Tuesday, November 17, 2009
The Holder Decision: Undermining Our Time-Honored Notions of Citizenship
Subject: txt 1st gwot nsec -
Through all the coverage and debate surrounding Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to try five 9/11 jihadists in New York City, one implication has received little attention:
With this momentous decision he has cheapened the value of U.S. citizenship...
READ MORE
Presumed Guilty
Subject: txt gwot nsec 1st -
On Fox News Sunday, Chris Wallace gave Jack Reed, Democratic Senator from Rhode Island, an opportunity to defend the decision to give KSM a civilian trial in New York. After enumerating the many injuries this could cause the country, Wallace asked Reed for one advantage Attorney General Holder’s decision might bring.
Reed, well known as a talking head for the White House, said that such a trial will
“stand as a symbol in the world of something different than what the terrorists represent.”
This administration is obsessed with American guilt–so ambivalent about our country’s intrinsic meaning that it feels it must invent a new symbolism to convince the rest of the world that we are a good and decent nation.
Other countries may be on the fence about whether we’re all that different from the terrorists, the logic of Reed’s comment seemed to suggest, so we must have a show trial to convince them that we are...
READ MORE
[It has noting to do with fighting terrorism - it's just another opportunity to try the Bush administration and the CIA.]
.
NYT: Trying Terrorists In NYC Will Repair 'Damage Wrought By Bush'
Subject: txt 1st gwot nsec msm -
The New York Times told readers Saturday that Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to try five Guantanamo Bay terrorist detainees in New York City was
"a bold and principled step...toward repairing the damage wrought by former President George W. Bush."
Not surprisingly, while the Times editorial board cheered Friday's decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and others with suspected ties to the 9/11 attacks near where the World Trade Center used to stand, they also took the opportunity to bash Bush:
From that entirely unnecessary policy (the United States had the tools to detain, charge and bring terrorists to justice) flowed a terrible legacy of torture and open-ended incarceration. It left President Obama with yet another mess to clean up on an urgent basis.
The editorial continued:
READ MORE
Senator Obama in 2006: Try KSM in a military tribunal
[HT:LK]Subject: txt 1st gwot -
Breitbart TV dug up this old video of then Senator Obama supporting the idea of a military trial for KSM. Obama's remarks were made during a debate over the Military Commissions Act...
[It's all about a forum to, again, still, try the Bush administration. ]
READ MORE
Senate Committee Postpones Fort Hood Hearing At Request of White House
Subject: txt 1st gwot nsec -
The Senate Armed Services Committee postponed its Monday briefing on the deadly Fort Hood massacre at the request of the White House -- despite calls from some lawmakers to press forward with a congressional investigation into the shooting rampage that killed 13 and wounded 29.
While on an eight-day trip to Asia, Obama called on lawmakers to
"resist the temptation to turn this tragic event into the political theater."
READ MORE
Are We At War or Aren’t We?
Subject: txt gwot 1st -
By banning any talk of a “War on Terror” and bringing through a civilian criminal trial for the mastermind of 9/11, Obama and his fellow liberals are doing their best to whitewash Al Queda as nothing more than common criminals.
This refusal to accept that Al Queda has made war on America, rather than carried out a few lone attacks which we should all get over with, has been at the heart of the Clinton Administration’s misguided approach to terrorism, as well as the ongoing liberal furor over Bush treating Al Queda as an enemy, rather than a bunch of hoodlums who need to be put on the usual legal treadmill to nowhere.
The absurdity of the whole thing is obvious, as liberals propose to take Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a man who is not an American citizen or resident alien and route him into a US criminal court system for attacks that both he and the US government at the time considered acts of war.
[Tell me; how does the criminal justice's deterrence mechanism of retribution work on suicide bombers?
A: It doesn't. They must be interdicted, through intelligence gathering, and expunged before they acquire WMD - their stated goal.
This 'terrorism as crime' nonsense is dangerous - we need conduct this battle as the war it is or risk losing -
Do you really think this administration wouldn't completely capitulate to terrorists with a nuke within our borders?]
READ MORE
What stops mass murderers? A gun
[HT:GG]Subject: txt lbrty gun gwot 1st -
Hasan reportedly had fired more than 100 rounds, requiring him to change handgun magazines several times -- Sgt. Todd said Hasan was reloading again when he shot the suspect.
Why didn't any of the hundreds of Army personnel in the room shoot back, ending his killing spree far sooner?
Because they couldn't.
Among President Bill Clinton's first acts upon taking office in 1993 "was to disarm U.S. soldiers on military bases," the Washington Times points out.
But mass murderers do generally have a harder time of it in Texas, nowadays, thanks to the legislative response to the second deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, which also occurred in Killeen, Texas -- home to Fort Hood.
