op ed review 10/11
THIS WEEK’S NEWS
Clearly hijacked by the Left, the Nobel Committee awarded President Obama the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for “offering the world hope…” . The bestowal of one of the world's top accolades on a president less than nine months in office, who has yet to score a major foreign policy success, was greeted with gasps of astonishment from journalists at the announcement in Oslo.
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE5981JK20091009?sp=true
You can always count on
http://blogs.wsj.com/new-europe/2009/10/09/lech-walesa-on-obama-peace-prize-who-what-so-fast/
Obama will keynote the gathering of the nation’s largest gay rights organization -- only the second time a sitting president has.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/10/06/obama_to_keynote_gay-rights_di.html?wprss=44
Confronted with big job losses and no sign the
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20091008/D9B76AUO0.html
Leaders in the House and Senate have a plan to pass President Barack Obama’s sweeping health care plan by Thanksgiving without any significant participation by the American public.
http://blog.heritage.org/2009/10/07/congress%e2%80%99-secret-plan-to-pass-obamacare-confirmed/
A strong majority of
http://www.upi.com/Sports_News/2009/10/06/Poll-Most-in-US-would-back-Iran-strike/UPI-68851254850300/
The Washington Education Association would rather turn down $200-$300 million in federal Race to the Top funds than permit teacher compensation reform. (proof that WEA is not working “for the children”)
President Obama's adviser on Muslim affairs appeared on a British television show hosted by a member of an extremist group to talk about Sharia Law. The group believes in the non-violent destruction of Western democracy and the creation of an Islamic state under Sharia Law across the world. They called for Sharia Law to be "the source of legislation" and said that women should not be "permitted to hold a position of leadership in government". Miss Mogahed made no challenge to these demands and said that Sharia Law was misunderstood.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=710744
Green Bay Packers fans are known as cheeseheads. Could fans of the St. Louis Rams soon be dittoheads? Rush Limbaugh said he is teaming up with St. Louis Blues owner Dave Checketts in a bid to buy the Rams.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/10177236/Rush-Limbaugh,-partner-make-bid-to-buy-Rams
Delivering on President Obama's promises to the labor movement, the administration has announced a $35 million federal construction project in
A five-foot-tall cross erected in the middle of the Mojave desert to honor veterans had to covered with a plywood box after a former Park Service employee and ACLU member told the ACLU that although he moved to Oregon, he comes down and gets offended by the sight of the cross "two to four times a year."
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Perspectives/Default.aspx?id=713320
In an attempt to gain favor with
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/04/AR2009100403262.html?hpid=topnews
Can one even imagine CNN fact checking any of the SNL skits on President Bush or Sarah Palin?? SNL finally makes fun of President Obama and CNN felt it necessary to “fact check” the jokes.
http://networkedblogs.com/p13726476
South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson has raised $2.7 million in an outpouring of conservative support that followed his shouting "You lie!" at President Obama during a joint session of Congress and facing fierce attacks from Democrats as a result. “
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1009/Joe_Wilsons_tally_since_You_Lie_rises_to_27_million.html
Republican campaign efforts are “far ahead” of where they were the year before the party took back the House in 1994, the leader of the GOP’s midterm campaign efforts said Monday.
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/61725-nrcc-chief-says-gop-far-ahead-of-its-1994-pace#
The national political landscape for Republicans has improved so dramatically in recent months that election analysts say the only remaining question is how deep the Democrats' losses will be in the 2010 congressional midterm races.
It's the unemployment rate, stupid. That could be the rallying cry for Republicans in elections next year, and possibly in 2012, as they seek to regain power in Congress and the White House.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/10/08/jobless-rate-offers-gop-rallying-elections/
The Obama administration has decided that Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio's deputies should no longer have the authority to arrest suspected illegal immigrants in the course of their duties.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125487274278469239.html
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THIS WEEK’S FEATURED COLUMN
Michael Medved 10/07/09
For those Americans who want to fight back against the menacing expansion of government and the insanely irresponsible spending of the Obama administration, there is only one way to succeed: electing more Republicans to high office. If the public fails to elect GOP candidates for the Senate, the House, governorships, state legislatures and, ultimately, the presidency there is simply no way to derail the leftist agenda that menaces liberty and prosperity.
