Liberals are out of step with America

Left-wing liberals are the people who are trying to remove "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance.  They're the ones who want to remove the Ten Commandments, and all other references to God, from public buildings.  They are trying to force the Boy Scouts to allow homosexual Scoutmasters.  Liberals are pushing for same-sex marriage and same-sex adoption rights in every state. Most normal, average everyday people don't want America to become a godless, amoral Socialist state.  Except in a few states on the east and west coasts, and some parts of Minnesota, the average American does not think the way liberals think.  Liberals are completely out of step with mainstream America, and they must rely on subterfuge to win arguments. There is a new subsection at the bottom of the page about the liberals' strange admiration of Cuba. 5 Ways Liberals Misjudge the American People:  One of the reasons liberals tend to do such an incredibly poor job of governing is that they fundamentally misunderstand the nature of the American people.  Given that liberals also fundamentally misunderstand Christianity, the Constitution, economics, and human nature, I guess it's no big surprise that they don't get the American people either. What Democrats Think of the American People:  Democratic leaders in the House are apparently moving towards the "Slaughter Solution" of avoiding a direct vote on the health care legislation and instead passing the Senate health care bill by voting to "deem" it passed.  As they do so, they keep reassuring the media — and each other — that the American people don't care. Obama in dire need of an intervention.  Denial is a river that runs through the White House, where the denizens are in the grip of two major delusions:  One, that the country really wants really expensive big government, and two, that Obama is "sort of like God." Deadly Triumvirate Destroying America.  [Scroll down]  The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails us.  Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince.  The republic can survive a Barack Obama.  It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools such as those who made him their president. Blue dogs or dead dogs?  "Blue dog" Democrats are apparently an endangered species — a SELF-endangered species.  They are rushing like lemmings off the towering cliff of government-run health care and into the gaping maw of unelectability.  Why?  The blue dogs are being enticed to commit political suicide for the good of their party. Obama:  Polls Do Not Reflect the People.  President Obama was out stumping for his health care bill in Ohio today.  In the conclusion of his speech, he told the crowd that he would ignore the polls and do what the people want. The Editor says... I wonder what Mr. Obama thinks a poll is. The Road Ahead for ObamaCare:  The "health-care summit" has come and gone, and it was a good day for the Republicans.  They were sharp and focused, the Democrats meandering and ineffectual.  The latter came off more like wishful ideologues or naive amateurs than like practical realists with sensible solutions.  They seemed disconnected from economic and budgetary realities, and from the electorate. Conservatives Rule?  Demographically, conservatives do rule; politically, they are chronically shut out.  Why this happens is a big subject on which we have written many times.  For now, let's just note the most recent Gallup poll finds that conservatives are now America's most numerous ideological group. A Conservative Manifesto:  From MSNBC on, every liberal elite outlet sniffs with distain at the very mention of the word "conservative."  They sip their overpriced chardonnay as they nibble truffle-enhanced Pâté de foie gras while declaring in their upper class accents that conservatism is out of step with everyday America.  It is not surprising that even now these pseudo intellectuals consider the elections in Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts to be aberrations. Obama's Progressive Goose and Our Conservative Gander:  Asked by Oprah to grade his own performance during the first year of his presidency, Barack Obama did not hesitate to pat himself on the back:  "a good, solid B-plus."  The conservatives are genuinely puzzled by the president's blithe confidence.  How can this man view his patently disastrous rule as near-perfect?  Is he delusional?  Not at all.  It's just that Obama sees things differently. ... Barack Obama is a lifelong radical, and his ideology compels him to see the world through a revolutionary prism. Clyburn:  'We've got to spend our way out of this recession'.  The U.S. government must spend its way out of the recession, the Democrats' third-ranking House leader stressed Monday [2/1/2010].  Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), the House majority whip, said that trying to find greater savings in the budget, which was released by President Barack Obama this morning, wouldn't help alleviate the recession. Pete Stark's bizarre ethics interview.  Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) sounds like an ethics investigator's worst nightmare. ... Stark has a history of eccentric statements, including an infamous line in 2007 about the Iraq war in which he accused Republicans of sending soldiers "to get their heads blown off for the president's amusement."  He also called Republicans "chickenhawks" who denied children health care. The liberals pounce on Brit Hume: If You Can Find a Better Deal, Take It!  Someone mentioned Christianity on television recently and liberals reacted with their usual howls of rage and blinking incomprehension. ... [Brit] Hume's words, being 100 percent factually correct, sent liberals into a tizzy of sputtering rage, once again illustrating liberals' copious ignorance of Christianity. Throwing Brit Hume to the lions.  If there were doubt that much of the media is hostile to traditional faith, especially traditional Christianity, that doubt has been drowned in the wake of a vicious verbal assault on Fox News analyst Brit Hume.  Histrionic fulminations against Mr. Hume's inoffensive expression of faith expose an ugly strain of anti-religious bigotry that is spreading inside this country's liberal establishment. The Soul of Tiger Woods.  The first rule of dinner-table conversation is no hot talk about politics or religion.  Apparently, there's a rule regarding the discussion of religion during political talk shows, too. It's Not Socialism, It's Communism.  If you felt a frisson of fear on news that the Senate had passed Obamacare the day before Christmas, then you now know what it was and is like to live in a dictatorship.  The voice of the people was ignored in a demonstration of raw political power. ... Healthcare "reform" is not about uninsured Americans.  It is not "socialism."  It is Communism, effectively putting the entire nation's healthcare system under state control. Liberals think other Americans are extremists.  Being for gay marriage and unrestricted abortion are outside the mainstream — as are the $787 billion stimulus, the takeover of the auto industry, and a government takeover of health care.  That last one is incredible.  Health insurance companies have to be one of the least loved institutions in America. ... But Americans love Congress even less. The Government Still Hasn't a Clue.  Last month we saw the scientific climate experts exposed as conniving manipulators in Climategate.  On Christmas Eve, the United States Senate passed a health reform bill with 2,000 pages of undigested expert ideas on gaming the health system with untested administrative rules and commissions. ... These liberals, Progressives, or whatever they want to call themselves next are clueless. Transvestites, Mao And Obama Ornaments Decorate White House Christmas Tree.  Why let a holiday season come between the White House and making some political statements?  The White House pegged controversial designer Simon Doonan to oversee the Christmas decorations for the White House.  Mr. Doonan, who is creative director of Barney's New York has often caused a stir with his design choices. ... For this year's White House, he didn't disappoint. Feinstein Says It's 'Morally Correct' to Force Taxpayers to Fund Abortion.  Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D.-Calif.) told CNSNews.com that using tax dollars from pro-life Americans to pay for insurance plans that cover abortion is morally correct. Baca-backed bill would legalize millions of immigrants.  Congressional Democrats on Tuesday [12/15/2009] launched a renewed effort to pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation.  Rep. Joe Baca, D-San Bernardino, is a co-sponsor of the bill that provides a path to citizenship for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the country. The Editor says... There has always been a path to citizenship available to immigrants.  It sounds as if Mr. Baca is offering a substantial shortcut. What's The Rush?!  What should we label this administration?  Democrat?  No.  They seem different than the olden-day Democrats.  Progressive?  Isn't that just a fancy name for Neo-Communist?!  Well, whatever the label that history will lay on them, they are America Haters.  They are Freedom Haters.  They are People Haters.  And, many of them are God Haters.  And, they are in a big, big hurry! ... because they are hoping to CHANGE our country from a Capitalist nation to a Socialist nation before anyone notices!  And, before the 2010 election! Democrats:  Answer These Questions or it's Buh-bye in 2010.  By now, the American people realize that the leaders of the Democrat party don't have much respect for the principles that made this country great.  Their only interest is in remaining in power while pretending that they're concerned for the working class.  What a joke.  It's the working class that always gets hammered by the socialist policies of the liberal left.  It's clearer every day that Democrats stay in power by subverting the laws of the land whenever it suits them.  Every single time legislation is introduced to combat voter fraud, the Democrats prevent it from getting out of committee. Laughing at the Left.  If the consequences for this great nation of ours weren't so serious and the policies preferred by the left weren't so dangerous, one would really laugh, almost uncontrollably, at the beliefs and (il)logic of American liberals.  Based on things they have actually said or done, here are some of the things they really, truly seem to believe.  They believe we can spend our way out of debt.  They believe taking money from one part of the economy to give to another part somehow makes the economy bigger.  They believe people who have never run a business can run a business better than people who have spent their whole lives running businesses. Abortion foes 'stunned'.  By declaring he will vote for the Senate health care bill, Ben Nelson touched off a firestorm of criticism Saturday [12/19/2009] on abortion.  Nebraska Right to Life said it had been "betrayed" by the Nebraska Democrat, long an abortion opponent, who agreed to support compromise language on abortion. Buying green could make you more likely to lie, cheat and steal: study.  Buying green may help save the planet, but a new study suggests it might also make you more prone to cheat, steal, and be selfish.  In a paper to be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Psychological Science, University of Toronto researchers Nina Mazar and Chen-Bo Zhong studied how students behaved after being given the option of purchasing environmentally friendly products, like organic yogourt or biodegradable laundry detergent, or conventional items. Obama's World and Welcome to It.  [President Obama] tours the world on our dime apologizing for our alleged failings and transgressions.  He goes to Denmark in order to lobby for the Olympics, in order that his corrupt Chicago cronies could cash in on crooked land deals, but he doesn't go to Germany to help commemorate the falling of the Berlin Wall.  Next, instead of expressing the grief that every decent American felt over the slaughter of American soldiers and an unborn baby by an Islamic terrorist, this bozo gave a partisan shout-out at a Native American shindig.  Then, for good measure, he warned us not to jump to the conclusion that the Islamic terrorist was an Islamic terrorist. Huffington Argues Glenn Beck Should Be Excluded from Constitutionally Protected Freedom of Speech.  Want to know how the left really feels about free speech?  Look no further than Huffington Post editor and co-founder Arianna Huffington. Obama's Safe Schools Czar Tied to Lewd Readings for 7th Graders.  President Obama's "Safe Schools Czar," already a target of social conservatives for his past drug abuse and what they say is his promotion of homosexuality in schools, is under fresh attack after it was revealed that the pro-gay group he formerly headed recommends books his critics say are pornographic.  The group under fire is the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), which Kevin Jennings, now the assistant deputy secretary for safe and drug-free schools in the Department of Education, founded and ran from 1990 to 2008. So much for e pluribus unum. Sen. Conrad Suggests That People Who Don't Believe in Civilian Trials for Terrorists Should Leave America.  Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) told CNSNews.com that civilian courts are well-suited to prosecute al Qaeda terrorists and that "if people don't believe in our system, maybe they ought to go somewhere else." Senator Conrad's insulting defense of trying KSM in New York.  Democrat Senator from North Dakota, Kent Conrad, while defending the Obama Administration's decision to try al Qaeda terrorists in civilian courts, said:  "If people don't believe in our system, maybe they ought to go somewhere else." Did someone mention civilian trials for terrorists? The Media See Moral Grays Even In 9/11.  The Washington Post "news analysis" on the front page carried the headline "9/11 trial could become a parable of right and wrong:  Before worldwide audience, both prosecution, defense seek control of narrative."  Does the Washington Post really think that the death and destruction of 9/11 "could" be right, or "could" be wrong? New study:  More Democrats than Republicans believe in ghosts, talking with the dead, fortunetellers.  For example, 21 percent of Republicans report that they have been in touch with someone who is dead, while 36 percent of Democrats say they have done so.  Eleven percent of Republicans say they have seen a ghost, while 21 percent of Democrats say so.  And nine percent of Republicans say they have consulted a fortuneteller, while 22 percent of Democrats have. Now Obama wants to put an ACORN fund-raiser on the federal bench.  Hamilton ignored a felony conviction on a man's record when being prosecuted for his third felony drug crime to avoid imposing a life sentence, for which Hamilton was unanimously reversed on appeal.  Hamilton also struck down a law requiring convicted sex criminals from reporting information to police to track their whereabouts.  He also petitioned the White House for clemency for a police officer who produced child pornography.  He has also shown surprising hostility to people of Christian faith.  He ruled that any prayers uttered in the Indiana statehouse that invoke the name of Jesus Christ are unconstitutional and cannot be permitted. The Totalitarians Among Us.  This is a month in which the president of the United States has co-sponsored a UN resolution with the police state of Egypt to ban speech that defames religion; a month in which the Democratic Party has placed an amendment on a defense appropriations bill to make anti-gay speech a thought crime, and in which the White House has launched an all-out attack on the Fox News Channel because it didn't like what Fox commentators were saying. Frank Rich and the State of Liberal Commentary:  If one had to read one columnist to appreciate the state of contemporary left-wing commentary, my nomination would be Frank Rich of the Sunday New York Times.  No well-known leftist columnist better exemplifies the worst aspects of today's left.  Virtually every piece is filled with anger, filled with ad hominem responses to arguments, filled with insults of opponents and at the same time devoid of intellectual arguments. Terrified Voter says NJ Dems Using Gangbangers for GOTV.  How would you like to be a New Jersey police officer and look out your window and see several known criminals, including a man you arrested several weeks ago and another who had just been released from prison for shooting a cop?  And then find out that the men were sent into the neighborhood by the Democratic Party for GOTV operations — complete with lists of voters names, addresses and phones numbers! Conyers to Introduce Constitutional Amendment Making Health Care a 'Right'.  During his speech at a recent National Press Club luncheon, House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) said he is introducing a constitutional amendment that would establish health care as "a right" for all Americans.  "We need a real serious bill and, by the way, the fundamental question, 'Is health care a constitutional right?'" he said.  "I mean, do you have a right to health care in the American system of government or not?" The Nation's Climate Change Solution:  'Make the Recession Worse'.  A lefty magazine editor has come up with a list of brilliant solutions to the planet's purported climate change problem:  make the recession worse, make goods more expensive, and restrict all intercontinental travel to blimps.  So said Emily Douglas, web editor for The Nation, who, when asked Wednesday [10/14/2009] how we could "reverse our culture of consumerism," replied immediately "make the recession worse." Besieged czar, EEOC chief safe, Obama tells homosexual crowd.  President Obama last night received a warm welcome at the annual dinner of the homosexual support group Human Rights Campaign, promising to sign hate crimes legislation, to repeal both Don't Ask, Don't Tell and the Defense of Marriage Act and to continue supporting his besieged appointments as "safe schools czar" and head of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Democrats Vote To Give ACORN Regulatory Authority Over Financial Institutions.  During consideration of H.R. 3126, legislation to establish a Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA), Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee voted to pass an amendment offered by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) that will make ACORN eligible to play a role in setting regulations for financial institutions. DNC Uses Flag Desecration Video to Raise Funds.  As a heart monitor beeps ominously in the background, a graffiti artist paints over the Stars and Stripes with phrases criticizing opposition to the Democratic legislation, including 'profit over life' and the crossed-out words 'death panel.'  The whole flag is eventually smeared with paint and blacked out. My Congressman Is Nuts: Alan Grayson Edition.  Alan Grayson.  How did this clown get elected?  Even Democrats are asking themselves that.  