op ed review 11/28
President Obama emerges from the midterm election with uncertain prospects for the next one in 2012, according to a new McClatchy-Marist poll. Nearly half of his own base want someone to challenge him for the Democratic nomination.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/11/25/1942697/obama-looking-weak-for-reelection.html
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will give up more than just the majority in the next Congress – she’ll be stripped of her right to use military aircraft. Speaker-in-waiting John Boehner (R-Ohio) has said he would not be using military planes for his domestic travel.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/45525.html
Now he wants your money. The developer of the so called "Ground Zero Mosque" is applying for federal taxpayer money to help him build the controversial and contentious project. The funds are designated to help lower Manhattan recover from the 9-11 terrorist attacks, which took place just around the corner from the proposed mosque and cultural center location.
http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/11/23/ground-zero-mosque-outrage/?test=latestnews
An illegal immigrant has been found guilty of first-degree murder in the slaying of former federal intern Chandra Levy.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/22/AR2010112203633.html
Last week, the White House released a list of the 15 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. For the most part, the list is a who's who of great Americans -- with everyone from civil rights leader John Lewis to baseball legend Stan Musial. And then there's John Sweeney, the former president of both the Service Employees International Union and American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. The real reason Sweeney is being given this award seems pretty transparent. In 2008, when Sweeney was still head of the AFL-CIO, the union spent more than $53 million helping elect Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats.
“Voting for Bristol Palin was great practice for conservatives with phone banking and multi-media for 2012”
Bristol Palin lost to actress Jennifer Grey in Tuesday night's finale of "Dancing with the Stars," capping a reality-television run in which Ms. Palin lured viewers, votes and controversy.
Keep your eye on this guy: Allen West, a 22-year Army veteran, is preparing for Washington a bit like he would for a battlefield. His "high and tight" hairstyle will be one of the only buzz cuts in Congress. He plans to carry a camouflage bag, not a briefcase. And on a recent morning, while others in the Republican Party's large incoming freshman class jockeyed for office space, he declared himself largely indifferent. "I've lived in tents," said West, who in January will become the first black Republican to represent Florida since 1876.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/23/AR2010112307279.html?
Here’s LTC Allen West speaking to the American Freedom Tour:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VP2p91dvm6M
Saying Washington’s ballooning budget deficit means “we have all run out of time,” Gov. Chris Gregoire (D) proposed eliminating the state’s health insurance for the poor and needy, ending the state food assistance, no longer funding programs for gifted students and delaying grant payments that help low-income students go to college.
Why Dino lost: “… in 2010 the Washington electorate did not display a Republican tilt in their turnout like much of the rest of the country. In fact, the partisan makeup of Washington voters who cast a ballot this year continued to show an upward tick in the state's Democratic partisan advantage. When Rossi lost to Christine Gregoire in 2004 Democrats held a four-point advantage in partisan identification among those who voted. In the huge Democratic year of 2008 they held a ten-point advantage in party identification. This year that spread increased to 12 points for Democrats. Rossi won more of the Independent and Republican vote than he did in his two previous statewide races, but the goalposts keep getting farther and farther away……the bottom line (as any Democrat will happily tell you) is that Rossi lost. But his performance in this race would have guaranteed him a U.S. Senate seat in almost any other state in the country. He faced a Washington electorate that was extremely polarized in 2010 with little if any crossover voting. And in a state where Democrats outnumbered Republicans by such a significant margin, even an exceptional candidate with a first rate campaign could not overcome that kind of math.”
http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/archives/229530.asp?source=rss
According to a new poll, Tea Party activists and conservatives are willing to put their money where their mouths are and stop purchasing products from companies that promote President Barack Obama’s agenda. The results of the survey led the pollster to conclude that Tea Partiers could “realistically” lead a boycott of such companies.
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/tea-party-may-target-major-companies-bac
The average American could buy a house for the amount of money it takes to run Air Force One every hour.
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THIS WEEK’S FEATURED COLUMN
Jeffrey Kuhner, Washington Times, 11/26/10
President Obama is engaging in a relentless assault on our freedoms and constitutional government. The growing backlash against the new Transportation Security Administration (TSA) airport screening procedures signifies that Americans finally may have had enough.
There is a grass-roots revolt against state-sanctioned sexual harassment. And who can blame the protesters? Children are stripped of their shirts, and their private parts are touched. Nuns and old ladies are groped by intrusive TSA agents. Breasts have been fondled. Men's crotches have been patted down. Full-body scanners show images of people naked - a clear violation of privacy and civil liberties. The administration insists that the enhanced procedures are vital for national security. The rationale: Last year's underwear bomber nearly blew up a plane flying over Detroit. Hence, everyone's private parts are now the property of the federal government - at least when flying.
