Celebrating America’s Decline, ‘Waving Goodbye’ To The U.S.A.

January 31, 2008 | Filed Under Business, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Foreign Policy, Islam, Islamofascism, Media Bias, News, Patriotism, Publius Contributor, Security/Safety, Society/Culture, UN, War on Terror, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Through the pessimistically, penumbrous pen of Parag Khanna, the New York Times has declared that the U.S.A. is finished. Yes, we have lost our “global hegemony” and we will find that by 2016, “America’s standing in the world remains in steady decline.” Boy, it looks bad the for the good ‘ol U.S. of A., as far as the Times is concerned. My guess is that the news of our demise is being greatly exaggerated.

So, who is this Parag Khanna to whom the Times has given all this space? Well, he’s a “senior research fellow in the American Strategy Program of the New America Foundation” and guess who this organization is linked with? You guessed it: George Soros. Jonathan Soros, son of George Soros is one of those listed on the “Leadership council.” In fact, the larger portion of the Board members and other associates are journalists and left leaning activists. With a few token and so-called right leaning folks — like Francis Fukuyama and Christine Todd Whitman, neither of whom are conservatives — the Board of directors also sports such well-known names as the leftie Google king Eric Schmidt and Bernard L. Schwartz, the man responsible for transferring restricted technology to China during Clinton’s lamentable years in office.

No wonder Khanna thinks the U.S.A. is finished, look who he hangs out with!

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WaPost Columnist Hates Florida?

January 31, 2008 | Filed Under Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Media Bias, News, Publius Contributor, Security/Safety, Society/Culture, Warner Todd Huston | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

I have never seen, from a supposedly serious media establishment, a more hate filled rant against a particular state in this great country than this screed against Florida in the Washington Post. Granted, writer Libby Copeland has spewed hate filled rants in the past, but this one is particularly mean-spirited. Copeland seems to hate the elderly who’ve moved to Florida, she hates the business community there, appears to scoff at the asylum seekers from Cuba that settled there, and claims that all dreams die there. And what does it all boil down to? Al Gore’s loss in the 2000 election, naturally! At this rate, I’d suggest she not vacation in Florida in the near future after this slam on everything Sunshine State.

Ostensibly, Copeland is using the fact that Florida is seemingly the end of Rudy Giuliani’s road to the White House as the excuse for her evisceration of the state. According to Copeland, dreams are dashed in Florida just like Rudy’s were. She warns us to “Beware of the Sunshine State, Where It’s Easy To Get Burned,” and thinks that Florida’s good days are behind her, stranded in the 1970’s, “since those were the good days for Florida.”

But it is obvious, really, that Giuliani has little to do with her disgust with Florida because he makes such a brief appearance in the long hit piece. In fact, of a 16 paragraph piece, Rudy’s name only shows up in the first and the last two paragraphs. So it’s plain that current political analysis is as far from her mind as can be and that beating up on Florida is her main goal.

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Another Nabbed in Mob Controlled NY School Bus Union Scandal

January 31, 2008 | Filed Under Business, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, News, Publius Contributor, Society/Culture, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

We’ve mentioned the little problem with the organized crime infested New York Transit Workers union Local 1181 a few times here on the Union Label. Well, we can report that another indictment in this growing and embarrassing scandal has been handed down.

Joseph Fazzia, owner of Jofaz Transportation was charged with making false statements to the FBI.

And that isn’t all…

But that union’s corrupt president, Salvatore Battaglia, last week pleaded guilty to taking payoffs and said several bus company owners have made regular payments to his union for decades.

The union has been controlled by the Genovese crime family since the 1970s, helping private bus companies milk the taxpayers and pumping millions into mob pockets.

Prosecutors identified three owners who said they had made payments to the union: Domenic Gatto, owner of Atlantic Express; Ray Fouche, owner of Rainbow Transit and Robert Dimino, owner of Safe Coach.

These companies currently have millions of dollars in DOE contracts to transport tens of thousands of New York City students.

