Identity Crisis: Although he presents himself as a healer of differences, the presidential candidate’s own racial struggle paints a conflicted portrait," by Steve Sailer, The American Conservative, March 26, 2007

Yet an investigation by The Mail on Sunday has revealed that, for all Mr Obama's reputation for straight talking and the compelling narrative of his recollections, they are largely myth.

We have discovered that his father was not just a deeply flawed individual but an abusive bigamist and an egomaniac, whose life was ruined not by racism or corruption but his own weaknesses.

And, devastatingly, the testimony has come from Mr Obama's own relatives and family friends.
. . .
A family friend said: "He is haunted by his father's failures. He grew up thinking of his father as a brilliant intellectual and pioneer of African independence only to learn that in Western terms he was basically a drunken lecher."

"A drunk and a bigot - what the US Presidental hopeful HASN'T said about his father...," by Sharon Churcher, The Daily Mail, January 27, 2007

Rev. Jeremiah Wright - Techonrati

"Obama Disses His Pastor," Get Rid of the DLC blog, March 7, 2007

The Obama Messiah Watch - Timothy Noah, Slate

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March 17, 2007

Barack Obama = Charles de Gaulle?

When Charles de Gaulle paid his first visit to embattled French Algeria after taking power in 1958, he stepped up to the microphone in front of a vast throng of Europeans and Arabs torn by murderous hostilities, stared out at them, and simply announced, “I have understood you.” The crowd exulted. Christians and Muslims alike broke into grateful tears. De Gaulle understands us! What more do we need?

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has yet to attain that level of oracular ambiguity, but his bestseller The Audacity of Hope shows this wordsmith’s facility at eloquently restating the views of both his liberal supporters and his conservative opponents, leaving implicit the suggestion that all we require to resolve these wearying Washington disputes is to find a man who understands us--a reasonable man, a man very much like, say, Obama--and turn power over to him. The politician has elicited such fervor among many white voters that Slate.com’s Timothy Noah runs a regular feature entitled “The Obama Messiah Watch” quoting “gratuitously adoring” articles. (Blacks have tended to be relatively more level-headed about him.)
. . .
Beneath this bland Good Obama lies a more interesting character, one that I like far better--the Bad Obama, a close student of other people’s weaknesses, a literary artist of considerable power in plumbing his deep reservoirs of self-pity and resentment, an unfunny Evelyn Waugh consumed by indignation toward his own mother’s people. He has been hiding out on the bestseller lists for the last two years in his enormously revealing, but little understood, 1995 “autobiography”--a more accurate term might be “autobiographical novel”--Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance.

When Obama briefly surfaced in the media in 1990 as the first African-American editor of the Harvard Law Review, Random House handed him a book contract. Originally, he intended to write a disquisition on race relations, but the puerility of his theorizing discouraged him. He turned instead to writing about what he finds truly fascinating: his relatives and himself.

Obama’s gift for restructuring the past into emotionally and aesthetically satisfying patterns made for an uneasy hybrid of fact and fiction, with composite characters, clearly made-up dialogue, and even preposterous dream sequences. Recently, the Los Angeles Times revealed that the tale of his one triumph during his four years as a young ethnic activist in Chicago--getting asbestos removed from a public housing project--excluded all mention of the veteran local agitator, Hazel Johnson, who might deserve more of the credit.
. . .
Obama has led a fairly pleasant existence, with most of its suffering and conflict taking place within his own head as he tries to turn himself into an authentic angry black man.
. . .
In reality, Obama provides a disturbing test of the best-case scenario of whether America can indeed move beyond race. He inherited his father’s penetrating intelligence; was raised mostly by his loving liberal white grandparents in multiracial, laid-back Hawaii, where America’s normal race rules never applied; and received a superb private school education. And yet, at least through age 33 when he wrote Dreams from My Father, he found solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against his mother’s race.
. . .
Instead, Obama falls under the spell of a leftist black nationalist preacher, Jeremiah A. Wright, who preaches African-American unity through antipathy toward whites. Reverend Wright remains a major influence on the presidential candidate. (The title of Obama’s second book, The Audacity of Hope, is borrowed from one of Wright’s sermons.) Ben Wallace-Wells notes in Rolling Stone: “This is as openly radical a background as any significant American political figure has ever emerged from, as much Malcolm X as Martin Luther King Jr.”

