Israeli Apartheid Week, Students for Justice in Palestine, UCLA, February 23, 2011

The recent crackdown against the Muslim Students Association at UC Irvine has obviously influenced the planning for this week's events at UCLA. The "Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA" is simply another name for the university's Muslim Students Association (MSA). Last year, MSA shouted down Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren at UCI, and the university administration subsequently suspended the organization until August 31st, 2011. Plus, at UC San Diego, David Horowitz smacked down local MSA activist Jumanah Imad Albahri, who endorsed a new Holocaust for Jews in Israel. So, in an apparent effort to avoid scrutiny, the latest events at UCLA are called "Palestine Awareness Week," and the MSA is calling itself "Students for Justice in Palestine." But the Apartheid Wall hasn't had a makeover, as far as I can tell. Despite a number posters claiming "non-violent resistance," this Islamist militant with the Kalashnikov and keffiyeh belies the Muslim students' allegedly peaceful motives:

And of course, the "arch" over the wall's center opening announces the real purpose of the events, BDS: "Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: A Strategy for Israel’s Destruction."

UCLA's Daily Bruin has the background, "UCLA students hope to educate campus about human rights issues with Palestine Awareness Week." And on Facebook, Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA (SJP at UCLA).

When I first arrived I looked around and noticed two opposing groups in the immediate area. The most conspicuous were the Muslim students, although I first went over and said hello to the young folks from Bruins for Israel:

They were just hanging out, enjoying themselves. And they didn't mind being photographed at all:

It was the exact opposite with the Students for Justice in Palestine. I said hello to a couple of the young ladies, and I asked if I could speak with their lead organizer. I was pointed in the direction of a burly young man named Hamzah Baig. I introduced myself and asked if he'd take questions. He asked "Who's this for"? And I told him I was a blogger with David Horowitz's NewsReal Blog. That didn't seem to phase him at first, so the interview started out pretty casually. I asked him what the goals were for Palestinian Awareness Week. He said that the group wanted to stop Israeli settlements of Palestinian lands and to "end the occupation." Then I asked, "what occupation"? And he said "the West Bank." Okay, I thought, hmm, how about a couple of more challenging questions? So I said "Does your group support terrorism against Israelis?" And Baig practically choked on his Arafat scarf. He told me he wanted to be quoted precisely, and then enunciated very slowly, "our group provides no support for terrorism whatsoever." And I said, oh yeah? What about Hamas? Do you support them? He said, "yeah, sure." And I said, but Hamas is a known terrorist organization. I then mentioned David Horowitz's confrontation with Jumanah Imad Albahri at UC San Diego. And I noted that she wouldn't denounce Hamas and called for the extermination of the Jews. But by this time Baig was getting uptight. He said that "our group has nothing to do with the MSA at UC San Diego. They're totally separate for us." And I said, but aren't you guys MSA here at UCLA? And he said, "yeah, sure, were MSA, but we're separate." I said fine, "will you renounce Hamas right now, will your reject Hamas"? He said "we support Hamas programs of education, food and medicine." "What about terrorism"?, I said. And he again hestitated to respond. I thanked him and asked him if I could take his picture, but he refused. By now he was getting hostile at the questioning and wanted to be away from me. I said, "Why"? "This is a public event, at a public university --- why don't you want to be photographed"? And he just waved me away with his arms and said "no pictures."

I walked around a bit and took a picture of one of the Palestinian women, but then a few minutes later she ran back up to me and said, "I'm uncomfortable that you took my picture. I'm uncomfortable with that." I asked her why, but she just repeated that line, and then Baig came over and gave her the crossed-throat sign not to talk to me, again warning me not take pictures. He walked away for a while and I took a picture from a distance anyway:

I won't post the young woman's picture although she's featured at the group's Facebook page, at 8 seconds at the Palestinian Awareness Week 2010-11 video. That said, I continued to take pictures of the information table, arguing that this was a public event. I suggested to Baig that he was trying to suppress honest reporting about his organization. He alleged: "You are harassing my people." I told him he was harassing me and trying to suppress the truth. He obviously wasn't pleased at the attention to his pro-terror racket:

Arafat scarves were on sale for $10.00:

In any case, here's some photos from the wall. I was pressed for time. I had to head back to the O.C., so I wasn't able to examine the display as closely as I'd have liked. What I did notice wasn't surprising at all. It's all anti-Israel propaganda, completely one-sided, with a few sops to human rights thrown in. The Israeli Apartheid Wall is designed to influence young minds with little knowlege of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Seeing these pictures, it's a 10-to-1 bet that the uninitiated would be horrified at the "brutality," but since there's absolutely no context, it's worthless:

Again, my photography wasn't as organized as I'd like. But I did dwell on this panel featuring American Rachel Corrie, who was killed in 2003:

Corrie's a martyr to the global anti-Israel jihad, but common sense tells you not to lie down in front of a bulldozer. See, "The Case Against Rachel Corrie," and "Rachel Corrie, Again."

And here's the big Hamas panel. So much for "peaceful resistance":

Democratically-elected social workers, but of course the Students for Justice in Palestine weren't handing out copies of the Hamas Charter:

And notice Sheikh Ahmed Ismail Hassan Yassin, founder of Hamas, assassinated by Israel, and obviously a martyr to global jihad. But according to Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

Yassin was the dominant authority of the Hamas leadership, which was directly involved in planning, orchestrating and launching terror attacks carried out by the organization. In this capacity, Yassin personally gave his approval for the launching of Qassam rockets against Israeli cities, as well as for the numerous Hamas terrorist bombings and suicide operations. In his public appearances and interviews, Yassin called repeatedly for a continuation of the 'armed struggle' against Israel, and for an intensification of the terrorist campaign against its citizens. The successful operation against Yassin constitutes a significant blow to a central pillar of the Hamas terrorist organization, and a major setback to its terrorist infrastructure.

That data wasn't included at the Students for Justice in Palestine information table.

