Conservatives cherish freedom and tradition, but these two ideals can be at odds. If the population is given unbridled freedom, then traditions are degraded. If traditions are forced, then freedom is at risk.
There is one thing all conservatives agree on. Having the federal government impose change is a loss of freedom and tradition. Is it any wonder conservatives can’t stand Barack Obama?
Barack Obama was surprised by the reaction to his comment about the Cambridge Police acting stupidly. To deflect criticism, he has spun the situation saying it is a “teachable moment”.
It reminds me of the Dan Rather, “false but accurate” spin to the false story that George Bush was given preferential treatment in the National Guard. Dan Rather was trying to teach the public on a false premise. Most Americans are not partisan (or even very political) and will resist fabrications created for political causes every time. They do understand that a neighbors looking out for one another and the police responding to suspicious activity is a good thing.
Maybe Barack Obama is right. This is a teachable moment, but it is a moment to be observed by the elitist President and his clueless staff.
Michelle Malkin describes the pensions scandal that Barack Obama won’t talk about (LINK).
Poor management probably deserves a lot of the blame for the union decline, but the exact causes are a mystery. An even bigger mystery is that the unions do a far better job with funds created for their officers and employees than for mere workers. The SEIU Affiliates, Officers and Employees Pension Plan—which covers the staff and bosses at its locals—was funded as of 2007 at 102.2%. The plan for the folks at SEIU international headquarters was funded at 84.8%.
Over at ACORN, the story is even worse
Stephanie Strom, in an October 22, 2008 report in the New York Times, stated ACORN Fund, a health care benefits fund, “had advanced ‘a large amount of money’” to ACORN and “it appeared that the money was used to cover ‘the cash shortfall caused by the embezzlement.’”
When we hear terms like “greed” and “fairness” from our President, you can bet that he is attacking someone while ignoring the sins of his friends. This kind of duplicity is what makes voters cynical…the thing Barack Obama campaigned against.
By Richard Lindzen (link)
The notion of a static, unchanging climate is foreign to the history of the earth or any other planet with a fluid envelope. The fact that the developed world went into hysterics over changes in global mean temperature anomaly of a few tenths of a degree will astound future generations. Such hysteria simply represents the scientific illiteracy of much of the public, the susceptibility of the public to the substitution of repetition for truth, and the exploitation of these weaknesses by politicians, environmental promoters, and, after 20 years of media drum beating, many others as well. Climate is always changing. We have had ice ages and warmer periods when alligators were found in Spitzbergen. Ice ages have occurred in a hundred thousand year cycle for the last 700 thousand years, and there have been previous periods that appear to have been warmer than the present despite CO2 levels being lower than they are now. More recently, we have had the medieval warm period and the little ice age. During the latter, alpine glaciers advanced to the chagrin of overrun villages. Since the beginning of the 19th Century these glaciers have been retreating. Frankly, we don’t fully understand either the advance or the retreat.
From Thomas Sowell:
With both common sense and economic analysis saying that Obama cannot expand government medical care without expanding the already runaway federal deficit, it is quite a trick to get the public to believe otherwise– a big challenge requiring big distractions.
One of those distractions has been to blame current high costs on scapegoats whom the president can rein in. Talking about the high pay of the CEOs of pharmaceutical companies is one of those distractions.
Barack Obama highlighted his major failing in his latest press conference. First he claimed he didn’t know the facts surrouding a flair up between a Harvard Professor and a Cambridge police officer, but then proceeded to say the police officer acted “stupidly”.
Barack Obama is an elitist. His assumption is that someone from Harvard must be smart (unless his name is George Bush). Like many highly educated people, he confuses education with intelligence. This arrogance leads him down the road of statism. These elites think that they can write policy to steer the lives of ordinary Americans who are too stupid to make wise decision without the help of Harvard professors.
This arrogance is the driving force behind “Cap and Tax” and “Health Care Reform”.
We have been talking of a massive government take over for a couple of months. Since the Democrats didn’t actually have any concrete ideas to discuss, much of that discussion was theoritical. Now that they have some proposals on the table, our dear leader say, “The time for talking is through”.
What? We finally have something concrete to talk about and the President declares and end to the debate.
It is ironic that a guy who prides himself on his willingness to talk to our enemies resists talking about his own proposals.
From Johah Goldberg:
Health care cannot be a right, because rights cannot come from government. At best, they can be protected by government. The founders understood this, which is why our Bill of Rights is really a list of restrictions on the government in Washington. “Congress shall make no law . . . ” is how the First Amendment begins.
You can’t dig your way out of a hole, but that appears to be the plan in Michigan. Michigan already has the highest unemployment rate in the country and they have passed a law that says 20% of their power must come from renewable (expensive) sources by 2020.
On Wednesday, with Granholm’s blessing, state Democratic chair Mark Brewer announced that the party was exploring putting a proposal on the 2010 ballot that would require state utilities to reduce their rates by 20 percent. (LINK)
In economic speak, they have artificially limited the supply and and artificially inflated the demand. Any college freshman with ECO101 under his belt knows that this is going to lead to shortages. This is just theory. It has happened time and time again all over the world in different political systems and different cultures.
What are the chances that Michigan Democrats are just smarter than everyone else?
Al Gore says of global warming, “The debate is over.”
President Obama says of health care reform, “The time for talking is through”
Now, all you stupid people just shut up and take what we give you.
Let’s assume for argument sake that global warming is real and it is not only caused by humans, but the United States is mostly to blame. What will the effect of Cap and Tax be?
The only way for Cap and Tax to actually reduce human CO2 is if it causes a deep and extended global recession or depression.
It makes me wonder. Do the people pushing Cap and Tax in the US not understand this or do they have a hidden agenda?
Barack Obama’s overall poll numbers have fallen below 50% in the Rasmussen Daily Poll for the first time (LINK).
His strongly approve to strongly disapprove ratio is now at -8%.
How people in Washington can blame other for the politics of fear is a mystery. It is an effective tool when used properly. Of course, it can make you look like a fool when you obviously overstate the fear.
A law failed that would have made it possible for someone with a license to carry a concealed weapon to take that gun across state lines. Chuck Schumer weighed in on the bill.
There will be needless suffering, injuries and deaths if this amendment is passed
I would call that “the politics of fear”, and it begs the question “when are suffering, injuries and death needed?” Every time I hear Schumer’s name, I start thinking in Yiddish. “Schumer the Schmuck” seems about right.
President Obama used the opportunity in his press conference to say the Cambridge police acted “stupidly”.
Now let’s review. A Harvard professor locks himself out of his home and then yells at a police officer who was called out investigate. This probably wasn’t a black thing. It was arrogance from an elitist. In Barack Obama’s world, the lowly police officer must have acted stupidly and the Havard professor gets the benefit of the doubt. After all…Barack Obama went to Harvard so the professor must be smart.
John Kerry claims:
if we fail to take action — the simple, indisputable reality is that we will find ourselves living not only in a ravaged environment, but also in a much more dangerous world (LINK)
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