Many sincere patriots will object to this formulation, insisting that we must elect more conservatives, not just more Republicans. The question then becomes, if the needed conservative candidates aren’t running as Republicans, what party would they represent? If they’re conservative Democrats (a designation that increasingly seems like a contradiction in terms) their election to the House and Senate would return Pelosi and Reid to power along with their ultra-liberal, Democratic committee chairs like Rangel, Conyers, Frank, Dodd, Leahy, Kerry, Waxman, and so forth. President Obamas ability to bully Blue Dog Democrats to do his bidding shows that empowering even those Democrats who describe themselves as independent minded only serves to strengthen the hand of the reigning leftists in the nation’s capital. Does the fact that Democratic Senator David Casey of
Of course, some purists insist that true conservatives will never identify as either Republicans or Democrats and will instead win office as independents or representatives of fringe parties (say the Libertarians, or the Constitution Party). This supposition ignores the consistent record of failure for third and fourth and fifth party candidates at every level for more than 200 years of American history. Occasionally, quirky free spirits will win governorships as independents (like Angus King of Maine, or Lowell Weicker of Connecticut, or the notorious Jesse Ventura of Minnesota) but these exceedingly rare victories never bring political realignment or the emergence of a new party infrastructure (Maine, Connecticut and Minnesota have long-ago returned to Democratic or Republican rule, demonstrating that their third-party flirtations represented flukes, not breakthroughs). In Congress and the Senate, the only independents in recent decades have been representatives from New England (Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Joe Lieberman of
Even if some miracle occurred and some new party elected five, ten or even twenty members of the House and Senate (a virtual impossibility), what difference would it make if the Democrats maintain their majorities? Any independent or minor party candidates who beat the odds and win election to the House or Senate will face the choice of caucusing with one of the major parties, or else making themselves isolated and irrelevant as Congress goes about its business.
Meanwhile, concerned citizens who seek to influence events with demonstrations, petitions, tea parties, boycotts, letter-writing campaigns or marches on
These difficult times demand brutal candor and the acceptance of unpleasant realities. Gathering hundreds of thousands of people, designing witty anti-Obama signs, and dressing in Colonial costumes won’t stop or even slow the drive toward a federal takeover of health care. Only one strategy can turn back the federal power grab: assembling 51 courageous votes in the United States Senate (or 218 in the House of Representatives).
Events like the recent March on
If a candidate can’t win a majority of GOP primary voters (who are almost entirely right of center) that candidate will never win a majority of the electorate at large (with its high percentages of liberals and mushy moderates). By the same token, an extreme leftist who can’t win Democratic primaries won’t offer much of a challenge in November which is why Ralph Nader never even reached 3% of the vote in any of his four runs for the White House, and Dennis Kucinich never even tried a general election campaign……
No third party in the history of the nation has ever won success on a national basis. Even the wildly popular ex-President Theodore
The Republican Party, for all its faults (and they are legion, as with any other political organization) remains the only hope, the sole rallying point, for foiling the big government, anti-capitalist schemes of the Obamanauts. If conservatives manage to unify and revitalize the GOP it won’t insure success in the struggle to restore Reaganite principles. But if we fail to coalesce around the one political institution capable of standing up to the resurgent Democrats then that refusal will most certainly guarantee long term conservative failure.
Edited form a longer article, read it here:
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FROM OTHER COLUMNS
"In his address to Congress, President Obama made clear that he and his allies know how to spend your health-care money better than you do. It's a matter, you see, of 'shared responsibility': You share your dollars with the feds, and the feds are responsible for making your decisions. ... On 'shared responsibility,' the president brooks no dissent. 'Unless everybody does their part, many of the insurance reforms we seek -- especially requiring insurance companies to cover preexisting conditions -- just can't be achieved,' he said. 'That's why under my plan, individuals will be required to carry basic health insurance.' This requirement is known as the 'individual mandate.' The president's proposal is historic -- though not in a good way. Never before has Congress forced Americans to buy a private good or service. In fact, for those with a traditional understanding of the Constitution as a charter of liberty (as opposed to the 'living' version), the list of Congress's powers in Article I, Section 8, grants it no authority to require any such thing. ... Requiring everyone to buy government-specified health insurance, whether they need it or not, is an unacceptable violation of personal liberty. It is a way of taxing healthy people without calling it a tax. Since that is an irresistible temptation to politicians, the list of required benefits would be certain to keep expanding. The choice between freedom and responsibility, as the president and his congressional allies portray it, is a false choice. We can and should have both."
-Robert Moffitt
"Imagine how much worse our public schools would look -- assuming that were possible -- if we allowed other countries to exclude one-half of their worst performers! That's exactly what liberals are doing when they tout
-Ann Coulter
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GET INVOLVED
“On Saturday, October 10th, conservatives from across
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GLOBALONEY
A noted geologist has turned his attention to convincing Congress that carbon dioxide emissions are good for Earth and don't cause global warming. Leighton Steward is on Capitol Hill this week armed with studies and his book Fire, Ice and
http://www.ktvb.com/news/nearyou/woodriver/ktvbn-oct0509-wood_river_power.1e96b181a.html
The earliest opening day in 40 years for
http://www.denverpost.com/extremes/ci_13498572
Snow is predicted in
http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local-beat/No-Kidding-Snow-on-Sunday--63751227.html
The National Snow and
A Japanese airline has started asking passengers to go to the toilet before boarding in a bid to save the planet.
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BOOKS
“GOP 5.0: Republican Renewal Under President Obama” by Hugh Hewitt. “The GOP's fall from the triumphant elections of 2004 to the consecutive defeats in 2006 and 2008 didn't have to happen, and doesn't have to be prolonged. But change in crucial aspects of the party's message and messaging must occur quickly if the potential pick-ups of 2010 are to be achieved, and the White House reclaimed in 2012.”
“We Are Doomed: Reclaiming Conservative Pessimism” by John Derbyshire. "Where will a more intelligent, hence pessimistic, yet sprightly conservatism come from? You are holding in your hands part of the answer," says George Will.