The man who delighted in claiming Republicans want the sick to die to save the taxpayers money, was so proud of his obnoxiousness that he started a website to celebrate himself... "My Congressman Is Nuts" Dot Com.  Alan Grayson's recent self indulgent behavior has paralyzed his ability to serve as an advocate for the citizens of Central Florida.  On December 16th 2009, the day on which the Sons of Liberty dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor, Central Floridians will again say no to the overreaching government intrusion propagated by Grayson. Grayson threatens to imprison critic.  File this story under the pot calling the kettle black.  Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.), prone for throwing his own political bombs at Republicans, has threatened a local critic with five years in jail for creating the website "mycongressmanisnuts.com."  The Orlando Sentinel reports that Grayson wrote a letter this week to Attorney General Eric Holder demanding that the federal government imprison Republican activist Angie Langley for five years because of her website criticizing him. Grayson wants to send critic to jail for five years.  Not everyone thinks imitation is the best form of flattery.  In fact, U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson of Orlando took such offense at a parody website aimed at unseating him that the freshman Democrat has asked that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder investigate the Lake County activist who started the anti-Grayson website "mycongressmanisnuts.com." End the escapades.  In just his first term in Congress, Orlando's Alan Grayson has become the toast of the blogosphere and a sought-after interview on cable news channels.  He has done it with a series of inflammatory statements and stunts.  But he may have jumped the shark last week. Will We Lose It All?  Sadly, you meet people like this every day:  the know-it-all at the office, the busybody at church, or the irritating uncle that insists on dominating every discussion at the holiday table.  Your neighborhood association board is a protected habitat for this species.  Alone, and in these settings, such people are just a grating annoyance.  However, group them together and allow them to hold taut the reins of power, and true danger quickly arises where mere pomposity once sat.  The mechanisms of government carry with them the unspoken yet omnipresent threat of force. Dangerous Zanies.  Allow me a prediction.  This administration is going to turn out more zanies than the past two Democratic administrations combined.  Yet — and here is the ominous part — they are going to present a real threat to liberties that Americans take for granted, particularly freedom of speech. An Olympics We Can Believe In.  The picture now comes into sharp focus.  Americans voted for president a man who thinks that government creates wealth; that "greed" caused the current economic crisis; that taxpayers should provide health insurance for those who don't have it; that a government-induced housing and financial crisis can only be addressed by more government; that government can more efficiently and profitably run businesses than can the private sector; that "global warming" requires the imposition of job-killing and price-hiking action against emitters; and that government should "spread the wealth" by taking from those who have "too much" and giving to those who have "too little." A Warning to Washington.  Tens, maybe hundreds, of thousands of angry Americans stormed Washington last weekend to oppose ObamaCare and government spending.  How'd Democrats react?  By redoubling efforts to pass "health-care reform"... Jones was recruited not in spite of his wacky beliefs but because of them.  Just how comfortable was the Obama team with the far left, radical statements and beliefs of Van Jones?  Obviously, they believed he fit right in. Liberals and Van Jones:  Why Are They Defending Him?  By now we all know most of what there is to be said about Van Jones.  What is most interesting, however, is how so many representatives of mainstream liberalism have no compunction at all about honoring Jones as one of their own, and of condemning Barack Obama for casting him to the wind, as if the administration had no good reason to do so. Steal this!  A Canadian study shows that people who buy green products tend to lie and steal more than those who don't. Democrats and the one-party mentality.  Those in the White House and on Capitol Hill have little practical experience with political opposition.  They mostly come from urban areas.  The middle class that might be expected to oppose them in local elections departed for the suburbs and exurbs decades ago.  Congress and the White House need to remember that while our major cities are mostly left wing fiefdoms rife with corruption and nanny state rules and regulations, as a nation this is still a government of laws, not authoritarian busybodies. Liberalism is a Cult.  It would be easy enough to dismiss [Jim] Jones as just another cuckoo, except that he was a man well-connected in left-wing circles.  Mayor George Moscone had appointed him Chairman of the San Francisco Housing Authority.  He was on a first-name basis with Walter Mondale and Rosalynn Carter.  Governor Jerry Brown, Lt. Gov. Mervyn Dymally and Assemblyman Willie Brown, all attended a testimonial dinner honoring Jim Jones in 1976.  What makes that date all the more remarkable isn't just that it was a scant two years before Jones choreographed the mass suicide, but three years after a series of critical newspaper articles had appeared and after eight members of the cult had defected and warned the world that he was a deranged menace. Constitutional Chess.  Since the passage of "The Judiciary Reorganization Bill of 1937" (and the attempted "packing" of the Supreme Court by FDR) the rules of interpreting the Constitution have been rigged to support a progressive ideology.  The Constitution has become "a living document."  The Constitution means either whatever the Congress wants it to mean or whatever five out of the nine justices sitting on the Court at the present time say that it means. Our National 9/11 Schizophrenia.  Today one-third of Democrats believe that President Bush was involved in the planning of September 11.  Best-selling books have alleged that 9/11 was a planned government operation.  Novels were published and movies screened envisioning the assassination of George W. Bush.  Politicians as diverse as Robert Byrd, Al Gore, and John Glenn all compared the president or his policies to Nazis or Brownshirts. Soros:  Republic Enemy #1.  What we have in Soros, is a multi-billionaire atheist, with skewed moral values, and a sociopath's lack of conscience.  He considers himself to be a world class philosopher, despises capitalism, and just loves social engineering. ... Soros is a real life version of Dr. Evil — with Obama in the role of Mini-Me. Charlie Rangel says Obamacare Doesn't Spend Enough Money.  [President] Obama has announced his determination not to sign a bill that adds "one dime" to the deficit and he's also said that "his" bill will feature a low, low $900 billion price tag.  Both of these Obama points seem to be vexing Rep. Rangel because, well, it's just not enough. Jaw Dropping Arrogance From Obscure Congressman.  It is not just the career safe seat members of Congress and the Senate who are vulnerable to getting caught up in the arrogance and elitism of power.  Relative back bencher Baron Hill from Indiana's 9th District might well have surged into the lead in the contest to see which member of congress had the most out of touch and arrogant attitude during the town hall meetings. The Improbable Political Existence of Teddy Kennedy.  What [Ted Kennedy] did should not have only disqualified him from public office, but just voting for him should be considered a lapse in moral character that gets you shunned from society.  It's up there with being an open racist.  How in the world has anyone taken Massachusetts seriously while that guy was their senator? Congress Is Shooting the Messenger.  So convinced is the left that their health care reform is right, that not only are all others wrong, but their very opposition means they have committed a wrong.  They have dare challenged the pharaoh's view and now they must pay — in the past, with their lives; today, with their reputations.  If they hold a tea party to protest, they're quacks.  Vent their rage at a town hall, they're stooges.  Question the president's agenda, they're racists. We do get it, Mr. President; we just don't like it.  It's a modern marvel how the increasing opposition of the American public to President Barack Obama's plans for us is explained away by administration officials and certain Democratic legislators — such as California Sen. Dianne Feinstein — as a sign that the people just don't get it.  A panel of pundits chatting with Charlie Rose on his talking-head fest the other evening came to the conclusion that Tea Partiers and their ilk are too stupid to know what's good for them. What's really wrong with the Cybersecurity bill?  The problem with S.773 is not what it purports to do but the fact that Barack Hussein Obama happens to be the president of the United States.  Despite the fact that the United States is at least nominally a democracy and citizens have the right to go to the polls and freely vote every two or four years, Obama and the Democrats in Congress are governing exactly like a fascist state.  They impose their will regardless of how many Americans oppose it.  Whether their policies and actions actually make the country better off are of no consequence. Have a good vacation, Mr. President.  The president obviously needs to relax, and he picked a good place. Obama carried [Martha's] Vineyard with 75 percent of the vote last November, and the Clintons vacation there all the time.  The chances of running into Rush Limbaugh on the island are slim. ... A bunch of swell folks own island property, people like Mike Wallace, Diane Sawyer, Michael J. Fox, Spike Lee, Bill Murray and Ted Danson. Something Fishy.  For liberals, the morally correct stance on every issue is by definition the liberal one.  It is a moral imperative that everyone have health insurance, consequences be damned.  To cite possible negative repercussions of liberal policies is to reveal yourself to be ethically and intellectually degenerate.  Just look at what liberal pundits and politicians are saying about anti-Obamacare protesters:  Paul Krugman vilifies them as racists; to Nancy Pelosi, they are literally Nazis.  Got that, America?  If you're against government-run health care, you're not just a Nazi, you're a racist Nazi. A Plurality of Americans Describe Themselves as Conservative.  When it comes to party identification, Democrats have been making all the gains recently.  But when it comes to ideology, 40 percent of Americans described themselves as conservative, 35 percent as moderate and 21 percent as liberal, according to a Gallup analysis of its 2009 polling. Protest for Me, But Not for Thee.  Middle-class Americans, myself among them, have watched for 40 years, as one angry group after another has managed to get its way, and more and more entitlements from our purses to theirs, using the tactics designed by the liberal fascist revolutionary, Saul Alinsky.  One would need to be buried under a rock not to understand by now that small groups of angry people can get what they want. No, Mr. Conyers, we expect you to read the bills.  If it weren't for the Great Health Care Debate of 2009, would we all know what a sorry excuse for a congressman Rep. John Conyers of Michigan really is? ... The man's been in Congress more than 40 years and, apparently, doesn't bother to read bills.  Well, at least not the long ones.  And he revealed this:  He not only doesn't bother to read the long bills, but he would also need lawyers to interpret them once he did read them.  How does a man with a mind like this get elected to the House of Representatives, and get elected repeatedly? Rules for Radicals:  A Blurred Vision.  Saul Alinsky's book "Rules for Radicals," first published in 1971, has been read and assimilated by a number of those who espouse a Far Left agenda.  Our current Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, wrote her senior thesis on Alinsky while at Wellesley College.  The following excerpt is from that paper.  "Much of what Alinsky professes does not sound 'radical.'  His are the words used in our schools and churches, by our parents and their friends, by our peers."  Perhaps in your world, Madam Secretary — certainly not in mine. The Collapsing Global Left.  Conservatives can take heart from the crushing blow that taxes and spenders received in the California election.  Six propositions were on the ballot in May.  All six passed the California Legislature easily.  Republicans in the legislature generally opposed them.  The five supported by the Left were defeated by huge landslides.  Four of those five were defeated in every single county in California (the fifth barely carried the San Francisco area.) How Liberal Is San Francisco?  The District Attorney of San Francisco worked on behalf of illegal aliens in order to expunge drug convictions from their records.  And she now says that the illegal aliens were "following the rules."  One must read this sort of gibberish three or four three times to make sure that the words are not truncated or a reporter's very bad joke. Obama's Science Czar:  Traditional family is obsolete, punish large families.  President Obama's Science Czar, John Holdren, took a controversial and amoral approach to the science of population by recommending mass compulsory sterilization and even forced abortion (and/or forced marriages) under certain circumstances.  His 1977 tome, Ecoscience, which he co-authored with Paul and Anne Ehrlich, also displays a revealing disregard for the institution of the traditional human family. It gets worse: Obama's science czar suggested compulsory abortion, sterilization.  Internet reports are now circulating that Obama's Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, John Holdren, penned a 1977 book that approved of and recommended compulsory sterilization and even abortion in some cases, as part of a government population control regime.  Given the general unreliability of Internet quotations, I wanted to go straight to this now-rare text and make sure the reports were both accurate and kept Holdren's writings in context.  Generally speaking, they are, and they do. Why the Public Isn't Buying It:  [Scroll down slowly]  All these Democratic leaders understand that their home turf tilts far left of the rest of the nation.  But a politician's political base is ultimately his or her reality principle.  Moreover, most of these leaders — though Obama obfuscated this in his campaign — have strong, long-held convictions that are well on the left of the American political spectrum.  These are the people — the House leaders more than Obama, surprisingly — who have shaped the Democrats' stimulus package, cap-and-trade legislation and health-care bills. Be it Resolved, Jacko a "global humanitarian".  Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) has embraced the inevitable:  introducing a resolution honoring global "humanitarian" Michael Jackson — certain to delight Republicans who see Jacko as a great wedge issue.  So far, she's got only a single co-sponsor:  Rep. Diane Watson (D-Calif.). Jackson's Death Sparks Fierce Debate in Congress.  Michael Jackson's death — and controversial life — has sparked a fierce debate in Congress, with one Democrat introducing a resolution to honor the King of Pop as a "humanitarian" and a Republican representative blasting America's obsession with a "lowlife."  Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, D-Texas, is calling on Congress to recognize Jackson as a "global humanitarian and a noted leader in the fight against worldwide hunger and medical crises"... A Congress Full of Michael Jackson Wannabes.  On June 26, Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, D-Texas, and Rep. Diane Watson, D-Calif., introduced a resolution on the floor of the House celebrating the King of Pop.  Their resolution runs a full 1,539 words, almost six times as long as Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. ... According to Congress, Jackson is the Madame Curie of 1980s rock. 62 Million Voiceless Americans.  Is it still called debate when only one side controls the conversation?  That's the question the 62 million Americans who didn't vote for Obama are asking themselves. ... Why hold a conversation?  The left is in control and there is no need to consult with the people they were elected to govern.  The politicians and the experts know best. An Anti-Business President.  Democratic presidents are not famous for appointing businessmen, merchants, or entrepreneurs to their cabinet or senior White House staff.  These are people who have started or run private businesses, created jobs, met payrolls, and made profits.  Thus they might be sensitive to how government can help or hurt business enterprises, especially during an economic downturn.  The number of such people appointed by Obama:  zero.  Members of his cabinet and White House staff come predominantly from government, academia, think tanks, and the law. Powerful Democrat Calls Illegal Aliens 'Free Loaders and Scam Artists'.  Most liberals regard illegal aliens as "Undocumented Democrats" and a veritable gold mine of opportunity for holding on to political power by coddling to those here unlawfully.  For that reason, most Democrat politicians have abandoned patriotic concern about homeland security, the rule of law, stability of the American economy and social order, and preservation of American language and culture.  In fact, one can search high and low for a liberal with a patriotic, pro-America stance on illegal immigration, and that search will usually be futile. Heterosexual Pride Month.  Obama came through on his campaign theme of 'equality' Monday [6/1/2009] by proclaiming June as "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month". POTUS to LGBT: "Welcome to Your White House".  ABBA's "Dancing Queen" filled the East Room, as more than 200 prominent gays and lesbians gathered for the first ever celebration of Pride month at the White House.  The President and First Lady entered to thunderous applause.  President Obama told the group he is committed to equality for their community. Sleepwalking into disaster.  The public opinion currents in America today are becoming eerily similar to those circulating in 1993.  Today, just as then, Washington liberals are getting complacent.  They're ignoring mounting evidence that the American people don't share their desire for bigger government, higher taxes and a liberal social agenda. Mandatory paid-vacation bill introduced.  Mandatory paid sick leave has been grabbing headlines, but now Florida Democrat Congressman Alan Grayson has introduced a bill that would require employers nationwide to provide paid vacation. Do Liberals Crave A Master?  Contemporary liberals, having abandoned the belief in God-given inalienable rights, masochistically crave a worldly master.  