"Obama’s Identity Crisis: Although he presents himself as a healer of differences, the presidential candidate’s own racial struggle paints a conflicted portrait," by Steve Sailer, The American Conservative, March 26, 2007

Rev. Jeremiah Wright - Techonrati

"Obama Disses His Pastor," Get Rid of the DLC blog, March 7, 2007

The Obama Messiah Watch - Timothy Noah, Slate

. . . . . . . . .

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March 15, 2007

Another Irish-American President?

As I mentioned earlier there are those who insist that as Barack Obama is, while of African descent, not of African American descent, he is not black given the meaning of the word "black" in American politics. Indeed, the day after I mentioned this someone claimed exactly that.

Interesting news has reached me though that as well as his Kenyan ancestry, Obama is also, from his mother's side, descended from an Irish immigrant, one who came over to flee the potato famine. There is of course only the most coincidental connection between this news arriving now and the upcoming St. Patrick's Day drinking and vomitfest on the 17th of this month.

Which leads me, at least in the argot of this particular Anglo-Irish family, to be able to prove that Barack Obama is indeed black. For, you see, he is a Protestant, and that makes him Black Irish.

"Proof That Barack Obama is Black," Crooked Timber, March 14, 2007

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February 12, 2007

The End is Near! - II

Why did global population increase so dramatically in the 20th century, rising from about 1.6 billion in 1900 to a bit over six billion today? As Harvard University demographer Nicholas Eberstadt puts it: "Global population increased not because people started breeding like rabbits, but because they stopped dying like flies."

"Our man in science goes to Congress," by Ronald Bailey, February 4, 2004

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February 05, 2007

The Vietnam War divided Vietnam

We always hear how the Vietnam War divided the United States. Odd how few people mention the way the Vietnam War divided Vietnam. I wasn't aware that the war had divided THE WORLD; seems rather chauvinistic, but perhaps people in Namia and Guam and Tibet had bitter arguements over the subject. Anyway, ads in WW2 did not appeal to a yearning for peace. They appealed to a yearning for victory, after which peace would follow. The ads of World War Two were mostly martial, with sweaty stubbed dogfaces, cigars screwed in the corners of their grim-set mouths, dealt the lead. The ad was usually an encouragement to keep fighting so the war could be over and we could have refrigerators again. Towards the end of the war, the ads hinted at the day when Johnny came home – plans would be made, houses bought, appliances ordered, insurance purchased, girls turned into wives with the application of woo, and children produced to populate the new era of peace. But the ads were as cautionary as they were hopeful. Johnny couldn’t come home until the war was won, of course.

"It's four below," by James Lileks, The Bleat, February 5, 2007

"Me travel? ... not this summer Vacation at home." WWII poster

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December 13, 2006

Michigan Civil Rights Initiative

Depending on who you talk to, the passage of Proposal 2 in Michigan last month was either a great victory for freedom and equal rights or a disastrous setback for minorities and women.

The ballot measure, known as the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, attracted little national attention after 58 percent of voters approved it Nov. 7.
...
The initiative's opponents have depicted this victory as the result of white men fighting to retain their privilege. But maybe it's really about Americans taking action to end a regrettable detour in the battle for true civil rights.

"Michigan's Civil Rights Victory: A well-meaning end to discrimination," by Cathy Young, Reason online, December 12, 2006

"attracted little national attention" after it won. If it had lost, it would have attracted a lot of attention...

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October 02, 2006

"How Many Lynchings?"

Ah yes, it is so very sophisticated to step back from the herd, with their silly emotions, and explain with cold, raw numbers why terrorism isn't such a big deal.

But we have a few questions for Dr. Jett:

If there were 600 lynchings a year in America, would they belong in the same category as boating accidents?

If 600 Arab-Americans a year were being murdered on account of their ethnicity or religion, would those who consider that a moral outrage of surpassing importance be "sheep" led by "liars, fools and cowards"?

If gangs of thugs were stalking gay bars and beating to death 600 of their patrons a year, would Dr. Jett disagree with those who consider stopping such crimes a higher priority than banning smoking in those same bars?

Just asking.

"How Many Lynchings?" by James Taranto, Best of the Web, OpnionJournal, October 2, 2006

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July 21, 2006

Moral Authority

The problem with Moral Authority is its antonym, the Palestinian Authority. Does Dean mean the Oslo accords? President Clinton had been in office less than a year. There‘s a reason they’re not the Little Rock Accords: Norwegian diplomats did all the heavy lifting. (Specifically, suspending disbelief about Arafat’s motives, which can throw your back out if you’re not careful.) Does Dean mean the Camp David negotiations, which ended in the bloody second intifada? Details, details. Moral authority, that’s what counts. Doesn’t stop wars, but it makes the bad guys look extra guilty. Ingrates!

