Archive for the ‘opinion/news’ Category

She’s still a nut but a consistent one

Posted: August 17, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
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I always had a (very) tiny bit of sympathy for Cindy Sheehan, I always theorized that the loss of her son broke her and the left took advantage of it.

Then she started hanging around with Chavez and that disappeared in a hurry.

Now although I had to say it I have to give her props.

She’s still crazy, she’s still wrong, but I’ll say this for her, she is consistent:

This morning the anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan — the woman who spent so much time leading well-publicized protests outside President Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas — announced that she will demonstrate next week at Martha’s Vineyard

And she hasn’t changed her beliefs due to a new white house occupant:

Secondly, we as a movement need to continue calling for an immediate end to the occupations even when there is a Democrat in the Oval Office. There is still no Noble Cause no matter how we examine the policies.

Thirdly, the body bags aren’t taking a vacation and as the U.S.-led violence surges in Afghanistan and Pakistan, so are the needless deaths on every side.

She is of course dead wrong about the war still but she hasn’t fallen under the obamaspell.

Will anyone other than Byron York cover it?

Update: Even Kathleen Parker has noticed.

Obama, who, in fact, invokes Jesus in speeches more often than Bush did, according to an analysis by Politico, not only embraced his predecessor’s initiative but has given it the loaves-and-fishes treatment by expanding the mission. As described by DuBois in a video posted on the White House blog, the office’s mission extends even to “figuring out the role of faith-based organizations in combating global climate change.”

Why does Obama get a pass?

In part, because he’s not Bush. But also, perhaps, because the media are more approving of the issues and policies Obama wants to advance.

One may argue, as Bush critics have, that the previous administration similarly tried to advance policy through its faith-based office. What one may not argue is that Obama has been treated to the same scrutiny as his predecessor.

Update 2: Victor David Hansen explains it even better:

there is a growing fear that Obamism is becoming cult-like and Orwellian. Almost on script, Hollywood ceased all its Rendition/Redacted–style films. Iraq — once the new Vietnam — is out of the news. Afghanistan is “problematic,” not a “blunder.” Tribunals, renditions, the Patriot Act, and Predators are no longer proof of a Seven Days in May coup, but legitimate tools to keep us safe. Words change meanings as acts of terror become “man-caused disasters.” Hunting down jihadists is really an “overseas contingency operation.” Media sycophants do not merely parrot Obama, but now proclaim him a “god.” New York Times columnists who once assured us that Bush’s dastardly behavior was proof of American pathology now sound like Pravda apologists in explaining the “real” Obama is not what he is beginning to seem like.

Update 3: Ed Driscoll notices and draws a parallel to Vietnam.

I still remember that dark day when Army officials announced that even if we pursued graduate or professional study after college graduation, we could no longer expect immunity from the draft. This decision had a greater impact on us than all the horrible images of napalmed babies.

Strangely enough, the American politician who understood us best may have been Richard Nixon. Cynical manipulator that he was, he sought to calm the campuses by removing the irritant that had provoked our protests in the first place. By committing the country to an all-volunteer army in 1971, he effectively undermined the anti-war movement. It may seem strange at first glance that the most brutal U.S. attack of the entire war — the notorious Christmas bombing of 1972 — generated hardly a ripple of protest from America’s colleges and universities. Our silence is easily understood, however, when one takes note of the fact that draft calls came to an end at precisely that same moment in history — December 1972. By removing our own tender bodies from the line of fire, in other words, President Nixon significantly dimmed our heroic concern for the suffering masses of Southeast Asia.

There is no longer a political advantage to attacking the war so the left doesn’t give a damn. History repeats itself.

One of the things I absolutely love about baseball is the lack of a clock. Unless you have rain or extra innings you can’t win without getting 27 outs.

That means even if you have a 10-0 lead after one you have to get those 27 outs. Even more important is the fact that if one team is able to get 10 runs in an inning there is absolutely no reason why another team can’t before the game ends.

In football the closest match is halftime. If a team is losing 34-3 at the half there is absolutely no reason why the other team can’t reverse that score in the 2nd half.

We are still in the first quarter in terms of the Obama administration. Our current success not withstanding there is absolutely no reason why he can’t turn things around and even manage to get this lemon of a bill passed.

President Obama still has all the intrinsic advantages of the presidency, liberal bloggers who support a liberal agenda and a media that will jump through hoops to protect him and attack his foes.