It is a huge embarrassment to the New York Department of Education and no end seems to be in sight yet.

We’ll keep our eye on this mounting scandal and the corruption it reveals.

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What Is Worship?

January 31, 2008 | Filed Under Family, News, Publius Contributor, Religion, Society/Culture, Thomas Brewton | No Comments

-By Thomas E. Brewton

True worship is in every individual’s heart and soul.

Sunday’s sermon at Black Rock-Long Ridge Congregational Church (North Stamford, Connecticut) was preached by Pastor Josh Feay.

His message was that worship is realizing Who God is and giving thanks for what He does for us.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. (Romans 12:1)

Worship is more than the physical trappings of attending church services – music and a beautiful sanctuary.
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Bush ‘Overshadowed’ By Primaries… One More CNN Kick Before He Leaves

January 30, 2008 | Filed Under Democrats/Leftists, Media Bias, News, President, Publius Contributor, Society/Culture, Warner Todd Huston | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Give CNN points for stating the obvious, if points are deserved for such a prosaic report. But, don’t forget that by doing so, it is their gleeful kick in the ribs to George W. Bush and that particular aspect was the goal in the first place for reporting that the race for the White House “overshadowed” Bush’s State of the Union speech. From the headline to the last word of the piece, there is little by way of new or prescient “analysis” relayed in a report half of which delights to say how supposedly irrelevant Bush has become. Proclaiming, Analysis: Bush overshadowed by presidential race, CNN doesn’t give us much by way of thoughtful “analysis.”

Most striking to me about President Bush’s final State of the Union address Monday night was how unsurprising it was. … This is a president who had previously used this same stage of a packed House chamber to dramatically talk about an “axis of evil” to build the case for war in Iraq or to launch massive domestic initiatives like Social Security reform. But this time he offered little that was new or bold.

This is analysis? Bush has less than a year of his term left, what “massive domestic initiatives” could he really expect to “launch”? It isn’t very cogent analysis to observe that Bush’s days of “massive initiatives” are practically over, here. But, then CNN’s Ed Henry acts as though he realizes that his first few lines and his headline are all puffery with his follow up…

In fairness to the president, his hands are fairly well tied as he begins his final year in office. With a Democratic Congress, he’s unlikely to get to very much of his agenda enacted. And truth be told, if he had walked up to the rostrum and outlined 10 complicated new initiatives, I’d be writing today about how unrealistic Bush was being.

OK, so why the denigrating headline and the first few lines that tease Bush for showing how useless he is? Why else but to give Bush a black eye over something even the writer himself realizes is a pointless distinction.

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While The Cat’s Away, The Terrorists Will Play

January 30, 2008 | Filed Under Democrats/Leftists, Immigration/Immigrants, Islam, Islamofascism, Media Bias, Nancy Salvato, News, Publius Contributor, Religion, Security/Safety, Society/Culture | No Comments

-By Nancy Salvato

Now that the present administration’s 150 billion dollar economic stimulus package has caused a substantial portion of the population worry about the economy taking a nosedive and an ensuing recession, there is less incentive to discuss the more immediate threat of securing our borders from those who mean to cause our country substantial harm. While growing the economy is extremely important to maintaining the many comforts to which we’ve become accustomed, an incredibly large amount of damage can come to our economic well being from one well planned terrorist attack aimed at harming our infrastructure.

I recently read a human interest story about a cat that climbed into a piece of luggage. This animal was not discovered while going through security. Worse still, this particular piece of luggage was picked up at the terminal by a person who mistakenly thought it was his own. Upon returning to his house, he opened the suitcase and out popped the cat. Discovering his mistake, he called the owner and returned both the cat and suitcase. While this is a wonderful story about the cat’s survival and the integrity of the person who made good, there was no mention of the bigger implications of an airport security system that clearly failed. Certainly, I am questioning the effectiveness of any and all the security measures we’ve willingly endured since 9/11.
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‘Gun Violence Devastates’ Family… of Drug Dealers, Murderers and Thieves

