Honesty is Taking a Lengthy Vacation

We are just over 100 days away from the mid-term elections and it is getting obvious that honesty will be on an extended vacation until after the elections are held. There are several recent examples showing the Democrats desperate to stave off massive losses will be engaging is even more lying than usual.

First this past weekend DNC chair Howard Dean was on the various Sunday shows lying both about the economy and the episode involving Shirley Sherrod. I could almost give him a pass on lying about the economy since he may stupidly believe the blame Bush rhetoric he was spewing. However, his claims that the Sherrod silliness proves FOX news is racist was a lie that reeked of desperation.

Then you have Rep. Joe Sestak D-PA (who I must sadly admit is a former Navy guy) had the gall to say with a straight face that he didn't know if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was a liberal or not. (H/T King Shamus)

This isn't limited to Democrats. Though Democrats have greater reason to be desperate this November, some Republicans aren't being exactly honest either. For example, facing a stiff primary challenge from J.D. Hayworth, born-again conservative John McCain is pretending he cares about border security. The long time advocate of an amnesty based comprehensive immigration policy will likely fool enough voters with his recent conversion. Once he gets past this election, I fully expect him to return to being a regular pain in the neck to conservatives.

Always remember to look further than their words. Verify their claims. Examine their past votes and actions. Don't believe a claim of fiscal discipline if their votes were almost always for more spending.

Andy McCarthy - A Voice of Reason in the Shirley Sherrod Situation

As anyone reading this blog is likely aware, in response to the NAACP falsely accusing the Tea Party movement of being racist, Andrew Breitbart published a tape a few days ago showing some Agriculture Department official speaking to the Georgia NAACP. The taped portion of her speech included an admission of past racist actions on her part which was applauded by the NAACP audience. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack quickly moved to ask for her resignation. Then the tap[e of her entire speech turned up and it slightly mitigated her racism as she further explained how she transitioned from pure racism to a modified form of Marist classism/racism. Obviously, she did not explain the transition using the same labels I just used. So, all of a sudden the Obama administration and Secretary Vilsak are now falling all over themselves trying to apologize to Sherrod for jumping to conclusions. Coincidentally, this is the one year anniversary of President Obama jumping to conclusions and declaring the Cambridge Police "acted stupidly" in arresting his racist Harvard buddy who was acting nutty. Anyways, Andy McCarthy of National Review has a different view on this than all the folks (on both the left and right) who are now praising this woman.

So, in Sherrod World, mean-spririted, racist Republicans do nasty things that "we" would never do because we have a president who, being black, is above that stuff. Still, we have-nots need to band together for "change" because a cabal of haves, desperate to keep their power, is still imposing their centuries old capitalist system of institutionalized racism — the same racism that courses through the Republican Party and surfaces on "us versus them" issues like healthcare.

Pardon me, but I think I'll stay off the Canonize Shirley bandwagon. To me, it seems like she's still got plenty of racial baggage. What we're seeing is not transcendence but transference. That's why the NAACP crowd reacted so enthusiastically throughout her speech.

Read the rest.

Post script to this mess is the administration is compounding their mistake of rushing to fire this woman by rushing to rehire the woman. The lesson they continue to fail to learn is to get facts before reaching judgments or taking action.

An Important Question to Ask Before Voting for a Republican

While I'm opposed to most of the policies of the current party in power, don't assume all Republicans are necessarily a big improvement. Some will pay lip service to being concerned about spending and then will move to DC and then play along to get along. One question to ask to get some insight into the candidate is to ask them whether they will listen to former senator Trent Lott (lobbyist on behalf of the ruling/spending class) or Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC). Here is an article to get a sense of what Lott thinks of the Tea Party movement.

Any possible shred of doubt remaining in anybody's mind about former Senate GOP leader Trent Lott's true allegiance have now been definitively removed: Lott is a paid tool of the Washington Establishment who hates the Tea Party and all other insurgents who have had it with politics-as-usual.

"We don't need a lot of Jim DeMint disciples. As soon as they get here, we need to co-opt them," Lott told The Washington Post in an incredibly revealing story.

Sen. Jim DeMint, of course, is the South Carolina conservative Republican who last year formed the Senate Conservatives Fund to back precisely the kind of insurgent conservative Senate candidates most feared by the Lotts of the world. . . . . It's the same old story that such GOPers want the votes of "the base" but they don't want to do what the Tea Partiers and a clear majority of their fellow Americans, want them to do.

