Karl Marx and Postmodernism

It's been quite some time since I read Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto. Maybe I should read it again, or at least Walter Russell Mead thinks so, "Literary Saturday: The Communist Manifesto." What's interesting is Mead's counterfactual asking what Marx and Engels would think of today's academic postmodern Marxists:

I don’t think the various strains of academic radicalism rooted in the New Left of the 1960s would much enjoy a new edition of the Manifesto, either. Marx and Engels were unreconstructed Old Lefties who saw progressive ideology as being rooted in and concerned with the interests of the masses of the working poor. The New Left emphasis on identity, ethnicity and self-expression would fill them with contempt. The academic New Left would, I am pretty certain, appear to Marx and Engels as a new form of vile and self-indulgent petty bourgeois ideology that elevates the historical despair of a class at the end of its tether into a worldview. That ideology, rampant in the academy today, is what we sometimes call postmodernism. It’s the belief that the ‘grand narratives’ of history have collapsed, including the Marxist enlightenment of proletarian revolt and the broader Enlightenment narrative of progress. Instead of a grand social march forward into a better world, society as a whole seems stagnant. Liberation is no longer a project for society at large; it is something that small groups — cultural, ethnic, sexual minorities — achieve on their own. It is a kind of dystopian version of Frank Fukuyama’s end of history: things can’t get much better, and they aren’t very good.

Marx and Engels would, I think, excoriate this ideology of ‘tenured radicals’ and foundation staff as the attempt of petty bourgeois intellectuals to console themselves for their own political irrelevance — and to take their own ironic fate as ineffective and marginal critics in a society still dominated by the demands of a capitalist order as the inevitable fate for all mankind. The ’struggle’ to get another tenure-track position for an ethnic studies program, or to defeat a rival faction’s candidate for an academic post can be seen, sort of, as the contemporary version of the inspiring political struggles of old. One is at the barricades, even if all one ever actually does is publish technical articles in obscure journals. The continuing breakdown of academic disciplines into ever smaller and (at least in some cases) ever less relevant subspecialties reflects the wider breakdown of the social progress into the struggles of various smaller and more specialized minorities to define their identities and carve out some living space. From an old-fashioned Marxist point of view (and perhaps not only from that perspective) this looks indescribably petty and vain, especially when measured against the enormous scale of the upheavals and social explosions reshaping today’s world.

I may be missing the point completely; I’m sure that there are readers out there who could ‘unmask my ideology’ and Marxists used to say and show how my own take on the Manifesto reflects my own miserable economic interests and background. Certainly I’m not going to embrace any wild-eyed ideologies that would let the unwashed hordes past the gates of the stately Mead manor in glamorous Queens! And I’m careful to keep my copy of their collected works where the more excitable members of the grounds staff won’t see it lying around.

Mead's funny, but I think he needs to get out on the street more often. Lots of folks truly believe that we're now living crisis of capitalism foretold in the Communist Manifesto. The workers of the world are looking to throw off their chains, or at to least burn Israel to the ground. It's all about power, really. And today's academics, beyond their daily squabbles over tenure and contracts, would love to initiate massive capitalist expropriation, and they'd perhaps send a few capitalists to the camps as well. In any case, I'm looking at the Wikipedia entry for the Communist Manifesto right now, where it cites what's perhaps the most controversial passage of the book:

When, in the course of development, class distinctions have disappeared, and all production has been concentrated in the hands of a vast association of the whole nation, the public power will lose its political character. Political power, properly so called, is merely the organized power of one class for oppressing another. If the proletariat during its contest with the bourgeoisie is compelled, by the force of circumstances, to organize itself as a class, if, by means of a revolution, it makes itself the ruling class, and, as such, sweeps away by force the old conditions of production, then it will, along with these conditions, have swept away the conditions for the existence of class antagonisms and of classes generally, and will thereby have abolished its own supremacy as a class.

This is the thesis of the "withering away of the state," which is the Big Lie of communist revolutionary theory. The state will not wither away, and in fact the state will grow in inverse proportion to the immiseration of the people.

I like Walter Russell Mead. I just wonder if he spends as much time with actual Marxist revolutionary cadres as I do.

Marijuana Legalization Qualifies for November Ballot‎ in California

At the Los Angeles Times, "Initiative to Legalize Marijuana Qualifies for November ballot":

State election officials announced Wednesday that an initiative to legalize marijuana will be on the November ballot, triggering what will likely be an expensive, divisive and much-watched campaign to decide whether California will again lead the nation in softening drug laws.

Los Angeles County election officials Wednesday turned in their official estimate of the number of valid signatures, putting the statewide figure above the 433,971 needed for the measure to make the ballot. The county, where one-fifth of the signatures were collected, was the last to report its count, filing just before 5 p.m.

Polls have indicated that a majority of voters in California want marijuana legalized, but the margin is not enough to ensure the initiative will win. Two years ago, opponents defeated an attempt to relax the state's drug laws despite being outspent. "It's always easier for people to say no than to say yes for an initiative," said Mark Baldassare, the pollster for the Public Policy Institute of California. "Generally, all it takes is for people to find one reason to say no."

The initiative would allow adults 21 or older to possess up to an ounce for personal use. Possession of an ounce or less has been a misdemeanor with a $100 fine since 1975, when Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, who was then governor, signed a law that reduced tough marijuana penalties that had allowed judges to impose 10-year sentences. Legalization supporters note that misdemeanor arrests have risen dramatically in California in the last two decades. The initiative would also allow adults to grow up to 25 square feet of marijuana per residence or parcel.

