Sunday, April 1, 2012

op ed review 4/1

THIS WEEK’S NEWS

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) endorsed Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney on Friday, saying he believed the former Massachusetts governor was the best candidate to face off against President Obama in the fall and hold the nation’s highest office.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/219175-report-paul-ryan-to-endorse-romney

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., endorsed Mitt Romney for president Wednesday night on Fox News' "Hannity," saying Romney offers "a very clear alternative" to President Obama's vision for the future of the country.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/03/28/rubio-endorses-romney-saying-hes-earned-it/#ixzz1qW9xgyb1

“Obama Campus Fervor Losing to Apathy as Students Sour on 2012”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-30/obama-campus-fervor-losing-to-apathy-as-students-sour-on-2012.html

According to CNN's legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, the arguments this week at the Supreme Court over Obamacare were "a train wreck for the Obama administration." ...

http://times247.com/articles/cnn-obamacare-defense-a-train-wreck-for-white-house#ixzz1qQBlhJLO

The Supreme Court's conservative justices said Wednesday they are prepared to strike down President Obama’s healthcare law entirely.

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-justices-poised-to-strike-down-entire-healthcare-law-20120328,0,2058481.story

Scalia Likens Reading Obamacare to “Cruel and Unusual Punishment”

http://freebeacon.com/scalia-likens-obamacare-to-cruel-and-unusual-punishment/

National Public Radio: “After this week's oral arguments at the Supreme Court, lawmakers and health policy experts are starting to ponder what had — until recently — been unthinkable to many: What if the court strikes down the entire Affordable Care Act”

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/03/29/149647740/thinking-the-unthinkable-what-if-the-whole-affordable-care-act-goes-down

The House defeated President Obama’s own budget, submitted last month on a 414-0 vote.

http://p.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/mar/28/bowles-simpson-goes-down-defeat/

“The past seven brutal days will go down as one of the worst weeks in history for a sitting president. It certainly has been, without any doubt, the worst week yet for President Obama. Somehow, Mr. Obama managed to embarrass himself abroad, humiliate himself here at home, see his credentials for being elected so severely undermined that it raises startling questions about whether he should have been elected in the first place — let alone be re-elected later this year.”

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/mar/29/hurt-was-week-was-obama-style/

As they have for nearly three years now, voters trust Republicans more than Democrats when it comes to handling the economy, by far the top issue on a list of 10 regularly tracked by Rasmussen Reports.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/mood_of_america/trust_on_issues

“The dark clouds hanging over Rush Limbaugh appear to be lifting.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/limbaugh-sees-heat-over-comments-turn-down-to-a-simmer/2012/03/28/gIQAspEKhS_story.html

Former NAACP leader C.L. Byant is accusing Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton of “exploiting” the Trayvon Martin tragedy to “racially divide this country.”

http://dailycaller.com/2012/03/26/former-naacp-leader-accuses-sharpton-and-jackson-of-exploiting-trayvon-martin/#ixzz1qFXs7r3V

With a single punch, Trayvon Martin decked the Neighborhood Watch volunteer who eventually shot and killed the unarmed 17-year-old, then Trayvon climbed on top of George Zimmerman and slammed his head into the sidewalk several times, leaving him bloody and battered, authorities have revealed to the Orlando Sentinel. That is the account Zimmerman gave police, and much of it has been corroborated by witnesses, authorities say.

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-03-26/news/os-trayvon-martin-zimmerman-account-20120326_1_arizona-iced-tea-suv-unarmed-black-teenager

"White Hispanic." That's how the New York Times, Reuters and other media outlets have opted to describe George Zimmerman, a man who would simply be Hispanic if he hadn't shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. The term, rarely if ever used before this tragedy, is necessary in telling the Martin story in a more comfortable way. What's the comfortable way? It's the way the blame for Martin's death belongs squarely at the feet of "the system." And "the system" is a white thing, don't you know. But the aging race industry that continues to see the world through a half-century-old prism of Jim Crow, and still wants you to see it that way too, is determined to bum-rush Zimmerman into his assigned role, heedless of facts or the lack of them.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-03-29/news/ct-oped-0329-goldberg-20120329_1_black-men-jackson-black-president

Miami Gardens teenager Trayvon Martin was suspended from school in October in an incident in which he was found in possession of women’s jewelry and a screwdriver that a schools security staffer described as a “burglary tool.”

