Prescience

I recently started reading Joker One, a book about the experiences of U.S. Marines in Iraq. It was written by Donovan Campbell. The last sentence of Part 1 of the book (on Page 59) begins thusly:

But hope is not a course of action . . .

Having read Charles Krauthammer's latest column earlier this evening I was struck by the prescience of Mr. Campbell's words. For they have equally great impact when applied to Barack Obama's [lack of] foreign policy.

Dennis Miller Debates a Wannabe Socialist

Yesterday Dennis Miller had an extended discussion with a fellow on the topic of socialism in America. I took the time to create a 2-part video out of it because I do believe it directly touches upon the heart of what is the real debate going on in America these days, namely what direction should the U.S. be heading?

An alternate title would be: Ayn Rand vs. Karl Marx

Part 1:




Part 2:

Amateur Hour at the White House

Jennifer Rubin reports.

The Rocket Scientists at Berkeley! LOL

Dennis Miller on the O'Reilly Factor

Congress Veers Left on Health Care

Interesting article by Kimberley A. Strassel.

Best comment of the bunch:

Does anyone really believe that Obama will not do what Obama has always wanted to do?

The country that voted him into power does not like what he is proposing? So?? A tyrannical despot does not care as to what the country may think or how it may have changed even if it did vote him (53% anyway) in as President.

HealthCare is the biggest prize for Obama's philosophy - to contain and destroy as much of the productive capacities of the US of A and take away as much personal freedom people may have and place as much control in the hand of Federal Bureaucrats and authoritarians who would control every aspect of people's lives.

Great Insights from Stephen A. Smith

What's Wrong with California is Wrong with America

George Will explains in great detail some of the key reasons why California is bankrupt: in a sentence, public sector greed and corruption is destroying the state. And where goes California, so goes America. :-(

Update: Amy Alkon shares her own personal story of the insanity in California schools.

The Coming Downfall of the American Economy

The Letterman Debacle: Some Positive Signs

As this day draws to a close I'm pleased to be able to report that some semblance of unity is occurring between the Left and the Right in America over a mutual disgust of David Letterman's recent attacks on Sarah Palin and her daughters.

Starting with the Right, Michelle Malkin and Don Surber have provided some pretty stinging indictments.

But also on the Left, I was stunned, in a positive way, to see this condemnation by NOW, which is generally regarded as a fairly Far Left organization. Sure, they balanced it with a criticism of an old Rush Limbaugh crack but fair is fair.

I was perhaps most impressed of all though by the over 200 comments on Uppity Woman's blog. In case you're not aware, she was a big time Hillary Clinton supporter and in no way a Republican. In one of the comments she wrote this:

Rape is rape. And disrespect of women is moving toward rampant in this country, PARTICULARLY among the far far left Democrats. They are the very pigs they have called the republicans all these years. They are caught up in their own irony and have become what they said they despise. They no longer represent the women of America and perhaps they never did, but just pretended so that they could get votes. This kind of behavior against women is growing in leaps and bounds and the young women in this country had better get the point before they find they must start all over again gaining rights they thought were Forever.

How would Dave Letterman like a nice joke about his fugly five year old? I’ll be that’s off limits to him because it’s his kid. Thank GOD he doesn’t have a daughter is all I can say.

Intelligent, decent people have quickly realized that a very scary line has been crossed here. It's not healthy for political discourse or for a country. Absolutely no repercussions have occurred to Letterman yet. I still think he should donate a large sum of money to a Rape Crisis Center or similar organization and even volunteer there for a dozen hours. It would do him a lot of good.

David Letterman's Embarrassing Downward Spiral

When I was a teenager and in my early twenties, I was THE biggest fan of David Letterman. But in the past few years he has continuously embarrassed & debased himself. The latest episode involves him saying that Sarah Palin has the look of a "slutty flight attendant". Then he went on to refer to Palin's 14 year old daughter, Willow, being knocked up by NY Yankees player, Alex Rodriguez. Just imagine if someone with a conservative bent made similar jokes about a female Democrat politician like Debbie Wasserman Schultz or Jennifer Granholm. This would be a front page scandal in the New York Times. The double standard is so blatant.


