Cartoonist Ted Rall Calls for Communist Revolution: 'I Would Like to See a Completely Leftist Proletariat Dictatorship'

A violent revolution and the establishment of a proletarian dictartorship in the U.S.?

Right.

But of course, there's no "real commies" around any more. Just "imaginary" ones. Just ask Tintin, the blogging asshat at Sadly No!

"Because we do in fact hate commies, at least real commies, not the imaginary commies that community college Assistant Associate Professor Douglas sees lurking behind every potted plant."

Here's the book: The Anti-American Manifesto.

Rall's interviewed at Washington City Paper:

Washington City Paper: What’s your new book about?

Ted Rall It’s about the desire to replace the two-party system with something better. Understanding the fact that’s not going to happen by marching in the streets, or writing poetic letters to the editor, made it obvious that as it has always been and as it always will be, that if we want to improve our lives we’re going to have to take some radical chances.

WCP: Why do it now, post-Bush/Cheney, or even post-Reagan for that matter?

TR: Obama is why, actually. He’s about the best that the system has to offer. This two-party system, owned by corporations, is not going to give us a president who is less owned by corporations, or who is smarter, or who has more integrity. This is about it, this is as good as it gets. It’s very clear that he’s neither willing nor able to solve the problems that face the country. He’s not willing or able to stimulate the economy, to put people back to work, to stop the widening disparity of wealth, to pass a real health care plan, to get us out of Afghanistan, to get us out of Iraq… if he’s the best that they’ve got, we need better.

WCP: So the situation that we’re in right now—would you blame Bush for it, or would you go back further?

TR: Oh, we’re talking about decades of malfeasance, corruption, and a country that’s intentionally deciding to become a poor one on purpose. It’s really kind of crazy, so it’s not just Bush. Reagan and Clinton bear a lot of the blame for free trade agreements that sent American jobs overseas, for the widening disparity of wealth, for crushing the unions—it goes on and on. You can go back a lot further than that too. In the most recent era I would say that it began with Reagan ....

WCP: I must say that personally I have a little trouble trusting the mob, much like the founding fathers did.

TR: Well, yeah, if the United States proves anything, it’s that democracy doesn’t work. You can look at California’s referendums to prove that. I’m being droll there, but in reality the country is too undereducated to have a functioning democracy. As Toqueville said, you need a well-educated, well-informed electorate in order to make democracy work and we don’t have that. In fact it’s considered geeky or dorky to be an intellectual, and if you are, you’re supposed to pretend that you’re not ...

WCP: In your first chapter, you talk about this being late-stage capitalism, but to me it looks vaguely like a return, at least during the Bush years, to early-stage capitalism with less rules, less taxation, and the like. I would have said something like FDR’s New Deal would have starting moving us to a late-stage capitalism. Can you talk about why you think we’re in a late-stage capitalism now?

TR: It’s the classic Marxist model, where the trend toward monopolization has gone to an extreme, to the point where competition has been stifled, and where new generations of young people find their road to advancement cut off and are unable to find work or start new businesses. Capital has frozen. You know the country’s still rich. In 2008, money didn’t go away. We didn’t become poor. The lifeblood of the economy stopped circulating and rich people stopped investing. It’s really quite crazy if you think about it. The thing about American capitalism is that it does everything exactly backwards. When it should be audacious, like now, it’s timid, and when it should be timid, like during the late 1990s, it’s profligate. It’s really an incredibly stupid system (laughs) . The reason I wrote this book is that it’s become obvious to everyone. You couldn’t call for revolution in 1989—well you could call for it, but no one would have cared. I think more people are open to the message now. Someone asked me the other day, ‘well, how are you going to radicalize people?’ and I said ‘you don’t have to radicalize anyone.’ Once you get a pink slip and an eviction notice from a bank that is paying its CEO $40 million a year, you’re radicalized. You don’t to need read Mao’s Little Red Book ...

WCP: When you call for revolution, what would you see replacing the current system? Parliamentary democracy?

TR: I’m all the way on the far left, as far as you can get, so I would like to see a completely leftist proletariat dictatorship, but what I want is neither here nor there. I don’t think that what I want is important, or relevant, or realistic to even discuss, because once you unleash the forces of revolution, anything could happen. You could end up with a right wing coup. Who knows where you’re going to end up? You could end up with a Christian theocracy. What the revolution does is create the physical and ideological space for the discussion to take place. Right now, we don’t really know what Americans want, but what we do know is that this system is currently broken, and what we need is to come in with a clean slate, start from scratch and undergo the difficult process that the United States has not undergone for 200 years of figuring out how we really want to live in the year 2011.

The full interview's at the link.

Rall is an award-winning leftist political cartoonist. Totally mainstream. His cartoons are syndicated in over 100 newspapers around the country. And here he is advocating the violent overthrow of the United States and the establishment of a communist dictatorship. But there won't be a peep by anyone in the MFM. It's the tea parties who're routinely portrayed as extremist right-wing fringe elements. It's all pretty messed up. Check those links, and then Gates of Vienna's comments:

I’m not going to examine the latest from The Guardian in any detail, since it’s really just more of the same. I’m just posting this article to point out the extent to which the leftist press are using the websites of ICLA and 4Freedoms — not to mention American Counterjihad sites — as sources for their reporting.

As you read through this, see if you come to the same conclusion I did: The Gnudaria doesn’t have a clue about what’s going on. They read our blogs and our forums, and they quote our words, but it’s like a deaf person reading a musical score — they have no real sense of what it all means. This is especially true of their account of what is going on here in the USA, for which they have a thoroughly tin ear.