January 29, 2008 | Filed Under 2nd Amendment, Constitution, Crime, Democrats/Leftists, Media Bias, News, Publius Contributor, Security/Safety, Society/Culture, The Law, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Once again, the faux term “gun violence” is used as if the guns themselves are causing said violence, this time in a Miami Herald story. I have to say, this story by David Ovalle is amazing for the near Olympic grade gymnastics it shows as it twists the “tragedies” of death and casualties visited upon a family in the Little Haiti neighborhood into one blamed upon guns. The story starts off trying to make the reader feel sorry for this family that has seen so many of its members killed or catastrophically wounded by firearms. But as one reads on, one finds that this family is filled with drug dealers, murderers and thieves… not much like a hapless family “devastated” by “gun violence” but more like a bunch of criminals that deserve their fate.

After a headline that whines “Gun violence devastates Little Haiti family,” we get several paragraphs about how this “devout Christian” family is being murdered one by one.

A devout Christian married 54 years, Joe Cooper presides over a family that tallies 10 children, 28 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren…But, bullet by bullet, violence is costing his family.

It all seems so horrible doesn’t it?

The story gives us the body count. Grandson Kelsnic wounded, a cousin brain-dead, grandson Deron killed, Cooper’s son-in-law murdered. What a mess. Those guns roving about Miami are a dangerous gang, huh? Those evil, evil guns must be eliminated so that this poor innocent Cooper family is spared this random horror.

But wait. Innocent?

Several paragraphs down in the story we begin to see that the Coopers are not so very innocent after all.

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How to increase worker intimidation by union leaders

January 29, 2008 | Filed Under Business, Democrats/Leftists, Government, Corruption, Media Bias, News, Publius Contributor, Society/Culture, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Here is a great explanation on why the new card-check idea that the dems are trying so hard to institute as a sop to their union thug pals is so bad: worker intimidation will be increased because of it.

By Lawrence B. Lindsey, Union Leader.com

AS OUR DEMOCRATIC process grinds toward selecting the next leader of the free world, it is also shedding light on the values a democracy should hold dear. Last weekend in Nevada, former President Bill Clinton said he witnessed voter intimidation firsthand. According to Clinton, a union representative was telling workers to agree to caucus for Sen. Barack Obama or expect to get a work schedule making it impossible for them to attend at all.

We all know that things like this happen and that our electoral process isn’t perfect, though it is the best available. One benefit of the secret ballot is that it minimizes incidences of such pressure because those doing the intimidating can never be sure if their threats worked. But in a caucus there is no secret ballot, so these union leaders would be able to tell how their members voted if they participated.

I wonder if, having seen such voter intimidation, the Clinton campaign will change its position on doing away with government-supervised secret-ballot elections for union representation. Under the Orwellian-named Employee Free Choice Act, secret-ballot elections to decide whether a plant is unionized would be replaced with a public “card check” system, under which both employers and union organizers would know how each worker voted. Sen. Hillary Clinton, Obama and former Sen. John Edwards all support this bill.

But a card-check system would offer even more room for intimidation of workers. A union card can be signed by workers at any time during an organizing campaign, which can take many months. Union organizers can pursue workers in their homes, at churches and civic clubs, and at watering holes after hours. Workers’ family members can also be intimidated during this process. So much for a “free choice” for employees.

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Google’s Regulatory Outlook 2008

January 29, 2008 | Filed Under Business, Democrats/Leftists, Google, Inernet, Media Bias, News, Publius Contributor, Scott Cleland, Technology | No Comments

-By Scott Cleland

The big question for investors is why?

Why has Google felt the need to build up a new lobbying operation in D.C. (rivaling Microsoft’s in size) so rapidly and why did Google just unveil, with great fanfare, its new cutting-edge office space in DC with a party that attracted 650 people and many VIPs?

What does Google know that investors may not?