What kind of MAN makes sex jokes about a 14 year old girl?!? And then when confronted with the error of his ways, he refuses to sincerely apologize.

May I suggest that he should donate $1 Million to a charity that focuses on helping young girls who have been sexually abused. It would be a start to show some actual compassion.

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Update: Victor Davis Hanson shares some poignant thoughts.

Joe Scarborough

I've started listening to the weekday podcasts of Joe Scarborough, a talkshow host, TV personality, and past politician. He has solid conservative credentials but does not come across has arrogant & angry, which more than a few people perceive Rush Limbaugh to be.

He has a very important message for all Americans, especially Republicans. I hope they're listening.

U.S. State Stamps

A few years ago, while I was visiting Chicago, I came across these beautiful stamps at the post office. I just rediscovered them yesterday, still in perfect condition! Do click on the thumbnail image to see the details!

Strange Encounter in Arkansas

Socialist America Gives Bad Advice to Capitalist China

You might think that I mixed up the words of the Subject heading, but it's actually correct. 50 years ago, if someone said that, they would have been deemed insane.

Barack Obama's Cairo Speech

I commend Barack Obama for giving the speech in Cairo, Egypt. You can watch it in full here and read the entire text here. I don't agree with everything he said but at least he has put his cards on the table. This clearly was a much more friendly speech than would have been given by George Bush. The question is, will Obama's approach actually do anything? Here are some reactions hand picked by the BBC.

Now that Obama has shown his cards, here are some questions I have:

• What will governments throughout the so-called Muslim world do in response?
• According to the Left, harmony with America on the "Arab street" should now result. Will it?
  
• Will the rights of Muslim women be greatly strengthened? Even one little bit?
  
• Will citizens be given similar human rights to those we in the West have?
  
• If none of these things occur can we then agree that Obama's approach was naive?

I'll also be most interested to see the reaction from Israel. As I've long said, I believe the Israel-Palestinian situation cannot be resolved because only one side wants peace. Furthermore, I firmly believe that certain dark forces throughout the Muslim world want the Palestinian people to keep on suffering in their squalid conditions because if that were ever to end, it would not suit their political objectives.

More than anyone, I do hope that things improve for the billions of Muslims around the world. But I think it has a lot more to do with them than anything any American President can hope to do.

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Update: Here's a humorous take on Obama's speeches of late.

Obama's National Suicide Plan

Alan Caruba has written an excellent piece, comparing Obama's plans with those that were carried out by Britain's Labour governments (and failed badly, by the way). Well worth a read!

The Prolific Papa

Are you a father with just 1 or 2 kids? That's so lame. In the proverbial Don Juan competition, you are way behind in the race! :-)

P.S. Let's not even get started about yours truly, who's still standing on the start line!

The New GM: Socialist Motors

I'm very disturbed by the news today that the Obama Administration will now effectively be running GM. This is a very bad sign in the long history of American capitalism.

Amongst the strangest of the news of this government takeover is that the person managing it all will be a 31 year-old law student named Brian Deese. His experience in the automobile industry to date is . . . absolutely zero. In fact, I don't actually believe that he has ever worked in the private sector whatsoever. So why is Mr. Deese involved in this at all?

Henry Payne provides some interesting background information on what led up to this day. Hugh Hewitt and his listeners discussed the issue as well.

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Thinking ahead a few moves . . . Barack Obama is clearly staking his future on this plan. I strongly suspect that very few conservatives (which polls indicate constitute 60% of Americans) are going to buy a government made car. So that leaves the remaining 40% of Americans. There will be a HUGE push to get this latter group to buy GM cars.

After all, GM is now the perfect company for the Left:

• Government controlled
• Employing highly paid union workers
• No more "greedy capitalists" at the helm to mess things up

The question is, do you think that the Leftists and Limousine liberals will walk their talk? Will they put their money where their collective mouths are? Will they give up their Priuses and Honda Civics and Smart Cars and Lexuses and BMWs and instead buy GM cars? Obama's future depends upon it.

Michaëlle Jean vs. Sonia Sotomayor

Rex Murphy provides a fascinating analysis.