Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Call PETA!
keep *cough* abusin’ that chicken, Dave
David Brooks has some points about the Tea Party movement.
The public is not only shifting from left to right. Every single idea associated with the educated class has grown more unpopular over the past year.
The educated class believes in global warming, so public skepticism about global warming is on the rise.
[emph mine - e~C]
US Morons believe in Physics.
The educated class supports abortion rights, so public opinion is shifting against them.
This seems to be stated as a cause -> effect phenomenon: it’s not. It’s a clear difference in Values.
The educated class supports gun control, so opposition to gun control is mounting.
Again, stated as a cause -> effect phenomenon. Again, it’s not. And I think Madison / Jefferson / Washington, et al, could be considered “educated.” And they all supported the Second Amendment as an antidote to tyranny. US Morons generally see that point past the distracting flack of “hunting/sporting rights.”
The educated class is internationalist, so isolationist sentiment is now at an all-time high...
Remaining a sovereign nation independent of the veto of Turd World TinPot DickTaters is not “isolationist?”
The educated class believes in multilateral action, so the number of Americans who believe we should “go our own way” has risen sharply.
Self-determination is the definitional of a free nation and a free people. But I guess Brooks would rather we wander about in a cluster, a multi-legged herd beast governed by the whim of the lowest common denominator educated class.
Just a question: what if Marx and Rousseau had stuck with the herd—where wouldja be, then, Brooks?
The tea party movement is mostly famous for its flamboyant fringe.
Consider that a media effect: in my area, the Tea Parties were remarkable for the un-remarkableness of the participants. It was fun to see which ordinary folks from your daily life you’d run into there.
The Obama administration is premised on the conviction that pragmatic federal leaders with professional expertise should have the power to implement programs to solve the country’s problems. Many Americans do not have faith in that sort of centralized expertise or in the political class generally.
Neither did the Founding Fathers. Nor does History. Marx did, though, as did Stalin. And Mussolini who believed that, although he could allow the private sector to own the means of production, the “experts” and “pragmatic leaders” in government really should make the actual decisions for the people.
Mr. Brooks ought to check out how well that worked. And is still working.
Moreover, the tea party movement has passion. Think back on the recent decades of American history — the way the hippies defined the 1960s; the feminists, the 1970s; the Christian conservatives, the 1980s. American history is often driven by passionate outsiders who force themselves into the center of American life.
“Outsiders” The guy at the hardware store, the teacher, the coffee girl, the housewife, the guy with a small machine shop, the lady with the fast-food franchise store, the farmer, the retired folks, the cube-worker, the grocery checker—the Citizens: these are the folks you call “outsiders,” Mr Brooks. To you, who is an insider?
And this person is what the NYT calls its token “Conservative.”
Monday, January 04, 2010
What I found last month
yeah—it’s old
Last month I went down to pay the gubbmint rent property tax bill. As I stumbled away from the mugging I found this tribute to the subtle brilliance of SEIU.
As I paused to snap the pic, I overheard a conversation among county workers about the new $250,000 connection to the internet that just went on-line. As our county is broke enough to close down for 10 days at the end of ‘09, the must have been griping about the price, you’d guess?
Not so much—just griping about the three [3] hour meeting the county felt it necessary to hold to “release the new password”—instead of simply sending round an email.
Suddenly Amish
trend sweeping the country
Apparently the Amish have a built in exemption from the $750 / 2.5% of income fine for not having gubbmint-approved “HellCare.”
Hey! I’m Amish. [yeah—I have a Giant SUV of Doom, tractors, lights, InterToobs—so what? I’m not very good at it—there a law against that, now?!??]
The Amish did not immediately return phone calls requesting comment.
Not Oppressive -- Just Different
now that’s a tag line
Climate Pilots [are] guinea pigs in a Swedish experiment aimed at helping U.S. citizens understand that a lifestyle that curbs greenhouse-gas emissions is not necessarily oppressive, just different. ...
The Climate Pilots program exemplifies the broader dynamics at play in the international climate debate: Europeans impatiently nudging the United States and other countries toward a less carbon-intensive lifestyle.
Hm… “Nudging”... Where have I heard that term before.... Oh, yeah! Regulatory Czar Cass Sunstein’s book on “choice architects” [read the interview]
Sweden’s deputy prime minister, Maud Olofsson, who visited the [Climate Pilots,] Stokeses’ comfortable [Falls Church VA] home in November, told them and the other program participants that their example could change that.
“We are building something new,” she said, sitting at the Stokeses’ dining room table. “You are the leaders when you say to politicians, ‘Now we are prepared to change.’ We want you to be brave when you make decisions. Then they will do so."
Political activism within the COTUS by a head of a foreign government; hm..... If I were a redneck, moron, heatist, ruralite being ideologically stubborn I might think there was a little something wrong with that…
The gap between American and European attitudes on global warming was on striking display during the recent U.N.-sponsored climate talks in Copenhagen. The Europeans had already decided to impose constraints on themselves and were willing to accept them in an international agreement, while the Obama administration, for all of the president’s interest in the issue, was wary of political backlash at home and pushed for a more modest pact.
Aside from the facts, M’am, we ideologically stubborn rationalists do have some allies—*cough*IndiaSouthAfricaChinaBrazil*cough* [yes - another stunning moment in *facepalm*OTUS]
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to finish my breakfast steak and rev up my Giant SUV of Doom, drive it across the yard to my 3/4 ton diesel, start that up and drive it the quarter-mile to check the cows and make sure they’re sufficiently flatulent.