This is wrong and dangerous. Airport screening procedures have been a huge experiment in mass political correctness. For fear of insulting Muslims, the U.S. government has insisted that all Americans take off their shoes, pull out their belts and walk through metal detectors at airports. Americans have patiently put up with these inconveniences. But now, for many, enough is enough. "Don't touch my junk" has become a national rallying cry.
The central problem with modern airport security is that it falsely assumes that every person - each of the 7 billion people who inhabit the planet-is an equal terrorist threat. The 80-year-old Irish Catholic nun, the 3-year-old toddler, the 61-year-old bladder cancer survivor whose urine bag was punctured by TSA apparatchiks - all of them, according to Mr. Obama, are potential suicide bombers. They're not. To pretend they are is to engage in leftist multicultural fantasy. It embodies the triumph of ideology over reality - the deranged belief that anyone at any time is a lurking jihadist.
Islamic terrorism is not an open-ended, universal characteristic. Rather, it is a specific, narrowly defined phenomenon. It is fueled by Muslim extremists bent on waging a holy war against the West. Its perpetrators tend to be young adults from the Middle East, North Africa, the Arab world and the Muslim ghettos of Europe. Most jihadists fit this profile. What is needed is not more groping, crotch-grabbing or nude screening, but better intelligence-gathering, random checking and targeted profiling.
Washington insists on perpetrating the illusion that a Christian grandmother in Iowa poses the same possible national security threat as a 19-year-old Yemenite exchange student majoring in Islamic studies. Hence, America is squandering precious resources and manpower, as well as abrogating basic civil liberties and humiliating its population, in order to appease the sensitivities of the Muslim lobby.
Moreover, the new TSA procedures mark another major step in Mr. Obama's drive to impose state socialism. If anyone else did what TSA agents do regularly, they rightly would be charged with sexual assault. Mr. Obama has done the unthinkable: He has extended the federal government's reach into our most private, intimate body parts. Big Brother not only watches us in the nude, he can routinely molest us at will.
The administration is not restricting its unprecedented power grab to airports. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano recently said that trains, boats and subways also may implement the same screening procedures. If the White House has its way, Americans will be getting felt up on the Metro and Amtrak every day - morning, afternoon and night. Ultimately, these measures are not only degrading and wrongheaded. They are profoundly illiberal, reflecting a deep-seated contempt for individual rights and civil dignity. They also reveal a radical leftist outlook that views Americans not as self-governing citizens, but as subjects of a nanny state.
Like many on the progressive left, Mr. Obama is an anti-American political thug. He despises the Constitution and capitalism. He bristles under the restraints of democratic governance and the system of checks and balances. From Vladimir Lenin to Fidel Castro to Hugo Chavez, socialist leaders have masked their will to power by portraying themselves as visionary thinkers - sophisticated intellectuals seeking social justice. In reality, they have one goal: revolution.
Mr. Obama has embarked America upon that perilous path. He has de facto nationalized health care, the financial sector, the insurance industry, student loans and major automakers. He has appointed numerous policy czars with vast Cabinet-level powers who have not been confirmed - or even vetted - by the Senate. His administration violated parliamentary procedures and repeatedly bribed and arm-twisted members of Congress to ram through Obamacare - against the expressed will of the people. His surrogates sought to directly manipulate and interfere in primary elections on behalf of pro-Obama candidates - likely committing several felonies. His Interior Department falsified scientific reports to justify the temporary ban on oil drilling in the Gulf Coast. His Justice Department has refused to prosecute blatant voter fraud and intimidation. Mr. Obama has referred to his critics as "enemies" who must be "punished."…..
Mr. Obama's regime has abused its power and fostered anti-democratic behavior. He is slowly erecting a soft police state. It is not one with a fascist jackboot on your face but with a unionized TSA bureaucrat in your crotch - all in the name of public safety. Say hello to Big Brother Barack.
Edited for length, read the entire article here:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/nov/26/obamas-police-state/print/
Thomas Sowell on the same subject: “….this administration is so hung up on political correctness…….They would rather have electronic scanners look under the clothes of nuns than to detain a Jihadist imam for some questioning.”
http://www.creators.com/conservative/thomas-sowell/airport-quot-security-quot.html
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FROM OTHER COLUMNS
“The utter irrelevance of New START to nuclear safety was dramatically underscored last week by the revelation of that North Korean uranium enrichment plant, built with such sophistication that it left the former head of the Los Alamos National Laboratory "stunned." It could become the ultimate proliferation factory. Pyongyang is already a serial proliferator. It has nothing else to sell. Iran, Syria and al-Qaeda have the money to buy. Iran's Islamic Republic lives to bring down the Great Satan. North Korea, nuclear-armed and in a succession crisis, has just shelled South Korean territory for the first time since the Korean armistice. Obama peddling New START is the guy looking for his wallet under the lamppost because that's where the light is good -- even though he lost the wallet on the other side of town.