Google’s Regulatory Outlook

Federal Trade Commission:

Antitrust:

In gaining the 4-1 FTC approval of the DoubleClick acquisition, Google earned a probationary warning from the FTC: “We want to be clear however, that we will closely watch these markets and, should Google engage in unlawful tying or other anti-competitive conduct, the Commission intends to act quickly.”
Both the Democratic Chair and Ranking Republican of the Senate Judiciary Committee overseeing the FTC now believe: “Antitrust regulators need to be wary to guard against the creation of a powerful Internet conglomerate able to extend its market power in one market to adjacent markets, to the detriment of competition and consumers.”
Many in Washington now fear Google may be becoming the next Microsoft.
The EU still must approve the Google-Doubleclick merger by spring. Google’s market concentration is much greater in Europe than in the US and the EU has much more legal latitude to block or condition a merger than the FTC does. The EU approval hurdle is more difficult than the FTC’s was.
Overall, this is not a good precondition for Google to enter 2008. It is especially not good, if there is a Democratic Administration in 2009, because Democrats generally believe that this Administration has been too lax on competition and antitrust matters.

Privacy:
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Detroit Mayor Sex Scandal Revealed, But Not That He’s a Democrat

January 28, 2008 | Filed Under Democrats/Leftists, Government, Corruption, Media Bias, News, Publius Contributor, Society/Culture, Warner Todd Huston | 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick was at age 31 the youngest elected Mayor in the history of Detroit, the Motor City. Now, at 38, he is also the Vice President of the National Conference of Democratic Mayors as well as that organization’s representative to the Democratic National Committee. He also seems to have a problem with appropriate behavior… then lies about it to try to cover it up. But one thing he doesn’t seem to have to worry about is the MSM telling people he’s a Democrat!

In a series of articles with ongoing coverage the Detroit Free Press reveals the attempted cover-up of an affair between Mayor Kilpatrick and his chief of staff, Christine Beatty. (OK, you guys. Quit with the “chief of staff” jokes, I KNOW what your thinkin’)

Apparently, the long and short of it is that the Mayor’s police security detail had undue overtime. When the police force investigated, they discovered wild parties and a cover up of the overtime. The police also uncovered during the investigation hints of the Mayors various secret affairs through text messages to his chief of staff and various other women. Suddenly, Detroit’s police chief was fired so he filed a wrongful termination suit against the mayor claiming that he was fired to cover up the mayor’s affairs.

Blah, blah, blah, etc., etc., etc. Just another messy sex cover up, really.

But, so far, we get the story in the Detroit Free Press (Here and several other stories), the Associated Press, and the Lansing State Journal (with a report from the Free Press), as well as TV station WDIV’s repost of another AP report, and The Detroit News version.

But, not one source so far identifies the Mayor as a Democrat, and a prominent one at that.

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Examining the Definition of ‘RINO’

January 28, 2008 | Filed Under Democrats/Leftists, Elections, Frank Salvato, GOP, Government, Corruption, Media Bias, President, Publius Contributor, Security/Safety, Society/Culture | No Comments

-By Frank Salvato

I have been avoiding the discussion of who I am supporting for the Republican presidential nomination in deference to urging others to thoroughly examine the platforms, agendas and records of all those in contention. Only by taking the time to circumvent the agenda-driven propaganda of the mainstream media (and in some cases its non-coverage of certain candidates) can we truly understand who each candidate is and what he – or she – stands for. With both my first and second choices now out of the race I believe it is time to examine the Conservative communities troubling propensity to self-destruct and the accurate definition of the term “RINO.”

For the record, the two candidates that represented my vision of what leaders should be were – and still are to a certain extent – Fred Thompson and Duncan Hunter. Both of these men are strong on defense and understand that no other issue really amounts to much if we lose the wars against Islamofascist aggression and the American Fifth Column. Given that, they too realize that our tax system, in dire need of restructuring, caters to congressional opportunism and financial malfeasance and that the government ought to start diminishing its role in Social Security so that we can lessen our government’s “tax footprint” and continue the creation of an ownership society. They both have considerably more experience in government and non-caustic inside-the-beltway politics than any of the Democrats running for the White House yet they still hold true to the belief that elected officials serve their constituents.