If anyone thinks we can let up or underestimates Obama, or believes the ballgame is over then they are not only kidding themselves but don’t belong in the business.

And you know what; I wouldn’t expect principled liberals to give up on what they believe either. Their innings aren’t over.

Update: Great minds think alike

Update 2: Anyone who quotes Yogi Berra in defense of my opinion deserves his own update.

Blogging will be kinda light today as I will be at St. Anthony di Padua Church in Fitchburg working on today’s Madonna della Cava mass and procession and the party etc afterwords.

The procession with the Band, Banners, et/al will start at 10, followed by mass, free food and music and closing with a Rosary in Italian. We had 300 people last year (I was on a cruse so I missed it) and expect a larger crowd in the 2nd year of the revival of the tradition that ran from the 20’s to the 60’s at the parish.

Not only is this a fine devotion but thanks to Rahm Emanual maybe I can save a few grand in property taxes if I get more involved. Robert Stacy McCain found the story at the American Freedom blog. Barbara there explains:

The Cook County Assessor’s and Cook County Treasurer’s online records indicate Emanuel’s Chicago neighbors pay between $3,500 and $7,000 annually. However, Illinois Review has
been unable to locate any evidence that the former Clinton advisor and investment banker is paying his fair share of Cook County’s notoriously high tax burden.

Why wouldn’t 4228 North Hermitage property owners Rahm Emanuel and wife A my Rule pay property taxes?
One reason may be because Emanuel and Rule declared their 4228 North Hermitage home as the office location for their personal non-profit foundation called the “Rahm Emanuel and Amy Rule Charitable Foundation”. As the non-profit’s headquarters, their home could be exempt from paying property taxes.

So all I need to do is incorporate the society with my house as a headquarters and presto my $2,000+ in property taxes annually will disappear, but as Barbara further explains I’m thinking small…

What a racket! Take all your income and donate it back to yourself via tax exempt orgs where you can spend it on as expenses to operate your car, pay the electric and water bills, etc.

I get the feeling the Madonna might not take kindly to this whole idea so tempting as it is I’m going to have to give it a miss, however the story establishes why so many White House people were tax dodgers. Rahm didn’t want them paying taxes that he wasn’t paying himself.

Byron York illustrates why he was such a loss to National Review and such a great pickup for the Washington Observer.

What’s truly striking in Greenberg’s poll is the degree to which the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have fallen off the progressive radar. I attended the first YearlyKos convention, in 2006, and have kept up with later ones, and it’s safe to say that while people who attended those gatherings couldn’t stand George W. Bush in general, their feelings were particularly intense when it came to opposing the war in Iraq. It animated their activism; they hated the war, and they hated Bush for starting it. They weren’t that fond of the fighting in Afghanistan, either.

Now, with Obama in the White House, all that has changed. Greenberg presented respondents with a list of policy priorities and asked, “Please indicate which two you think progressive activists should be focusing their attention and efforts on the most.” The winner was passing comprehensive health care reform, with 60 percent, and number two was passing “green energy policies that address environmental concerns,” with 22 percent. Tied for eighth place, named by just eight percent of respondents, was “working to end our military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

Remember when every pundit in the world said the war was what broke George W. Bush? Remember when the fact the Obama was going to stop it was the main reason for electing him?

Many observers have remarked that Obama’s decision to escalate the war in Afghanistan, and also to escalate the campaign of targeted assassinations using drone aircraft, both in Afghanistan and Pakistan, will cause him trouble on the political left. Indeed, some members of Congress have suggested that the president has just a year to show significant results in Afghanistan before lawmakers begin to pressure him to pull back. But if the Netroots Nation results are any indication, Obama may have more room than previously thought on the war. Not too long ago, with a different president in the White House, the left was obsessed with America’s wars. Now, they’re not even watching.

I think the left didn’t mind losing the war as long as it could be blamed on a Republican administration. Now suddenly as we are on the offensive in Afghanistan and casualties are up the left doesn’t notice or care.

I’m reminded of the old story during Clinton inauguration when someone on the left commented disapprovingly on the military display of Fighter Jets passing above. A person from the administration answered with a smile that they were “our jets now”.

I guess the military is the “netroots” military now.

Funny we on the right always thought it was our American military, and we still do.

Via Glenn.

Update: Powerline and Newsbusters notice.