Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Washington Post Admits to Bogus Quote
Subject: txt msm bias bdd - acorn -
Veteran Washington Post reporter Daryl Fears, part of a two-person writer team, unmistakably wrote that filmmaker John O'Keefe had “said” he “targeted” ACORN, the advocacy group, for his candid-camera expose, because it registered voters to defeat Republicans. O'Keefe said no such thing.
It was a non-quote made out of whole cloth by reporter Fears...
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Reid blocks ACORN probe
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Tracking abuse by political allies could be 'distracting'
ACORN -- the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now -- is stinking up Washington.
And this is far more significant than if a suspiciously large number of operatives for a purely "private" outfit had been found systematically bending and breaking the law, because ACORN receives and spends taxpayer money -- lots of it -- and had carried the imprimatur of official partnerships with the IRS, the Census Bureau ... the kind of "cred" that in the political world comes only from "who you know."
And it didn't start with those undercover videos made by a couple of independent filmmakers posing as a prostitute and her pimp - that was just a final shoe dropping loudly enough that the problem could no longer be ignored.
Here in Clark County, Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax said last year he saw
"rampant fraud in the 2,000 to 3,000 voter registrations ACORN turns in every week, with some 48 percent of those forms being clearly fraudulent."
Fox News' Eric Shawn reported there were at least 11 [14 at last count] investigations across the country involving thousands of potentially fraudulent ACORN forms.
Yet none of this was sufficient to block President Obama and congress from increasing federal subsidies to ACORN and 'activist groups' like it from the mere millions to the billions of dollars in their "economic stimulus" bill last winter.
Despite all this evidence and a request in writing by 28 GOP senators -- and despite the fact the U.S. Senate voted 83-7 on Sept. 14 to block ACORN from bidding for any more federal grant money -- and despite the Census Bureau severing its ties with the organization, and the IRS announcing it will begin its own invenstigation, Senate Democrat Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is refusing to hold a Senate hearing on ACORN's activities...
Mr. Reid replied additional investigations might distract lawmakers from addressing more important matters, including health care .
Smoke? Fire? Washington Democratic leaders have opted to just lay low and not smell nothin'.
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Kennedy warns health-care debate could turn violent
[HT:NW]Subject: txt bdd vals libs 1st hcare msm =
U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy fears that supercharged passions fueling the national health-care debate may lead to violence. Drawing on his family’s violent past, the Democratic congressman told roughly 75 people gathered at a private health-care forum Saturday morning that opponents of Democrat-backed health-care legislation had gone too far
[A million-ish 'opponents' in DC Sept. 12 - not one arrest (and the Mall left as clean as they found it).
Yup, they're the problem all right.]
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Stop Allowing The Left To Set The Rules
Subject: txt bdd vals libs - msm -
I am so sick of the Left being allowed to make the rules. Imagine the absurdity of a competition in which one side is allowed to set the rules against their opponent. The Left tells us what is racist. The Left tells us what we can and cannot say. The Left published a cartoon depicting former black Secretary of State Condolezza Rice as an Aunt Jemima; another depicted Rice as a huge-lipped parrot for her Massa Bush. Neither were considered racist by their creators or publishers, or even widely condemned on the Left.
In opposition to black Republican Michael Steele's campaign to run for U.S. Senate, a liberal blogger published a doctored photo of Steele in black face and big red lips made to look like a minstrel. The caption read, "Simple Sambo wants to move to the big house". Not one Democrat denounced these racist portrayals of black conservatives.
The rules set by the Left are extremely clear. Racist images of black conservatives and negative images of Bush are fair game. Even a play about murdering President Bush was called "harmless art". Meanwhile, all unflattering images of Obama are racist, and constitute dangerous, potentially violent hate speech... [snip]
Folks, the stakes are far too high to allow the Left to continue setting the rules of engagement. The far Left and Obama administration have a vision for America different than our Constitution. As patriots, it is our duty to just say, No.
My black 82 year old dad told me he has seen the reports on TV how a lot of people at the rallies want Obama dead. I said, "I bet you saw that on CNN". Dad said, "Yes".
It infuriates me that CNN is selling the lie that the Tea Party Movement is all about racism and hatred for a black president. While my dad never said anything out loud, I thought, "What must he think of me? Why is his first born siding with these evil white folks against a fine fellow black man?"
I replied, "Dad, try watching Fox".
Lloyd Marcus, Black Un-hyphenated American
[The left sets the rules because the major media are left.]
[Highly Recommended ]
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POLL: 59% Say Americans Angrier Now Than Under Bush
Subject: txt 1st othr reps libs crpt =
Fifty-nine percent (59%) of U.S. voters believe that the current level of political anger in the country is higher than it was when George W. Bush was president.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that only 22% think the level of political anger is lower now, while 16% rate it as about the same.
But just 12% of voters nationwide say that the opposition to President Obama’s health care plan and other initiatives is racist, as Democrats, including former President Jimmy Carter, have charged.
Sixty-six percent (66%) of all voters say they’re angry about the current policies of the federal government, including 36% who are Very Angry.
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ABC: ‘Hunted’ Director Subject to ‘Prosecutorial Obsession?’
Subject: txt bdd vals msm -
ABC’s Good Morning America on Tuesday America continued to raise questions about the arrest of Roman Polanski in Europe, spinning the case as a "31 year-old prosecutorial obsession." According to reporter Nick Watt, the film director has "been hunted since 1978."