And these panels must be especially repellent to Jews, "ZIONISM IS NOT JUDAISM":

A couple more photos before I head back home: And note that in all my 25 years as an undergrad, as a graduate student, and a professor, I can't ever recall this prominent of a scriptural banner on the grounds of any campus. This is along the main walk up from the Apartheid Wall. A passage from the Koran (and notice the sponsoring group in the bottom-left corner, "Muslim Union at UCLA"):

About to head out, here's the group of Muslim students. The women are wearing head coverings and red "Free Palestine/End the Occupation" shirts:

This sweet young lady said she was majoring in communications and was thinking about Jewish studies:

Looking back at the wall, on my way to the parking structure:

More later ...

Union Thug Strikes Tabitha Hale of Freedom Works

The guy's from the Communications Workers of America. This clip shows just how vicious these goons are, especially at the slow-mo replay:

Freedom Works sponsored the Blog Bash CPAC on February 11, and Tabitha Hale organized bloggers' row at the convention. This is more personal than the routine union beatings we've seen these last few years. See Michelle's post for all the details, "Video: CWA union thug strikes young female FreedomWorks activist" (via Memeorandum).

More at The Other McCain, "Thugs for Social Justice: Union Goon Gets Rough With Tabitha Hale on Video."

Anniversary of The Communist Manifesto

The anniversary was Monday, as we're reminded by this very impressive entry at Wolf Howling, "Marx & The Communist Manifesto, From Feb. 21, 1848 To Today."

And this is especially timely, considering the surge of class struggle that's gripping the country right now. As I've demonstrated to the point of exhaustion, progressives are communists. More about that from Wolf Howling:

Even as Europe moves away from socialism, Obama is trying to drive the U.S. towards the failed European economic model. Obama has set us on the road to nationalizing one sixth of our economy with Obamacare. Our government is today the majority owner of GM and Chrysler. Obama nationalized the student loan industry, ostensibly for greater efficiency. Moreover, Obama is insinuating the government deeply into our economy with a tsunami of new regulations, particularly in the areas of the environment and finance. Then there was the recent power grab to regulate the internet. Obama is ideologically committed to punishing the rich through taxes and redistributing their wealth for the 'greater good' of society. And lastly, Obama is showing a penchant for crony capitalism, picking winners and losers in the marketplace. If that is not incremental economic socialism, then nothing is.

It is not just Obama that is infected with the Marxist philosophy - it pervades the entire left wing in the U.S. The left in America today is not a monolith, but rather a mosaic of pigeon holed permanent victim groups - a toxin directly derived from Marx's oppressed / oppressor analytical framework. It is the maintenance of these 'oppressed' permanent victim groups - be they minority groups, gays, women, or public sector employees - that is the raison d'etre of the modern Democrat party. And indeed, the central financial foundation of the Democrats is taxpayer money laundered through public sector unions, the essential building block of Marx's march toward a communist utopia. This is not to say that a majority of Democrats are agitating to establish full blown socialism in America today. But it is to say that to understand our modern left and their trajectory, the first step is to read Marx. Step two is to study history in order to understand what will happen to our nation if they are allowed to pull our nation along that trajectory.

Word.

Actually, if folks are familiar with Mark Steyn's writings, I'm not quite so optimist that Europeans have completely abandoned the Marxist utopia. Germany, of course, has been especially impressive during the current phase of economic history, although Britain and France don't strike me as stoking the fires of laissez-faire capitalism. Statism and public control remain rampant. This is especially true in the Scandinavian countries, but recall that in "Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, government spending accounts for between 72 and 78 per cent of the economy." American leftists cream over such prospects, which is why Obama was touted as their savior See, "American Europeanization."

More later — the stalking communist asshats are keeping me busy!

Fleebaggers: The New Cut-and-Run Democrats

That's Michelle's latest column.

Yeah, it's gotten so bad that the progressive-socialists are now resorting to pranks and trickery in an attempt to carry the day. I'm still shaking my head at how the Kochs are so "evil," but by now it's clear that Marx's struggle against capital has fully taken hold of today's Democrat-progressive left. See Michelle, "The Howard Stern-ing of the Wisconsin Showdown." The full audio of the prank call to Governor Walker is at Memeorandum. And here's this, from ABC News, "Wisconsin Governor Pranked by Reporter Posing as Billionaire Conservative Activist":

An alt-news reporter posing as billionaire conservative activist David Koch recorded a 20-minute phone conversation with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker during which Walker reveals his strategy for breaking Democratic and union opposition to his budget.

The governor's critics said the immediate access granted to "Koch" and the length of their conversation illustrates a damning tie between outside influences and what they see as an orchestrated effort to bust unions.

The governor's office confirmed Wednesday that the voice on the tape, first posted online at BuffaloBeast.com, was Walker. But a spokesman said the call showed the governor's "appreciation for an commitment to civil discourse" and repairing the state budget.

While Walker's comments closely tracked what he has said publicly -- expressing refusal to compromise or negotiate with Democrats -- they shed new light on the tactics he has considered to discredit his opponents and move the budget process forward.

RTWT.

Obama Recruits Army of Communist Community Organizers to Carry His 'Movement Forward For Years to Come'

The story's at Los Angeles Times (via Memeorandum and Weasel Zippers):

The community organizer who became president has launched a massive pre-reelection year campaign to assemble and train an army of new community organizers to carry Obama's "movement forward for years to come."

Strengthening "our democracy" presumably has something to do with reelecting the revered leader in 2012.

However, the recruiting message says nothing about politics or election campaigns and strangely talks in military terms of "a grassroots program that aims to put boots on the ground and help foster a new generation of leaders -- not just to help win elections but to strengthen our democracy in communities across the country."

The message about what it calls the "Summer Organizing Fellowship" adds: "Effective organizing doesn't happen in a vacuum. It takes commitment, time, and hard work to build a movement around a cause." It does not specify what the "cause" is, other than promoting Obama and his agenda.

News of the community organizer drive went out in an e-mail to millions of supporters and past donors Tuesday night by the ongoing arm of the Obama campaign, Organizing for America.