Epic 'Feminist' Hypocrisy

Democrat Jerry Brown is in the news again this morning. Politico reports that Brown spoke out against mammograms in 1995. Folks can parse the policy-wonkishness of the statement. I'm still just blown away out at how, with the campaign's "whore" slur, for the left there's simply nothing Democrats can do to trigger disgust and outrage. Carol Platt Liebau perfectly sums up the Democrats, NOW and radical feminists:

NOW has nothing to do with women's rights, or the proper treatment of women. They are simply shills for abortion and big government. They ought to admit it and take the word "Women" out of their name, because they no more stand for "women" in general than President Obama stands for small government and low taxes.

The Right to Hate

Democrat President Franklin Roosevelt refused to sign anti-lynching legislation in the 1930s. Typical for leftists. I've been having a go 'round with Reppy's white supremacist blog, where he writes: "I only repudiate hate and such when I think something is hateful." That's what lefties do. Deny the hate and spin long, rambing and insane justifications for it: "That ordinary people did these things is deeply disturbing; that they manufactured a social rationale for their acts is more disturbing still":

More here.

Reppy's Motto:

Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds.

-- Robert C. Byrd, letter to Sentor Theodore Bilbo (D-MS), 1944.

Previously: "White Minority."

AND FROM ST. BLOGUSTINE:

"Your unconquerable strength is in your ability to express the truth. They despise you for it. Let them!"

And despise they do.

Peter Weir's 'The Way Back'

In theaters December 29. In general release January 21, 2011 (background here):

Peace

Click the image to enlarge (via Legal Insurrection):

Donald Wood, 17-Year Math Teacher at Tennessee's McGavock High School, Suspended After Violent Classroom Meltdown

At The Blaze, where there's a fascinating comment thread placing the blame for this guy's breakdown on the students:

There's a link to Gawker as well, where even the lefties suggest the students drove this guy over the edge. It's hard out there. You gotta just dismiss the class sometimes. Go get some fresh air and a Coke.

More commentary at Mediaite, "Student Records High School Teacher’s Breakdown On Cell Phone Camera."

Blake Lively Rule 5

She's a beauty:

Linkmaster Smith should be linking this up for Sunday's Rule 5 extravaganza.

Katharine Birbalsingh, Deputy Head Teacher, Suspended After Speaking Out at Britain's Conservative Party Conference - UPDATED!!

Via Ghost of a Flea, at London's Daily Mail, "Deputy head who dared attack the state education system is sent home from school":

A teacher who laid bare the chaos in the state education system has been ordered out of the classroom by her school.

Katharine Birbalsingh is facing disciplinary action for daring to speak out at the Conservative Party conference this week about the shambles in state secondaries.
The Daily Mail understands that Miss Birbalsingh, 37, was made to work from home after other senior staff at her London academy feared her speech on Tuesday created too much negative publicity.

‘I just want this issue to be resolved and to get back to teaching again.’
However, Miss Birbalsingh did not blame the school for over-reacting.

‘It is not the school or the head’s fault,’ she added. ‘They are shackled by the system which bans teachers from having freedom of speech.

‘In my conference speech, I was not attacking my school directly – I have only been there for a few weeks.

‘I was emphasising my ten years plus of experience in classrooms.’ She added: ‘I feel awful. I have been forced to choose between keeping my school happy on the one hand and my principles on the other.

‘I shouldn’t be torn in that kind of way.’

Miss Birbalsingh said she was ‘devastated’ at being kept out of the classroom while she waits to hear if she is formally suspended or sacked.

The former Marxist – who was state-educated before going to Oxford University – voted Tory for the first time in this year’s general election.

A French teacher and deputy head at St Michael and All Angels Church of England Academy in Camberwell, South London, she was the surprise star at the Tory conference.

She revealed how bad behaviour and lack of discipline in schools ‘blinded by Leftist ideology’ stopped staff from teaching children.

Her intervention against a ‘broken’ system which ‘keeps poor children poor’ earned her a standing ovation. She took up her latest job a month ago and said last night that her criticisms were not aimed at her new school.

But staff felt that she had damaged the school’s reputation – an accusation that she denies.

Miss Birbalsingh said yesterday: ‘I’m devastated by this.

‘My whole life is about helping children fulfil their potential, particularly those in less privileged areas, and I love my school.

‘All I wanted to do was to highlight the barriers that stand in the way of improving education in Britain.

She has courage. And a former Marxist too.

Speaking out is a difficult thing with the left's hate-speech ayatollah's having such crushing power. I've experienced it, but obviously British teachers have less free speech protections. Although it's not as though U.S. radical education bureaucracies haven't chilled freedom of expression inside the classroom and out. This last couple of years, amid the Obama interregnum, has been particularly stifling.

And think of all the kids harmed by this sickening hatred and rigid state bureaucracy. It's sad just to think about it.

MORE COMMENTARY at Midnight Blue, "British Teacher Speaks Out on the Shambles of State Education." The link there goes to London's Telegraph, "Teacher who criticised education standards to return to school."

AND THANKS to Glenn Reynolds for the Instalanche.

Alex Knepper, FrumForum Blogger, Fired by Daily Caller Over Pedophile Controversy

I had an exchange at this blog with Alex Knepper some time back, after California's Proposition 8 became a national controversy. I don't dislike Alex. Lately though, on Facebook and Twitter, Alex has come across as extremely combative, for example in response to my essay on Tyler Clementi. I had slammed his arguments as juvenile (and it looks like I'm not the only one).

