Archive for June, 2009
Boycott ABC Advertisers: Propaganda Arm of the Obama White House
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009Well, ABC is one of the propaganda arms, anyway. When it comes to Health Care, ABC’s Charlie (look down-my-nose-at-Sarah-Palin) Gibbs and Diane Sawyer will be asking “tough questions” of President Obama, in the White House about the President’s health care plan. Every once in a while I pine for the Fairness Doctrine. Maybe then, the MSM would find some balance. Never mind. It would be worse. At least there’s alternative media.
Here’s a solution for the ABC interview: boycott the products being advertised on ABC and let ABC know about it.
Thoughts?
Latest American Issues Project Column: “It’s The Government’s Money, You Just Earn It”
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009Are we in a new America where the state runs the show and the citizens are bit players or are we still a government of, by and for the people? Judging by economic policy, I’d say we’re all servants of the state now. Here’s a snippet from my latest American Issues Project column where I elaborate:
Not to pick around the edges, but the most illustrative point of the Joe Biden interview, came for me when the subject of health care and paying for it came up. The Vice President crowed that the Medicare drug supplement only cost $40 Billion as opposed to the $72 Billion predicted.
Only?
That’s thinking like a politician, though. Taking money from the the taxpayer and feeling free to throw around terms like “only forty billion” is classic. It’s their money, you just earn it.
The last eight years reinforced one key point: politicians from both sides of the political sphere believe the government is a force for good. That is, both Democrats and Republicans are statists now. The question is how the government should be used not whether it should be involved at all.
Rather than setting up a right-left dichotomy, the real dichotomy is between those who value liberty, freedom and being left alone by the nanny state, and those within the government who like to nanny and the recipients of government largesse who like being cared for by the nannies. It’s this latter group that is concerning.
In a blog post before the election in November, I wondered how many people rely on the government for survival either as welfare recipients or as a government employee. And the next question is whether there can ever be a conservative, non-statist candidate win national election.
I’m not sure about the answer and that worries me.
Cross-posted at MelissaClouthier.com
Talking Iran
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009Hi guys! If you haven’t already listened, the Podcast with Steve Schippert of National Review Online The Tank and Threatswatch.org and John Hawkins, my co-blogger at Right Wing News is now available. It was so good and spot on! We talked about the structure of Iranian government, Islam’s relationship to Democracy and more. Plus, how President Obama should deal with this.
The Right Doctor (my) show is produced by Mike Williams and his daughter Kayla of Take That Radio who also produces Wendy Sullivan aka Right Girl’s show Brass Balls Radio. We, along with Tabitha Hale of Smart Girl Politics, also air our shows on RFCradio.com weekly from 10:00 – 11 p.m. EST. There is a chat room, where questions can be asked of the experts interviewed.
Melissa’s show can also be found on RFC Radio every Monday and Wednesday night at 10:00 pm Eastern.
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When Melissa isn’t on the radio, you can find her at melissaclouthier.com and on Twitter. Her username is MelissaTweets.
Obama On Iran: Moral Clarity Requires Morals
Monday, June 15th, 2009Waiting for their dear leader to express his opinion, the “power to the people” crowd has kept silent. My take: the risk for making Obama look bad, or better yet being on the outs should an opinion differ from the Borg, has kept the Left mum about the Iranian uprising. [Or criticize anyone willing to note something IS happening in Iran.]
No one really knows why the Iranians are demonstrating yet. Is this just one faction of Mullah-endorsed candidate expressing discontent because another Mullah-endorsed candidate stole the election or is this public demonstration a desire for a more moderate Iran generally?
Time will tell. The fact is, it requires immense courage for the Iranian people to defy the police, the current leadership and Ahmadinijad’s minions to step out publicly and make their voices heard. “Down with the dictator!” they shout. Does that mean the people want another dictator? Or do they want an end to the tyrannical Iranian leadership?
We’ll see.
Either way, the instinct in this situation should be to support the people. The instinct should be to openly label tyranny in all it’s forms as wrong. The instinct should be to marginalize those who would use brute force to enforce domination and diminish freedom.
The moral position is to support freedom and liberty.
While this is patently obvious to anyone with a moral compass, it’s not obvious to President Obama or his followers. They’re still waiting to find out what happens so they can make “open dialogue” seem like a reasonable decision. They want to find a way to exploit the Iranian discontent, and possible revolution.
Here’s what a person with a moral compass says, “Americans support the Iranian people in their quest for free and fair elections that represents the will of the people. We respect their will and their voice and their courage in the face of the dangers they now face. Our hearts go out to the people of Iran.”
That’s it. It’s the right thing to say and it doesn’t presuppose an outcome. It still gives the American government an out to communicate with whatever regime ends up in charge, but it communicates to the people of Iran that America loves and supports them and is on their side.