Several of the Republican senators are of Lott's ilk and not much better than the Democrats. John McCain and Lindsey Graham among others will talk the talk every few years when concerned about reelection. However, once safely back in DC they go back to thinking they know better than the rubes who voted for them.

Two American Heroes Pass On

This morning, Medal of Honor recipient Nick Bacon, 61 died from throat cancer. Bacon was awarded the Medal of Honor for gallantry in combat during the Vietnam war. Here is a brief description of his actions:

On Aug. 26, 1968, while commanding a squad of the first platoon of Company B, 4th Battalion in an operation west of Tam Ky in Vietnam, Bacon destroyed several enemy positions with hand grenades. When his platoon leader was wounded, Bacon led the platoon to destroy remaining enemy positions. Bacon also took command of a second platoon (3rd Platoon, Bravo Company) when its leader was killed and rallied both platoons against the enemy. Providing cover for evacuation of wounded, Bacon climbed a tank to fire at the enemy, a move that exposed himself to enemy fire. He was credited with killing at least 4 enemy soldiers and destroying an anti-tank gun.

Rest in Peace, Sergeant Bacon and thank you for your service

Earlier this week Medal of Honor recipient Vernon Baker, 90 died from brain cancer. Baker was awarded the Medal of Honor for gallantry in combat during World War II. At great risk to his personal safety Baker took out several German machine gun posts. Here is a brief description of his actions:

While serving as second lieutenant in the unit in 1945, he and his men were ordered to launch an assault against Castle Aginolfi, a mountainous German post near Viareggio, Italy. After executing the attack, his company was bombarded with fire from several machine gun emplacements. Baker crawled to one of the posts and destroyed it, killing three Germans. Thereafter, he attacked an enemy observation post and killed two of its occupants.

After teaming up with another soldier in the company, Baker attacked two more machine gun posts, killing or wounding four enemy soldiers who were occupying it. He then organized the evacuation of all of the wounded soldiers in his unit by situating himself in an exposed position and drawing the enemy’s fire.

The following day, Baker led a battalion advance and finally secured the mountain for American soldiers. Baker and his platoon killed a total of 26 Germans and destroyed two observer posts, four dugouts and six machine gun nests.

Rest in Peace, Lieutenant Baker and thank you for your service.

On a related note, we have less than 100 living Medal of Honor recipients and none from our current conflicts. We have been at war since 11 September 2001 and I can not believe that no soldier, sailor or Marine has merited our highest award for bravery. I have read hundreds of accounts of incredible bravery in the face of enemy fire over the past nine years some of these awards need to be reviewed and considered for upgrading.

Today's Stupid Congressional Speech

A few months ago we had a moronic congresscritter from Georgia warning us that stationing more U.S. military personnel in Guam could cause the island to capsize. Today we get more words of wisdom from a different moron congresscritter this one from Texas. I must caution you that there is a distinct possibility that you endanger your brain cells if you listen to her very long. If the state of Texas has any pride (and I've heard they have boatloads of pride) she will be replaced in November. However, gerrymandered districts make her reelection a near certainty.



Um Rep. Jackson-Lee, I'm not sure how to break it to ya, but there is no South Vietnam anymore. They were overrun and taken over by the North after our cowardly politicians in DC refused to let our military win. Also, FYI your commie friends in Vietnam killed millions in the south after getting control of the entire combined country. Sadly, this probably isn't even close to the dumbest thing she has said in her decades in office.

(h/t BaseballCrank)

Today's Must Read Articles

In an article titled: Obama succeeded only in creating uncertainty, Thomas Sowell explains why the stimulus did not lead to job creation. I can sum it up by explaining that every time a business considers increasing hiring they evaluate the risks and decide whether or not the costs of the employee will be outweighed by the value gained from his work. Uncertainty over what the government may impose makes it impossible to calculate the costs of doing business causing companies to wait to make expansion decisions until they can have some confidence in their calculations. One thing Sowell neglected in his article is fear of the looming Cap and Trade scam legislation.

Our second Must Read is an article by Karl Rove discussing his biggest mistake in the Bush administration.

A couple of the founders of the Tea Party movement wrote an op-ed piece about being labeled as racist by the racist organization called the NAACP. At some point the lefts weapon of choice - crying racism - will lose its power if enough people fight back instead of cowering at the charge.