It appealed for workers of all ages to volunteer to undergo professional organizational training this summer for stationing in communities all over the nation to drive President Obama's social and political agenda.

The cadres "will be assigned to a specific community," the message informs, "where they'll work to organize supporters street by street, neighborhood by neighborhood."

Their job will involve recruiting additional Obama workers, running Obama-related events, knocking on doors to talk of Obama "and lay new groundwork to carry this movement forward for years to come."

"In the end," the Obama campaign appeal says of the community organizer corps, "their work will take our grassroots power to an impressive new level."

Right.

We're already seeing how "their work" is playing out in Madison. See Matthew Vadum, "The Battle for Wisconsin is the Battle for the Future of America."

RELATED: From Ed Morrissey, "Dem Congressman tells unions that they “need to get out on the streets and get a little bloody”."

'The Mystery Shit-Talker is Dana Loesch'

Ha!

That's Amanda Marcotte taking "umberage" at Dana Loesch. I was there, by the way, and it was the freakin' best, "CPAC’s Brightest Shining Stars":

Dana Loesch, Editor in Chief of Big Journalism and radio talk show host, gave a wonderful speech about the new media and truth-telling. The greatest moment of her speech was when she went off topic and officially earned herself a target on the dart-wall of the femisogynists by declaring how hypocritical they are by declaring they are for women’s independence while at the same time demanding that Uncle Sam act like a sugar daddy and pay for their abortions and their birth control and any other goodie they “need.” This immediately sent Amanda Marcotte (the feminist messiah in question) into hateful diatribe further proving that all progressive feminists are out of their minds.)

The mystery shit-talker is Dana Loesch. I had to look her up. Unsurprisingly, she works for the Big Lie factory. It is true that we at Pandagon are not friendly to professional liars.

Don’t think the Republicans’ move to get America’s vaginas back to cherished 50s-era restrictions will end with banning abortion and restricting contraception. After that’s done, the next step is moving us back to the god-fearing age when women wore thick pads and belts. Proper ladies know that menstruation is god’s reminder that we’re evil, and should be dealt with in a way that maximizes discomfort and humiliation.

And they wonder why we think leftism is a mental disorder?

RTWT at the link.

And visit Dana Loesch at Big Journalism.

Mitt Romney — 'Believe in America'

An update to my previous entry, "RomneyCare Could Crash Romney's 2012 Ambitions." (And at Memeorandum.)

From the Romney PAC:

"I don't apologize for America because I believe in America! We believe in freedom, in opportunity. We believe in free enterprise and capitalism. We believe in the American dream. And we believe that the principles that made America the leader of the world today are the very principles that will keep America the leader of the world tomorrow. These last two years have not been the best of times. But while we've lost a couple of years, we have not lost our way." -Governor Romney, CPAC 2011

And speaking of CPAC, Skye has her concluding post, "CPAC Experience Wrap Up."

RomneyCare Could Crash Romney's 2012 Ambitions

I like Mitt Romney personally, but he fires up few people on the right, or at least among the conservatives I've talked to. So I wonder how this is going to play out? At Politico, "Mitt Romney's Massachusetts health care law could flatline his 2012 ambitions" (via Memeorandum and The Fix):

Mitt Romney doesn't really want to talk about “RomneyCare,” the universal health care plan he signed into law as Massachusetts governor.

But the topic is already bubbling up in early primary states — offering a stark warning that his presidential run is likely to be haunted by unfavorable and potentially crippling comparisons between Romney's plan and President Barack Obama's sweeping national health care overhaul

The issue poses such a danger to Romney in the primaries that some Republicans think he’ll need to make a major speech to address the issue, while others are suggesting that third-party anti-Romney groups may unleash waves of negative ads in key states, including Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina — and Florida. Romney himself barely mentioned health care in his speech at the recent CPAC gathering, almost a tacit acknowledgment of the pitfalls it presents.

"For anyone that's following the candidates, it's the No. 1 issue that I hear from conservatives who say, 'I really like Mitt Romney, but…,' and the but is about ObamaCare," said Kevin Smith, a veteran New Hampshire Republican operative who heads the socially conservative Cornerstone Action.

Whenever I mentioned I was going to CPAC, folks asked me who was speaking. And when I said "Mitt Romney," it was almost always like, "Blah, I don't like Romney very much. I like Sarah Palin." I don't dislike Romney myself, and I wouldn't be unhappy if he won the nomination, although Palin's also my first pick. In any case, check The Hill, "Survey: Romney, Huckabee in striking distance of Obama."

Communist REPSAC = CASPER Takes Umbrage?

Actually, no one's taken "umberage" at anything, since there's no such thing as "umberage." In fact, REPSAC = CASPER obviously stayed up all night writing yet another obsessive screed and blew off editing this nonsense. One passage is worth quoting here:

"As I said before, Donald and his friends are not showing these communist groups getting widespread support for their ideology ..."

Actually, I've been documenting progressive-socialist influence in American politics for years. It's threatening to people, which is why leftists continue their attempts to shut me down and destroy my livelihood. Comes with the territory. As for this notion of "not showing widespread support for their ideology," well, Americans elected Barack Obama with 53 percent of the vote, and as Stanley Kurtz has written:

The pattern of misdirection upon which President Obama’s political career has been built has its roots in the socialist background of community organizing. ACORN, Reverend Wright, and Bill Ayers were all routes into that hidden socialist world, and that is why Obama has had to obscure the truth about these and other elements of his past. More important, the president’s socialist past is still very much alive in the governing philosophy and long-term political strategy of the Obama administration.