Words matter. President Obama knows this. He uses words like others wield swords. Mostly, he uses them to benefit himself. It’s time for him to use words to benefit the oppressed people of the world. Iran is a nice start.
But using words in this case, takes a little bit of moral fortitude. It also means taking a stand. President Obama has shown little inclination to embrace any moral stand. He has shown an inclination to make self-serving speeches.
In this case, supporting the Iranian people could also serve himself. Of course, that outcome isn’t certain, so it does require a modicum of courage. Moral courage and moral clarity–two things he sorely lacks.
Note: To get the coverage you won’t get on the MSM, follow the #Iran and #Iranelection hashtags on Twitter. And, if you don’t know that those things are, learn at Mashable (via Michelle Malkin). More to come.
Also, tonight, I have foreign policy and military expert Steve Schippert of the National Review Online, The Tank, and Threatswatch.org and my co-blogger John Hawkins on Right Doctor my radio show tonight from 10 to 11:00 EST for RFCradio.com. Please join us in the chatroom with your questions. If you can’t make it, the podcast will be available on iTunes later–just search my name.
We’re All Mothers Now
Monday, June 15th, 2009A friend of mine likes to quote that saying when she wants to provoke her husband. Works every time. The saying came to mind again when I read an article about the necessity of smart phones–to stay connected and working. From the New York Times’s Steve Lohr a week ago:
Such a digital connection can have its downside. The perils of obsessive smartphone use have been well documented, including distracted driving and the stress of multitasking. CrackBerry, a term coined years ago, is telling.
The smartphone, said Mr. Meyer, a cognitive psychologist, can be seen as a digital “Skinner box,” a reference to the experiments of the behavioral psychologist B. F. Skinner in which rats were conditioned to press a lever repeatedly to get food pellets.
With the smartphone, he said, the stimuli are information feeds. “It can be powerfully reinforcing behavior,” he said. “But the key is to make sure this technology helps you carry out the tasks of daily life instead of interfering with them. It’s about balance and managing things.”
James Joyner muses:
The social — and, increasingly, professional — expectation of being constantly available, however, is much more bane than boon. I’m generally more than happy to take a couple minutes out of my evening or weekend to help someone out with a quick question so they can continue progress on whatever they’re doing without waiting until 9 am the next workday. But, for many people, it has become more than that: a culture where one is never truly off work. While I have no idea what to do about it, that’s not a positive development.
Eh, I don’t know why these people are complaining. Moms are never off the clock. And there’s always a kid interrupting, bugging, and harrying the mother during her tasks. I’ve breastfed. The smart phone has got nothing on a 3 month old.
With smart phones, we’re all mothers now.
Via @Armano
Understanding The Lone Gunman
Saturday, June 13th, 2009There’s lots of blaming going on for the Holocaust Museum shooting. Just look at my comment section. So nice to see the freaks come out of the shadows.
Here’s been my experience with the haters: they might have different political bents but the genesis of their rage is the same. It begins with discontent–a discontent we all feel by the way. We see some wrong and injustice and want to do something, but the size and scope of the problem seems overwhelming. At this point, there are two choices: Do what we can do or nurse our helpless rage.
Killers end up in the latter category. They nurse an injustice and plot revenge. That is, they don’t exactly channel their anger constructively. They decide to take matters in their own hands.
It’s the same whether it’s the guy who kills the woman who leaves him. It’s the same for the white supremacist killing Holocaust Museum guards. It’s the same for home-grown Jihadists bent on bringing down America. It’s the same for the psychopathic murderer. It’s the same for the gang banger taking revenge over a turf violation.
A murderer completely justifies his hate. He nurses it.
A murderer also dehumanizes his opposition. He has to. The enemy deserves the death because he’s earned it. The murderer is justified because the victim had it coming. Always.
Fundamentally, the reasoning goes like this, “that person, group, association, idea doesn’t care about me, why should I care about him or it?” So the Virginia Tech killer can murder the world because the world abandoned him. Ditto the guys who were bullied. Ditto the white supremacist. Ditto the Jihadis.
Nursed grievances and the bitterness that results + Dehumanizing the “enemy” = Murderous Rage Resulting in Murder
When the murderers survive their ordeal and they’re interviewed, there’s a reason why they have no remorse: they believe they are completely justified in their action. Often, they’ve spent a lot of mind time building up their reasons why a certain person or group of people deserve to die. They keep lists.
Noticeably absent from their hate lists is a list of wrongs they themselves have committed that hurt others. That is, they completely lack self-awareness.