The network correspondent observed that Polanski "has some powerful friends." He explained, "Movie mogul Harvey Weinstein has released this statement. ‘We're calling on every filmmaker we can to help fix this terrible situation.’" Watt also featured a snippet of actress Debra Winger fawning, "We stand by, awaiting his release and his next masterwork."
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Goldberg on Polanski: 'It Wasn't Rape-Rape'
bject: txt bdd vals msm -
The View's Whoopi Goldberg yesterday offered the most outrageous and despicable defense of child rapist and Hollywood director Roman Polanski yet: "It wasn't rape-rape." That's right. Goldberg tried to claim that Polanksi 
drugging and having sex with a thirteen year old girl, who repeatedly uttered 'no' to the predator, does not qualify as 'actual' rape (video embedded below the fold).
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Polanski Crime Worse Than People Know
Subject: txt 1st othr bdd vals libs -
[Caution: contains explicit reference to sexual acts which may disturb some readers]
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Afghan war not 'US battle'
Subject: txt gwot nsec owg -
US President Barack Obama said on Tuesday the war in Afghanistan was not purely an "American battle" but was a broader Nato mission, as he met the western alliance's chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
"This is not a American battle, this is a Nato mission,"
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Despite pressure, McChrystal to hold firm on request for troops
Subject: txt gwot nsec -
Gen. Stanley McChrystal said he will not back down from his request for additional troops in Afghanistan, even though Democrats in Congress and the Obama administration have been hesitant to embrace it.
Speaking on CBS’s “60 Minutes” on Sunday night, the new U.S. commander in Afghanistan said pressure to rescind that request will have no affect on his actions going forward.
“Doesn’t affect me at all, and I take this extraordinarily seriously,”
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Gibbs Explains Why the President Has Only Talked to General McChrystal Once in 10 Weeks
Subject: txt gwot nsec -
The White House today pressed back against speculations that General Stanley McChrystal is not highly influential in guiding the President’s Afghanistan policy decisions.
White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs in a briefing Tuesday dispelled speculations that the President isn’t consulting with the general.
“The president receives a memo every week from General McChrystal,”[Weekly memos - re: an active war in which Americans are dying.
"Commander in Chief"?]
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Obama has talked to David Letterman more than our Afghanistan commander
Subject: txt gwot bdd nsec -
Perhaps if McChrystal were to get himself a talk show...
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A farcical attempt to paint Israel black
Subject: txt israel owg -
The UN Human Rights Council’s report into the Gaza conflict is a shamefully biased document
In the history of international organizations it is hard to conceive of an institution less fit for purpose than the absurdly titled UN Human Rights Council.
Since its inception in 2006, the UNHRC has included such champions of liberal values as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Cuba. There is no doubting the comic value of such membership.
Analogies spring to mind of Jack the Ripper leading a disciplinary inquiry at Scotland Yard...
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Israel's Reagan
Subject: txt israel msm -
"But to those who gave this Holocaust-denier a hearing, I say on behalf of my people, the Jewish people, and decent people everywhere: Have you no shame? Have you no decency?"-- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
He was blunt.
Direct.
Hearing him, the press corps gasped, literally and audibly.
No, the reference isn't to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recent wake-up call at the United Nations. The man throwing cold water in the face of a somnolent world was Ronald Reagan.
"So, in your discussions of the nuclear freeze proposals, I urge you to beware the temptation of pride -- of blithely declaring yourselves above it all and label both sides equally at fault, to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an evil empire, to simply call the arms race a giant misunderstanding and thereby remove yourself from the struggle between right and wrong, good and evil."[snip]-- President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan made history by his unwillingness to gloss over the hard truths of his time. He told us that
"if history teaches anything, it teaches that simpleminded appeasement or wishful thinking about our adversaries is folly. It means the betrayal of our past, the squandering of freedom."
Today there is one nation, at least, that has a leader who understands this.
That leader would be Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel's Reagan.
[Highly Recommended > ]
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POLL: Most Say Obama Not Tough Enough on Iran
Subject: txt gwot nsec -
Fifty-one percent (51%) of U.S. voters say President Obama has not been aggressive enough in responding to Iran's nuclear program.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that only four percent (4%) think the president has been too aggressive in dealing with Iran, while 38% believe his response has been about right.
Seventy-three percent (73%) of Republicans and 55% of voters not affiliated with either party say the president has not been aggressive enough in reacting to Iran's nuclear program, but 61% of Democrats say his response has been about right.
Eighty-eight percent (88%) of voters are now at least somewhat concerned about Iran's nuclear program, with 59% who are very concerned. Only 11% are not very or not at all concerned.
Voters 40 and older are more concerned than those who are younger.
[If only our schools taught history...]
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Portugal election: Socialists lose majority
Subject: txt sclm -
Portugal's Socialist centre-Left party lost its absolute majority in parliament. Nonetheless, socialist President Socrates has pledged to continue plans to spend his way out of the recession, promising big budget public works projects to stimulate growth as Portugal struggles with the highest unemployment rate in decades.
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Ignoring History
Subject: txt mny intl sclm mny hstry =
French President Nicolas Sarkozy recently said he wanted the nations of the world to stop using gross domestic product (GDP) as the main measure of their economic performance. He wants them instead to work up another metric that takes into account not only economic production but such things as environmental quality and even time not spent in traffic -- a sort of gross national satisfaction index.
France has excellent reason to suppress GDP statistics, say Brian Domitrovic, a professor at Sam Houston State University and author of "Econoclasts: The Rebels Who Sparked the Supply-Side Revolution and Restored American Prosperity," just out from ISI Books:
- Since 1982, among developed nations, France has been a clear laggard in GDP growth.