This master is a sadistic god-substitute who will provide the stern discipline needed to force economic equality and "fairness" by requiring painful sacrifices and bestowing government-created rights onto obedient and acquiescent groups of left-leaning masochists. Leaking Intel for Fun and Political Advantage.  Once again history is repeating itself.  Two incidents — one involving Joe Biden and one involving the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee — prove Democrats are still in the habit of releasing classified intelligence to discredit the CIA or the Republicans and, at the same time, stonewalling on releasing non-threatening information that would cast either in a positive light.  It's politicking of the worst kind; manipulating the nation's most important secrets for a cheap boost in the polls. Unpatriotic, inconsistent left.  There was a time when protecting the American people and defending our common national interests was a nonpartisan issue.  Since the radical left took over the Democrat Party in the 1960s, that ceased to be true. ... The leftist idealism is this:  Our rights are determined by the state, and thus the state must be all-powerful, not by some abstract idea about God.  Therefore, power of the people must be limited, not the power of centralized government or the state. Secretary Loophole.  When Timothy Geithner worked at the International Monetary Fund, he managed a feat that probably very few Americans have even contemplated:  he got himself reimbursed by his employer for taxes he never paid. ... From his time at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to his turbulent four months so far at Treasury, Geithner has made a career out of seekingÑand usually findingÑways to do what most people thought the rules wouldn't allow. Obama lurches left.  When stumbling off a roller coaster, have you ever had that nauseating sensation you were still moving, even while standing firmly with both feet on the ground?  Such is the case with the Democrats and their cheerleaders in the media, with their cries that the GOP has moved far to the right and marginalized itself.  In fact, it is the Democratic Party that has sped far left, creating the huge policy gap between the two parties.  The political center is no longer the halfway mark between the two parties. Liberal Fantasyland.  After Prohibition ended, the murder rate subsided.  By 1953 it fell below 5 per 100,000 and would stay below that level through 1963, reaching the lowest murder rates since 1906.  Then the criminal reform movement took over.  The Map v Ohio decision (exclusionary rule) came in 1961.  Miranda warnings were mandated in 1966.  The Gun Control Act was enacted in 1968.  The murder rate doubled between 1961 and 1972, and would hit its highest point ever, 10.7 per 100,000, in 1980, Jimmy Carter's last year as President. Alan Grayson to introduce Paid Vacation Act.  Rep. Alan Grayson was standing in the middle of Disney World when it hit him: What Americans really need is a week of paid vacation.  So on Thursday [5/21/2009], the Florida Democrat will introduce the Paid Vacation Act — legislation that would be the first to make paid vacation time a requirement under federal law. The Obama-Wanda Sykes Chilling Laugh Fest.  Last Saturday [5/9/2009], at the annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, she wished an American citizen to die because this citizen disagrees with the politics of the American president.  Wanda Sykes isn't of any interest to me.  The fact that the American president was five feet away from her and had to laugh about her joke was of interest.  A comedian wishes a citizen dead and the president laughs? Obama sows seeds of demise.  When the Obama administration crashes and burns, with approval ratings that fall through the floor, political scientists can trace its demise to its first hundred days.  While Americans are careful not to consign a presidency they desperately need to succeed to the dustbin of history, the fact is that this president has moved — on issue after issue — in precisely the opposite direction of what the people want him to do. There Will Never Be a Middle Ground.  President Obama campaigned on uniting the country and creating a post-partisan environment.  Watching the differences displayed this past week regarding the release of the CIA memos about interrogation techniques; it is quite evident we will never bridge the gulf that divides us. In time of victory, why is the left so angry?  These should be happy times for liberals and the Democratic party as a whole.  They control the White House and both houses of Congress, while opposition Republicans are leaderless and lost.  So why do some Democrats, particularly those farther to the left, appear so angry?  If you doubt it, just watch a few minutes of MSNBC, where the recent nationwide series of "tea parties" to protest federal spending and taxes set off an angry, almost manic response. Does the President Understand Real America?  When Barack confided to friends in San Francisco that he was having trouble in Pennsylvania because these folks "get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them ... as a way to explain their frustrations," he revealed that he does not really understand a part of the nation he now leads.  It is this part of America that does not comprehend how the president could sit in Trinidad and listen to the scrub stock of the hemisphere trash our country — and say nothing. Deliver Us from Fear.  We've basically lived in fear of society's deterioration since the end of World War II, when the United States emerged as a nuclear superpower, and became the target of various governments, dictatorships, religions and political ideologies pinpointing America as an evil influence on the world.  Then the forces of the cultural left sprouted in our own country, telling us our post-war society was sexist, racist and imperialistic. ... These same people tell us that God's a threat, too.  He doesn't belong in the classroom, at graduation ceremonies, football games or public functions. Idiot Compassion:  The term "bleeding-heart liberal" has been bandied about for years, in an effort to illustrate the faux or at least hyperbolic sense of compassion attributed to those on the left.  The lefties in America and Europe would like to be known as those who care, unless you happen to be a Bible-following Christian, a conservative or a fetus. Replacing God.  The overwhelming majority of Americans who profess faith in God are being told that the times have changed.  Christianity, our ruling elite inform us, is only one of many religions, all of which are equal.  In case we don't get it, President Obama, while abroad, expressed a deep appreciation for the Islamic faith while, here at home, he appointed a gay-rights activist to the federal government's faith-based initiative.  Said activist described Pope Benedict XVI and certain Catholic bishops as "discredited leaders." Making fun of faith.  Even though they may remind you immediately of the worst racists you have known, bigoted bashers of religion often get away with it no matter how shallow, uncomprehending, unfair, overly generalizing, nasty-minded or obviously hostile their attitudes are. Alice in Wonderland.  In an interview shortly after the groundbreaking, Alice Waters — the organic-food world's most active and least humorous spokesperson — commented on the new White House vegetable garden:  "The most important thing that Michelle Obama did was to say that food comes from the land. ... People have not known that.  They think it comes from the grocery store."  Oh, really — is that what people think?  To whom, exactly, is Ms. Waters referring? Obama reaches out to communist states.  US President Barack Obama has pledged to seek a "new beginning" in ties with communist-ruled Cuba as part of a new era of US partnership and engagement with Latin America and the Caribbean.  Before addressing his counterparts in the hemisphere at the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Trinidad, Mr Obama also initiated a handshake with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, one of Washington's most virulent critics in the region. Accounting for California's Suicide.  [Scroll down]  Californians count on the wealth of farming but would prefer their rivers to remain wild rather than tapped.  They like tasteful redwood decks but demand someone else fell their trees for the wood.  Californians drive imported SUVs but would rather that you drill for oil off your shores rather than they off theirs.  They pride themselves on their liberal welfare programs, but drive out with confiscatory taxes the few left to pay for them.  Californians expect cheap imported labor to tend their lawns and clean their houses, but are incensed at sky-high welfare and entitlement costs that accompany illegal immigration.  Lock 'em up, they say — but the state is bankrupted by new prisons, constant inmate lawsuits, and unionized employees.  In short, after Californians sue, restrict, mandate, obstruct, and lecture, they also get angry that there is suddenly not enough food, fuel, water, and money to act like the gods that they think they have become. Dems Use Homestead Exemption to Avoid Taxes.  Democrats love taxes. So much so that Joe Biden claimed paying higher taxes is a patriotic act, which must make April 15 some kind of utopian version of Flag Day.  The problem is that Democrats don't like paying taxes.  Over the past several weeks we've learned enough to make the words "Obama Cabinet" and "taxes" a running punchline. Those arrogant Americans.  We have a rock star president who for the first time in American history fired the President of a private corporation, General Motors, then immediately flew to Europe with an entourage of 500 courtiers and a worshipful media, bowed waist-deep to the King of Saudi Arabia, and proceeded to accuse his own country of arrogance.  In France, of all places. Secular Liberalism as Consensus:  As James Kalb explains in his important new book, The Tyranny of Liberalism  — which, despite the red-meat title, is an intellectually invigorating read — liberalism "has become an immensely powerful social reality," one so dominant "that it has become invisible."  "To oppose it in any basic way is to act incomprehensibly, in a way explicable, it is thought, only by reference to irrationality, ignorance or evil," Kalb writes.  "The whole of the nonliberal past is comprehensively blackened.  Traditional ways are presented as the simple negation of unquestionable goods liberalism favors." Obama's Unholy War Against Christianity, Not Islam.  The more illiberal a religion, the more liberals tend to like it.  Western liberals who propose no place for God in the public square can usually be counted on to excuse non-western religions that impose a false and dangerous one upon it.  The explanation for this apparent contradiction goes beyond the childish and self-hating affinity of western liberals for all things non-western.  The deeper reason is western liberalism's attachment to irrationality. Indicting the Left's True Believers.  [Scroll down]  But leftists' replacement of communism as their ideological icon with the strange bedfellow of Islamism is more puzzling.  True, both hate the West and promote wholesale violence in their triumphalist crusades.  But the Left is atheistic, sexually egalitarian and obsessed with "social justice."  Islamists are theistic, patriarchal and shariah-bound.  [Jamie] Glazov takes us on "the believer's totalitarian journey" to explain the paradox. All the News That's Fit to Ridicule.  It is my belief that by a huge margin independents and moderates go along with Obama's plan to eliminate charitable deductions from the tax code.  It isn't that these people are necessarily opposed to charities, they are merely opposed to individuals, particularly those of a religious bent, deciding for themselves which ones to support.  They prefer that the decisions be made by left-wing politicians.  So, while they would be happy to see hundreds of millions of dollars going to ACORN, abortion clinics, the National Endowment of the Arts, National Public Radio and AmeriCorps, they hate to see a dime go to churches, the Boy Scouts or the Salvation Army. Media Matters Launches Anti-Fox Campaign.  As unbelievable as this may seem, the folks at Media Matters are not content with having their far-left talking points lead the news on all the major networks except ONE.  The lone rangers at Fox News, who try to provide the tiniest balance to an otherwise total leftist propaganda paradise are so under the skin of the Media Matters whiners that they even have an ongoing campaign to flood Fox with calls for apologizing for "promoting" the Tax Day Tea Parties. Hillary, Pelosi in la-la-land on immigration.  Last week Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) described the law-enforcement activities of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as "un-American."  Which triggers the question — since when is enforcing federal law by a federal agency "un-American"? ... Pelosi's comments reveal just how out of touch she is — like most of her party's leadership — with most Americans. Did President Obama Enjoy England's Version of "Community Organizers"?  Make no mistake about it. There are organizations throughout this nation and particularly in Europe in which admittedly more socialistic forms of governance have led to ever-greater successes for their members.  They take disaffected young people and turn them into brigades of lawlessness.  Consider just a few of their acts of protest in London.  Not only did they destroy one major bank, they also invaded a second one and tried to wreck it. How to Use Your Children to Annoy a Liberal.  You can use your kids to annoy liberals, but I don't mean in the way liberals annoy other people with theirs.  Liberals, by not civilizing their children, breed brats who bounce balls in supermarkets, play hide-and-go-seek in restaurants, keep the makers of psychotropic medication in business and sometimes chant "Yes, we can!" Barney Frank:  Antonin Scalia is a 'Homophobe'.  Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said in an interview Friday [3/20/2009] ... that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is a "homophobe."  "At some point, [the Defense of Marriage Act] is going to have to go to the United States Supreme Court," Frank said.  "I wouldn't want it to go to the United States Supreme Court now because that homophobe Antonin Scalia has too many votes on this current court." Rep. Waxman Wants to Apply Censorship Doctrine to Internet.  If Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) is not trying to investigate conservatives, he is trying to squelch their voices.  Waxman has jumped into the so-called Fairness Doctrine discussion as of late.  Waxman, however, has added another dimension to the issue... the internet. The Bill Gates Mosquito Circus:  His latest stroll through the news ... seems more suited to the Howard Hughes school of eccentric billionaires.  To make his point about the deadly and fearsome plague of malaria, Gates released a glass full of mosquitoes on the unsuspecting crowd at the Technology, Entertainment Design Conference in Long Beach, California.  Did Gates plan on infecting some rich folks to prove his point?  The answer is yes, although Gates quickly pointed out that the pests released were not malarial.  Mr. Moneybags only intended to infect his audience with guilt.  And guilt-inducement is the last refuge of the liberal scoundrel.  It has become the go-to move for so-called progressives when intellectual argument fails and one can't muster the facts to support one's case. Elections Have Consequences.  In the middle of not one but two shooting wars, President Obama has signaled that he intends to slow defense spending.  The anti-military chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Carl Levin, gleefully announced that he intends to strip funds for weapon systems from the budget.  Likely consequence:  The armed services will be unable either properly to "reset" the equipment and capabilities that have been used so intensively over the last seven years or be prepared for the next conflict.  History teaches such a posture invites foreign aggression and costs far more than is saved through short-term and shortsighted cuts. A Manual for Left-Wing Living.  For 143 years, The Nation magazine has maintained, in its adorable way, the blue-faced scowl of an angry toddler shaking its fist at the grown-ups.  But while you could go to The Nation in recent years for instruction on how to think about the latest perfidy of the Bush administration, the magazine was no help when it came to advice on, say, how to find a really good lesbian knitting cooperative within easy bicycling distance or where to buy anti-globalization comic books printed on recycled hemp.  The long wait is over. Classless to the last.  Obama's intent to remake American politics got a jolt of reality yesterday [1/20/2009] when thousands of his supporters booed and mocked George Bush as he stepped on to the platform ... The louts were disrespecting Obama as much as Bush, of course.  On such a solemn, civic occasion where a new president was promising a new era of bi-partisanship, the lefty loons couldn't grasp the fact that their despicable actions were giving a lie to what their hero was saying a short time later on that same platform. Bush Mocked As He Arrives on Inauguration Dais.  The crowd packed on the west side of the Capitol grounds serenaded President Bush in mocking fashion when he took to the inaugural stage alongside Vice President Dick Cheney.  "Nah nah nah nah, hey hey, good-bye," a section of the crowd chanted.  The crowd packed immediately below the podium received Bush in stony silence when he took his seat on the stage surrounding the podium where Barack Obama was scheduled to take the oath office to become the 44th president of the United States. Obama's Graciousness Deficit.  Forget for a moment whether there is anything to the high-minded talk.  That's his theme and ticket to wielding political power.  The unfortunate result of this is that he is now given to jab continually at his predecessor.  Some might attribute this to the failure to realize "the campaign is over" but it is perhaps better understood as milking his change meme for all its worth.  He is changing from the Bush era, he repeats ad nauseam.  The result, nevertheless, is a decided lack of graciousness toward his predecessor. Democrats kill bill that honored troops.  House Democrats blocked a measure that would have required new roads, bridges and schools funded by the $825 billion economic stimulus to be named after U.S. armed forces members killed in action.  Democrats on the House Rules Committee nixed the amendment Tuesday [1/27/2009] in a party-line 9-3 vote. The 'Glass Ceiling' Argument and the NY Senate Seat.  [The Democrats' political] appointments invariably end up producing a candidate who is so far outside the American mainstream as to be laughable.  