In 1991, George Hennard drove his pickup through the window of a Luby's cafeteria in Killeen, jumped out and began firing two pistols at the defenseless customers and employees inside, killing 23.
As Jacob Sullum pointed out in his syndicated column in last week's Review-Journal, one customer, Suzanna Hupp, saw Hennard gun down her parents. Mrs. Hupp later testified that she had brought a handgun with her that day but, to her bitter regret, left it in her car as [then] required by state law.
Hupp ran for and was elected to the Texas Legislature, where she was able to win passage of a "shall issue" law that requires authorities to issue a concealed carry permit to any resident who meets certain objective criteria.
Unless they join the Army.
READ MORE
END CLINTON-ERA MILITARY BASE GUN BAN
Time after time, public murder sprees occur in "gun-free zones" -- public places where citizens are not legally able to carry guns. The list is long, including massacres at Virginia Tech and Columbine High School along with many less deadly attacks.
Last week's slaughter at Fort Hood Army base in Texas was no different -- except that one man bears responsibility for the ugly reality that the men and women charged with defending America were deliberately left defenseless when a terrorist opened fire, says the Washington Times.
Because of President Clinton, terrorists would face more return fire if they attacked a Texas Wal-Mart than the gunman faced at Fort Hood, home of the heavily armed and feared 1st Cavalry Division. That's why a civilian policewoman from off base was eventually the one whose marksmanship ended Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's rampage.
Everyone wants to keep people safe -- and no one denies President Clinton's good intentions. The problem is that law-abiding good citizens, not criminals, are the ones who obey those laws.
Bans end up disarming potential victims and not criminals. Rather than making places safe for victims, we unintentionally make them safe for the criminal -- or in this case, a terrorist...
READ MORE
"END CLINTON-ERA MILITARY BASE GUN BAN"
Whitehouse: mailto:president@whitehouse.gov
YOUR Senator: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
YOUR Congressman: https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml
and as always, pass it on...
contact-template.
Islamic Nations Seek Legally Binding Way to Counter Religious ‘Defamation’
Subject: txt owg islm -
(CNSNews.com) – As support wanes for its campaign to secure controversial but non-binding “defamation of religion” resolutions at the United Nations, the Islamic bloc is pushing ahead with an alternative route – one that would carry the weight of international law.
The OIC is now attempting to have a key U.N. panel amend an existing international treaty to encompass supposedly religiously defamatory speech.
Unlike the resolutions, changing the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) to cover religion would be legally enforceable.
The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has for the past decade overseen the passage of non-binding resolutions at the U.N. General Assembly and human rights bodies.
Last week, the most recent effort passed in the General Assembly’s Committee...
READ MORE
Why Does Obama Keep Bowing?
Subject: txt othr reps libs intl -
There he goes again. The president, when he met the emperor and empress of Japan in Tokyo on Saturday gave the typical deep bow expected from subjects not peers. (Snip) Leaders shake hands while looking each other in the eye with a warm smile. That is the proper protocol.
Why is this so important? Why should it matter? Words and deeds are ways in which foreign governments size up their friends and their enemies...
READ MORE
ANSWERED:
Obama In Favor of Free Speech -- In China
Subject: txt intl lbrty -
Associated Press reporter Charles Hutzler was quick to offer glowing coverage of the speech in an article titled "Obama to China: Uncensored Society is Healthy."
The piece emphatically praised Obama's "animated defense" of free speech while completely ignoring the President's own record of attacking news outlets in the States and urging fellow politicians not to listen to talk radio.
Before continuing, readers are encouraged to set down all beverages and reach for the duct tape, for the blatant hypocrisy to come is unbelievably rich:
READ MORE
China applies muzzle to Obama speech
Subject: txt intl sclm china fnn lbrty -
Beijing - Barack Obama championed the cause of open dialogue yesterday in what he had hoped to be the main public event of his first visit to China, but most of mainstream Chinese society may never know. Chinese propaganda authorities appear to have made last-minute decisions to pull internet and satellite television coverage of what had been billed as an unscripted ''town hall-style'' gathering in Shanghai.
READ MORE
Chinese Detain CNN Reporter for Holding Up 'Oba Mao' T-Shirt on TV
Subject: txt 1st intl lbrty -
Chris Ariens at TV Newser reports that CNN reporter Emily Chang was detained for two hours today in Shanghai for holding up a T-shirt depicting Barack Obama wearing a Red Army uniform. "Chang bought the T-shirt at a basement souvenir shop in Beijing and brought it with her to Shanghai as she covers President Obama's visit to the city."
The front of the t-shirt says "Serve the People" in Chinese. On the back, it reads "Oba Mao" in English. The shirts have been seen in Chinese shops for months, but were "banned" ahead of Obama's trip.
