Rachel Lucas: Visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau

These are photos, from Rachel Lucas, of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, in Oświęcim, Poland. Ms. Lucas' photo-essay is here, '“We have to go into the despair and go beyond it, by working and doing for somebody else, by using it for something else”.' Be sure to read it all. Ms. Lucas' feelings of anticipation, fear, and yearnings for mysteries unfolded made me well-up a couple of times:

The title is a quote by Elie Wiesel and I use it because I’ve spent the last several weeks trying to write this post but failing, especially when it came to the title. I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if I titled this a hillbilly travelogue, and what do you name a blog post about Auschwitz-Birkenau?

We had 3 days in Krakow, and set aside the first day for our trip to Auschwitz. This is something I have wanted to do for a very, very long time. I started reading about WWII and the Holocaust when I was 10 years old and have never stopped. It’s one of those things that you just can’t let go until you finally understand it, and I’ll never completely understand it.

The first picture of this post is the first one I took at Birkenau. As you can see, there was a thunderstorm brewing. The truth is, the whole scene was surreal, and very oddly beautiful. I hate to say that, but it is true. The grass was the most intense saturated lush green you can imagine, and it was about 72 degrees, and the deep gray clouds loomed and thundered and rained on us in between bouts of sunshine – - and the incongruity of it all is something I will never forget in my lifetime.

There was such natural beauty visible to any human standing in the middle of Birkenau that day. It was as if nature was asserting herself over all the despair and ugliness. Look how green I can be, feel this perfect air, listen to this thunder, there is always something good that will come out of something awful.

But it is still awful, and always will be awful, in ways no words can tell.

Don't miss the whole thing. I too have been studying Nazi history since I was a little boy. And I wrote my dissertation on the inadaquacies of the Western democracies in balancing German power (and in deterring the outbreak of World War II) as the scholarly result of my own fascination with Germany's 20th century history.

I too will visit Auschwitz-Birkenau. And I'm hoping it's going to be sooner rather than later. My sister's husband is Hungarian, and I've been invited to spend time with the family in Eastern Europe any time. When my sister came home from visiting last Christmas, I told her I wanted to visit Auschwitz. I can't go quite yet, but thanks so much to Rachel Lucas for sharing her pilgrimage and reminding me not only that I need to go, but that's it's essential to do so.

(Related: "Nazi Germany's Years of Extermination, 1939-1945.")

Obama on Kennedy: 'One of the Most Accomplished Americans Ever to Serve Our Democracy'

At the White House blog, "One of the Most Accomplished Americans Ever to Serve our Democracy":

The Kennedy name is synonymous with the Democratic Party. And at times, Ted was the target of partisan campaign attacks. But in the United States Senate, I can think of no one who engendered greater respect or affection from members of both sides of the aisle. His seriousness of purpose was perpetually matched by humility, warmth, and good cheer. He could passionately battle others and do so peerlessly on the Senate floor for the causes that he held dear, and yet still maintain warm friendships across party lines.

And that's one reason he became not only one of the greatest senators of our time, but one of the most accomplished Americans ever to serve our democracy.

His extraordinary life on this earth has come to an end. And the extraordinary good that he did lives on. For his family, he was a guardian. For America, he was the defender of a dream.

I don't doubt that Senator Kennedy deserves such deep feelings in commemoration. What's interesting to me is how the death of Kennedy, whose influence in American politics has long been overrated, is now going to drive a sympathy-push for the passage of healthcare legislation Americans have already repudiated.

See WSJ, "Kennedy’s Death Spurs Calls to Pass Health Legislation" (via Memeorandum).

Also, Ed Morrissey, "Videos: Chris Matthews, Not Politicizing Kennedy’s Death."

The Edward M. Kennedy Memorial Health Care Reform Bill?

I have nothing but blessings for the Kennedy family upon the news of Senator Edward Kennedy's passing. With his death, along with Eunice Kennedy Shriver's last week, we have now the melancholy sense of the final sunset on the Kennedy influence. I am with Michelle Malkin when she writes:

Put aside your ideological differences for an appropriate moment and mark this passing with solemnity.