If that trend is not followed in every particular instance, the resulting arguments are both amusing and educational. ... The appointment of Kirsten Gillibrand has been successful in at least one respect:  it has broken up a lot of Democratic Party myths by exposing them as fallacies with no small amount of help from the purveyors of those myths. Signs and Wonders in Week One of the Obama Era.  People basking in a long-sought victory — a victory that they can bank on — behave in a certain way.  There's a sense of exhilaration, of smugness, of tolerant condescension for the losers.  But there's none of that in any of the hardcore left-wing comments.  No arrogance, no lofty amusement, but something else entirely, something that can only be characterized as a sense of near-hysteria crossed with frustration.  It's an impression of deep insecurity, of people afraid that their triumph is ephemeral and is going to be snatched away from them.  In their moment of victory, the American left is no less than desperate. The John Murtha Jihadist Correctional Facility.  Get this:  King of Pork John Murtha, the 19-term Democratic congressman from western Pennsylvania, now wants to welcome a flood of Guantanamo Bay jihadists into his district.  I don't want to hear a single word of protestation from the constituents who put this money-grubbing, security-undermining fool back into office.  As you vote, so shall you reap. Schumer, Durbin and Barney Frank See No Problem with Treasury Nominee's Tax Problems.  House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) told CNSNews.com that Treasury Secretary nominee Timothy Geithner is qualified to serve despite his failure to properly pay at least $34,000 in taxes.  Other members of Congress, including Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) agreed, but some Republicans questioned the nomination. Liberals — wrong, wrong and wrong again.  Thirty-five percent of Americans, according to a 2004 Pew Research survey, call themselves conservative, while only 22 percent call themselves liberal (43 percent call themselves moderate) — a 3 percent increase in conservatives since 1992.  There is a reason for this — liberals keep getting it wrong. Want Real Change? Quit Nominating Lawyers!  In the Democratic primary, winner Obama, runner-up Hillary Clinton and third-place finisher John Edwards were all lawyers.  In 2004, both Democratic nominees, John Kerry and Edwards, were lawyers.  Al Gore, who ran in 2000, left law school without a degree and went into politics.  His running mate, Joe Lieberman, was a Yale-trained lawyer. Mike Dukakis, the 1988 Democratic presidential nominee, was a Harvard-trained lawyer and ran with lawyer Lloyd Bentsen.  In fact, every Democratic presidential nominee for president and vice president in the last seven elections — except Gore who dropped out of law school to run for Congress — has been a lawyer. Railing Against the Rich:  A Great American Tradition.  The Great Depression of the 1930s created hardship and suffering among millions of Americans.  It also created populist resentment of elites.  Among the many signs of this anger was the astonishing popularity of Huey P. Long, governor of Louisiana and then U.S. senator, a figure so dominant in his own state that his enemies called him a dictator.  But to the ordinary people of Louisiana — and later to millions of ordinary people across the U.S. — Mr. Long was a heroic figure, fighting for the "common man" and challenging the right of elites to monopolize power and wealth.  Starting in 1933, Mr. Long created a national organization called the "Share Our Wealth Society." Homeless 'Driven' to Vote for Obama.  Volunteers supporting Barack Obama picked up hundreds of people at homeless shelters, soup kitchens and drug-rehab centers and drove them to a polling place yesterday [10/6/2008] on the last day that Ohioans could register and vote on the same day, almost no questions asked.  The huge effort by a pro-Obama group, Vote Today Ohio, takes advantage of a quirk in the state's elections laws that allows people to register and cast ballots at the same time without having to prove residency. Vulgar mockery of Christians:  Is this what we want in a U.S. senator?  [Al Franken has] aimed some of his most offensive material at religious believers, particularly Christians.  Why hasn't this been aired in public?  We in the press are too busy searching through Sarah Palin's junior high yearbooks and tracking down the filing dates of Joe the Plumber's tax returns.  Meanwhile, Franken gets a pass for making a joke of the life and death of Jesus Christ. The Real Obama Part II.  Sex education for kindergartners is just one of many issues on which Barack Obama has lined up consistently on the side of arrogant elitists of the far left.  Senator Obama's words often sound very reasonable and moderate, as well as lofty and inspiring.  But everything that he has actually done over the years places him unmistakably with the extreme left elitists. Tasting GOP Blood.  Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden says that, if elected, an Obama administration might pursue criminal charges against the Bush White House.  This is how he plans to unite the country? Obama:  Too Cool by Half?  The paradoxical Democratic Party, which holds itself as the party of the people, often manages to find a presidential candidate that is anything but a man of the people.  From Adlai Stevenson to John F. Kennedy to Michael Dukakis to Al Gore to John Kerry, and now, Barack Obama.  Elite, intellectual, erudite, sophisticated?  Arguably so in most cases.  But common?  Someone who can relate?  Only in their Utopian dreams. Bidens Gave Average of $369 Annually to Charities.  Delaware Senator Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee for vice president, and his wife reported giving a fraction of 1 percent of their income to charity during the past decade, below the national average, tax records show. … Biden and his wife, Jill, earned $319,853 in adjusted gross income and paid $72,787 in federal taxes last year, including $2,721 in alternative minimum taxes. … Over the past decade they reported giving an average of $369 to charity. Ebenezer Biden and Trickle Down Charity.  Just when I thought there was no politician stingier than Barack Obama — who has given as little as .6% of his income to the poor — lo and behold Obama picks as his running mate, a man who gives far less to the poor than he.  While Obama's tax returns reveal a portrait of a man who privately gives very little to the poor — less than any Republican I know — Joe Biden gives even less. The VP's Tithe:  Earlier this week, UPI reported Vice-President Joe Biden and his wife released their 2008 tax returns and while the Second Couple had an adjusted gross income (AGI) of $269,256, they gave a mere $1,885 to charity. The Tools of Free Men.  Oil is the fuel of free nations, guns and speech the tools of free men.  Thus the three have freedom in common.  Ironically, oil, guns, and free speech have something else in common as well:  all three are scorned by the Left.  Democrats are opposed to further oil exploration, individual gun rights, and speech that is free from the constraints of political correctness. McKinney Accuses Government of Slaughtering Prisoners, Dumping Bodies During Katrina.  Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney, known for her provocative statements when she was a congresswoman from Georgia, accused the Department of Defense this week of using Hurricane Katrina to cover up the slaughter of 5,000 prisoners.  At a news conference in Oakland, Calif., on Sunday [9/28/2008], McKinney claimed the Pentagon authorized the execution of the prisoners with one bullet to the head three years ago and then dumped their bodies in a Louisiana swamp. Obama the Harvard Lawyer.  Americans generally frown upon lawyers (studies have shown only the media ranks below lawyers in consumer confidence).  The Obama ticket consists of not one, but two lawyers.  Senator Joe Biden graduated from Syracuse Law School, which almost expelled him for plagiarism.  In Congress, Senator Biden is also a known ally of trial lawyers, an important Democratic constituency. Majority of Allegheny prostitutes are on the Democratic side.  [Of 675 prostitutes interviewed by the Pittsburgh Tribune,] 78 percent of them registered as Democrats.  Countywide, Dems make up only about 62 percent of voters, according to the Division of Elections.  The Illinois senator also has the advantage with local "johns" — 72 percent go Democratic.  And convicted pimps:  Four out of every five register Democratic.  And for the most special of special interest groups — male transvestite hookers — they're batting a thousand for Dems, albeit in drag. No-Drill Stand Is A Dry Hole For Democrats.  The question of offshore drilling, along with expanded domestic energy production, has suddenly become the biggest political and economic wedge issue of this election.  Is there a Republican tsunami in the making?  According to the major polls, Sen. McCain has overcome a big deficit to pull even with Obama.  Meanwhile, according to a Rasmussen survey, Democratic Party identification has slumped. Liberals Love Loons and Liars.  Obama's Rev. Wright controversy surfaced in the media on March 14.  A Pew Research poll conducted between Feb 20-24 placed Obama ahead of Clinton 49% to 40%.  The next Pew Research poll was conducted March 19-22, after the Wright controversy hit the airwaves.  Obama's numbers didn't budge:  he remained at 49% while Clinton actually dropped a percentage point to 39%. The Europeanization of the Democratic Party:  Out of [the 1960s] turmoil there emerged a powerful body of left-wing opinion and activism that turned the old national consensus upside down.  Rejecting Henry Clay's "my country — right or wrong," the left substituted "my country — always wrong."  More extreme elements declared their country to be the most oppressive society in history — racist at home and imperialist abroad — while discovering sublime virtues in genocidal tyrants from Mao Tse-Tung to Pol Pot.  While this raging ideological virus infected in varying degree a wide range of American institutions — e.g. media, academia — its principal victim was the national Democratic Party. The Democrats' Ex-Presidents:  Why is it that so many Democratic leaders find it necessary to continue making spectacles of themselves after they leave office?  It's an exclusively Democratic trait — you don't find Republicans acting this way. Colorado Governor Signs She-Male Restroom Bill.  This bill makes all public accommodations — including public restrooms and locker rooms in the state — "gender free."  This law now means that anyone who identifies as the opposite sex, can freely access public facilities formerly reserved for a single sex.  Sexual predators can now enter women's restrooms and claim they have a sexual identity different from their birth sex.  It makes it legal for drag queens, cross-dressers and anyone else with a serious Gender Identity Disorder to use opposite sex restrooms and locker rooms.  But it goes further.  It defines "public accommodations" as including malls, restaurants, schools, and small businesses. Stealing the Election From Obama?  Barack Obama supporter John Nichols brought "media reform" activists to their feet on Thursday night [6/5/2008] with wild and strident attacks on the Bush Administration.  "George Bush was not elected," said Nichols, working himself into a frenzy. Why the Left is Unpatriotic and Why the Right Should Say So:  The fact is that much of the new left is unpatriotic.  And that is okay.  The Founding Fathers knew that not all Americans would be patriots; in fact, they counted on it.  In this article I will show why the culture of the left is not patriotic.  My basic contention is that patriotism is now the responsibility of the right — abandoned by the left.  I will use stories and photographs from this year's Oregon Country Fair to help make the point. Obama's Women Problem:  Obama has a problem among women over 40 and a big problem among women over 50.  These groups, normally the staunchest of Democratic supporters, are showing a propensity to back McCain and a disinclination to support Obama. Voters Reject Obama's call for Bilingualism.  Barack Obama said yesterday [7/8/2008] that "instead of worrying about whether immigrants can learn English," Americans "need to make sure your child can speak Spanish."  A national telephone survey conducted last month by Rasmussen Reports found that U.S. voters overwhelmingly disagree with the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.  Eighty-three percent (83%) place a higher priority on encouraging immigrants to speak English as their primary language.  Just 13% take the opposite view and say it is more important for Americans to learn other languages. Loony Harry Reid.  This nation is in serious trouble because it has people in very powerful elected positions that say crazy things.  Take, for example, Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) who is the Senate Majority Leader:  "The one thing we fail to talk about is those costs that you don't see on the bottom line.  That is coal makes us sick.  Oil makes us sick; it's global warming.  It's ruining our country, it's ruining our world.  We've got to stop using fossil fuel."  [Italics in original] Poll:  Global Warming Ranks Last in Public Concern.  Global warming ranks dead last among U.S. voters' priorities, according to a Pew Research Center Poll showing Americans are relatively unconcerned about global warming and are becoming less concerned each year. ... Since 2007, when addressing global warming was added as one of the options in the organization's annual poll, the perceived importance has declined each year.  Addressing global warming was seen as a top priority by 38 percent of adults in 2007, 35 percent in 2008, and now 30 percent. What's not to like?  Time magazine's recent piece "10 Things You Can Like About $4 Gas" exposes the twisted thinking of watermelons (green on the outside, Red on the inside).  While acknowledging Americans' only recourse today is to "adapt just by suffering," the article celebrates the benefits of record gasoline prices. Democrats Float Bill to Curb Gasoline Demand.  Anxious to look like they're doing something about rising oil and gas prices — but unwilling to expand domestic oil drilling — Democrats have introduced a bill that's supposed to ease pain at the pump by offering alternatives to driving.  The bill does nothing to increase domestic energy supply. Democrats Should Let Us Drill.  Now that an executive branch ban on offshore oil exploration has been lifted, the time has come for Democrats in Washington to lift their own ban on increased domestic supply.  Americans are demanding that Congress do something about record-high gas prices.  They recognize that prices will not go down unless supplies go up.  And they also know that the only thing now standing in the way of more domestic supply is the Democratic refusal to allow it. Did someone mention the high price of oil and gas? The Moment of Truth for the Left has Arrived.  Jeremiah Wright — the respectful word "Reverend" seems grotesquely out of place now — is shouting out the slander catechism of the Left.  His sermons say exactly what other Leftists say in calm voices, over and over again.  Mr. Wright just does it with real, raw hatred, and every new slam is cheered on by his jubilant congregation.  His is not a lone voice.  He just sings the music to fit the words.  We have been nursing a viper in our national bosom.  Seven years after September 11, 2001, this is the moment of truth, when the Left must finally decide what side it's on. The Far Left's War on Direct Democracy:  So long as elected officials gerrymander their districts and otherwise make it nearly impossible for voters to oust them, direct lawmaking will be popular.  That's why attempts to arbitrarily curb the initiative, or to intimidate people from exercising their right to participate, must be resisted.  It's a civil liberties issue that should unite people of good will on both the right and left. Denver rules on tools could handcuff DNC protesters.  The prospect of protesters linking themselves with devices that bolt cutters can't sever or throwing buckets of feces on police has Denver considering putting a new law on the books before the Democratic National Convention.  Demonstrators would be banned from having items such as chains, quick-setting cement, homemade locking devices that are resistant to bolt cutters and "any noxious substance," City Council members said Monday. The Editor asks... Who are these protestors?  What kind of people behave like that? Denver police propose law to take pipes, chains out of protesters' hands.  A draft law proposed by the Denver Police Department would ban the possession by protesters of materials such as weighted pipes and chains and items that can make urine and feces bombs.  Police say that such materials are potentially dangerous. … "We certainly don't want to interfere with anyone's First Amendment rights and the right to be heard," [Safety Manager Al] LaCabe said. The Editor continues... Correct me if I'm wrong, but the First Amendment doesn't guarantee the right to throw urine and feces on cops.  Nor is anyone guaranteed "the right to be heard." Rules on what protestors can and can't carry during the DNC:  You don't bring a squirt gun filled with human urine to a First Amendment party.  That's the message the Arapahoe County Sheriff brought to the Centennial City Council on Monday night. Anarchists' gathering surprisingly organized.  Some 150 anarchists from throughout the United States and Canada descended on a strip of private land last week in this Sheboygan County, Wis., village for four days of workshops, including some focused on strategizing for demonstrations at the upcoming Democratic and Republican national conventions. With DNC in mind, city bans carrying urine, feces.  Poo and pee dominated a public hearing Monday [8/4/2008] on a new law that prohibits people from carrying certain items if they intend to use them for nefarious purposes.  The law, crafted in advance of the Democratic National Convention, was adopted unanimously by the City Council.  But not before a hearing laced with comedy and profanity. The Editor says... The weakness of such a law is that the state must prove the defendant's intent. U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler reacts to accusation that he doesn't live in Florida.  U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler is defending himself against new accusations that he is playing a residency shell game by using his in-laws' address in Delray Beach while living in a Maryland suburb.  A national TV news program reported, and records show, that the popular six-term Democrat owns a home in upscale Rockville, Md., where he and his wife spend most of the year, pay property taxes, and where his children attend private school. Residency issues/tax issues dog Wexler.  One of Barack Obama's strongest Congressional supporters may not even be a resident of the district he has represented in Congress.  Robert Wexler, a Democrat, is being accused by his Republican opponent in an upcoming election of "playng a residency shell game", saying Wexler pretends to keep an address in Florida while "flagrantly" making his home in Maryland. U.S. Rep. Wexler to lease apartment in his Florida district.  