Well I've been learning a bit about Alex of late. Alex is 20 years-old and homosexual. That I knew. What I didn't know is that Alex has the hots for young boys, and he posts to gay adolescent hookup boards with an animated JPEG image of Justin Bieber. The folks at NewsReal Blog have been reporting on this. See, "David Frum and His Pro-Pedophile Protege Alex Knepper."

It's a fairly detailed post. Alex apparently posted under the alias "Lostpainting." Patterico, who is an ADA in Los Angeles, confirmed that the NewsReal post checked out: "Does a David Frum Protege Have Tendencies Towards Pedophilia?"

I tweeted the link to Alex last night. I found this tweet from Alex this morning:

This is interesting, since I considered Alex a friend previously, and I've never ridiculed him or alleged any kind of moral depravity. I'm just now learning about all this stuff. And what I'm reading is not reassuring, for example, Alex was fired from NewsReal Blog in July: "The Liar Alex Knepper Wasn’t Fired for Criticizing Ann Coulter, He Was Fired for Being An Intemperate, Unmanageable, Perverted, Impulsive, Narcissistic Child."

As for pedophilia, I think my understanding of it is like most people's, and that pedophilia is sexual interest and molestation of children. One of the criticisms of Alex is that he turns deeply moral dilemmas into academic ones, which we can see above at the tweet parsing the definition of "pedophilia." I'd think most folks would think it wrong for a 20 year-old man have a sexual interest in a 16 year-old boy. And while Wikipedia's entry indicates that in clinical medicine pedophilia is defined as sexual advances toward pre-pubescent children. But the page continues:

In common usage, pedophilia means any sexual interest in children or the act of child sexual abuse, often termed "pedophilic behavior". For example, The American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary states, "Pedophilia is the act or fantasy on the part of an adult of engaging in sexual activity with a child or children." This common use application also extends to the sexual interest and abuse of pubescent or post-pubescent minors.

No one likes to be criticized, but as noted Alex seems to be particularly sensitive, and he's become aggressively combative in response. He's been doubling-down his defense of his behavior by offering explanations or excuses that are simply not appropriate. Just last week, Alex published an analysis of the Tyler Clementi suicide at The Daily Caller (cited at my link above). The page has now been pulled:

And characteristically, Alex blames it on a NewsReal Blog smear campaign against him:

Unfortunately, smear tactics sometimes work, and my relationship with the Daily Caller has ended. It has ended amicably, but it has ended.

Well, in this case, those "smear tactics" provided damning evidence of morally questionable behavior --- and it's that activity that got Alex Knepper fired from Daily Caller. It will be extremely interesting now to see how long it will be until David Frum follows suit. Can't be long, especially as the case of Alex's pedophilia goes viral. Hard to explain all of this, although I know these kinds of extremist rationalizations are common in the fever swamps of the neo-communist left. And it's stange that Alex claims to be a conservative, but I don't think so, unless this is the kind of faux-conservatism David Weigel recently discussed. In other words, it's not. Just more of the same morally relative post-modern radicalism that increasingly informs the mainstream of the Democrat Party left.

Democrat Bastions Besieged by GOP

At WSJ and Memeorandum:

Republican challengers are suddenly threatening once-safe Democrats in New England and the Northwest, expanding the terrain for potential GOP gains and raising the party's hopes for a significant victory in next month's elections.

Republican advances in traditionally Democratic states, including Connecticut, Oregon and Washington, may not translate into a wave of GOP victories. But they have rattled local campaigns and forced the Democrats to shift attention and money to races they didn't expect to be defending.

Rising sentiment against the party in power has washed ashore even in coastal Oregon, where Democratic Rep. Peter DeFazio won his 10th re-election two years ago with 82% of the vote.

"I am having the same problem that Democrats are having across the country, which is ennui," he said, noting that his opponent's yard signs "are thick" across much of the district. Mr. DeFazio said he is facing the fight of his political life.

And that's because the electorate is awakening to Democrat-Socialist Party hate and hypocrisy.

RELATED: "TwitterGate Update: Neal Rauhauser Switches Account to ‘Protected’ Status."

National Organization for Women Endorses Jerry Brown for Governor

Yeah, because misogynist hatred is cool, that is, if you're a Democrat.

At LAT, "Jerry Brown announces NOW endorsement one day after Meg Whitman slur" (via Memeorandum). Also, "Jerry Brown Says 'Whore,' And NOW Comes A Runnin'."

Typical leftist.

The Left's Opportunistically Hypocritical Attack on Rich Iott

Joshua Green asks:"Why is This GOP House Candidate Dressed as a Nazi?" It's a good question. It's probably not something I would do. But the candidate, Rich Iott, is a past participant in WWII military reenactments. These are quite common among history buffs. But here's the thing: If this were a Democrat candidate you wouldn't hear a peep. (I've yet to see the left's outrage for the Jerry Brown campaign's misogyny, for example.) Racism, sexism and hatred of the other? Leftists offer social justifications for them. But open season if it's a GOP candidate. See, "Left's Pathetic Attack On Republican Iott For German Re-enactment Participation." (Via Memeorandum.)

UPDATE: "TwitterGate Update: Neal Rauhauser Switches Account to ‘Protected’ Status."