- In the quarter century following 1982, France's GDP growth rate was a mere 2.1 percent per year in comparison to the U.S.'s 3.3 percent.
- Thus the U.S. grew at more than a 50 percent premium to France per year during that span; when the quarter century elapsed, Americans were one-third richer than the French.
- France lagged Britain, which over the 25-year period grew at 2.8 percent per year.
- Germany matched the French rate of 2.1 percent, but it had a good reason -- a few years in, it had to absorb the post-communist economic basket case that was East Germany.
- About the only thing France can say about its GDP performance since 1982 is that it beat Italy's, which came in at a measly 1.8 percent per year.
France's poor GDP showing over this period was in stark contrast to the 1950s and 1960s, when it had long stretches of GDP growth at 6 percent per year. By the early 1980s, its GDP per capita was nearly that of the United States.
In other words, France achieved prosperity equal to what was enjoyed in America - and then lost it.
There is a clear reason the inflection point was 1982. At that time, France chose not to participate in an international wave and transform its economy with a free-market revolution.
In the early 1980s, Margaret Thatcher in Britain and Ronald Reagan in the United States shed governmental regulations on the economy, cut taxes, committed to not manipulating their currencies, and encouraged global trade.
Their economies boomed...
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Germany veers right - socialists 'slaughtered'
[HT:MM]Subject: txt intl sclm -
This may be a harbinger of things to come or, just as likely, a purely German reaction to the failed programs of the social democrats. Not only did Chancellor Angela Merkel return to power, the pro-business Free Democratic Party increased their share [as is tippling] of deputies in the Bundestag and Merkel will be forced to make concessions to the FDP if she wants them in her governing coalition.
As America veers hard left, Germany and the rest of Europe appears ready to lurch rightward; and how ironic is that?
[Yeah, hilarious.]
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World Bank says don’t take US dollar’s place for granted
Subject: txt mny -
WASHINGTON — World Bank president Robert Zoellick said the United States should not take the dollar's status as the world's key reserve currency for granted because other options are emerging.
Zoellick said global economic forces were shifting and it was time now to prepare for the fact that growth will come from multiple sources...
[We can't ruin our currency through deficit spending (printing!) and expect the rest of the world not to notice....]
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Treemometers: A new scientific scandal
Subject: txt grn -
Since 2000, a large number of peer-reviewed climate papers have incorporated data from trees at the Yamal Peninsula in Siberia. This dataset gained favour, curiously superseding a newer and larger data set from nearby. The older Yamal trees indicated pronounced and dramatic uptick in temperatures... [snip]
How could this be? Scientists have ensured much of the measurement data used in the reconstructions remains a secret - failing to fulfill procedures to archive the raw data. Without the raw data, other scientists could not reproduce the results. The most prestigious peer reviewed journals, including Nature and Science, were reluctant to demand the data from contributors [?!?!]. Until now, that is.
At the insistence of editors of the Royal Society's Philosophical Transactions B the data has leaked into the open - and Yamal's mystery is no more.
From this we know that the Yamal data set uses just 12 trees from a larger set to produce its dramatic recent trend. Yet many more were cored, and a larger data set (of 34) from the vicinity shows no dramatic recent warming, and warmer temperatures in the middle ages.
In all there are 252 cores in the CRU Yamal data set, of which ten were alive 1990. All 12 cores selected show strong growth since the mid-19th century. The implication is clear: the dozen were cherry-picked...
[Again and again, every AWG claim debunked with time - hence the alarmists' demand we act now-right-now; time's not on their side...]
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At the president's pleasure
Subject: txt edu crpt libs reps bdd -
A teacher was told by a 15-year-old high school sophomore that he was having homosexual sex with an "older man."
At the very least, statutory rape occurred. Fox News reported that the teacher violated a state law requiring that he report the abuse.
That former teacher, Kevin Jennings, is President Obama's new "safe school czar."
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Couric Bubbly Over Soda Tax, Fails to Consider Idea Obnoxious to Average Americans
Subject: txt vals lbrty msm bdd -
"It's the most explosive moment for the soda industry since the Diet Coke and Mentos experiment," CBS's Katie Couric quipped of a proposed federal soda tax in her September 18 Notebook video on CBSNews.com.
While careful not to explicitly endorse a proposed one-cent-per-ounce tax on sugary drinks, Couric hinted that taxing sodas could help curb obesity, because, after all,
"some lawmakers say taxes on cigarettes have reduced smoking and raised revenues."
[Do you think this country will ever again ask if extortion is right vs. merely if it works?]
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Undemocratic To Read Before You Vote?
Subject: txt crpt - Iaction It’s
House Resolution 554 would require that all major legislation be posted on the web for public review for a minimum of 72 hours before it could be brought to a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives.
No more dropping thousand-page bills and hundreds of pages of amendments at the last minute barring not only the public but members of Congress from reading the bills -- forcing votes on legislation members haven’t been allowed or given the time to read.
On Friday at the behest of Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Walz sent a “Dear Leader Colleague” letter applauding Pelosi and Hoyer for their “transparency and openness” in the legislative process, as if they’d actually been letting members and the public read the bills before votes.
He said the Walden/Baird resolution isn’t necessary, and asked for fellow Democrats to step into the Orwellian Zone with him and sign the letter in support of Pelosi and Hoyer’s current open and transparent legislative process.
You can’t make this stuff up.
["The most ethical congrress in history."
Hom many insults before people finally fire these folks?
A: When you're dependent on them for benefits, you can't.
Health Care anyone?]
