The Hurt Locker is Cinematic Tour De Force

From the Washington Post, "'Locker' Serves as Iraq Tour De Force":

"War is a drug," writes Christopher Hedges in the epigraph that precedes "The Hurt Locker." Someone else described war as "interminable boredom punctuated by moments of stark terror." Director Kathryn Bigelow comprehends both those observations and conveys them in this captivating, completely immersive action thriller. "The Hurt Locker" just happens to be set in Iraq in 2004, but, like the best films, transcends time and place, and in the process attains something universal and enduring. "The Hurt Locker" is about Iraq in the same way that "Paths of Glory" was about World War I or "Full Metal Jacket" was about Vietnam -- which is to say, utterly and not at all. "The Hurt Locker" is a great movie, period.

Read the whole review, here. The official movie homepage is here.

Ed Morrissey reviewed the film a couple of weeks ago, "Film Review: The Hurt Locker." He notes a key point:

Unlike all of the other films about Iraq, The Hurt Locker does not take a position on the politics of the war; instead, it focuses on high-tension situations for an occupying force and the populace, and the dangers of fighting an insurgency. It almost gives a sense of suffocating paranoia, especially in the early sequences of the movie. In that sense, the audience can appreciate The Hurt Locker without the rancor of the war debate influencing it.

Go see it!

Obama, G-8 Make Little Headway on Global Warming

From the Los Angeles Times, "Despite Obama's Pledge, G-8 Makes Little Headway on Global Warming":

Addressing leaders of the world's most important economies early Thursday, President Obama wasted no time in proclaiming a new day for U.S. policy on climate change.

"I know that in the past, the United States has sometimes fallen short of meeting our responsibilities," he said. "So let me be clear: Those days are over."

But by the end of the day, when the Group of 8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy, wrapped up its deliberations on climate, Obama found himself stymied by many of the same roadblocks that plagued previous efforts to tackle global warming.

Leaders of the most developed nations again declined to commit themselves to any specific actions now or in the immediate future to curb the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming -- actions that would require increasing energy prices, raising taxes or imposing other unpopular economic measures on their people.

Instead, they embraced the high-sounding goal of reducing their own emissions by 80% and worldwide emissions by 50% by 2050 -- without pledging to take any specific steps to get there. China, India and other major developing countries, which pressed for action in the next decade by the G-8 countries, reacted by rejecting the package.

See also, "G-8 Climate-Change Agreement Falls Short." And, "Hysteria Is the Real threat, Not Global Warming."

Related: "Al Gore Sued by 30,000 Scientists for Fraud for Global Warming Scam."

Cartoon Credit: Americans for Limited Government and William Warren.

Left's Derangement Continues as Palin Attacked as 'Jewish-American Princess'

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is still dominating the news today. Matthew Continetti's getting some pushback for singing Palin's praises at the Weekly Standard.

But actuallly, the more the anti-Palin media circus rolls along, the more it looks like Governor Palin made the right decision to step down. Case in point is this post from TBogg at Firedoglake. He sure hasn't lost his genuine demon style, "Sarah Palin Is Now a Jewish-American Princess and We’re All Gonna Die."

It turns out he's picking up on "The Esther Syndrome" slur that's been making its way around the left's netroots, and the mainstream press. Apparently a Palin cross-bearer is the harbinger of end times. I guess there's a market for this stuff. Or you tell me, after reading TBogg:

So you should probably start doing all of those things that you've been putting off doing like going to Paris, finishing the libretto for Reservoir Dogs: The Musical, putting the laundry away, solving the Riemann hypothesis, and having sex with Jennifer Aniston because there isn't much time left.

I'd move that Aniston one up to maybe number two. The laundry can wait.

Pool Club Pres. Sorry for Jim Crow Policies; Meanwhile, Left Stays Mum on Duesler Bigotry, Hammers GOP's Audra Shay as 'Endorsing Racism'!

Democrat John Duesler, the President of North Philadelphia's Valley Swim Club, has apologized for his pool club's racist policies. According to the Philadelphia Enquirer:

The president of a suburban swim club at the center of a racial discrimination controversy said today safety factors - not racism - prompted the pool to rescind a contract with a Northeast Philadelphia day camp.

John Duesler also said he chose his words poorly in an earlier statement explaining why the the Valley Club was ending its arrangement with the predominantly black and Hispanic camp.

In that statement to NBC10, he said, "There is a lot of concern that a lot of kids would change the complexion ... the atmosphere of the club."

"This is a terrible misinterpretation of what I stand for. This is just wrong," Duesler said while standing with his wife Bernice at the pool's gate. "That was a terrible choice of words, I admit."

He said that what he meant to convey was the number of campers in the pool compared to the number of available lifeguards had created an unsafe environment.

Recall that John Duesler is a huge Obama backer. See, "Philly Pool Kids Booter Is Obama Fan." And Duesler's Obama blood-drive at BarackObama.com, "O Positive Blood Drive." See also, Moe Lane, "Yes, the President of the Valley Swim Club is a John G Duesler, Jr."

No word yet from yesterday outraged leftists (see, pandagon.net, Jack & Jill Politics, Gawker, Unreported, and Alas, a blog). No doubt, the netroots racial investigators went mum once they found out Duesler was a Democrat!

Meanwhile, these folks continue to excoriate Republicans as bigots. See The Daily Beast, "The GOP's Young Hatemonger: Audra Shay, Accused of Endorsing Racism on Facebook, Is Favored to Become the Head of the Young Republicans Tomorrow."

Now that's a classic case study in the double-standards of the Democratic-left!

See also, Nice Deb, "More On The PA Swim Club Racial Incident."

Video Hat Tip: CBS News, "Pool to Minority Kids: You Can't Swim Here." Also reporting, NBC Philadelphia, "Swim Club Members: 'Nothing to Do With Race'."

What is a Paleoconservative?

The Classical Liberal is running a series on conservative ideology. Here's his latest installment, "Conservative: What is a Paleoconservative?"

Anyone who studies the history of the conservative movement, will quickly learn it's not a movement of ideological purity. Conservatives have always come in a variety of different flavors, and each flavor has had much at odds with each other from the start. In other words, the infighting that beltway-types claim to be a problem, has perhaps, been the movement's greatest strength!

Be sure the check out the whole post (it's fairly academic). The Classical Liberal names names, including the "prominent paleoconservative," Patrick Buchanan. Not mentioned is America-basher Daniel Larison. E.D. Kain seems to be taking up the paleocon banner as well. And don't miss the boys at Conservative Heritage Times.

These are the least pro-American of conservatives, folks often in bed with the fringes of both the radical left and reactionary right (see, "The Old Right/New Left/Neo-Nazi Alliance"). For my related commentary on this, see "Noxious Anti-Americanism and New Secessionist Theories." Also, "Patrick J. Buchanan and the Jews,," and "Ron Paul’s Real Politics: The Case of Daniel Larison."

Democrats Push to Brand Partisan Opponents as 'Hate Groups'

From the Washington Examiner, "Political Opposition Is Not a Hate Crime":

What's wrong with this picture? The federal government spends billions on homeland security, but apparently can't stop foreigners from illegally crossing the border or overstaying their visas. The Obama administration wants to bring violent terrorists captured overseas to the mainland and close the military detention center at Guantanamo Bay. Yet in the latest bizarre twist, legislation quietly making its way through Congress would give the White House power to categorize political opponents as hate groups and even send Americans to detention centers on abandoned military bases.

Rep. Alcee Hastings - the impeached Florida judge Nancy Pelosi tried to install as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee until her own party members rebelled - introduced an amendment to the defense authorization bill that gives Attorney General Eric Holder sole discretion to label groups that oppose government policy on guns, abortion, immigration, states' rights, or a host of other issues. In a June 25 speech on the House floor, Rep. Trent Franks, R-AZ, blasted the idea: "This sounds an alarm for many of us because of the recent shocking and offensive report released by the Department of Homeland Security which labeled, arguably, a majority of Americans as 'extremists.'"

Whoa. I guess the discredited DHS “right-wing extremism” report wasn't enough for the Obamaniacs.

More from the Examiner: It turns out that Representative Hastings is also sponsoring additional legislation that proposes to "legally declare someone a 'domestic terrorist' and send them to a government-run camp." You know what? That buzz on the "FEMA concentration camps" doesn't quite sound so "baseless."

Hat Tip: Glenn Reynolds.

Added: Ed Morrissey, "The Lock-Up-Your-Opponents Bills of 2009?" Also, Cold Fury, "Farewell, America; It Was Nice While It Lasted" (via Memeorandum).

Man Gored to Death in Pamplona's Running of the Bulls (VIDEO)

It's the fist time since 1995. See CNN, "Man Killed in Pamplona's Running of the Bulls."

Video Hat Tip: The New York Times, "Man Killed by Bull in Pamplona."

See also, Bloomberg, "Pamplona Bull Runner Gored to Death, 11 More Injured":

A 27-year-old Spanish man died after a fighting bull gored him in the neck at the Pamplona bull- running festival that was made famous by Ernest Hemingway and attracts thousands of foreigners each year.

The victim, Daniel Jimeno Romero from Alcala de Henares, a town near Madrid, was wounded in the neck and chest, the regional government of Navarra said in a statement on its Web site. Five of 11 people injured were released from the hospital. The others include a 61-year-old American man in intensive care, a 63-year-old American with less serious injuries, a 20-year-old Londoner with a thigh wound and a 24-year-old Argentine.

Obama's Stimulus Failure: 'There's Nothing We Would Have Done Differently...'

Here's an update to my previous post, "Obama's Stimulus Failure":

Hat Tip: All-American Blogger.

See also, Edward Lazear, "Do We Need a Second Stimulus? A More Troubling Question Is Why So Little Is Being Spent Fom the First."

If Sarah Palin Were President...

From William Jacobson, "If Palin Were President Now":

Sarah Palin's announcement that she will resign as Governor of Alaska has kicked off a new round of attacks on Palin's intelligence and integrity from pundits on both sides of the political spectrum. For most of the commentators, the resignation signals an end to Palin's chances at becoming President.

Few of the critics supported Palin before the resignation, so the resignation is not so much a revelation to them, as an opportunity to say "I told you so" and to take more cheap shots at Palin and her family. Among the non-political classes who form the base of Palin's support, I'm not sure the resignation makes much difference.

Despite the criticism of Palin and assertions that she is unfit for the presidency, it is hard to imagine that Palin could do any worse as President than Barack Obama is doing right now. For all Obama's smarts and syntax, he is driving this country off a cliff, with the pedal down to the floor while he reads the drivers' manual on how the brakes work.

If Palin were President, we would not have ...

Read the rest of the analysis here.

See also, Riehl World View, "Sarah Palin's Record of Accomplishment In Office."

And Villainous Company, "The Best and the Brightest: Obama, Palin, and the American Dream."

Plus, more award-winning journalism on Palin. At Anchorage Daily News, "Johnston Says Palin Had Eye On the Money":

Levi Johnston, the former fiance of Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol, on Thursday joined the crowd offering up potential reasons for Palin's decision to step down.

And, The Politico, "Levi Johnston: Sarah Palin Did It For the Money."

Somebody's doing it for the money, that's for sure.

Also, Mark Morford at the San Francisco Chronicle, "Don't Go, Sarah Palin! A Nation Turns its Lonely Eyes To Your Ditzy Insufferable Ramblings."

More at Memeorandum.

Obama's Stimulus Failure

Carol at No Sheeples Here! offers an analysis of the Obama administration's economic stimulus, "America Ensnared by the “Stimulus Trap”."

Carol hammers Paul Krugman's recent piece, "The Stimulus Trap," and adds this:

So far, on this president’s watch, we have witnessed the doubling of the national debt, the nationalization of the U.S. auto industry and a bailout in the billions to insurance giant AIG without any pre-conditions, a hell-bent fixation to nationalize the health care industry and the proposal of a cap and trade bill that would be the largest tax in the history of our nation. Dare I say the world?

More at the link.

Also, check out Rich Lowry, "The Stimulus — The Anatomy of a Failure."

And from the Wall Street Journal, "Few Economists Favor More Stimulus":

Most economists believe the U.S. doesn't need another round of stimulus now despite expectations of continued severe job losses.

Just eight of 51 economists in The Wall Street Journal's latest forecasting survey said more stimulus is necessary, suggesting an average of about $600 billion in additional spending. On average, the economists forecast an unemployment rate of at least 10% through next June, with a decline to 9.5% by December 2010.

See also, Michelle Malkin, "Spawn of the Spendulus."

More commentary at Memeorandum.

On Iran Protests, Leftist Academics Get Back to Business as Usual

From Cinnamon Stillwell, "Ahmadinejad's Academics":

What a difference a popular uprising makes.

It seems like just yesterday that the Middle East studies establishment was busy defending Iran’s theocratic regime and its president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from the alleged predations of U.S. and Israeli foreign policy. Yet in the wake of the unrest in response to the stolen election, suddenly American academics have succumbed to intellectual honesty and moral clarity. Despite the best efforts of the Iranian regime to drum up conspiracy theories blaming the West for the uprising, the Iranians themselves have taken center stage.

Read the whole thing, here. The professors are already returning to the default anti-American mode ...

Unmanned Fighter Aircraft (And the Left)

Robert Farley and Matthew Yglesias are thrilled with the idea of eliminating manned warplanes from the next generation of technological warfare.

The shift away from manned-fighter technology is serious business. In an essay today, Lawrence Korb and Krisila Benson argue that should the Pentagon eventually terminate the F-22 Raptor, the loss of production will not degrade the U.S. strategic-industrial base, since "the Obama administration's fiscal 2010 budget includes 28 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters - planes better suited for air-to-ground combat."

And, regarding doctrinal shifts in technology and warfighting, Eliot Cohen argued some time back in his now classic article on the RMA:

The platform has become less important, while the quality of what it carries - sensors, munitions, and electronics of all kinds - has become critical ....

Furthermore, the nature of preemption itself may change. To the extent that information warfare, including the sabotage of computer systems, emerges as a new type of combat, the first blow may be covert, a precursor to more open and conventional hostilities. Such attacks--to which an information-dependent society like the United States is particularly vulnerable--could have many purposes: blinding, intimidating, diverting, or simply confusing an opponent. They could carry as well the threat of bringing war to a country's homeland and people, and thus even up the balance for countries that do not possess the conventional tools of long-range attack, such as missiles and bombers.

Given this kind of discussion of the military, technological, and political realities in the shift away from manned fighter aircraft you'd think that Robert Farley - who is an Assistant Professor at the University of Kentucky's Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce - would have something highly significant to say on the emergent nature of threat assessment and advanced airfighting capabilities. Instead we get this:

I don't think there's a next "next generation" of fighter aircraft. And in any case, it appears that the A-10 will remain the platform of choice for fighting the giant robots that undoubtedly will afflict us in the future...

If you click the link there, Farley directs us to the Toys-R-Us page for "Terminator Salvation Vehicle with Action Figure - A-10 Warthog." Here's the photo:

It's not like professional manufacturer images of the Warthog aren't availble. Check the A-10's product page at the Global Aircraft Organization, for example.

No, with Farley there's just no seriousness to diplomacy and military affairs (nor scholarship, for that matter; recall my earlier piece, "The Moral Abomination of Robert Farley").

Given that, it's no surprise that Matthew Yglesias runs with the Farley piece, approvingly, at his own blog. Just today Yglesias published a mind-boggling essay at the American Prospect, "Small Steps Toward a Nuke-Free World."

Mind you, this is not a joke.

Despite the widely understood interpretation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as designed practically exclusively to limit the spread of nuclear weapons, Yglesias argues that President Obama's preliminary U.S.-Russian nuclear agreement advances the cause of nuclear abolition:

... according to the "joint understanding" released Monday, the U.S. and Russia will commit to reducing nuclear arsenals from the current ceiling of 2,200 warheads to a range of 1,500 to 1,675 ....

The agreement serves Russia's interests well because, simply put, maintaining a large nuclear arsenal is expensive. For the United States, with our $13 trillion gross domestic product, the current nuclear posture is wasteful ....

At the same time, Obama gets to make real headway on his earlier promise to recommit the United States to the long-term goal of total nuclear disarmament. The objective, if met, would strongly advance America's interests ...

A policy of American nuclear disarmament will advance nothing of the kind. I argued against President Obama's disastrous nuclear diplomacy in two recent posts (here and here). The president's nuclear weapons policies are idealistic, if not unserious, and hold horrendous implications for American national security. In that respect, they have much in common with the policy analysis of Robert Farley and Matthew Yglesias.

The GOP and the 2010 Midterms

Track-a-'Crat gets the video hat tip, but check out Frank Donatelli, "2010 Will Be a GOP Year":

Since the beginning of the 20th century, the party not in control of the White House has gained seats in every off-year election after a president's first election except for two times (1934 and 2002). Off-year dynamics are different and by the time they roll around many of the themes dominant in the presidential election have faded. Most importantly, new presidents and their administrations almost always overreach. And Barack Obama and his Democratic Party are overreaching in a big way.

A great essay, at the link.

Related: Chris Cillizza, "The Most Important Number in Politics Today." ("45 - That's the percentage of voters who believe that President Obama lacks a 'clear plan for solving this country's problems' in a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll.")

Charles Johnson Becomes a Terrorist Tool

Some developments tonight in the jihad against the anti-jihad bloggers ...