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/26/2714778/thousands-expected-at-trayvon.html

After months of searching, investigators commissioned by Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff Joe Arpaio to examine Barack Obama's eligibility for office found Immigration and Naturalization Service travel records for foreign flights into Hawaii in 1961, only to discover that the records for the week of Obama's birth were missing.

http://www.wnd.com/2012/03/immigration-records-missing-for-week-of-obamas-birth/

At the beginning of the school year, gay pride events at a military academy with titles like "condom Olympics" and "queer prom" would have been unthinkable. This week, they're a reality.”

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/military-academy-holds-1st-gay-pride-events-including-condom-olympics-and-queer-prom

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THIS WEEK’S FEATURED COLUMN

Ann Coulter makes the case for Mitt Romney: 2/22

As governor of one of the most liberal states in the union, Mitt Romney did something even Ronald Reagan didn't do as governor of California: He balanced the budget without raising taxes. Romney became deeply pro-life as governor of the aforementioned liberal state and vetoed an embryonic stem cell bill… Romney's approach to illegal immigration in Massachusetts resembled what Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona is doing today, making her a right-wing heroine. Romney pushed the conservative alternative to national health care that, had it been adopted in the 49 other states, would have killed Obamacare in the crib by solving the health insurance problem at the state level.

Unlike actual Establishment candidates, Romney has never worked in Washington, much less spent his entire life as a professional politician. He's had a Midas touch with every enterprise he has ever run, including Bain Capital, the Olympics and Massachusetts. The chestnut about Mitt Romney being pushed on unsuspecting conservatives by "the Establishment" is the exact opposite of the truth. The Establishment, by any sensible definition, is virulently opposed to Romney -- and for completely contradictory reasons. The entire NFM (non-Fox media) hate Romney because he is the only candidate who stands a chance of beating Obama.

Meanwhile, many of the pillars of the conservative establishment also implacably oppose Romney. Fox News is neutral, but its second-highest-rated host, Sean Hannity, is unenthusiastic about Romney, as is prominent Fox News contributor Sarah Palin, who has told Fox viewers she'd vote for Gingrich -- and also offered herself up as a possible presidential nominee at a contested convention. (Wouldn't a former candidate for vice president on a major party's ticket be part of the Establishment?)


The No. 1 conservative talk-radio host in America, Rush Limbaugh, is critical of Romney, and another top conservative talk-radio host, Mark Levin, is adamantly against Romney -- though both Limbaugh and Levin supported Romney as the conservative alternative to John McCain in 2008, and Romney has only gotten better since then……

In 2008, Romney was enthusiastically supported not only by Limbaugh and Levin, but also by Sean Hannity, Rick Santorum, Herman Cain, Laura Ingraham, Michael Savage and many others who now seem to view Romney as a closet liberal. This is especially baffling because there is no liberal candidate in the Republican primary this year. Just four years ago, one Republican candidate for president was avowedly pro-abortion (Rudy Giuliani). One had opposed Clinton's impeachment and tort reform (Fred Thompson). One supported amnesty for illegals, restrictions on core First Amendment speech, federal laws to combat nonexistent global warming, and opposed Guantanamo and the Bush tax cuts ("tax cuts for the rich!") and called waterboarding "torture." That last one was our nominee: John McCain.

This year, every Republican candidate for president opposes abortion, promises to repeal Obamacare, opposes raising taxes, and on and on. Only one candidate is strong on illegal immigration, which is second only to repealing Obamacare as the most important issue facing the nation. That's the alleged liberal, Mitt Romney.

Conservatives scratch their heads wondering how the NFM can convince millions of unemployed and underemployed Americans paying $3.57 for a gallon of gas that the economy is improving simply by repeatedly saying so. But then a large minority of those same conservatives are completely convinced that Romney is an Establishment candidate simply because they have heard that repeated so often. As we say to dunderhead liberals: What we're looking for here is facts, not chants or epithets.