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Silence that idiot box
Subject: txt gdd vals msm bdd - othr -
YOU’RE A prudent parent, and you protect your children from behavior that is needlessly risky or harmful. You don’t let them ride a bicycle without putting on a helmet. You wait with them for the school bus, or drive them to school yourself. You wouldn’t dream of letting them drink alcohol, and if you caught them with cigarettes, you’d go through the roof.
So why do you let them watch so much TV?
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Go East, Young Man (Oh, You Already Are)
Subject: txt cali -
The westward expansion of the United States is over.
After two centuries of westward expansion, with California being a choice settling spot (there was no more continental west, after all), general U.S. migration patterns now are changing.
It seems parts of the West have become what the settlers were leaving: too crowded, too expensive and lacking in opportunity.
The general pattern reversed over the last decade, with the main out-migration occurring in California, according to a study released Wednesday by the University of Kansas School of Business...
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G, B, F...
Sarah Palin Is Winning
I have said this before: There are only two political stars in the country. One is president, the other is Sarah Palin. While the usual political news sources have seen everything going wrong for Palin—scandal, personal oddness, intra-party hostilities, myriad family problems—everything, in fact, has been going right for her.
The Palin plan is working...
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Males become minority on college campuses
The declining number of men compared to women attending the nation’s colleges is a phenomenon that carries profound social and economic implications as comparatively more female graduates enter the workplace.
Experts aren’t really sure why it’s happening....
[Three generations of women raised to believe they're 'incomplete' if they're only mothers and home makers, but our 'experts' are baffled.]
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Out-Foxing The Times
Media: The New York Times, still smarting after losing scoops to Fox News, has thrown in the towel, vowing to avoid future embarrassment by monitoring the cable channel.
We have a better idea — it's called reporting...
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-end 090930 post-
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Iran smolders, Afghanistan burns, and Obama heads to...Denmark
Subject: txt 1st othr intl gwot nsec -
With growing pressure for decisions on life-or-death issues in Afghanistan and Iran, this morning the White House announced that President Obama will soon travel to…Copenhagen.
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Chicagoans divided on Obama's trip to win 2016 Games
Subject: txt fnn othr reps libs - mny 1st -
CHICAGO--President Barack Obama's decision to personally lobby for Chicago to host the 2016 Summer Olympics was greeted with hope and skepticism on Monday, with some in his hometown wondering if he didn't have better things to do.
"The last time I looked we had double-digit unemployment in Illinois and I'd rather Obama dealt with that than jetting off to Copenhagen,"
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Ensign receives handwritten confirmation
Subject: txt hcare 1st -
Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) received a handwritten note Thursday from Joint Committee on Taxation Chief of Staff Tom Barthold confirming the penalty for failing to pay the up to $1,900 fee for not buying health insurance.
Violators could be charged with a misdemeanor and could face up to a year in jail or a $25,000 penalty, Barthold wrote on JCT letterhead. He signed it "Sincerely, Thomas A. Barthold."
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Some States Push to Ban Mandate on Insurance
Subject: txt 1st hcare - cali - In
In more than a dozen statehouses across the country, a small but growing group of lawmakers is pressing for state constitutional amendments that would outlaw a crucial element of the health care plans under discussion in Washington: the requirement that everyone buy insurance or pay a penalty.
Approval of the measures, the lawmakers suggest, would set off a legal battle over the rights of states versus the reach of federal power...
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Wall Street money rains on Chuck Schumer
Subject: txt 1st hcare
Wall Street has showered nearly $11 million on the Senate since the beginning of the year, and more than 15 percent of it has gone to a single senator: Democrat Chuck Schumer of New York.
Schumer’s $1.65 million take from the financial services industry is nearly twice that of any other senator's — and more than five times what the industry gave to any single Republican senator.
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Sen. Schumer to put government option in health bill
Subject: txt 1st hcare -
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) vowed Sunday to jam a government-run insurance provision into the Senate bill he and Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) are readying for a showdown tomorrow with Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.).
If health reform passes, it will require people to buy insurance, and fine them if they don't.
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POLL: Most Americans Do Not Want Health Care Proposals Passed
Subject: txt 1st hcare =
Just 41% of voters nationwide now favor the health care reform proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats. That’s down two points from a week ago and the lowest level of support yet measured.The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 56% are opposed to the plan.
Currently 75% of Democrats favor the plan. Seventy-nine percent (79%) of Republicans are opposed, as are 72% of the unaffiliated.
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Confessed Child Rapist Roman Polanski May Finally Face American Justice
Subject: txt 1st msm bias -
Nothing mitigates director Roman Polanski’s unspeakable crime. Certainly Polanski has dealt with personal tragedy on a scale few of us can understand, but that’s not a license to drug, rape and sodomize a 13 year-old girl.
This may come as a surprise to some in Hollywood, but helming a few cinematic masterpieces doesn’t turn someone who anally raped a child into some kind of tragic hero… In all the revisionist history, the simple fact that Polanski plead guilty to “unlawful sex with an underage girl” is seldom mentioned at the top of the special brand of rationalizations extended to our celebrity class...
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[Meanwhile, in the MSM...]
ABC Touts European Outrage Over Polanski Arrest
"There is a scary America that has just shown its face.’"
Senior Editor on Polanski Rape Case: ‘It’s Mind Boggling Why They’re Still Pursuing This’
Disturbingly, some are up in arms, claiming that - even though obvious after reading her grand jury testimony that the 13 year old was raped, - the incident should be forgotten...
WaPo's Applebaum Excuses Polanski, Fails to Note Her Conflict of Interest
Washington Post columnist Anne Applebaum not only penned a post lamenting the recent arrest of child rapist, she failed to mention her conflict of interest.
