Leftists Never Say 'More Than Enough' For Themselves

It's one of the greatest hypocrisies of today's postmodern left. They never live they way the tell everyone else to live. Just last week Al and Tipper Gore announced the purchase of a new luxury mansion in posh Montecito, California. As Doug Ross noted earlier:

The Los Angeles Times reported last week that Al and Tipper Gore greatly expanded their carbon footprint with the purchase of their fourth luxury home. The 'global warming' business has been very, very good to the Gores.

Former Vice President Al Gore and his wife, Tipper, have added a Montecito-area property to their real estate holdings, reports the Montecito Journal... The couple spent $8,875,000 on an ocean-view villa on 1.5 acres with a swimming pool, spa and fountains, a real estate source familiar with the deal confirms. The Italian-style house has six fireplaces, five bedrooms and nine bathrooms ....

Don't you love these hypocritical Climatards? (That's the term they prefer, I hear).

They want to control your lives: how big your car can be, how much water your toilet can hold, the kind of light bulbs you can use. They even think there are limits on how much money you should be able to make.

But they put no limits on what they can have. Kind of like the old Soviet Politburo. Which is the kind of society they intend for us.

ALSO: Jack Cashill, "How Obama Himself Made More Than 'Enough Money'."

BONUS: "Do As I Say....":

Michael Moore believes that corporations are uniformly evil. He has said numerous times, he doesn’t think capitalism is right “on any level.” He has called capitalism “another evil empire,” in contrast to the evil empire, the Soviet Union, which is gone. We’ve still got one we need to defeat. He says that corporate managers are in fact “corporate terrorists.” People who work for Halliburton he calls “corporate thugs.” Halliburton—remember the name of that company.

He says oil companies “rape and destroy our environment,” and he says pharmaceutical companies are “greedy and kill people.” I guess this is their business model—to kill off their customer base. He’s said repeatedly, “I don’t own a single share of stock because it’s morally wrong.” Now this is something that he likes to trump out all the time on college campuses. He actually goes and tells young people, “You don’t want to work for the big man. You don’t want to work for the boss man. You don’t want to work for corporations. You don’t want to invest in the stock market because, by investing in the stock market, you are cooperating with the debasement of the world. You’re exploiting people in developing worlds. You’re exploiting American workers.”

This is what Michael Moore tells college campuses. What he tells the IRS is something very different. You see, Michael Moore and his wife set up a tax shelter about 15 years ago when they started making money on Roger and Me. This is a private foundation. They completely control it. It has no employees. There are only two members of the board and the two members of the board are Michael Moore and his wife. It’s registered at their home. This is an example of some of the capital gains that they’ve taken in recent years. This is the allegedly stock-less Michael Moore.

It makes very interesting reading because you find Pfizer, for example. He bought shares of Pfizer. He’s owned shares in Schlumberger, an oil well-drilling company. He’s owned shares in Noble Energy, which is an oil pipeline company. If you look about 60% down the right-hand column, you can see that, a few years ago he actually owned shares in Halliburton, of all things. Can you imagine a shareholder meeting with Michael Moore and Dick Cheney?

The point is that Michael Moore is very much involved in the stock market and it’s a good thing. He’s a wealthier man because of it. While he goes around telling people on college campuses, “Don’t be involved with the Big Man,” Michael Moore’s actually in bed with the Big Man. Michael Moore is an individual who has invested in the stock market and is very much the corporate investor that he professes to lament and dislike.

David Frum and Jonah Goldberg on Bloggingheads

Now that's an interesting Bloggingheads, via Eli Lake:

At 50 minute mark @davidfrum apologizes to @jonahnro for comparing nat review to commie china.

Chuck DeVore: Best Conservative for CA Senate

From Saturday's Bellingham Herald:

As the GOP candidate with unquestioned conservative credentials, DeVore is perhaps best positioned to tap into Republican voter anger at Washington. If he can somehow manage to squeak by Campbell and Fiorina in the primary, his best-case scenario would be something along the lines of what has unfolded in Florida this spring, where conservative Marco Rubio has stormed into serious contention for a Senate seat on the back of the tea party movement. If DeVore could show he had a legitimate shot at beating Boxer, that could boost his national fundraising efforts, which have yet to take off. DeVore also has a military background and worked in the Defense Department under President Ronald Reagan.

More at the link.

Why Neoconservatism Still Matters

From Justin Vaïsse:

The label ‘neoconservative’ was first used in the early 1970s by friends and enemies of a group of New York intellectuals who were critical of the leftward turn that American liberalism had, in their view, taken in the previous decade. What these intellectuals reacted against was a mix of social movements – like student protests, counterculture, black nationalism, radical feminism and environmentalism – and government overreach through Lyndon Johnson’s ‘War on Poverty’ programs. While in no way defenders of the free market or the nightwatchman state like the true National Review conservatives, they stressed the limits of social engineering through transfers of wealth or affirmative action programs) and pointed out the dangers that the boundless egalitarian dreams of the New Left had created for stability, meritocracy and democracy. Intellectuals such as Nathan Glazer, Seymour Martin Lipset, James Q. Wilson and Daniel Patrick Moynihan coalesced around The Public Interest, a magazine created by Irving Kristol and Daniel Bell in 1965, and a few years later around Commentary, whose editor was Norman Podhoretz.