But instead of popping Champagne corks over our final triumph over Rockefeller Republicanism, some conservatives are still fighting old wars, rather like an old cold warrior prattling about the Soviet Union after the rest of us have moved onto the war on terrorism. This strange new version of right-wing populism comes down to reveling in the feeling that you are being dissed, hoodwinked or manipulated by the Establishment (most of which happens to oppose Romney) the same way liberals want to believe that "the rich," the "right-wing media" and Wall Street Republicans (there are three) are victimizing them.

It's as if scoring points in intra-Republican squabbles is more important than beating Obama. Instead of talking about the candidates' positions -- which would be confusing inasmuch as Romney is the most conservative of the four remaining candidates -- the only issue seems to be whether "They" are showing respect for "Us." Striking a pose as the only true fighter for real Americans may be fun, but this is no way to win elections. This is Sharron Angle on a national level.

The obsession with sticking it to the Establishment (which includes Christine O'Donnell, but excludes Bill Kristol) by voting for a loose cannon demagogue or a crusading Catholic who can't seem to move the conversation past contraception is as pie-in-the-sky delusional as anything dished by Democrats carrying on about "green jobs." …….We're being asked to hand Obama another four years in the White House in order to "send a message." To whom? And what message? That we're morons? Message received!

Meanwhile, Romney cheerfully campaigns on, the biggest outsider and most conservative candidate we've run for president since Reagan, while being denounced by the Establishment as "too Establishment."

Edited from a longer column:

http://www.anncoulter.com/columns/2012-02-22.html

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FROM OTHER COLUMNS

"[T]he Institute for Justice, a libertarian public interest law firm, has focused on this fact: The individual mandate is incompatible with centuries of contract law. ... The brief….says Obamacare is the first time Congress has used its power to regulate commerce to produce a law 'from which there is no escape.' ... Throughout the life of this nation it has been understood that for a contract to be valid, the parties to it must mutually assent to its terms -- without duress. In addition to duress, contracts are voidable for reasons of fraud upon, or the mistake or incapacity of, a party to the contract. This underscores the centrality of the concept of meaningful consent in contract law. To be meaningful, consent must be informed and must not be coerced. Under Obamacare, the government will compel individuals to enter into contractual relations with insurance companies under threat of penalty. ... Furthermore, although the Constitution permits Congress to make laws 'necessary and proper' for executing its enumerated powers, such as the power to regulate interstate commerce, it cannot, IJ argues, be proper to exercise that regulatory power in ways that eviscerate 'the very essence of legally binding contracts.' ... IJ correctly says that if the court were to ratify Congress' disregard for settled contract law, Congress' 'power to compel contractual relations would have no logical stopping point.' Which is why this case is the last exit ramp on the road to unlimited government."

-George Will

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LEFTIST WATCH

While Dick Cheney was recovering from his heart transplant in the intensive care unit of Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Va. Saturday, Twitter exploded with hate and ill wishes for the former vice president. “Whoever donated their heart to dick cheney: f*** you,” tweeted @yokelesy. “Cheney’s black soul keeps rotting out his heart. F*** that ***ch,” @SolidGlo waxed poetic. “Why in the contumacious f*** are we wasting a perfectly good heart on dick cheney?” tweeted @mr_senor_pete…..

http://dailycaller.com/2012/03/25/new-civility-twitter-explodes-with-cheney-hate-following-heart-transplant/

Here’s a sentence you don’t read every day: “Movement Conservatism will kill more innocent Americans than Al-Qaida ever will.” That is, of course, a Daily Kos sentence from Wednesday. Several hours later, another Kosmonaut insisted the conservative brain has no sense of time, place or direction. Conservatives can barely walk, it seems, let alone talk.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-graham/2012/03/29/daily-kos-movement-conservatism-more-deadly-america-al-qaeda

Hollywood promotes mass murder of conservatives. In the latest Hollywood snuff film God Bless America a psycho freak goes on a killing rampage that includes tea partiers and conservative TV hosts. They call this entertainment.