'I Must Be Dreaming'

From Goldfinger, playing right now on Encore:

Bogani Masuku at BDS Quebec Conference

See "BDS Conference Sponsors Turning A Blind Eye To Hate?" (Via Moose and Squirrel.)

Why are organizational sponsors of the BDS Quebec Conference happening in Montreal this month associating themselves with Bongani Masuku, judged by the South African Human Rights Commission as guilty of anti-Semitic hate speech? Perhaps because Masuku’s hateful positions are precisely in line with what the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions movement are all about. ...

What precisely did Masuku say that got him into so much trouble? Here are a few examples:

"We want to convey a message to the Jews in South Africa that our 1.9-million workers who are affiliated to COSATU are fully behind the people of Palestine … Any business owned by Israel supporters will be a target of workers in South Africa” [Source: Address at COSATU-Palestinian Solidarity Committee rally in Raedene, 6 February 2009].

"COSATU is with you, we will do everything to make sure that whether it’s at Wits University, whether its at Orange Grove, anyone who does not support equality and dignity, who does not support the rights of other people must face the consequences even if it means that we will do something that may necessarily cause what is regarded as harm …" [Source: Address at public meeting on Wits University Campus, 5 March 2009]

Typical. RTWT.

Hat Tip: Blazing Cat Fur.

California's Cash Crop Crackup

Check out Kathy Shaidle's essay at NewsReal Blog, "Move Over, Underpants Gnomes: Latest Newspaper Business Plan Involves … Cheetos!"

And no joke on the "cash crop crackup," especially if Prop 19 passes. A new pro-pot documentary, "Cash Crop," is now playing in theaters. The review at LAT isn't particularly enthusiastic (focusing on growers, the film avoids the second and third stage marijuana markets, where the real complications and casualties of decriminalization will be found). And no doubt the reviews of the state's pot initiative won't be all that enthusiastic either, should the measure pass next month (which is looking less likely, thank goodness: "New poll shows California tilting against legalized marijuana").

Update on Obama's Community College Initiative

Bruce Hall commented on my community college entry:

I do not often agree with President Obama, but in this instance I believe there is significant opportunity for community colleges to "repair" the education process in the U.S. He got a bit sidetracked in his pontification about tax breaks which really was irrelevant. Tax breaks are not the issue. The issue is creating a system in which community colleges become feeder campuses to universities in an orderly and effective way... for both the students and the universities.

Community colleges can become "filters" for students who have marginal credentials, but may have excellent motivation... allowing them to adequately prepare for the university and avoid situations such as this ...

... report on Wayne State University.

Obama's Rap Palate

Not winning hearts and minds in the heartland:

Somehow this strikes me as another Obama pose. But whether the president genuinely enjoys this brutal, hate-filled garbage or is just faking it to manufacture some street cred, it displays poor judgment. And it's not cool. The man has daughters, for heaven's sake.

PREVIOUSLY: "Obama's Gangsta Grillz."

Sexy Marisa Miller Captain Morgan Trailer #2

Version #1 is here:

More great blogging at American Perspective and Washington Rebel.

White Minority

Reppy's theme song:

We're gonna be a white minority
We won't listen to the majority
We're gonna feel inferiority
We're gonna be white minority

White pride
You're an american
I'm gonna hide
Anywhere I can

Gonna be a white minority
We don't believe there's a possibility
Well you just wait and see
We're gonna be white minority

White pride
You're an american
White pride
Anywhere I can?

Gonna be a white minority
There's gonna be large cavity
Within my new territory
We're all gonna die

NewsBusted — Chris Matthews: US 'Basically Conservative'

Via Theo Spark:

Largest U.S. Bank Halts Foreclosures in All States

Interesting story, but the longer homes are allowed to avoid foreclosure, which artificially buoys housing prices, the longer it will take for the overall economy to recover (and Harry Reid couldn't give a flying v):

The plan swept states with some of the highest foreclosure levels, including California, Nevada and Arizona, into a swelling crisis over lenders’ flawed paperwork that had been mostly confined to 23 other states that require judicial review of foreclosures.

Bank of America instituted a partial freeze last week in those 23 states, and three other major mortgage lenders have done the same. The bank’s decision on Friday increased pressure on other lenders to extend their moratoriums nationwide as well.

An immediate effect of the action will be a temporary stay of execution for hundreds of thousands of borrowers in default. The bank said it would be brief, a mere pause while it made sure its methods were in order.

But as the furor grows over lenders’ attempts to bypass legal rules in their haste to reclaim houses from delinquent owners, there is a growing expectation that foreclosures will dwindle for months as the foreclosure system is reworked.

Stan Humphries, an economist with the housing site Zillow.com, said what was initially cast as a problem of sloppy record-keeping is rapidly evolving into one that suggests the banks’ procedures for recording loans might not have followed the law.

“The former scenario represents a hiccup for the market, maybe a 30- to 90-day slowdown in foreclosure initiations,” Mr. Humphries said. “The latter scenario is more like hitting a wall.”

The uncertainty is putting the housing market in turmoil and causing vast confusion. Bank of America, for example, said it was not halting sales of foreclosed properties to new owners, but Fannie Mae, the giant mortgage holding company, is doing exactly that with properties it bought from Bank of America.

One real estate agent in Florida said Friday that he had six deals involving former Bank of America properties that had been at least temporarily scuttled. Representatives for Fannie, which was taken over by federal regulators after it failed two years ago, did not return calls.