These original neoconservative were New York-based intellectuals, primarily interested in domestic issues, and they still regarded themselves as liberals. That is why the disconnect could not seem more complete between them and the latterday neocons, who are Washington-based political operatives identified with the right, interested exclusively in foreign policy, and who have a solid, if not excessive, confidence in the ability of the American government to enact social change – at least in Iraq or Afghanistan. There exists, nonetheless, a tenuous link between the two groups, which explains why the label has travelled through time. This link is provided by a third, intermediate family of neoconservatives, the Scoop Jackson Democrats of the 1970s and 1980s – named after Senator Henry ‘Scoop’ Jackson (D-Washington)– and the real ideological ancestors of the contemporary neocons, the ones who literally invented neoconservative foreign policy.

The Scoop Jackson Democrats were also born of a reaction to the New Left, but this time, inside the Democratic Party, when Senator George McGovern won the nomination to be the Democratic candidate against Richard Nixon in 1972. McGovern was seen by traditional Democrats as way too far to the left, both in domestic policy (he supported massive social programs and affirmative action through quotas) and in foreign policy, where he advocated a hasty retreat from Vietnam, deep cuts in the defence budget, and a neoisolationist grand strategy. Coalescing around Commentary, Scoop Jackson's Senate office and a group called the Coalition for a Democratic Majority, Democratic operatives and intellectuals such as Richard Perle, Jeane Kirkpatrick, Eugene Rostow, Ben Wattenberg, Joshua Muravchik, Elliott Abrams, and others, tried to steer the Democratic Party back to the centre. They wanted to get back to the tradition of Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and John Kennedy: progressive policies at home, muscular anticommunism abroad, including the defence of human rights and fellow democracies. That is why they found themselves battling not only the left wing of the Democrats, but also Nixon and Kissinger's realist policy of détente, which included deemphasising ideological concerns and engaging Moscow, thereby legitimising the Soviet regime rather than trying to change it.

RTWT.

It's great!

Hot Hat Tip: GSGF!

'Destroy the Destroyers': Santa Cruz May Day Riot!

Gateway Pundit has the report, "VIOLENT LEFTISTS WIELDING TORCHES Riot, Smash Windows & Burn a Coffee House After Immigration Protest… Media Silent." Also, San Jose Mercury News, "Riot breaks out in downtown Santa Cruz; windows broken on dozens of businesses, porch of cafe set on fire" (via Memeorandum):

The violence was initiated from a group holding a rally at the town clock for May Day. Windows at Jamba Juice and Velvet Underground were left shattered and graffiti including anarchy signs were tagged onto buildings.

Yep. And some of that graffiti ...

"Brick by brick we will bring it down"; 'Destruction is the New Pink"; “Destroy the Destroyers" and others.

Got that? This is exactly what these folks are looking for: anarchy and violence, property destruction and looting. Classic leftists. Lots of photos at this radical blog.

Times Square and American Jihad

The image is from Bill Roggio, "Pakistani Taliban claim credit for failed NYC Times Square car bombing." (Via Memeorandum.)

But the New York Times says authorities are looking for a suspect, white male approximately 40 years-old. See, "Police Pursue Video Leads in Times Sq." And the report indicates that "there was no evidence to support a claim of responsibility by a Pakistani Taliban group." See Sky News as well, "NY Bomb: 'No Evidence Supports Taliban Link'." And at ABC News, "White Male in 40s Seen on Tape Near Scene of Car Bomb Attempt: NYPD's Kelly Casts Doubt on Taliban Claim; Police Say Man Near Scene Was Looking Around In A 'Furtive Manner'." At the video, national security expert (and Democrat) Richard Clark indicates that the Times Square bomb is reminiscent of another failed device in London a couple of years ago. Clark notes that the London attempt was mounted by home-grown Islamist jihadis who had studied al Qaeda operations on the Internet:

RELATED: Bruce Hoffman, at National Interest, "American Jihad":

WHILE WE concentrate on the battle abroad, believing that al-Qaeda is focused on attacking the United States overseas and that radicalization and recruitment within the homeland will never occur, we are creating the largest, most devastating blind spot—America.

During 2009, at least ten jihadi terrorist plots or related events came to light within our borders—an average of nearly one a month. By any metric, this is an unprecedented development. While many of the incidents involved clueless incompetents engaged in half-baked conspiracies, some of the plans alarmingly evidenced the influence of an identifiable terrorist command-and-control apparatus.

In some cases, these terror networks merely inspired individuals: there was the plot by four prison parolees and Muslim converts to bomb two synagogues in New York City and an upstate Air National Guard base; the attempt by a Jordanian national who overstayed his visa to bomb a Dallas office building; or a similarly far-fetched plan by another Muslim convert to bomb a federal courthouse in Springfield, Illinois.