But the measure, known as the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010, goes further, allowing cities and counties to adopt ordinances that would authorize the cultivation, transportation and sale of marijuana, which could be taxed to raise revenues. It's this feature of the initiative that supporters hope will draw support from voters who are watching their local governments jettison employees and programs in the midst of a severe budget crisis.

Just now heard of Frank Schubert (at the video), but he easily wins this round in the debate over decriminalization.

Raping Lady Liberty -- UPDATED!!

Check my response to Lawyers, Gays and Marriage, "Scott Eric Kaufman, Self-Hating Skankwad, Does It Again!"

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This cartoon's from No Sheeples Here! But speaking of Lady Liberty cartoons, it turns out there's a new left-wing nihilist insurgency against Darleen Click and Jeff Goldstein at Protein Wisdom. The relevant posts are here, here, and here (the latter via Memeorandum).

But what really moved me to write is Goldstein's deliciously devasating slam on SEK:

Scott is a cartoon, a hack; a clearly clueless and remarkably dishonest bracketing brackety bracketer who stands on the sidelines cheering while Lady Liberty takes it in the cornhole. This pretentious character is a lying cock, a fucking pussy, and a fucking retarded scrotumless fuck wearing a hot-pink thong, or maybe white lace boyshorts, and he would not stop a rape in progress, but would instead go home and be so turned-on he’d write a paper about it. Effete attention whores like Scott Eric Robespierre are routinely beat up by bread and, like all leftist twatwaffles lusting for power, he is a haughty apparatchik with a lisp and a pedo beard who couldn’t find cool were he to stumble pantless into a caribou orgy. He roots for the Mets and is truly a prick.

Scott Erik Kaufman's a prick, plain and simple. Jeff Goldstein's more colorful about it than I am, which makes it all the more juicy.

HBO's 'Pacific': Hung Up on Knick-Knacks and Drama

A guest essay at Thomas Ricks' blog, from Eric Hammel,"HBO’s 'Pacific': Someone Please Flush!":

Tom Hanks is an accredited war history buff, and I think he really has put his heart into paying homage to WWII vets. His heart's in the right place, but his head is in Hollywood.

Why should I be surprised a "docudrama" like The Pacific is shit? The whole effort behind the docu part is invested in toys such as gunner's gloves. I long ago boycotted documentary filmmakers who want my brand to legitimize their sorry little TV vignettes. Their objective is entertainment centered on the dramatic visual, not the intellectual, and not quite the historical. If self-professed documentarians can't get it right because they edit the talking heads to accommodate their thin film libraries, why should self-professed entertainers make a better effort, show greater concern?

Has anyone else noticed that the talking heads -- nameless, unexplained vets -- in The Pacific seem to be reading from scripts rather than dipping into memories? They merely mouth error-filled platitudes. Band of Brothers used interesting people with interesting observations. This is the worst way to exploit vets -- making them look like idiots.

It is difficult to frame this story using this set of icons. But the people behind The Pacific volunteered for this. This is their befouled vision, perhaps with the aid of a few bought historians who were probably ignored when the script -- a visual outline -- was fabricated from its many disparate parts. Their good intentions ran afoul bad toilet training; they left the seat up and neglected to flush.

RTWT at the link.

When I first heard read Tom Hanks' comments on "why we fought the Japanese" I thought I'd withhold comment until I'd seen some of the episodes. But after last Sunday's showing, the series so far seems definitely down compared to "Band of Brothers." I'm not giving up on it, but here's hoping things get a little deeper.

My earlier posts on "The Pacific" are here.

Photo Credit: American Power off Hollwood Boulevard, March 20, 2010.

Barack Obama's Humiliation of Israel

Via William Jacobson, here's Nile Gardiner, "Barack Obama's Humiliation of Israel is a Disgrace":

Israel is literally fighting for its survival on a daily basis against an array of vicious terrorist groups, from Hamas to Hizbollah, while facing a looming threat from a genocidal, nuclear-armed Iran. President Obama’s top priority in the Middle East should be preventing Iran from building a nuclear weapons programme. Instead he seems obsessed with kowtowing to America’s enemies by bashing Israel at almost every opportunity.

This is a foreign policy doctrine that is both destructive and fundamentally against the US national interest. The future security of the United States rests not upon the degree to which it can appease her enemies, but upon the strength of her enduring alliances with the rest of the free world. Israel needs Washington’s support and vice versa, not a slap in the face from a president whose idea of world leadership seems to consist largely of apologising for his country while throwing America’s friends to the wolves.

See also, Meryl Yourish, "Obama’s Full-Court Press on Israel."

Media Malpractice: News Outlets Spread Allegations of 'Conservative Hatred', Ignore Threats Against GOP and 'Tea Baggers'

At the frontpage of this morning's Los Angeles Times, "Republicans walk the line over healthcare outrage: The GOP could gain from voter anger stirred by the bill's passage, displayed by threats and vandalism." But Democrats question whether the party has crossed into reckless provocation."

Not a word there about the building extremism on the Demcoratic-left. You have to read conservative blogs for that, for example:

Allahpundit, "Caught on film: Congressman “spat on” by tea partier, sort of: Via Nice Deb and Ace, who aptly characterizes this as a 'Say It Don’t Spray It Class D Felony'."