Real estate agents said the extent of any disruption depended on how long the moratorium lasted, how many lenders ultimately participated — and what people in default decided to do.

“If it’s still January, February, March, and they’re not foreclosing, you’ll see a big effect,” said Jim Klinge, an agent in San Diego. “It’ll be a banker’s holiday, free rent for everybody and a lawyers’ gold mine.”

More on housing at Instapundit.

Bill Whittle's Firewall: 'What We Believe, Part 1: Small Government and Free Enterprise'

Via Gateway Pundit:

And check out Bill's Twitter feed.

Oh My! Barack Obama Ties George W. Bush in New CNN Poll!

Ha!

And with a 4.5 percent margin of error folks might well be more hatin' on The One!

Miss me yet??!!

By 47 to 45 percent, Americans say Obama is a better president than George W. Bush. But that two point margin is down from a 23 point advantage one year ago.

"Democrats may want to think twice about bringing up former President George W. Bush's name while campaigning this year," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.

"But that doesn't mean that Americans regret their decision to put Obama in the White House in 2008. By a 50 to 42 percent margin, the public says that Obama has done a better job than Sen. John McCain would have done if he had won. And by a 10-point margin, Americans also say that Joe Biden has done a better job than Sarah Palin would have done as vice president," adds Holland.

According to the poll, 45 percent of the public approves of the job Obama's doing as president, up three points from late last month, with 52 percent disapproving. Fifty-nine percent of independents disapprove of how the Obama's handling his duties, with 37 percent giving him a thumbs up.

In the fight for control of Congress, 52 percent of likely voters say they would vote for the generic Republican candidate in their district if the election were held today, with 45 percent saying they would back the Democrat. The Republican's seven point margin is down from a nine point advantage late last month.

According to the poll, independents say they would vote for the Republican candidate over the Democrat by a two to one margin.

RELATED: "Poll to Perdition."

Marxism, Socialism, Communism, and Obama

From Mike McDaniel, at Pajamas Media:

“I don’t get it,” my friend said, shaking his head. “Obama is supposed to be so smart and such a brilliant politician … ”

“Right,” I said. “So?”

“So everything he has done or wants to do is a disaster! It’s all opposed by the majority of the American people. Even Democrats are running away from him as fast as they can. If he’s such a great politician, why does he keep doing things most people hate? And that’s not the worst part. When people complain, he calls them too dumb to appreciate what he’s doing for them!”

Why indeed. The answer is deceptively simple: Barack Obama, the president of the United States, is a committed, doctrinaire socialist, and because Marxist philosophy is the foundation of socialism and communism, a Marxist. Many Americans are reluctant to accept this idea, despite overwhelming evidence, for two primary reasons: they don’t want to accept that they helped to elect him, and they’re not really sure what socialism and communism are, or what all the fuss about communism was about. After all, the Swedes are socialists — aren’t they all blondes in bikinis with charming accents? ...

Why doesn’t Mr. Obama behave as the brilliant politician he is supposed to be? Why doesn’t he move to the center when it’s obvious that he is collapsing his faux Greek-columned temple around the ears of himself and his party? He’s a socialist. He’s a Marxist. Virtually all of his associates, mentors, and friends have been one or the other or both. Who would even think, let alone say and do the things he has done and that he is absolutely dedicated to doing unless they were a single-minded, dyed-in-the-wool, committed socialist?

Socialists and communists always take the long view, which is a result of their unshakable belief that their beloved philosophy cannot possibly fail, and that the only prescription for what others might mistakenly see as failure is more, and more fervent, socialism or communism. Thus public outrage over discovering that every feature of ObamaCare used to sell it was a lie is merely a failure of “messaging.” The proper message delivered to the masses will convince them! The underlying policy cannot be wrong, nor could the masses fail to appreciate it and “The One” if they were only smart enough to understand the proper messaging.

Interesting, if not a little simple. I like Jonah Goldberg's analysis much more, although no doubt Obama's committed to a socialist project, and in the end all socialist experiments end in the terror. But it needs to be fleshed out and specified much more analytically.

The 'Suicide Crisis' in the Gay Teen Community

I wrote recently with great sympathy for Tyler Clementi, who jumped to his death after a vicious college "prank" resulted in horrible consequences. I don't understand why some people think that posting private intimate relations to an online feed would be humorous. It's takes the actions of genuinely evil people. Yet, as I noted at the time, I'm not in favor of turning Clementi's death, or the deaths of other gay youth, into some broader crusade to expand hate crimes legislation. I'm concerned about online bullying, and I'd support ways to either regulate or criminalize that kind of activity in a narrowly-tailored fashion. But let's be clear: If leftists can leverage recent tragedies they'll be able to continue to nationalize their campaign against traditional values as "hate speech" creating a "hostile environment" for gay Americans. I'm not down with that. As we saw after the passage of Prop 8 in 2008, the left will lauch the most vicious neo-Stalinist campaigns against regular people who support conservative values. (And in conservatism I'm simply indicating what overwhelming majorities consider mainstream.)

Newsweek had an item earlier on the media's propensity to pump up the volume on an assumed "gay suicide epidemic" that is not supported by larger statistical patterns: "Is the 'Bullying Epidemic' a Media Myth?" Mentioned at the piece is the story of Seth Walsh, a 13 year-old in California who recently commited suicide after being subjected to anti-gay bigotry from classmates. And so it's interesting that today's Los Angeles Times features the story of Walsh and his family on the front page, "Gay Teen in Tehachapi Faced Daily Gantlet." It's a sad story, and I pray for the Walsh family. But I'm simply flabbergasted at how boy's death is being exploited by the Times, although I suppose I shouldn't be surprised:

The teasing and bullying began in fourth grade. At first it was because he was different — more comfortable with girls, not interested in sports, neither aggressive nor assertive — and then it was because he thought he was gay. Once classmates found out and the news spread, the abuse became more focused and cruel.