"You can’t call this the Arab-Israeli war of 06, since the usual belligerents have declined to participate," by James Lileks, Screedblog, July 21, 2006

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May 18, 2006

Hot Air and Cheap Gas

Look, I don't like paying $60 to fill up my small car any more than anyone else. But we seem to have adopted the idea that we have a right to gas under $3 a gallon. No such right exists. Until the gas hits the tank in your car, someone else owns it. Asking the government to force a gas station to sell you gas at the price you want is like asking them to force the baker to sell you cheaper bread, or the vineyard cheaper wine. That's not how capitalist societies work.

The really perverse thing about all of this is that at the same time they're carrying on about high gas prices, the same politicians are talking about the importance of alternative energy and our "oil dependence." But alternative energy sources will emerge the day they become more efficient and profitable than gasoline.

So long as gas is cheap, gas will continue to be our preferred source of energy. Once gas grows scarce, and consequently more expensive, other fuel sources will become lucrative -- at which point someone will develop them, sell them, and get rich from them.

But politicians can't just sit back and let the market take its course. They need to control things. So even as they're bending over backward to keep gas artificially inexpensive (staving off market incentives to develop alternative fuels), they're giving billions of taxpayer dollars to research and development boondoggles (read: corporate welfare) to find replacements for gas. It's waste stacked on waste stacked on waste.

"Political Posturing on Gas Prices Mostly Hot Air," by Radley Balko, Fox News, May 17, 2006

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May 12, 2006

Duties of Citizens ... or the Rights of Clients?

Leftists who no longer speak of the duties of citizens, but only of the rights of clients, cannot be expected to grasp the importance (not least to our survival) of fostering in the Middle East the crucial developmental advances that gave rise to our own capacity for pluralism, self-reflection, and equality. A left averse to making common cause with competent, self-determining individuals -- people who guide their lives on the basis of received values, everyday moral understandings, traditional wisdom, and plain common sense -- is a faction that deserves the marginalization it has pursued with such tenacity for so many years.

"Leaving the left - I can no longer abide the simpering voices of self-styled progressives -- people who once championed solidarity," by Keith Thompson, San Francisco Chronicle, May 22, 2005

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April 19, 2006

The U.S. senator with today's best voting record on human rights is ... Kansas Republican Sam Brownback

I'll admit my politics have shifted in recent years, as have America's political landscape and cultural horizon. Who would have guessed that the U.S. senator with today's best voting record on human rights would be not Ted Kennedy or Barbara Boxer but Kansas Republican Sam Brownback?

He is also by most measures one of the most conservative senators. Brownback speaks openly about how his horror at the genocide in the Sudan is shaped by his Christian faith, as King did when he insisted on justice for "all of God's children."

My larger point is rather simple. Just as a body needs different medicines at different times for different reasons, this also holds for the body politic.

In the sixties, America correctly focused on bringing down walls that prevented equal access and due process. It was time to walk the Founders' talk -- and we did. With barriers to opportunity no longer written into law, today the body politic is crying for different remedies.

America must now focus on creating healthy, self-actualizing individuals committed to taking responsibility for their lives, developing their talents, honing their skills and intellects, fostering emotional and moral intelligence, all in all contributing to the advancement of the human condition.

"Leaving the left - I can no longer abide the simpering voices of self-styled progressives -- people who once championed solidarity," by Keith Thompson, San Francisco Chronicle, May 22, 2005

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March 14, 2006

Equality of outcomes ... watch your thoughts

These days the postmodern left demands that government and private institutions guarantee equality of outcomes. Any racial or gender "disparities" are to be considered evidence of culpable bias, regardless of factors such as personal motivation, training, and skill. This goal is neither liberal nor progressive; but it is what the left has chosen. In a very real sense it may be the last card held by a movement increasingly ensnared in resentful questing for group-specific rights and the subordination of citizenship to group identity. There's a word for this: pathetic.

I smile when friends tell me I've "moved right." I laugh out loud at what now passes for progressive on the main lines of the cultural left.

In the name of "diversity," the University of Arizona has forbidden discrimination based on "individual style." The University of Connecticut has banned "inappropriately directed laughter." Brown University, sensing unacceptable gray areas, warns that harassment "may be intentional or unintentional and still constitute harassment." (Yes, we're talking "subconscious harassment" here. We're watching your thoughts ...).