Both of these good and decent men are now out of the race and are so for many reasons, chief among them: a lack of adequate media coverage and a lack of support from those who should have known better. Now we are left with yet again another election where we – we who place the well-being of our nation before special interest litmus tests and victory at the cost of compromise – are left with the task of electing the “lesser of two evils.”
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Private Philanthropy is Bad for Socialism

January 28, 2008 | Filed Under Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Government, Corruption, News, Publius Contributor, Society/Culture, Taxes, Thomas Brewton | No Comments

-By Thomas E. Brewton

The New York Times is distressed that private philanthropists can give money to any charity they choose.

Only a socialistic Federal government is capable, says the Times, of making wise decisions about dispensing money to achieve social justice.

The flip side of American private largess is the stinginess of the public sector. Philanthropic contributions in the United States — about $300 billion in 2006 — probably exceed those of any other country. By contrast, America’s tax take is nearly the lowest in the industrial world. Federal, state and local tax collections amount to just more than 25.5 percent of the nation’s economic output. The Finnish government collects 48.8 percent. As a result, the United States spends less on social programs than virtually every other rich industrial country, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The Finnish government probably has money to build children’s health clinics.

Critics of government spending argue that America’s private sector does a better job making socially necessary investments. But it doesn’t. Public spending is allocated democratically among competing demands. Rich benefactors can spend on anything they want, and they tend to spend on projects close to their hearts.

The real point, of course, is not that private philanthropists misplace their donations. The point is to move the United States farther toward what Hilaire Belloc called The Servile State and Friedrich Hayek called The Road to Serfdom.
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Presidential Race Predictions 2008

January 27, 2008 | Filed Under Democrats/Leftists, Elections, GOP, News, President, Publius Contributor, Warner Todd Huston | 2 Comments

-by Warner Todd Huston

I don’t usually like to make predictions like this because, historically this far out, it’s hard to get it right as so many things can change in the many months ahead. But I feel things are solidifying already. So, here it is. My prediction on who will be facing whom for the 2008 election for president.

GOP

Romney will win the nomination for the GOP. He has the delegates and that will just grow as Republicans realize that it is either Romney or McCain. Granted, both are horrible choices… but McCain is by far the worst or the two. As to who Romney will pick for VP, rumors are abound that he will go for Fred Thompson. This is an outside possibility as long as Thompson doesn’t get his heart set on running for Governor of Tennessee and as long as he feels VP is good enough for him. It is also a good choice for Romney because principled conservatives hate the man. Chosing Thompson would add badly needed credibility to the ticket. If Thompson does refuse or does not become the VP choice, I cannot guess who it will be otherwise.

Dem

Hillary will win for the Democrat Party and she will pick gov. Richardson for VP. She also will have more delegates in the long run. As to picking Richardson, after making so many blacks mad at her (and Bill) during this race because of her treatment of Obama, she will have to shore up her Hispanic constituents. They are a bigger voting block anyway. She will ignore her black voters and pander to the Hispanic ones.

The interesting thing here is that both candidates, Romney and Hillary Clinton, have large portions of their voters who don’t like them at all. Many conservatives will not be able to vote for the left of center Romney. His past support of abortion and his man, many, many flip-flops will keep principled voters away from him. And, Hillary has just alienated her black voters and that will probably continue now that Obama won South Carolina by such a large margin. I feel many blacks will not be enthusiastic for her once she wins the nomination and support will slip. But how far?

So, the question becomes, NOT which candidate has excited more people than the other to win election, but which one has peeved off the most! Has Clinton lost enough black votes to affect her chances, or has Romney lost enough conservatives to lose his bid against Hillary?