Gateway Pundit, "MEDIA FRAUD– More Proof That the Leftist Media Lied About Racist Attacks On Black Reps While They Ignored Vulgar Attacks By Lib Politicians."

And Michelle, "How the Left fakes the hate: A primer":

I’m still on semi-vacation, but the Left never takes a break from falsely accusing the Right of fomenting hatred and violence through political speech. The MSM never takes a break from whitewashing leftist intolerance, death threats, and extremism — and engaging in selective reporting (or rather, non-reporting) of the long history of leftists’ manufacturing of hatred for political gain. My syndicated column fills in the missing context. In related developments, Glenn Reynolds takes a look at a new dubious report of rock-throwing. Erick Erickson shreds Josh Marshall’s specious incitement accusations. Patterico reports on the latest Twitter death threats against the Palin family. (Here’s a reminder about the one a Toronto Star columnist posted about me, which was laughed off by her editor and ignored by her colleagues). Here’s Mary Katharine Ham’s reminder that 7 of the 10 violent incidents during the summer town hall protests were brought to you by Obama-bots and union thugs. And in case you need a quick refresher on the routine liberal ugliness that will never be decried by the civility police, see here here here here here here here here here here here here here here here here here here here. For starters. See also: Unhinged.

And don't miss Michelle's syndicated column at the link.

A few screencaps from Democratic-lefists "Jason Brown's" Twitter page:

More at Memeorandum.

Also, at The Lonely Conservative, "Fan of Maddow and Olbermann Posts Death Threats to Palin’s Family on Twitter."

ANSWER L.A. March 20 2010: 'F**K ZIONISM!!'

More pictures from the March 20 ANSWER protest - the Democratic-left in action:

Take a close look here. Behind our hippie anti-Semitic Casbah revolutionary wannabe (stoned off his ass), you can see the "FUCK ZIONISM" sign at left:

Here's the dude's kid, passing hatred and intolerance from generation to generation:

Ringo's Pictures has more on the Jew-hatred. As for this guy and his family, "It was a mixed breed, hippie / Jew-hater, moonbat family - a mother, a father and two young moonbats all shrouded in a cloud of cannabis smoke!". See "The Annual March of the Moonbats - March 20, 2010."

I'll post more of my own stuff later, but meanwhile, I snapped these shots as I made my way up Hollywood Boulevard during the march. With President "O-Bomba" in office, Bush Derangement Syndrome is still the rage:

Click here for the link my earlier photo-essay.

RELATED: At The Anchoress, "Putz, Putsch?"

And at Noisy Room, "Leftists Rally on the West Coast to Spread Hate and Extremism."

Happy Birthday Speaker Nancy Pelosi! - UPDATE!! 'Kos Community' Launches Pelosi 'Flower Bomb'!

Now GTFO!

From the Write Side of My Brain, "Madame Former-Speaker-To-Be, the American people look forward to giving you more time with your grandchildren."

Also, from Communist Harold Meyerson offers his encomium, "Nancy Pelosi -- It's Her House":

Pelosi's role in passing healthcare reform puts her in the top rank of House speakers.

Anyone who has heard Nancy Pelosi speak knows she is not a great speaker. Her favorite rhetorical device is to seize on a word and club her listeners over the head with it.

When she spoke from the floor of the House on Sunday in support of the healthcare reform bill, the word she wielded was "opportunity." Her point -- that the bill would enable Americans to leave their jobs to start up new ventures without fear of not being able to get health insurance in their new gig -- was altogether valid and perfectly good, but she insisted on repeating the word "opportunity" so many times that she left listeners (this listener, anyway) a little woozy.

But when it comes to being a speaker -- the presiding officer of the House of Representatives and the leader of its majority party -- Pelosi is without peer. No speaker in the past century has played such a key role in enacting major reforms. No speaker since Henry Clay, who wielded the gavel in the 1810s and '20s, has had so great an effect on American life.

RTWT at the link.

RELATED: At Politico, "2,000 House Staffers Make Six Figures":

Nearly 2,000 House of Representative staffers pulled down six-figure salaries in 2009, including 43 staffers who earned the maximum $172,500 — or more than three times the median U.S. household income ....

The 43 staffers who maxed out at $172,500 — the salary cap for leadership and committee staffers — include John Lawrence, chief of staff to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; Paula Nowakowski, the late chief of staff to House Minority Leader John Boehner; and House Parliamentarian John Sullivan. They earned only slightly less than rank-and-file members of Congress, who make $174,000.

Via Memeorandum.

Boehner better watch out on that, or he'll be getting a retirement present just like Pelosi's. Sheesh.

Photoship Credit: The Freaking News.

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UPDATE: Hey, isn't that great that Pelosi's got the support of the "Screw 'Em' Daily Kos community:

Yeah. Right.

A real "caring" community:

Every death should be on the front page.

Let the people see what war is like. This isn't an Xbox game. There are real repercussions to Bush's folly.

That said, I feel nothing over the death of merceneries [sic]. They aren't in Iraq because of orders, or because they are there trying to help the people make Iraq a better place. They are there to wage war for profit. Screw them.

And readers will recall the sick anti-Semitism of the "Kos commumity":

"Eulogy before the Inevitability of Self-Destruction: The Decline and Death of Israel."