"Leaving the left - I can no longer abide the simpering voices of self-styled progressives -- people who once championed solidarity," by Keith Thompson, San Francisco Chronicle, May 22, 2005

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February 28, 2006

"We cannot possibly adjust enough to please the fanatics"

[I]f Muslims do not want their alleged prophet identified with barbaric acts or adolescent fantasies, they should say publicly that random murder for virgins is not in their religion. And here one runs up against a curious reluctance. … In fact, Sunni Muslim leaders can't even seem to condemn the blowing-up of Shiite mosques and funeral processions, which even I would describe as sacrilege. Of course there are many millions of Muslims who do worry about this, and another reason for condemning the idiots at Foggy Bottom is their assumption, dangerous in many ways, that the first lynch mob on the scene is actually the genuine voice of the people. There's an insult to Islam, if you like.

The question of "offensiveness" is easy to decide. First: Suppose that we all agreed to comport ourselves in order to avoid offending the believers? How could we ever be sure that we had taken enough precautions? On Saturday, I appeared on CNN, which was so terrified of reprisal that it "pixilated" the very cartoons that its viewers needed to see. And this ignoble fear in Atlanta, Ga., arose because of an illustration in a small Scandinavian newspaper of which nobody had ever heard before! Is it not clear, then, that those who are determined to be "offended" will discover a provocation somewhere? We cannot possibly adjust enough to please the fanatics, and it is degrading to make the attempt.

"Cartoon Debate: The case for mocking religion," by Christopher Hitchens, Slate, February 4, 2006

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January 17, 2006

What racist party?

We knew it was coming; that is, the attempt to impugn Sam Alito by using the race card against him. You see, it’s a given in Washington, New York, Hollywood, and other liberal enclaves that conservatives are, by nature and philosophy, racist. And conservative presidents, as a matter of course, nominate racists to the bench — Bob Bork, Clarence Thomas (even though he is black, but that didn’t matter), Charles Pickering, Bill Pryor, and, now, Sam Alito. They’ve all been targeted this way.

Ironically, the party that defended slavery in the 19th century and segregation for much of the 20th century is the Democrat party. The governors who stood in schoolhouse doorways were all Democrats. The segregationist senators who filibustered the 1964 and 1965 Civil Rights Acts were all Democrats. The party that elected former Klansman Bob Byrd as its leader in the Senate for a decade was the Democrat party.

These are just some of the highlights of the Democrat party’s embrace of racism. That’s certainly not to say that every Democrat is a racist, or every Democrat during these periods was a racist. Indeed, many fought their own party. Many were involved in championing abolition and civil rights. But that’s not the point. The argument proffered by Patrick Leahy and Ted Kennedy, among others, makes no such distinction

During today’s Alito hearings, Leahy’s smear went something like this: Alito’s membership in a college group, in which an individual member wrote an absurd article about blacks, taints Alito as a racist. This is contemptible demagoguery, no matter how many times the Democrats use it against Republican judicial nominees.

"The Race-Card Fallback Position," Mark Blevin, January 10, 2006

Not to mention former KKK'r Robert Byrd (D-VA) ... "Byrd's KKK Alibi Comes Unraveled"

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January 13, 2006

Hypocrisy all around ...

The mainstream media love it when notable conservatives get caught not practicing what they preach concerning personal behavior. Prominent liberals often pride themselves on being morally superior to conservatives. Liberals don't admonish others to lead virtuous personal lives, but they constantly excoriate corporations and businesspeople for being greedy, racist and/or heartless, soullessly putting profits before people, fouling our environment and shamelessly exploiting one and all. Liberals are adamant about imposing policies such as affirmative action; they declaim the virtues of labor unions and the need for ever-stricter environmental regulations. As this book engagingly documents, however, these lefties are in many respects even bigger hypocrites than are fallen conservatives.

"Liberals' Limitless Hypocrisy," Fact and Comment, Forbes, by Steve Forbes, January 30, 2006

...

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October 28, 2005

"The Siren Call of Fear"

In one sense, the term politics of fear is a misnomer. Although promoted by parties and advocacy groups, it expresses the renunciation of politics. Unlike the politics of fear pursued by authoritarian regimes and dictatorships, today's politics of fear has no clearly focused objective other than to express claims in a language that enjoys a wider cultural resonance. The distinct feature of our time is not the cultivation of fear but the cultivation of our sense of vulnerability. While it lacks a clearly formulated objective, the cumulative impact of the politics of fear is to reinforce society's consciousness of vulnerability. And the more powerless we feel the more we are likely to find it difficult to resist the siren call of fear.