From Robert Spencer, "Hamas-linked CAIR defames me again, tries to block my ALA appearance, takes material from libelblogger Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs":

I wrote the other day about how some alleged believers in free speech among American academia are trying to block my speaking at the American Library Association convention this Sunday. Now the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), true to form, has gotten into the act, sending the ALA a fresh steaming pile of defamation, lies, and distortions (drawing once again on material from its favorite useful idiot, the discredited, thoroughly dishonest Charles Johnson of that cesspool of lies and hate, Little Green Footballs), asking that I be dropped from the ALA panel.

Whatever the ALA does, I am not going to let CAIR's libels go unanswered.

Read the whole thing, here.

See also, Pamela Geller, "Robert Spencer Answers CAIR's Libel, Defamation and Lies," and Yid With Lid, "Little Green Footballs Becomes a Terrorist Tool."

Patriots Counterprotest MoveOn and ACORN

Via Michelle Malkin and This Ain't Hell (and Memeorandum), check out Gathering of Eagles - NY, "AAR – MoveOn and Acorn Meet Patriots":

Patriots from the Conservative Society for Action, Gathering of Eagles, Active and the 912 Group rallied in front of the offices of Senator Charles Schumer to counter the staged pro-nationalized healthcare rally planned by MoveOn.org and ACORN.

The first moonbats arrived and almost immediately called the police because they hate free speech and any opposition to their agenda. One of their old biddies called me a racist for opposing health care for illegal immigrants. Unfortunately for them the first amendment is still enforced in this country and the police would not interfere with our counter protest.

Things went downhill for the Soros stooges from there ....

Michelle notes of the growing conservative protest movement:

You won’t see these on the front page of the New York Times. But it’s happening more often than you think — and it’s all the more remarkable and newsworthy given that most Tea Party folks, unlike the Soros-funded astroturf protest mobsters, have full-time jobs and families ...

Check Gathering of Eagles for more pictures.

WaPo's Sally Quinn Blames Sarah Palin For Sexist Letterman Attacks

I just found this story at Gateway Pundit, "WaPo Writer Blames Sarah Palin For Letterman's Attacks On Her Children."

While searching for video I found this classic screen-cap at Free Republic. The full piece is from last September, by Jeffrey Lord, "Who Is Sally Quinn?" The highlighted part is killer:

The Sally Quinns of the world were given cachet because liberals like Ben Bradlee got to do whatever the hell they pleased with their power in the media and there wasn't a damn thing the rest of the country could do as one conservative after another from Barry Goldwater to Ronald Reagan to Robert Bork to Clarence Thomas, Dan Quayle, Miguel Estrada, and on and on right up to today's Sarah Palin were trashed. And I do mean trashed. They were painted as idiots, warmongers, bigots, boobs, religious fanatics, wild-eyed zealots, racists, sexual harassers, and God only knows what else. This kind of garbage was bannered and blared unchallenged from every one of the three major networks, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Time, Newsweek and the rest of the liberal acolyte media organs. For decades. Until the advent of everything from conservative magazines such as the one you are reading to talk radio to the Internet to Fox collectively shattered the media monopoly.

An old but great essay!

The whole thing is here!

Recall that Sally Quinn stirred controversy over Sarah Palin during last year's campaign, "On CNN, WaPo's Quinn Questions Palin's Ability to 'Put Country First'."

She tried to walk it back later. See, "Sally Quinn Apologizes For Sarah Palin Remarks … Sort of Maybe Not-So-Much."

Controversy Over Pro-Life T-Shirt at McSwain Elementary School

I just caught word of this story on O'Reilly Factor. Megyn Kelly argued that the school had previously allowed the student to wear pro-life clothing. But the pictures of the growing fetus were probably too much, considering that small children would be attending the school. What do you think? It was "National Pro-Life T-Shirt Day." Jill Stanek "can't believe Fox called these images graphic'."

The background is here, "Seventh Grader Sues School Over Right to Wear Pro-Life T-Shirt":

A California mom says her public school administrators violated her daughter's First Amendment rights when they ordered the seventh-grader to take off her pro-life T-shirt.

Anna Amador has gone to court on behalf of her daughter, who she says was ordered by her principal to change her shirt on "National Pro-Life T-Shirt Day." The shirt the girl was wearing displays two graphic pictures of a fetus growing in the womb.

The incident occurred in April 2008 at McSwain Elementary School, a K-8 school in Merced, Calif. Amador alleges in her legal complaint that school Principal Terrie Rohrer, Assistant Principal C.W. Smith and office clerk Martha Hernandez mistreated her daughter and denied the girl her First Amendment rights when they ordered her to leave the cafeteria and change her shirt.

"Before Plaintiff could eat [breakfast] she was ordered by a school staff member to throw her food out and report immediately to Defendant Smith's office, located in the main office of McSwain Elementary School," the complaint reads.

"Upon arriving at the main office, Defendant Hernandez, intentionally and without Plaintiff's consent, grabbed Plaintiff's arm and forcibly escorted her toward Smith's office, at all times maintaining a vice-like grip on Plaintiff's arm. Hernandez only released Plaintiff's arm after physically locating her in front of Smith and Defendant Rohrer ...

"Smith and Rohrer ordered Plaintiff to remove her pro-life T-shirt and instructed Plaintiff to never wear her pro-life T-shirt at McSwain Elementary School ever again ...

Here's this commentary from the Gadsden Times:

The case of free speech in schools goes back to the Vietnam War era, when students wore black armbands, at that time in violation of many schools’ policies. Later, the Supreme Court ruled students could engage in protest as long as it "did not materially and substantially disrupt the work and discipline of the school."

The same seems to be true in the case of the girl’s T-shirt. Each day, there are worse, and more distracting, items of clothing worn to school by boys and girls. Sometimes, the distraction comes from a lack of clothing.

But a girl exhibiting her right to free speech, by supporting a cause she believes in — that a large portion of the entire country backs and believes in — should not lead to the girl being forced to change her shirt.

Breaking Update: July 9th Protesters Gassed and Beaten; Khamenei Seizes Revo Guard, Sarkozy at G8 Rejects Israeli Strike on Iran!

Pamela Geller has a full report, "Iran Revolution Day 26: Thousands Return To The Streets In Iran, Shootings Reported."

And from Mere Rhetoric, "Khamenei Seizes Control Of Iranian Republican Guard Militias, Installs Son As Head Thug." (Related Reference: "Mojtaba Khamenei, Revolutionary Guard, Key to Power in Iran.")

Plus, from ABC's Lara Setrakian in Iran:

tear gas & beatings, people chant "don't be afraid, we're in this together" & "ya Hussein, Mir Hussein." Cars honk in support. #iranelection

Here's video from Tehran, "Intersection of Taleghani and Valiasr. Anti riot forces attacking with teargas (6:23PM July 9th)":

Protesters are overcome by tear gas:

Second from bottom, via Rotten Gods, "we are children of war (They mean Iran-Iraq war), if you fight we'll fight back!" At bottom, people running, shouting, "death to dictator!"

Also, CNN, "Protesters in Iran Met With Tear Gas, Batons," and "In Iran, New Demonstrations Bring New Violence."

Gateway Pundit, "CRACKDOWN IN IRAN- Police Clash With Protesters On 18th of Tir Anniversary (Video)."

Plus, Reuters, "Sarkozy Urges Israel Not to Attack Iran," and Jerusalem Post, "Sarkozy: Unilateral Israeli Attack on Iran Would Be 'Catastrophe'."

See my earlier entry, "Iran Warns of 'Crushing Response' to July 9 Protests." And Michael Ledeen has more, "Today Is a Crucial Day For Iran."

Stay tuned ... rolling updates through the evening ...

Democrats' Partisan Porkulus - And, Americans Rejecting Obamanomics!

From USA Today, "Billions in Aid Go to Areas That Backed Obama in '08":

Billions of dollars in federal aid delivered directly to the local level to help revive the economy have gone overwhelmingly to places that supported President Obama in last year's presidential election.

That aid — about $17 billion — is the first piece of the administration's massive stimulus package that can be tracked locally. Much of it has followed a well-worn path to places that regularly collect a bigger share of federal grants and contracts, guided by formulas that have been in place for decades and leave little room for manipulation.

The story is at pains to indicate that no "political considerations could be at work." But that hardly matters. If race, rights, and spending are seen as driving Democratic policy (as is always the case), then we'll see a backlash. (For more, see Gateway Pundit, "Shocker!... BILLIONS In Stimulus Aid Went to Obama Supporting Counties")

Check out Ben Smith, "Independents Begin to Edge Away From President Obama":

In a potentially alarming trend for the White House, independent voters are deserting President Barack Obama nationally and especially in key swing states, recent polls suggest.

Obama’s job approval rating hit a — still healthy — low of 56 percent in the Gallup Poll on Wednesday. And pollsters are debating whether Obama’s expansive and expensive policy proposals or the ground-level realities of a still-faltering economy are driving the falling numbers.

But a source of the shift appears to be independent voters, who seem to be responding to Republican complaints of excessive spending and government control.

“This is a huge sea change that is playing itself out in American politics,” said Democratic pollster Doug Schoen. “Independents who had become effectively operational Democrats in 2006 and 2008 are now up for grabs and are trending Republican.

“They’re saying, ‘Costing too much, no results, see the downside, not sure of the upside,’” he said.

The White House denies there’s been any real shift.

And remember from earlier this week, "New Gallup Poll Indicates that Americans are becoming more Conservative."

And the week before that, "More Americans See Democratic Party as “Too Liberal”." And related, from Pew Research, "Independents Take Center Stage in the Obama Era."

Plus, see Ed Morrissey, "Confidence in Obama, Economy Still Dropping," and Foon Rhee, "Obama's Poll Numbers Drop" (via Memeorandum).

The icing on the cake: Michael Barone, "Getting Cold Feet Over Big Government."

Related: Michelle Malkin, "Culture of Corruption Watch: “Put Nothing in Writing ... Ever”."

More at Memeorandum.

Allegations of Racism in Philadelphia Swim Club Controversy

Well, at least James Joyner's consistent. He's got a post up on the controversy in Philiadelphia over allegations of racism, "Swim Club Racism in Philly?" Joyner's introduction is worth quoting at length:

A rather thinly sourced piece in the Philadelphia News alleging racism at a private swim club is getting quite a bit of attention.

More than 60 campers from Northeast Philadelphia were turned away from a private swim club and left to wonder if their race was the reason.

“I heard this lady, she was like, ‘Uh, what are all these black kids doing here?’ She’s like, ‘I’m scared they might do something to my child,’” said camper Dymire Baylor.

So, a kid claims “some lady” was wondering about the presence of black kids at a private club that, one gathers, tended to not normally have large numbers of black kids?

“When the minority children got in the pool all of the Caucasian children immediately exited the pool,” Horace Gibson, parent of a day camp child, wrote in an email. “The pool attendants came and told the black children that they did not allow minorities in the club and needed the children to leave immediately.”

So, the white kids reflexively exited the pool en masse? Because they’ve never seen black kids before? In Philly?

And pool attendants — in 2009 Philadelphia — not only carried out a policy of excluding blacks from the club but had the incredibly poor judgment to tell the blacks that that’s what they were doing?!

Well . . . maybe:

“There was concern that a lot of kids would change the complexion … and the atmosphere of the club,” John Duesler, President of The Valley Swim Club said in a statement.

Now, frankly, if I’m paying for membership in a private club so that I can take my kids swimming in peace, I don’t want said club to sell season passes to large groups of non-members. Not only does that make the pool more crowded but it rather diminishes the “club” aspect of the experience. Typically, members are vetted and recommended by other members; having a busload of kids coming in from outside the community makes it, in essence, a public pool.

Yet Joyner's views are consistent, as noted. In June, he hammered critics of Sonia Sotomayor, who had attacked the judge for her membership in an all-women's social club, "Sotomayor Quits Women’s Club." (See also, the Wall Street Journal, "Court Nominee Sotomayor Quits Women-Only Group").

The question for Joyner is how identity politics creates its own vicious loop of discrimination and recrimination. There should be no place for any of this in a colorblind society.

Interestingly, today's lead editorial at the Los Angeles Times' attacks conservatives for their alleged indifference to the "continuing realities" of discrimination in the country today. "In the Struggle Against Racism, We Haven't Overcome Yet":

As many conservatives see it, we're living in a chastened, post-racial America in which discrimination has been largely dismantled, Jim Crow is dead and gaps are being narrowed. With a growing black and Latino middle class -- not to mention a "beiging" of America thanks to intermarriage -- it's time to end our obsession with righting the wrongs of the past. More specifically, we should do away with morally troublesome policies such as affirmative action, minority set-asides and "pre-clearance" that aid minority groups at the expense of the majority, and revert, instead, to the sounder principle of colorblind justice for all.

Well, yes ... absolutely. Unfortunately, the Times' board goes on to decry (phantom) "de facto" segregation and then concludes with lame arguments for race conscious equal protection, saying "it's not so clear that the battle is over."

So what to say about the Philly case? Sorry to Mr. Joyner, but this is inexcusable bigotry. Folks can't be quoted on the record with worries about "changing the complexion" of the neighborhood pool. Public, private ... it doesn't matter. This smacks of racial insensitivity, at least, and I'm not one to tag along on the racial victimology bandwagon. The question for me is why did the club sell access to the pool for non-member families? The offer of summer swimming to outside groups must have been made with the consent of the club's membership. They can't come along later and say, "Hey, these kids are all black. We can't have them here. We have an image to keep, you know? ... 'complexion' matters."

As Nice Deb puts its, "Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!":

What the heck?! This story reads like something out of Birmingham Alabama circa 1958:

More than 60 campers from Northeast Philadelphia were turned away from a private swim club and left to wonder if their race was the reason.

I heard this lady, she was like, ‘Uh, what are all these black kids doing here?’ She’s like, ‘I’m scared they might do something to my child,’” said camper Dymire Baylor.

Well, if that kid’s telling the truth, I’d say, yeah, duh! Race was the reason.

Nice Deb is one of the most stalwart conservatives I know. I have to agree. This is wrong, wrong, wrong. There are times for discerning motives and nuance, but this isn't one of them.

What's a bummer, of course, is how an isolated case of racial insensitivity like this gives ammunition to the racial grievance masters who see Jim Crow hiding behing every corner (see, for example, pandagon.net, Jack & Jill Politics, Gawker, Unreported and Alas, a blog).

The administration and members of the Valley Swim Club need to get on the same page, and they need to get in step with the rest of the country. This is pure idiocy. This should NOT be taken for a larger statement on the contemporary (phantom) endurance of some long-ago repudiated pattern of entrenched racial hierarchy.

Conservatives are right to condemn both the swim club's stupidity, as well as the racial grievance lobby's opportunistic reaction to it.

The full video is at the link, "Pool Boots Kids Who Might 'Change the Complexion'." More at Memeorandum.

**********

UPDATE: Skye from Midnight Blue e-mails:

I read this report yesterday, Donald.

Something does not feel right with this story. Too many statements from the alleged victims seemed to be boilerplate racial statements. My intitial gut feeling on this is that there is more to this story than what has been reported. Let me be clear - I will be the first to condem this action if it is indeed true - but I need more evidence that what has been reported.

And to reiterate Nice Deb, "Well, if that kid’s telling the truth ..."

**********

UPDATE II: John Duesler, the president of the Valley Swim Club, is a Barack Obama supporter!

See Moe Lane, "Yes, the President of the Valley Swim Club is a John G Duesler, Jr."

See also, Sweetness and Light, "Philly Pool Kids Booter Is Obama Fan."

Remember, racism's always cool and hip on the Democratic side!

As they say at Alas, a Blog, "A whole lot of folks in “post-racial” America are still spouting the same old bigotry."

Well, those "whole lot of folks" would be Democrats!

See, "Mainstream Bigotry and Racism on the Democratic-Left."

Added: Dan Riehl, "Uh Oh! Duesler Founder Of The Chocolate Squad?"

Iran Warns of 'Crushing Response' to July 9 Protests

From the New York Times, "Iran Warns Foes of ‘Crushing Response’ to Protests."

Also, at Pajamas Media, "Iran Launches Preemptive War Against July 9 Protests."

Plus, Michael Ledeen, "Today Is a Crucial Day For Iran":

Maybe it’ll be a turning point. Maybe not. It’s the anniversary of the massacre of students in Iran ten years ago, when they defied their tyrants and called for freedom. There are certainly a lot of people around the world who will turn out to show their contempt for the Tehran regime. I can’t keep track of them all, but there should be significant turnouts in the Hague, Vienna, Rome, Paris, Washington, New York, Irvine and Santa Monica, Seattle and Hamburg…and more and more. In Iran itself, the regime’s opponents have called for “the biggest turnout yet,” totally silent, no posters or banners, just silence.

The silence of the demonstrations would be a counterpoint to the nightly chants from the rooftops and prisons of the nation. Chants of “Allah is great,” along with “Death to the Dictator.” If you believe the folks on Twitter, those chants have been louder with each passing night, despite the violence of the Basij and Revolutionary Guards, which ranges from snipers shooting from one rooftop to another, armed thugs breaking into homes to seize computers, cell phones and other communications devices, and arrest one or more family members. Meanwhile, horribly maimed bodies have been showing up all over the country. Some of the gouging of the bodies seems to have been done to remove all evidence of bullet holes, but whatever the “explanation,” the bloody savagery is well documented.

If you want some detail about the horrors inside Iranian hospitals, have a look at Le Figaro’s account.