Stung by claims that he doesn't really live in Florida, Democratic U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler said today that he will lease an apartment in his congressional district rather than declaring residency at the home of his in-laws.  Fox News personality Bill O'Reilly last week accused Wexler of being a bogus Floridian. The Greatest Scandal:  A visitor to Mr. Obama's Web site finds plenty of information about his plans to fix public education in this country.  Everyone knows this is a long, hard slog, but Mr. Obama and his wife aren't waiting.  Their daughters attend the private University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, where annual tuition ranges from $15,528 for kindergarten to $20,445 for high school. Congressman's Residency Questioned.  The Palm Beach Post is reporting that U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney moved his voter registration from a Highlands County ranch on Fisheating Creek to a horse barn near Palm Beach Gardens.  Mahoney "is now registered to vote in a horse barn," said an e-mail from Jeff Ostermayer, communications director for Mahoney's Republican opponent, Tom Rooney. Opponent Accuses Rep. Alcee Hastings of Threatening His Life.  Congressman Hastings is not known for being a particularly well-balanced individual.  As a federal judge he was impeached and removed from office for bribery and perjury by Congress, and was most recently in the news for saying of Sarah Palin, "Anybody toting guns and stripping moose don't care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks." A mini-scandal in Denver If the Republicans had been caught in a scheme to evade gas taxes, the national press would have been all over this story.  Somehow it has stayed below the media radar. Official:  Democratic Convention Hosts Skirt Gas Tax.  The host committee for the Democratic National Convention set for Denver next month is avoiding paying state and federal taxes on gasoline by gassing up vehicles at a city fuel depot, according to a city councilwoman quoted yesterday [7/22/2008] on the Web site of the Rocky Mountain News. DNC organizers didn't pay fuel tax?  What a gas!  While the rest of us poor schlubs have been grimacing as we put $4 a gallon gas into our cars, local organizers of the Democratic National Convention have been pumping tax-free gas into theirs?  That's just wrong.  The local committee hosting the DNC ought to pay the same state and federal taxes — which amount to 40 cents a gallon — that the rest of us pay. 61 DNC vehicles are regulars at city pumps, records say.  At least 61 vehicles being used by planners of the Democratic National Convention have been gassed up at city government pumps in the past three months, a practice that raised questions about possible avoidance of federal and state gasoline taxes. City pulls the plug on cheap gasoline for DNC.  Denver officials abruptly have stopped allowing Democratic National Convention planners to gas up at city pumps, acknowledging that the city can't legally sell fuel.  Public Works Department representatives also acknowledged that they never should have started selling gasoline to convention planners back in March before signing a contract with either the Denver 2008 Host Committee or the Democratic National Convention Committee. It's a Black Thing.  The crowd of 10,000 at the NAACP Freedom Fund Dinner on Sunday night [4/27/2008] came ready to Wright a wrong.  The spirit of the 1960s' civil-rights movement hung above Detroit's Cobo Center as local black leaders took to the dais to celebrate "the hottest brother in America" — Rev. Jeremiah Wright — who had been lynched by the "monolithic electronic media," (Detroit pastor Martin Bolton) for "speaking truth to power" (Rev. Wendell Anthony, NAACP chair).  As Wright stepped to the podium, the throng stood (albeit slowly after their $150-a-plate dinners) with him — a standing ovation in anticipation of the misunderstood pastor…. Did someone mention Jeremiah Wright? The Democrats' Big Lie.  Democratic tolerance means tolerance for secularism, but absolute intolerance for religion.  Democratic tolerance means tolerance for their supporters, but absolute intolerance for their political opponents.  The proof is in the pudding:  The House Democrats are currently pursuing policies that would criminalize religious thought and crack down on political speech. … This bill is aimed at quashing traditional religious thought. Rep. Lee lashes out against ICE.  Pledging to "take them on big-time," Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, sharply criticized the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency Friday [6/13/2008] and declared she would push for measures to reduce the fear she said agents have caused East Bay immigrant families. Congresswoman defaults on home.  Rep. Laura Richardson lost her Sacramento home in a foreclosure auction two weeks ago and left behind nearly $9,000 in unpaid property taxes.  Richardson, D-Long Beach, appears to have made only a few payments on the house, which she bought in January 2007 for $535,000. Taxpayers pay for Rep. Laura Richardson's car lease.  When she arrived in Congress last fall, Rep. Laura Richardson sought out a vehicle that would match her newfound status.  She settled on a 2007 Lincoln Town Car — the choice of many representatives who lease their vehicles at taxpayers' expense.  But hers was distinct: at $1,300 a month, it was the most expensive car in the House of Representatives. Kennedy's Illness, and the Left's.  The media keep reminding us of the issues that divide us as a nation:  Iraq, different approaches about reviving the economy, socialized medicine, the role of mankind in global warming, gay marriage, social issues, and many others.  As Ted Kennedy's recently diagnosed brain tumor demonstrated, Right and Left are also divided based on whether they display basic human decency when misfortunes befall a member of the other side. Top Ten Skeletons in the Left's Closet:  When the Left writes its own history, the past gets rewritten to suit the needs of the present.  This is why I wrote A Conservative History of the American Left, to conserve not only fascinating figures now forgotten but to retrieve from the memory hole all that the Left has tossed down it.  What is the history of the American Left that leftists want you to forget? Better SAVE Than Sorry.  Why would nearly 50 Democrats not allow legislation they co-sponsored to get to the House floor for a vote?  Because their boss, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, doesn't want meaningful immigration reform that protects our borders. Obama's real patriotism problem:  Marxists and other revolutionaries obviously don't believe entrepreneurial and religious America is good as it is.  But even more mainstream figures have a problem distinguishing patriotic reform from reformation.  Many progressives in the 1920s considered the American hinterlands a vast sea of yokels and boobs, incapable of grasping how much they needed what the activists were selling.  The Nation ran a famous series then called "These United States," in which smug emissaries from East Coast cities chronicled the "backward" attitudes of what today would be called fly-over country. Rosie O'Donnell:  Rev. Jeremiah Wright 'Made Sense to Me'.  Rosie O'Donnell defended Rev. Jeremiah Wright on the "Today" show on Monday [5/5/2008], saying Barack Obama's former pastor "made sense to me."  The comedian also compared herself to Wright, saying "some people confuse passion for rage."  She also came to Wright's defense on his views on the origins of AIDS. Bill Maher, Bigot.  Last week, a few days before Pope Benedict XVI's visit to America, TV talk show host Bill Maher went on a profanity-laden tirade against the Pope and the Catholic Church.  On his HBO Real Time program, Maher claimed that the Pope "used to be a Nazi," and called the Catholic Church a "child-abusing religious cult" and "the Bear Stearns of organized pedophilia." Democrats unleashed.  When Democrats in the 43rd state legislative district in suburban Seattle met April 5 to select delegates to the state convention, they refused to begin their deliberations by saying the Pledge of Allegiance:  "At the mere mention of doing the pledge there were groans and boos," wrote Web logger Eli Sanders, who attended the caucus.  "Then, when the district chair put the idea of doing the pledge up to a vote, it was overwhelmingly voted down.  One might more accurately say the idea of pledging allegiance to the flag … was shouted down." Ramadan Yea, Christmas Nay.  Democrats who supported a House resolution to honor Ramadan voted against a similar resolution to honor Christmas and Christianity last night [12/11/2007].  18 Democrats voted "nay" or "present" on a resolution to "recognize the importance of Christmas and the Christian faith."  An eagle-eyed Republican House staffer points out that those same members, with one exception, voted to "recognize the commencement of Ramadan," a Muslim religious observance in October. Our Leaders Are Not War Criminals.  Almost 60 House liberals, along with prominent lawyers, journalists, and retired officials and military officers, are lobbing an inflammatory charge — "war crimes" — toward a large number of the Bush administration's most senior current and former officials and lawyers. … And human-rights activists are already suggesting that their friends abroad should snatch and prosecute any former members of what they call the Bush "torture team" who dare visit Europe. Vermont candidate to prosecute Bush if she wins.  Lots of political candidates make campaign promises.  But not like Charlotte Dennett's.  Dennett, 61, the Progressive Party's candidate for Vermont Attorney General, said Thursday she will prosecute President Bush for murder if she's elected Nov. 4.  Dennett, an attorney and investigative journalist, says Bush must be held accountable for the deaths of thousands of people in Iraq — U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians.  She believes the Vermont attorney general would have jurisdiction to do so. Obama might pursue criminal charges against Bush.  Democratic vice-presidential nominee Joe Biden said yesterday [9/2/2008] that he and running mate Barack Obama could pursue criminal charges against the Bush administration if they are elected in November.  Biden's comments, first reported by ABC news, attracted little notice on a day dominated by the drama surrounding his Republican counterpart, Alaska governor Sarah Palin. Democrats sat whenever the 'V' word was uttered.  The most dramatic statement in the president's State of the Union address Tuesday night [1/23/2007] did not come from the president, and it was made without speaking a single word.  During his speech, President Bush spoke with conviction about the importance of achieving victory in Iraq:  "This is not the fight we entered in Iraq, but it is the fight we are in.  Every one of us wishes that this war were over and won." Liberals should admit that the surge is working.  Democrats in particular and liberals in general … will make a mistake if they don't acknowledge that the increase in U.S. troop strength in Iraq has made a difference for the better.  There is a streak of opinion within the larger ranks of opponents of the Iraq war that, going far beyond the critique asserted by most, seems actually to covet U.S. failure in Iraq as somehow serving America right for the blunder of having gone there in the first place.  That is a malevolent righteousness that properly repels most Americans. Nelson bill would abolish Electoral College.  Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) introduced a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College on Friday [6/6/2008], less than a week after the Democrats settled on how to handle delegates from Florida at their national convention.  "It's time for Congress to really give Americans the power of one-person, one-vote, instead of the political machinery selecting candidates and electing our president," Nelson said in a release announcing the amendment. Willie Nelson wants President Bush impeached.  American icon Willie Nelson says he supports efforts to impeach President Bush and "throw the bastards out," adding that the administration will do anything to stay in power, including staging an event to cancel the election.  Nelson made the comments on a radio show Thursday [2/21/2008], saying that he supported Dennis Kucinich's attempt to impeach Bush. House waves off impeachment measure against Bush.  The House has voted to send articles of impeachment against President Bush to a committee that is not likely to hold hearings before the end of his term.  By 251-166, House members dispatched the measure to a committee on Wednesday [6/11/2008] — a procedure often used to kill legislation. Obama's Wiretap Votes:  Now and then sanity prevails, even in Washington.  So it did yesterday as the Senate passed a warrantless wiretap bill for overseas terrorists while killing most of the Lilliputian attempts to tie down our war fighters.  "We lost every single battle we had on this bill," conceded Chris Dodd, which ought to tell the Connecticut Senator something about the logic of what he was proposing. With success in Iraq, Democrats must find new outlet for anger.  The once-noisy opposition has been reduced to whimpering today.  Why?  That's easy.  They all misjudged where so many Americans are on the Iraq war.  Most Americans are not opposed to Iraq as a matter of values, but as a matter of execution.  The surge of troops that then-Secretary of State Colin Powell, Sen. John McCain and others called for three years ago finally happened about seven months ago, and real progress is now being made. Petraeus and Crocker Meet the Real Enemy.  There must have been times when Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker thought they were back in embattled Sadr City when they faced Democrats on Capitol Hill this week — no Iraqi insurgents or al Sadr militiamen could have been more hostile. What I Heard at the Petraeus-Crocker Hearings:  America's top military commander and chief diplomat in Iraq reported Tuesday [4/8/2008] that we are making significant progress there.  They added that we cannot afford to squander our gains by losing our resolve.  But was anybody really listening? The Editor says... Petraeus and Crocker testified for about six hours on Tuesday, April 8, about the situation in Iraq and what's being accomplished there.  During the hearing, there was one protest disturbance lasting less than a minute.  The next morning, I was surprised so see a TV "news" show that aired all the protestor's outbursts, but not a word of the General's testimony.  When people speak of media bias, that's what they're talking about. If you call for impeachment, and nobody answers.  Robert Wexler is unapologetic and unabashed in his pursuit.  He wants impeachment hearings.  It matters not to him that he is in a minority in Washington.  Forget Republican opposition.  Even his own Democratic Party leader, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has declared that impeachment is "off the table." Democrats in Denial:  Presidential candidates won't admit any Iraq surge success.  Over the past 12 months, U.S. troops in Iraq have risen every day and gone to work, dangerous work, implementing General David Petraeus's counterinsurgency strategy.  The surge.  Across the political spectrum, observers have announced the surge a success.  This achievement must be a source of enormous pride to the U.S. soldiers and Marines who have pulled it off.  So what we take away from the four Democratic Presidential candidates' stunning display of misinformation and false statements about the surge Saturday evening is that they have simply stopped thinking about Iraq. No Lefty Left Behind.  ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) was founded by George Wiley whose claim to fame during the 1960s was to instigate poor single women to engage in sit-ins at welfare offices to end "oppressive" welfare eligibility restrictions. … Several years ago, ACORN members protested Baltimore's lack of service to poor neighborhoods by dumping garbage in front of city hall and conducting a profanity laced demonstration in front of the mayor's house. McGovern's Murder Charge:  At 85, George McGovern, whose far-left candidacy for president in 1972 brought in less than 38% of the popular vote, has accused President Bush of murder.  Then as today, desperation brings out the ugly in liberal Democrats. A Bush Rally.  The Associated Press reported last week that a left-wing group, Americans United for Change, plans to spend $8.5 million to ensure that President Bush's public approval rating doesn't improve in his final year in office. Getting Arrested 101:  The Left's Strong Preference for Making Trouble.  Any normal person would wonder, how does getting arrested help a cause?  Evidently, it's the left's best hope for outreach and recruitment. … What's another advantage in recruiting criminals?  They aren't afraid to break the law, which is exactly what these leftist activists are designing their movement to do.  Multiple participants gleefully identified themselves as "troublemakers" and proclaimed their goal of "taking the revolution to the streets."  Sound socialist?  That's because they are; and proudly, too. The world doesn't hate America; the Left does.  One of the Democrats' major accusations against the Bush administration is that it has increased hatred of America to unprecedented levels.  And in many polls, the United States is held to be among the greatest obstacles to world peace and harmony.  But it is not true that the world hates America.  It is the world's left that hates America.  However, because the left dominates the world's news media and because most people, understandably, believe what the news media report, many people, including Americans, believe that the world hates America.  That it is the left — and those influenced by the left-leaning news and entertainment media — that hates America can be easily shown. Democrats in denial.  Denial is the first stage of grieving.  Democrats seem stuck there when it comes to the war in Iraq.  It's odd that his fellow Democrats are mourning success in Iraq, Sen. Joseph Lieberman said in a speech Nov. 8.  "Democrats have remained emotionally invested in a narrative of defeat and retreat in Iraq, reluctant to acknowledge the progress we are now achieving, or even that the progress has enabled us to begin drawing down our troops there," he said. Conservatives more honest than liberals?  A study by professors published in the American Taxation Association's Journal of Legal Tax Research found conservative students took the issue of accounting scandals and tax evasion more seriously than their fellow liberal students.  Those with a "liberal outlook" who "reject the idea of absolute truth" were more accepting of cheating at school, according to another study, involving 291 students and published in the Journal of Education for Business. No Need to Tinker with the Constitution.  Let's face it.  Some people, especially liberals, just don't like the U.S. Constitution.  