Other GOP VP choices

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NYT: AZ Prop 300 ‘Frightening’ Away Illegal Alien Students

January 27, 2008 | Filed Under Crime, Democrats/Leftists, Education, Media Bias, News, Publius Contributor, Society/Culture, Taxes, The Law, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

The New York Times wants you to know that legislators in Arizona are mean to illegal immigrants trying to go to the state’s schools on the cheap. The Times wants you to imagine that Arizona’s new anti-illegal laws are oppressing those poor, illegal immigrant students that come into Arizona expecting to get all sorts of loans and financial breaks just because… well, just because they happen to draw a breath. The Times wants us all to tsk tsk the state of Arizona because it had the guts to finally do something about the billions of dollars lost to this flood of criminal aliens. Somehow, I don’t feel so bad, though.

With the sensational headline, “Arizona Law Takes a Toll on Nonresident Students,” the Times gives us the tale of woe of students that want to steal from Arizona’s educational system. They begin their tale with the experience of Marco Carrillo who was asked by his college counselor if he was a legal resident or not. The Times acts as if even asking this question is somehow mean-spirited or shocking.

“The very first question she asked me was whether I was a legal resident here,” said Mr. Carrillo, 20, now an electrical engineering student at Arizona State University in Tempe. “And I said, ‘Yeah, I am.’ And she said, ‘Oh good, that makes things easier.”

But, see, Mr. Carrillo IS a resident. So, what is the problem here? The problem, as the NYT sees it, apparently is that it is unseemly even to ask. But, Arizona’s new Proposition 300 requires the new focus on citizenship and the NYT is appalled by such a thing,

Such questions have become commonplace in Arizona, where voters passed a 2006 referendum, Proposition 300, that forbids college students who cannot prove they are legal residents from receiving state financial assistance.

To any real American, this seems like a sensible and good rule. If you aren’t a legal resident, why the heck should you get all sort of financial breaks to go to school in Arizona? But, the NYT seems to want to warn us about how eeevil this law is.

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Regular Folks Against Union at KY Toyota Plant

January 27, 2008 | Filed Under Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, News, Publius Contributor, Society/Culture, Unions, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Cincy Enquirer gives us the inspiring story of a regular Joe just looking out for his own best interest. And his best interest, as far as he and many other of his coworkers are concerned, is to stay OUT of the United Auto Workers union.

Brian Howard is the operator of the website NoUAW.com where he helps keep his coworkers informed on the latest union machinations and news. But, he is often portrayed by the UAW and the media as, “big, bad Toyota preventing the union.”

But, Howard is not “Toyota,” he is just a worker that doesn’t want to be forced into a union. And he isn’t alone. The majority of the Toyota employees in Williamstown, Kentucky agree with him.

Fewer than 20 percent would vote to join the UAW, he said. “Hard-core, dead-set against it, I’d say 40 percent or more.”

“The UAW knows they do not have and will never have the votes to win an election,” says Howard’s co-worker Marvin Robbins. “So they want to take the rights of the workers away and not have an election.”

And, even more to the point the employees are getting sick of the UAW’s harassment.

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Breast beating by the Conservatives

January 27, 2008 | Filed Under Dan Scott, Elections, GOP, News, Publius Contributor, Security/Safety, Society/Culture, Taxes | 1 Comment

-By Dan Scott

I hear a lot of breast beating by my fellow conservatives that with the last nationally recognized truly conservative candidate bowing out of the race that now we as a movement and a nation face rueful choices and consequences. With Tom Tancredo, Duncan Hunter and Fred Thompson bowing out this leaves only Alan Keyes as the lone conservative among the current candidates running for the Republican nomination for President. Unfortunately and it pains me to say it, Alan doesn’t have the executive experience or the national recognition needed to take up that banner. If Tom, Duncan and Fred represented the stalwart national face of conservatism, Alan represents the soul.