But in other instances, terrorist groups either actively recruited individuals in the United States, deliberately motivated others to carry out terrorist attacks on U.S. soil or directed trained operatives in the execution of coordinated strikes against American targets within our borders. These network-linked incidents should concern us even more. Think of Najibullah Zazi, the Afghan-born U.S. resident arrested in Colorado last September who pleaded guilty to charges of plotting a “Mumbai on the Hudson”–like suicide terrorist attack on, among other targets, the New York City subway; the shooting last June outside a military-recruiting station in Little Rock that killed one recruiter and wounded another; and the November 2009 massacre at Fort Hood that claimed the lives of thirteen people. Both shooters—Abdulhakim Muhammad, an African American convert to Islam who had spent time in Yemen, and Major Nidal Hasan—had some connection to AQAP, the same local franchise of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda movement that was responsible for the Christmas Day bomb plot. And Awlaki, the cleric who had a role in radicalizing Abdulmutallab, is also believed to have played an important part in the radicalization of Major Hasan.

It is hard to be complacent when al-Qaeda and its Pakistani, Somali and Yemeni allies arguably have been able to accomplish the unthinkable—establishing at least an embryonic terrorist recruitment, radicalization and operational infrastructure in the United States with effects both at home and abroad. Al-Qaeda’s grasp is deep and wide. And it has also allowed them to co-opt American citizens in the broader global al-Qaeda battlefield. These accomplishments include the radicalization and recruitment of nearly thirty young Somali Americans from Minnesota who were dispatched for training in their mother country and the case of five young Muslim Americans from Alexandria, Virginia, who sought to fight alongside the Taliban and al-Qaeda and were arrested in Pakistan. Additional incidents involved sleeper agents like the Pakistan-born U.S. citizen named David Headley (who changed his name from Daood Sayed Gilani) whose reconnaissance efforts on behalf of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a long-standing al-Qaeda ally, were pivotal to the success of the November 2008 suicide assault in India; and both Bryant Neal Vinas and Abu Yahya Mujahdeen al-Adam, two American citizens recently arrested in Pakistan for their links to al-Qaeda.

While it is easy to dismiss the threat posed by wannabes who are often effortlessly entrapped and snared by the authorities, or to discount as aberrations the homicides inflicted by lone individuals, these incidents evidenced the activities of trained terrorist operatives who are part of an identifiable organizational command-and-control structure and are acting on orders from terrorist leaders abroad.

'You Don't Know Jack'

Watched it this morning. Billboard advertisement on Wilshire Boulevard in L.A.s Miracle Mile district:

Denver May Day for Reconquista and Revolution

From Looking at the Left, "AZTLAN ASTROTURF – MAY DAY MARCH in DENVER." Most of these are self-explantory. The revolution is without borders, as the progression of banners shows. And notice what demonstrators are wearing. The woman with the Opresor! banner fourth down: red star on her shirt. And the dude with the "Death to Empire" sign: Mao cap and Arafat-esque keffiyeh. And don't miss at the link COP KILLER ANARCHIST UNICORNS.

Violent May Day Protests

The report's at LAT, "Violent May Day Protests in Athens." And below, anarchists in San Francisco prepare to take back the streets. Plus, at bottom, more on the L.A. reconquista demonstrations:

Berman Post: Immigration Rally (NYC Union Square)

From Andrew Berman, "Immigration Rally (NYC Union Square)":

Added: Now a thread at Memeorandum, with posts from Atlas Shrugs, Gateway Pundit, and Weasel Zippers. As Pamela notes, "If it's leftist, anti-America -- it's a Jew-hating bunch."

Firedoglake Attacks Racist White 'Nativist' Xenophobes

It'd be hard to find greater contrast. From Astute Bloggers, "LEGAL IMMIGRATION? YES! ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION? NO":

And then compare to Firedoglake (via):

This new "education policy" in Arizona is right out of the history of Fascist Europe. Immigrants – in particular a specific category, Hispanics – are being scapegoated for the State’s problems, demonized, and purged.

I can do nothing to change what the people and government of Arizona have done, but I will never forget what I am seeing, and I will never forgive Arizona for it. They have taken in my perception the dubious Blue Ribbon County Fair Prize for being the most irredeemably racist, xenophobic people in the country gathered together in the most un-American state in the Union.

There are just no words strong enough to condemn these people or what they are doing.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)

Saw it last night, with my teenage son. Amazingly good flick. Don't think I've had as much fun at a slasher film since when I was in high school, or thereabouts. "The Shining" remains one of my favorite movies of all time, and I love Sissy Spacek in "Carrie." I saw the original "Halloween" in theaters back in the day. Frankly, though, sometimes I take my cinema viewing too seriously. Toward the end of this one, that pool of blood scene is the best. Quick snippets of it at the end of the trailer. Have a blast and see this one, especially if you've got teenagers to hang with:

Spill Won't Affect the Drill: We Need the Oil (and Jobs)

From the most surprising of places, NYT, "The Spill vs. a Need to Drill." And you know, this stuff just kills the radical leftists who are openly rejoicing at the Gulf spill. Soon we'll be hearing calls for "a million Deepwater Horizons":

Emotions are running high as an oil slick washes over the Gulf Coast’s fragile ecosystem, threatening fisheries, shrimp farmers and perhaps even Florida’s tourism industry. Thousands could see their livelihoods ruined. A cleanup could take years ...