Over the objections of medical staff, bodies from the demonstrations were quickly moved elsewhere. “We believe they were transferred to the Baqiatollah military hospital or some other undisclosed location”, notes the doctor. Then, under the pretext of “organ donation”, all traces of bullets were removed from the bodies. “The parents were force to accept this if they wanted to retrieve the body for burial”.

And yet, the protest goes on. For the past three days, a general strike has been in effect, with significant results. Indeed, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei preemptively admitted defeat when government offices and factories were shut down in the name of a religious observance. But the strikers only expanded the range of their actions, notably by shutting down electrical grids in several cities, including parts of Tehran. Great swathes of the nation were plunged into darkness. This sort of thing is likely to continue, whatever happens on the 9th.

Most of the protesters fear the worst, warning of snipers preparing to shoot into the crowds, and a massive buildup of security forces in Tehran. There are rumors about possible countermeasures from the demonstrators, but, like the stories about massive repression, these remain to be confirmed.

More at the link.

Also, Gateway Pundit, "CRACKDOWN IN IRAN- Police Clash With Protesters On 18th of Tir Anniversary."

ADDED: Atlas Shrugs, "Iran Revolution Day 26: Thousands Return To The Streets In Iran, Shootings Reported."

Let's Not Overstate What Obama Accomplished in Moscow...

From Christian Brose at Shadow Government, "What Did Obama Accomplish in Moscow?":

Patrick Barry and my colleague Josh Keating think I’m understating the importance of what President Obama accomplished in Moscow. So let me be clear: The arms reduction agreement and the Russian air corridor into Afghanistan aren’t small peanuts. Indeed, the latter is quite important because it will help to advance a key national interest -- success in Afghanistan. Still, we’d better not put too many of our eggs in that basket, because what Moscow giveth, Moscow can easily taketh away. And considering how many conflicts of interest we still have with Russia, even after our reset buttoning, U.S. military planners are probably not taking that air corridor as a given indefinitely.

As for negotiating an update to START, which expires this year -- of course we should do it, and it’s not unimportant. But would anyone drawing up a list of U.S. national interests put the negotiation of a bridge agreement for the START treaty at the top, or anywhere near the top? That’s all I’m saying. It’s a worthwhile step, but let’s put it in perspective.

Now, nonproliferation more broadly IS a national interest that I'd put at or very near the top of my list, and U.S.-Russian arms reductions are a piece of that. Furthermore, Josh is right that if your goal is "a nuclear-free world", then you have to start somewhere. Well, yes, as far as that goes. Still, no matter how clearly we meet our obligations under the NPT, and no matter how much legitimacy that adds to our argument that others should follow suit, I just don’t think that will markedly advance those goals in the real world. So by all means, let’s restart START, let's wrap our policies in whatever added legitimacy that gives us, but let’s not overstate the importance of doing so.

Read the whole thing, here.

Marc Andreessen Has Silicon Valley Buzzing Again

From Fortune Magazine, "Marc Andreessen puts his money where his mouth is: The original web whiz kid today advises Twitter, Facebook, and others. Now he has a new venture fund. Will he bankroll the next Netscape?":

Over the past two years Andreessen has emerged as the most connected, prescient, right-place-right-time force in Silicon Valley. In addition to his Twitter stake, he sits on Facebook's board and advises the CEOs at both companies. He is co-founder and chairman of Ning, a service that lets people create their own niche social networks, like 50 Cent's ThisIs50.com. Ning, co-founded with CEO Gina Bianchini, adds 2.5 million members a month. Andreessen owns stakes in Digg, LinkedIn, and Will Ferrell's Funny or Die comedy site. He recently joined the board of eBay (EBAY, Fortune 500) to help that company turn around, and he is the author of a hugely influential blog that went on hiatus in August 2008. By the time this story appears, he promises, the blog will be back with a new design.

Entrepreneurs and investors seek him out for his blunt advice and because he's experienced the ups and especially the downs of life in the Valley. Netscape got trounced by Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500). Loudcloud, a too-early stab at so-called cloud computing services, had to retrench and lay off five-sixths of its employees before stabilizing under a new name, Opsware. Just five years ago Andreessen's image was more that of a smart, amiable billionaire playboy who dabbled ineffectually at technology's fringes. He seemed more Paul Allen than Bill Gates. "Marc is like a rock star who had his first album hit big, and then the next ones were not quite the same," says Steve Case, who ran AOL when it bought Netscape in 1999 and made Andreessen AOL's chief technology officer. "There's a lot of respect for the fact that he persevered. He evolved a couple of times and ultimately succeeded."

Could Andreessen end up becoming the next great tech investor? He certainly is taking a great leap: There's a huge difference between dabbling in startups with your own pocket change and investing big slugs of institutional money. Expectations for Andreessen's venture may be especially high. Venture capitalists are always on the lookout for the "next Netscape," a game-changing company that can produce off-the-charts financial returns for its initial investors; now imagine the pressure the co-founder of the original Netscape faces. Sure, Andreessen has been on a roll of late, but can he maintain his startup-picking hot streak? And so, at the ripe old age (by Silicon Valley standards) of 38, Andreessen is once again having to prove that he still has not only tech chops, but financial and management savvy too.

More at the link.

Also, the New York Times, "Venture Capitalists Look for a Return to the ABC's."

Obama Betrays Freedom in Iran

From FrontPage Magazine, "Freedom Betrayed":

How much damage did Barack Obama do to the incipient Iranian revolution—and by extension, to peace in the Middle East and to the U.S. national interest—when he failed to support the Iranian protesters, and instead poured cold water on Moussavi as an alternative to Ahmadinejad? ....

In a situation like this, Barack Obama was not powerless to affect the outcome, as his defenders suggest. As spokesman for the most powerful nation on earth, he was in a position to make a real difference to the all-important psychology on both sides—and that is exactly what he did. But instead of building up the confidence of the protesters (and simultaneously undermining that of the security apparatus) with encouragement and a ringing endorsement of what they were doing, what he actually did was to give comfort to the forces of repression and undermine the confidence of the Iranian people.

See also, Atlas Shrugs, "For the first time in US history, we have a president who hates his own country. A president who is on the side of America's enemies, not on the side of America."

**********

UPDATE: Cold Fury links Thanks! Plus, I forget to link a credit to William Warren.

Senate Democrats Still Seeking GOP Support

From the Washington Post, "Senate Democrats Still Seeking GOP Support: Balance of Power Not Changed Much By Supermajority":

Senate Democrats spent their first full day holding 60 votes just as they have spent the previous 2 1/2 years without such a supermajority: scrambling to find Republican support for their key initiatives in order to choke off potential filibusters.

In short, Tuesday's seating of Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) did little to change the balance of power in the chamber.

Democrats still have a large enough majority to pass bills without any GOP support, but they are grappling with internal divisions on key issues such as health care, climate change and union organizing. In addition, caucus leaders and President Obama would like at least some Republican backing on key measures so they can say they are enacting a bipartisan agenda, which then-Sen. Obama made a cornerstone of his 2008 campaign.

Some conservative Democrats who live in GOP-leaning states believe that getting Republican votes on controversial bills provides them with a line of defense against political attacks back home.

Moreover, two members of the Democratic caucus, Sens. Edward M. Kennedy (Mass.) and Robert C. Byrd (W.Va.), have not cast a vote in months. It is not clear whether the health of either elder statesman -- Kennedy, 77, has brain cancer and Byrd, 91, is battling the effects of a staph infection incurred during a hospitalization in May -- will allow him to participate in any key matter before the Senate.

In greeting Franken to Capitol Hill this week, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) sounded a conciliatory note.

"Democrats aren't looking at Senator Franken's election as an opportunity to ram legislation through the Senate," he said Monday. "In turn, Senate Republicans must understand that Senator-elect Franken's election does not abdicate them from the responsibility of governing. That is why we have and will continue to offer Senate Republicans a seat at the table. It is up to them to decide whether they will sit down and work for the common good or continue to be the 'Party of No.' "

But the arrival of a 60th Democratic vote has been accompanied by increasing pressure from liberal groups nationwide that have helped bankroll the party's electoral successes the past few years. They are now demanding Democrats follow through on their campaign promises, with or without Republican votes.

"When it comes to health care, energy and the economy, Democrats have no excuses not to deliver on the changes that voters wanted last November," said Justin Ruben, executive director of the liberal group MoveOn.org. "On health care and on energy . . . you have conservative Democrats saying we have to compromise. That dynamic has just changed. Really they don't" have to compromise.

More at the link.

See also, Megan McArdle, "A Public Plan and the Law of Unintended Consequences":

Hilzoy is mad at conservatives talking about rationing in the public plan. She says that no one's really rationing care with a public plan; anyone can buy what they want. It's just that the public plan will ration for those in its care in order to make coverage affordable.

Megan wins that debate hands down, but read both posts (via Memeorandum).

Cartoon Credit: William Warren.

The Obamafication of Great Power Arms Control

Conservatives knew Barack Obama lacked gravitas over two years ago. And now we're starting to see the rest of the country catch on. Folks are getting hip to the Democrats' epic electoral fail of 2008.

Recall, during the first Democratic debate, in April 2007, "Obama failed to cast himself as a forceful commander in chief." As one headline reported at the time, "Lightweight Senator Overwhelmed By Grown-ups at Adults-Only Function." And who can forget Obama's Berlin speech last summer? Der Spiegel asked, "Is Obama Speech Site Contaminated by Nazi Past?" And we saw this from Michelle Malkin, "Next Stop, Germany: Ich bin ein beginner!":

So, let's just consider President Obama's U.S.-Russia summit this week. It's one more indication of the woeful unseriousness of this man and his administration. The highlights are at Memeorandum. CNN has a story on Sasha and Malia Obama, "Obama Girls Take Russia by Storm." Plus, the New York Times follows up with, "Family Night for Obamas Miffs Some in Moscow."

It turns out that the Russian people haven't lost their faculties over this American president. As Fausta indicates, "The Russians ...having lived with centuries’ worth of narcissistic egotists passing as heads of state, were underwhelmed by Obama..."

The president himself remains inside a narcissisitic bubble and the rest of the world can only watch dumfounded as this administration sleepwalks through history.

Compare that meme to this article on earlier eras of superpower arms control, "U.S.-Russia Talks Yield No Breakthroughs":

There was a time when an American president would travel to Moscow for a summit and the world watched intently to see if history would be made.

These days, most people seem prepared to settle for more modest outcomes.

That was the ambiguous result of Barack Obama's first trip as president to meet with his Russian counterparts. Obama came away from two days of talks with important, if not momentous, agreements to renew nuclear arms talks and allow U.S. warplanes to fly through Russian airspace on their way to Afghanistan.

But long-standing differences -- on U.S. missile defense plans, human rights and the response to Iran's nuclear ambitions -- remained unbridged.

Nor was it certain that Obama succeeded in his attempt to overcome years of deteriorating relations and alleviate wider Russian mistrust of U.S. aims by speaking over the heads of the country's elite to those outside the realm of power.

In a bit of characteristic stagecraft, the president took his message to a large assembly of the young and educated, speaking at the commencement ceremonies of the New Economic School. He reminded Russians of their nation's shared sacrifice with the United States in defeating fascism in the mid-20th century, and said that 21st century America was not trying to hold the country back.

"Let me be clear: America wants a strong, peaceful and prosperous Russia," Obama said. "This belief is rooted in our respect for the Russian people, and a shared history between our nations that goes beyond competition."

But none of Russia's domestic television channels carried the speech live. And the event was more heavily attended by Western-leaning intelligentsia and business community representatives than by members of Russia's ruling elite. News programs later played clips of the speech -- with newscasters adding pointedly that Obama's arrival onstage interrupted the distribution of diplomas to the school's students.

Behold the Obamafication of great power arms control.

The Russians don't care about this man, despite the president's displeasure at not being feted like a Victorian-era European head of state.

Meanwhile, the enduring logic of international politics continues its unavoidabe grind: "Russia Itches for Another Georgian War."

Election 2012 can't come fast enough, especially for those who called this a massive presidential fail before the Democrats sealed the deal.

Mom Leaves Kids in Maggot-Filled Home to Get High; L.A. Cracks Down on Pot Dispensaries, No Word From Will Wilkinson!

A mother in Cypress, California, allegedly left her two young daughters alone overnight in a maggot-infested house. Toilets were overflowing and trash piled everywhere. The Los Angeles Times has a report, "Mom Allegedly Leaves Kids in Maggot-Filled Home." Here's the video from KTLA-TV, Los Angeles, "Police: Mom Leaves Kids Alone in Maggot-Filled Home, Smokes Pot":

In other local news, the City of Los Angeles is cracking down on the area's unregulated medical marijuana dispensaries, "L.A. Targets Cannabis Clubs":

Daniel Halbert moved here from Phoenix this year to invest his life savings in what he hoped was a golden opportunity: the medical-marijuana business.

But on Tuesday, the Los Angeles City Council told him to shut down his dispensary, part of a broad crackdown against a growing and unregulated marijuana industry. More than 600 dispensaries have taken advantage of a loophole in city regulations to open shop here in the past two years.

The unchecked growth has alarmed some city leaders.

"They were like a rash," said City Councilman Ed Reyes, who is leading the effort to shut down many of the dispensaries. He said a colleague told him that at one dispensary near a high school, the student crowds outside made the pot store look "like an ice cream shop from the 1950s."

Once again, I'm going to express my disagreement with the libertarian/legalization crowd. Remember, "I Don't Smoke Pot, and I Don't Like It."

No report on this yet from Will "I'm a Stoner" Wilkinson, who has argued that "the drug war is stupid." Probably out rolling a fat one at this moment!

Related: R.S. McCain, "Attention, police: Arrest Will Wilkinson!"

Can Palin Ever Come Back?

From Camille Paglia's, "Can Palin Ever Come Back?":

Whether Palin has a national future or not will depend on her willingness to hit the books at some point and absorb more information about international history and politics than she has needed to know in her role as governor. She also needs a shrewder, cooler take on the mainstream media, with its preening bullies, cackling witches, twisted cynics and pompous windbags. The Northeastern media establishment is in decline, and everyone knows it. Palin should not have gotten into a slanging match with David Letterman or anyone else who has been obsessively defaming her or her family. Let surrogates do that stuff.

The vicious double standard is pretty obvious. Only the tabloids, for example, ran the photos of a piss-drunk Chelsea Clinton, panties exposed, falling into her car outside London clubs a few years ago. If Chelsea had been the scion of Republican bigwigs, those tacky scenes would have been trumpeted from pillar to post in the U.S. as signals of parental failures or turmoil in clan Clinton. As a Democrat, I detest the partisan machinations that have become standard in Northeastern news management and that are detectable in editorial decisions at major metropolitan newspapers nationwide. It's why I, like a host of others, have shifted my news gathering to the Web.

See also, Dan Riehl, "Paglia's Advice For Sarah Palin." And Memeorandum.

Plus, my take is here: "Can Palin Win the 2012 GOP Nomination?"

Cynthia McKinney: 'Letter from an Israeli Jail'

The background is here, from AP's recent report on Cynthia McKinney, "Israel Deports Gaza Boat Activists, Including Former US Congresswoman, Nobel laureate."

Now former Representative McKinney has released a statement in the mold of Martin Luther King, Jr.: "Letter from an Israeli Jail":

During Operation Cast Lead, U.S.-supplied F-16's rained hellfire on a trapped people. Ethnic cleansing became full scale outright genocide. U.S.-supplied white phosphorus, depleted uranium, robotic technology, DIME weapons, and cluster bombs - new weapons creating injuries never treated before by Jordanian and Norwegian doctors. I was later told by doctors who were there in Gaza during Israel's onslaught that Gaza had become Israel's veritable weapons testing laboratory, people used to test and improve the kill ratio of their weapons.

The world saw Israel's despicable violence thanks to al-Jazeera Arabic and Press TV that broadcast in English. I saw those broadcasts live and around the clock, not from the USA but from Lebanon, where my first attempt to get into Gaza had ended because the Israeli military rammed the boat I was on in international water ... It's a miracle that I'm even here to write about my second encounter with the Israeli military, again a humanitarian mission aborted by the Israeli military.

The Israeli authorities have tried to get us to confess that we committed a crime ... I am now known as Israeli prisoner number 88794. How can I be in prison for collecting crayons to kids?

Zionism has surely run out of its last legitimacy if this is what it does to people who believe so deeply in human rights for all that they put their own lives on the line for someone else's children. Israel is the fullest expression of Zionism, but if Israel fears for its security because Gaza's children have crayons then not only has Israel lost its last shred of legitimacy, but Israel must be declared a failed state.

I am facing deportation from the state that brought me here at gunpoint after commandeering our boat. I was brought to Israel against my will. I am being held in this prison because I had a dream that Gaza's children could color & paint, that Gaza's wounded could be healed, and that Gaza's bombed-out houses could be rebuilt.

But I've learned an interesting thing by being inside this prison. First of all, it's incredibly black: populated mostly by Ethiopians who also had a dream ... like my cellmates, one who is pregnant. They are all are in their twenties. They thought they were coming to the Holy Land. They had a dream that their lives would be better ... The once proud, never colonized Ethiopia [has been thrown into] the back pocket of the United States, and become a place of torture, rendition, and occupation. Ethiopians must free their country because superpower politics [have] become more important than human rights and self-determination.

My cellmates came to the Holy Land so they could be free from the exigencies of superpower politics. They committed no crime except to have a dream. They came to Israel because they thought that Israel held promise for them. Their journey to Israel through Sudan and Egypt was arduous. I can only imagine what it must have been like for them. And it wasn't cheap. Many of them represent their family's best collective efforts for self-fulfilment. They made their way to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. They got their yellow paper of identification. They got their certificate for police protection. They are refugees from tragedy, and they made it to Israel only after they arrived Israel told them "there is no UN in Israel."