That's how it works. Progressives from the president on down work in stealth mode with nefarious groups coordinating at different levels with hardline communist and revolutionary organizations. Again, nothing I could write would sink through REPSAC = CASPER's blinkers of hate and demonology, but the facts remain. Kurtz is probably the foremost expert on Barack Obama's longstanding socialists ties. The DEMOCRAT-PROGRESSIVE-MEDIA-INDUSTRIAL-COMPLEX worked overtime to subvert the truth before the 2008 election, but over and over again the president's own statements have proved otherwise. Indeed, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in his latest book, To Save America, warned that the "Democrats are trying to impose a secular-socialist machine rejected by most Americans." Stalking slimebag REPSAC = CASPER is in denial. Depending on the source, today there's roughly 80 socialist members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. REPSAC = CASPER ridicules these numbers as a WND conspiracy, but in 2002, when the party's infiltration was still growing, the Communist Party U.S.A. was pretty impressed:

Although this Caucus is not large enough to control the Congressional agenda or even to break into the media, the existence of this group of 57 members of Congress, which includes 20 members of the Congressional Black Caucus and six members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, provides an important lever that can be used to advance workers' issues and move the debate to the left in every Congressional District in the country.

EARTH to REPSAC = CASPER: These are REAL communists. These are REAL communists of the STALINIST variety. These REAL communists were financed by Moscow until Mikhail Gorbachev cut the cord in the 1980s. These REAL communists are thrilled at the growth of socialist influence in the United States Congress. So don't lie, REPSAC = CASPER. You are a communist. And you are a lying sleazeball stalker with absolutely no respect for truth or reason. I've called you out. My friends have called you out. Time to put it to bed: RETIRE AMERICAN NIHILIST!!

Teachers Speak Out Against Unions

My union sent me this today:

I'll issue a complaint with the leadership tomorrow. As I've noted a couple of times now, public unions are thugs, and they don't represent me with their far-left progressive politics. I pay over $1000 a year in dues, and the political opt-out is a measly figure, obviously not representative of how employee dues are being used to support socialist policies. And like everywhere else, my college is going through the same stuff, including pressures to increase employee contributions for health coverage. More on that later. Michelle's got the must-read post on this, "Rank-and-file teachers speak truth to prog power."

“To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.” – Thomas Jefferson

Since my days as a columnist for the Seattle Times, I’ve profiled courageous public school educators who have challenged the compulsory dues racket of their teachers’ unions. Here’s my 1999 column on how public school teachers in Washington state challenged their union over their political dues power grab. Here are your rights as a union worker. Here is a backgrounder on the permissible use of forced dues. As I wrote on Labor Day last year, free speech not only means the freedom to voice your political views, but also the freedom from being forced to pay for someone else’s. U.S. Supreme Court precedent established by the D.C.-based National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation guarantees the right to full financial disclosure from a union and a right to challenge the figures in court if they disagree.

On Sean Hannity’s Fox News television show last night, one of those brave teachers from the state of Ohio exposed how her union siphoned off her dues ($700 a year) to attack her husband, a GOP state legislative candidate whom the left-wing Ohio Education Association opposed:

Read it all.

And I Ran, I Ran So Far Away...

Michelle Malkin and Verum Serum were cracking me up earlier today with #Demthemesongs on Twitter.

Michelle suggested Flock of Seagulls, "I Ran":

I've been slow on keeping up with the news out of Madison, although I should have a serious update shortly. Meanwhile, at NYT, "Thousands Gather to Protest Bill in Ohio." And at Althouse, "At the Wisconsin Capitol today." Check Memeorandum as well.

More later ...

Sights and Sounds in Madison

From Founding Bloggers (via Instapundit), who note that Ann Althouse is at 1:20 minutes at the clip, seen interviewing note-writing doctors:

For anyone who wasn’t paying attention, Ann began exposing the color of these protests at least 2 days before we appeared on the scene. Her work is a standing example of how an honest individual with a blog and a camera can do the work some mainstream outlets refuse to do. And it’s not even her day job!

And Althouse continues to blog the protests, thank goodness.

RELATED: Ed Morrissey on public opinion and Wisconsin, "First WI poll shows Walker losing ground, but …" (via Memeorandum). Also, at Gateway Pundit, "America’s Governor Scott Walker: Teachers Union Wised Up that Public Is Not On Their Side (Video)."

Unions and 'Public-Sector Thugs'

I got a comment last night from M. Bouffant:

Hey, "public-sector thug," when Gov. Brown starts cutting your salary & benefits, are you going to take it?

Say, why not volunteer to give a few dollars back to cut that deficit right now? Or would that be too "collectivist?"

I've had a couple of other comments of this sort as well. Folks like this aren't regular readers here, or else they'd already have noticed my position on public unions: "'Have You or Anyone Close to You Belonged to a Union?'" I've never had issues with unions. It's progressives I have issues with, and I work with these clowns. Mostly selfish and dumb, I called out some folks at my college for their pampered privilege. At one point, of course, a third of the American labor force was unionized, and millions of God-fearing workers have benefited from collective bargaining. My good friend Reliapundit commented at the post:

DD, GREETINGS!

one of my gramps was a founding member of local 3 of the ibew.

he was a member in good standing his whole life.

65 years in the union.

marched with them every labor day.

the union was good to him.

but, he would have made more money if he had put his dues into an ira/401k and been in his own business.

his widow would have been better off. his daughters.

and his grandchildren.

the unions have outlived their need in the usa.

and another thing:

government workers should not be allowed to unionize.

fdr opposed it for good reason.

walker is right.

and christie, too.

we need to rein in afscme and the seiu.

we need to break the union-democrat party axis.

the axis of taxes.

we need to do it now.

G-d Bless You and the USA!

The "axis of taxes." I like that!

Anyway, this is a pretty common meme on the left, that conservatives are somehow hypocrites if they work in government but nevertheless oppose the idiotic public-sector thugs. Demon-blogger TBogg is endlessly smearing Glenn Reynolds for allegedly blogging Atlas Shrugs --- "going Galt" --- from the cushy confines at the University of Tennessee. No doubt hate and worthless ridicule gets these folks up in the morning. Sad.

In any case, New York Times has a related piece this morning, "Bonds in Wisconsin Begin to Fray":

JANESVILLE, Wis. — Rich Hahan worked at the General Motors plant here until it closed about two years ago. He moved to Detroit to take another G.M. job while his wife and children stayed here, but then the automaker cut more jobs. So Mr. Hahan, 50, found himself back in Janesville, collecting unemployment for a time, and watching as the city’s industrial base seemed to crumble away.

