op ed review 6/24
THIS WEEK’S NEWS
The latest tracking polls from Gallup and Rasmussen show Governor Mitt
Romney, respectively, one and four points up over President Barack Obama. This
is news that is almost too good to be true. Is this a trick or what? Citing Ronald Reagan's 15 point deficit in his
1980 race against President Jimmy Carter, Haley Barbour mused: "A lot of
us anticipated that while Romney wouldn't be behind 15 points, he would start
off behind."
In a move showing how politically toxic President Barack
Obama has become for some Democrats, it was announced Monday that three
prominent Democrats in West Virginia
will not attend the Democratic National Convention in September.
The New York Times notices a problem: “After
Obama's G20 Press Conference: 'He
Doesn't Seem In Command'”
The House committee investigating Fast and Furious has
received more than 7,600 documents from the Justice Department, but Republican
lawmakers say none addresses who approved the gunrunning probe, who failed to
stop it before a U.S. Border Patrol agent was killed and why department
officials initially lied to Congress about it.
The National Border Patrol Council, which represents all
17,000 of the agency’s nonsupervisory agents, called for the resignation of
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. for his role in the botched “Fast and
Furious”.
Catholics across the country will amplify what is an already
loud outcry over the federal government's so-called contraception mandate. With
rallies, marches, lectures and special publications, the U.S. Catholic Bishop's
Fortnight for Freedom campaign will seek to galvanize formal Catholic
opposition to a rule announced in January by President Barack Obama's
administration that says religiously affiliated institutions, such as
universities and hospitals, must soon include free birth control coverage in
their employee health insurance.
The Obama administration is using prison labor to advance
its green energy agenda, enriching foreign companies and some of the
president’s largest campaign donors in the process.
Gun-control advocates are noticeably silent when crime rates
decline. Their multimillion-dollar lobbying efforts are designed to manufacture
mass anxiety that every gun owner is a potential killer. The statistics show
otherwise. Last week, the FBI announced that violent crime decreased 4 percent
in 2011.
President Obama has ordered a change in policy via executive
edict that could allow as many as 800,000 immigrants who came to the United States
illegally not only to remain in the country without fear of being deported, but
to work legally.
Seven hours after President Obama announced that some
illegal aliens would be allowed to stay in the United States and could be allowed
to work here, Obama’s hispanic national campaign director e-mailed a
fundraising letter seeking donations to his re-election effort. The e-mail with
the subject line “wonderful news,” contains links to the website, where
visitors can listen to Obama’s speech on immigration.
When Tim Morris got his mail last week he found a
pretty big surprise, a document asking his dog Mozart to register to vote. Not
only is Mozart a dog but he's been dead for two years. What amazed Morris is that if Mozart was human he would have been
eligible to vote for the first time in 2012. "He would have been 19 years
old this year and he passed away two years ago," he said. "I still
have no earthly idea how they got his information."
http://www2.wsls.com/news/2012/jun/18/bedford-county-dead-dog-receives-voter-registratio-ar-1996759/
Dozens of House lawmakers accused the U.S. Air Force this
week of being "hostile towards religion," citing a string of recent
incidents they claim show the military is taking separation of church and state
too far. "Censorship is not required for compliance with the
Constitution," they wrote in a letter to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.
The letter from 66 Republican members of Congress referenced a series of cases
where they claim the Air Force "succumbed" to demands from outside
groups.
For most Europeans, almost nothing is more prized than their
four to six weeks of guaranteed annual vacation leave. But it was not clear
just how sacrosanct that time off was until Thursday, when Europe’s
highest court ruled that workers who happened to get sick on vacation were
legally entitled to take another vacation…..”With much of Europe
mired in recession, governments struggling to reduce budget deficits and
officials trying to combat high unemployment, the ruling is a reminder of just
how hard it is to shake up long-established and legally protected labor
practices that make it hard to put more people to work and revive sinking
economies.”