Every few years, they come up with wild or devious plans to make major changes.  The would-be rewriters of the Constitution do not merely propose amendments to remedy a problem, as allowed for in Article V.  They seek structural change after hurling put-downs such as archaic and out-of-date. ENDA, Obama and the cultural war:  The House Democratic leadership delayed a planned vote this past week on ENDA, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2007.  The bill, introduced by gay Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, makes employment discrimination against homosexuals and bisexuals illegal.  One reason that momentum on moving the legislation has stalled is because lesbian Rep. Tammy Baldwin from Wisconsin wants a provision covering transsexuals and transgenders, originally in, then removed, put back in.  President Bush has indicated that, if passed, he will veto this legislation.  And he should. The "Problem Profiteers":  When Washington Post pollsters asked whether minorities should receive preferential treatment to make up for past discrimination, 77% of blacks leaders said yes, while 77% of the black public said no.  In addition, a majority of the black populace disapproved of forced school busing, while 68% of black leaders supported busing. Voters may dump Spitzer over license plan.  Gov. Eliot Spitzer's favorability rating has dropped to an all-time low of 41 percent, and has left only 25 percent of voters planning to re-elect him, according to a poll the Siena Research Institute released Tuesday [11/13/2007]. The Editor says... Governor Spitzer is most famous for his attempt to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens. A Window into the Left's Rage:  The current issue of Rolling Stone magazine, its special 40th anniversary issue, reveals almost all one needs to know about the current state of the cultural left.  The issue features interviews with people Rolling Stone considers to be America's leading cultural and political figures — such as Al Gore, Jon Stewart, Bruce Springsteen, Cornel West, Paul Krugman, Kanye West, Bill Maher, and George Clooney, among many others.  It brings me no pleasure to say that, with few exceptions, the interviews reveal a superficiality and contempt for cultural norms (as evidenced by the ubiquity of curse words) that should scare anyone who believes that these people have influence on American life. Democrats Taking Cues From Left-Wing Group, McConnell Says.  The people connected with MoveOn seem to be "recycled from the 1960s," said [Senator Mitch] McConnell.  "They are not interested in what's good for the country in my view, and they don't care if our soldiers leave without honor and it's clear they don't respect General Petraeus at all, who almost everyone thinks is a straight shooter and an outstanding general." Suspending Disbelief:  Encouragingly, the condemnation from many Democrats was almost as strong as from Republicans.  On the left, General Wesley Clark said that General Petraeus would never give a report he did not truly believe.  Senator John Kerry, and even San Francisco liberal Nancy Pelosi, criticized the ad.  But Senator Clinton refused to condemn the ad.  Instead, she said on camera to General Petraeus that his sworn testimony called for "the willing suspension of disbelief." General Recklessness:  Wesley Clark on the trail.  If this is a serious strategy on the Left for defeating McCain, Republicans may yet surprise in November.  But although others have tried hitting McCain's military-service record, this Face the Nation story may be more about Democrats finally facing the reality that is the fringe recklessness of Wesley Clark.  Clark's attacks on McCain yesterday do not mark the first or last silly thing General Clark has or will say. Obama At Twelve O'Clock Low.  When Barack Obama was romping on the sandy beaches of Hawaii at age 6, John McCain was fighting for his country and carrying on that fight for 5½ years in a North Vietnamese prison that makes Abu Ghraib look like Club Med.  Clark's personal attack echoes the more vicious attacks being unleashed in the liberal blogosphere. They accuse McCain of war crimes for bombing Hanoi, even of making propaganda for the North Vietnamese. Liberals:  A Puzzlement.  I'll come right out and admit that I understand Islamic terrorists far better than I do American liberals. … Why is it that liberals seem to believe that recycling cans is an important issue, but defeating terrorism isn't? … Why do they regard secondhand smoke as a bigger menace than Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?  What is wrong with these people? Devil May CAIR.  In a new court filing, federal prosecutors describe the Council on American-Islamic Relations as a supporter of terrorists.  So why are Democrats still supporting the organization? Rush Vs. The Party Of Soros.  Democrats say Rush Limbaugh is running the Republican Party.  Better Rush than George Soros, who is running the Democrats.  At least Rush believes in freedom, capitalism and letting you keep what you earn. The loony left has found their candidate.  The core, the heart, the base of the Democratic Party has become a loony gaggle of special interest groups on the fringes of American civilization.  They are driven by far-left ideology, and they are represented by the likes of paranoid billionaire George Soros and the organizations he supports. A 'shadowy' Society.  The Federalist Society is the nation's leading forum for conservative and libertarian thinking about the law and its impact on public policy.  Its members include Supreme Court justices, law school professors, and more than 40,000 practicing attorneys and law students nationwide.  Yet in many precincts on the left, the organization has been regarded as a mysterious and somewhat sinister right-wing cabal. The Party of George Soros.  I don't think nearly enough has been made of the despicable MoveOn.org character assassination attack ad against General David Petraeus and the Democratic leadership's striking refusal to repudiate it.  If you want to see the face of the modern Democratic Party, re-read that ad. Known By the Company They Keep?  Memo to the national Democratic Party:  Having a reputedly Hezbollah-supporting imam lead you in a Muslim-based spiritual and political prayer does not support your contentions that your values better reflect true Christianity than those of Republicans and that you support the troops. Rep. Pelosi criticizes border fence.  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called a plan to build fencing along parts of the Mexico border a "terrible idea" that overlooks local communities.  Pelosi made the comments during her trip to the Rio Grande Valley for the annual Hispanic Engineering, Science & Technology Week conference at the University of Texas-Pan American. Why Liberals Loathe 'The People':  Regardless of partisan affiliation liberals seem to be on the war-path against the voice, votes, and welfare of those they work for: we the people.  They are actively seeking to make them voiceless in the process of governing through supposed self-determination.  They are also intent upon enslaving them to increasing government dependency for their basic needs, or to even entice them to live lawfully. Obama's Schumer Problem:  [Senator Schumer] claims that Prime Minister Putin "is an old-fashioned nationalist who seeks to regain the power and greatness Russia had before the fall of the Soviet Union."  What greatness was that exactly, senator?  The part where the political prisoners were sent to the Gulag?  Or where the East Germans trying to escape over the Berlin Wall to freedom were shot and killed?  Or where the Jews weren't allowed either to worship or leave? Schumer a Party Pooper.  In a revealing new book on politics, Sen. Charles Schumer comes out with guns blazing — not at President Bush, but at his own Democratic Party.  Schumer, one of the most powerful figures in Washington, rips his party for being in the clutches of special-interest groups for too long and for losing touch with the middle class. Whose side is she on? Jackson Lee wants ban on fighter jet parts reconsidered.  [U.S. Representative Sheila] Jackson Lee described Venezuela as a friendly nation that the U.S. should cooperate with and said that the F-16 jets, which are built in Texas, was an issue of concern to her constituents in Houston. ... The U.S. State Department has banned arms sales to Venezuela, including parts necessary to maintain its fleet of F-16s, citing a lack of support by Chavez's government for counterterrorism efforts and its close relations with Iran and Cuba. Congresswoman calls for inquiry into Texas county.  U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee has called for a congressional inquiry into the state's most populous county, saying recent events show that its legal system "has been tarnished." … "With the many misgivings surrounding the Harris County legal system, it is fair to say that this local judicial system has been tarnished," Jackson Lee said.  "It is time for all officials to be held accountable and true justice and democracy to be restored." The Editor says... Wow, that is news.  I was not aware that democracy had been abolished in Harris County. Democrat wants to end military ban on gays.  A ranking California Democrat is leading the movement to repeal the policy banning homosexuals in the military, but a military advocacy organization is fighting vigorously to see that the ban stays in place. Hillary's Gay TV Appearance:  Some liberal Democratic presidential candidates have been bad-mouthing the Fox News Channel, saying that it's too conservative, and have even refused to appear on it.  But they showed no hesitation in going on an openly homosexual cable channel called Logo to pander for gay votes. Democratic Candidates Say They're OK With Second-Grade Teacher Reading Gay Prince Fairy Tale.  A fairy tale about two princes falling in love sparked a backlash — and a lawsuit — against a teacher and a school last year when it was read to a second-grade class in Massachusetts.  But the three frontrunners in the Democratic presidential race suggested Wednesday night at their debate in New Hampshire that they'd support reading the controversial book to children as part of a school curriculum. Why Liberals Make Atrocious Parents.  Tim Russert asked the three front-runners for the Democratic nomination as to their comfort level of teaching a homosexual story of two boys consummating their lust for each other to children in the second grade.  They all agreed they would support the teaching of such behavior, though they attempted to hem, haw, and confuse the issue mumbling about parents' involvement. Man Arrested In Bank Robbery Set To Get Habitat For Humanity Home.  Saturday [9/29/2007], we were going to cover a story about a Tyler family getting a new home from Habitat For Humanity, but instead we discovered the father of that family is Derrick Hodges, 33.  Hodges was arrested Friday [9/28/2007] by Henderson Police for allegedly robbing a bank there back in November, and police say they believe he's involved in a string of bank robberies all over East Texas.  Habitat For Humanity says despite recent revelations, he's still set to get the house. Somewhat related... 'Habitat' Home Becomes Drug Haven.  Only Eyewitness News was on the scene when as Kissimmee police moved in to make a drug bust at a home built by Habitat for Humanity.  One of the women arrested at the home is an employee of the Osceola County school district. Back to the 70's.  Democrats often get their hackles up whenever anyone questions their judgment on anything military.  Sensitive to the perception that they are reflexively dovish, even anti-military, Democrats have been cultivating a more moderate image. … Unfortunately, it appears that all these attempts to reshape the image of the Democrats are nothing more than window dressing.  The top brass of the Democratic Party are as anti-military as their reputation suggests, and are doing little to hide that fact. Why liberals love adultery.  Liberals are always cheering for the wrong people.  Have you ever noticed?  In our war on islamo-facism they ask America to withdraw.  When Hugo Chavez smells sulfur at the United Nations, liberal democratic Senators "understand" him (i.e. Tom Harkin).  But no one is a liberal's hero the way an adulterer is.  You would think in a world shaped by modern liberal feminists that liberal media types and liberal politicians would be rushing to the aid of the poor wife and kids offering them welfare and state-funded counseling and beating the offending man to within an inch of his life.  But not so. Who The Liberals Really Are:  John Kerry, 1971.  Bill and Hillary Clinton, 1992-2000.  Harry "the war is lost" Reid, 2007.  The New Republic, a few months ago.  Barack Obama, last week.  They are all cut from the same cloth, singing the same refrain.  And despite their self-serving and empty rhetoric to the contrary, it isn't about "supporting the troops." The Pelosi/Conyers Team:  Help Terrorists And Illegal Aliens.  It didn't take long before the new Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and the new chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Rep. John Conyers started making noises on how they can further undermine efforts to protect Americans from terrorist attacks. Charlie Rangel Doesn't Understand Real Men.  When Charlie Rangel closed out the year by seconding John Kerry's sentiment that men end up in the military by default rather than choice, he exposed something that many have long suspected not only about Rangel and Kerry, but about the Democratic Party itself:  they don't understand the nature of men. ACLU plans to investigate Rainbow Family treatment.  The U.S. Forest Service says a mob of about 400 members of the Rainbow Family, a group of hippie types and eccentrics who camp on public land every year, threw rocks and sticks at Forest Service officers who tried to arrest a member of the group.  Up to 60 federal and local law enforcers responded, Forest Service officials say, and fired "pepper balls" — similar to paint balls but containing a pepper solution — at the crowd to control it. Official:  Feds should consider Rainbow Family ban.  The U.S. Forest Service should consider banning the Rainbow Family from Forest Service land after a confrontation last week led to the arrest of at least eight people, a top agency official said Monday [7/7/2008].  John Twiss, director of Forest Service Law Enforcement and Investigations in Washington, D.C., said he was among the officers who responded when Rainbow Family members threw sticks and rocks at federal officers. George Soros Tries to Buy Congress.  Speaking at a Washington symposium on the continuing threat posed by illegal drugs to American society, Calvina Fay of the Drug Free America Foundation declared billionaire George Soros to be an "extremely evil person" who wants to legalize dangerous mind-altering drugs.  Fay said that Soros, an atheist who is a major funder of the Democratic Party and liberal-left causes, is "our common enemy" and that he is determined to subvert traditional values and undermine America's families. The Return of the Radical Atheists:  After decades of ignoring the huge influence of religion in society, journalists and analysts are now discovering the "danger" of religious radicalism.  It has become trendy to decry the rise of fundamentalists of any sort and to Talibanize religious groups that affirm anything too categorically. Boxer's Low Blow:  Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, an appalling scold from California, wasted no time yesterday [1/11/2007] in dragging the debate over Iraq about as low as it can go — attacking Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for being a childless woman.  Boxer was wholly in character for her party…. Barbara Boxer calls Sarah Palin an extremist.  "She's anti-science," Boxer said.  "She says that global warming isn't in any way caused by human activities when the world's leading scientists say that it is.  She's opposed to stem cell research which will save millions of lives, she's against abortion even in the case of rape and incest and is against birth control." The Editor says... Even with Ms. Boxer's deceitful description, Mrs. Palin sounds normal to me. The Jimmy Carter Subsection This rather large subsection is now on a page of its own, located here. DNC Delegates Out of Step with the Average Person.  Who are the people calling themselves delegates to the Democratic National Convention?  What are their beliefs?  A recent New York Times-CNN poll showed that most are far more liberal than most other Democrats — and way to the left of most Americans. Conservative values versus liberal values:  Traditional values we learn from the Bible.  We can simply point to the Ten Commandments.  And liberal values?  The absolute here is that there are no absolutes.  Everything is relative, and the only absolute is to welcome and tolerate everything. September 11:  Still Just A Game to Democrats.  For starters, a brief junior high civics lesson is in order.  Those who crafted the First Amendment never intended it as license for obscenity or to enable nude dancers to smear various substances on themselves at taxpayers' expense.  Nor was their purpose to secure the "rights" of child pornographers to ply their trade, as former Attorney General Janet Reno asserted. One Party Where Rich People Aren't Welcome.  This is not a new strategy.  Democrats have always courted the votes of the poor and working classes.  As recently as the 2004 presidential campaign, John Kerry's running mate John Edwards spoke of "the two Americas," one rich, one poor.  Mr. Edwards may have wondered why this emotional appeal was not more successful.  The answer is simple.  Americans are ambitious.  We all harbor dreams of advancement. Few see Democrats as friendly to religion.  Liberal or progressive Christians, who make up 34 percent of the population, are disunified on key issues, and only one out of four Americans considers the Democratic Party friendly to religion, a Pew poll shows. Why it's not easy being a liberal.  It was inevitable that while most of the civilized people of the world, including millions of Iraqis, celebrated the death of Zarqawi, there was one significant group that pooh-poohed the happy occasion.  I refer to those notorious party-poopers, American liberals. Life within the beltway; meet the clueless leaders.  The elite inside the beltway include the diplomatic corps, senators, congressman and congresswomen, political advisors, the lobbyists, and the media. … What happens inside the beltway is how the world operates, as far as they are concerned.  The rest of the country is merely "fly over" country that must be tolerated. A Letter to My Closed-Minded Liberal Friends.  Forty long years ago, it was conceivable that yours was the party of progress, of innovation, ideas and open-mindedness. … Now, yours is the party of old ideas, outdated stories by incompetent news sources, revisionist views, regress and, as I learned as a teacher a few years back, intolerance and blackballing. Free lunch, free hot fudge sundaes.  