Read the full letter at the link.

See also, Fox News, "McKinney Returns to U.S. After Release From Israeli Jail."

Related: Israel Matzav, "Palestinians' Allowed to Travel Freely in Judea and Samaria."

Can Palin Win the 2012 GOP Nomination?

The ongoing Sarah Palin drama is almost as bad the media extravaganza for the Michael Jackson memorial (here)!

So what to make of Dan Riehl's latest essay, "Why It's Time To Move Beyond Sarah Palin"?

As a Palin fan, I wanted to re-visit this John Fund piece I previously linked after taking some time to consider the implications of what appears to be a thoughtful, balanced and fair analysis surrounding Palin's recent resignation. Given the facts, it is all but impossible to see her as a viable presidential contender in the near term. And we need a good one in 2012 in the face of Obama's ever growing agenda ....

I believe she is a fine person with much to give to and do for America and conservatism. But I hope it isn't about running for president in 2012. I simply can't judge her ready for that given everything we've seen. I wish it were possible to reach a different conslusion. Unfortunately, right now I can't.

My position all along has been that Palin will be the odds-on frontrunner in 2016, assuming that Barack Obama is reelected to a second term.

Yet, as Chris Cillizza laid out recently, all signs are pointing to a Palin candidacy in 2012. She's the "it girl" of American politics. She continues to have a huge block of support among the conservative base of the Republican Party. But even more importantly, from Gallup's new survey: "The poll finds 70% saying their opinion of Palin has not changed as a result of her resignation" (via Memeorandum).

That's big, and it's still two and a half years before the first caucuses and primaries. Pamela Geller is pumped, "PALIN LEADS POLLS! The Coming of the Second American Revolution." And as Jennifer Rubin notes, "If the Alaska governor can learn the hard lessons of the last few months, her career may not be over."

In fact, contrary to Dan Riehl's fears, the decisions surrounding Palin's resignation may eventually be less important than how well she positions herself for a run in the primaries. Palin's two biggest goals can be summed up thus: Iowa and New Hampshire. Politically, Palin needs money. Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama raised $100 million in 2007, the year leading into the primaries. The "entry fee" for the 2012 primaries will probably be twice that.

A good early indicator of Palin's donor power will be in how quickly she retires the $500,000 in legal bills she racked up defending against ethics charges. After that, let's see how well she performs in the money race. Readers should check this long comment at Conservatives for Sarah Palin, from March of this year, speculating on a Palin 2012 run for the nomination. The main suggestion at that time? Decline a second term as Alaska's governor, then, build a massive war chest for 2012:

... I believe that Sarah Palin should not run for re-election if she means to pursue the presidency in 2012.

Folks, $100m is a lot of money. I believe that SarahPAC can raise that kind of money or even more by November 2010. SarahPAC has the potential to match the $749m that Obama raised for his entire 2008 campaign.

I have no doubt that Palin can raise the $100 million, and with $200 million she'll deter a number of other second-tier candidates from throwing their hats in the ring.

But what else? If she'll have popular support, and money, what else does Sarah Palin need? Well, as Fred Barnes noted yesterday, Palin is awash in charisma and magnetism, but she needs "experience in office and enough knowledge of foreign and domestic issues to talk about them persuasively." For 2012, she's going to have to (1) develop a compelling narrative for her campaign that also works to mute criticism of her early departure from office, and (2) build up a substantial base of policy knowledge.

These are large tasks, but not insurmountable. As for the narrative, Palin should form a campaign organization right away. Someone remind her (or her advisors) that President Bill Clinton ran an effective ad campaign against the GOP in June 1995 (pushing for an assault weapons ban). And in November 1995, Clinton hammered Republicans on "Medicare and Medicaid, education, and the environment." Since Clinton, as the incumbent president, was assured the Democratic nomination, the practical effect was that the 1996 general election campaign began in the summer of 1995.

On policy knowledge, Palin needs to write her tell-all book from the 2008 campaign. She'll need to begin a wonkish speaking tour on her specialties of energy, the environment, and free-market economics. On foreign policy, she'll help herself with travel and by gaining the advice and consent of top experts in foreign relations.

But most of all, she cannot continue to be dragged into the vindictive politics of personal destruction. After she leaves office at the end of this month, she'll need to recede from the media glare on start amassing her campaing war chest. The expertise will come in time, although as much as I love her, my hunch in that she wouldn't be damaged politically be skipping the 2012 election cycle. That situtation is looking increasingly unlikely (IMHO) so she'll need to fire up some version of the strategic plan I've laid out here.

Still More on Palin's Resignation...

From Victor Davis Hanson, "Sarah Palin and Her Critics":

Smart women do not get pregnant when it is inconvenient, especially when it interferes with one’s cursus honorum. Palin foolishly had a baby as governor, and waddled around with it the entire time-with other snotty kids in tow (just like those trashy folk at the mall who pile out of the Tahoe, in the way just as you are parking your Volvo)! And worse, in the age of sonograms and abortion, she delivered a mentally-challenged child. And worse still, the mom of five encouraged her daughter to deliver an out-of-wedlock child. (Is it in Oklahoma or Arkansas where moms and daughters have children about the same time?) And which is worse, to have a kid at 17 or one after 40? And worse, worse yet, she does not support abortion! Here is Hell in Sarah Palin’s world: I am up for a promotion at CNN, foolishly become pregnant at 42, and discover “it” has chromosomal “issues”. Am I supposed to deliver this thing? I don’t think so (nor would my daughter, should she become pregnant by her boyfriend the summer before starting off at Vassar [all that SAT camp for nothing?]).

Lots more at the link.

Helpful Vocabulary Hint: "cursus honorum."

Check also a real good piece at PoliGazette, "Feminist Hatred of Palin."

And via Memeorandum, see also, Kate Snow, "Sarah Palin: Why She Resigned," and "TIME's Interview with Exiting Alaska Governor Sarah Palin."

Plus, from the New York Times, "On Politics Reading (Too Much?) Into Palin's Resignation." And don't miss, John Fund, "Why Palin Quit: Death by a Thousand FOIAs."

Andrew Sullivan Has Truly Lost His Mind

I've been saying it for some time. But Dan Riehl's got the goods on Andrew Sullivan, "Sullivan Has Truly Lost It Over Palin":

Sullivan seems trapped in some unfortunate reality in which he so has to demonize anyone he's opposed to politically, it really does suggest serious emotional issues of some sort. Whatever Sullivan may have been at one point, people who still believe he's even a semi-honest broker in touch with objective reality are just fooling themselves ...

It's beyond funny, into the realm of the sick, or disturbed.

Yep, it sure is.

What's also beyond funny is no matter how wrong, Sullivan remains widely cited by the netroots hordes (even though he's "not really a leftist").

Dan has more.

Meanwhile, Sullivan's scheming away again, this time with a "roundup of lies."

Related: The Rhetorican, "More “Salons” In the News."

Coming to America, For Health Care!

There's currently some big attention at Memeorandum to health care politics. See, the Wall Street Journal, "White House Open to Deal on Public Health Plan." And the Huffington Post, "President Tries To Put Out Fire From Emanuel's Health Care Remarks." It turns out that President Obama's not too happy with Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. See, "Obama to Rahm: Shut. Up."

Here's some video, in any case:

More at Memeorandum.

Added: Jake Tapper, "MoveOn Pulls the "Trigger" on Rahm."

Rule 5 Rescue: Afternoon Ordnance Porn!

I'm a little short on hot cover girls at the moment. So, I just checked over at Theo Spark's for some Rule 5 material. Tonight's "Bedtime Totty" was a little too hot, but scrolling down we find this ultra cool video from the Oklahoma Full Auto-Shoot Trade Show:

Video Games - E3 2009 - Attack of the Show

As always, this is a chance to send some link love to my blogging friends and allies.

I owe The Classical Liberal a big shout out, so enjoy, "What Everybody Ought to Know About Sarah Palin." Plus, No Sheeples Here! has been getting really hot with the Memeorandum action of late. See her post, "We The Common Trash" (featured at this Memeorandum thread last night).

Okay, I also need to thank Dan Riehl and Jonn Lilyea for the links, and don't miss Dan Collins' blog, Piece of Work in Progress, which is progressing along quite well.

Check out my friend Cassandra as well, Villainous Company. And Steven Givler too.

Maggie's Farm is always a good read, with lots of links are resources; but check The Rhetorican too, who's got a timely post up right now, "The Best Liveblogging of the Jackson Memorial..."

And more Rule 5 video-blogging at TrogloPundit, "Yeah, but…if the instructor isn’t wearing anything, will the instructees really listen?'

And don't forget to visit some of my other friends:

Jammie Wearing Fool, Dr. Helen, Laura Elizabeth Morales, Charles G. Hill , Blueshelled, The Nose on Your Face, All-American Blogger, Paco Enterprises, The Conservatives Who Say F*ck, Joust The Facts, Panhandle Poet, Steven Givler, The Astute Blogger, Chris Wysocki, Moonbattery, Sweating Through the Fog, Three Beers Later, PA Pundits, Sister Toldjah, Blazing Cat Fur, The Daley Gator, Just One Minute, Dave's World, The Oklahoma Patriot, Right Wing Sparkle, Conservatism With Heart, Duck of Minerva, Wolf Howling, Right Wing Nation, Right Wing Nuthouse, Melissa Clouthier, Steve Bartin's Newsalert, The Western Experience, ShrinkWrapped, The Average American, Paco Enterprises, Ken Davenport, Doug Ross Journal, The Blog Prof, Fausta's Blog, Clueless Emma, Obob's World, Seymour Nuts, Red State, Dr. Sanity, The Desert Glows Green, Not One Red Cent, Vinegar and Honey, Dan Collins, Scott Kingsmore, The Astute Bloggers, The BoBo Files, Grant Jones, Tapline, New Testament News, Wizbang, William Jacobson, Phyllis Chesler, Right View from the Left Coast, Generation Patriot, Macsmind, Flopping Aces, Edge's Conservative Movies, Stop the ACLU, Snooper's Report, Grandpa John's, Cranky Conservative, Jimmie Bise, Little Miss Attila, Moe Lane, Private Pigg, Pundit & Pundette, The Rhetorican, R.S. McCain, Saber Point, Stephen Kruiser, Suzanna Logan, GrEaT sAtAn'S gIrLfRiEnD, TrogloPundit, Villainous Company, PoliGazette, Prying 1, Paula in Israel, Pamela Geller, Vanessa's Blog, Pat's Daily Rants, Bob's Bar & Grill, Power Line, Melanie Morgan, Dave in Boca, Neo-Neocon, Right in a Left World, Flag Gazer, Stephen Green, The Tygrrrr Express, The News Factor, Israel Matsav, The Conservative Manifesto, Gates of Vienna, Sparks From the Anvil, Gateway Pundit, Political Pistachio, Liberty Pundit, Not One Red Cent, Right Truth, Dave's Notepad, The Red Hunter, Maggie's Farm, The Next Right, This Ain't Hell, Stop the ACLU, Politics and Critical Thinking, Riehl World View, Midnight Blue, Caroline Glick, The Griper, FouseSquawk, The Other McCain, Cheat Seeking Missiles, Roger Simon, Classical Values, Samantha Speaks, Grizzly Mama, The Capitol Tribune, The Patriot Room, The Real World, RADARSITE, Serr8d's Cutting Edge, Bloviating Zeppelin, Born Again Redneck The Educated Shoprat, St. Blogustine, Yid With Lid, Pondering Penguin, Betsy's Page, The Anchoress, Ace of Spades HQ, Right Wing Sparkle, Thunder Run, The Classic Liberal, Conservative Grapevine, Cassy Fiano, Jim Treacher, NetRightNation, Q and O, Urban Grounds, Ed Driscoll, Cold Fury, Michelle Malkin, Neptunus Lex, Neo-Neocon, The Liberty Papers, The Monkey Cage, Law and Order Teacher, Mike's America, AubreyJ, Dan Collins, Track-a-'Crat, The Jungle Hut, Wake Up America, Dan Riehl, Nikki's Blog, Big Girl Pants, Maggie's Notebook, Hummers & Cigarettes, Mark Goluskin, Jawa Report, Darleen Click, The Skepticrats, Sarge Charlie, Thoughts With Attitude, Kim Priestap, Swedish Meatballs Confidential, Five Feet of Fury, Amy Proctor, Blonde Sagacity, Liberty Papers, TigerHawk, Point of a Gun, Right Wing News, And So it Goes in Shreveport, Nice Deb, Becky Brindle, Fishersville Mike, Monique Stuart, No Sheeples Here!, Dana at CSPT, Glenn Reynolds, Obi’s Sister, Right Truth, Gold-Plated Witch on Wheels, Chicago Ray, Ace of Spades HQ, Natalie's Blog. Ann Althouse, Pirate's Cove, and Diminished Expectations.

Unmanned Drones and Human Tolerance

From London's Telegraph yesterday, "Unmanned Drones Could Be Banned, Says Senior Judge."

My friend Steven Givler provides a miltary analysis and critique, "'Use of Drones Intolerable,' According to British Judge" :

Death From Above

We're at work. We're standing, eyes glued to one of the screens on the wall above us. Different images flicker elsewhere on the wall, but the one we're interested is grainy black and white video, transmitted live. We're watching because an indicator on the screen says the operator has designated a target. A moment later we get the word - a weapon has been released. Someone is about to die.

This scene has repeated itself many times over the last few days. It's one of few experiences that I've found is not diminished by repetition.

Am I remorseful? Do I feel for the men who, in a matter of seconds, will cease to exist? The place in my heart that would be occupied by remorse is scarred by images of a hostage slaughter house. The part of my mind that might harbor compassion is imagining a makeshift video studio, where Al Jazeera cameramen drank tea to the sounds of innocents' life blood gurgling in their windpipes.

The people we watch die are blissfully unaware. What are they discussing on that street corner? What is he thinking as he drives that car? Do they, for the split second before impact, wonder at the sound of wind, rushing over the stubby wings of the warhead? Even if they do - even if they hear the missile, homing inexorably from a vehicle so far away they never saw it, their brief shock is nothing to me. The searing flash, the concussion that separates their body from their soul bothers me not a bit. It is merciful.

It is not the weeks or months-long separation from friends and family, being held like livestock for a bargain that will never be struck. It is not the desperate sickness that invades the heart, knowing you will never see your family again. It is not the terror of knowing your captors consider you most valuable when your head is severed, dangling from their bloody fist in a television commercial for evil. It is not the grinding by of countless hours of loneliness and fear.

It is quick. It is better than they deserve. Far from regret, I am grimly satisfied at my role in this process.

Maybe it shocks you that I can appreciate beauty, love my family, and calmly contemplate killing men. It shouldn't. The understanding of good and evil and the willingness to act in the differentiation between them is fundamental to those more appealing characteristics.

I'm still me.

The full essay at the link.

Steven is a Major with the United States Air Force, and an Assistant Air Attache at the U.S. Embassy, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Thanks to Steven and all of our men and women who fight for us everday.

Obama U.S.-Russia Nuke Partnership Belies 'Realist' Foreign Policy Creds

We've heard much applause of late for "Obama's Realism on Iran."

Stephen Walt, perhaps our most important contemporary realist scholar, recently praised President Obama's "measured tone" on Iran as "sensible."

Daniel Larison, whose foreign policy I recently critiqued, adds this:

Obama does seem to understand that foreign policy is a matter of state interests, and that Iran and America have some shared interests regardless of the shape of the government in Tehran. His foremost responsibility is to secure American interests, and reasonably enough this involves rapprochement with Iran, so you’d better believe that he is not going to put the cause of Mousavi ahead of that of the United States.

It's unfortunate, but from my perspective the current rage for a realist orientation to foreign affairs is simply a cover for those inclined to pacifist isolationism (with sprinklings of Israel-bashing for good measure). This new realism is adopted to "provide academic cover to a postmodern epistemology of appeasement and weakness."

I'm a student of realism as well. I've always loved the theory's parsimonious rationalism. We've seen the paradigm expand in the last couple of decades to include all kinds of emendations and offshoots, but the fundamentals of practical realism endure.

I'm thinking about this in reading Henry Kissinger's interview at Der Spiegel, "Obama Is Like a Chess Player." To Kissenger, one of the 20th century's greatest realist policymakers, President Obama is less the realist than a potential Wilsonian idealist. And hence, his foreign policy could promote the same crises and disasters that the country saw in earlier decades of international politics. Here's Kissinger on Obama's current moves in world politics:

SPIEGEL: Do you think it was helpful for Obama to deliver a speech to the Islamic world in Cairo? Or has he created a lot of illusions about what politics can deliver?

Kissinger: Obama is like a chess player who is playing simultaneous chess and has opened his game with an unusual opening. Now he's got to play his hand as he plays his various counterparts. We haven't gotten beyond the opening game move yet. I have no quarrel with the opening move.

SPIEGEL: But is what we have seen so far from him truly realpolitik?

Kissinger: It is also too early to say that. If what he wants to do is convey to the Islamic world that America has an open attitude to dialogue and is not determined on physical confrontation as its only strategy, then it can play a very useful role. If it were to be continued on the belief that every crisis can be managed by a philosophical speech, then he will run into Wilsonian problems.