“If tea party-era
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LEFTIST WATCH
The
http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=112243
Bill Ayers now seems to admit that he wrote--not just edited--President Barack Obama's autobiography, Dreams from my Father."
“.. I am the secretary-treasurer of the Marxist Sociology section of the American Sociological Association. …At present we have 392 members of the Marxist Sociology Section. We need to have 400 by the end of the day on September 30th to qualify for another session at the annual ASA meeting…”
Michael Moore, maker of the anti-capitalist film, Capitalism: A Love Story, relocated his post-production team from
http://www.insideronline.org/blogarchive.cfm?month=10&year=2009#308768CE-9FE1-5F83-ECDBFD48656307F0
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ARTICLES
The “kill granny” bill. As the health-reform bills move through Congress, the prognosis for Medicare patients gets worse and worse. The Senate Finance Committee bill (generally called the Baucus bill, after Chairman Max Baucus) robs the elderly to cover the uninsured -- like snatching purses from little old ladies. The House bills already cut future funding for Medicare by $500 billion over the next decade. The Baucus bill would slash a similar amount, just when
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/the_kill_granny_bill_MenNO0aNV8CLUTDwbm5PUN
“The award of this year’s Nobel peace prize to President Obama will be met with widespread incredulity, consternation in many capitals and probably deep embarrassment by the President himself. Rarely has an award had such an obvious political and partisan intent. It was clearly seen by the Norwegian Nobel committee as a way of expressing European gratitude for an end to the Bush Administration, approval for the election of the prize risks looking preposterous in its claims, patronizing in its intentions and demeaning in its attempt to build up a man who has barely begun his period in office, let alone achieved any tangible outcome for peace.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6867711.ece
“Re-reading Steven Hayward’s "Brain-dead conservatives" oped in today’s Washington Post for the third time, I realized I did not disagree with the points he was making. Rather, I think
Bobby Jindal: “A majority of so-called Republican strategists believe that health care is a Democratic issue. They are wrong; health care is an American issue, and the Republican Party has an opportunity to demonstrate that conservative principles work when applied to real-world problems…”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/04/AR2009100402003.html?sub=AR
“The GOP Is Winning the Health-Care Debate” by Karl Rove
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703298004574459151157036912.html
5 Things That Republicans In D.C. Need To Understand:
1) It's going to take time to re-establish trust:
2) Stop running from conservatives!
3) The new media needs more donor help
4) Fight!: One of the reasons Joe Wilson created such a seismic reaction on the Right is because the GOP usually comes off like such a bunch of wimps.
5) The D.C. Bubble will smother you:
“No, you can’t see the health care bill.” When then-Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama promised not to sign major legislation until it had been posted on the Internet for public reading at least five days, trusting voters took him at his word. Now they know better. Not only is the actual language of what is likely to become the main legislative vehicle for Obama’s signature health care reform not available on the Internet, it hasn’t been given to members of the key Senate committees..”
Interesting article on
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/opinion/Remembering+with+sadness+great+civilization/2064471/story.html
If you own a business, you’d better read this: The 'Absurd Results' Doctrine:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704471504574447090218534138.html
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THOMAS SOWELL’S RANDOM THOUGHTS
Upon learning that the Constitution requires a president to be a natural born citizen, a college student said: "What makes a natural born citizen any more qualified than one born by C-section?"
When politicians propose some hugely expensive new program and are asked how the government is going to pay for it, a standard ploy over the years has been to claim that they will pay for it by eliminating "waste, fraud and abuse." At a recent town hall meeting, a citizen raised the obvious question: If you can do that, why haven't you done it already?
Congressman Joe Wilson got into more trouble for telling the truth than President Barack Obama got into by telling a demonstrable lie about adding millions of people to the insurance rolls without adding a dime to the deficit. As regards providing medical insurance for illegal immigrants, I doubt that the president will do that. More likely, he will legalize them first and then give them medical insurance.
What is most frightening about the political left is that they seem to have no sense of the tragedy of the human condition. All problems seem to them to be due to other people not being as wise or as noble as they are.
Oliver Wendell Holmes said, "Think things, not words." In words, many see a need for "social justice" to override "the dictates of the market." In reality, what is called "the market" consists of human beings making their own choices at their own cost. What is called "social justice" is government imposition of the notions of third parties, who pay no price for being wrong.
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NOTEWORTHY WEBSITES
Support Joe Wilson t-shirts:
http://www.libertyshirtmarket.com/You_Lie_Anti_Obama_Shirt_p/1024.htm
30 dumb inventions:
http://www.life.com/image/first/in-gallery/25371/30-dumb-inventions
Finalists From the Nikon Small World Competition
http://www.pdnphotooftheday.com/2009/10/2252
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WISE WORDS
"In reality there is perhaps no one of our natural Passions so hard to subdue as Pride. Disguise it, struggle with it, beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive, and will now and then peek out and show itself...."
-Benjamin Franklin
"Do not blame Caesar, blame the people of
-Marcus Tullius Cicero
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6:36 PM
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