When Chang held up the shirt up for a live shot outside a Shanghai metro stop, she was approached by two security guards. She recounted the scene in her In The Field blog: ...
[Note that while screened from western eyes, such items continue to be huge sellers in-country.]
READ MORE
AMERICA LEAVES ITSELF BEHIND
When the United States sits on the sidelines, the rest of the world is going to find its own trading way...
The numbers tell the story:
- At least 266 bilateral or regional trade deals are in force, according to the World Trade Organization, and there are roughly 100 more of which the WTO has not yet been formally informed.
- The United States is a party to only five of the 64 trade pacts that have taken effect since 2005 -- with Australia, Morocco, Bahrain, Oman and Peru.
- Overall the United States has trade deals with only 17 countries including Canada and Mexico under Nafta.
- The EU has struck deals on trade ranging from customs unions to larger free-trade agreements with 40 economies.
The danger is that U.S. companies could find themselves on the wrong side of deals negotiated among other countries, says the Journal...
[No time; health 'care' reforme's the #1 priority...]
READ MORE
Obama Admin. Actuary Finds Unsustainable Status Quo Cheaper than Obamacare
Subject: txt 1st hcare -
One of President Obama's primary justifications for pushing health care legislation has been that the status quo is "unsustainable" because of the skyrocketing cost of medical care in the United States. The way to rein in costs, he argues, is to do adopt the policies that he and his fellow Democrats are proposing.
But a new report by the government actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a branch of the Obama administration's Department of Health and Human Services, has found that the exact opposite is true...
[It has nothing to do with health 'care'.]
READ MORE
FUNDAMENTAL, COMMONSENSE HEALTH CARE REFORMS
Subject: txt 1st hcare -
The Democrats have developed deeply flawed, partisan reforms that expand coverage without fixing any of the system's underlying problems. Unless they chart a new, bipartisan course soon their rush to declare victory will result in a national tragedy
There are several fundamental, commonsense reforms that will cost less, improve health care quality and expand coverage, such as ending the tax exclusion for health care and replacing it with a standardized tax credit or tax deduction:
- Economists from (Obama adviser) Jason Furman to Martin Feldstein know that the tax exemption for employer-provided insurance is regressive (the rich benefit more), arbitrary (why tie insurance to employment?) and drives up health care inflation. [the consumer and the paying customer aren't the same]
- End it -- the largest tax break in the code -- and use the proceeds to expand private insurance.
Expand existing state high-risk pools to address pre-existing conditions:
- Today, 35 states have high risk pools that they use to subsidize coverage for Americans who might go without coverage because they have pre-existing health conditions that make coverage very expensive or unavailable in the individual insurance market.
- Federal dollars should go to states that embrace model high risk pools offering affordable premiums and disease management plans that help keep beneficiaries in better health.
Create real interstate insurance competition through a transparent national market:
- The president and Congress talk a lot about competition, but forcing consumers to choose among three or four expensive government designed plans -- bronze, silver, gold or platinum, stacking the deck in favor of public plans, and hamstringing private insurance isn't real competition. [of >1500 insurance providers, CA residents get to chose from a grand total of six -- 6.]
- Congress should allow interstate sale of insurance, and mandate transparency and standardized coverage descriptions so that consumers always know what they are buying and can easily compare different coverage options.
[Good answers are available {let's throw in tort reform while we're at it} - were the real intent health care rather than health control.]
READ MORE
Devaluing the Dollar by Trashing Private Health Care
Subject: txt hcare mny -
The main driver of the collapse of the dollar is the liquidity provided by the Fed at nominal interest rates, which invites a worldwide army of investors to short the dollar and buy foreign stocks and bonds.
It is not a coincidence that the dollar's decline relative to other currencies and gold has accelerated over the last three months since the health care debate has culminated for the moment in the passage of H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act.
To get a true sense of Congress's irresponsibility, it is necessary to outline at least a portion of the breathtaking scope of what they are attempting. As listed before, the Act is grossly inflationary because it mandates or results in (1) more coverage requirements per person, (2) more people covered, (3) fewer doctors per patient to provide care, (4) more adverse selection, (5) unreformed and unrepentant tort lawyers, (6) sharply higher health care unionization, and (7) less private interstate competition.
Every time Congress spends, or evens threatens to spend, without getting full value in return, they effectively destroy value compared to what might have been and what should have been.
Disrespecting the dollar by trashing private health care will do nothing but destroy one of our truly world-class industries, result in fewer people getting actual health insurance, wastefully spend money we don't have, and invite fraud on a level that will make Fannie Mae blush.
[But it would achieve its real goal.]
READ MORE
Reality Check...