_______________________________________________________________________________
THIS WEEK’S FEATURED COLUMN
Thomas Sowell 6/19
President Obama's
latest political ploy — granting new "rights" out of thin air, by
executive order, to illegal immigrants who claim that they were brought into
the country when they were children — is all too typical of his short-run
approach to the country's long-run problems. Whatever the merits or demerits of
the Obama immigration policy, his executive order is good only as long as he
remains president, which may be only a matter of months after this year's
election.
People cannot plan
their lives on the basis of laws that can suddenly appear, and then suddenly
disappear, in less than a year. To come forward today and claim the protection
of the Obama executive order is to declare publicly and officially that your
parents entered the country illegally. How that may be viewed by some later
administration is anybody's guess.
Employers likewise
cannot rely on policies that may be here today and gone tomorrow, whether these
are temporary tax rates designed to look good at election time or temporary
immigration policies that can backfire later if employers get accused of hiring
illegal immigrants. Why hire someone, and invest time and money in training
them, if you may be forced to fire them before a year has passed?
Kicking the can down
the road is one of the favorite exercises in Washington. But neither in the economy nor
in their personal lives can people make plans and commitments on the basis of
government policies that suddenly appear and suddenly disappear. Like so many
other Obama ploys, his immigration ploy is not meant to help the country, but
to help Obama. This is all about getting the Hispanic vote this November.
The principle
involved — keeping children from being hurt by actions over which they had no
control — is one already advanced by Sen. Marco Rubio, who may well end up as
Gov. Romney's vice-presidential running mate. The Obama executive order, which
suddenly popped up like a rabbit out of a magician's hat, steals some of
Rubio's thunder, so it is clever politics. But clever politics is what has
gotten this country into so much trouble, not only as regards immigration but
also as regards the economy and the dangerous international situation.
When the new, and
perhaps short-lived, immigration policy is looked at in terms of how it can be
administered, it makes even less sense. While this policy is rationalized in
terms of children, those who invoke it are likely to do so as adults. How do
you check someone's claim that he was brought into the country illegally when
he was a child? If Obama gets re-elected, it is very unlikely that illegal
immigrants will really have to prove anything. The administration can simply
choose not to enforce that provision, as so many other immigration laws are
unenforced in the Obama administration.
If Obama does not
get re-elected, then it may not matter anyway, when his executive order can be
gone after he is gone. Ultimately, it does not matter what immigration policy
this country has, if it cannot control its own borders. Whoever wants to come,
and who has the chutzpah, will come. And the fact that they come across the
Mexican border does not mean that they are all Mexicans. They can just as
easily be terrorists from the Middle East.
Only after the
border is controlled can any immigration policy matter be seriously considered,
and options weighed through the normal constitutional process of congressional
hearings, debate and legislation, rather than by presidential short-cuts. Not
only is border control fundamental, what is also fundamental is the principle
that immigration policy does not exist to accommodate foreigners but to protect
Americans — and the American culture that has made this the world's richest,
freest and most powerful nation for more than a century.
No nation can absorb
unlimited numbers of people from another culture without jeopardizing its own
culture. In the 19th and early 20th century, America could absorb millions of
immigrants who came here to become Americans. But the situation is entirely
different today, when group separatism, resentment and polarization are being
promoted by both the education system and politicians.
_____________________________________________________________________________
FROM OTHER COLUMNS
“Just when you thought the Left's campaign of cultural
degradation couldn't become any worse, Barack Hussein Obama, ostensibly the Commander
in Chief of our Armed Forces, sent down a decree that the Service Branches must
celebrate "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month." The
purpose of this mandate is to affirm the minuscule number of homosexuals (2-3
percent) serving in the military ranks -- mostly in rear echelon positions……Obama's
declaration came during the same week the DoD announced it would comply with
atheist group demands that all military editions of the Bible be removed from
Base Exchange centers..”