So where do we go from here, what are our choices? On one hand we see the Main Stream Media (MSM) has been successful at hoodwinking the electorate yet again by deselecting candidates they don’t want through negative or no press coverage. None of the four conservative candidates ever received the quantity and quality of press coverage collectively that Obama and Clinton have received individually let alone the other more liberal Republican candidates. We clearly under estimated the residual strength of the MSM, dying as they are in the ratings themselves. They may yet be successful in influencing the 2008 general election for the Dems but in doing so will equally share in the blame when failure occurs. However, we should not discount the positive effect of the alternative media, both radio and internet, in that had it not been for them, we would never have even heard of Tom, Duncan, Fred or Alan but for scant mention of their existence. What this tells us is the glass is neither half full or half empty, it means that the glass is currently too big! We need to continue with the successful strategy of outing the MSM every time they engage in propagandizing. Our efforts thus far have reduced the trust they usurpt through presumption and consequently the ratings they enjoyed at the expense of the public trust. A few more years of consistent chopping will fell this tree that has cast a shadow over the political arena in the debate of ideas. Remember it was the alternative media starting with Radio that gave the conservative cause a voice where none before existed due to the intolerance of the liberally controlled MSM.
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Election Year Nonsense

January 27, 2008 | Filed Under Elections, GOP, Media Bias, News, President, Publius Contributor, Selwyn Duke, Society/Culture | No Comments

By Selwyn Duke

To use a play on Winston Churchill’s cynical words, the best argument against democracy is a five-minute perusal of election coverage. Another way to put it – at risk of sounding trite – is if it weren’t for nonsense, it wouldn’t make any sense at all. Yet, if being trite were a sin, most presidential aspirants would languish in political purgatory.

First we have the bromidic bilge about change. You can bet your withholding tax that the Democrat candidates were programmed to pepper their speeches with the word in a measure as liberal as their politics. Tell certain constituencies you’re a change agent – even if the only thing you change is your personality – and the idiot vote swoons.

Change isn’t by definition good; it’s just by definition change. One-hundred years ago, Russians’ dissatisfaction with the Tsar led them to roll the dice. Things couldn’t get any worse, many thought. So they made a change.

And the communists took power in 1917.

Then, if your child’s diet yielded vigor and health, would you place him in the hands of some guru promising ambiguous change? Wouldn’t you demand specificity?
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Reuters Fauxtography Alert: Spreading Hamas Propaganda With Fake Power Outage Photos

January 26, 2008 | Filed Under Democrats/Leftists, Foreign Policy, Media Bias, News, Publius Contributor, Religion, Security/Safety, Society/Culture, Warner Todd Huston | No Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Jerusalem Post caught another fauxtography scam out of the mideast this week. It appears that Hamas legislators have staged fake power outages to illustrate how oppressed they are for the benefit of journalists. The Journalists were treated to a photo op of the Hamas legislators sitting in their halls of power surrounded by burning candles in rooms with curtains drawn. The scene was set to show how they have had their power cut by the eeeevil Jews. Only problem is, midday sunlight can clearly be seen against the curtains. So, the candles were unnecessary. All they had to do was open the curtains and they would be able to see just fine. Obviously Reuters (and others) allowed Hamas to manipulate the facts. But that didn’t seem to bother any of these so-called journalists who were quite happy to go along.

The Jerusalem Post says of the fauxtography incident:

On at least two occasions this week, Hamas staged scenes of darkness as part of its campaign to end the political and economic sanctions against the Gaza Strip, Palestinian journalists said Wednesday.

In the first case, journalists who were invited to cover the Hamas government meeting were surprised to see Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and his ministers sitting around a table with burning candles.

In the second case on Tuesday, journalists noticed that Hamas legislators who were meeting in Gaza City also sat in front of burning candles.

Oh, the humanities. But wait, Hamas was only pretending they needed candles…

But some of the journalists noticed that there was actually no need for the candles because both meetings were being held in daylight.

Like I said, Reuters went on ahead and published these photos as if there was nothing at all amiss.

And as NRO says of the incident:

And more fun with Big Media propagandists: During a soi-disant Israeli “power cut”, Palestinians are forced to hold a parliamentary session by candlelight. Alas, even with the curtains drawn, the blazing sunlight keeps peeping through.