Speaking of racism, Newsbusters has a piece showing how MSNBC's Chrissie Matthews is race obsessed and confused.

Perplexed Matthews: How Can South Carolina GOPers Vote for Indian-American But Not Support a Black President?

I think Matthews honestly believes that opposition to Obama's policies must be based on race and can't understand how the "clearly racist" South Carolina GOP can turn around and support a candidate who is the child of Indian immigrants. The left floated the idea a few years ago about Bush being in a bubble of people all in agreement with him. I think the same can be said about Matthews and his ilk. Everyone he knows believe in liberal policies so the disagreement with Obama's liberal policies must be about race instead of policy. Matthews needs to get out of his bubble meet some ordinary Americans and find out we have opinions on hundreds of subjects and the vast majority of us don't form our opinion based on racial considerations.

UPDATE:


Here is another MUST READ which ought to be read by the president's advisers. Victor Davis Hanson has a column titled: A Ten-Step Reset Regimen for the President. The only thing that could save President Obama from going down in history as the largest failure as a president would be to back off his desire to radically re-make America into a socialist "utopia" and instead move towards the center. The Republican take over of congress in 1994 forced Bill Clinton to move to the center thereby saving him from destroying his presidency. In fact, he later was able to take credit for the things he didn't want to do. Well, Hanson's columnis in a similar vein, but more specifically tied to changes Obama needs to make personally to save his presidency. Here is one of the ten suggestions click the link for the rest:

10) Take a breather on the green agenda. Al Gore imploded, both from revelations about his personal life and the labyrinth of his financial machinations. Climategate discredited academic finger-pointing. Promises about “skyrocketing” power bills don’t go well with a recession. The old “millions of new green jobs” wonkery is a bad joke from a college bull session. Nuclear, natural gas, clean coal, and drilling in ANWR have more resonance than subsidized wind and solar jobs at a million or so in federal subsidies each.

Will Obama adopt any of my suggestions? No, of course not. Why? Because he is pushing an agenda that 55-70% of the American people do not want, and so it is necessary to evoke the kitchen sink to get it across: Bush did it, the oil cadre did it, racialist America, Islamophobia, “them,” a cool hip president, raise the bar — all that is a desperate (albeit doomed) way of venting, threatening, pleading, and pushing a blueprint that on its merits goes nowhere.

Sadly the last paragraph quoted above is most likely correct. This president is too arrogant and certain he knows what's best for the rest of us to bother listening to advice.

Someone Arrested for Choosing a Late Term Abortion! Where are the Protests from NOW & NARAL???

A 21-year-old in Oakland was arrested for choosing a late term abortion and yet there haven't been any protests from the National Organization for Women (NOW) or National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL). Wonder why? Could it be because it was a male that chose a late term abortion? It can't be due to the babies age. Once you decide killing a little kid is okay then the age shouldn't be a big issue.

A 21-year-old Oakland man is in police custody after he threw his baby daughter into the path of a moving car, according to cops.

Police say an off-duty officer saw the man, later identified as John Taylor, shake the 18-month girl and throw her into oncoming traffic on Fifth Avenue near East 15th Street around 5:39 p.m. Saturday. A Volkswagen Jetta almost hit the toddler, police say, and the car's undercarriage burned and scraped the girl.

Thankfully, the child somehow survived the abortion attempt. Sadly, the child will likely be returned to the same environment and remain in danger.

A quote from later in the article showed the child's "mother" is a real winner as well:

"I'm hurting now because I know my baby's father is in jail facing charges and I don't feel that it is reasonable," the girl's mother, Alena Bartholemew told NBC Bay Area.

Breaking News: George Steinbrenner Has Died

Cleveland native and longtime Yankee majority owner, George Steinbrenner has died. As an Indians' fan and lifelong Yankee hater it is tempting to recap the negatives of Steinbrenner's tenure as Yankee boss. However, I'll resist that temptation and instead wish his family well as they mourn and just bemoan the fact that he was unable to buy the Indians instead of the Yankees. Many people are unaware, but Steinbrenner tried to buy the Indians years before purchasing the Yankees but was slightly out bid by Nick Mileti. A years or so later CBS was strapped for cash and wanted to get out of ownership of the Yankees and sold the team to Steinbrenner for around ten million dollars. The value of that team today is probably close to a billion dollars.