Obama's Anti-Israel Jihad

NewsBusted's on the case, at about 1:34 minutes (via Theo Spark):

And at the Jerusalem Post, "Post Poll: Obama Still in Single Digits" (via Memeorandum).

Plus, from Greg Sheridan, at The Australian, "Obama's Anti-Israeli Hysteria Dangerous and Destructive":

BARACK Obama's anti-Israel jihad is one of the most irresponsible policy lurches by any modern American president. It rightly earns Obama the epithet of the US president least sympathetic to Israel in Israel's history. Jimmy Carter became a great hater of Israel, but only after he left office.

Obama's dangerous new lurch into anti-Israel populism changes global politics in extremely dangerous ways, and poses a challenge for Kevin Rudd.

Perhaps Obama's most distinctive contribution to the foreign policy debate in the lead-up to the US presidential election was his avowed determination to talk to and engage the US's enemies if he became president. He was happy in principle to talk to Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but did not know for sure that the Iranian president wielded real power. But he sent all manner of felicitations and greetings to Iran and its government. When that government stole an election on Ahmadinejad's behalf and viciously brutalised its citizens, Obama refrained from speaking too much or too forcefully, as, he said, he didn't want to be seen to be interfering in Iranian internal affairs.

When Obama met the king of Saudi Arabia, a nation in which no one votes, women are subject to severe and demeaning restrictions and it is against the law to have a Christian church, Obama bowed in deep respect.

When Obama ran into Venezuela's murderous despot, Hugo Chavez, at a summit, there was a friendly greeting observed by all.

But there is one leader whom Obama draws the line at. He will not be seen in public with Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Astonishingly, when Netanyahu saw Obama at the White House this week, all photographers and all TV cameras were banned, a level of humiliation almost completely unique in modern White House practice.

You might even conclude that Obama is trying to interfere in internal Israeli politics and bring down a government. This is something post-colonial, post-multicultural Obama would never do with Iran, but with Israel, the US's longstanding ally, it's fine.

And what was Netanyahu's crime, this act of infamy that Obama's senior staff described as an "affront" to America? It was that the relevant housing authority passed another stage of approval for 1600 Israeli housing units to be built in East Jerusalem in about three years' time. It was very foolish that the Israelis allowed this announcement to take place while US Vice-President Joe Biden was in Israel. But they apologised to Biden at the time, Biden kissed and made up with the Israelis and was back to delivering fulsome pro-Israel speeches before he left.

After that point, though, the US reaction went into overdrive. Impeccable American sources tell me this reaction was driven by Obama, and to a lesser extent the Chicago mafia around him.

We must ask why this is so, but first let's get Netanyahu's infamous crime into perspective ....

RTWT at the link.

Also, at Commentary, Jennifer Rubin, "What Did You Do?", and Peter Wehner, "On Obama’s Behavior to Israel."

Unprecedented! Obama Disses Israel's Binyamin Netanyahu - Bibi 'Dumped for Dinner' as U.S. Further Repudiates Key Ally!

Whoa!

From the London Times, "Binyamin Netanyahu Humiliated After Barack Obama 'Dumped Him for Dinner'":

For a head of government to visit the White House and not pose for photographers is rare. For a key ally to be left to his own devices while the President withdraws to have dinner in private was, until this week, unheard of. Yet that is how Binyamin Netanyahu was treated by President Obama on Tuesday night, according to Israeli reports on a trip viewed in Jerusalem as a humiliation.

After failing to extract a written promise of concessions on settlements, Mr Obama walked out of his meeting with Mr Netanyahu but invited him to stay at the White House, consult with advisers and “let me know if there is anything new”, a US congressman, who spoke to the Prime Minister, said.

“It was awful,” the congressman said. One Israeli newspaper called the meeting “a hazing in stages”, poisoned by such mistrust that the Israeli delegation eventually left rather than risk being eavesdropped on a White House telephone line. Another said that the Prime Minister had received “the treatment reserved for the President of Equatorial Guinea”.

Left to talk among themselves Mr Netanyahu and his aides retreated to the Roosevelt Room. He spent a further half-hour with Mr Obama and extended his stay for a day of emergency talks to try to restart peace negotiations. However, he left last night with no official statement from either side. He returned to Israel yesterday isolated after what Israeli media have called a White House ambush for which he is largely to blame.

More at the link.

See also, Pamela Geller, "Barack Hussein Obama II’s War Against Israel."

Hat Tip: Wizbang, "Jeremiah Wright Ought to Be Proud." Also at Memeorandum. And Atlas Shrugs, "Anti-Semite in the White House: Obama "Humiliates" Jewish Leader and 'Dumps' Him."

Leftist Hate-Libel Fans Flames of Polarization: Obama Taunts Opponents With Political Recrimination!

At Politico, "Lawmakers Trade Charges of 'Fanning the Flames' of Violence."

But check Doug Powers, "Clyburn: Health Care Opponents are Aiding and Abetting Terrorism," and via Glenn Reynolds, "Still waiting for the Dems to condemn Courtland Milloy’s violent rhetoric. (Via Ben Cunningham)."

Also, Dan Collins, "Manufactured Hate Criminals."

Erick Erickson responds to the allegations of intimidation and violence, "If King George Will Not Listen ...":

I have heard the audio of some of the threats. I get worse stuff routinely. Rush Limbaugh gets worse stuff on a daily basis. Republican members of Congress have gotten similar and worse stuff. Thank God this wasn’t a free trade vote or a variety of left wing groups would have half the country in flames right now. I do believe the 24 hours of threats, many of which were pretty weak, has gotten more national coverage than the leftist anarchists in Texas who molotov cocktailed the Texas Governor’s Mansion — for which arrests have never been made.