Well, if Cairo was Obama's "first move," it's not in Iran where we can measure the administration's foreign policy acumen. It's in Russia. And it's there where we're seeing Obama running into those "Wilsonian problems" of which Kissinger warns.

President Obama is now wrapping up this week's U.S.-Russia summit. He signed yesterday, with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, a rough draft of a new nuclear arms-control treaty. In a speech today, the President said:

America wants a strong, peaceful, and prosperous Russia. This belief is rooted in our respect for the Russian people, and a shared history between our nations that goes beyond competition ....

So as we honor this past, we also recognize the future benefit that will come from a strong and vibrant Russia. Think of the issues that will define your lives: security from nuclear weapons and extremism; access to markets and opportunity; health and the environment; an international system that protects sovereignty and human rights, while promoting stability and prosperity. These challenges demand global partnership, and that partnership will be stronger if Russia occupies its rightful place as a great power.

Yet unfortunately, there is sometimes a sense that old assumptions must prevail, old ways of thinking; a conception of power that is rooted in the past rather than in the future. There is the 20th century view that the United States and Russia are destined to be antagonists, and that a strong Russia or a strong America can only assert themselves in opposition to one another. And there is a 19th century view that we are destined to vie for spheres of influence, and that great powers must forge competing blocs to balance one another.

These assumptions are wrong. In 2009, a great power does not show strength by dominating or demonizing other countries. The days when empires could treat sovereign states as pieces on a chess board are over. As I said in Cairo, given our independence, any world order that -- given our interdependence, any world order that tries to elevate one nation or one group of people over another will inevitably fail. The pursuit of power is no longer a zero-sum game -- progress must be shared.

That's why I have called for a "reset" in relations between the United States and Russia. This must be more than a fresh start between the Kremlin and the White House -- though that is important and I've had excellent discussions with both your President and your Prime Minister. It must be a sustained effort among the American and Russian people to identify mutual interests, and expand dialogue and cooperation that can pave the way to progress.

In both words and tone, the president's speech evinces the same Wilsonianism that led to the disastrous institutional paralysis of the interwar era. It is the same kind of happy talk that we might find in the text of the Kellogg-Briand Pact. And for President Obama, this is not the talk of a president seeking to increase a momentary burst of bilateral comity and opportunity. It's not a Reykjavik moment marking a great thaw in decades of Cold War hostility, paving the way for a epochal change in the international system. We're at no crossroads to the end of great power competition. No, with this administration's strategic moves in Moscow, we're seeing the beginning implementation of Barack Obama's plan for a nuclear-free world.

Recall the New York Times article published over the weekend, "Obama’s Youth Shaped His Nuclear-Free Vision." According to the piece, President Obama ...

... has begun pushing for new global rules, treaties and alliances that he insists can establish a nuclear-free world ....

.... no previous American president has set out a step-by-step agenda for the eventual elimination of nuclear arms. Mr. Obama is starting relatively small, using a visit to Russia that starts Monday to advance an intense negotiation, with a treaty deadline of the year’s end, to reduce the arsenals of the nuclear superpowers to roughly 1,500 warheads each, from about 2,200 ....

But reducing arsenals, he insisted, would be the first step toward giving the United States and a growing body of allies the power to remake the nuclear world.

It's extremely difficult for me to fathom how anyone can praise the adminstration's quest for universal disarmament as "realist." As any student of international politics will tell you, there are no permanent friends or enemies in foreign policy, only permanent interests. In one of the seminal pieces of literature from last three decades, Joseph Grieco hammered neo-institutional idealism in world politics. He noted that "the fundamental goal of states in any relationship is to prevent others from achieving advances in their relative capabilities." Indeed, states cannot be indifferent to changes in the relative material position of their potential adversaries. Even if mutual understandings toward armament reductions produce absolute gains, who actually gains more? As long as internatioanal anarchy holds, one actor may take advantage of a gap in relative capabilities to seek advantage and ultimately enslave those states now newly disadvantaged.

Moreover, the goal of a nuclear-free international system is sheer fantasy. As Kenneth Adelman remarked recently, "If they’re dreaming of a world with no nukes, why not one of no war? Peace on earth, everywhere, forevermore."

And here's Ralph Peters on Obama's new preliminary arms control agreement:

PRESIDENT Obama went to Moscow desperate for the appearance of a foreign-policy success. He got that illusion -- at a substantial cost to America's security.

The series of signing ceremonies in a grand Kremlin hall and the litany of agreements, accords and frameworks implied that the United States benefited from all the fuss. We didn't.

We got nothing of real importance ....

President Obama even expressed an interest in further nuclear-weapons cuts. Peace in our time, ladies and gentlemen, peace in our time . . .

We just agreed to the disarmament position of the American Communist Party of the 1950s.

This discussion puts the lie to all of the fawning accolades for Barack Obama's careful restraint and keen discernment of American national interests.

The fact is that this president is selling out U.S. national security. This is not surprising, of course: "For the first time in US history, we have a president who hates his own country. A president who is on the side of America's enemies, not on the side of America."

See also, Atlas Shrugs, "Media Laps Up Obama's Weak and Hopelessly Naive Capitulation to Russia." See also, Memeorandum.

The Coming Second American Revolution?

From Mark Di Ionno, "Growing Numbers at Anti-Tax 'Tea Parties' Shows a Fed Up Public":

When historians track the beginnings of the second American Revolution, their search will take them to Morristown, N.J., just like the first time.

And like the first, it will have started with a tax revolt, and anger at an unresponsive government.

Something is happening in this country. And it would be not only arrogant, but unwise, for our elected officials to ignore it.

In the past, movements like the July 4 national Tea Parties were usually sparsely populated by libertarians, radicals and reactionaries. This movement has them too, but with a whole lot more regular folks. The crowd Saturday at Morristown Green was sizable and made up of the put-upon American middle class. Instead of pitchforks and muskets, they were armed with signs, that if nothing else, show many still believe in the visions of the Founding Fathers ....

The Tea Party movement is becoming a national phenomenon. They started locally, in a few cities in a few states, just this year. But the idea is spreading as fast as the internet can take it. On April 15, tax day, there were 750 across the country. For July 4, there were 1,505. Now, a Sept. 12 taxpayer march on Washington is being planned. The number of local organizers running Tea Party groups has swelled to well over 2,000 throughout the 50 states. These could soon be the grassroots seeds of a third political party, one designed to reform government, and bring it back to basics.

Also, from Dr. Jack Wheeler at Atlas Shrugs, "The Coming Second American Revolution":

Clearly, we are no longer living in a world of normal reality. For the first time in US history, we have a president who hates his own country. A president who is on the side of America's enemies, not on the side of America ...

We have a media who reveres and worships as a demi-god a president who hates his, and their, country.

We have a government spending trillions of dollars it does not have in a seemingly determined effort to destroy everyone's life savings via inflation.

We have a Congress that passes the largest tax increase in the history of the world (literally) via a 1,300 page Climate Bill that no one has read and based on utterly fraudulent science.

We have a governor who goes so around the bend that he trashes his wife, four children, his career and life for some broad in Argentina.

We have a people who go completely bananas with grief over the suicide of a washed-up pedophilic fruitcake ex-rock star.

This is societal quantum weirdness, a dissociation from normal reality, of which additional examples could be endlessly provided. Yet extreme, unhinged, over-the-top weirdness is normally what you get when you get close to a tipping point, close to the bursting of a bubble.

Madnesses of crowds are most often economic, such as the dotcom craze or the housing bubble. A lot of folks lose a lot of money, and that's it. But when such a madness pervades an entire society, the consequences can be far more dramatic. Such a madness is often the runup to a revolution.

Revolutions are chaotic, dangerous things. We were blessed-by-Providence lucky in our first one in 1776. We got freedom and George Washington, while the French with theirs in 1789 got the guillotine and Napoleon. Which will we get in the coming Second American Revolution?

More at the link.

Added: From Heidi at Big Girl Pants, "Power Is Not a Means, It is an End. A Parable For Today."

Los Angeles Braces for Jackson Rioting: House Resolution Honors 'King of Pop'; Irony as Staples Welcomes Ringling Bros. Circus!

You heard it here first, in any case, but here's this: "Los Angeles Police Department Assistant Chief Jim MCDonnell insists Jackson fans will get no sympathy from officers, who fear the crowds could turn violent." Also, from the Los Angeles Times, "Staples Center at Core of Wide Security Cordon in Downtown L.A."

Plus, from KABC-TV Los Angeles, "Fans to Say Goodbye to Michael Jackson":

There's some congressional action as well: The Hill has the "Full text of Michael Jackson resolution." But Representative Peter King picked the wrong time to ask, "Would you leave your children alone with Michael Jackson?" And Jackson fans are a ready political constituency: "Michael Jackson Fans Raise Money To Defeat Peter King."

And if that's not enough:

Los Angeles city officials, burdened with a budget gap of half a billion dollars, said on Monday they were worried about the public cost of controlling the big crowd expected at the memorial for pop star Michael Jackson.

City Councilman Dennis Zine estimates the city could face $2.5 million in police and other expenses for the event on Tuesday at a downtown sports arena.

"Michael was a phenomenal entertainer, but why should the taxpayers of Los Angeles pick up this extremely high tab for security?" Zine told Reuters.

See also, "Tab on memorial running high in Los Angeles: City officials looks to Jackson's corporate connections to help foot bill."

An interesting side note, "Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey starts a run at Staples Center on Wednesday. In the predawn hours before Jackson's memorial, the elephants will walk from the train station to the arena."

Here's the television listings:

PRE-MEMORIAL SERVICE

6 a.m. "American Morning" (CNN) kicks off with Kiran Chetry in Los Angeles.

7 a.m. "The Early Show" (CBS) with Maggie Rodriguez and Harry Smith joins in from the Staples Center, and so does Meredith Vieira on "Today" (NBC).

11 a.m. MSNBC has Chris Jansing reporting live.

12 p.m. MTV and VH1 air a collection of Jackson's greatest hits and interviews; Shepard Smith starts coverage on Fox News Channel; BET begins "Forever the King: Memorial to Michael Jackson" with celebrity guest interviews; Anderson Cooper, Larry King, Don Lemon and Soledad O'Brien are on CNN; "The Bachelor" host Chris Harris anchors on TV Guide.

MEMORIAL SERVICE

1 p.m. The service at the Staples Center has no end time, but some are projecting 2:30 p.m.; networks and channels airing the service include ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, CNN, CNN Headline News, Fox News Channel, E!, TV Guide, TV One, MTV, VH1, VH1 Classic, VH1 Soul, Telemundo and Univision.

POST-MEMORIAL SERVICE

6:30 p.m. "CBS Evening News With Katie Couric" has coverage, as does "Nightly News With Brian Williams" (NBC).

9 p.m. "20/20" (ABC) has a special edition hosted by Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters.

10 p.m. "Primetime: Family Secrets" (ABC) focuses on the custody battle over Jackson's children with Debbie Rowe; "On the Record with Greta Van Susteren" (Fox News Channel) reports from Los Angeles; Lester Holt reports on "Dateline" with reaction from fans.

Check back here for potential riot coverage.

Political Science at LBCC: Training the Next Generation of Leaders

"I love it - slouching behind his keyboard in his junior college office, hurling threats like some 1930's tough guy in a bar fight. Well, I guess that's all it takes to be a conservative intellectual."

**********

Readers might recall my post from a couple of months back: "You're a Professor, Really?"

In addition to the "I can't believe you're a professor" slur, I also get put down as "he's only a junior college professor." TBogg at Firedoglake perfected it into snark, with "JuCo Toynbee." The comment at top is from radical leftist Green Eagle, who joined the attackers during my recent go-'round at Brain Rage.

But as I've noted many times, when the leftists slam community college professors, it's a particularly good indicator of their indifference to students of lower socio-economic status. Actually, leftists are all about radical power (and not about not caring, citizenship, and community-building). You'd think leftists would be the first to respect those who work with the disadvantaged. But it's generally not the case. The "junior college" repudiation is a dime-a-dozen during the online debates.

It's funny too. There's really no better place for someone to truly experience our incredible diversity than on the average community college campus: In almost ten years, I've had battered women come to me seeking help and personal counseling. I've mentored women making the transition from welfare to work, as part of my college's workforce development programs. As the Long Beach Press-Telegram reported, "The college serves about 530 such students per semester and has the capacity to serve 1,500 per year." A couple of summers ago, I had a rebellious classroom. It was a difficult situation. A lot of students were unruly, and management was an issue. A student came to my office to share her thoughts. She felt for me. She was a black woman who had lost her daughter to violence. Her baby was strangled at five years old. She was coming back to college after years of alcohol and drug abuse. Our lectures and discussions on civil rights were thrilling. She felt empowered. She was happy to be clean and getting back on track. I almost cried after hearing her story. And she was only unusual in that she openly shared her experiences with me. Lord knows how many of the other stories of hardship and trauma that I've never heard about.

Our demographics are as diverse as anywhere in the country. A 2001 study found Long Beach to be the nation's most diverse city "in a ranking of the 65 biggest cities in the United States." And a U.S. Census report in 2004 found "that a roughly 13-square-mile area of southern Los Angeles County from North Long Beach to Bellflower to Artesia is among the most linguistically varied swaths of territory in the nation." It's not unusual, during classroom discussions on immigration reform, for students to regale first-hand stories on the entrenched poverty and socio-economic islolation found in the region's unassimilated ethnic enclaves.

I'm getting more and more veterans from our recent wars as well. I couple of semesters ago I had a student who did two tours in Iraq. He went back for his second tour after recoving from a grenade attack that blew off his left calf. THESE GUYS LOVE MY TEACHING. One of my former students is a regular commenter at my blog. I mentioned him previously, in my post on Glenn Beck's recent "survival scenarios" (see, "Worst Case Scenario? Preparing for Anarchy in America").

Sadly, many students come to my classes unable to read. My second year teaching I had a young woman - she looked like she could have been a sorority hottie - who could not write a single paragraph on a page. I asked her what happened. Was she getting help? She said her parents were longshoremen. She came from a Long Beach white working-class background. I sat her down in all seriousness and indicated that she was nowhere near college reading and writing ability. I made sure she was in touch with the appropriate staff on campus, so she'd have the remedial resources to help her succeed. Every now and then I get term papers from students who have obviously never written a formal report. They can't perform basic word processing functions, such as formatting double-spacing. I've had some students - of all racial backgrounds - turn in papers handwritten - and these are formal writing assignments. Not only did they not have access to a PC at home, they simply hadn't used one before.

Faculty who work with student populations like this are more than teachers. For many students, community college professors are the most highly trained people they've met. Most students don't address me as "Dr. Douglas," because they have no idea what that professional title really means; nor do they understand the kind of educational training required for the doctoral degree. It's meaningless for most entering community college students. They call me "Mr. Douglas," and that's perfectly fine, respectful even.

It's really an honor to work with such a population, and often in the daily grind of teaching I forget that. I get tired of discipline and classroom management issues, and that's not to mention the same kind of apathy and entitlement that we find in classrooms across the country, irrespective of income or race.

So I simply rejoice when I get heartwarming e-mails from students who have been accepted to university political science or graduate programs. I received an e-mail today from a student a few years back who was planning on transferring to Cal State Long Beach. But after her experience in my class, and in the classes of a number of other outstanding faculty mentors, she raised her sights on transfer to USC. She took a double major there, in political science and social policy. She contacted me in June for a letter of recommendation, and I got this in my inbox this afternoon (shared by permission):

Good Afternoon Dr. Douglas,

I hope you had a wonderful weekend. I found out last Friday that I was accepted to the Master's Program at Cal State Dominguez Hills : ) Thank you very much for writing a letter of recommendation for me. I will start the program this fall.

I am super excited and grateful to have your continued support!

These notes provide the single most rewarding moments as a community college instructor. This student worked extremely hard. When she was admitted to USC, her parents wrote a personal letter to the college adminstration and faculty mentors to thank them for helping their daughter "make it." These probably aren't the kind of stories you'd get from parents of Harvard-bound students (or Berkeley-bound super-achieving suburban high-school students, etc.).

Another student of mine is currently featured on the front of my college's webpage, at http://www.lbcc.edu/. I've uploaded the picture and copied the story below for posterity. Ashlee Redden was mentored by my colleague Paul Savoie, who is current the faculty director of the campus Honors Program. I was fortunate to have Ashlee take my American Government survey course in 2007. Ashlee also took my Introduction to World Politics course in Fall 2008. Now she's headed to UCLA for her upper division studies in political science. Ashlee wants to attend law school. She's putting herself though college, working as a waitress while attending classes in the daytime.

Ashlee's full story is below. I'm saving the entire original story from the college's website for good keeping. I'm proud of her.

I'm also proud to be teaching at Long Beach City College. I'm proud of the work that I do. And I'm proud of my dedicated colleagues.

My political science department webpage is here. I hope readers will keep this story in mind next time you hear the left's Democratic-elitists attack those "faux intellectuals" teaching at "junior college"!

**********

Long Beach City College Professor Paul Savoie considers the
LBCC Honors Program to be the ultimate lifetime warranty. "As the coordinator of the honors program, I tell my graduating students to think back to their Long Beach City College experience," said Savoie. "Throughout their time at LBCC it's an exciting dimension of their personal and educational lives, and while they all face bumps in the road, they learn how to overcome the obstacles here, so that is something they will use the rest of their lives."

Recent honors program graduate Ashlee Redden readily agrees with Savoie. "The honors program helps all of their students," she said. "The program gave us so many opportunities, and the staff and faculty were always there to help with a smile." Redden is now heading to UCLA this Fall.