"The market in fear: Politics has become a contest between different brands of doom-mongering," by Frank Furedi, Spiked, September 26, 2005

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October 26, 2005

Leaks

[T]he most fascinating aspect of the Plame affair is the illustration of how information is used within Washington as a weapon, whether offensively to spread a story or defensively to discredit it; whether to build up the credibility of a source or to cast the gravest aspersions on its integrity. Whatever the power of a 2,000 lb smart bomb in the Outlands may be, it is as nothing beside the whispered word, the glimpsed memorandum, the indictment or the leak in Washington DC. That central fact almost determines the dramatis personae. The confluence of the media, intelligence agencies and partisan politics is not only unsurprising in that context, it is almost inevitable. Who else would be involved in the Plame affair except those whose jobs revolve around the processing of insider information?

And although the Fitzgerald inquiry is ostensibly about stopping leaks, no one actually wants them to stop. An amicus curae brief filed by 36 media organizations including ABC News, AP, CNN, CBS News, WSJ, Fox News, USA Today, NBC News, Newsweek, and Reuters, argued that it would be a bad idea to force journalists to identify the purveyors of confidential information.
. . .
Leaks are used to source stories, to start investigations; leaks are even used to track the progress of investigations into leaks. The only thing in the universe more useful than duct tape or WD-40 is the leak. Therefore even those who hope Karl Rove or Scooter Libby are indicted are praying it will be on grounds of perjury or obstruction of justice, lest the whole show grind to a screeching halt.

"Backstage," The Belmont Club, October 24, 2005

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October 23, 2005

The Politics of Fear

All advertisers and politicians use similar themes to "sell" things: sex, fear, greed, envy, sloth, pride ...

Although the politics of fear reflects a wider cultural mood, it did not emerge spontaneously. Fear has been consciously politicised. Throughout history fear has been deployed as a political weapon by the ruling elites. Machiavelli's advice to rulers that they will find 'greater security in being feared than in being loved' has been heeded by successive generations of authoritarian governments. Fear can be employed to coerce and terrorise and to maintain public order. Through provoking a common reaction to a perceived threat it can also provide focus for gaining consensus and unity.

Today, the objective of the politics of fear is to gain consensus and to forge a measure of unity around an otherwise disconnected elite. But whatever the intentions of its authors, its main effect is to enforce the idea that there is no alternative.

"The market in fear: Politics has become a contest between different brands of doom-mongering," by Frank Furedi, Spiked, September 26, 2005

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October 22, 2005

The Heart of the Matter with Miers

In their unseemly eagerness to assure Miers's conservative detractors that she will reach the "right" results, her advocates betray complete incomprehension of this: Thoughtful conservatives' highest aim is not to achieve this or that particular outcome concerning this or that controversy. Rather, their aim for the Supreme Court is to replace semi-legislative reasoning with genuine constitutional reasoning about the Constitution's meaning as derived from close consideration of its text and structure. Such conservatives understand that how you get to a result is as important as the result. Indeed, in an important sense, the path that the Supreme Court takes to the result often is the result.

"Defending The Indefensible," by George F. Will, The Washington Post, October 23, 2005; Page B07

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October 21, 2005

"Let a smile be your umbrella"

Even well-known celebrities generally cave in under the pressure of the moment to conform to stereotype. 'Guilty' or not, they'll fall in line and look guilty for us.

That's what makes Tom DeLay's arrest photo so unsettling to those who want to see the 'mug shot pattern' completed. His smile and calm demeanor is so unusual that it's newsworthy in itself. Simply by refusing to look guilty in his arrest photo, he comes across as a man who's not done fighting.

A smile might not keep you dry. But it's underrated for deflecting a deluge of bad PR.

"Let a smile be your umbrella," mister snitch!, October 21, 2005

Tom DeLay mug shot from Harris County (TX) Sheriff Dept.

Larry Sabato, of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, said the mug shot was the best he's ever seen, noting its similarity to a professional portrait. He doubted it could be used against DeLay politically.

"He's radiating confidence; it may even be bravado," Sabato said. "He was thinking ahead. This could have been a very damaging photo. Instead I think most people will look at this and chuckle."