But whatever the magnitude of the spill at the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana, it is unlikely to seriously impede offshore drilling in the Gulf. The country needs the oil — and the jobs.

Much has changed since 1969. The nation’s demand for oil has surged, rising more than 35 percent over the past four decades, while domestic production has declined by a third. Oil imports have doubled, and the United States now buys more than 12 million barrels of oil a day from other countries, about two-thirds of its needs.

The politics have also changed. Republicans want to boost domestic oil production to reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil. High on the Democratic agenda is reducing carbon emissions that cause global warming. To bridge the gap, the White House has backed a compromise that would expand domestic offshore exploration in exchange for Republican support for its climate policy.

There is another reason why offshore drilling is likely to continue. Most of the big new discoveries lie deep beneath the world’s oceans, including in the Gulf of Mexico. For the oil companies, these reserves are worth hundreds of billions of dollars and represent the industry’s future.

Since the 1980s, the Gulf has turned into a vast laboratory for the industry to test and showcase its most sophisticated technology — rivaling, the industry says, anything used for space exploration. This is where oil companies found ways to drill in ever-deeper water, where they developed bigger platforms to pump even more oil, where they pioneered the use of unmanned submarines and elaborate underwater systems straight out of a science fiction novel.

Some of the newest floating rigs can drill in more than 10,000 feet of water. They can stay in the same position for weeks, even as they sustain 40-foot waves, thanks to satellite positioning systems and tiny propellers below the hull. Hundreds of miles away, engineers sitting in control rooms in Houston monitor the drilling in real time.

All this has helped to turn the Gulf of Mexico into the fastest growing source of oil in the United States. The Gulf accounts for a third of the nation’s domestic supplies, or 1.7 million barrels a day, mostly from the deepwater region.

Obama Fundraiser Gloria Estefan Headlines L.A. Illegal Immigration Rally ... Reconquista!!

At KTLA, "Thousands March in May Day Rally in Downtown L.A.":

And of course, where there's radicalism, the Obama administration can't be far behind. For example, Obama fundraiser Gloria Estefan kicked off events at L.A.'s migrant's march this morning.

At KABC-TV Los Angeles, "Thousands March in May Day Rally":

Singer Gloria Estefan kicked off a massive march through the streets of downtown Los Angeles as demonstrators galvanized in opposition to Arizona's tough law against illegal immigration demanded an overhaul of immigration laws.

"We're good people," the Cuban-born singer said aboard flatbed truck. "We've given a lot to this country. This country has given a lot to us." Cardinal Roger Mahony stood on the truck and joined the crowd in chanting, "Si, se puede," or "Yes, we can," in Spanish. Streets and sidewalks were packed with tens of thousands of people as horns blared. Organizers handed out T-shirts that read, "Legalize Arizona" and "Boycott Arizona." Marchers waved American flags, along with many from other countries, including Mexico, the Philippines, Nicaragua and Guatemala.

Also, at LAT, "Thousands gather for immigrant rights march in downtown L.A."

And at Michelle's, "May Day/Che Day: Reconquista Returns":

The open-borders lobby can try and hide its radicalism with a carefully-orchestrated show of American flags, but the movement’s reconquista roots always expose themselves on May Day.

Photo Credit: Slapstick Politics, "2006 May Day protest in Denver."

Barack Obama Sex Scandal with Vera Baker?

Yeah. Sure.

It's a tabloid rumor. But National Enquirer's the only news outlet that would even touch the John Edwards love-child shocker, and now they've got this: "OBAMA CHEATING SCANDAL: SHOCKING NEW REPORTS":

PRESIDENT OBAMA in a shocking cheating scandal after being caught in a Washington, DC Hotel with a former campaign aide.

A confidential investigation has learned that Obama first became close to gorgeous 35 year-old VERA BAKER in 2004 when she worked tirelessly to get him elected to the US Senate, raising millions in campaign contributions.

While Baker has insisted in the past that "nothing happened" between them, reports reveal that top anti-Obama operatives are offering more than $1 million to witnesses to reveal what they know about the alleged hush-hush affair.

Mediaite has a nice overview on this, "National Enquirer’s Obama Scandal: Claims Surveillance Proves Affair." Plus, more at Memeorandum. Vera Baker picture at DBKP, "Obama, Vera Baker: Enquirer Uncorks Presidential Cheating Scandal." See also No Sheeples Here! and YID With LID.

Actually, there's a lot more we don't know. Remember this, "Obama's Gay Nightmare: Still Waiting for Barry's Backside Boogie Pics!"

What Kind of Socialist is Barack Obama?

From Jonah Goldberg, at Commentary:

Obama still scoffs at the suggestion that he is a socialist largely to delegitimize his opponents. During his address to House Republicans at their retreat in December 2009, Obama ridiculed Republicans for acting as if his health-care scheme were some “Bolshevik plot.” In responding to the “Tea Parties” organized to oppose the expansion of government, Obama has explicitly likened those who describe his policies as socialist to the “birther” conspiracy theorists who foolishly believe he was actually born outside the United States: “There’s some folks who just weren’t sure whether I was born in the United States, whether I was a socialist, right?”