The Democrats, who hold the overwhelming majority of legislative seats, are a gaggle of far-left loonies who concoct politically correct legislation — for example, requiring that textbooks laud gay contributions to California history — while failing to enact reforms needed to balance the budget.  Rather than do their job to run state government, they want to butt into the business of how other people raise their kids. Not your father's Democratic Party.  Ned Lamont's candidacy was fueled by the most extreme elements of the Democratic party.  Moveon.org, Daily Kos and other elements of the Web savvy liberal "netroots" made defeating Joe Lieberman their number one priority.  To them, Lieberman was an unacceptable cancer within a Democratic party they fancy themselves as owning.  Tolerance of a Democrat who was committed to finishing the job in Iraq was a non-starter.  Nor was it acceptable for Lieberman to be so unabashedly pro-American in his rhetoric about national security. The mainstreaming of Taliban Democrats?  The narrow primary defeat of veteran senator Joe Lieberman in Connecticut's Democratic primary is more than a loss for one man.  It is a loss for his party and for the country.  It completes the capture of the Democratic Party by its Taliban wing. What are the Democrats doing?  It's easy to forget that both major American political parties are coalitions.  Democrats tend to attract left-leaning members of the chattering class, labor unionists, racial minorities and single women.  Republicans have in recent decades attracted conservative intellectuals, business interests, evangelicals, libertarians and married people. Stroger Jr. aided black separatists.  Ald. Todd Stroger, the Democratic nominee for Cook County Board president, and the 8th Ward organization he represents have given almost $8,000 to a group that believes blacks should not be taxed and should not be involved in interracial relationships, and which supports the creation of a separate state for blacks. Thank God for Ann Coulter.  Liberalism is indeed a Godless religion — and, as Coulter demonstrates, the secular religion of the left is a religion bereft of moral fiber.  It's not that the atheism of the secular left makes Coulter unhappy.  It's that they lie about their religion. In Vermont, efforts to impeach Bush fan emotions.  In one week, resolutions approved by five towns to impeach President George W. Bush are giving several sleepy Vermont communities a new, renegade image.  Not everyone is happy about it. Trying to get back in the game.  Democrats have not always been the party of peace-at-any-price and never seeing a war or an idea for which they would fight.  Vietnam and President Lyndon Johnson changed the party's direction on foreign policy, radically jerking it leftward. Goodbye, All That:  How Left Idiocies Drove Me to Flee.  A leftie has had enough with all the anti-war, anti-Bush rhetoric coming from the wacko left and is distancing himself from them.  It is interesting to hear a critique from a liberal on the wacko pacifists. Hillary's Book Backfires:  The publicity so far for "Living History" indicates that she and her handlers may have badly misjudged public opinion. Why Hillary Clinton Is a Weaker Candidate Than People Think:  Reason #8 — Baggage.  Hillary is carrying around as much baggage as any of the other five candidates combined, starting with her philandering husband.  In fact, there are so many controversies that have swirled around Bill and Hill than you can hardly list them all:  Gennifer Flowers, Monica Lewinsky, Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey, Juanita Broderick, Whitewater, selling the Lincoln bedroom, using the IRS against political enemies, selling pardons, taking the White House furniture, shady cattle futures deals, impeachment, firing the travel office staff to make room for cronies, it goes on and on and on. Failing their own:  Only four of 43 members of the [Congressional Black Caucus] voted to ban partial-birth abortion in 2003, even though a majority of blacks favored such a ban.  Most African Americans favor school choice, but because the caucus is firmly ensconced in the teacher-union racket, it bars the schoolhouse door to black kids who want a better education via vouchers.  A majority of blacks oppose outright racial quotas, but don't tell that to the caucus.  Or that blacks are heavily opposed to gay marriage. Who hates the other more – liberals or conservatives?.  During the 2004 elections, which car was more likely to be "keyed," i.e., deliberately scratched — a car with a "John Kerry" bumper sticker in an overwhelmingly conservative area, or a car with a "George W. Bush" sticker in an overwhelmingly liberal area? Blood and Gore:  Today's Wall Street Journal features an antibusiness, anti-capitalism rant by former Vice President Al Gore and David Blood.  Both are cofounders of Generation Investment Management, an "eco-predatory accounting" firm.  Gore and his partner in crime call for companies to manage their "economic, social, environmental and ethical performance" because threats of "climate change, HIV/AIDS, water scarcity and poverty have reached a point where civil society is demanding a response from business and government." The Secret to the Suicidal Liberal Mind.  The self-loathing of the white American liberal is as well-established and documented as Einstein's Special Relativity theorems.  A typical example is writer Susan Sontag's denouncement of the white race as "the cancer of human history."  A racist hatred of one's own race — auto-racism — has become a defining characteristic of the liberal mind.  Yet the source of such suicidal guilt remains a mystery. The Democrats sign up with the anti-Semites.  It is important that support for Israel in the US Congress is bipartisan. … Regrettably, this bipartisan support appears to be slipping away.  A year ago, I wrote an article titled Why the left hates Israel, pointing out how the biggest threat to the Jewish state today comes from the political left.  But I noted then, that at least in Congress, where support for Israel might be a bit stronger among the GOP than among Democratic members, the fever swamps of anti-Israel hate had not yet reached into the Democratic side of the aisle, with the exception of a very few members such as Cynthia McKinney, Jim Moran, and Fritz Hollings. The undemocratic party.  Many of the American left's chief policy aims over the past 40 years — including legalized abortion on demand, race-based admissions for state-run colleges, and driving God and prayer out of American public life — were advanced not at the ballot box or in legislatures, but by unelected federal judges who enacted the liberal agenda by fiat from the bench.  There was a simple reason for this:  The American people had too much good sense to give the liberal agenda majority nationwide support. Pathology of the Left:  Liberals speak of unity, but they appeal to the worst in human nature by dividing Americans into dependent constituencies.  Just who are these liberal constituencies?  They support freedom of thought, unless your thoughts don't comport with theirs.  They feign tolerance while practicing intolerance.  They resist open discussion and debate of their views, yet seek to silence dissenters.  They insist that they care more about protecting habitat than those who hunt and fish.  They protest for nature conservation while advocating homosexuality.  They denounce capital punishment for the most heinous of criminals, while ardently supporting the killing of the most innocent among us — children prior to birth.  They hate private-gun ownership, but they wink and nod when it comes to WMD in the hands of tyrants.  They advocate for big government but want to restrain free enterprise. Felon plan seen as political.  Gov. Tom Vilsack insists politics played no part in his plan to restore voting rights to all Iowa felons, a move nonetheless loaded with political ramifications.  By automatically restoring the vote to people who have served their time in prison and on parole or probation, Vilsack could subtly shift the political balance in a narrowly divided battleground state in favor of Democrats, the governor's party. The felon vote:  In the wake of their election defeat, Democrats have promised to mend their ways by emphasizing moral values.  So, in their first major legislative initiative of the year, what are the party's two top senators offering?  A bill to guarantee that millions of convicted murderers, rapists and armed robbers can vote. [Ask yourself this question:  Why do people assume that felons would vote for Democrats?] Lawmaker:  Give Felons Voting Rights.  An unlikely lawmaker is taking the lead to change Florida law to restore voting rights to convicted felons.  Orlando state Sen. Gary Siplin [Democrat], a convicted felon himself, has sponsored Senate Bill 466, which automatically restores voting rights a year after the felon's sentence is completed. … State Sen. Mandy Dawson, D-Fort Lauderdale, has sponsored identical legislation. Sotomayor's Racialist Judicial Activism:  Felon "disenfranchisement" is the radical idea that those imprisoned for serious infractions of the law should not be voting for those who will make it.  This prudent practice has a history in the United States that predates the Constitution. ... Seeking to overturn several thousands of years of juridical precedent on the flimsiest of bases qualifies Sotomayor as a judicial activist par excellence, and conservatives ought not let the point go unmade because any action against this Latina will bring cries of racism. Crazy thinking:  In my ceaseless efforts to discover how liberals think, I have a great advantage:  I live in Manhattan, where everybody is liberal, so opportunities for fieldwork are boundless. "Save Our Boy Scouts" Bill Fails In Senate.  Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) issued a press release on November 20, [2004], discussing the failure of passage of the "Save Our Scouts" bill.  All Republicans supported passing it; while the Democrats opposed it.  The "Save Our Scouts" bill would have permitted federal support for the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts of America.  The legislation was designed to send a message to the ACLU that it should stop persecuting the Boy Scouts for its policies on atheists and homosexuals. Candidate worked as prostitute.  A Dallas Democrat who is seeking election to the Texas House … acknowledged Thursday [2/16/2006] that he once worked as a prostitute. Tennessee Democrat Distributes Flyer Belittling Special Olympics Kids.  "Tennessee State Representative Craig Fitzhugh should be ashamed of himself for allowing his campaign office to distribute a flyer belittling Special Olympics children," said Traditional Values Coalition Chairman Louis P. Sheldon. "This disgusting flyer is an insensitive attack against children with disabilities." Democrats are out of step with American voters.  Plainly, gay marriage is not an issue that Americans support.  Despite the rhetoric that you hear from the homosexual Cosa Nostra, the lack of support for the gay marriage amendment has nothing to do with prejudice. ... It is about recognizing that marriage between man and woman is the bedrock of our society.  It is about the citizens of this country saying, en masse, that they are unwilling to deconstruct certain basic and essential norms in our culture and society. State charitable program turned into ideological slush fund:  The [Texas] legislature, in 1993, envisioned checkoffs flowing to charities that help the poor and afflicted.  It turns out that these monies flow also to groups fighting for abortion rights and against nuclear power.  Such donations don't even necessarily meet another of the legislature's stipulations that the organization not "conduct litigation."  Many, if not most, of the activist groups tout litigation as one of their main purposes. It's the culture, stupid.  While there were many important issues in Tuesday's historic election, the single most important one for the largest bloc of voters was not the economy, the Iraq War or the Terror War.  It was the cultural war. ... [The] message was loud and clear:  We don't want a Massachusetts liberal running our country. A narrow escape.  Can you imagine what it would be like to have a Massachusetts liberal filling the federal courts across the country, including the Supreme Court, with liberal judges who would be turning more criminals loose for decades to come, as well as repeatedly over-ruling the voting public's right to govern themselves on such things as gay marriage? United Socialist States of America:  What has happened in America that has turned off the majority of the electorate to Democrats?  Is it President Bush's leadership?  Is it the leadership of Republicans?  Partly.  But there is another aspect trimming support for Democrats.  It is because the mainstream of the party is too liberal and too socialist for a free people to tolerate. Virtuous victory.  Democrats should realize the McGovern-Mondale-Dukakis-Kerry wing of the Democrat Party cannot win.  Will they finally wake up, or will they give into temptation and nominate Hillary Clinton in 2008? Nancy Pelosi:  A San Francisco Liberal.  So long as Nancy Pelosi remains in the congressional minority, the rest of the country may escape the effects of San Francisco liberalism.  But if such people are ever in the majority, look out! The Pelosi honeymoon begins.  Say what you will about [Nancy] Pelosi, but it is a matter of record that she's far left of the center of American politics; her rating from the liberal lobbying group Americans for Democratic Action is routinely a 100 percent. Public Libraries, The Left, and the Corruption of Children.  At the Upper Arlington Public library, near Columbus, the public library is embroiled in controversy for having allowed two explicit homosexual publications to sit in the foyer.  The foyer serves as a gathering place for elementary school children before school.  Excellent:   19 Reasons NOT to vote for a Democrat:  The Democratic Party has officially weighed in with a new party platform that delivers a healthy dose of pro-abortion, pro-homosexual propaganda.  The party that so often preaches tolerance apparently has no tolerance for the more than seventy percent of Americans who believe marriage ought to remain the union of one man and one woman, and neither do they have any tolerance for people who believe that abortion kills an innocent human life.  Key elements of the Democratic platform include endorsing radical anti-AIDS initiatives and other programs that encourage promiscuity, calling for the passage of "thought crimes" legislation, dropping the "Don't Ask/Don't Tell" policy in favor of full inclusion for open homosexuals in the military, and defeating the marriage protection amendment.  It appears that more and more the Democratic Party is running to the Left while Americans are leaning to the Right. Is America lost or just liberals?  Many liberals are beside themselves.  Things were bearable when they could delude themselves into blaming their loss of power on a "stolen" election.  But with this decisive defeat, they're thinking, "It's not our America anymore." Democrats Behave Like Sunni Insurgents.  I've been wondering why there is something familiar about the behavior of the Sunni insurgency in Iraq, and suddenly it dawned on me that we have our own similar insurgency right here at home — it is called the Democrat Party.  Think about it.  Both are operating under the same motivation — an unrequited lust for lost power.  And both will do just about anything to retrieve it. Is California crazy?  The time is long overdue to get rid of the outdated notion that liberal Democrats represent ordinary people.  They represent such special interests as trial lawyers who keep our courts clogged with frivolous lawsuits, busybody environmentalists who think the government should force other people to live the way the greens want them to live, and of course the teachers' unions who think schools exist to provide their members with jobs. Unmasking Global Warming:  The Case of Mikhail Gorbachev.  Environmentalism's socialist tendencies are already inherent in its starting premise, which is that this world is headed for destruction because of the way modern societies conduct their life and affairs. … The only way to avert the looming catastrophe, then, is to rein in the greedy businessmen and direct people's behavior in environmentally conducive ways.  This naturally can only be done by a government properly equipped for the great task at hand. The NEA's Lobbying Agenda:  The NEA's lobbying goals for public schools include federal funding for public school child care, early childhood programs that are school-based, before- and after-school programs, big spending for school counselors, school-based health care for children, and of course increased federal spending for education.  The NEA's non-education-related lobbying goals include funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, a national universal health care system, reparations to African Americans, statehood for the District of Columbia, taxpayer funding of federal elections, and a national holiday for Cesar Chavez. Aha!  Where Do Public School Teachers Send Their Kids to School?  Public school teachers in urban areas are far more likely than city residents in general to send their children to private schools, according to a new analysis of 2000 Census data by researchers led by Denis P. Doyle, who previously analyzed 1980 and 1990 Census data.  While just 12.2 percent of U.S. families send their children to private schools, that figure rises to 17.5 percent among urban families in general and to 21.5 percent among urban public school teachers, almost twice the national average. Much more about the teachers' unions can be found here. Masquerading Liberal John Edwards.  It's easy enough to find votes showing how the media's Edwards the "Southern moderate" sales pitch is total hooey.  Sen. Edwards voted against his Senate partner Jesse Helms when he suggested schools should be denied federal funds if they kicked the Boy Scouts of America out of meeting at a school since they wouldn't allow gay scoutmasters.  The gay lobby has a powerful hold on this Southerner.  Sen. Edwards voted in favor of federal funds for needle-exchange programs.  On abortion, try to find where Sen. Edwards feels there should be any limit to the abortion lobby's demands.  He's rated 100 percent by the NARAL crowd. Why I cannot vote for John Kerry.  [Reason #5:] A vote for John Kerry is a vote for Michael Moore, the ACLU, Ted Kennedy, trial lawyers, George Soros, the leftist academics who morally confuse generations of young Americans, and for Dan Rather, CBS News, and nearly the entire news complex that daily presents a proctologist's view of America.  A vote for John Kerry is a vote for Jesse Jackson, whom Kerry has named a top adviser; and for Al Sharpton, with whom Kerry campaigns; for Sean Penn and his Hollywood world; and for the passionately pro-Kerry MTV, the greatest destroyer of young people's minds and souls in American history. Cash-and-Kerry:  Senator John F. Kerry has a long political career, distinguished by his willingness to go farther Left in politics and lower for money than most other American politicians would dream of going. Kerry Wrong for Catholics.  He's wrong on the marriage penalty, the sanctity of marriage, the child tax credit, adoption tax credit, abortion, partial-birth abortion, taxpayer-funded abortions, parental consent, homeland security, international "family planning", litmus test for judicial nominees, human cloning, euthanasia, and school choice. What a typical Kerry supporter might believe:  A non-exhaustive list. "Kerry/Kennedy Care" — Prescription for Disaster.  Campaign rhetoric to the contrary, Kerry began the campaign with a voting record well to the left of mainstream.  According to the voting record summarized by Congressional Quarterly, Sen. Kerry voted in lockstep with Sen. Kennedy, the Senate's most liberal member, in each of 10 years between 1985 and 2001.  Over the course of his political career, Kerry has sided with Kennedy 94 percent of the time when key votes were taken on Kennedy's favorite cause:  a government-run national health care plan. Mexico to honor Sen. Kennedy.  The Mexican government is honoring U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy for his defense of immigrant rights. John Kerry's Treaty:  Outsourcing sovereignty.  John Kerry wants a world in which the United Nations calls the shots and U.S. freedom of action, in the absence of the U.N.'s permission, is sharply circumscribed.  Most Americans recognize that this would be a formula for disaster — a world in which the lowest-common-multilateral-denominator would routinely trump, and often jeopardize, our security interests.