These photographs were taken by Mohammed Salem of Reuters and Hatem Moussa of the Associated Press. If neither of these organizations wish to comment, perhaps some of the ethics panjandrums at America’s journalism schools would like to weigh in.

Here are the photos along with the misleading tag lines that Reuters tagged onto them. You can clearly see the sunlight behind the curtains:

Palestinian lawmakers attend a parliament session in candlelight during a power cut in Gaza January 22, 2008. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

Palestinian lawmakers attend a parliament session in candlelight during a power cut in Gaza January 22, 2008. Israel agreed to allow some fuel, medicine and food into the Hamas-run Gaza Strip on Tuesday, at least temporarily easing a blockade that has plunged much of the territory into darkness and sparked international protests. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA)

**Note, according to the source I found, the Reuters caption appears the same on the last two photos.

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John McCain, the Democrat’s Favorite Republican

January 26, 2008 | Filed Under Democrats/Leftists, Elections, GOP, News, President, Publius Contributor, Warner Todd Huston | 2 Comments

What a perfect montage of why no Republican should vote for John “the Maverick” McCain.

And those are only but a FEW reasons that McCain does not deserve the GOP nomination for president. There are so many more that a commercial styled video hasn’t the time to lay them all out.

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Baby Dolphin Murders Blamed on US Military… Culprit OTHER Dolphins!

January 26, 2008 | Filed Under Democrats/Leftists, Media Bias, Military, News, Publius Contributor, Science, Society/Culture, Warner Todd Huston | 5 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

So, scientists find the dead bodies of dozens of dolphins and baby porpoises near Miami, Florida and across the pond along Scotland’s East Coast. These aquatic mammals where literally beaten to death with multiple internal injuries, lacerations, contusions and the like. Back in 1997 the whole C.S.I. treatment was given these animals and guess who these scientists first blamed? You guessed it, the United States Military. It turns out, however, that scientists have now realized that it is the “smartest” fishie on earth that is responsible. Yes, they were surprised to discover that dolphins are outright murderers. So much for a “smarter” more “peaceful” ocean, eh?

The Telegraph gives us the tale of the dolphins gone wild.

New evidence has been compiled by marine scientists that prove the normally placid dolphin is capable of brutal attacks both on innocent fellow marine mammals and, more disturbingly, on its own kind.

So, when are we going to see an episode of cops where a dolphin gets led into a cell with a coat over its head?

Scientists first came across their watery mystery in 1997.

The first clues to solving the riddle came in 1997 when, by coincidence, marine biologists in Virginia were finding young, dead dolphins with horrific internal injuries at the same time as young porpoises were washing up on Scotland’s north-east coast with identical causes of death. The body count was growing in both locations.

The Telegraph slips this one by to explain scientists original failed theory.

The two groups of biologists pooled information and, at first, it was believed the mammals had died through ‘blast trauma’. In American cases, this was supposedly from exercises by the US Navy, and in Scotland from air guns used by oil rig technicians to detect undersea caverns.

Naturally, the very first thing to blame was the U.S. Government in general and those evil fish murderers in the U.S. Military. No proof needed, see, they just assumed that it must be so. After all, isn’t that the job of the U.S. Military? Further, don’t they enjoy roaming about the planet and pointlessly murdering the most beloved mammals of the oceans? Why, gosh, all mighty… it HAS to be those rotten S.O.B.’s in the U.S. Military, right?

Well, on second thought…

This theory was dismissed after further examination of the mammals’ bodies revealed the injuries - broken ribs, imploding lungs, damaged livers and massive internal bleeding - could only have come from prolonged, focused attacks.

Any apology for falsely accusing the U.S. Military, I wonder? Probably shouldn’t hold our collective breath, eh? The Telegraph spends no more time to worry about past slights to our nation and Military.

So, it turns out it was the stinkin’ dolphins what done it! Yes, the most “peaceful,” “normally placid,” “smartest” fishy on earth that is responsible for these senseless murders!

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