More about the LBCC Honors Program If you plan to transfer to any competitive university, your first step should be to apply to the LBCC Honors Program. For over a quarter of a century, high-achieving LBCC students have flocked to the college's Honors Program for the intellectual challenge it offers. Students who complete the program earn priority consideration for admission to select public and private universities. Generous financial aid packages are available to those students who qualify based on outstanding scholastic performance and financial need. Participating private schools have set up scholarships available only to Honors transfer students who meet the selection criteria.
HONORS CLASSES
Honors courses are specifically designed to build critical and creative thinking skills through an intimate, interactive classroom experience. Students receive training in reading, writing, analysis and synthesis, boosting their readiness for success in upper division courses.
APPLICATION PROCESS
In order to enroll in Honors classes, the student is required to complete the application process. For the Spring semester, applications must be received by November 30, 2008 (before November 1, 2008, for admission decision before beginning of registration). To qualify, all students must place in English 1 (through the LBCC Assessment test), and need to meet one of the following criteria:

1. For new students, a sliding scale of grades (overall GPA) and test scores (SAT or ACT or equivalency):
   GPA SAT TOTAL* OR ACT COMPOSITE*
   4.0 800 20
   3.9 850 21
   3.8 900 22
   3.7 950 23
   3.6 1000 24
   3.5 1050 25
   3.4 1100 26
   3.3 1150 27
   3.25 1175 27
   Students who believe they are eligible for the Program based on other criteria may make an appointment to see the Honors Coordinator after filling out the application. However, students must be close to the minimum requirements based on the SAT/ACT and GPA, have excellent letters of recommendation, and offer academic evidence showing why they believe they should be allowed to enroll in the Honors Program.
2. For continuing students, 3.00 overall GPA in 12 or more Long Beach City College units (courses numbered 1- 99) or by petition through the Honors Program Office (L203A).
3. Classes are also open to honors students who are members of the Lakewood, Millikan, and Wilson High Schools' Distinguished Scholars Program, and/or are high school seniors, and have met the qualifications for the Honors Program.

To receive an application, call (562) 938-4354 or visit http://honorsprogram.lbcc.edu/application.html

Visit the Honors website at http://honorsprogram.lbcc.edu/application.html

Miliband Calls Detentions 'Unacceptable and Unjustified': Protests Will Not End in Iran, Says Mousavi; White House Caves on Israel Green Light!

The British government is speaking firmly against the actions of the Tehran regime. From the BBC, "Iran Frees Eighth Embassy Worker." Neoconservative Foreign Secretary David Miliband warns, "There is no place for this sort of intimidation or harassment":

Also, from May this year, "David Miliband 'Queries' Barack Obama's Iran Policy."

Plus, this just in from the Washington Post, "Mousavi: Iran Protests 'Will Not End'":

Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, appearing in public for the first time in nearly three weeks, vowed Monday that protests against the disputed reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "will not end" and predicted that the new government would face problems in the future because it lacks legitimacy.

And here's this from Laura Rosen at The Cable, "No Change in Iran Policy, White House Insists":

As White House and Office of the Vice President aides formed a united front against widespread media speculation about a change in policy signaled by Vice President Joseph Biden's statement on a Sunday news show that Israel is a "sovereign nation" that could "determine for itself" how to deal with threats from Iran, analysts said that Israel may be wary of any such green light in any case.

In e-mails and phone calls today, administration officials insisted that Biden's comments were neither a signal of any change in policy, nor any sort of freelancing. Asked if Biden's remarks might have been part of an intentional messaging campaign to step up pressure on Iran to negotiate over its nuclear program, officials gave an emphatic "no." But for all that, the remarks were widely seen both in Washington and abroad as a message intended less for Jerusalem than for Tehran.

Israel's "biggest nightmare" is that one day the U.S. government "‘would call it and say 'OK guys, take care of it,'" said Tel Aviv University Iran expert David Menashri in a call Monday arranged by the Israeli Policy Forum, a U.S. nonprofit organization that supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Asked by ABC's George Stephanopoulos if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was right to give Obama until the end of the year to see if engagement with Iran was succeeding before taking matters into his own hands, Biden said, "Look, Israel can determine for itself -- it's a sovereign nation -- what's in their interest and what they decide to do relative to Iran and anyone else." Repeated follow-up questions from Stephanopoulos elicited similar responses.

Some in the [Israeli] media are portraying [Biden's comments] as a 180-degree switch and as an indication that the administration is beginning to realize that 'engagement' may not work," said former Israeli Consul General to the United Nations Alon Pinkas. "That it is absolutely NOT a change, and if anything, it should be interpreted as a bad sign rather than a positive encouragement."

Biden's message "is the absolute worst-case scenario from Israel's policy-planning perspective," Pinkas elaborated. "'We will not prevent' means the U.S. will neither support nor encourage [Israeli attacks on Iran] or in other words, 'Do what you think is appropriate, but bear the consequences.'"

Although Israeli officials have expressed unending skepticism about the Obama administration's intentions to try to engage with Iran, and are often seen as chafing against Washington, Israel has conducted an intensive campaign over the past several years to make Iran's nuclear program an international rather than just an Israeli problem.
The reason, explains Georgetown University's Daniel Byman, is that Israel doesn't want to take on Iran by itself. "Militarily, this is a difficult operation," Byman said Monday, noting that Iran's nuclear program is widely dispersed, compared with Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor, which Israel struck in 1981. "This is much farther geographically, and that means planes can't loiter as long. They would [presumably] be flying over air space [in Iraq] controlled by the United States. You have to put together a strike package that's much more difficult. It also requires superb intelligence that may be lacking."

"There was no intention to change the position, and nothing the vice president said in any way indicates a change in U.S. position," said a White House official of Biden's remarks Sunday. "What he said and what [chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael] Mullen said taken together reflect our position: Israel is a sovereign nation, Israel is an ally and Israel has a right to defend itself and other countries cannot dictate how it defends itself. That being said, it would not be helpful if Israel were to act against Iran." Any interpretation that Biden's remarks signaled a change in U.S. policy is "spin," he added.

Biden did, however, strike a different tone when answering a similar question back on April 7. Asked if he were concerned that Netanyahu might strike Iranian nuclear facilities, Biden told CNN: "I don't believe Prime Minister Netanyahu would do that. I think he would be ill advised to do that."

How to account for the seeming discrepancy? "Any tonal difference is not intentional at all," the White House official said.

Did Biden coordinate with the White House to pressure Iran to respond to the still-outstanding offer of talks with Washington? Again, the answer from the White House was no.

Washington foreign-policy hands, however, were skeptical that the message was not quite deliberate ...

More at the link.

Also, Christopher Hitchens, "Did the Toppling of Saddam Hussein Lead to Recent Events in Iran?" (via Memeorandum).

See my earlier report, "Update Iran: Executions Accelerate as General Srike Looms; Protesters Plead to West, Washington Sends Conflicting Signals!"

Leftist Haters Sink to Depths as Tea Party Movement Shines

Michelle Malkin received this "hate-tweet" from Jessi Ballard:

But the big news is that the tea parties keep getting bigger and bigger. Some of Saturday's rallies were the largest this year by far.

Recall my first-hand reporting on the April 15th tea parties. The enthusiasm then was phenomenal, but we didn't see a 15,000 turnout for any one event, much less 37,000.

The July 4th events were quite a success. The leftist media and the radical netroots wish otherwise, of course. Check out the spin at the Dallas Morning News: Tea Party Protest at Southfork Ranch Falls Short of Estimated 50,000 Attendees."

Right. Harebrained leftists can only pray for a conservative implosion.

See also Michelle's post, "Video: Sen. Cornyn Gets an Earful," via Memeorandum.

Update Iran: Executions Accelerate as General Srike Looms; Protesters Plead to West, Washington Sends Conflicting Signals!

Atlas Shrugs has the latest report on the "new phase of the revolution" in Iran, "Crushing the Revolution Day 24 Iranian Revolutionary Guard Takes Control."

Also, Nice Deb's got the latest in the Tehran regime's executions, "34 More People Hanged In Iran, Many of Them Dissidents."

And we're seeing the regime adopt an increasingly belligerent line, "Iran Warns West Against Interference." Hardliners continue their propaganda efforts on the death of Neda Soltan, "Iran Police Chief Says Interpol Remarks Distorted." See also this breaking report: Reza Fiyouzat, "Consolidating the Electoral Coup in Iran."

But the opposition remains defiant. See, "Iranians Find New Ways to Keep Protests Alive." And it looks like a general strike will try to bring the country to a halt. Also, from the Times of London, "Iran Clerics Declare Election Invalid and Condemn Crackdown" (via Memeorandum).

Check Lara Setrakian's Twitter page for updates, and #IranElection. Many tweets plead for attention from the West. Also, "A Nobel Peace Prize for Twitter?"

Michael Ledeen provides some analysis, "The Storm Ahead":

The Iranian tyrant, Ali Khamenei, told his cluster of top advisers two days ago that it was time to totally shut down the protests, and he ordered that any and all demonstrators, regardless of their status, be arrested (although there is no longer room for new prisoners in Tehran’s jails; they are now using sports arenas as holding areas). He further ordered that all satellite dishes be taken down (good luck with that one; there are probably millions of them in Tehran alone). He ordered that the crackdown be done at night, to avoid all those annoying videos. By Sunday night, hundreds of new arrests had been made, including the regime’s favorite targets: students, intellectuals, and journalists.

His deadline: July 11th. He told his minions that if that were accomplished, the rest of the world would come crawling to him.

He may be right about most of the rest of the world, which has distinguished itself by its fecklessness, but he is certainly not right about his own people, who have sabotaged a major petroleum pipeline in Lurestan, and who are planning to go on strike in the next few days. I don’t know the provenance of the people who hit the pipeline (perhaps the fact that the political desk of the Tehran Times reported it is significant), but calls for strikes, building towards a big demonstration on July 9th, come from Mousavi, Karroubi and Khatami.

Mousavi got a big boost over the weekend from an important group of senior clerics in the holy city of Qom. They branded the “elections” and the new government that will shortly be sworn in, as illegitimate. This is a serious matter, leading Stanford’s Professor Abbas Milani to say “This crack in the clerical establishment, and the fact they are siding with the people and Moussavi, in my view is the most historic crack in the 30 years of the Islamic republic.” They are also explicitly siding with Mousavi, who released a detailed critique/expose of the fraud that confirmed Ahmadinezhad in office.
So Khamenei is under pressure, and he is not well equipped to deal with it. He has a serious cancer, and takes opiates to mitigate the pain. People around him are whispering that his decisions are poorly reasoned and often impulsive, and some of those close to him, including his son, are apparently issuing orders in his name. This sort of rumor is devastating for the sort of personal rule upon which the Islamic Republic rests. We’ll see in the coming days if the Mousavi forces are able to maintain and increase the pressure, and how Khamenei and his henchmen respond.

At the moment, there is evidence of some panic, as Iranian leaders are exporting their wealth.

Meanwhile, the American Government was sending conflicting signals to Tehran ....

More at the link.

Also, The Hashmonean, Obama vs The World: UK, France, Germany, Israel, Gulf States & Blogger Question Hope & Change."

Rolling updates throughout the day. Check Atlas Shrugs as well.

Where is the U.S. Ideologically?

One of the biggest netroots memes we saw after last year's election was the pushback against the idea of America as a "center-right nation." Radicals beat back against that line as if their life depended on it.

Here's this from Firedoglake, for example:

The Republicans are a hard-right party in a center-left country, which leaves them with two options: They can move left (not happening), or they can have their media friends bray about how America is a center-right nation until Obama and the Democrats move right to join them. I have a sinking feeling that that might actually work...

Here's Chris Bowers just after President Obama took office:

We have spent so long living under a government that was dominated by the right-wing of the Republican Party, that we are still having a difficult time coping with the new political reality. The right-wing is no longer the problem. The so-called "moderates" in Congress are.

Hubris, I guess?

President Obama obviously doesn't think the country's so center left (which explains his wimpiness on DADT, for example). Obama hammered the netroots hordes last week for eating their own, and Jane Hamsher responded with characteristic defiance, "Will MoveOn Cave To Obama’s Pressure?"

It's kind of funny, really. My sense is that once hardline radicals found a sympathetic Democrat in power, they thought they'd captured their own administration.

In any case, new polling data out today should help put things in perspective. Sean Trende has a full analysis at "What Emerging Progressive Majority?"

He builds on Gallup's new survey analysis out today, "Special Report: Ideologically, Where Is the U.S. Moving?"

I'll just quote the introduction. My real interest is to see the reaction on the left now that their balloon's popped:

Despite the results of the 2008 presidential election, Americans, by a 2-to-1 margin, say their political views in recent years have become more conservative rather than more liberal, 39% to 18%, with 42% saying they have not changed. While independents and Democrats most often say their views haven't changed, more members of all three major partisan groups indicate that their views have shifted to the right rather than to the left.

More on the 'Mystery of Sarah Palin'

The New York Times reports, "Legal Bills Swayed Palin, Official Says" (via Memeorandum).

That makes sense. There is no comparable episode of political demonization in recent American history.

Recall yesterday, Violet at The Reclusive Left went a long way toward capturing the left's partisan hatred of Sarah Palin (see, "Feminists and the Mystery of Sarah Palin"). Her case was objectively clear. But that didn't stop Barbara O'Brien from attempting a decidedly whacked Buddhist pop-psychology denial of Palin derangement syndrome, "Projections, Hallucinations, and Sarah Palin":

Many on the Right took offense at the assumption that she left the governorship because she was about to be hit with criminal charges. Frankly, that assumption gave her credit. It ascribed a solid, grown-up (if not pretty) reason for bailing out on the governorship. If she is not leaving for any reason other than what she gave in her speech — good luck finding a reason in that incoherent mess of a speech — then she’s a ditz. With sprinkles, whipped cream and a cherry on top.

Whether she’s “dumb” I cannot say. She probably does have considerable native intelligence or she wouldn’t have gotten as far as she got. However, she shares with our recent president George W. Bush a pathological incuriousity about the world. During the 2008 presidential campaign she revealed more than once that her knowledge of how the federal government works, including what a vice president does, barely rose to the level of “superficial” ....

As for the real Sarah Palin, she may be neither stupid nor corrupt. My suspicions are that the adulation of the extremist Right has unhinged her, and brought out the worst in her, and had she not come to the nation’s attention she would simply have been a reasonably average governor of Alaska. If I’m right, the best thing she could do for herself is to drop out of public life and try to remember who she is.

There's really not much new in that, but interesting to see the comparison to G.W. Bush. Charles Krauthammer might have some real psychiatric insight in to that.

But we do see a bit of a novel attack on Sarah Palin in Freddie deBoer's pleading economic resentment this morning. Freddie is responding to Ross Douthat's argument that "Sarah Palin represents the democratic ideal — that anyone can grow up to be a great success story without graduating from Columbia and Harvard." Freddie screams in exasperation, "are you kidding me?":

So why does Ross say it? I imagine it has to do with this strange notion that we have floating in our national consciousness, that there are cultural cues which can somehow trump the financial realities of class. Yes, there are codes that we use to vaguely stratify people that aren’t based entirely on net worth or income. But they only work alongside good old fashioned monetary elitism. Ask anyone from a fallen house of aristocracy or some previously wealthy entrepreneur laid low. The right clothes, an accent and swagger can’t actually make up for not having the coin. It’s a consistent failure of American insight, or an artifact of the hyperactive American imagination, that we suppose that values can outmuscle value. In the actual day to day work of their lives, in what they actually do and the problems they experience and what they do and don’t have to worry about, I’d wager the Palins have much more to do with some affluent liberal black family from Bedford Stuyvesent than they do an impoverished white conservative Appalachian family. Not being able to afford medicine when the baby is sick can’t be duplicated with cultural cues. Being short when property taxes come due can’t be shared due to overlapping ideology. Having to choose between the phone bill and the food bill is the kind of shared experience that creates a fraternity religious affinity can’t begin to approach. We like to pretend that it’s not true, but in this country the bottom line is the bottom line.

Actually, I really do think Ross Douthat's making primarily a cultural argument.

I mean, who can forget how many times Sarah Palin was excoriated for her working-class eduational credentials? For example, "Sarah Palin Revels in Being Unqualified," and "Sarah Palin’s College Daze." But see also, a little more broadly, "The Scariest Thing About Sarah Palin Isn't How Unqualified She Is - It's What Her Candidacy Says About America."

But, natually, Freddie deBoer represents the best in hard-left economic class warfare. Recall his comments after last month's Ricci decision on affirmative action:

I am afraid for my country. This country has a permanent black underclass; Hispanic economic mobility is not much better. Decades of affirmative action have done little to fix that. Now, we appear ready to abandon those attempts to level the playing field entirely. Of course, principles and ideals are important. But my question is open, and I apply it to the most thoughtful opponents of affirmative action and the most rabid and unthinking alike: what are the effects, for our country, of a permanent racial achievement divide? And can we reasonably expect to maintain a peaceful and just society with such a gap between the races?

It's hard to respond to that kind of utter wailing (seen in both of Freddie's essays, actually). His writing is a good indication of how enraged leftists become at a traditional woman like Sarah Palin. That resentment stems from a hatred of the rugged individualism and self-sufficiency she represents, and how she reflects the best in American conservatism.

Will Jackson Fans Riot Tuesday? Just 17,500 Tickets for 1.6 Million Fans; City Will Pick Up Security Tab! (UPDATE: Tickets on eBay)

The Los Angeles Times had this report yesterday, "L.A. Aims to Limit Jackson Crowd."