Applebaum is married to Poland's foreign minister, who is lobbying for Polanski's release on bail...
LA Times's Goldstein Excuses Child Rapist
Apparently, Goldstein is of the opinion that Polanski has suffered enough for his crimes, and the Los Angeles prosecutors should not be spending precious taxpayer money - a phrase which, in reference to California, causes much mental angst...
.
Reminder: Roman Polanski raped a child
Subject: txt bdd vals 1st othr msm -
Roman Polanski raped a child. Let's just start right there, because that's the detail that tends to get neglected when we start discussing whether it was fair for the bail-jumping director to be arrested at age 76, after 32 years in "exile" (which in this case means owning multiple homes in Europe, continuing to work as a director, marrying and fathering two children, even winning an Oscar...
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Iran tests most advanced missiles capable of hitting Israel
Subject: txt gwot israel -
Iran tested its most advanced missiles Monday to cap two days of war games, raising more international concern and stronger pressure to quickly come clean on the newly revealed nuclear site Teheran was secretly constructing.
Both can carry warheads and reach up to 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometers), putting Israel, US military bases in the Middle East, and parts of Europe within striking distance...
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US: Too Late to Stop Iran
Subject: txt gwot owg -
A top official in the Obama Administration has at last admitted what intelligence agents and Israeli government officials have been warning about for years: Iran intends to build a nuclear arsenal.
In a separate interview with ABC News, he noted that Iran had engaged in "a pattern of deception and lies... from the very beginning," even as it claimed it was developing nuclear power for peaceful domestic energy purposes...
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Gates hints at more Iran nuke sites
Subject: txt gwot islm iran nsec -
Defense Secretary Robert Gates strongly hinted on Sunday that Iran may be concealing other nuclear facilities in the country, beyond the uranium enrichment facility disclosed Friday by President Barack Obama and other leaders at the G-20 Summit.
George Stephanopoulos asked Gates if the newly discovered site is ''the only secret site that we know of.'' After a pause, Gates said, ''I'm not going to get into that"...
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U.S. Is Seeking Tougher Sanctions Against Iran
Subject: txt gwot owg -
The Obama administration is scrambling to assemble a package of harsher economic sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program that could include a cutoff of investments to the country’s oil-and-gas industry and restrictions on many more Iranian banks than those currently blacklisted, senior administration officials said Sunday.
The administration also is seeking to build a broader coalition of partners...
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Medvedev Leaves Wiggle Room on Sanctions
Subject: txt gwot iran intl owg -
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev may have joined the U.S. and other Western powers last week in threatening Iran with tough new sanctions, but he left plenty of room for the Kremlin to break ranks when it comes to making them stick.
Analysts and Western diplomats noted the Kremlin has shifted its rhetorical tone in the past, as well, only to slip back to its traditional opposition to any moves...
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There Are Only Two Choices Left on Iran
Subject: txt gwot nsec owg -
Unless you are a connoisseur of small pictures of bearded, brooding fanatical clerics there is not much reason to collect Iranian currency. But I kept one bill on my desk at the State Department because of its watermark—an atom superimposed on the part of that country that harbors the Natanz nuclear site.
Only the terminally innocent should have been surprised to learn that there is at least one other covert site...
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Two Ways of Buying Time. One Way Works.
Subject: txt gwot -
Defense secretary Robert Gates has been given the assignment of placating the anxious with "severe" new sanctions on Iran. So we are told inferentially in an article by Brian Knowlton in Sunday's New York Times.
In any event, Gates, assures us that Tehran will now be faced with "several additional sanctions," although he certainly can't promise that either Russia or China will be in on the punitive regime.
Although we aren't taking "any options off the table" (by this he means military options), Gates thinks "there is still room left for diplomacy." Less and less room, given the news about the facility at Qom which--shall we say?--blew up in President Obama's face.
But Gates also has taken on the task of pooh-poohing any military option (which, of course, he hasn't taken off the table), blah, blah, blah. Here exactly is what he said: "There is no military option that does anything more than buy time." So there!
This is likely to be the administration's fail-safe excuse for not itself doing anything concrete against Tehran's bombs and missiles. And it will use this rationale also to persuade Israel from defending itself.
But, if it comes to that, Israel is not likely to listen. It has had its own experience with how long the time you buy will last.
On June 7, 1981, several Israel air force F-16s, accompanied by F-15 interceptors, took out an Iraqi uranium-powered nuclear reactor outside of Baghdad. Twenty-two years later--and not for wont of trying--the Iraqis still did not have a nuclear facility, as poor George Bush can tell you.
Yes, Iranian nuclear facilities are more dispersed and more intricate. But Israeli military might (to say nothing of American military might) is also more sophisticated, more intrusive and more capacious than in 1981.
I'd be happy with a 20 years delay in Iranian nuclear arms development, and even in a decades delay. With such a devastating defeat the regime would probably collapse. That's when the diplomatic option might really work.
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What the hell is the point of the United Nations?
Subject: txt owg - gdd -
So the circus has come to town again. The unspeakable Gaddafi is given a reasonable 15 minutes to speak, and goes on for an hour and three quarters of clowning, tearing up the UN charter and talking complete nonsense about swine flu.
Well, you might say, that’s what Gaddafi does.
But why do they let him?
[A: Because the primary goal of the UN, like all bureaucratic organizations, is first-and-foremost its own expansion.