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/03/outrageous-hollywood-kills-off-tea-partiers-and-conservative-tv-hosts-in-latest-disgusting-snuff-film-god-bless-america/

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BOOKS, FILM

“Earlier today Forbes posted an excerpt from the book “Hope Is Not a Strategy” by John Mariotti and D. M. Lukas. The author provided an excerpt from the book for the article where he describes Barack Obama as a “manufactured candidate” whose history remains sealed. Mariotti then calls Obama the “Manchurian candidate.” But, after the article was posted for a few hours it suddenly disappeared down the memory hole.”

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/03/thats-weird-forbes-article-calling-obama-the-manchurian-candidate-disappears-down-the-memory-hole/

“HOPE IS NOT A STRATEGY: Leadership Lessons from the Obama Presidency”. Thirty chapters that reveal what was behind Barack Obama’s mistakes, failures and lack of leadership.

http://www.hopeisnotastrategybook.com/

Hollywood critics are still scratching their heads in response to the incredible success of the new film "October Baby." For a movie that New York Times film critic Jeannette Catsoulis said was “ugliness at its core,” it did beautifully well at the box office. "October Baby" grossed $1.7 million its opening weekend. And despite appearing in fewer than 400 theaters, it finished as the No. 8 movie, the No. 1 limited release film, and had the third-highest per-screen average. “October Baby is not just another "pro-life" movie. It's a full-length motion picture with a story that will have you laughing and crying at the same time. It affirms life and it affirms a Christian worldview.”

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/03/31/why-must-see-october-baby/#ixzz1qpif1veq

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GLOBALONEY

Well, we can’t say we weren’t warned. This week, the unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats at the Environmental Protection Agency released a set of proposed rules designed to target greenhouse gas emissions. If enacted, these rules would virtually destroy the coal industry - just as President Obama once promised he would do.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/mar/29/obama-kills-coal-as-promised/

The more we learn about climate science, the more we learn what a shabby, back-of-the-envelope business it is. Dr. Michael Mann, the climate science poster boy who simplified the global climate of the last millennium into a hockey stick, just came out with a book to remind us how anyone who disagrees with him is a shill for dark forces…

http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/03/the_science_of_half-baked_ideas.html

Three Minnesota environmental non-profit advocacy groups have received nearly half a million dollars in out-of-state foundation funding to oppose the Keystone oil pipeline project, according to a Freedom Foundation of Minnesota analysis.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/03/26/minnesota-non-profits-receive-440000-to-oppose-keystone-pipeline

Current theories of the causes and impact of global warming have been thrown into question by a new study which shows that during medieval times the whole of the planet heated up. It then cooled down naturally and there was even a 'mini ice age'. A team of scientists led by geochemist Zunli Lu from Syracuse University in New York state, has found that contrary to the ‘consensus’, the ‘Medieval Warm Period’ approximately 500 to 1,000 years ago wasn’t just confined to Europe. In fact, it extended all the way down to Antarctica –

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2120512/Global-warming-Earth-heated-medieval-times-human-CO2-emissions.html

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ISLAM

An Islamic marriage guide that advises Muslim men on how to beat and control their wives has sparked outrage. The 160-page “A Gift For Muslim Couples” tells husbands they may beat wives "by hand or stick" or "pull her by the ears". Women are told they must not leave the house without permission. A wife should "beautify herself" for her man and "fulfil his desires". And if she disobeys, a husband may "restrain her with strength or threaten her". The book, based on the writings of an Islamic scholar, is on sale at online Islamic bookstores and eBay. It is billed as "the perfect wedding gift".

http://nation.foxnews.com/islam/2012/03/26/muslims-guide-belting-wife#ixzz1qEa1hLMz

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THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE

“We don’t need a fight on the Convention floor in Tampa to justify the strength of the conservative movement. One needs to look no further than the 2010 repossession of the House of Representatives, our big gains in the Senate and 10 big gubernatorial victories as evidence of the power of our conservative principles and ideas. As of today, it is clear neither Senator Santorum nor Speaker Gingrich nor Congressman Paul can amass the majority of delegates required to be the Republican nominee. Their only paths to victory feature a contested, anarchic floor fight just weeks before Americans vote…..”

http://dailycaller.com/2012/03/26/time-for-conservatives-to-unite-behind-governor-mitt-romney/2/

Noonan: Something's happening to President Obama's relationship with those who are inclined not to like his policies. They are now inclined not to like him….. If you jumped into a time machine to the day after the election, in November, 2012, and saw a headline saying "Obama Loses," do you imagine that would be followed by widespread sadness, pain and a rending of garments? You do not. Even his own supporters will not be that sad….