*BANG*
“whaaa?!?”
“There is no smoking gun," [White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan] said. “There was no single piece of intelligence that said, ‘this guy is going to get on a plane.’”
“...There were some lapses. ..."
Yeah… but “the system worked,” ...right?
White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan was briefed in October ...at the White House by Muhammad bin Nayef, Saudi Arabia’s chief counterterrorism official ...
In late August, Nayef had survived an assassination attempt by an operative dispatched by the Yemeni branch of Al Qaeda ... by detonating a bomb ...sewn into his underwear...
But what “counterterrorism adviser” could possibly imagine that some such person might use this ruse to.... oh, say.... just spitballin’, here… get on an airplane?!? “Counterintelligence:” it may not mean what you think it means.
Raising the Level of Discourse
arguments based in a comprehensive understanding of the opposition’s essential points and refuted, fact by fact, tracing each back to its underlying Values
...or not*
OR *clicky*clicky*
*Translation for Moonbats: “Good come-back, Potsie!”
Saturday, January 02, 2010
Precedence
Absence
[Obama - 12/28/09] This incident, like several that have preceded it, demonstrates that an alert and courageous citizenry are far more resilient than an isolated extremist.
[Obama - 1/2/10] “We know that he traveled to Yemen, a country grappling with crushing poverty and deadly insurgencies. It appears that he joined an affiliate of al Qaeda, and that this group—Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula—trained him, equipped him with those explosives and directed him to attack that plane headed for America," ...
“This is not the first time this group has targeted us. In recent years, they have bombed Yemeni government facilities and Western hotels, restaurants and embassies-including our embassy in 2008, killing one American. So, as president, I’ve made it a priority to strengthen our partnership with the Yemeni government-training and equipping their security forces, sharing intelligence and working with them to strike al Qaeda terrorists,"
President Obama has issued a new executive order on “Classified National Security Information” (the Order) that addresses the problem of over-classification in numerous ways… [and] establishing a National Declassification Center (NDC) to facilitate collaborative declassification review among government officials;
The Mayo Clinic, praised by President Barack Obama as a national model for efficient health care, will stop accepting Medicare patients as of [1/1/10] at one of its primary-care clinics in Arizona, saying the U.S. government pays too little.
[Obama’s nominee to lead the Transportation Security Administration, Erroll Southers] ...Southers’s admission that he was involved in a questionable use of law enforcement background data ...
Taxpayer losses from supporting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will top $400 billion ...
Friday, January 01, 2010
Is Precedent Poofter still on VayKay?
cuz maybe someone needs to pay some attention, here
Richard Wachtel, a spokesman for the Middle East Media Research Institute [MEMRI], tells Scoop Deck about a post on a jihadist Web site Wednesday:
The affair with the U.S. Navy began several years ago, when the lions of Al-Qaeda struck the destroyer U.S.S. Cole, in Yemen; now, with Allah’s help, all the American vessels in the seas and oceans, including aircraft carriers, submarines, and all naval military equipment deployed here and there that is within range of Al-Qaeda’s fire, will be destroyed…
“To this end, information on every U.S. naval unit – and only U.S. [units]!! – should be quietly gathered [as follows:] [the vessel’s] name, the missions it is assigned; its current location, including notation of the spot in accordance with international maritime standards; the advantages of this naval unit; the number of U.S. troops on board, including if possible their ranks, and what state they are from, their family situation, and where their family members (wife and children) live; what kind of weapons they carry; the [vessel’s] destination…; the missions it has carried out; the [recommended] way to monitor it around the clock; if its location is changed, define its movements and its route; monitor every website used by the personnel on these ships, and attempt to discover what is in these contacts…; identify the closest place on land to these ships in all directions…; the number of any nuclear arms that might be on these ships, and the extent of the damage should they be attacked; the simplest way of neutralizing these naval units; the newest technology used by these ships; all scientific developments in the area of naval warfare; which naval units are closest to Islamic countries; which naval units are close to Western countries in general; searching all naval websites in order to gather as much information as possible, and translating it into Arabic; search for the easiest ways of striking these ships…“My Muslim brothers, do not underestimate the importance of any piece of information, as simple as it may seem; the mujahideen, the lions of monotheism, may be able to use it in ways that have not occurred to you.”
G-d Bless them, every one. Now—get crackin’! Loose lips…
*scrape*scrape*scrape*
*snigger
Tom Hayden: raaaaacist h8r.
It’s time to strip the Obama sticker off my car.
...To be clear: [ohdearhevins—copy-catting *that* meme??!?] I’ll support Obama down the road against Sarah Palin, Lou Dobbs or any of the pitchfork carriers for the pre-Obama era. But no bumper sticker until the [Afghanistan] withdrawal strategy is fully carried out.
...This is not like the previous conflict with Bush and Cheney, who were easy to ridicule. Now this orphan of a war has a persuasive advocate, a formidable debater who will be arguing for support from the liberal center--one who wants to win back his Democratic base.
rly? Who?
well yeah it’s old—it came from Ace Purple Avenger
A -> B
”...Restoring Amerikkka in Teh Eyes of the World..."
How’s that Hope ‘n’ Change workin’ fer ya, Bambi?
People chant anti American slogans and burn an effigy of U.S. President Barack Obama in Jalalabad
President Barack Obama gets in the car after going to the movies in Kaneohe, Hawaii Thursday, Dec. 31, 2009
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{/if}