He reserves for himself the mantle of technocrat, disinterested, pragmatic, pushed to use the powers of government by the failings of his predecessor and the madness of the free market. He is not interested in ideology; he is interested in doing “what works” for the greatest number of Americans (he has often said that his guiding insight to government’s role is the notion that we are all our brothers’ keepers). Indeed, Obama goes further and often insinuates that principled disagreement with his agenda is “ideological” and therefore illegitimate. In a speech on the eve of his inauguration, he proclaimed that “what is required is a new declaration of independence, not just in our nation, but in our own lives—from ideology and small thinking, prejudice and bigotry.” In other words, to borrow a phrase from Lionel Trilling, ideology is an irritable mental gesture.

Denying that you are an ideologue is not the same thing as proving the point. And certainly Obama’s insistence that ideology is something only his critics suffer from is no defense when stacked against the evidence of his actions. The “pragmatic” Obama is only interested in “what works” as long as “what works” involves a significantly expanded role for government. In this sense, Obama is a practitioner of the Third Way, the governing approach most successfully trumpeted by Blair, who claimed to have found a “third way” that rejected the false premises of both Left and Right and therebylocated a “smarter” approach to expanding government. The powerful appeal of this idea lies in the fact that it sounds as if its adherents have rejected ideological dogmatism and gone beyond those “false choices.” Thus, a leader can both provide health care to 32 million people and save money, or, as Obama likes to say, “bend the cost curve down.” But in not choosing, Obama is choosing. He is choosing the path of government control, which is what the Third Way inevitably does and is intended to do.

Still, the question remains, What do we call Obama’s “social-ism”? John Judis’s formulation—“liberal socialism”—is perfectly serviceable, and so is “social democracy” or, for that matter, simply “progressivism.” My own, perhaps too playful, suggestion would be neosocialism.

The term neoconservative was assigned—and with hostile intent—to a group of diverse thinkers who had grown convinced that the open-ended ambitions of the Great Society were utopian and, ultimately, counterproductive, even harmful. At first, few neoconservatives embraced the label (as late as 1979, Irving Kristol claimed he was the only one to accept the term, “perhaps because, having been named Irving, I am relatively indifferent to baptismal caprice”). But as neoconservatism matured, it did become a distinct approach to domestic politics, one that sought to reign in government excess while pursuing conservative ends within the confines of the welfare state.

In many respects, Barack Obama’s neo-socialism is neoconservatism’s mirror image. Openly committed to ending the Reagan era, Obama is a firm believer in the power of government to extend its scope and grasp far deeper into society. In much the same way that neoconservatives accepted a realistic and limited role for the government, Obama tolerates a limited and realistic role for the market: its wealth is necessary for the continuation and expansion of the welfare state and social justice. While neoconservatism erred on the side of trusting the nongovernmental sphere—mediating institutions like markets, civil society, and the family—neosocialism gives the benefit of the doubt to government. Whereas neoconservatism was inherently skeptical of the ability of social planners to repeal the law of unintended consequences, Obama’s ideal is to leave social policy in their hands and to bemoan the interference of the merely political.

“I would have loved nothing better than to simply come up with some very elegant, academically approved approach to health care, and didn’t have any kinds of legislative fingerprints on it, and just go ahead and have that passed,” he told CBS’s Katie Couric. “But that’s not how it works in our democracy. Unfortunately, what we end up having to do is to do a lot of negotiations with a lot of different people.”

Whereas Ronald Reagan saw the answers to our problems in the private sphere (“in this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem”), Obama seeks to expand confidence in, and reliance on, government wherever and whenever he can, albeit within the confines of a generally Center-Right nation and the “unfortunate” demands of democracy.

Photo Credit: Looking at the Left, "Dissent is the New Racism in Obama’s Post-Racial America."

100,000 Expected for May Day Protest in Los Angeles

Authorities in Los Angeles are bracing for a massive illegal immigration rally today. As always, the hardline communist protest groups are leading the demonstrations. Here's the statement at L.A. Indy Media:

WORKERS RIGHTS ARE IMMIGRANT RIGHTS! Diverse immigrant rights groups all over the United States will come out in a united full force for an all-out drive to push genuine immigration reform in 2010. In almost all major cities of the United States, immigrant rights groups led the labor unions, immigrant rights advocates and anti-war and racism forces like the International ANSWER Coalition will hold march and rallies for full immigrant rights and to commemorate International Workers Day.

Check ANSWER's page here, with the link to the international solidarity protest flyer, "ESTAMOS UNIDOS POR LA REFORMA MIGRATORIA EN EL 2010" ("UNITED FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM 2010").

And via Blazing Cat Fur, check out Robert Fulford's essay on Soviet May celebrations:

May Day was the biggest annual show in the world, a gigantic parade that climaxed before the Lenin mausoleum in Red Square as dignitaries smiled down on rows of tanks, cannon, missiles and soldiers paraded before them.

It was the chief ritual in the myth-laden cult of communism, a drama that seamlessly combined weaponry and peasant enthusiasm. May Day parades flourished till 1991, when protesters jeered General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev and suddenly the jolliness was over. Today it exists mainly as a grotesque comedy, its carefully crafted remnants floating on the Internet.