Among the top five employers here are the county, the schools and the city. And that was enough to make Mr. Hahan, a union man from a union town, a supporter of Gov. Scott Walker’s sweeping proposal to cut the benefits and collective-bargaining rights of public workers in Wisconsin, a plan that has set off a firestorm of debate and protests at the state Capitol. He says he still believes in unions, but thinks those in the public sector lead to wasteful spending because of what he sees as lavish benefits and endless negotiations.

“Something needs to be done,” he said, “and quickly.”

Across Wisconsin, residents like Mr. Hahan have fumed in recent years as tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs have vanished, and as some of the state’s best-known corporations have pressured workers to accept benefit cuts.

Wisconsin’s financial problems are not as dire as those of many other states. But a simmering resentment over those lost jobs and lost benefits in private industry — combined with the state’s history of highly polarized politics — may explain why Wisconsin, once a pioneer in supporting organized labor, has set off a debate that is spreading to other states over public workers, unions and budget woes.

More at the link (via Memeorandum).

Unions. Shooting themselves in the foot while progressives blame the evil Koch billionaires. Sounds like a movie, or something.

This is What Democracy Democratic Socialism Looks Like!

The Founding Bloggers have been busy!

See, "This is What Democracy Democratic Socialism Looks Like! PART 1."

And cruise around at the blog for the updates.

And here's this regarding the video, "If Public Sector Unions Have To Contribute More To Their Retirement, All The Jews Are Going To Die!!!":

Heritage has posted a video from the Wisconsin union protests in Madison.

The basic message of the protesters: If public sector unions have to collect their own dues and members have contribute more to their own retirement and health care benefits, Jews are going to die. This is not an exaggeration either. That is their message.

Try and follow their logic: If the union is forced to collect its own dues, and the members are forced to contribute more to their own health care and retirement, then the unions will collapse. If the public sector unions collapse, it means we are repeating the playbook of Socialist Nazi Germany – ergo, the Jews are next.

Great stuff.

RTWT at the link.

Maoists in Madison?

From Matthew Vadum, at NewsReal Blog:

Former Obama White House propagandist Anita Dunn must be super duper proud. Some of her people are on the ground in Madison, Wisconsin, trying to thwart the democratically expressed will of the people of Wisconsin who demand that their state return to fiscal sanity. (More on the union goons versus Tea Party supporters in Madison here.) Dunn is the former Obama functionary who professed her admiration for Mao Zedong — then claimed it was all one big joke.

Hardy har har.

Those Maoists are funny little people — until they gain real political power. Like when the self-described “communist” and “rowdy black nationalist” Van Jones managed to find his way into the Obama White House as the administration’s green jobs czar. Now he spreads a Maoist message of anti-American hate and bigotry from his George Soros-funded perch at the leftist public relations firm known as the Center for American Progress.

More at the link.

'A Liberal Progressive Blogging Troll Accused Donald Douglas of Making Things Up, and Denied That Any Communists Were Present'

That's the Lonely Con, "Preparing for Revolution." And she adds:

As if the video above isn’t proof enough.

Well, to be accurate the video was proof only that a "pair" of communists were on hand, but it's true that REPSAC = CASPER is so blinkered by hate he literally can't think. The place was crawling with commies, as I showed at my response. And what's funny, is that the camera at the initial video focused down at the table the activists had set up. It featured Marx and Engels' The Communist Manifesto front and center (the handbook for the proletarian revolution, calling on "workers of the world" to unite), but REPSAC = CASPER nevertheless argued that since you never hear them say they're for revolution my post was a lie. Actually, I think they were selling Girl Scout cookies as well, but I didn't mention it at the post. Not enough evidence, but I'm convinced the lady was a Scout leader, she was so wholesome and all-American.

The picture pretty much sums things up, via The People's Cube:

Anyway, Bartender Cabbie's been commenting over there, calling out REPSAC = CASPER for his crazed obssession. Stalking blogs are criminal, plain and simple. This one is actually demonic.

RELATED: Some anti-communist blogging at Romantic Poet, "Socialist/Marxist Public Employees Call for Revolution in Wisconsin; Obama Shows Whose Side He is On…"

Lila Rose on Glenn Beck's

I watched this last week. Enjoy Lila Grace Rose for a little respite from the progressive evil, via Trevor Loudon, "Beck With Lila Rose and the Deadly Legacy of Margaret Sanger":

And check Live Action here.

How Did Richard Dreyfuss End Up Not Being Involved in This?

Asks Doug Powers, "Bill Clinton and George HW Bush Chair New ‘National Institute for Civil Discourse’."

Folks'll have read the whole thing at the link above. The "Jaws" star was at CPAC promoting his new civic engagement gig, "The Dreyfuss Initiative." He's seen here being interviewed by Duane Lester of All American Blogger: "All American Interviews: Richard Dreyfuss, Actor and Activist."

Progressives Complicit with Evil

Continuing along with theme, here's Keith Davies of the Walid Shoebat Foundation, "Complicit with Evil":

As Egypt and the rest of the Arab world descends into chaos we in America are either intellectually ill equipped to comprehend the problem or we are part of the problem and those that do comprehend the problem do not control the strings of power to act in a way to solve or improve the situation.

On our University campuses over the last 50 years we have seen them become places filled with ideological leftists who plan to “transform” America into a panacea of socialist Marxist practices. The result of two or three generations of churning out left wing ideologues it seems that enough students who now are regular voters over the age of 40, along with left wing leaders coming from the same ranks have grabbed the reins of power. Despite this America is still a center right country but you would never know it based on our media and power structure in Washington.

The fruits of this progressive agenda is translating into the weakest imaginable foreign policy of the Middle East and it is not as complicated as all of us “non experts” think it is. It is nice to see Glenn Beck win over some Americans who now are returning to their American heritage and other conservative media folks who are rallying to unseat a president who knows how to speak like a conservative but who acts like a far left winger in terms of his actions. However, the majority of people in America are still not paying attention to the issues despite the evidence, which shows that disaster is around the corner on many fronts.