-Charles Krauthammer
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LEFTIST WATCH
A British criminologist and New York University professor laments that “The dominant voice of crime policy is no longer the expert or even the practitioner but that of the long-suffering, ill-served people -- especially of 'the victim' and the fearful, anxious members of the public.” Liberals suffer from what I call a "reverse morality complex." They have an obsessive compulsion to categorize good people as evil while praising evil people as good. For this reason, they are incapable of being trusted with criminal justice policy, not to mention national security.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/11/airport_scanners_and_marxist_c_1.html
The Southern Poverty Law Center labeled as "hate groups" several political and religious organizations that campaign against same-sex. Included on the list is the Family Research Council, a prominent and politically influential group of social conservatives.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/24/AR2010112405573_pf.html
Whoopi Goldberg Doesn't Believe Japanese Attacked Pearl Harbor, Thinks Muslims More Persecuted Than Jews
Angelina Jolie Hates Thanksgiving, Refuses to Celebrate…“Celebrates murder” she says.
Film critic Roger Ebert chose to celebrate Thanksgiving by rejoicing in former Congressman Tom DeLay's conviction on money laundering charges.
18 former ACORN employees have been convicted this year of election fraud.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/11/26/acorn-workers-convicted-admitted-guilt-election-fraud/
Mayor of London Suggests Bush Could Be Arrested for Torture If He Lands in London
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GLOBALONEY
A funny thing happened on the way to Al Gore's carbon-free utopia. Gore and his global warming buddies at the Chicago Climate Exchange have bailed out, leaving this company that sells hot air a worthless shell. The price of carbon credits has plummeted to less than $.05 cents a tonne, a far cry from the lofty predictions of $15 a tonne and up. That is not the first sign that investment in everything surrounding global warming is being uncovered as a far cry from economic reality. Green jobs are now being hailed as the next big hoax.
http://www.interlakespectator.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2860576
Al Gore now admits his support for corn-based ethanol was "not a good policy. "It's hard once such a program is put in place to deal with the lobbies that keep it going….One of the reasons I made that mistake is that I paid particular attention to the farmers in my home state of Tennessee, and I had a certain fondness for the farmers in the state of Iowa because I was about to run for president."
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFLDE6AL0YT20101122?sp=true
Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell (R) is slamming the Interior Department’s designation of large Arctic regions as “critical habitat” for polar bears threatened by climate change, alleging the decision will slow oil-and-gas drilling. The designation requires federal agencies to consult with Interior’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service before allowing or funding actions that could harm the bear’s northern Alaskan habitat. “Such consultations are increasingly being misused to challenge responsible resource development,” Parnell said in a prepared statement Wednesday. “This additional layer of regulatory burden will not only slow job creation and economic growth here and for our nation, but will also slow oil and gas exploration efforts.”
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ISLAM
Federal prosecutors say a Somali-born teenager plotted to carry out a car bomb attack at a crowded Christmas tree lighting ceremony in downtown Portland OR on Friday but the bomb turned out to be a dud supplied by undercover agents as part of a sting. Mohamed Osman Mohamud was arrested at about 5:45 p.m. just after he dialed a cell phone that he thought would blow up a van laden with explosives but instead brought federal agents and Portland police swooping in to take him into custody.
A young Indonesian woman lies in a Saudi hospital with her head bandaged, her lips cut off, burns all over body and broken bones, inflicted by her Saudi employer. . “Some lawmakers suggested a moratorium on sending domestic workers to Saudi Arabia, something that is considered unlikely given the close economic and political ties between the predominantly Muslim countries.
An eye-opening report released by the BBC on Monday found that roughly 5,000 students attending 40 Muslim schools and after-school clubs in the UK have been taught the Saudi national curriculum -- which includes subjects like chopping off the hands of thieves and the demonization of Jews and gay people. From the BBC report: One of the text books asks children to list the "reprehensible" qualities of Jewish people.
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/alana-goodman/382207
Two prominent Pakistani Muslim leaders threatened to call for nationwide protests if the president pardons a Christian woman sentenced to death for insulting the prophet Mohammed.