Gulf Oil Spill From NASA Earth Observatory

Lots o' stuff on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Via NASA's Twitter stream and Memeorandum, "Gulf Oil Spill Creeps Towards Mississippi Delta."

And the untouched photos are at NASA Goddard's Flickr page:

And don't miss the phenomenal coverage at The Big Picture, "Oil spill approaches Louisiana coast."

Radical leftists have already exploited the tragedy, but see Sarah Palin, "Domestic Drilling: Why We Can Still Believe":

All responsible energy development must be accompanied by strict oversight, but even with the strictest oversight in the world, accidents still happen. No human endeavor is ever without risk – whether it’s sending a man to the moon or extracting the necessary resources to fuel our civilization. I repeat the slogan “drill here, drill now” not out of naiveté or disregard for the tragic consequences of oil spills – my family and my state and I know firsthand those consequences. How could I still believe in drilling America’s domestic supply of energy after having seen the devastation of the Exxon-Valdez spill? I continue to believe in it because increased domestic oil production will make us a more secure, prosperous, and peaceful nation.

Our hearts go out to all Americans along the coast affected by this recent tragedy, especially those who lost family members in the rig explosion, and our prayers go up for a successful recovery. May spill responders be safe.

- Sarah Palin

Boycott Shakira!

At CNN, "Shakira enters Arizona immigration fight."

Yeah, yeah. Another airheaded lefty celeb gets all human rights-y on us.

In contrast, let's hear it from a blonde with brains, Heather MacDonald, "Praising Arizona":

The Arizona law is not about race; it’s not an attack on Latinos or legal immigrants. It’s about one thing and one thing only: making immigration enforcement a reality. It is time for a national debate: Do we or don’t we want to enforce the country’s immigration laws? If the answer is yes, the Arizona law is a necessary and lawful tool for doing so. If the answer is no, we should end the charade of inadequate, half-hearted enforcement, enact an amnesty now, and remove future penalties for immigration violations.

Smashing Zero

I've kept my good friend Kreiz waiting a long time for some Smashing Pumkins. Here's "Zero" (Wiki link here):

Also, listen to "Tonight, Tonight" (embedding's disabled).

Plus, don't miss Theo's "Bedtime Totty..."

BONUS BONANZA: COED, "Weapons of Mass Distraction: 2010 Hooters Calendar Girls Invade Iraq."

Gov. Jan Brewer Speaks Out on Arizona Immigration Law

Megyn Kelly interviews Gov. Jan Brewer on Arizona's tough new immigration law:

RELATED: From Byron York, "In response to critics, Arizona tweaks new immigration law" (via Memeorandum).

Palin Hacker Convicted

At CNN, "TRENDING: Man found guilty in Palin e-mail case" (via Memeorandum).

And at Fox News, "Palin E-Mail Hacker Convicted on 2 of 4 Charges":

A Tennessee jury on Friday convicted the man who hacked Sarah Palin's e-mail account on two of four charges -- computer fraud and obstruction of justice. The panel did not find David Kernall guilty guilty of wire fraud. It deadlocked on an identity theft charge.

The former University of Tennessee student faced as much as 50 years for breaking into Palin's e-mail while the former Alaska governor was the Republican vice presidential candidate in 2008.

The two charges for which Kendall was convicted -- unlawful computer access and obstruction of justice -- carried a combined maximum penalty of 25 years in prison and $500,000 in fines. It also calls for as much as eight years of supervised release, but it will be up to the judge to decide the sentence.

More at the link.

Amanda Marcotte: Liar and Deceiver

That's what Jill Stanek argues at, "Amanda Marcotte, Just Another Pro-Abort Fraud":

While I think all abortion industry types are crooks and liars, there are some pro-abort ideologues who I believe are misguided but genuine.

Until 2 days ago I had Amanda Marcotte of Pandagon in that category. She's harsh and anti-Christian, but I thought she was honest ...

Despite our differences, I gave her the benefit of the doubt as being authentic. No more. Marcotte now falls into the liar and deceiver category.

RTWT to get the full background, but I couldn't resist Jill's Twitter exchange screencap:

Leftists are liars, as I brutally demonstrated recently with Captain Fogg of the Swash Zone. No amount of factual presentation will work with these pure haters. That's why good folks of moral persuasion have to keep the pressure on. It's a tough job, but thank God we have folks like Jill Stanek on our side.

BONUS: From Jill's WND essay, "Vaccines Made With Fetal Cells Causing Autism?":

Marcotte, childless, is in no position to argue in favor of recommending another's child as a human science experiment. Apparently it is no great leap for hardcore pro-death ideologues to advance from endorsing human embryo research to endorsing human child research.

Ouch!

Photo Credit: Flickr.

Arizona Legislature Passes Bill to Ban ''Chauvanist' Ethnic Studies Programs

Give it up for the Arizona legislature!

At Fox New, "Arizona Legislature Passes Bill to Curb 'Chauvanism' in Ethnic Studies Programs" (via Memeorandum):

After making national headlines for a new law on illegal immigrants, the Arizona Legislature sent Gov. Jan Brewer a bill Thursday that would ban ethnic studies programs in the state that critics say currently advocate separatism and racial preferences.