That's how its membership mushroomed from 52 nations at its inception to 193 now - many of which have no business being considered legitimate governments/nations, and nearly universally use it as a forum to spout anti-US 'imperialism' propaganda. ]
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Why is Hillary Clinton giving millions to Gaddafi?
Subject: txt intl libs owg -
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee has written to the Secretary of State calling on her to cancel $2.5 million in State Department Economic Support Funds for Libya - of which $400,000 is earmarked for foundations run by the Gaddafi family...
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Gadhafi strengthens relationship with Chavez
Subject: txt intl -owg -
Moammar Gadhafi and Hugo Chavez are strengthening their relationship and finding common ground as two radical former military men who both want to challenge the ''imperialism'' of wealthy nations and aspire to speak for many poor nations. The Libyan and Venezuelan leaders were expected to meet one-on-one on Monday, although no public events were announced...
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New world economic order takes shape at G20
Subject: txt owg - trade - -
The Group of 20 is set to become the premier coordinating body on global economic issues, reflecting a new world economic order in which emerging market countries like China are much more relevant, according to a draft communique.
Leaders of the G20 developed and developing nations also agreed to make the International Monetary Fund more representative by increasing the voting power of countries that have long been under-represented in the world financial body, said the draft G20 communique obtained by Reuters.
It called for a shift in IMF voting by at least 5 percent, although several G20 representatives said it was a 5 percentage point shift from developed to under-represented countries. Currently, the split in voting power is 57 percent for industrialized countries and 43 percent for developing countries.
The shift would make the split nearly 50-50...
[I.e., another UN-like farce to give bit players disproportionate influence. When will we learn that our participation in these theatrical plays isn't in our interest?]
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G20 Summit Is an Exercise in Colossal Vanity
Subject: txt owg - 50M
International summits are little more than colossal exercises in political vanity. Full of hot air and meaningless photo opportunities they are designed purely to feed the self-importance of the global oligarchy.
Politicians like to see themselves as heroic figures grappling with the world’s problems but in reality are incapable of achieving anything beyond the misuse of public money...
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More Americans Than Ever Say Local Solutions Better for Economy Than G-20
ubject: txt mny owg -
The leaders of the world’s most powerful nations may have agreed late last week to work more closely together to control and protect the global economy, but Americans believe more than ever that the best solutions start at home.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 23% of Americans believe that decisions made by world leaders to help the global economy will do more to help the U.S. economy than decisions made by domestic business leaders.
Fifty-eight percent (58%) say the American economy will be helped more by decisions made by U.S. business leaders to help their own businesses grow. Eighteen percent (18%) are not sure.READ MORE
STIMULUS FUNDS ONLY BOOST NUMBER OF FEDERAL JOBS
Subject: txt sclm bbro - mny -
The $787 billion economic recovery package also is stimulating growth in the federal government as agencies hire thousands of workers and spend millions of dollars to oversee and implement the package, according to government records and spokesmen. For example:
- That's helped fuel the continued growth of the federal government, which increased by more than 25,000 employees since December 2008, according to the latest quarterly report.
- During that time, the ranks of the nation's unemployed increased by nearly 4 million, Labor Department statistics show.
- There are now about 2 million federal workers, the data show.
Stimulus critics such as Rep. Darrell Issa of California, the top Republican on the House oversight committee, say the package has enlarged the federal bureaucracy without making a dent in the nation's unemployment rate, which was 9.7 percent in August.
"The only thing we have seen stimulated by this package has been the size of the federal government,"
[Virtually all voting Democrat for life. Now do we get it...]
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New website can't track paths of federal stimulus grants
Subject: txt mny crpt libs reps -
The goal was to build a reporting system that allows the public to follow the zigzagging paths of dollars awarded under the $787 billion federal stimulus package. A financial GPS of sorts.
But despite federal lawmakers' pledge of transparency, the final stages of most money trails, along with key information about job impacts, will remain invisible to users of the Recovery.org website when it debuts next month...
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Who is doing the governing?
Subject: txt reps libs crpt othr -
With Mr. Obama is constantly on television; frequently on the road appearing at rallies and delivering prepared speeches; submitting to interviews (he has been on 60 Minutes three times in the past six months!); and generally continuing to campaign, it is appropriate for the American people to question who is actually governing our nation?
Could it be the Cabinet? There are 15 members of the president's cabinet, but we hear little if anything about what -- if anything -- they are doing. Could it be our country is run by the 37 (and counting) Czars Mr. Obama appointed who are accountable to only him? -- we do hear a great deal about their ideas for ‘re-making' America. Some notables in the new media have referred to this band of 37 as a shadow government that is free to operate without any scrutiny. The old media certainly is not asking about what the czars are actually doing... [snip]
In effect, the president is back to his old Illinois State Senate habit of voting "present" when it comes to issue after issue. He has dithered on Afghanistan and avoided a hard decision. On health care, he has outsourced political leadership to Senate and House pols. There is still no written health care plan from the White House. Sometimes it looks like nobody is in charge... [snip]
Seriously, he is leaving open the question that someone or some group is doing most of the governing. Unfortunately, delegation of this responsibility is not an available option for any president, and certainly not an option while our nation is fighting two wars and dealing with a serious economic crisis that is still gripping the entire world... [snip]
This question is a serious one and we need to start looking for answers. My fear is that no answer is a good one. A weak president out of touch with the substance of governing, in a world of conflict and danger, would be terrible for our nation. A president with a carefully orchestrated agenda that is rejected by the American people when it is revealed -- so he keeps it hidden behind his personality -- is even more dangerous.
This question needs to be asked until the truth is known and all of the American people can deal with it: who is governing our nation?