-Mark Alexander
"By openly
affirming bisexual and homosexual behavior, military leadership is coming into
direct conflict with the morals and standards held almost universally by
chaplains and service members of virtually every major faith group in the
military. This blatant attempt to 'celebrate' a minority view of political
correctness will not endear military families to the military. I want the
American public to see just where the current administration is leading our
military. They have turned our Armed Forces into a social experiment at the
cost of military readiness."
-Col. Ron Crews
"This week,
Barack Obama decreed that my Marine Corps would officially 'celebrate Gay Pride
Month.' The next step will be to set quotas for homosexuals in the ranks, and
to offer marriages and same-sex benefits. I'm preparing for retirement after
more than 30 years of service to my country, and more than a few scars to prove
it. It grieves me to leave my beloved Corps in such a state, being used as a
political crap pot for Obama and his socialist administrators. I have honored
my oath. They have deserted theirs. Do citizens give a s--t anymore? Time to
wake up. God Bless America!
S/F."
-anonymous marine
"Give the president credit. He has thrown down the
gauntlet and essentially boasted: This is my vision of the way the new America
should work -- and if you don't like it, try stopping me in November, if you
dare."
-Victor Davis Hanson
___________________________________________________________________________
BOOKS
The Left has seized on our economic troubles as an excuse to
“blame the rich guy” and paint a picture of capitalism and the free market as
selfish, greedy, and cruel. Democrats in Congress and “Occupy” protesters
across the country assert that the free market is not only unforgiving, it’s
morally corrupt. According to President Obama and his allies, only by allowing
the government to heavily control and regulate business and by redistributing
the wealth can we ensure fairness and compassion. Exactly the opposite is true, says Father
Robert A. Sirico in his thought–provoking new book, “Defending the Free Market:
The Moral Case for a Free Economy”. Father Sirico argues that a free economy
actually promotes charity, selflessness, and kindness. He shows why free-market
capitalism is not only the best way to ensure individual success and national
prosperity but is also the surest route to a moral and socially–just society.
“Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America” by Mark R. Levin. Hailed by Rush Limbaugh as “the most compelling defense of freedom for
our time,” and “the necessary book of the Obama era” by The American
Spectator, Mark R. Levin’s Liberty and Tyranny made the most
persuasive case for conservatism and against statism in a generation. In this
most crucial time, this leading conservative thinker explores the psychology,
motivations, and history of the utopian movement, its architects, and its
modern-day disciples—and how the individual and American society are being
devoured by it. Levin asks, what is this utopian
force that both allures a free people and destroys them?
__________________________________________________________________________
GLOBALONEY
“Green ‘drivel’ exposed:
The godfather of global warming lowers the boom on climate change
hysteria.”
Women march in Rio to
protest 'green economy'
___________________________________________________________________________
LEFTIST WATCH
The University of Minnesota
- Duluth (UMD) is now sponsoring an ad-campaign designed to achieve
"racial justice" by raising awareness of "white privilege." The project disseminates its message, that
"society was setup for us [whites]" and as such is
"unfair," through an aggressive campaign of online videos,
billboards, and lectures. The ads feature a number of Caucasians confessing
their guilt for the supposed "privilege" that comes along with their
fair features.
The Occupy movement is preoccupied. In October, when liberal
activists gathered in Washington,
they had hopes that the nascent Occupy Wall Street movement would become the
left’s answer to the tea party. But this time around — the annual Take Back the
American Dream Conference was moved up to June this election year — the Occupy
encampments are gone, and participants in the conference were pondering what
went wrong.
____________________________________________________________________________
ELECTION
“Obama Asks People Getting Married To Forgo Gifts, Ask Their
Guests To Donate To His Campaign Instead…You can even register your wedding on
his campaign website.” They will accept
birthday and anniversary gifts too…”
Malkin: There aren't Greek columns tall or wide
enough to camouflage Barack Obama's impending North Carolina catastrophe. In September,
the campaigner-in-chief will travel to Charlotte for his party's presidential
nominating convention…Obama's stage managers envision a triumphant, unifying
coronation reminiscent of their 2008 DNC production in Denver. But the southern
swing state is turning into a Democratic disaster zone.