I'm not jealous of the money he has made, but rather the championships his teams have won. While I'd of course prefer that the Indians had won I have to admire his single minded drive to acquire the best players and field the best team over the years. Others can debate whether the Yankee dominance is good for baseball. The National Football League is in stronger shape as an overall entity because all teams have a relatively even playing field. Baseball clearly gives an edge to teams with stronger financial bases. That wasn't Steinbrenner's concern. His concern was winning and his teams won more than they lost.

George Steinbrenner - RIP

Damn Yankees! (Hey, I had to include it)

LeBron James Leaves Cleveland - Owner Speaks for Entire Fanbase

Last night in a ridiculous TV event on ESPN, LeBron James declared he was leaving his hometown team in free agency and going to go play in Miami.

After James announced his decision to betray his hometown the owner of the Cavaliers, Dan Gilbert issued a scathing open letter to the fans. Good for him. Many in the national sports media have criticized Gilbert for the tone and content of the letter. Personally, I'm glad to see him respond and show real emotion. For too long we have had team owners sit in the background and act like they could barely care. To me the key part of Gilbert's letter was this prediction:

In the meantime, I want to make one statement to you tonight: "I personally guarantee that the Cleveland Cavaliers will win an NBA Championship before the self-titled former 'king' wins one."

I have no idea if he'll be right in this prediction. We just saw in this past post season that anything can happen in the playoffs. The Cavaliers had the best regular season record and they ended up getting bounced in the playoffs by an inferior team mainly because their best player quit on the team.

As far as James and the Miami Heat go, . . . well I can not bring myself to root for an injury. So I will just hope he continues to choke at the key moments of big games. Boston showed in their playoff run the importance of depth and quality bench players. With the money the Heat have tied up in three players their bench will include players like me and I'm no good at basketball. No bench means their keys players (Wade, Bosh, James) will be running on fumes in the playoffs.

Today's Example of Man's Inhumanity Toward Fellow Man

We are all appalled by the big headline grabbing examples of inhumanity. The Holocaust of the 1930'2 and 1940's. The starvation in Rwanda. The killing fields of Cambodia. And so on. Often overlooked is the inhumanity in our local communities and neighborhoods. Sadly, a disgusting example was discovered in the Cincinnati area. Prepare to be disgusted as you read this article:

Oven-like attic was her prison

Neighbors say couple often kept mother, 59, locked up

WEST PRICE HILL – She was given some saltines, a small bottle of water, a pillow, a sheet and a bucket for a toilet. Two doors were then padlocked as her daughter, Adrienna Daniels, 28, and her boyfriend left their Dewey Avenue home June 23 for Daniels’ planned C-section at University Hospital.

For three days, while Greater Cincinnati simmered in a heat emergency, 59-year-old Mary Daniels baked in a sweltering third-floor attic as outside temperatures simmered in the 90s.

She could not get out.

Help came Saturday when she broke out a window and began yelling. “I can’t take it anymore,” Mary Daniels cried out to 13-year-old Victoria Klein, a neighbor who stood peering up at the kind lady whose normally stark white skin had turned as red as a lobster.

Firefighters raced to the duplex, up the stairs and past a family dog who slumbered in the cool air of a nearby air conditioner.

The key elements of this story is of course the miserable daughter and her druggie boyfriend who mistreated an elderly lady. However, there is much more to the story. The sub-headline say the neighbors knew they kept the woman locked up. All evil needs to succeed is for good people to do nothing. Problem is when you read deeper into the story you find that neighbors had reported the situation:

Klein said she and her sister called agencies that advocate for the elderly at least three times to report what they thought was abuse but were told that Mary Daniels was a year shy of their services.

They said they called the landlord, who never came by as he promised.

It is always easy to look back after a situation comes to light and say "should of done this or that," but I'm not sure what else the neighbors could do without directly witnessing physical violence. I am concerned about the government bureaucrat who refused to help solely because of her age. People age at different paces. Dismissing a cry for help because of an arbitrary age cut off is nonsense. We have seen reports of people in their 30's and 40's developing senile dementia or Alzheimer's. Conversely, there are other stories of people being active past 100 years of age.

There is nothing funny about this story, but there is a punch line. The miserable excuse for a daughter is attending college to become a medical assistant. Great. I'm sure she will be very compassionate.