I am forced to largely conclude that the Democrats are running to the nearest microphone in an effort to play the victim and generate sympathy as they try to steer poll numbers back in their direction ...

And the kicker! From The Hill, "President Obama to Repeal-Minded Republicans: 'Go for It'." (Via Memeorandum.)

Charles Johnson Eats It: Attacks on Gateway Pundit Backfire!

I'm glad Weasel Zippers took the time on this. I saw C.J.'s smears earlier (and was simply disgusted):

Recall that Politico's retracted its original article, which was erroneous.

Weasel Zipper writes: "We eagerly await the Husky Ponytailed Blogger's retraction..."

Russ Carnahan Coffin: Mourning Death of Constitutionalism -- UPDATE!! Politico Changes Story!

At Politico, "Coffin Placed on Carnahan's Lawn" (via Memeorandum).

But see Jim Hoft, "Coward Russ Carnahan Pushes Bogus Tea Party Lie," and from Dana Loesch, "Carnahan Falsely Claims Threat?":

This is easily the stupidest thing I’ve had to write about all month. Sigh.

Earlier this week Jim Hoft announced that citizens of the 3rd district were going to hold a candlelight prayer vigil outside of Russ Carnahan’s house. It made the news. It wasn’t like it was secret. People wanted to pray that Carnahan would be less hard-hearted and more receptive to the will of the people. A small coffin was brought along so symbolize all of the people who’ve died from rationed, government care. From the video I saw, it was a small, earnest affair.

After our representatives have flouted the law of the land, they’re suddenly shocked that others allegedly have too, be they actual conservatives or Democratic plants (wouldn’t be the first time in a long, documented history of times). The jury is still out but as we’ve seen in the past week, the real angry mob of socialist enforcers like to grab their pitchforks and start witch hunts – the exact same profiling and stereotyping that led to the Gladney beating. I guess some on the left never learn.

I’m left to assume that Carnahan just wanted sympathy from this because it boggles the mind how (or why) someone could twist a prayer vigil into a “threat.” I mean, unless you’re afraid of God and honestly, after voting for legislation that includes (by Kathleen Sebelius’ own video-taped words and her “accounting procedure” admission of last year) means for abortion funding, I would be afraid to answer to God for that charge at the pearly gates.

This is a guy who ignored how myself and other conservatives in this area were threatened last summer simply because we dissented with this administration’s policies. His own mother, Jean Carnahan, threw fuel to the fire and tried to whip the vitriol to a frenzy when she attacked his constituents and said that the “teabagger” remarks “bordered on treason.” This is a man who had one of the most under-reported (not to mention caught-on-tape with police report) hate crimes ever to happen at his town hall and the next morning he denied its existence in a press conference. Now this man is going to add further insult to injury by making up malicious intent for people having a prayer vigil? What does he hope to gain from this?

Added (10:10am): The Rhetorican comments on the rash of allegations like this:

Expect lots more cases of “hate libel” from anyone invested in Obamacare’s passage, especially as November approaches. Some will be pathetic straw-grasping like the “coffin incident”. Others may sound more plausible like the “spitting” one, but they will all have the same objective: painting the Democrats’ opponents as monsters so as to make Democrats look good by comparison: the lesser of two evils. “Sure we’re awful, but look over there: hate!”

UPDATE: Via Glenn Reynolds, "WALKBACK: Stunner. Politico Changes Their Bogus Coffin Story …Update: Democratic Underground Retracts Story."

Conservatives to Endorse Chuck DeVore at Tea Party Express

At LAT, "Conservative activists plan to endorse Assemblyman Chuck DeVore in Senate race":

A national coalition of conservative activists plans to endorse Republican Assemblyman Chuck DeVore in the U.S. Senate race, spurning two more popular candidates in favor of the underdog bidding to take on Democrat Barbara Boxer.

The Tea Party Express, whose backing helped propel Scott Brown in his successful effort to claim the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's seat in Massachusetts, will announce the endorsement Saturday at a Nevada rally headlined by conservative stalwarts such as former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, who is better known as Joe the Plumber.

"Of the three candidates running, Chuck DeVore embodies the conservative ideals we are fighting for: basic fiscal sanity and limited government," said Levi Russell, spokesman for the Tea Party Express. "He is the obvious choice."

Although this is the group's first endorsement in the 2010 primary election cycle, Russell concedes it is unlikely to have as great an effect as the Brown nod, which brought about $400,000 and intense volunteer support to the Massachusetts race.

That contest was a special election targeting a seat that held great symbolism. The California race will be competing for money and volunteers with many contests across the nation.

"We are trying to put the spotlight on him," Russell said. On Thursday the group will announce how much money it plans to give DeVore, whose fundraising has lagged.

The California race is already attracting national attention as Republicans ponder the possibility of knocking off three-term incumbent Boxer. Polls have shown former Rep. Tom Campbell and former Hewlett-Packard chief Carly Fiorina as the front-runners in the GOP primary, with DeVore trailing far behind.

The most conservative and least well-known of the three candidates, DeVore has long counted on such grass-roots support to help carve an improbable path to victory, and has visited "tea party" groups across the state in addition to traditional GOP organizations.