After making national headlines for a new law on illegal immigrants, the Arizona Legislature passed a bill Thursday that would ban ethnic studies programs in the state that critics say currently advocate separatism and racial preferences.

The bill, which passed 32-26 in the state House, had been approved by the Senate a day earlier. It now goes to Gov. Jan Brewer for her signature.

The new bill would make it illegal for a school district to teach any courses that promote the overthrow of the U.S. government, promote resentment of a particular race or class of people, are designed primarily for students of a particular ethnic group or "advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals."

See also, Gateway Pundit, "Wow… Arizona Passes Bill Banning Radical Ethnic Studies Programs."

RELATED: Doug Ross, "Irony-meter shatters: La Raza, MEChA and other racial separatist groups worry that law enforcement might use racial profiling to enforce laws." And Aaron Hanscom, "Separatism 101."

Belated Earth Day Shocker: Green Tea Parties for Big Government?

Yeah, you read that right. Listen to Sting sing the virtues of "big government" at the video. Another reason why I completely disassociate politics from pop music. Well, almost completely: Thank goodness for Ted Nugent.

BONUS: CSPT features some Shania Twain videos (she's a sweetie).

Political Impact of Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

The front page of my morning Los Angeles Times is splattered with coverage of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. See, "Frantic drive to spare: Fears of an ecological crisis grow as crews tackle a leak that could rival that of the Exxon Valdez." The background is here:

The crisis began last week when the oil rig Deepwater Horizon sank in deep gulf waters, days after it exploded and caught fire. Of its crew of 126, 11 are missing and presumed dead. The rig was owned by Transocean Ltd. and operated by BP, which is responsible for the cleanup.

Oil has been leaking at a rate of 5,000 barrels a day. Because it could take 90 days to drill a relief well to stem the flow, the spill could reach 18.9 million gallons, more than leaked from Exxon Valdez in Alaska's Prince William Sound, the worst spill in U.S. history.

On the political impact, see "Gulf oil spill is a political challenge for Obama's energy policy." And at Washington Post, "As oil spill hits Louisiana coast, critics assail Obama's offshore drilling plan." Obama's gonna get hammered by the radical left base of his party on this (netroots enviro-Nazis are already pissed off), and he'll flip-flop on his drilling plan to mobilize the environmental vote. None of this changes the fact that we need to increase domestic supplies, but the Gull spill will be exploited out of pure political expediency. Soon we'll see the spill used as a battering ram on Sarah Palin, to weaken the attractiveness of her robust embrace of increasing domestic supplies. More at USA Today, "Should oil spill end Obama's offshore drilling plan?" And at ABC News, it's happening already, "White House Says No New Offshore Drilling Until Investigation is Complete: Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Threatens to Jeopardize President Obama's Offshore Drilling Policy."

Pre-Order Pamela Geller's, The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration's War on America

Pamela's got her book cover posted, and readers can pre-order, The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration's War on America:

Book jacket blurbs at the link. For example:

Barack Obama is a revolutionary on a mission to cut America down to size. One size fits all, to be precise. His post-sovereign America is a country no different from any other: economically bankrupt, morally rudderless, with nothing exceptional about it besides the heights from which it tumbles and the remorselessness of its choice – his choice – to decline. With their characteristic attention to detail, clarity and fearlessness, Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer assay the wreckage. The Post-American Presidency is must reading for every concerned American who needs to know why we’re in this perilous moment, and where we’re headed if we don’t take our exceptional country back.

-- Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review legal affairs editor and bestselling author of Willful Blindness: A Memoir of the Jihad

Yawn ... Tea Parties Are Racist (Nazis) Blah, Blah...

Lots o' stuff on the "racist' tea parties today, for example, at Powerline, "The Smear Continues." John Hinderaker laughs at the study from the University of Washington Institute for the Study of Ethnicity, Race & Sexuality, "2010 Multi-state Survey on Race & Politics." And of course, the university's research was picked up by Newsweek, "Are Tea Partiers Racist? A New Study Shows That the Movement's Supporters Are More Likely to Be Racially Resentful."

Or, ah, maybe they mean resentful like ruben_baruch@sbcglobal.net who (nearly unintelligibly) asked Michelle Malkin, "I just wondering how or where did you learned to speak like the way you do? Because you are are not white, and that is obvious ..."

Either way, the smart folks at Brandeis University are on the case! See Michael Graham's earlier post, "I Wonder If Brandeis Has Invited Nancy Pelosi To Speak At This Event?":

This is NOT a parody. It’s not a poster put up by some kooky student or lone Left-Wing agitator. This is an official poster for an official, school-sponsored symposium at Brandeis University:

The symposium will be a look at the American Right from a “neo-Nazi” perspective. And when Brandeis says “Neo-Nazis,” they mean “tea partiers.” Think I exaggerate? Check out the web page for the event ...

Click here.

But thank goodness for Roger Simon, "The real reason liberals accuse Tea Partiers of racism":

I have said something like this before, but at the risk of being a bore, and because of the times in which we live, I will repeat myself:

The real reason liberals accuse Tea Partiers of racism is that contemporary American-style liberalism is in rigor mortis. Liberals have nothing else to say or do. Accusations of racism are their last resort.