Here's this story from KABC-TV Los Angeles, "1.6M Jackson Fans Await Word on Tickets." Police are concerned. I won't be surprised if there's unrest. More at Los Angeles Times, "1.6 Million Seek Michael Jackson Memorial Tickets."

Interest is phenomenal. The event website is said to have received 500 million hits. Tickets are free. Officials are taking strict measures to prevent scalping. Along with a ticket, guests must also be wearing the red wristbands issued for registrants.

The City of Los Angeles will cover the costs for security, Los Angeles Times, "Councilwoman Says City Will Pick Up Police Costs for Michael Jackson Memorial

See also, Los Angeles Times, "Police: Michael Jackson's Family Planning Private Ceremony at Los Angeles Cemetery."

Added: "Jackson Vouchers Already Appearing on eBay: One Seller Requesting $20,000 for Passes to Tuesday’s Memorial Service."

Listings for tickets to the Michael Jackson memorial service at Los Angeles’ Staples Center on Tuesday appeared on eBay and Craigslist as soon as winners were notified on Sunday.

One eBay listing asked for a Buy It Now price of $20,000, while other prices varied. Buyers and sellers must act fast, as winners must pick up their tickets Monday at an off-site distribution center. At that time, the wristband will be placed on their wrists ...

Sarah Palin Drives Left Insane (And Even Feminists Can't Figure It Out)

Via Mememorandum, here's another Wonkette screed, "Insane Sarah Palin, Late At Night On July 4, Threatens To Sue Entire Internet, Via Twitter":

It is unwise to dwell on the past or be obsessed with an unknown future, but we should all appreciate the wonderful present — a present in which Sarah Palin is nothing more than a punchline. Because, had things gone very differently in November, this dangerous delusional numbskull would’ve been just an Ambien overdose away from the presidency.

William Jacobson gave a pretty good account of Palin derangement earlier, "It Always Has Been About Trig." But check out the Reclusive Leftist's post, "Feminists and the Mystery of Sarah Palin":

Sarah Palin is only the second woman in the history of this country to run on a major party’s presidential ticket. That alone makes her, to me, a fascinating figure worthy of serious investigation. When McCain announced Palin as his choice for VP, I immediately tried to find out as much about her as I could. I wanted to know who she was, what she believed, what her politics were. It never occurred to me that this interest would make me in any way unusual among feminists, but apparently it did. Apparently most feminists — at least the ones online — are content to just take the word of the frat boys at DailyKos or the psycho-sexists at Huffington Post. That amazes me. Aren’t you even interested in who she really is? I want to ask. She’s only the second woman on a presidential ticket in our whole fricking history!

But even weirder is what happens when you try to replace the myths with the truth. If you explain, “no, she didn’t charge rape victims,” your feminist interlocutor will come back with something else: “she’s abstinence-only!” No, you say, she’s not; and then the person comes back with, “she’s a creationist!” and so on. “She’s an uneducated moron!” Actually, Sarah Palin is not dumb at all, and based on her interviews and comments, I’d say she has a greater knowledge of evolution, global warming, and the Wisconsin glaciation in Alaska than the average citizen.

But after you’ve had a few of these myth-dispelling conversations, you start to realize that it doesn’t matter. These people don’t hate Palin because of the lies; the lies exist to justify the hate. That’s why they keep reaching and reaching for something else, until they finally get to “she winked on TV!” (And by the way: I’ve been winked at my whole life by my grandmother, aunts, and great-aunts. Who knew it was such a despicable act?)

Here's more:

I know for a fact that the feminists spreading the lies about Palin knew they were spreading lies. Not to tell tales out of school, but: they knew. They were supplied with the correct information, and they chose to lie anyway. Why?

Was it just about electing Obama? Were feminists simply willing to commit any slander necessary to elect the Chosen One? That’s a likely explanation, but here again: we’re talking about feminists. Feminists doing this — slandering a woman, and doing so in unmistakably sexist terms. After all, caricaturing Palin as a purity queen (Bible Spice, Sexy Puritan) is just the flip side of caricaturing her as a porn queen. As I’ve said before, it’s like the NAACP sponsoring a lynching. The mind boggles.

Even more mind-boggling are the attacks that don’t even bother with false claims about policy or beliefs, but just go straight for free-floating misogynistic rage. Ridiculing her hair, clothes, makeup, voice, body, womb. “Sarah Palin is a cunt” — good one! Calling her a bimbo — good one! Calling her a fucking whore — good one! Fantasizing about her being gang-raped — good one! And all this from feminists. Forget the NAACP sponsoring a lynching; this is like the NAACP ripping off their masks to reveal that they’ve been replaced by white supremacist pod people.

Yes, but why the hatred, really?

Check the link to find out!

Also, YidWithLid, "Palin Derangement Syndrome On Sunday's Talk Shows."

Neda Was Christian!

Pamela Geller is hot on this story, "IRANIAN REVOLUTION DAY 23: Neda Soltani, The Symbol of Iranian Resistance, was a Christian":

In the media's ongoing campaign to institute the agenda of the Organization of the Islamic Conference and advance Islam, it has been previously withheld from the public that Neda Soltani was a Christian ... That Neda was a Christian is ample proof that everyone in Iran who took to the streets was marching for liberty and one man one vote. How vile to imply that millions marched for the inside politicking of Islamic cleric rule. Her religion flies in the face of every cold blooded pundit who has attempted to dismiss this historic movement as simply more sharia in shades of green.

Updates at Atlas Shrugs.

More on Iran at CNN and Sundries Shack. Also, has Ahmadinejad found a sucker for negotiation in President Obama? (Hat Tip: Memeorandum.)

**********

Added: Pamela gets attacked for her Neda post. From Bruce Bartlett to Pamela in an e-mail exchange, "You are a total fucking asshole."

See, "Don't Buy His Book!"

Speculation on Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin's surprise resignation is still leading the news cycle this weekend. Check Lucianne, Memeorandum, and RealClearPolitics for news and analysis. Also, the Washington Post, "Weary Palin Sought to Regain Control."

Plus, C. Edmund Wright, "Palin v. Pundits," and Conservatives for Sarah Palin, "Reactions Round-up." Rush Limbaugh's comments on Palin are at Radio Equalizer, "EXCLUSIVE: Rush Limbaugh Breaks Silence Over Palin Resignation" (via Memeorandum). Also, Governor Palin hits back against her attackers, "It's On!... Palin's Legal Counsel Threatens to Sue Liberal Blogs & State-Run Media For Slander."

Recall yesterday at The Fix, "Palin's 2012 Two-Step." Chris Cillizza argued that it's virtually assured that Palin will make a run for the 2012 GOP nomination. Non-stop excitement, no doubt, and my sense is that she'll remain competitive despite predictions that her resignation was a career-killer. Indeed, see John Batchelor, "How Palin's Resignation Makes Her the True Frontrunner." And Dan Riehl says, "Here Comes Sarah!"

But check Adam Graham, at Pajamas Media, "2012: Myths and Misconceptions."

Personally, I'm happy no matter what Sarah Palin does, as long as she keeps her pledge to seek change from the outside (which is a pledge not to retire from politics altogether). Recall my initial theory, however, as the news broke: I suggested that 2016 was Palin's best shot, "today we might have seen Palin's 'you won't have Sarah Palin to kick around' moment. If she stays on the sidelines in '12 AND if Barack Obama is reelected to a second term, look for Sarah Palin to be the prohibitive frontrunner in 2016."

Compare that to Johanna Neuman's post, "Palin's Resignation Speech Has Shades of Nixon's 1962 Concession Address":

... Palin's hastily announced press conference also had all the earmarks of Richard Nixon's famous concession speech in 1962, after he lost the campaign for California governor to Democrat Pat Brown. Nixon's rant was also a last-minute affair. Reporters had been told that Nixon -- a former congressman and senator who served as Dwight D. Eisenhower's vice president from 1952 to 1960 and lost the 1960 presidential race to John F. Kennedy -- would not be making a public appearance.

Instead, Nixon surprised even his staff by taking the microphone and, at the end of a long, rambling, 16-minute discourse on national and state politics, he dramatically left the stage.

I leave you gentleman now and you will write it. You will interpret it. That's your right. But as I leave you I want you to know — just think how much you're going to be missing. You won't have Nixon to kick around any more, because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference and it will be one in which I have welcomed the opportunity to test wits with you.

Like Nixon, Palin seemed fraught with emotion. Like Nixon, she seemed angry at her critics ....

Of course to the surprise of his detractors, Nixon recovered. He spent the next six years stumping the country, piling up chits from grateful politicians who benefited from his endorsements, chits he cashed in during his successful 1968 run for the presidency.

For electoral reasons, I like Palin in 2016 better than 2012; and as we can see, that scenario certainly has historical precedent.

**********

Added: And the Los Angeles Times might be reading my blog!

Los Angeles Times: Tea Parties are 'Un-American'

Glenn Reynolds has posted rolling updates with pictures and links to tea party blogging from around the country. His latest update is here. But see his post yesterday as well, "READERS ARE SENDING PHOTOS," and the reactions at Memeorandum.

Some of the demonstrations have been massive. Recall that 15,000 attended yesterday's rallin in Tulare. Dallas also threw a huge tea party, with an estimated 5,000 people in attendance. See Nice Deb as well, "Kansas City 4th Of July Tea Party Pictures," and "Kansas City 4th Of July Tea Party Pictures, Part 2." Plus, This Ain't Hell features a nice roundup as well, "July 4th Tea Party News."

Outside some of the local new stations, there's little coverage of the events in the mainstream national dailies. As David Weigel noted earlier, "Tea Party Movement Loses Steam."

The Los Angeles Times did get a chance to attack everyday citizens as "un-American." These are people who took time away from their July 4th community and family events to protest the oppressive Obama administration in Washington. Columnist Chris Erskine spends most of his essay ridiculing local speakers as circus clowns, but he can't resist the radical smear:

It's not like Americans don't have cause for concern. The day before, the state of California began issuing IOUs. Suddenly, California seems one rusty tank from becoming a banana republic.

Thing is, we're all slicing the ham a little thinner these days -- Republicans and Democrats. Many of us, the ones who are working, don't know how long the job is going to last.

Folks without work have it far worse. They look at the calendar and wonder when . . . when will the phone ring? . . . when can I sleep through the night again without being eaten alive by worry?

Have you looked at a dollar bill lately? George Washington is weeping.

In such a climate, it strikes me as . . . well, almost un-American to be griping so vehemently about helping those less fortunate. Were this a war, we'd all dig a little deeper to buy guns and battleships.

It's not quite Janeane Garafolo (who no-showed at yesterday's Dallas tea party). But it's pretty disgusting in any case.

Tea party rallies "were planned for nearly 1,500 cities." Calling regular folks and activists "un-American" on Independence day is just plain bad form.

Check Instapundit for more. Also, Atlas Shrugs, "Tea Parties Nationwide! GO AMERICA!," Urban Grounds, "Austin Independence Tea Party Ruined by Politicians."

Noxious Anti-Americanism and New Secessionist Theories

You're the biggest coward in the blogosphere. That delete key is the only thing you got going for you, and you know it.

The e-mail came yesterday. It's from Mike Tuggle ("Old Rebel") of the secessionist Rebellion-Dixienet blog. Old Rebel cross-posts at Conservative Heritage Times; his essay, "What was America?, discusses his current anger.

Considering my penchant for long and unproductive flame wars, I'm probably more a glutton for punishment than a coward!

Anyway, I'm indulging Old Rebel here as part of a broader analysis of hate-based secessionism and its surprising links to the "liberaltarian" post-conservative movement. I've ignored the secessionists - and thus Old Rebel - because these people are noxious fringe elements. Yeah, I deleted Old Soldier because I consider him an annoying troll and anti-American whose movement is in bed with the worst of the radical left BDS troop-hating contingents (literally, as it turns out). The occasion for yesterday's slur quoted at top was my deleting of his comment at my post, "July 4th: More Than Just an American Holiday..." That essay cites Willliam Bennett at the Wall Street Journal, where Bennett quotes Abraham Lincoln on the Declaration of Independence. Recall that the secessionists hate Lincoln. Old Rebel probably has a poster of John Wilkes Booth in his office.

Its straightforward to me, but Lincoln-bashing and talk of secession is fringe material. When Rick Perry made his recent gaffe on secession I ignored it as intemperate red meat for his Texas electoral base. There's nothing wrong with federalist devolution and greater reliance on the 10th Amendment. But outright secessionist talk will get you nowhere in national politics. And that's why folks like Old Rebel, and the paleoconservatives at Pat Buchanan's flagship American Conservative, are marginal at best.

That said, note that Ilya Somin, at Volokh Conspiracy, made an interesting argument about the new secessionism yesterday, "The Declaration of Independence and the Case for Non-Ethnic Secession":

One of the striking differences between the American Revolution and most modern independence movements is that the former was not based on ethnic or nationalistic justifications. Nowhere does the Declaration state that Americans have a right to independence because they are a distinct "people" or culture. They couldn't assert any such claim because the majority of the American population consisted of members of the same ethnic groups (English and Scots) as the majority of Britons.

Rather, the justification for American independence was the need to escape oppression by the British government - the "repeated injuries and usurpations" enumerated in the text - and to establish a government that would more fully protect the rights to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." The very same rationale for independence could just as easily have been used to justify secession by, say, the City of London, which was more heavily taxed and politically oppressed than the American colonies were. Indeed, the Declaration suggests that secession or revolution is justified "whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends" [emphasis added]. The implication is that the case for independence is entirely distinct from any nationalistic or ethnic considerations.

By contrast, modern international law, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights assigns a right of "self-determination" only to "peoples," usually understood to mean groups with a distinctive common culture and ethnicity. If the American Revolution was justified, the ICCPR's approach is probably wrong. At the very least, secession should also be considered permissible where undertaken to escape repression by the preexisting central government ....

The case for allowing non-ethnic secession in cases where it is used to escape brutal repression strikes me as overwhelming. More controversial is the case for allowing it in situations where a group seeks to secede merely because they believe they can establish a better government than the status quo, even if the latter is not unusually oppressive ... For now, I will only suggest that the example of the American Revolution and other similar situations provides a strong argument for allowing non-ethnic secession in cases where it is used to escape a repressive central government.

Somin's discussion raises two questions for Old Rebel and the new secessionists: The first is whether the current U.S. governmental regime is so repressive as to justify secession. Somin notes that Taiwan's independence from China is easily justified in light of the Beijing regime's slaughter of millions of its own people. That's not the case in the U.S., and never has been. Thus the degree of repression is vital to the discussion, and normative opinion on support for the constitutional regime in the U.S. weighs heavily against Old Rebel's movement (and helps explains why these folks are truly fringe).

The second is the racial "ethnic" component. Are the new secessionist motivated by race? It's always a touchy question, since slavery and states' rights were the twin issues breaking the country in two in the 19th century. For the new secessionists, we simply need to note that the same people who are arguing for secession today are associated with some of the vile anti-Semitics in current debates U.S. policy at home and abroad. See, for example, Peter Wehner, "Pat Buchanan’s Latest anti-Semitic Outburst"; Ron Radosh, "Pat Buchanan: Still an anti-Semite"; and Joshua Muravchik, "Patrick J. Buchanan and the Jews." It's hard not to be wary of these paleocon secessionists when they continue to be flagged as propagating the most disgusting ideologies of hatred.

Indeed, one reason Old Rebel is so fired up at this blog is because I've been hammering Daniel Larison of the American Conservative (see Daniel Larison, 'Prefab Conservative'). My primary issue is Larison's endless jihad against the "evil" neocons. But it's also a matter of ridicule for his alliance with the Andrew Sullivan myrimidons at Ordinary Gentlemen. I've identified these folks as "neoclassicons." That may be too generous a term, especially if deep down this alliance is really composed of unpatriotic racists and anti-Semitics. Note that if we recall that American democracy promotion abroad does indeed support the interests of both Jews and non-white Third World populations, then the paleocon hatred of robust internationalism is all that more understandable.

Daniel Larison, for example, wrote a post in January called "My “Noxious” Views." There he defends himself against Jamie Kirchick's essay, "Ron Paul’s Real Politics: The Case of Daniel Larison." But note that Larison posted a 4th of July essay yesterday that gives us an insightful take on how awful these people are. At that piece Larison links to an attack on Ruben Navarette, Jr. Check the post for the details, but Larison's completely extraneous discussion of Navarette's immigrant background is a sure giveway to his repudiation of neocons as outside the paleocon ethnic sensibility:

Perhaps this is a problem that third-generation Americans like Mr. Navarette and even more recent arrivals have: lacking anything more substantial to connect them to their country and their national identity, they must latch on to the superficial loyalties of support for this or that government endeavour.

Reference to Rubin Navarette's "third-generation" status is completely irrelevant to a discussion of his ideas. But for Larison and paleocon America-bashers like him, it's a revealing indicator again that at base, the new secessionists may indeed be anti-Semitic white supremacists. If so, their views are rightly condemned as being not just wrong, but reprehensible.

*********

ADDENDUM: I have some other good blogger friends who have travelled at the edges of the same ideological circles (and the League of the South). But I see clear differences in that these people are smart, consistent, and they don't hate - they don't hate minorities and they don't hate Israel. From my perspective, the new secessionism is noxious. Forget such talk and strengthen the national government with Goldwater/"Core-Values" conservatism, which includes a central stand for a robust national security policy of moral clarity and exceptionalism.