Subject: txt 1st hcare crpt reps hstry libs =
"I'm very pleased that (Democratic leaders) will be talking, too, about the immoral profits being made by the insurance industry and how those profits have increased in the Bush years." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
"Keeping the status quo may be what the insurance industry wants. Their premiums have more than doubled in the last decade and their profits have skyrocketed." Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen.
"Health insurance companies are willing to let the bodies pile up as long as their profits are safe." A MoveOn.org ad.
Source: Associated Press
2008 Industry Profits as % of Revenue
Source: Fortune/CNNMoney.
Wealthiest congressperson's net worth: $168 million (Senator John Kerry).
Mean net worth of a US Senator: $6.64 million, minimum.
Median net worth of a US Senator: $1.06 million.
Source: Time.
.
Going berserk over 'Going Rogue;' Democrats' reaction to Sarah Palin's book
Wow, for somebody who's supposed to be such a political joke, an Arctic ditz and eminently dismissable as a serious anything except maybe a stay-at-home hockey mom, Sarah Palin is sure drawing an awful lot of attention from Democrats and eager critics.
Every few minutes another note from Democratic National Committee operatives and others dropped into electronic mailboxes across the media-verse, helpfully passing on even the tiniest tidbit of negative news about Palin.
One thing is certain: The current crop of GOP leadership, both within and without Congress, makes Benadryl seem like a stimulant. Love her or hate her, that chemistry changes this week with the addition of what's-her-name.
READ MORE
Another Palin Hit Job: Newsweek Cover Claims Former Alaska Governor 'Bad News' for Everybody
Sarah Palin's new book "Going Rogue" is set for release on Nov. 17 and with that will likely come a media blitz of epic proportions. However, based on the cover of the Nov. 23 issue of Newsweek, someone felt a response was warranted.
The wizards of smart at Newsweek took an image from a shoot of Palin that originally appeared in Runner's World magazine for the cover and splashed the headlines, "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Sarah?" and "She's Bad News for the GOP - and For Everybody Else, Too." [no opinionated bias there - move along...]
Mike Allen of Politico previewed the cover in the Nov. 14 edition of his "Playbook." In it, he included these comments from Newsweek editor John Meacham who blamed Palin for Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., struggles with his conservative base in South Carolina. One of those struggles for Graham was his acknowledgment that climate change is a manmade phenomenon in need of a so-called "compromise," And that backlash is somehow former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's fault:"What Obama advisers privately refer to as ‘Palinism' [previously referred to as Reaganism] has created a climate of ideological purity inside the GOP. Pure ideologues will argue that this is a good thing; others like, say, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a close friend of Palin's onetime champion John McCain, think differently. Graham was denounced last week by the Charleston County Republican Party for working with Democrats on issues such as climate change; the senator's office replied by invoking President Reagan's belief that ‘elected officials need to find common ground and work together to solve difficult problems.'" [and where there isn't "common ground", fight for what you believe in {funny how they dropped that part}]
Meacham went on to fret over Palin as a far-right figure and how her popularity has created an environment where "centrist" [rinos] political figures in the GOP aren't willing to work with the Obama administration "for fear of a backlash from the base." [a.k.a. constituents]
Left-of-center sensationalism isn't unprecedented for Newsweek magazine covers. Earlier this year, the brain trust at Newsweek declared us all socialists on their Feb. 16 magazine cover. And as Tim Graham, the director of media analysis at the Media Research Center, said then, "the only Newsweek cover that would be more obviously untrue would be ‘We Are All Objective Journalists Now.'"
READ MORE
Sarah's Resonance
Well according to the recent Public Policy Poll (PPP) she is doing quite well, in fact she is in the lead of all potential GOP 2012 contenders.
Sarah Palin favorability rating among conservative Republicans is 73%, Huckabee is at 65%, and Romney is at 53%. Sarah Palin also has a 45% approval rating among registered independents, which is just under half of their support. Sarah Palin also scored huge among Hispanic voters with a 51% approval rating, with not even a close second among GOP 2012 hopefuls. Sarah Palin also leads among GOP 2012 contenders with the 18-29 age range with 51% having a favorability rating in what is traditionally considered a Democratic stronghold.
In every region in the country Sarah Palin is in the lead against all the other GOP 2012 hopefuls; with 43% in the Northeast, 47% in the South, 50% in the Midwest, and 51% in the West.
How about among GOP “moderates” surely Sarah Palin is not doing well with this demographic, right? Wrong the PPP Poll finds that,
“For the second month in a row we found Sarah Palin as the most popular of the leading 2012 GOP hopefuls among moderate Republicans. 64% have a positive opinion of her compared to 57% for Newt Gingrich, 53% for Mike Huckabee, and 45% for Mitt Romney.”
READ MORE
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