The endorsement "sends a signal to primary voters that I'm not the business-as-usual, establishment candidate," said the Orange County assemblyman, adding that he would also be able to use the group's extensive e-mail list ....

The Tea Party Express endorsement is also likely to come with the most hoopla. It will be announced at the "Showdown in Searchlight," a rally in the Nevada hometown of embattled Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Thousands are expected to descend on the tiny historic mining town, kicking off a 42-city, 20-day "Just Vote Them Out!" bus tour that will end in Washington on April 15.

DeVore said he plans to ask Palin for Palin's endorsement on Saturday.

DeVore needs money to get his message out. Visit the campaign homepage to make a contribution.

RELATED: At Fox News, "Tea Partiers to Congressional Democrats: You'll Pay in November."

Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer Cancel Los Angeles Premiere of Islam Rising

At Atlas Shrugs, "A Statement from Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer of the Freedom Defense Initiative":

It has come to our attention today that Martin Mawyer, who had been scheduled to appear with us at the premiere of Mawyer's film Islam Rising in Los Angeles on May 1, has had attributed to him a series of offensive anti-gay statements made in 1997. While we don't expect to agree on all issues with those with whom we collaborate on anti-jihad efforts, we do not wish to give the impression that we endorse, agree with, or approve of in any way the statements attributed to Mr. Mawyer. Nor do we wish to give the impression that Geert Wilders or the Freedom Defense Initiative approves of such statements.

The Freedom Defense Initiative, like Geert Wilders, stands for the human rights of people of all creeds, colors, and sexual orientations against the global jihad, which works daily to impose the discriminatory and brutal strictures of Sharia upon free people. Sharia denies basic rights to women, non-Muslims, and gays, and exalts its brutal and inhumane system as divine law. In standing for human rights in this way, we consider it of utmost importance that our message not be clouded by other agendas, as we labor to build a broad coalition of free people who hold a wide variety of perspectives on other issues, united against the slavery of Islamic law.

In order, then, to avoid creating any false impressions about our agenda and goals, or those of Geert Wilders, we have decided to cancel the event in Los Angeles on May 1.

Also, at Jihad Watch, "Why We Canceled the LA Film Premiere Event."

The "Islam Rising" homepage is here.

You Strip Away the Ugliness That Surrounds Me...

I can't leave the ugliness of the ANSWER-bashers at top, so until later, please enjoy Sarah McLachlan, "Sweet Surrender":

Also, check out At the Point of a Gun, "One Fine Afternoon In The White House," and St. Blogustine, "Tipping Point: Righteous Indignation Becomes Rage Against The Machine."

International ANSWER - San Francisco Protest - March 20, 2010

Zombie's posted his report from the San Francisco March 20 protest, "San Francisco "Anti-War" Rally: The New Communist/Truth/Jihad Alliance":

The glory days of the 21st-century anti-war movement were in 2003 and 2004, when tens of thousands of naive "average Americans" would show up at each anti-war event. Then, as I documented extensively over the years at zombietime, far-left and extremist groups quickly seized control of the movement and tried to lead the middle-of-the-road protesters leftward politically. But as the radicalism escalated with each successive protest, the sane people all stopped coming, the rallies started getting smaller and smaller, and from 2004 onward it's been a continuous downward slide.

Now we've reached rock bottom. Only a couple thousand people showed up for this year's protest, all of whom were hardcore radicals. Gone are the naive hangers-on, or anyone in the central 98% of the political spectrum. All that's left of the anti-war movement are the revolutionaries, the diehards and the crazies.

That's ANSWER's Richard Becker above, with black cap and microphone. As noted here last November, Becker's the author of Palestine, Israel and the U.S. Empire, an extremely bitter communist-revolutionary tract calling for the destruction of Israel. Recall as well my essay at Frontpage Magazine, "When Defeat is the Answer."

Zombie counts 13 different communist groups showing up last Saturday in San Francisco. What's most interesting, and something I've noted in my previous coverage, is the intense Israel-bashing and anti-Semitism. From Zombie:

As always at these leftist rallies, Israel was singled out for the protesters' irrational fury. The Israel-haters have now settled on a consistent narrative: Israel is committing genocide and a new Holocaust against Palestinians.

Needless to say, the accusation is completely baseless, an outrageous lie.

Check the whole thing.

More later ...

Obonics

I've been busy with faculty in-service activities all day (and thus haven't been been able to write). I'm hoping to do a little power-blogging later, but thought I'd get something posted in the meantime -- you know it's hard out there for a neocon!

Anyway, I have no clue where she came from, but Miss Rondell, at left, commented at last night's Dishwalla entry, dissing the sounds and recommending some "Poi Dog Pondering"? Okay, fine. Not into that, frankly. But Rondell's "Obonics" did catch my attention. It's one thing to be cool and down with the brothers ... it's quite another to converse that way in written word, all the time.

I thought perhaps it was just at the comment she left, but it's more actually. For example, "GoBahamaObama":

I believes that it be important to respect other peoples and they native lands. That's what black people like. On this cruise, we celebrate in ways that show our strong cultural heritage and we be spreain' the words of Gobama across these waters. Here go some pitchers from last night's Stars And Stripes Forever: Red, White, Blue, Black, and Everything in Between: Sponsored by the McDonald's McGriddle: I'm Lovin' It: Obama Celebration: Our Time Has Come For A Change: Soul Train and Buffet Party ...