Liberal veneration of Fidel Castro, Mao, Che Guevara and others Why do America's left-wing politicians have such affinity for Fidel Castro?  Is he really such a great role model?  Is Cuba the great socialist utopia that liberal Democrats want the U.S. to be? Welcome to "Fantasy Island" — ACLU Style.  Cuba remains the ACLU's "Fantasy Island," where — to hear them tell it — happy Marxist children play together in perfect harmony, and the state makes sure its citizens are cared for from cradle to grave.  At least that's the glorious depiction in a book titled Vamos a Cuba ("Let's Visit Cuba") that the ACLU wanted to keep on the bookshelves of a Florida school.  The book makes the communist state sound like a trip to DisneyWorld.  But as it did on the TV show Fantasy Island, illusion in Cuba quickly gives way to harsh reality. Bill would drop travel restrictions to Cuba.  While most of the nation focused on the stimulus bill winding through Congress, nine representatives introduced a bill calling for an end to the 46-year-old ban on travel to Cuba.  The Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on Feb. 4 would allow American citizens unrestricted travel to Cuba for the first time since 1963. Obama will use spring summit to bring Cuba in from the cold.  President Barack Obama is poised to offer an olive branch to Cuba in an effort to repair the US's tattered reputation in Latin America.  The White House has moved to ease some travel and trade restrictions as a cautious first step towards better ties with Havana, raising hopes of an eventual lifting of the four-decade-old economic embargo. Heads Roll in Havana, Baffling 'Cuba Experts'.  The very week Obama proposed cozying up to Castro by dropping some economic and travel sanctions, the biggest political shake-up in twenty years rattled Cuba's regime.  Last week Raul Castro purged almost twenty regime officials.  The most prominent among the purged were the youngest and most reform-minded (as these things are measured within a Stalinist regime), and they've all been replaced by diehard Stalinist septuagenarians with military and secret police backgrounds. Congressional Black Caucus Smitten With Castro.  Not since Ann Margaret's reaction to Conrad Birdie's kiss has anything been recorded to match these U.S. legislators' reaction to these meetings.  "He looked directly into my eyes!" gasped Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Ca.) "and then he asked:  how can we help President Obama?  Fidel Castro really wants President Obama to succeed."  (no doubt!)  "It was quite a moment to behold!" hyperventilated Rep. Barbara Lee. (D-CA)  "Fidel Castro was very engaging and very energetic."  "He's one of the most amazing human beings I've ever met!" gushed Emanuel Cleaver(D-Mo) Urge the White House To Not Lift the Travel Ban to Cuba.  The Castro regime is one of the most brutal, ruthless and amoral regimes of our time.  While little mention of it is offered by the world media, due to their soft spot for murderers and thugs everywhere, the cruelty it embodies is no less true.  After all, the only time the media sees fit to heap scorn on anyone is when conservatives enact policies that defend innocents against terror or brutality. Castro happy with US lawmakers.  Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro described a meeting with US lawmakers in an opinion article on Wednesday as "magnificent", and urged Washington to take the initiative to improve ties with Havana.  The communist island's long-time leader said the ball was now in President Barack Obama's court after a meeting with three US lawmakers with the Congressional Black Caucus late on Tuesday [4/7/2009]. Useful Idiots Caucus.  "This is the dawning of a new day," exclaimed Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill.  "In my household I told Castro he is known as the ultimate survivor."  Funny how easy it is to survive when you don't hold elections.  And when all of your opponents wind up in prison or dead.  And when even those who dare to whisper a word of dissent to your absolute rule find themselves harassed, beaten, humiliated, and imprisoned.  According to the Black Book of Communism, more than 100,000 Cubans have served time for political offenses in Cuba's equivalent of the Gulag Archipelago since Castro came to power in 1959. Lee's Cuban dream.  Fresh from a secretive trip to Havana to meet Raul and Fidel Castro, Rep. Barbara Lee, California Democrat, has criticized U.S. Cuba policy as "based on antiquated Cold War-era thinking."  If anyone's thinking toward the communist state is stuck in the Cold War past, it is Ms. Lee's — and she is still on the wrong side. Truth About Castro:  The Lost City not only is a loving tribute to Havana and Cuban art and music, it is also a loving tribute to liberty, democracy and capitalism.  Castro's regime is clearly portrayed as an evil dictatorship. Fidel Castro's Dupes:  In Castro's Cuba, it is a crime to meet to discuss the economy, to write letters to the government, to report on political developments, to speak to international reporters, to advocate human rights, to visit friends or relatives outside your local area of residence without government permission. Carter Silent On Castro's Crackdown:  Jimmy Carter is the self-appointed globetrotter on behalf of human rights.  But when Carter friend Fidel Castro unleashed a brutal wave of repression recently, that included extradjudicial executions, Carter's reaction was silence, followed by muted criticism, and finalized with a stinging criticism of — the United States! Veneration of evil.  [Che Guevara] continues to be a symbol of freedom and revolutionary fervour and purity for people who can't read or think.  Che was Fidel Castro's right-hand man.  Despite the fact leftie morons from Pierre Trudeau to Michael Moore venerate the Cuban totalitarian state, it is just a prison masquerading as a nation. … Che was put in charge of turning Cuba into a modern industrial nation.  He failed miserably, thus consigning Cuba to a future as a colony of the Soviet Union, exchanging sugar for fighter planes. The Fantasies of Castro/Che Groupies vs. the Facts.  Facts matters little to diehard, teen-beat type Castro/Che fans.  Many "document" their rebuttals to my blasphemies with scenes from Godfather II, that famous documentary on pre-Castro Cuba. ... To depict Havana streets on New Year's Eve 1958, Coppola cast more people than stampeded through a battle scene in Braveheart.  For what it's worth, Havana streets were deathly quiet that night. Who was Chairman Mao, Lionized by Obama's White house?  It's easy to briefly describe Mao Zedong.  He was a radical progressive who fought for a Marxist revolution in his native China, prevailing to lead the country for 27 tumultuous years.  Despite boasting he fought "for the People," Mao's Great Leap Forward, Cultural Revolution, and other progressive policies resulted in the killing of 77 million people, according to genocide expert Professor J.R. Rummel. Socialism is Great!  (And Other Chinese Fables):  Anita Dunn, then President Obama's director of communications, last fall held up Mao as an example of individualism.  In reality, under Mao's regime, the communist government was so intent on wiping out individuality that it even demanded ideological allegiance from those it had branded enemies of the state — as it was killing them. The spirit of Mao Zedong.  Can you name the greatest mass murderer of the 20th century?  No, it wasn't Hitler or Stalin.  It was Mao Zedong.  According to the authoritative "Black Book of Communism,"an estimated 65 million Chinese died as a result of Mao's repeated, merciless attempts to create a new "socialist" China.  Anyone who got in his way was done away with — by execution, imprisonment or forced famine. Environmentalism Refuted:  [Scroll down]  Because of ignorance of the contributions of [Ludwig] von Mises, one cannot expect very many people to know that Nazism was actually a major form of socialism and thus that the fifteen million or more murders for which it was responsible should be laid at the door of socialism.  Nazism and all of its murders aside, Marxian "scientific" socialism was responsible for more than eighty million murders in the twentieth century:  thirty million in the former Soviet Union, fifty million in Communist China, and untold millions more in the satellite countries. Warning:  This article includes graphic descriptions of torture. Thank You, Glenn Beck, for Exposing Communism's Evils.  Both of my grandfathers were exterminated by Stalinist terror.  Both of my parents, Yuri and Marina Glazov, were dissidents in the former Soviet Union.  They risked their lives for freedom; they stood up against Soviet totalitarianism.  They barely escaped the gulag, a fortune many of our friends and relatives did not share.  I come from a system where a myriad of the closest people to my family simply disappeared, where relatives and family friends died under interrogation and torture for their beliefs — or for simply nothing at all. Joseph Stalin:  Memoirs of a Leftist Madman.  Marxist dictators are suddenly back in vogue as role models, according to the White House, and Joseph Stalin of Russia is an exemplar of the species.  Uncle Joe helped preside over the first large-scale communist state after his role model, master revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, predeceased him.  Stalin goes down as not merely one of history's great murders, but also an exceedingly strange and diabolically paranoid tyrant. Communist Cuba:  50 Years Of Failure.  New Year's Day marks 50 years of communist rule in Cuba.  The Castro oligarchy will trumpet its survival and celebrate.  But the reality, up close, is that it's the longest-running failure in the New World. Filmmaker Brings Back Shocking Tale of Cuban Prisons.  Some are held captive in tiny, windowless cells; others are confined in over-crowded and squalid dormitories.  Most go without basic health care and food staples; a few undergo regular beatings.  All are denied basic religious freedoms, and none has been visited by members of the International Red Cross.  Such is life for "enemies of the state" imprisoned in Cuba. Fidel Castro's Cuba:  celebrating 50 years of progress, equality, poverty and murder.  Fidel Castro likes to boast of his country's 70,000 doctors, but admits "tens of thousands" of them have been sent abroad.  The last pre-Castro census (1953) recorded one doctor for every 1,000 Cubans; today, outside the regime's showcase clinics for the nomenklatura and foreigners, patients have to bring their own bedding, thread for sutures and even light-bulbs into the country's vermin-infested hospitals. Time for Congressional Black Caucus to Disband?.  Last week, seven members of the Congressional Black Caucus ... returned from a visit to Cuba where they met with the dictators of Cuba, Fidel and Raul Castro.  They were quite impressed with Fidel Castro, the longest reigning dictator in the world, the man who deprived an entire generation of Cubans of the most fundamental human rights. Now Open Cuba's Prisons.  President Obama's decision this week to ease some parts of the embargo against Cuba is being hailed as a first step toward altering a U.S. policy that has prevailed for a half-century without unseating Fidel Castro.  We don't object, though it'd be nice if Mr. Obama also began speaking up against the Castro dictatorship. Obama and Cuba:  President Barack Obama wants Havana to make the next move to improve U.S.-Cuba relations, saying Thursday that he needs to see signs of changes on the island before he makes any more overtures.  President Raul Castro responded hours later that his government is willing to discuss any issue with Washington, as along as it's a conversation between equals and Washington respects "the Cuban people's right to self-determination." A question for Democrats.  [Scroll down]  At a press conference on April 7, Illinois Representative Bobby Rush extolled Raul Castro —a man with the blood of hundreds on his hands —for his "sense of humor" and the way he "laughed at himself" and how "down-to-earth" and "kind" he was.  Why, said Rush, being with Castro "was almost like visiting an old friend."  When a reporter asked about Cuba's human rights record, Rush snapped that he was engaging in a "double standard" and called it "good business sense" not to let human rights get in the way of increased trade. Comrade Barbara.  The Congressional Black Caucus's recent trip to Cuba was utterly expected.  That didn't make it any easier to stomach, especially when Rep. Barbara Lee (D., People's Republic of Berkeley) described her meeting with mass-murderer Fidel Castro as "quite a moment to behold."  What exactly is wrong with her? Will someone save the Congressional Black Caucus?  Now there's nothing wrong with visiting Cuba and nothing sacrosanct about America's economic embargo.  But you can rationally question U.S. Cuba policy without cozying up to Castro.  The CBC did the latter — failing to meet with a single dissident on an island with a record of making dissidents disappear and handing El Jefe his best press in years. Arlen Specter, Castro's Dupe.  Sen. Arlen Specter has visited Cuba and met with Fidel Castro three times in the past 9 years, and seems quite proud of the record.  His second visit was shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attack, where Specter made a big show of presenting Fidel Castro with a FDNY cap.  The Stalinist dictator and pioneering terrorist responsible for the Hemisphere's first plane hijackings in 1958, who two months later kidnapped 40 U.S. citizens from Guantanamo to use as human shields, and who twice came a hair from incinerating New York City itself, smilingly donned the New York Fire Dept. cap. Castro's Cult of Sycophants:  Celebrities, journalists, and other illuminati have long gushed with admiration for Cuba's communist despot. Green madness, &c.  [Scroll down]  Cellphones and laptops were illegal [in Cuba] until 2008.  And even today, two years later, very few people have them:  The cost of those items is out of reach.  An American tried to alleviate this situation.  He is Alan P. Gross, and he is now in a Cuban prison.  Gross works for a subcontractor of the U.S. Agency for International Development.  He went to Cuba to distribute cellphones and laptops to civil-society groups and to individuals.  On December 4, he was at the airport, about to leave the country.  And the regime arrested him as a spy. Obama eases travel, money transfers for Cuban-Americans.  Obama's wide-ranging order wipes out the restriction that limited Cuban Americans to one trip every three years to the island.  They can fly down as often as they want.  Also under the new policy, Cuban Americans can send unlimited amounts of money to relatives in Cuba.  The Bush policy limited these remittances to $1,200 a year. Going to Cuba is okay but... Obama Calls for Limits on Tourism to Antarctica.  The Obama administration is pushing to protect Antarctica's fragile environment by imposing mandatory limits on the size of cruise ships sailing there and the number of passengers they bring ashore. The news media love Fidel Castro ...and by "the news media" I mean CNN, primarily. CNN:  'Be nice to Fidel'.  So how does an American news giant tell its on air talent to handle Fidel Castro's resignation?  By glossing over the truth of the tyrant's reign and pimping "social progress" under his brutal regime:  In a memo to CNN anchors, CNN brass laid down the line that should be taken when talking about the resignation. The U.S. Media's Decades of Cheering Castro's Communism:  Castro's communist regime has executed hundreds of political opponents and driven tens of thousands more into exile; hundreds of dissidents today languish in Cuban prisons. ... Yet liberals in the U.S. media — who have rightly condemned such abuses when perpetrated by dictators such as Chile's Augusto Pinochet — inexplicably remain enchanted with Castro and his socialist revolution.  For more than half a century, positive profiles of Castro have appeared in U.S. papers. CBS Comes to Castro's Aid.  CBS's 60 Minutes has run a segment on Elian Gonzalez, five years after the Clinton administration sent him back to the communist prison island.  He had come to America as a refugee, without his father, who was back in Cuba and under pressure from the communist regime to demand him back.  The Clinton administration complied, seizing the little boy at the point of a gun.  It made a mockery of America's reputation as a free society open to refugees fleeing persecution. The Castro News Network:  To many Cuban Americans, CNN is the "Castro News Network" - an organization that lends legitimacy to a corrupt regime and sneers at the exile community in Miami. Fidel, The Dictator-Celebrity:  Journalism is never more amoral than when dictators are the mandatory "get" for a news puff piece.  For the 40th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the network anchors were all scrambling to get an interview with Fidel Castro, the dictator-celebrity.  Which network superstar would get the first opportunity to reward the communists for their exclusive by lauding the achievements of the glorious revolution? CNN Runs "Propaganda" for Castro:  Cable News Network, the only American television news organization with a full-time bureau in Cuba, has "allowed itself to become just another component of Fidel Castro's propaganda machine," instead of "exposing the totalitarian regime that runs Cuba," Media Research Center charged in a report released Thursday [5/9/2002]. Jump to Liberals - Intro Page Back to the Home page

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