Anyone who has spent time on this earth has either purposely or accidentally hurt another person. Most of us, in our hearts, know this. We recognize our own cruelty and feel guilty and ashamed for our pettiness, meanness and smallness of spirit. This is good. This self-awareness serves as inhibition for taking justice into our own hands. Heaven forbid all the people we’ve neglected or overtly harmed put us on a list, right?
When the Pharisees brought the woman caught in adultery to Jesus, they wanted to stone her. He wrote in the dirt and said, “Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone.” This is part of the underpinning of American justice. We don’t just drag people we feel have wronged us, or society, out and stone them. We have a system of justice that tries them based on evidence and we all live with the decision of that justice. This is the rule of law.
Murderers invariably view themselves as tools of justice, no matter how sick and demented. The world is cruel to children anyway, they’re better off dead–any molester, murderer or mother who drowns her children goes down this warped thinking path.
It takes a long rationalizing road to finally murder. That’s why rehabilitation rarely works. Nothing short of a lightning strike on the road to Damascus and the resulting blindness seems to get the attention of people bent on imposing their form of justice. Since that sort of jolt of awareness is only in God’s capability, prison and the death sentence for these people seem the best decision for a society that needs to be free of this malignancy.
The finger pointing about the recent murders is silly. The root cause is the same and the cover for the killings is ideology, The truth is that the murderers would find some way to nurse their grievances–that is, they were inclined to be angry, they just needed to find a group that could reflect and feed their hate. And there are no shortage of groups to do just that.
The Five “I’s” To Twitter Success
Friday, June 12th, 2009Some of you people still don’t think Twitter is useful. You’re wrong. I’ll write a post regarding the purpose of Twitter later. This post is for those using Twitter and wondering how to organically grow their influence. Here’s five ways to do it:
Interest: Boring is bad. I know that Twitter asks “What are you doing right now?”, but really, besides your mother, no one else cares. That is, no one cares unless you say what you’re doing in an interesting way. James Lileks [@Lileks] is a pro at this. Pithy and incisive, he shares familial travails and makes it interesting. Entertaining and funny is good. Here’s the thing, many people need their day brightened. They don’t need a Debbie Downer–they probably have someone in that role, thanks. People need more fun. Give it to them.
Inform: Share stuff that will help people have a better life. Share it within your interest and outside your interests. Sometimes I pass along things that are boring to me, but I know will be helpful to other people. Tell people clearly in your bio on Twitter what interests you. Make a point of giving information in those areas. I try to deliver on the promise of what I represent. That way, people can’t get mad either that I’m falsely advertising…’cuz I’m not. Mike Lane [@mlane] is one of my happy Twitter accidents. He happens to have a Twitter ID close to another friend of mine Moe Lane [@moelane]. Both men are fantastic Twitterers. Mike, though, brings it when it comes to informative. He is a Unix programmer. Do I care about Unix? No, I do not. But I care about the information Mike shares. He is ALWAYS first when it comes to sharing best design web practices, new fonts, everything web. He informs, informs, informs. Turns out he’s a great guy, too. Be informative.
Instruct: One of the biggest guys on Twitter, Robert Scoble [@scoble] is big for a big reason: He teaches web well. When I was a wee tadpole in the Twitter pond, and had questions, Robert answered them. When I complained more, he sent me links teaching me how to use a tool. There are many teachers like Robert out there. They go one step beyond sharing information, they help you integrate the information in your life. There are people like this who instruct on cooking, mechanics, technology, plumbing… You name it, there is someone on Twitter willing to teach you how to do something better. Be a teacher and you’ll get a following.
Inspire: Entertaining is one thing. Inspiring people to achieve more is another. The first is passive, the second is getting people to achieve simply because your words motivate them to do so. Yeah, yeah. There’s a bunch of coaches and life teachers and gurus and experts on Twitter and in new media generally and most of us ignore them. Still the best Twitterers integrate inspiration into the information, links, or ideas they share. It doesn’t have to be purposeful, even, they just do it. For example, Skye [@Skye820] shares her photography. She’s takes beautiful, often inspirational pictures. Other people share quotes that are meaningful to them. Some share music from Blip or some cool YouTube. People like to be inspired.
Interrelate: Relate, dude. Some people view Twitter as a one-way conversation. That is, they send out links, make bold declarations and then won’t talk to you. It’s rude. If you want to simply share information, it’s called an RSS feed. If you want to have a one-sided opinion fest, blog. Twitter is about give and take. Be generous with others’ ideas too. If someone says something thoughtful, provocative, interesting, informative and inspiring, share it, and give the person credit. Caleb Howe [@CalebHowe] is good at this. He passes along information, converses, interacts and all-in-all puts the social into the medium Twitter.
Bottom line, follow the Golden Rule: Treat others the way you’d like to be treated.