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Howard Fineman: Enough TV, Mr. President. How About Governing?
Subject: txt reps libs othr -
How do you know when an extraordinarily liberal politician is failing badly?
When extraordinarily liberal journalists like Newsweek's Howard Fineman not only notice, but are willing to write about it AND get their critique's published.
Adding insult to injury, in Fineman's most recent column, he expressed concern that
"[u]nless Obama learns to rely less on charm, rhetoric, and good intentions and more on picking his spots and winning in political combat, he's not going to be reelected."
Ouch. But there was much more in Fineman's, "The Limits of Charisma: Mr. President, Please Stay Off TV":
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NYT Tries to Deflect Charges of Bias, Announces 'Opinion Media' Editor
Subject: txt msm bias fnn -
The New York Times announced today that it would appoint an editor to monitor 'opinion media'. In an attempt to respond to criticism that it has been too slow to pick up on stories first reported by conservative blogs and talk show hosts, the Times acknowledged poor coverage, but denied a political agenda...
[That's the NYT labeling other sources as 'opinion media' - hyperventilating...]
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Public Editor Admits NY Times Slow on ACORN -- Not First Conservative Media Story NYT's Ignored
Subject: txt msm bias fnn -
In "Tuning In Too Late," Hoyt criticized the Times for its lack of coverage of the juicy ACORN imbroglio, an omission that has prodded the paper into creating a new semi-position.
It's assigned an editor to monitor opinion media and catch stories like this earlier (apparently not a single television at Times headquarters is tuned to Fox News, where they could have 'caught' it quite easily.) [snip]
"The Times stood still. Its slow reflexes -- closely following its slow response to a controversy that forced the resignation of Van Jones, a White House adviser -- suggested that it has trouble dealing with stories arising from the polemical world of talk radio, cable television and partisan blogs."[snip]
This is quite misleading. The Times already monitors new media for story tips. It's just that they only monitor the left side of the blogosphere.
Lachlan Markay provided some stark examples on Sunday...
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Monday, September 28, 2009
Liberal McCarthyism': Whttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhen In Doubt, Blame It On Racism
txt 1st vals msm - '
Leave it to George Will to perfectly explain in just two words all the recent accusations by Democrats and their media minions that anti-government sentiment sweeping the nation is caused by racism.
Liberal McCarthyism.
Fortunately for those not understanding the reference, Will explained further when the Roundtable discussion on Sunday's "This Week" turned to all the recent pronouncements of racism directed at anyone having the nerve to challenge President Obama's agenda:
What we’re hearing is the liberals’ McCarthyism, which is, when in doubt, blame people for racism. Litigators have an old argument: When the law’s on your side, argue the law. When the facts are on your side, argue the facts. When neither’s on your side, pound the table. This amounts to pounding the table.
I have yet to see evidence, is there -- does evidence even intrude in this conversation? Is there any evidence that these people are racists? I think not.
Unfortunately, those pounding the table include so-called journalists who should be exposing the lack of evidence rather than participating in the charade...
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The Unhealthy State of America
Subject: txt 1st vals -
The disdain and contempt that Americans are expressing towards our government have been categorized by the left as nothing more than racist vitriol. The facts behind our discontent are quickly ignored as liberals cohesively race to point out, in a miraculously orchestrated way, what they believe is the true motive behind our actions.
"They don't agree with us, so it must be because he's a black man."
We, honest Americans who wish for nothing more than to be heard and answered, have been pushed to the opposite side of a chasm of division that grows wider each day. No longer is it acceptable to have an opinion-unless it mimics that of leadership. No longer are we encouraged to be heard unless we're parroting the thoughts that will forward the agenda of those is power. Winston Churchill once said that
"criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things."
Will future events be further categorized as un-American fringe activities, or will this administration finally realize that the American body recognizes the unhealthy activities that are-for the moment-causing pain, but that will eventually become terminal and cripple this great nation...
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Truth trumps the race card
[HT:HE]Subject: txt 1st vals -
Did I miss something extremely important in the fine print on our presidential ballots last year?
Was there some fishy legalese in there specifying that if Barack Obama were elected, then I as a citizen, would thereby give up my right to free speech and would have to walk barefoot over hot coals if I criticized any of his policies? Did I miss some dictate down there on the ballot in my Southern state that notified me of my loss of U.S. citizenship in the event that Barack Obama became the first black president?
I don't think so. [snip]
Investors Business Daily enumerated 15 distinct, quite problematic instances of misinformation uttered by the President in his speech before Congress. The Heritage Foundation debunked 10 false claims in the speech. Reason Magazine, a fierce supporter of the President's election, published a column calling it like it is, "Obama's Lies Matter, Too." The not-known-for-racism group, FactCheck.org listed six big areas where the President fudged the truth in very carefully worded ways that seemed intentionally misleading.
Whether one chooses to call these "lies" or "misinformation" probably depends upon one's own proclivity for candor... [snip]
So, the next time some insanely condescending liberal tries to pull the race card from his hand and lay it on the table like it's some kind of cockamamie trump card, be ready and armed with the truth. Because truth trumps the race card every single day of the week.
And that's exactly how MLK envisioned it.
It's all about character.
It ain't about race.
It ain't about race.
Oh, and the establishment media needs to understand once and for all that if they're not willing to be colorblind protectors of the people's right to know, then they will be -- in perfect capitalistic fashion -- moved right off the stage posthaste...
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Hypocrisy In Media's Race Baiting
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In the first segment on the most recent installment of CNN's "Reliable Sources," Kurtz and his panel discussed comments made by various press members last week that opposition to Barack Obama's agenda is being fueled by racism.