RTWT.

It's just more "imaginary communism," I guess.

RELATED: At Blazing Cat Fur, "The New Normal In Canada: Politicians Attend Mosque That Condones Death to Apostates, Beating Your Wife."

Presidents Day

I mentioned on Lincoln's birthday that the Washington Mall was "my favorite place to be in the whole United States." And I was excited to walk the mall and visit Lincoln's Memorial on the eve of his birthday. Tomorrow is Washington's birthday, and while today is the federal holiday, technically the country today celebrates our first president, and not all 44 of them. Popular culture conflated the day to include both Washington and Lincoln and political correctness rejected presidential greatness all together for historical relativism. See, Jennifer Braceras, at Boston Herald, "Presidents Day Watered Down: Not All Deserving of Such a High Honor":

In our universities, deconstructionists have taught two generations of students to reject American exceptionalism in favor of a view of America as oppressor. Rather than teach our country’s story as one of progress, these academics teach our history as a series of unfortunate events. In their view, people act only out of self-interest; heroism is a myth.

Over time, these pernicious ideas have infected the American consciousness:

Today, our leaders apologize to dictators for America’s alleged sins (see, for example, President Obama’s speech in Cairo in 2009); our historians study the past with a prurient interest in private scandal rather than public work; and our elementary schools refuse to teach students about our Founding Fathers.

Indeed, although some Massachusetts school children learn about colonial life and society, very few study Massachusetts patriots John Adams or Paul Revere or attempt to understand how these men changed the course of history.

Even fewer learn to honor Washington or Lincoln. Sadly, students today are more likely to lament that Washington owned slaves than to admire him for his humility in rejecting monarchy or a lifetime presidency. Likewise, they are more likely to describe Lincoln as a racist manic-depressive than as the “Great Emancipator” who saved our country from disintegration.

Readers will recall that I walked the Mall from Congress to the Lincoln Memorial. I stopped at the Washington Monument to reflect. This next photo is extra special. My son and I sat on this side of the monument in 2007. One can see the White House when backed up to the wall. Congress is to the east in the distance. I love it up there:

One more photo before heading back over to catch a cab back to the hotel:

Malpractice in Madison: Doctor Debacle Showcases Pathologies of the Progressive Left

That's Bill Hemmer's interview with Josiah Cantrall, who did some nice hidden-camera work with the derelict doctors in Wisconsin:

And from Doctor Zero, a guy you can trust (and I don't think he's a real doctor), "The Madison Doctor Debacle: The Pathologies of the Left Converge":

The case of the fake doctor notes is a convergence of everything that is sick and dysfunctional in liberal culture. Medical ethics went out the window in the name of politics, which corrupt everything they touch. The Left has been telling us health care and medical insurance are topics so complex that government must handle them on behalf of a hapless population… but introduce the demands of political expedience, and all that “complexity” dissolves in an instant. Trial lawyers have made millions by suing doctors, driving up health care costs and corrupting the very practice of medicine itself, by requiring “defensive medicine” that has nothing to do with science… but as soon as unions and the Democrat Party decided a show of force was needed in Madison, you had physicians marching around with hand-lettered signs that said “I’M A DOCTOR – NEED A NOTE?”

RTWT.

VIDEO HAT TIP: Gateway Pundit.

RELATED: At Althouse, "'Medical school ethics courses are...increasingly emphasizing 'social justice' over traditional notions of ethics — or the individual patient’s welfare'."

"But 'social justice' is frequently just a euphemism for a socialist political agenda of leftist politics, redistribution of wealth, and heavy state controls over the marketplace."

Says Paul Hsieh (via Instapundit) in the context of explaining those Wisconsin doctors writing excuses for protesters — and tweaking our anxieties about Obamacare.

The Wisconsin protests have shown how some doctors are seemingly willing to subvert their professional integrity to serve the political ends of government special interest groups. Under ObamaCare, when similarly trained doctors have to choose between practicing in their patient’s medical interests or in the political interests of their government paymasters, which side will they choose? And will you want this new breed of doctor taking care of you when you’re sick?

Interesting questions, but to be fair, the doctors handing out the notes were helping individuals, not burdening the individuals for the sake of the greater good.

Right. ObamaCare is burdensome, but fake work passes in Madison are helpful.

Excellent post, in any case.

See also, by Richard Pollock, "Why Obama and the Dems Blundered in Wisconsin" (via Memeorandum).

International Anarchists, Socialists and Marxists Taking Over Wisconsin

Well, no response yet from REPSAC = CASPER. Maybe the guy's actually got a job, and not with the public-sector thugs! Fact is, government employees are off today in honor of Presidents Day. It's hard out there in the government gravy-train hood. But it's even harder for hate-addled smear-merchant stalkers. As the protests continue, the full scope of the anarcho-progressive-socialist axis is emerging. For example, here's Noam Chomsky on communist Amy Goodman's Democracy Now! What's especially interesting is the question from Ryan Adserias, a grad student at the University of Wisconsin. He mentions that teaching assistants walked out, and that "undergraduates are walking out of class to show solidarity." The socialist giveaway is the guy's Arafat keffiyeh, which is now the universal fashion item for the neo-communist left's struggle against Israel and the United States:

See also, the Blaze, "Beginning of a Democracy Uprising in the U.S: Noam Chomsky Hopes Wisconsin Protest Will Be Just Like Egypt."

And while RepRascist3 remains in eternal denial, the Blaze nevertheless has more on the anarchists and progressive revolutionaries in Madison: "Blaze Exclusive: International Anarchists, Socialists and Marxists (Not Average Union Workers) Have a Substance-Fueled Rave While Taking Over Wisconsin State Capitol."

RELATED: From Ann Althouse, "Highlights of the last 8 days of following the Wisconsin protests here on the Althouse blog," and Gateway Pundit, "Republican Turncoats May Sabotage Governor Walker’s Budget Cut Plans …Updated With Contact Info …Update: WI GOP Senators to Stand With Walker." (Via Memeorandum.)