The European debt crisis — first Greece, then Portugal and now Spain (and Belgium, Ireland and Italy, evidently) — has shown the welfare state to be an unsustainable economic system. The US, UK and Japan, according to the same Financial Times report, are also on similar paths of impoverishment through entitlements.

Many of us have known this for a long time, just from simple math. Entitlements are in essence a Ponzi scheme. Now we have to face that and do something serious about it or our economy (the world economy) will fall apart.

Liberals, leftists or progressives — whatever they choose to call themselves — have a great deal of trouble accepting this. To do so they would have to question a host of positions they have not examined for years, if ever, not to mention have to engage in discussions that could threaten their livelihood and jeopardize their personal and family associations.

Thus the traditional wish to kill the messenger who brings the bad news: the Tea Partiers. And the easiest way to kill them — the most obvious and hoariest of methods – is to accuse them of racism. Never mind that there is no evidence — or what little evidence proffered has been shown to be manufactured prevarication — liberals must continue the racism meme at all costs. There is no other. To engage the Tea Party Movement in a battle of ideas would be suicidal for them, because the basic economic tenet of American liberalism — an increase in government spending and consequent increased national debt is good for society — seems nonsensical to the vast majority of our citizens at this point in history. And for good reason.

RELATED: The Blog Prof, "Video: Obama calls out riot police on 200 peaceful tea party protesters", which has this devastating Megyn Kelley segment:

See also, "'Racially Resentful': Dissecting the latest bogus tea-party poll."

Well We Ain't Fakin', A-Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On...

Leave it to Robert Stacy McCain to come up with some of the most interesting theories behind today's international news headlines: "Influence of Jerry Lee Lewis Has Belated and Unexpected Effect in Nigeria."

Check the link. Meanwhile, I'll just leave you with "The Killer." Multiple performances of a singularly great song:

Also, a whole lotta shakin' at Washington Rebel, "Morals or Markets or Boobquakes? We Post, You Tremble." And, Theo Spark's, "Bedtime Totty..."

RELATED: PA Pundits International, "Sunday Music – The Times They Are A Changin – The Bob Dylan Series (Part 4)."

Michelle Malkin Highlights (Yet) More Leftist Bigotry

My blog buddy William Jacobson's posting on Michelle Malkin's hate mail, so be sure to check it ou: "Just Say It - "All Immigration Laws Are Racist." Speaking of the left's "racist" allegations against Arizona's new immigration enforcement law, William notes:

At its heart, the accusations of racism stem from the view which many critics of the Arizona law share, but will not state: All our immigration laws are racist because the vast majority of illegal immigrants are non-white, and of those, a majority are Mexican. Immigration laws, therefore, must be racist, and those who seek enforcement of the laws are racists.

This is the argument which is not made, because it inevitably leads to an open border policy which is a non-starter politically. Open borders are advocated by many groups, but not explicitly by any major political party or politician.

Hence the tension. You will hear charges of racism no matter what is done to enforce the immigration laws.

Perfectly said, and extremely intersting, given that -- once again -- the left's latest attacks on Michelle reveal where today's true bigotry and racial obssession are found. See, "Breaking news: I am not white!":

The hate mail is on an increase again thanks to my outspoken defense of Arizona’s immigration enforcement measure. Too many to choose from, but here’s a typical response:

from Ruben ruben_baruch@sbcglobal.net
to writemalkin@gmail.com
date Thu, Apr 29, 2010 at 7:42 AM
subject The color of your skin

Dear Michelle:

I have never met you or heard from you until today.

I didnt’ need to hear you for too long to know the kind of person you are or what are your personally.

I just wondering how or where did you learned to speak like the way you do.

Because you are are not white, and that is obvious, I would like to invite you to take a walk around or drive in Arizona and see and feel in your own skin the racism that exist [sic] in that state. I really would like you to experience first hand the racial prejudice ...

More at the link. Plus, don't miss video as well:

Obama Goons Send Illinois SWAT Team to Smash Tea Party Patriots!

From Dana Loesch:

As I reported on air this afternoon via Michelle Moore’s updates, Illinois sent in the riot squad to stop the couple hundred peaceful protesters from … doing what it isn’t exactly clear. Protesters sang “God Bless America” and apparently that was enough to invoke the riot squad. Illinois may be running a deficit but sure has money to burn for silly and unnecessary things.

Additional links at the post (via Memeorandum). But Dana adds:

Who gave the order to call in the riot police on protesters? Word is that Secret Service from inside the venue and the presidential team pressured local law enforcement, who were against the idea. Local cops were overruled, I’m told by various sources, including a few members of local press. Moore reported that she overheard Secret Service telling the riot squad to “push them back, out of sight.“

Intimidation tactic. Plain and simple. There was no violence, no arguments, just a couple hundred patriots who sang patriotic songs and wore red, white, and blue. Unbelievable.

*UPDATE

Doug Edelman identifies this man as the one who called in the riot squad and said to “push them back, out of sight” ...

The tea partiers were completely peaceful throughout, as they always are.

More at Gateway Pundit, "OBAMA & BIG SIS Call In Riot Police on Quincy Tea Party Patriots (Video)."