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/11/24/pakistan.christian/index.html?hpt=T2
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BOOKS
“When I pick up a book, the thing I want most is to feel that the author has invited me on a journey, one where I can see, hear, and almost touch the world the writer has awakened. Sarah Palin’s America by Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith, and Flag does just that. The writer’s voice is warm and welcoming. The tone is optimistic and patriotic. And the writing style is uncluttered and forthright. Palin presents the American values she holds dear through a blend of personal stories and excerpts from writings that have inspired her.”
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=40158
“The Best of Boy’s Life” by the Boy Scouts of America. Since it was launched in 1911, Boys' Life, the official publication of the Boy Scouts of America, has become one of America's most popular magazines -- growing from an original circulation of 6,000 to roughly 8 million today. Month after month, year after year, it has featured news, stories, jokes, and practical how-to instructions that appeal not only to Scouts, but to any boy of any age.
http://www.hebookservice.com/products/BookPage.asp?prod_cd=C7654
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ARTICLES
“We're approaching the 100th anniversary of the birthday of Ronald Reagan: February 6, 2011. It's time to begin thinking seriously about an appropriate national commemoration of this good man and great president. Let me suggest something: A museum in Washington dedicated to the victims of communism. The struggle against communism impelled American foreign policy for almost half a century. That struggle was also the central concern of Ronald Reagan's political life.”
Dennis Prager: “According to polls…conservative Americans are happier than liberal Americans. Liberals respond this way: “If we’re unhappier, it’s because we are more upset than conservatives over the plight of those less fortunate than ourselves.” But common sense and data suggest other explanations. For one thing, conservatives on the same socioeconomic level as liberals give more charity and volunteer more time than do liberals. And as regards the suffering of non-Americans, for at least half a century conservatives have been far more willing to sacrifice American treasure and American blood (often their own) for other nations’ liberty. Both of these facts refute the liberals-are-more-concerned-about-others explanation for liberal unhappiness…….Utopians will always be less happy than those who know that suffering is inherent to human existence. The utopian compares America to utopia and finds it terribly wanting. The conservative compares America to every other civilization that has ever existed and walks around wondering how he got so lucky as to be born or naturalized an American.”
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/253768/why-unhappy-people-are-liberals-dennis-prager
Sarah Palin dismissed Barbara Bush's recent criticism as a matter of class privilege in an interview with Laura Ingraham: "I don't want to concede that we have to get used to this kind of thing, because I don't think the majority of Americans want to put up with the blue-bloods — and I want to say it with all due respect because I love the Bushes — the blue bloods who want to pick and chose their winners instead of allowing competition," Palin said
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1110/Palin_dismisses_blueblood_Bush_criticism.html?showall
“Rich liberals say they want to pay higher taxes. Great. Let them. Who is stopping them from doing so voluntarily?”
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=40178
The UK Telegraph: “Allen West might just be the black president to save the US in 2012 from the ruins created by the previous one.”……..Even the only “dirt” on West so far turns out to be good dirt. He retired from the army after almost 22 years service because of an incident in Iraq when he interrogated at an Iraqi police officer who he believed had information about a planned ambush. Since the detainee wouldn’t speak, West fired a pistol next to his head into a barrel, so frightening him that he spilled the beans. This landed West with $5,000 fine for having violated the Uniform Code of Military Justice. At the hearing West was asked by his defense attorney if he’d do it again: “If it’s about the lives of my men and their safety I’d go through hell with a gasoline can.”
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NOTEWORTHY WEBSITES
Top 10 Reasons for Conservatives to be Thankful
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=40204
Sarah Palin’s Thanksgiving Day message:
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=463364218434
President Lincoln’s proclamation for a national Thanksgiving holiday:
http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/thanks.htm
Buy the “Don’t Tread On Me” flag here:
http://www.hebookservice.com/products/BookPage.asp?prod_cd=C6205
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HUMOR
The Onion: “Following an audition that "knocked [their] socks off," organizers of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade announced today they would allow the al-Qaeda Marching Band, the musical performance division of the international terrorist organization, to participate in the 84th-annual holiday event. "Macy's has no affiliation with the political agenda of al-Qaeda and in no way endorses its stated goal of destroying the imperialist secular West," said Bob Carlson, a spokesperson for the department store. "But their choreography is just—wow. The costumes, the sass, the showmanship. These guys brought their A-game, and the drum line is just sensational." Al-Qaeda Marching Band director Ibrahim al-Faisal told reporters being selected to perform in the parade was "a great honor," adding that his group looked forward to wowing the crowd and setting off a dirty bomb in the heart of Manhattan…”
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WISE WORDS
"They that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-Benjamin Franklin
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