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303816504577312043447691520.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop

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ARTICLES

For those wanting to understand why the political deliberation over gay marriage is such a sensitive subject for this White House, look no further than the fact that it splits the two core constituencies that make up President Obama's base: college-aged voters and African-Americans. Young voters are the driving force behind making gay marriage politically acceptable. But black voters, despite their overwhelming support for the president, are among the leading opponents of gay marriage.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/03/why-obama-isnt-backing-gay-marriage/255002/

“Ronald Reagan, together with Margaret Thatcher, stood up to Moscow, and brought the Soviet Empire to its knees. In contrast, Barack Obama has gone on his knees to grovel before the Russians. The exchange between President Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev in Seoul was a display of supplication before a major strategic adversary on an issue of great importance for US national security--missile defence.”

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100146369/barack-obamas-grovelling-before-the-russians-is-an-embarrassment/

Ann Coulter: Like Captain Ahab searching for the Great White Whale, the NFM is constantly on the hunt for proof of America as "Mississippi Burning." Over St. Patrick's Day weekend, the month after Martin was killed, gangs in Chicago shot 10 people dead, including a 6-year-old girl, Aliyah Shell, who was sitting with her mother on their front porch. One imagines MSNBC hosts heaving a sign of relief that little Aliyah was not shot by a white man, and was thus spared the horror of being a victim of racism. As it happens, Trayvon Martin wasn't shot by a white man either, but by George Zimmerman, a mixed-race Hispanic who lives in a diverse (47 percent white) gated community and tutors black kids. But Hispanic is close enough for the NFM. They're chasing the Great White Whale of racist America and don't have time to check to see if the whale is actually a guppy. Since the cat leapt out of the bag on Zimmerman being Hispanic, the media have begun calling him a "white Hispanic."…..Among the reasons to be suspicious of the media as impartial judges of the evidence is that they keep showing us snapshots from Martin's childhood, rather than any recent photos. Without doing research, the average person would think Martin was a slight 12-year-old whippersnapper at the time of the shooting, rather than a strapping 6-foot, 160-pound 17-year-old. Indeed, he was 3 inches taller than Zimmerman, according to the police report…..

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=50511

An insidious form of self-censorship has gripped not only the mainstream media but most of the conservative media as well. All Americans who believe in the quest for the truth should be concerned that a rigid taboo is being enforced to prevent the discussion of serious evidence that the President of the United States has presented documents that were constructed on a computer as his genuine birth certificate.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/03/calling_out_self-censorship_on_the_right.html

Anyone who spends time looking at crime statistics will discover the basics of race and crime before too long, but you better be careful not to talk about them in polite society. They are protected by a taboo even stronger than the Victorian taboo against public discussions of sex, but with good reason. The facts are painful. No one can take joy in publicizing them.

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2012/03/no-justice-no-agitation.php

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NOTEWORTHY WEBSITES

The humor of Ronald Reagan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X39dGQmBEww&feature=g-vrec&context=G2ea6dfeRVAAAAAAAAAw

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LATE NITE:

Leno: I think even President Obama realizes the Obamacare thing is not looking good in front of the Supreme Court. He's starting to downplay it. Like, today, he called it Bidencare…… Osama bin Laden's family has been charged with being in Pakistan illegally. But their lawyer says they were just there willing to do the terrorist jobs the Pakistanis didn't want to do…… A madam in New York City claims that John Edwards was a customer in her brothel. You hear that kind of thing and it really makes you lose respect for prostitutes, doesn't it?

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WISE WORDS

"In order to become the master, the politician poses as the servant."

-Charles de Gaulle

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