When Judy learned from her daughter that Seth was gay, she became concerned for the challenges that lay ahead of her grandson.

"Life is hard enough," she says, "but this makes it harder."

"Especially in a small town," Jim says.

Jim and Judy Walsh live on the west side of Tehachapi — about 20 minutes away from their grandchildren — in a gated community known as Bear Valley, an affluent enclave in the middle of the mountains where there are almost as many stables as there are homes.

Sitting in their living room, they talk easily about Seth. Jim is 65, a retired school principal. Judy, 69, is a retired teacher who once served on the school board.

They accept that Seth's suicide — along with the suicides of Tyler Clementi, 18, Billy Lucas, 15, and Asher Brown, 13, all within two and a half weeks — is now part of a national conversation about the consequences of being harassed and being young and gay.

RELATED: "Homosexual Urban Legend: 30% Of Teen Suicide Victims Are Homosexuals."

The PLO Murdered Leon Klinghoffer ...

... Twenty-five years ago today.

Leon Klinghoffer at Wikipedia is here, and the "The Death of Klinghoffer" page, with the debate over anti-Semitism, is here.

Where Are the Outraged Feminists? Jerry Brown Gets a Pass on Meg Whitman 'Union Whore' Slur?

Great background discussion is here. But look, is this that big a deal in the scheme of things? No, but it's the left's chirping crickets once again that's killing me. LAT has the quote from Meg Whitman's campaign spokeswoman Sarah Pompei:

"The use of the term 'whore' is an insult to both Meg Whitman and to the women of California. This is an appalling and unforgivable smear against Meg Whitman. At the very least Mr. Brown tacitly approved this despicable slur and he himself may have used the term at least once on this recording."

Folks at the Brown campaign have issued an apology. I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for the outraged screaming leftists. If a Republican had called Barbara Boxer a whore ... well, perhaps we'll be pleasantly surprised?

The White House Community College Initiative

The Long Beach Press-Telegram has the AP wire story, "White House Summit Focuses on Community Colleges." And the sat the White House homepage, "Building American Skills By Strengthening Community Colleges."

My college participated with video submission, at bottom. Jill Biden's a community college professor, which is interesting in light of SEK's recent attack on students and faculty at two-year colleges:

Harry Reid's Viagra Sex Predator Program!

Sharron Angle, pissing off lefties! And ahead in the polls too! (Via JWF.)

Charles Krauthammer Responds to Christiane Amanpour's 'Holy War: Should Americans Fear Islam?'

Bill O'Reilly focuses on Anjem Choudary, who I mentioned previously. These freaks have a free hand in Europe, and, of course, neither O'Reilly or Krauthammer expects the Islamic flag over the White House anytime soon. Yeah, but that Mega Mosque in New York is on track, so we'll be seeing a good deal of "moderate" Islam squeaking in under the wire:

More on Racial Double Standards

Adding some strike-throughs to The Moneyrunner:

You see, James 'Repsac3' Casper Eugene Robinson and his pals have not had much to fear when they slur beat up their opponents or [attempt to] have them fired.

The Gift of Obama’s Foreign Policy

VDH at NRO:

The Obama reset foreign policy has, in an unintended way, brought clarity to America’s traditional role in the world. After 2004, “blame Bush” proved an easy way for Europeans and American liberals to delude themselves into thinking the world’s problems neither predated nor transcended George W. Bush: Tensions arose, America was at fault, Bush was the culprit, presto! Remove Bush, elect his antithesis, and a natural state of calm would return.

But suddenly Barack Obama’s brief tenure has reminded us that, in fact, almost all the world’s crises arose before the Bush presidency and continued during and after it. Examine current American foreign policy toward every region, and one of three general patterns emerges: Either things are no better since the end of 2008, or they are much worse, or the Obama administration has reverted to the Bush way of doing things — despite constant assurances to the world that Bush was at fault, American foreign policy was now reset, and global animosity arose out of past misunderstanding, insensitivity, and American hubris.

Take first our most vocal and overt enemies. Fidel Castro, after a few mixed messages, is still recycling his 1960s anti-American boilerplate. Syria’s Bashar al-Assad is cementing relations with Iran and Hezbollah, and doing nothing to help matters either in Iraq or in the Mideast generally, despite being assured by Obama that he can do business with someone who is not “smoke ’em out” George Bush.

North Korea’s unhinged rhetoric and occasional missile or torpedo shots escalate. Hugo Chávez is becoming more authoritarian and more anti-American the more he need no longer call Bush a devil. Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the world at the United Nations that the United States might well have planned to kill the 3,000 of its own citizens who died on Sept. 11, 2001; apparently the tired American apologies for the removal of Mossadeq nearly sixty years ago still do not register.

Note that in each of these instances, appeasement — failing to support the Iranian freedom protestors, ignoring the abuses of the Cuban and Syrian totalitarian regimes, and keeping silent about the destruction of democracy in Venezuela — has resulted in even more animus, just as appeasement of the unhinged and dictatorial always does. One might almost conclude that dictatorships hate American freedom, the global stature and power of the United States, and our propensity to oppose aggrandizement, and that they do not much care who happens in any given year to be in the White House.