And more, "Ain't Gonna Let No Man Get Me Down!!":

Here go a little re-cap for y'all:Sunday morning I woke up with a spring in my step and leaped outta bed and whipped up a big batch of chocolate chip waffles with a side of pork rinds (my favorite). I went straight to the J.C. Penney to pick up my special order of his/her monogrammed match towels and had them wrapped up all Valentime's like for Mr. C.

At 6pm Mr. C. picked me up for our Red Lobster Passion of the Sea Love Boat All You Can Eat feast. We had just started enjoying our cheesey biscuits when he started getting that Love Bug in he eye. I flirtashusly asked him what all the winks were about, thinking I'd prompt him to get that ring outta he pocket, but instead he just got out some eye drops and said his doctor messed up he contact prescription and he had an irritation in he eyes. I always think the cup half full so I was still certain that he was going to drop on that knee any minute.

Y'all, it wasn't until after dessert, he stepped our for a minute to go to the car and came back with a big gift-wrapped box. I was like DAMN that must be a big diamond cause that box huge for a ring. I tore into that like a cheetah on a water buffalo. You know what he got me! A Boost Mobile phone with a "Let's Get It On" ring tone and they cheapest plan! Y'all I could barely finish my fifth Bahama Breeze refill and Chocolate Volcano Cake but I did it. And when that last morsel went in my mouth, I brushed everything off that table with the swoop of my arm ending in a slap upside his head! Then I grabbed he car keys out of he coat pocket, stormed out that restaurant, and drove myself home. And yes, I parked he car right in front of that fire hydrant and it wasn't there this morning!

Hey Katrina, Mr. C. all yours now! Rondell don't want him no more. He gonna have to settle for a nappy ass woman who already littered a few pups of her own. Rondell's purity is too good for him! ...

Pardon my own slang here for a moment, but my daddy done tol' me dat Mr. Charley goin' t'own my po' llittle black ass if I didn' knows how be writin' in stan'rd English ... know what' I'm sayin'? And with a steady hand, mofo!. Miss Rondell's from Tupelo, Mississippi, but she might as well be from another world. And she don't seem so po' herself, considerin' all those ocean cruises she be talkin' 'bout. But I better be careful here, yo! Jes' be's messin' wit' dis heah stuff an' I be gettin' attacked as RAAACIST!! See, "Talking White: Yes We Can, Say Blacks."

Many Questions Like Children Often Do...

Been pretty intense around here this last week. How about some music, eh? Please enjoy Dishwalla's, "Counting Blue Cars" (both commercial video and live performance, as per reader requests):

As always, more hot neocon commentary and analysis tomorrow. Meanwhile, check Theo Spark's and my good friend Anton's, "Sunday Music – One Day I’ll Fly Away."

Plus, I wonder if Stogie's a Dishwalla fan?

Ann Coulter Cancelled by University of Ottawa!

Blazing Cat Fur tipped me to this story, at the Ottawa Citizen, "Coulter's Ottawa Speech Cancelled Over 'Public Safety' Fears":

Protesters against Ann Coulter outside Marion Hall after they managed to have the planned speech at the University of Ottawa canceled due to security concerns. (Photo Credit: Ottawa Citizen).

*****

Concerns for "public safety" forced the cancellation of American conservative commentator Ann Coulter's speaking engagement at the University of Ottawa Tuesday night.

Several hundred people, including students from both Carleton University and the University of Ottawa, showed up prior to Coulter's speech. The loudest and most vociferous were protesting her presence, drowning out a smaller group of pro-Coulter demonstrators.

Ottawa police had more than nine squad cars at the scene, at the university's Marion Hall. But the event was cancelled about 8:15 p.m. — before Coulter had a chance to speak ...

And BCF quips, "Funny how it's always the 'anti-racists' who are the Nazis, odd they never turned up to protest the University of Ottawa's Whack-A-Jew-Week festivities.

And just look at that crowd: Keffiyehs? Not much different from the folks we get down here in L.A.

Added: From Kathy Shaidle, "Disgrace: U of Ottawa Thugs Force Cancellation of Ann Coulter Speech Tonight":

Another thoroughly biased article from the Ottawa Sun, painting it as Coulter's fault. "Security concerns"? Er, well, my friends on the scene report pulled fire alarms, "anti-racist" thugs throwing tables. How's about "assholes" rather than "security concerns."

Plus, BCF points us to the Facebook page of one of the thugs, Fatima Al Dhaher. No nuance there:

More, "Francois Houle Brings Kristalnacht to the U of Ottawa."

Added: SWAC Girl links, "Party of Tolerance" Cancels Ann Coulter Speech." And check Jay Currie while you're at it, "M. Houle Gets His Wish - Lefty Freikorps Silence Anne Coulter."

Plus, Gateway Pundit links, "Leftists Prevent Ann Coulter From Speaking at University of Ottawa.

Also, check the Coulter's response, " ‘It’s always the bush league schools,’ Coulter contends," and the thread at Memeorandum.

Change! ObamaCare Exempts Obama!

At Politico, "Health Bill May Exempt Top Hill Staffers."

But that's not all, from Cold Fury, "ObamaCare Exempts Obama." And see especially, Senator Charles Grassley's homepage, "Grassley Says Health Care Reform Should Apply to President Obama, Top Administration Officials":

Senator Chuck Grassley today said he will offer an amendment during Senate debate on the health care reconciliation bill this week to apply the reform legislation to the President, Vice President, cabinet members and top White House staff.