"DeLay all smiles for photo at booking," by R.G. Ratcliffe and Rosanna Ruiz, Houston Chronicle, October 21, 2005

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October 20, 2005

Global Warming and Fear Mongering

Despite the growth of the fear economy, the exploitation of anxieties about potential catastrophes, the promotion of fear is primarily driven by cultural concerns rather than financial expediency. One of the unfortunate consequences of the culture of fear is that any problem or new challenge is liable to be transformed into an issue of survival. So instead of representing the need to overhaul and update our computer systems as a technical problem, contemporary culture preferred to revel in scaring itself about various doomsday scenarios.

The millennium bug was the product of human imagination that symbolised society's formidable capacity to scare itself. But who needs a millennium bug when you have global warming? Today global warming provides the drama for the fear-script. Virtually every unexpected natural phenomenon can be recast as a warning signal for the impending ecological catastrophe. Nothing less than a complete reorganisation of economic and social life can, we are led to believe, save the human species from extinction.

"The market in fear: Politics has become a contest between different brands of doom-mongering," by Frank Furedi, Spiked, September 26, 2005

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October 19, 2005

"Unleash the Dogs of War?" or the Kitty-Cats of Love?

On his blog, Marshall Wittmann predicts that if Karl Rove is indicted, he will "unleash the dogs of war" against Plamegate prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. "Rove undoubtedly has his operatives in place and prepared to respond if the indictment comes down," Wittmann writes. "The plan of attack has been signed, sealed and ready for delivery at a Fox News outlet in your neighborhood."

"All of the pack that relentlessly pursued Clinton," Wittmann continues, "will kvetch about the 'criminalization of politics.' They will see no irony or hypocrisy in their complaint..."

Now it may be that, if he is charged, Rove will indeed criticize the prosecutor. On the other hand, he might decide, as many defendants do, that there is nothing to be gained by angering the authorities. But whatever happens, we know that, during the two-year Fitzgerald investigation, neither Rove nor his colleagues in the Bush administration have: a) formed an organized crime-style joint defense agreement; b) asserted novel or nonexistent legal privileges; or c) claimed that prosecutors acted unethically or for political reasons. All of that was done by the Clinton defense team in the Lewinsky matter. And all of it was done while the Starr investigation was taking place and before any charging decisions had been made.

"Unleash the Dogs of War" by Byron York, NRO, October 19, 2005

But that wasn't unleashing the dogs of war ... that was unleashing the kitty-cats of love ...

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October 17, 2005

We're All Victims

Political debate is often reduced to competing claims about what to fear. Claims about the threat of terrorism or child obesity or asylum seekers compete for the attention of the public. In this way, our anxieties become politicised and turned into a politics of fear. Health activists, environmentalists and advocacy groups are no less involved in using scare stories to pursue their agenda than politicians devoted to getting the public's attention through inciting anxieties about crime and law and order.

The narrative of fear has become so widely assimilated that it is now self-consciously expressed in a personalised and privatised way. In previous eras where the politics of fear had a powerful grasp - in Latin American dictatorships, fascist Italy or Stalin's Soviet Union - people rarely saw fear as an issue in its own right. Rather, they were frightened that what happened to a friend or a neighbour might also happen to them. Today, however, public fears are rarely expressed in response to any specific event. Rather, the politics of fear captures a sensibility towards life in general. The statement 'I am frightened' tends to express a diffuse sense of powerlessness.

And yet, the politics of fear could not flourish if it did not resonate so powerfully with today's cultural climate. Politicians cannot simply create fear from thin air. Nor do they monopolise the deployment of fear: panics about health or security can just as easily begin on the internet or through the efforts of an advocacy group as from the efforts of government spindoctors. Paradoxically, governments spend as much time trying to contain the effects of spontaneously generated scare stories as they do pursuing their own fear campaigns.

The reason why the politics of fear has such a powerful resonance is because of the way that personhood has been redefined in mental health terms. Increasingly, people are presented as individuals who lack the emotional resources to cope with the challenges of life.

"The market in fear: Politics has become a contest between different brands of doom-mongering," by Frank Furedi, Spiked, September 26, 2005

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October 16, 2005

Mainstream ... Compare and Contrast

Democrats Bill Galston and Elaine Kamarck, both Clinton administration veterans, point out in a recent paper that two thirds of liberals, the dominant force in the party at least in 2004, reject pre-emptive use of military force and want to cut the defense budget, while only one third of the electorate agrees.