Brilliant.

RTWT.

Sexy Marisa Miller Captain Morgan Trailer

Saw this over at Theo's:

RELATED: At Bob Belvedere's, "A Little Hump Day Rule 5: Karen Hafter."

4 Weeks

Via William Jacobson:

Lou Dobbs Fights Report That He Used Illegal Immigrants

I read The Nation's hit piece this morning. Pretty wide-ranging smear, and eye-opening if true. Dobbs' response is at ABC News:

Lou Dobbs has slammed illegal immigrants and the people who hire them. Now, in the wake of a report from The Nation that Dobbs relied on undocumented workers for years, he's fighting back.

Today on his nationally syndicated radio show, he called The Nation's investigation, titled, "Lou Dobbs, American Hypocrite," "an attack piece" filled with "outrageous claims."

Dobbs went head-to-head with reporter Isabel Macdonald about her assertion that he hired illegal immigrants to maintain his family's homes and horses.

Their conversation quickly turned into a confrontation:

Dobbs: "Did you say that I hired or my firm hired illegal immigrants?"

Macdonald: "I am saying that for years, undocumented immigrants looked after your show jumping horses, and for years, they looked after the grounds at your West Palm Beach estate in Florida. This article is fact-checked 100 percent, it is legally vetted."

Dobbs hammered Macdonald with questions but seemed loathe to offer any explanations himself. He suggested that if the workers he hired were illegal immigrants, he didn't know that.

"I had been told that they were absolutely legal," he said. "And you were told the same thing ... and you didn't mention that in your piece."

The back-and-forth ended abruptly. As Dobbs tried to dismiss Macdonald from the program, she said, "Your listeners deserve better. I'm saying your listeners deserve to know the truth."

His response: "Are you saying they deserve better than going to TheNation.com? Because that's the last thing I think they should do. ... Let's try focusing on truth and reality and straightforwardness, OK?"

For her Nation piece, Macdonald interviewed at least five undocumented immigrants who did work for Dobbs. Some were brought on to help take care of the horse Dobbs' 22-year-old daughter Hillary used in her professional career as a show jumper.

"At the very same time Lou Dobbs was talking on CNN about the possibility of felony charges for employers who hire undocumented workers, there were undocumented workers caring for his $1 million show jumping horses and undocumented workers caring for the grounds of his estate in West Palm Beach," Macdonald told ABC News.

Hmm. Let's just say I'm underwhelmed with that response, and I used to watch Dobbs on CNN before he went a bit too aggro. Anyway, no doubt lefties are having a field day with this, and of course between Dobbs and Whitman, the clamor for amnesty will start boiling again.

Christine O'Donnell Complains of 'Character Assassination'

Picking up a bit more on Christine O'Donnell's campaign. She's got complaints, and I don't blame her. But there's not much time left and she's avoiding the press. Seems like a rookie approach. Always go with the free media, and kill your opponents with the charm offensive. But she looks a little nervous at the clip, so who knows? Maybe it's a good strategy. Political scientist David Wilson at the clip is not discounting her, although like Larry Sabato noted, no professional analyst is predicting an O'Donnell win:

Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball: 'Very Likely Repubicans Take Over the House'

Okay, picking up from my previous post featuring Larry Sabato. He's forecasting a GOP takeover of the House of Representatives. Republicans need a 39 seat pick up. Sabato's suggesting a GOP gain in the low-50s or so, but not "60, 80 or 100 seats." And notice Sabato's discussion of the President Obama's drag on Democrat prospects. Man, this is going to be killer:

Larry Sabato on the 'Unwisely Chosen' Party Nominations

It's an interesting piece, but mainly from a political science perspective. Supporters for Christine O'Donnell, for example, won't love Sabato's statement that "you cannot find many election analysts who believe she will be in the winner’s circle, while moderate Congressman Michael Castle (R) would have defeated Democratic nominee Chris Coons handily to gain a Senate seat for the GOP."

Sabato breaks down some individual contests around the country. I like his discussion of California.

Jerry Brown was a strange choice to be the Democratic nominee for Governor of California in an anti-establishment year. This lifelong politician and former two-term Governor is a throwback to the 1970s and a very different time in the Golden State. The truth is that few promising, fresh candidates even considered a candidacy to run this massively troubled state, and in the end Brown was virtually unopposed for the Democratic nomination. If anyone who might be in charge of California’s hopeless budget and paralyzed governmental system could be called lucky, Brown is fortunate to be running in a state that is now so deeply Blue that this intrinsic partisan advantage may get him elected over Republican Meg Whitman. Yet Whitman is pulling out all the stops, having spent over $119 million of her own money on the campaign, more than any political self-funder in American history. For Whitman, a campaign fundraiser is lunch with her accountant.

Actually, Whitman's spent over $140 million. But who's counting?

Christine O'Donnell: 'I'm You' (Again)

Jim Geraghty has the analysis:

The spot still has that feel of defensive vulnerability. I'm not in Delaware so it's hard to say. Maybe the O'Donnell camp needs to stress this for an additional round, but Geraghty's right that she'd better start getting down to bread-and-butter issues. That, and let's get on with some attack ads (see Allahpundit on that). Research shows that voters often get the most informational "meat" from them, especially if they're accurate. (And I'm mindful of not going too far with this. Alan Grayson's been over-the-top, but in California the ads for the governor's and Senate races have been an effective source of information for voters.) As for O'Donnell, folks have probably decided by now if they like her. If she runs this personal "I'm you" style spot again, there's gotta be some additional "ummph" to it.