“It’s pretty unbelievable that the President and his closest advisors remain untouched by the reforms they pushed for the rest of the country. In other words, President Obama’s health care reform won’t apply to President Obama,” Grassley said. “Last December, the effort to apply any new law to administration political leaders was rejected by the Senate Majority Leader. But there’s no justification for the double standard, and I’ll continue to work to establish fairness.”

This is the kind of thing you'd expect in some tin-pot dictatorship, which is of course what Obama's wrought for the American system.

No word yet on this from Minister of Propaganda Linda Douglass.

RELATED: At Hotline on Call, "Leadership Aides Exempt From Bill?" (via Memeorandum). And Hot Air, "Guess Who’s Exempt From ObamaCare Mandates?"

House GOP Conference: 'This Fight is Not Over...'

From the Mike Pence and the House GOP Conference, "One More Speech About the Same Bad Bill Isn’t Going to Change Any Minds in America ...":

House Republicans, while we are disappointed with the outcome of the vote on Sunday night, are determined to continue to take our case against this government takeover of health care to the American people. The president is planning to sign the legislation today and planning to hit the road to Iowa City this week. But House Republicans believe that one more speech about the same bad bill isn't going to change any minds in America. The American people oppose a government takeover of health care. They oppose the job-killing tax increases, individual mandates, public funding of abortion and the creation of incentives in system that will result in millions of Americans losing the health insurance that they have ...

ObamaCare is About Raw Political Power

From, Christopher Chantrill, at American Thinker, "In Defeat, Defiance":

A liberal acquaintance of mine likes to say that "taxes are the price we pay for civilization." He would, for he's a retired professor from a government university.

He didn't think this up on his own, of course. His soundbite is a quote from Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court by Progressive Republican President Theodore Roosevelt in 1902. Holmes also said, "I like taxes. With them I buy civilization."

Up 'til now, I had failed to come up with a retort to this challenge. But the other day, while awake at 4:00 am (that peculiar time for inspiration), I found my answer.

No. Taxes are not the price of civilization. Taxes are the Cost of Compulsion. Taxing is just what governments do, all of them, from the grandest continental power to the meanest guerrilla band taxing the villagers in its jungle hideaway.

You only have to look at the process that got the votes to pass ObamaCare 219-212 in the House of Representatives on the night of March 21, 2010 to understand the self-delusion in the idea that taxes have anything to do with civilization. Why wonder that the president won't answer the questions of Brett Baier? Why be shocked about the capitulation of Rep. Stupak? Why wonder why so many Democratic House Representatives have caved, bowing to the power that will certainly punish them for a No vote, rather than to the people, who may perhaps forgive and forget by November?

ObamaCare is about raw political power. It is about threats, deals, arm-twisting, and paying for votes with taxpayers' money. Its taxes, its alphabet soup of bureaucratic agencies, its budgetary tricks are about folding the whole vast enterprise of modern American health care under the knout of politicians and special interests. Henceforth, Americans will get health care only if they genuflect to the political gods.

RTWT at the link.

Repeal. Replace. Reform.

From Midnight Blue, "Repeal. Replace. Reform.":

In case you were not aware, here is a preview of the costs you will be burdened with starting this week:

The CBO says that health insurance premiums would rise by 10 to 13 percent in the individual market, in relation to current law. The Medicare Chief Actuary says that the percentage of the gross domestic product spent on health care would also rise in relation to current law, increasing from 17 percent today to 21 percent in 2019. And, as the CBO reports in its latest scoring, as of 2019 there would still be 23 million people in America lacking health insurance.

What about the 23 million who will be left behind with Obamacare? There are fines for them as well:

Under the reconciliation bill that is now before the Senate, individuals who don’t purchase insurance would be subject to a fine of $325 in 2015 and $695 in 2016. Individuals may be subject to a charge equal to as much as 2.5 percent of their income in 2016, if the total is greater than the flat payment.

Three simple words: Repeal. Replace. Reform. Repeat as necessary until January 13, 2013

See also, NYT, "New G.O.P. Slogan: ‘Repeal and Replace’ Health Care Law"; and note how leftists are spinning this, for example, see Ezra Klein, "Republicans might reform health-care reform, but they won't repeal it" (via Memeorandum).

Actually, no. They'll push for repeal, all the way.

Awesome. Photo. Credits. ... Midnight Blue at Flickr.

This is a Big F***ing Deal!

Hey, WTF, this is historic, right?

See for yourself at Ben Smith, "The Mother of All Biden Moments" (via Memeorandum).

And a response to Bob Herbert, from The Lonely Conservative, "Oh, If Only We Could Be as Classy as Joe F#&^ing Biden."

Natch, the nihilists are down with it, "What's the fucking deal?"

BFD Hat Tip: Zazzle.

Randy Neugebauer!

Right on cue, MSM outlets are attacking ObamaCare opponents as "ugly" and racebaiters, for example, at LAT, "From Racist and Anti-Gay Slurs to 'Baby Killer!': Health Care Debate Marred by Ugly Discourse." Of course, there's no evidence of any racial slurs, and leftists are indeed baby killers. (And Barney Frank can kiss a Twinkie, AFAIC.)

And at the video, Randy Neugebauer has no apologies (via Red State):

RELATED IDIOCY: Bob Herbert, "An Absence of Class" (via Memeorandum).