And for me, this is what the new secessionism would imply, from the Wall Street Journal, "Divided We Stand":

A notable prophet for a coming age of smallness was the diplomat and historian George Kennan, a steward of the American Century with an uncanny ability to see past the seemingly-frozen geopolitical arrangements of the day. Kennan always believed that Soviet power would “run its course,” as he predicted back in 1951, just as the Cold War was getting under way, and again shortly after the Soviet Union collapsed, he suggested that a similar fate might await the United States. America has become a “monster country,” afflicted by a swollen bureaucracy and “the hubris of inordinate size,” he wrote in his 1993 book, “Around the Cragged Hill: A Personal and Political Philosophy.” Things might work better, he suggested, if the nation was “decentralized into something like a dozen constituent republics, absorbing not only the powers of the existing states but a considerable part of those of the present federal establishment.”

Kennan’s genius was to foresee that matters might take on an organic, a bottom-up, life of their own, especially in a society as dynamic and as creative as America. His spirit, the spirit of an anti-federalist modernist, can be glimpsed in an intriguing “mega-region” initiative encompassing greater San Diego County, next-door Imperial County and, to the immediate south of the U.S. border, Northern Baja, Mexico. Elected officials representing all three participating areas recently unveiled “Cali Baja, a Bi-National Mega-Region,” as the “international marketing brand” for the project.

The idea is to create a global economic powerhouse by combining San Diego’s proven abilities in scientific research and development with Imperial County’s abundance of inexpensive land and availability of water rights and Northern Baja’s manufacturing base, low labor costs and ability to supply the San Diego area with electricity during peak-use terms. Bilingualism, too, is a key—with the aim for all children on both sides of the border to be fluent in both English and Spanish. The project director is Christina Luhn, a Kansas native, historian and former staffer on the National Security Council in Ronald Reagan’s White House in the mid-1980s. Contemporary America as a unit of governance may be too big, even the perpetually-troubled state of California may be too big, she told me, by way of saying that the political and economic future may belong to the megaregions of the planet. Her conviction is that large systems tend not to endure—“they break apart, there’s chaos, and at some point, new things form,” she said.

I don't need a "Cali-Baja." We practically have that already in California, where roughly one-third of the population is Latino and leading left-wing organzations like La Raza continue their work to destroy the United States. It's interesting, though, that we are seeing a de facto alliance between racist interest groups like La Raza an the unpatriotic anti-Semitic paleocons who truly hate America.

Freedom Is Not Free: Two U.S. Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan; David Masters Tweets, 'They Killed My Son'

A wonderful day ends on a sad note.

Via Michelle Malkin, "Thank you, Aaron: A U.S. Soldier’s Sacrifice on Independence Day":

Got back to my hotel after a wonderful time at the Dallas Tea Party only to read of a father’s heartbreak.

David M. Masters passed along devastating news on Twitter this evening that his son, Aaron, was one of two American soldiers killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan today.

His message:

David Masters posted a new tweet:

Thank you all so much for thanking Aaron, and thank you all for love and support... #thankyouaaron #1... amen.

The New York Times story is here, "2 U.S. Soldiers Killed in Taliban Attack."

Please join me in saying a prayer for David Masters.

And God Bless our U.S. service personnel. Thank you for staking your lives for the preservation of freedom. All Americans shared that bounty today.

Over 15,000 at Tulare July 4th Tea Party; Patriots Nationwide Protest Obamanation; Thunderous Crowd Greets G.W. Bush in Oklahoma!

Big tea parties across the country today, and check this out: "Over 15,000 attend Freedom Rally Tea Party in Tulare."

Here's the report from KFSN-TV/DT Fresno, "Tea Time in Tulare: Thousands Angered About Taxes."

Gateway Pundit reports on the St. Louis tea party,"1,500 Turn Out At St. Louis-Washington Missouri Independence Day Tea Party Rally." Also, "Thunderous Applause Greets Bush in Oklahoma - 6 Standing Ovations."

Glenn Reynolds is getting busy with tea party pictures and links from around the country.

The first shot is from The Blog Prof, "Reporting from the Lansing, MI Tea Party. UPDATED!":

He's got more photos at the link!

**********

This batch of pictures is courtesy of Skye at Midnight Blue, "Tea Party 3 - Independence Hall - July 4th":

Check Skye's blog from more tea party updates.

**********

This last one is from San Juan Capistrano Independence Day Tea Party, via Megan Barth on Facebook:

**********

See also, FreedomWorks, "Pictures from the July 4th DC Tea Party." Plus, Michelle Malkin, "Independence Day: America Turns 233," and Panhandle Poet, "On This 4th of July."

Dan Riehl comments:

It occurs to me that if we want the kind of future for America that many of us generally support, in a sense, we need to remember our history and celebrate it more than ever just now. In large part, it is that very history that is at the heart of today's Tea Party movement. Not that we want to take any government down, but we do want to preserve as much individual freedom as possible under our current system. It is a quest that has been at the heart of many American endeavors and fundamental to the very best of our ideals. It's time to make that which is old, freedom, new again, or risk too much of its loss forever.

Also, check Memeorandum, and CBS, "Tea Party Protests Rally Against Taxes."

********

UPDATE: From KDAF-TV Dallas, "Thousands Attend America's Tea Party Protest at Southfork Ranch"

Celebrating Independence Day for one group means voicing their frustration with the government. Tea party rallies were held in cities across the country and one of the largest took place at Southfork Ranch near Plano.

Even the youngest generation got involved this Independence Day. They took part in America's Tea Party, a growing and conservative grass roots movement trying to put a stop to what it calls a "tax and spend" government.

"This whole thing transcends party lines. It's important for everyone to stick up for their freedom," said 18-year-old Beau Brehm of McKinney.

Sarah Palin Is Here to Stay

From Chris Cillizza, "Palin's 2012 Two-Step" ...

For those people who doubted whether the Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's (R) resignation decision yesterday was freighted with 2012 presidential implications, we present two pieces of evidence.

First, Palin released a statement on her Facebook page today that not only castigated the media for how they covered her announcement ("How sad that Washington and the media will never understand; it's about country," she wrote) but only sounded a distinctly presidential note.

Said Palin:

I am now looking ahead and how we can advance this country together with our values of less government intervention, greater energy independence, stronger national security, and much-needed fiscal restraint. I hope you will join me. Now is the time to rebuild and help our nation achieve greatness!

Those lines would fit almost perfectly into a stump speech in Iowa or New Hampshire -- two states you should expect to see Palin in sometime soon.

The second piece of evidence regarding Palin's national ambitions came later today when her private attorney -- Thomas Van Flein -- released a four-page statement seeking to quash rumors that the Alaska governor's decision to resign was motivated by ethics problems.

Read the whole thing ... but the bottom line, according to Cillizza, "Sarah Palin is here to stay -- whether you like it or not."

Well, some aren't liking it, obviously.

Check the headlines at Memeorandum, especially, "Options Abound for Palin After Alaska Governorship." But see also:

* CBS News, "Palin A “Shooting Star Crashing To Earth”?"

* Jonathan Martin, "Palin Hammers Media, Hints at National Ambitions."

* Ben Domenech, "Why Did Sarah Palin Resign? Three Possible Reasons and More."

* The New York Times, "If White House Is Her Goal, Palin's Route Is Risky ."

* Phoebe Connolly, "SARAH PALIN INSISTS YOU PAY ATTENTION TO THE INTERNET ON HOLIDAY."

* William Jacobson, "It Always Has Been About Trig."

Happy Independence Day!

From Americans for Limited Government:

The Fourth of July is a day that is usually a time when families get together for sunshine hot dogs, fun, and fireworks. Every American regardless of race, sex, income, and political party celebrates the day that the Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, spurring the start of the American Revolution.
Like many other national holidays, the meaning can often be lost in the festivities. And so it is up to each of us to, in the words of Jefferson, “Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.”

Read the whole thing (link).

Also Blogging: Political Pistachio.

Full Metal Saturday: Sarah Palin on July 4th!

Publisher's Note: I had this Sarah Palin post pre-written and already cued up for posting this morning. Now we have Governor Palin's resignation to take some of the lightheartedness away. Here goes in any case. Use this entry as an open thread on Palin on this national holiday ...

**********

What better way to celebrate Fourth of July while also sharing some link love for Full Metal Saturday? Please enjoy Governor Sarah Palin's interview with Runner's World , "I'm a Runner: Sarah Palin":

Now, check out Smitty at The Other McCain, and his link-a-palooza this morning, "Friggin' Mind Just Reset Again." And Carol at No Sheeples Here! has her weekend roundup, "Full Metal Jacket Reach-Around: Fourth of July Edition.

Chris Wysocki gets in the holiday spirit with his entry, "Rule 5 Extra: "Nearly Naked" fireworks stand controversy." Plus, Point of a Gun provides some hip-hop humor, "How Lady GaGa Was Signed." And in case you haven't check it out yet, don't miss the good stuff at Effing Conservatives, "Rachel Sklar Says, "See, We Weren't Being Assholes!"

And for a nice holiday entry, see Paco Enterprises, "A Splendid Fourth of July to One and All!," and Cold Fury post the words of Thomas Jefferson, "Now More Than Ever."

Here's some linkage for my friends. Send me your Rule 5 posts and I'll add them here ASAP.

The Western Experience, The Oklahoma Patriot, Right Wing Sparkle, Conservatism With Heart, Duck of Minerva, Wolf Howling, Right Wing Nation, Right Wing Nuthouse, Melissa Clouthier, Steve Bartin's Newsalert, ShrinkWrapped, The Average American, Paco Enterprises, Ken Davenport, Doug Ross Journal, The Blog Prof, Fausta's Blog, Clueless Emma, Obob's World, Seymour Nuts, Red State, Dr. Sanity, The Desert Glows Green, Not One Red Cent, Vinegar and Honey, Dan Collins, Scott Kingsmore, The Astute Bloggers, The BoBo Files, Grant Jones, Tapline, New Testament News, Wizbang, William Jacobson, Phyllis Chesler, Right View from the Left Coast, Generation Patriot, Macsmind, Flopping Aces, Edge's Conservative Movies, Stop the ACLU, Snooper's Report, Grandpa John's, Cranky Conservative, Jimmie Bise, Little Miss Attila, Moe Lane, Private Pigg, Pundit & Pundette, The Rhetorican, R.S. McCain, Saber Point, Stephen Kruiser, Suzanna Logan, GrEaT sAtAn'S gIrLfRiEnD, TrogloPundit, Villainous Company, PoliGazette, Prying 1, Paula in Israel, Pamela Geller, Vanessa's Blog, Pat's Daily Rants, Bob's Bar & Grill, Power Line, Melanie Morgan, Dave in Boca, Neo-Neocon, Right in a Left World, Flag Gazer, Stephen Green, The Tygrrrr Express, The News Factor, Israel Matsav, The Conservative Manifesto, Gates of Vienna, Joust The Facts, Panhandle Poet, Steven Givler, The Astute Blogger, Chris Wysocki, Moonbattery, Sweating Through the Fog, Three Beers Later, PA Pundits, Sister Toldjah, Blazing Cat Fur, The Daley Gator, Just One Minute, Dave's World, Sparks From the Anvil, Gateway Pundit, Political Pistachio, Liberty Pundit, Not One Red Cent, Right Truth, Dave's Notepad, The Red Hunter, Maggie's Farm, The Next Right, This Ain't Hell, Stop the ACLU, Politics and Critical Thinking, Riehl World View, Midnight Blue, Caroline Glick, The Griper, FouseSquawk, The Other McCain, Cheat Seeking Missiles, Roger Simon, Classical Values, Samantha Speaks, Grizzly Mama, The Capitol Tribune, The Patriot Room, The Real World, RADARSITE, Serr8d's Cutting Edge, Bloviating Zeppelin, Born Again Redneck The Educated Shoprat, St. Blogustine, Yid With Lid, Pondering Penguin, Betsy's Page, The Anchoress, Ace of Spades HQ, Right Wing Sparkle, Thunder Run, The Classic Liberal, Conservative Grapevine, Cassy Fiano, Jim Treacher, NetRightNation, Q and O, Urban Grounds, Ed Driscoll, Cold Fury, Michelle Malkin, Neptunus Lex, Neo-Neocon, The Liberty Papers, The Monkey Cage, Law and Order Teacher, Mike's America, AubreyJ, Dan Collins, Track-a-'Crat, The Jungle Hut, Wake Up America, Dan Riehl, Nikki's Blog, Big Girl Pants, Maggie's Notebook, Hummers & Cigarettes, Mark Goluskin, Jawa Report, Darleen Click, The Skepticrats, Sarge Charlie, Thoughts With Attitude, Kim Priestap, Swedish Meatballs Confidential, Five Feet of Fury, Amy Proctor, Blonde Sagacity, Liberty Papers, TigerHawk, Point of a Gun, Right Wing News, And So it Goes in Shreveport, Nice Deb, Becky Brindle, Fishersville Mike, Monique Stuart, No Sheeples Here!, Dana at CSPT, Glenn Reynolds, Obi’s Sister, Right Truth, Gold-Plated Witch on Wheels, Chicago Ray, Ace of Spades HQ, Natalie's Blog. Ann Althouse, and Pirate's Cove.

What's Next for the Blogosphere?

How much time do you put into your blogging?

I blog most of the day, depending on what's going. If it's a workday, I'll post in the morning before lectures. Read the newspapers at break, and then write something at lunch. Then I'll blog in the late afternoon and evening. In the summer, I can organize my activities around blogging. Today I'll post a couple of more times this morning, then I'll be out most of the afternoon for my family's 4th of July party. Then more tonight.

I'm thinking of this while reading Laura McKenna's piece, "The Blogosphere 2.0."

Many of the top bloggers have been absorbed into some other professional enterprise or are burnt. It's a lot of work to blog. Most bloggers, and not just the A-listers, spend 3-5 hours every day blogging. That's hard to maintain, especially since there is no money in this. They used that time to not only write their posts and monitor their comment sections, but to read and foster other bloggers. Blogging survived based on the goodwill and generosity of others. It's probably no coincidence that every blogger that I've met face-to-face is an extraordinarily nice person. But it's hard to volunteer that much time over a long period of time. The spouses tend to get annoyed.

Make sure you read the whole thing.

McKenna seems to be burned out herself, or at least she's not hip to some new trends in blogging (I'd called them elite partisan network effects). Rick Moran wrote about changing norms and practices last fall at Pajamas Media, "Blogs and the 2008 Election." Moran's main point is that political blogging is the new muckraking, with attacks and counterattacks consuming the time of most partisan bloggers:

While the nation is going through an economic crisis, trying to decide the best course of action in Iraq, and wrestling with serious questions of war, peace, and financial security, blogs as a whole are concerned with either promoting or knocking down the latest smear from their opponents. Or, even worse, trivializing the utterances of both candidates so that the elections seems more about the best way to make the opposition look bad by blowing a statement out of all sensible proportion while, at the same time, accusing the candidate of all manner of hair raising-perfidy.

Perhaps it is time to pause and ask “Is this the best blogs can do?”

I think the more appropriate question is "how can we do it better"?

Really, blogs aren't on the sidelines anymore, obviously; and hence they're by no means passé. The Obama administration plants Huffington Post bloggers at its faux town hall meetings. And the president reads top leftists bloggers to get a clue of what's happening politically. Conservative bloggers like Glenn Reynolds serve as the portal for the right wing opposition, in the tea party movement, for example.

So I hardly find much significance to this idea of the lost "glory days" of blogging (note how McKenna's "glory days" were when the Democrats were out of power).

It takes a lot of work to build a readership and reputation, as I wrote about in "How to Become a Successful Conservative Blogger." I'd warn folks not to get their expecations too high. But I think the key is to build alliances and networks. Share a lot of links and promote others in your work. Some days will be slow, and you will "burn out" a bit. But blogging will continue to be a central means of political communication in the new era of Facebook, Twitter, and the "next big thing."

Palin in 2012!

From Pamela Geller, "Palin in 2012!":

Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska announced yesterday that she is resigning and will not seek a second term as governor. Many conservatives are characterizing this as an abdication of responsibility and a failure of will. Quin Hillyer wrote in the American Spectator that "Sarah Palin's resignation is an appalling dereliction of duty and a highly cynical move to set herself up for a presidential run for which she is manifestly unqualified."

I vehemently disagree. She did not quit. From what I saw of her speech before Fox inexplicably cut it off (after seven days of wall-to-wall Michael Jackson coverage), this is not a woman who is retiring or "cutting and running," as Hillyer put it. She is getting into the fight to save America. Palin committed herself to fighting "for our state and our country, and campaign(ing) for those who believe in smaller government, free enterprise, strong national security, support for our troops and energy independence." Obama's treasonous presidency has made this struggle necessary. Palin, like all patriotic Americans, is shocked by what is happening. Obama is destroying this country. She knows it. We all know it. We need a leader.

Palin is that leader. On Friday she assumed the mantle. She delivered a campaign speech. She spoke on the eve of Independence Day about the sacrifices great Americans have made, and what our Founding Fathers fought and died for. Without naming Obama, she went after his disastrous policies, saying that "living beyond our means today is irresponsible for tomorrow," and noting that as governor she had "vetoed debt-ridden stimulus dollars." She believes in and wants to fight for free enterprise, small government and national security.

Read the whole thing at the link.

I'm still thinking 2016. And so is Victor Davis Hanson, "Writing Sarah Off."