The Krystal Ball Smear Campaign

WaPo has the story, "Krystal Ball: Bloggers who posted my photos are 'sexist and wrong'." Seattle Weekly asks: "Who Hasn't Wrapped Their Lips Around a Nasal Dildo?" And Gawker has the full slideshow, naturally. Ms. Ball is a Democrat, so it's payback time. R.S. McCain's on the case: "I’m Pretty Sure Christine O’Donnell Never Sucked a Dildo on a Reindeer’s Nose" (via Memeorandum). JammieWearingFool has more.

NRSC Pulls 'Hicky' Ad in West Virginia Senate Race

At ABC News, "NRSC Under Fire for West Virginia Ad Casting Call Looking For 'Hicky' Look" (via Memeorandum):

The National Republican Senatorial Committee is pulling its "Stop Obama" ad off the air in West Virginia amid a controversy over the casting call which reportedly asked for actors with a "'hicky' blue collar look." GOP Senate candidate John Raese called the ad ridiculous, in an attempt to distance himself from the hullabaloo.

"The ad is ridiculous and I am happy to say that no one with the Raese campaign had anything to do with it. As a matter of fact, we asked that it be taken down long before it went public," said Raese's spokesman Kevin McLaughlin. "But this campaign isn't about TV ads, it's about the 7,169 West Virginia seniors who are being told they are losing their health coverage because of Obamacare that Joe Manchin rubber stamped."

The ad's existence was first reported by Politico's Mike Allen. According to his report, the casting call for the ad asked for actors with a "'hicky' blue collar look ... think coal miner/trucker looks."

It's not unusual for ads to feature actors; the "Stop Obama" ad included professional actors and was made in Philadelphia. But it was word of the casting call's language that particularly fired up Democrats.

Gov. Manchin, whose standing in the polls has plummeted amid an anti-Washington wave, called the ad insulting to West Virginians and demanded an apology.

"Not only have they been spending millions to try and buy this election with lies and distortions, we can now see once and for all what he and his friends really think of West Virginia and our people," Manchin said in a statement. "It's offensive and it only proves that John Raese has spent too much time in the state of Florida, living in his Palm Beach mansion, and doesn't know, understand or respect the great people of this state, and what we stand for."

Or, it's bigoted. NRSC has indeed pulled clip at YouTube. It's interesting that it's the Dems once again with the outcries of "stereotyping." But it's totally cool when they do it (or sponsor it on their blogs). Enough with all of these "racist" allegations. Sheesh.

The Pale Scot at American Nihilist

I'm not sure, but I doubt that this is the original Pale Scot, since the author of the racist comments a BJ Keefe's didn't sign in with a Blogger account and appeared more sophisticated than this new "Pale Scot" comment at American Nihilist. Either way, it's just one more example of real live leftist racism, not the made up kind, for example, the alleged "racism" of my Obama gangsta posts. No. This is genuine:

I've commented a lot on this stuff recently, but I have to say: Everyone is way too freaked out over racism (see TrogloPundit on that). But if leftists are gonna go around attacking opponents of "racism" you'd at least expect them not to tolerate it at their own blogs. But they do, over and over again. So let me sum up: There's a difference between being "politically incorrect" and being "racist." I'm often very "politically incorrect," but never racist. Leftists uniformly attack "political correctness" as "racism," but they rarely --- if ever --- denounce the genuine racist white supremacism within their own ranks.

I think the folks at American Nihilist owe me an apology.

(Added: I've been actually trying to avoid these issues so as to focus on the elections, etc. But the recent attacks on myself and others, like Pamela Geller, have provided lots of material, so what can you do? It's just kinda funny how fast the leftist double-standards are revealed. These people hate. They have no values. They're freaks.)

Prius Owners Revolt

Legal Insurrection has the details:

Hijabi Chic in the O.C.

I saw two women at the Apple store some time back with full burqas (only face and hands visible), and before that I saw a women with black abaya and niqab --- the only thing I could see was her eyes.

Bottom line is that the hijab denotes Islamist oppression, as Wikipedia indicates:

Some Muslims believe hijab covering for women should be compulsory as part of sharia, i.e. Muslim law. Wearing of the hijab was enforced by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, and is enforced in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Islamic Emirate required women to cover not only their head but their face as well, because "the face of a woman is a source of corruption" for men not related to them. While some women wholeheartedly embrace the rules, others protest by observing the rules in an inconsistent fashion, or flouting them whenever possible. Sudan's criminal code allows the flogging or fining of anyone who “violates public morality or wears indecent clothing”, albeit without defining "indecent clothing" ...

Thus I'm not convinced everything's all hip and rosy with the O.C. Muslims who're pumping up hijabi culture as a hip trend in Muslim outerwear. Check LAT for the story.

Supreme Court Hears Opening Arguments in Snyder v. Phelps

At NYT, "Justices Take Up Funeral-Protest Case."

Plus, coverage at SCOTUS blog, "Bonus Round-Up: Snyder v. Phelps." Also, Lyle Denniston, "What Role for Emotion?"

And Dahlia Lithwick heard arguments in person, and has a report (via Memorandum). Althouse agrees with Lithwick.

PREVIOUSLY: "Westboro Baptist Church at the Supreme Court."