"Spurning America," Barone Blog, October, 2005

Press Outraged Over Staged Flagraising

March 3rd, 1945

IWO JIMA (Routers) Controversy has erupted among the press corps in the last few days as news has spread that the now-famous picture of the "victorious" flag raising over Iwo Jima a couple weeks ago was staged. Many believe that, as the huge number of casualties mounted in the ill-fated and pointless invasion of this tiny island, the Roosevelt administration, desperate for a bit of pro-war propaganda, arranged to have the photo taken for dissemination to the world's news services.

It has been revealed that the picture was actually of a "recreation" of an earlier flag raising of a much smaller flag, though even that event has now been cast into doubt by the apparent attempt to mislead the press.

"Press Outraged Over Staged Flagraising," Transterrestrial Musings, October 16, 2005

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October 14, 2005

Paedophile or Loving Father?

It is not simply the big events like Katrina that are subjected to competing claims on the fear market. Imagine that you are a parent. For years you have been told that sunshine represents a mortal danger to your child, and that you must protect them from skin cancer by minimising their exposure to the sun. Then, this summer, a report is published that raises concerns about the rise of vitamin E deficiency among children who have been far too protected from the sun. So what do you do? The fact is that a growing range of human experience - from natural disasters to children's lives in the outdoors - is now interpreted through competing claims about fear.

Our misanthropic reaction to the catastrophe in New Orleans is reproduced daily in response to far more mundane events. That is why society cannot discuss a problem facing children without going into panic mode. Research shows that when viewers see an image of a child on a TV news item, they automatically anticipate a negative story. So a majority of people who were asked to give their interpretation of a photo of a man cuddling a child responded by stating that this was a picture of a paedophile instead of an act of a loving father.

"The market in fear: Politics has become a contest between different brands of doom-mongering," by Frank Furedi, Spiked, September 26, 2005

So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933

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October 11, 2005

"Fear has lost its relationship to experience"

Fear has lost its relationship to experience. When confronted with a specific threat such as the plague or an act of war, fear can serve as an emotion that guides us in a sensible direction. However, when fear is promoted as promiscuously as it is today, it breeds an unfocused sense of anxiety that can attach itself to anything. In such circumstances fear can disorient and distract us from our very own experiences. That is why fear has acquired connotations that are entirely negative.

"The market in fear: Politics has become a contest between different brands of doom-mongering," by Frank Furedi, Spiked, September 26, 2005

So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933

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October 09, 2005

ACLU and Catholic Guy

We saw this image on Don Surber's blog ....

and it reminds us of Chuck Williams' article, "Catholic guy: Who's the establishment here?" ...

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October 08, 2005

"Fear Entrepreneurs"

Throughout history human beings have had to deal with the emotion of fear. But the way we fear and what we fear changes all the time. During the past 2,000 years we mainly feared supernatural forces. In medieval times volcanic eruptions and solar eclipses were a special focus of fear since they were interpreted as symptoms of divine retribution. In Victorian times many people's fears were focused on unemployment.

Today, however, we appear to fear just about everything. One reason why we fear so much is because life is dominated by competing groups of fear entrepreneurs who promote their cause, stake their claims, or sell their products through fear. Politicians, the media, businesses, environmental organisations, public health officials and advocacy groups are continually warning us about something new to fear.

"The market in fear: Politics has become a contest between different brands of doom-mongering," by Frank Furedi, Spiked, September 26, 2005

So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933

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October 05, 2005

Cronyism

Captain's Quarters gets it right:

The GOP knew it had a problem as soon as it got this nomination [Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court], and it still knows it. Harriet Miers has a strong background as a groundbreaking attorney in Texas and a longterm aide to the President. Inasmuch as a nomination to the Supreme Court has no prerequisites other than Presidential approval, she cannot be described as unqualified. However, pretending that she has the highest qualifications for this position insults the intelligence of the people who have consistently supported George Bush, especially those who did so relying on his oft-stated demand for only the best-qualified nominees to this lifetime appointment which has the power to shape so much of our lives.
. . .
If running a law firm as managing partner made Harriet Miers a thoroughly qualified candidate, then Bush had thousands from which to pick -- and I daresay some of those might have shown more Constitutional law energy and experience than Miers.

"How To Tell When A Nomination Has Hit Trouble," Captain's Quarters, October 5, 2005

One of our many concerns with this nomination is: what does a person whose role has been one of giving advice, and doing it so loyally for so long, do when that person must stand on their own? The lack of demonstrated independence is troublesome at best.