Muammar Gaddafi Flees Tripoli — Regime's Grip on Power Crumbles Amid Mounting Pressure

At London's Daily Mail, "On the run: Gaddafi flees Tripoli as protesters set the Libyan parliament building alight."

And at New York Times, "Qaddafi’s Grip on Power Seems to Ebb as Forces Retreat":

The 40-year-rule of Libyan strongman Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi appeared to teeter Monday as his security forces retreated to a few buildings in the Libyan capital of Tripoli where fires burned unchecked, senior government officials and diplomats announced defections, and the country’s second-largest city remained under the control of rebels.

Security forces loyal to Mr. Qaddafi defended a handful of strategic locations, including the state television headquarters and the presidential palace, witnesses reported from Tripoli. Fires from the previous night’s rioting burned at many intersections, most stores were shuttered, and long lines were forming for a chance to buy bread or gas.

In a sign of growing cracks within the government, several senior officials — including members of the the Libyan mission to the United Nations — announced their resignations. And protesters in Benghazi, the city where the revolt began, issued a list of demands calling for a secular interim government led by the army in cooperation with a council of Libyan tribes.

Security forces loyal to Mr. Qaddafi waved green flags as they rallied in Tripoli’s central Green Square Monday under the protection of a handful of police, these witnesses said. But they constituted one of the few visible signs of government authority around the capital.

Tripoli descended into chaos in less than 24 hours as a six day old revolt suddenly spread from Benghazi across the country and into the capital on Sunday. The revolt shaking Libya is the latest and most violent turn in the rebellion across the Arab world that seemed unthinkable just two months ago.

In a rambling, disjointed address delivered about 1 a.m. on Monday, Mr. Qaddafi’s son, Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi, played down the uprising sweeping the country, which witnesses and rights activists say has left more than 220 people dead and hundreds wounded from gunfire by security forces. He repeated several times that “Libya is not Tunisia or Egypt” — the neighbors to the east and west that both overthrew their veteran autocrats in the space of the last six weeks.

The United States condemned the Qaddafi government’s lethal use of force.

Also at BBC, "Libya protests: Col Gaddafi under mounting pressure," and Hot Air, "Protestors holding Libya’s second-largest city?" (via Memeorandum).

REPSAC = CASPER: Deranged Stalking Asshat Denies Revolutionary Communists in Madison

I was rolling at CPAC last week with Skye at Midnight Blue. She told me the story of how James Casper, a.k.a. Repsac3, used to stalk her all over the Internet, tracing her online locations from comments at YouTube videos and so forth. That is beyond creepy, no doubt. But I was totally busting up when she said "That guy Casper spells his name backwards to make Repsac." And I'm laughing right now, because for all these years commenters here and about have widely suspected Repsac's moniker to represent perfectly the slithering snake slime that is James Casper. To deal with this freak is to develop cringe-inducing paroxysms simply at the thought of this radical reptile spawning more of his hate sacs of ovoviviparous* evil.

I haven't had a chance to share the story, but it turns out that Repsac3 (also known as RepRacist3 for his white supremacist eliminationism) has been trolling around the blog, and claims to have caught some big lie about the Trotskyite revolutionaries in Madison: "Donald Wets Himself In Fear of 'Cooooomunists!!!'"

As so often happens, Donald Douglas is lying, and hoping his readership is too stupid to notice...

And what was the lie? Well, the lady at the video is from the Trotskyite International Socialist Organization, and she says "I'm a public employee and so are a lot of our members." If Repsac's gonna call me out as a liar that'd be nice if he'd provide a transcript of the video. I said earlier that all of her "members" were up every morning organizing for the dictatorship of the proletariat, because, well, that's what Marxist-Leninists and Trotyskyites do. And that's called inference. Hello. But asshat RepRacist3 doesn't stop there. He goes on to deny that there were any communists in Madison beyond this "pair" of revolutionaries. Okay, well, sure. Progressives are postmodern deniers of truth and reason, but even this display of willful ignorance is quite something. The MacIver Institute made a number of Madison videos with communist activists from around the country. I thought posting one was enough, but since I have occasion, this one's worth it as well:

In some ways this one's even better. Indeed, Robert Stacy McCain wrote it up, "VIDEO: Chicago Commies in Wisconsin":

Bob Avakian’s RCP is the leading Maoist group in the U.S. RCP spinoffs include Refuse & Resist and Not in Our Name, which were important presences in the Bush-era anti-war protests.

One of my pet peeves about mainstream media coverage of those protests was how they blithely ignored the involvement of Marxist organizations, including International A.N.S.W.E.R., a front for the Workers World Party, a bizarre Trotskyite splinter group.

Every time there was a major left-wing protest in D.C., these commie groups would be out in force, and the media never reported it, whereas any time there’s a Tea Party event nowadays, the media squawk ”Koch money! Koch money!” like a fucking parrot.

Word. I think I'll sign up McCain for David Horowitz's NewsReal Blog! And if that ain't enough, perhaps the slithering slime CASPER = REPSAC might check out Trevor Loudon's report, "Communists Converge on Madison":

Every communist and socialist group in the U.S. Midwest is sending cadre to beautiful Madison, Wisconsin, in protest at Governor Walker's Budget Repair Bill.

Well, yeah.

In addition to the International Socialist Organization and the Chicago Maoist contingents, the neo-Stalinist ANSWER cadres were out in force, "Eyewitness report from Wisconsin." And also in solidarity is none other than the Communist Party of the USA, "The fightback fire is being lit down below." And from the International Committee of the Fourth International, another Trotskyite offshoot, "The struggle of Wisconsin workers enters a new stage." There's even an statement from some obscure local cell, the Socialist Party of Wisconsin, "Statement on Walker’s Attack on Workers." There's more, but no need to keep linking. Lots of commies are down with the Wisconsin Dems. Seriously. The woman in the video at top says she found the events in Egypt "inspirational" --- that is, inspirational for a new American revolution. Indeed, even Jesse Jackson made similar statements!