Unfortunately, what Kurtz failed to point out was that in two of the examples he gave -- Duke and Gates -- the press's own prejudices and biases caused them to badly get the story wrong.
After all, media members were quick to assume the white Duke lacrosse players were guilty of raping a black woman, and never apologized for their error to the families whose lives were destroyed by their negligence when it was proved she made it all up.
As it pertains to Gates, the old media never questioned whether the President's background, experiences, and prejudices drove him to capriciously characterize the Cambridge police department as having acted stupidly well before he had all the facts.
What REALLY would have been a teachable moment concerning that incident would have been the news media asking America's first black president whether his own biases led him to act stupidly.
Alas, that didn't happen, and Kurtz didn't mention it Sunday.
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The rest of the story...
Subject: txt 1st othr gdd bdd hstry -
Sometimes people ask me why I insist on writing column after column about Barack Obama, or before him George W. Bush, when I am just a small-town editor. The answer is simple. Because I care about what happens to this country.
If you know of anything more important to write about than the takeover of health care under Obama or the attempted surrender of sovereignty under Bush, let me know what it is.
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Obama is stifling dissent on health care reform
Subject: txt 1st hcare -
By: Sen. Mitch McConnell
OpEd Contributor
September 24, 2009
"First and foremost, this episode should be of serious concern to millions of seniors on Medicare who deserve to know what the government has in mind for their health care. But it should also frighten anyone who cherishes their First Amendment right to free speech -- whether in Louisville, Helena, San Francisco, or anywhere else... [snip]
"Let's review: at the instigation of the Chairman of the Finance Committee, the author of the health care legislation now working its way through Congress, the Executive Branch, through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, has launched an investigation into Humana for explaining to seniors how this legislation might affect their coverage.
"One more time: a private health care provider told its elderly clients how health care legislation might affect their lives. And now the federal government is putting its full weight into investigating that company at the request of the senator who wrote the legislation in question. [snip]
"Yesterday my office called CMS to ask for the legal authority that would warrant them imposing an industry-wide gag order on an issue of public concern. We're still waiting for a response. So this morning, I'm asking the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to provide my office with its justification for telling a company it can't communicate with its seniors...
[More, all bad - Recommended > ]
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Obama's best of intentions...
Subject: txt gwot nsec owg -
UNITED NATIONS — For President Obama, the handshakes and hugs during his first visit to the United Nations last week masked a cold reality: nine months into his presidency, he is being forced to retool his most important foreign policy initiatives, from the war in Afghanistan to peace in the Middle East and his diplomatic overture to Iran.
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Iran Nuclear Site Could Pose Test to U.S., Israel Ties
Subject: txt gwot nsec - israel -
Iran's disclosure that it has been building a nuclear site ratchets up already simmering tensions between the Islamic Republic and Israel, raising questions about whether President Obama retains enough influence to prevent Israel from launching a preemptive military strike should Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government turn to its last resort. Polls show Obama's popularity is waning in Israel, where some say his administration is too conciliatory toward the Palestinians.
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Iran test-fires short-range missiles
Subject: txt gwot islm owg nsec -
TEHRAN-Iran said it successfully test-fired short-range missiles during drills Sunday by the elite Revolutionary Guard, a show of force days after the U.S. and its allies condemned Tehran over a newly revealed underground nuclear facility that was being secretly constructed. English-language Press TV reported the Fateh-110, Tondar-69 and Zelzal were test fired in a missile defense exercise, but did not give specifics on range or other details. All are short-range, surface-to-surface missiles.
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World's Cowards Exposed
Subject: txt owg israel - gdd -
WASHINGTON -- It's amazing how simple moral clarity slices through the toxic drivel that has come to define the United Nations. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strode into the world's billion-dollar debating society yesterday and, in calm, deliberate tones, reminded us all of the real purpose for the UN's existence -- so long forgotten... [snip]
Generously, Netanyahu commended those who rose and walked out during Ahmadinejad's speech.
It tells you all you need to know about the UN these days that walking out when a lunatic takes the podium passes for courage.
The only thing more criminal than sitting there listening to the lies and pure hate of these lunatics is standing there idly by watching history repeat itself.
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The History Lesson Obama Missed
Subject: txt hstry owg reps libs -
Much has been written about what motivates Barack Obama. Some suggest he is simply naïve; others suggest he is pure evil. Some look to his socialist upbringing and his narcissistic personality. The one obvious and consistent feature self-evident in speech after speech comprising his world apology tour is Obama's disdain for America. Obama stands with the world's evil-doers in rejecting American exceptionalism. If there was a question about Obama's love of his country, the disparaging remarks on Wednesday about the country he was elected to lead confirm his scorn.
There was no mention of the good that American men and women have done for the people of the world in the 20th and 21st centuries. There was no mention of the soldiers that have fought, been maimed, and died on battlefields across the globe so that people could be free of dictators the likes of which sat in the General Assembly and applauded for Obama. There was no mention of the financial support, the humanitarian aid, or the work of various American not-for-profits that exist solely to help individuals less fortunate the world over. And of course, there was no mention of the international AIDS-fighting campaign launched under George W. Bush, Obama's predecessor who received the biggest bashing in his speech.
But notwithstanding Obama's motives for reaching out to the dictators of the world, Americans must take note of the fact that the lessons of history and basic understanding of human nature teach that irrational megalomaniacs cannot be reasoned with. No matter how articulate America's president, his Messiah-like aura will not turn evil into good, the devil into an angel...
[Recommended > ]
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