Cronyism: Wikipedia | Wordnet | Merriam-Webster

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October 02, 2005

Rock the Vote has an agenda ...Who knew?

No advocacy group has done more to dissuade young people from personal accounts than Rock the Vote. Their talking points and arguments could be mistaken for AARP briefs. Which makes sense, because when it comes to Social Security, Rock the Vote is now working with the country’s most powerful lobby for the elderly.

To get a read on Rock the Vote’s thinking, DOUBLETHINK asked the group’s Washington director, Hans Riemer, a simple question: In light of the demographics and opinion data, shouldn’t Rock the Vote be in favor of personal accounts, or at least be open to them?

No way, says Riemer. You see, privatization is all one big scam. “Young people have been lied to by advocates of privatization and some politicians into thinking that there is going to be nothing there [when they retire] so they’ll go along with a bad deal,” he says. Social Security is “100-percent funded” for 40-50 years. Would he at least be open to allowing somebody from the Cato Institute or the Heritage Foundation to offer a rebuttal to their website? After all, Rock the Vote is technically a nonpartisan organization.

"MTV, The New AARP," by Sean Higgins, DOUBLETHINK, July 28, 2005

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September 29, 2005

Roberts Confirmed

John Roberts was confirmed today by a 78-22 vote in the Senate as the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

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September 18, 2005

No fat in the budget?

Not according to Cato:

At a briefing on Tuesday, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay declared an "ongoing victory" against bloated federal spending. Congress passed $62 billion of spending for Hurricane Katrina relief that will push the deficit back up to the $400 billion range. When asked whether Katrina relief should be offset with budget savings elsewhere, DeLay said "bring me the offsets, I'll be glad to do it."

Cato Institute scholars Steve Slivinski and Chris Edwards have the offsets that the majority leader is looking for. They have compiled $62 billion in spending cuts that would offset Katrina relief in the short-term and create savings to reduce the federal deficit over the long-term.

The attached table (which is also pasted below) lists the cuts and the rationale for each cut. The cuts are targeted at business subsidies, welfare for the well-to-do such as farm subsidies, and activities that should be funded by states and the private sector. The cuts would not affect programs for the poor, and thus could get support from reform-minded Democrats. Many of the cuts were proposed, but not realized, by House Republicans in the 1990s.

"Budget Disaster Looming," Cato News Release, September 14, 2005

Also see "Congress Faces Pressure to Surrender Pork for Flood Relief," by Ronald D. Utt, Ph.D., Heritage, September 15, 2005 ... and here's a list of Texas earmarks to start with ...

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September 13, 2005

Katrina Jambalya

An interesting "Katrina Jambalaya" of narcissism, fakery, ignorance, adolescent and criminal behavior, incompetence, lots-o-money, grandstanding, laziness, finger-pointing, and stupidity is being served up post-Katrina. But this jambalaya isn't just a Creole dish ...

Austin Bay, in "Katrina: Is it all about Cooper?" talks about fakery and moral airs on TV ...

24/7 tv craves drama and emotion — especially easily identified emotions, like anger, rage, fear. Think Greek dramatic masks, the cork or linen masks Greek actors wore in the ampitheater so the audience could quickly identify the character and the emotion.

Did you know slavery has returned to the South? ... or at least bloviation is still there ... baldilocks says this clown, er, slave, Fisks himself:

Man: What I would like to happen? I would like for them to give us at least $20,000 apiece so we can, you know, get our life together. You know, we didn't ask to come on that bus, slave. It's like a slave ship. It's just like, you know, back in history, you know, they put us on a slave ship. They separated us from our family. They did it--you know, just modern-day slavery, you know? Just give us what the f--- we deserve.

You know, like, you know ... you know?

James Taranto (Best of the Web, September 12, 2005) said about this particular occupant of the slave ship: "Looks just like a slave ship, doesn't it? Well, except that on a slave ship, he probably wouldn't have his arm around a white woman."

Taranto is gonna catch hell for that ...

baldilocks later quotes from an email she received:

It was heart breaking to hear their stories on the local TV. One man needed only one more years work to retire, one was a chemical factory worker (hired instantly by a local factory), one worked for the city, I believe one was a merchant, you get the idea. This is the opposite of what the MSM is telling. These are not poor, black, poverty stricken, non working, welfare expecting people. These are black Americans who consider themselves working middle class and who by natural disaster have lost