And with that, let's go back to RepRacist3:

Let's be clear. There are communists here in America. And yes, there are some Socialists, like the pair in the propaganda video. There are probably a few Stalinists, even. Their numbers are pretty small -- (The video shows only two socialists. Given the number of folks protesting in Madison, that ought to tell you something right off the bat. If there really were "Socialist Public Employees Call[ing] for Revolution in Wisconsin," you can be sure that Donald and his fellow union-busters would've showed you as many as possible, being as vehement as possible. They came up with two twenty-somethings handing out flyers and newspapers and talking about the rights of workers.) -- and for the most part, they're discussing ideas, not committing (or even contemplating) violent "Stalin-like" acts of any kind.

I'm being indulgent, since it's frankly not going to make much difference to someone who refuses to acknowledge objective reality. I guess there's some epic comedy value in this, at any rate. RepRacist3 made the exact same argument after last year's "One Nation" rally, which saw dozens of individual socialist organizations participating: "Progressives March on Washington for 'One Nation Working Together' — Thousands Rally in Support of Socialist Agenda." And from Looking at the Left, "Democrats, Union Workers, and Communists Rally Together in Washington":

The lines between the Democratic Party, labor unions, socialist and communist organizations, were blurred at the One Nation Working Together rally at the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday. Organized by One Nation Working Together, which is headed by the cream of the Democratic National Committee, the rally was a sort of coming out moment for the radical leftist base of the Democratic Party.

Exactly.

I've been blogging about the Democrat Party's progressive-socialist base for years. I had a series on this back in 2008, six months before Barack Obama was elected, which has been substantiated by events: "No Enemies on the Left? Progressives for Barack Obama." And checking the links you'll see REPSAC = CASPER flailing away in denial that long ago. It's pretty sad. At least a half-dozen books have been written since Obama took office, outlining the hardline socialist contingents that have propelled this regime to power. Gallup did a poll of ideology last year and found a majority of Democrats evincing a positive view socialism. And a Pew survey at the same time found 43 percent of Americans under 30 supporting socialism, which was equal to those with a favorable view of capitalism. These young folks identifying with socialism are among the same youth cohorts that activated the college-level OFA groups that wedged the Democrats into office in 2008.

So, let's be clear: Today's Democrat Party base includes a large segment of communists and socialist-progressives. There were roughly 80 socialists serving as Democrats in the 111th Congress. The State of Wisconsin is one of most progressive states in American history, and thus it's no surprise that militant factions positioned Madison for a showdown against capital. So, again, I'm not going quibble with REPSAC = CASPER, who was widely ridiculed on bloggers' row at CPAC. He's crazy, frankly, and dangerous. And he's distorting what I said about the International Socialist Organization and he's lying about the absence of communists in America. They're all around. And if it weren't for bloggers like myself and others willing to expose these domestic enemies for what they are, the forces of leftist totalitarianism would be making even greater inroads. Conservatives will continue to have their work cut out for them, and I'll keep fighting these demons, despite the repeated attempts of idiots like RepRacist3 et al. to shut down this blog.

* I had the wrong reptilian terminology there. In Repsac's world that me makes me a congenital liar, so this addendeum sets the record straight.

Yusuf al-Qaradawi Raises Danger of Islamist Regime in Egypt

I saw this the other day at New York Times, "After Long Exile, Sunni Cleric Takes Role in Egypt." Folks will want to read it all, although this passage is telling:

An intellectual inspiration to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, Sheik Qaradawi was jailed in Egypt three times for his ties to the group and spent most of his life abroad.

Otherwise, the Times paints al-Qaradawi as largely moderate, with his extremism toward Israel and the U.S. painted as legitimate resistance. But William Jacobson's having none of it, "NY Times Whitewashes Return of Anti-Semitic Egyptian Cleric." And linked there is MEMRI's coverage of al-Qaradawi's speech Friday:

In a special mention of the Palestinian issue, Al-Qaradhawi asked the Egyptian army to open wide the Rafah crossing and to pray for the re-conquest of Jerusalem by the Muslims, so that he and the Muslims could pray in security at Al-Aqsa Mosque. This part of his sermon was cheered and applauded by the crowd.

This is exactly what the Israeli government feared, and possible developments like this were discounted by the most euphoric advocates of regime change. William has more on that, "The Yuppie Revolution In Egypt Is Over, The Islamist Revolution Has Begun" (via Memeorandum). Check the discussion there. What's especially interesting is how Google's executive Wael Ghonim, who was widely feted by the press during the protests, was shuffled to the sidelines Friday by al-Qaradawi's security.

Blazing Cat Fur has this video, which is chilling:

And events seem to be proving Barry Rubin prophetic. See, "Egypt Gets its Khomeini":

Up until now, the Egyptian revolution generally, and the Brotherhood in particular, has lacked a charismatic thinker, someone who could really mobilize the masses. Qaradawi is that man.

Friday, February 18 may be a turning point in Egyptian history. On that day Yusuf al-Qaradawi spoke to a giant cheering crowd in Tahrir Square.

He praised the army – to ward off it’s repression and to encourage it to support a transformation of the country.

He preached caution and patience, working with the army.

And he also lavished praise on the pro-Islamist chairman of the committee to write the new constitution, which may not be a good sign at all.

There is one easily missed word in his speech that is the most significant. That word is “hypocrites.” In the Islamist lexicon, hypocrites means Muslims who do not practice “true” Islam according to the radicals. To take Egypt out of the hands of “hypocrites” is to put it onto the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood – or at least similarly minded people – which, contrary to the best and the brightest policy makers, intelligence analysts, experts and journalists, is not a moderate organization.

History may show that while president Jimmy Carter may have “lost” Iran, one of his successors may have helped give away Egypt. Is that alarmist? I hope so.

Watch and see.

As so often happens, Israel will be left to pay the bill ...

Yep. Chilling.

More at the link.

RELATED: At Power Line, "Bad Vibrations From Cairo."