Finally, an Obama biographer admits what the right side of
the blogosphere has known for the last four years, that there was no Obama
family, that the president's mother and presumed father never lived together,
and that mother and baby "were long gone from Honolulu" within a
month of the baby's birth. Unfortunately, no one bothered to check the record
while Obama was basing his persona and his candidacy on the myth of this
multicultural romance.
Eleanor Clift, writing in The Daily Beast, reports on a
focus group of a dozen independent voters. The bottom line? They are souring on
Obama – including many of those who voted for him in 2008. To be specific,
Democratic pollster Peter Hart gathered a group (sponsored by the Annenberg
Public Policy Center) in Denver
last week. Nine of the 12 people voted for Obama four years ago. Today, only
three lean toward him. Among the findings: (a) independents “aren’t biting”
when it comes to the attacks on Mitt Romney on Bain Capital;
___________________________________________________________________________
ARTICLES
“Is it time to start talking about the inevitable demise of
the Democratic Party?”
“Is President Obama A Pathological Liar?......Stacked up,
his whoppers would make even Bill Clinton blush. Here's a sampling…”
The maddening details of Obama’s DREAM Decree are
becoming clearer. 1) The decree doesn’t just apply to illegal immigrants who
were “brought to this country by their parents.” It also would give work
permits to those who snuck across the border by themselves as teenagers.
“Through no fault of their own” is a talking point for DREAM proselytizers, not
an actual legal requirement. 2) The same goes for the phrase “and know only
this country as home.” That’s a highly imaginative riff on the decree’s actual
requirement, which is for 5 years “continuous residence.” It turns out “continuous
residence” doesn’t mean what you think it means. Immigration attorneys have been successful in
getting immigration courts to whittle this down to a point where it is almost
meaningless,
We all know how the Obama administration likes to portray
the auto bailout: A generous infusion of money enabled the government to save
General Motors and Chrysler. Jobs that otherwise would have disappeared were
rescued by this taxpayer-funded largesse. It was expensive, but we had no
choice. The reality is far less uplifting: Administration officials could have
ensured that the bailout didn’t cost you and me a dime. All they had to do was
require the United Auto Workers to accept standard bankruptcy concessions.
Instead, the UAW got special treatment.
___________________________________________________________________________
NOTEWORTHY WEBSITES
European Debt Crisis Explained
Washington Post Fact Checker gives “4 Pinocchios for Obama’s
newest anti-Romney ad”
10 things you might not know about guns
What kills us: The Leading Causes Of Death From 1900-2010
____________________________________________________________________________
LATE NITE:
Leno: It was 100
degrees in New York City.
It was so hot, Attorney General Eric Holder was selling water guns to Mexican
drug gangs… The temperatures are higher than President Obama was in high
school…..
In Chicago
some anti-Mitt Romney protesters told reporters they're being paid to protest.
They said they're being paid by Democrats to stand outside and chant
anti-Romney slogans. Well, who says President Obama isn't creating any new
jobs?……According to federal reports filed yesterday, the Obama campaign spent
more money than they raised in the month of May. They spent more money than
they raised? Well, that's called being a Democrat…… Our space probe, Voyager 1,
launched back in 1977, is 11 billion miles in space. It's on the verge of
leaving our solar system on its mission to find other civilizations to try and
borrow money from……President Obama is going to let certain illegal immigrants
stay in this country. But there is an age requirement. You have to be old
enough to vote by November……President Obama spent about four hours on Father's
Day playing golf at a country club in Chicago.
It was his 100th round of golf since taking office. He's played more golf than
Tiger Woods in the last four years…….Actually, Obama's staff is a little
concerned. They're concerned all this golf is cutting into his fund-raising.
____________________________________________________________________________
WISE WORDS
"A fondness for
power is implanted, in most men, and it is natural to abuse it, when
acquired."
-Alexander Hamilton
posted by gary at
8:16 AM
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