Second unto that one: Be yourself. Pretending to be a bright, happy, shiny person when you’re not, won’t work. Pretending to be an expert, won’t work. Pretending at anything won’t work.
I find myself drawn to authenticity. That means some people swear like sailors, and some people are knobby-headed nerds. Whatever. I like the people who are real.
In my next Twitter installment, I’ll write about those who are resisting Twitter’s charms. Resistance is futile, friends. Resistance is futile.
The Left, They Be Scared
Thursday, June 11th, 2009It might be a little early to state unequivocally, but I’m tentatively going to say that yesterday, the worm turned.
The last couple of weeks has been very revealing. The political and media class are in a lather and the people at home are watching. What are they seeing?
Crazy people killing. While those of us blogging and the media types are ferreting who is doing the killing and why, the people who have lives are just noting that a lot of crazies are killing. They’re also noticing that normal groups of people are being tagged and blamed for what are clear acts of hate-filled insanity. Still, the killings didn’t happen before. They’re happening now. It is not good.
People don’t have jobs. It’s getting worse. President Obama promised people the moon. Remember the lady who said President Obama would get her groceries? Now, President Obama is less trustworthy. It’s not that he lacks power–he controls the banks and the auto industry and now the tobacco industry is in his cross hairs. He drops terrorist on allies’ islands without permission. He’s omnipotent.
Jeremiah Wright rears his hating head. This is the man who influenced Barack Obama for twenty years. This is the man who was his inspiration and mentor. And this is the man spewing nonsense right during a delicate time in Middle East relations. As President Obama talks about conversations with Iran without preconditions, Reverend Wright’s words ring in everyone’s ears.
Playboy and David Letterman abuse conservative women. And the feminists? Nary a squeak, well a couple, but not big ones. And defending the indefensible has been alarming. Imagine if Malia…never mind.
Biden is a turd. As if anyone needs any reminders, but the Prez’ No.2 is making Dan Quayle look like a super magnificently great Veep choice. People are tiring of the Palin slams. They might work better if Biden wasn’t so goofy, alas. Right about now, Governor Palin is looking, well, executive-ish.
Spending like a rock star, baby. While everyone is cutting back, the Prez, family and government spend, spend, spend!
More czars than Russia–none of whom get Congressional oversight, none of whom, confirmed.
And the media fawns over President Obama and the Democrats in Congress, rarely asking the tough questions and emphasizing minutiae to distract from big issues.
The biggest sign the Left is in full panic mode? Well, they get personal and nasty and vitriolic. If the email and comments mean anything, I’d say the tide is turning.
Where Did The Money Go? We Don’t Know…….
Thursday, June 11th, 2009Even the AMA thinks the Obama health plan stinks. Not that they have much leverage. With government run health care, they’ll be forced to participate or else.
And if you haven’t seen this video yet, you need to watch it. Why should we trust the government to run health care? In the video you’ll a bureaucrat at the Federal Reserve not able to answer one question by the good Congressman about where 9 TRILLION off balance sheet dollars have gone. Hmmmm….I dunno, didn’t read the Bloomberg article. Oy vey.
Okay, now, with the current spending, the Fed has no idea where it’s going. It’s time to consider Congress itself. I always get a little amused watching these self-important buffoons lecture some minion about spending. Congress has it’s own problems. Here is a visual demonstration. Stick with this, folks:
Please go to Political Math this great blog I just heard about via the RNC. Yes, the RNC. Anyway, the blog has loads of videos illustrating what spending cuts mean to President Obama. It’s great.
H/T Brutally Honest
Czars Everywhere!
Thursday, June 11th, 2009When I made fun of President Obama’s Czar craze, libs on Twitter gave me a hard time saying that all presidents have Czars. Uh, not so much. No.
Tabitha Hale has a great blog post about the czar differences. Go look at her list. She concludes:
Let’s talk a little more about this. Know how many Czars Reagan had? One. Bush 41? One. Clinton? Three. Dubya? Four. Obama has already QUADRUPLED that. And since most of these positions are already covered by Secretaries, the overlap is wasteful. And some are just inane (seriously, A GREAT LAKES CZAR? What is a Great Lakes Czar? Overlord of the Catfish? I don’t understand). Scariest part? Czars have no one to answer to but Obama. Know how much they are in control of? $1.7 TRILLION. Yeah.
And I really hate the term Czar.
Me too. What are we Russia?
Why yes, America is now turning into a state-run place. A guy on Fox said something that struck me: When it’s not about contracts and competence and it’s about connections, you have a society that is running on different rules. [That is a gross interpretation of what he said.]
Essentially, when the state owns everything, it’s not what you know, it’s WHO you know. How connected to czar or czarina are you? That will determine the success of your endeavor. Influence and corruption become the order of the day.
Welcome to America, just like the Old Country!