That said, I'll just note that final farewells for Senator Kennedy have yet to be said and the Democratic-leftists are already exploiting the liberal icon's death for political gain.

From William Jacobson, "Rush Was Right: Dems Call For 'The Kennedy Memorial Health Bill'." William links to this post from Balloon-Juice:

" it’s time to come back after Labor Day with a single coherent Senator Edward M. Kennedy Health Care Reform Bill, and to twist whatever arms, ears, or other parts are necessary to get a good strong comprehensive bill passed and signed, NOW. We owe the memory of a great man no less."

No degree of rank hypocrisy nor indecency surprises me about the Democrats anymore. In Massachusetts, state law requires a special election to replace a U.S. senate vacancy. Passed in 2004 to prevent then-Governor Mitt Romney from appointing a possible Senate replacement to Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, now Democratic state lawmakers are seeking to reverse the law to allow straight appointment by the governor's office. As Ann Althouse notes:

So there are 2 questions: 1. Is the death of Teddy Kennedy a sufficiently powerful event to counter the opposition to the health care bill? and 2. Is the death of Teddy Kennedy a sufficiently powerful event to overcome the embarrassment of changing the Massachusetts law back to what it was before it was changed to thwart a Republican?

See also, Karyn McDermott, "The Edward M. Kennedy Memorial Health Care Reform Bill 2009."

Senator Feingold: Yes, ObamaCare Vote Before Christmas, Public Option Alive

Folks might need to update their posts. It's a false meme that there'll be "no healthcare vote before Christmas." The source for the claim is Senator Russell Feingold, and his office has now issued an updated statement:

At the beginning of the August recess, most folks coming out were opposed to any sort of health care reform. But in the last few I have held, I have noticed more and more reform proponents coming out and being heard. Overall, in the seventeen years I’ve been holding these meetings, there has been strong support for health care reform. I’ve been saying for weeks that it will probably be right before Christmas before we have a health care reform bill to vote on. I will continue working to make sure we do and it is one with a strong public option.

Feingold's talking about the town hall forums he's held in Wisconsin. Here's Feingold's comments on the public option, from a meeting today in rural Marathon County:

I do think there should be a public option. I think there should be some choice here between people like what they have now fine. They should be able to keep it ... But a public option means that if you don't have any insurance or if you don't like what you have there's an alternative.

And here's Feingold in an interview today with the Appleton Post-Crescent:

Can you see yourself voting for any health care package that doesn't include a public option?

I would rather not. If we do something weak or just change one thing — like (including) pre-existing conditions, which is very important — I'm afraid we're not going to deal with the fundamental economic and personal issues that are involved here ....

How does long-term care fit into the national health care debate?

Wisconsin has been innovative and saved hundreds of millions of dollars by providing home-based care through our Family Care program. It has been a model for the country.

So whatever bill comes out, we should encourage an inclusion of home and community care.

I think we would get this. This is one (measure) that is not so controversial, as our population is getting older. As I like to say, the baby boomers are falling apart.

This is one of my top priorities for the health care bill, with some sort of public option, cost containment and making sure Wisconsin doesn't get ripped off on the reimbursements.

Frankly, it doesn't sound like much has changed for the Dems' ObamaCare agenda.

Plus, check out Feingold's statements earlier this year advocating a U.S. single payer system. From Verum Serum, "Sen. Feingold Defends Public Plan, Admits Ultimate Goal is Single-Payer":

Bleeding Hearts for ObamaCare: Maybe Crying Will Help Dems' Tanking Support?

Look, no one wants to learn of heartbreak stories of real people struggling with insurance bureaucracies, but trying to make Senator Tom Coburn, who is a family physician, into a heartless abomination of anti-ObamaCare obstructionism isn't going to do the trick. Here's this woman at Coburn's townhall yesterday. She says her insurance company's leaving her husband out in the cold: "We left the nursing home ... and they told us we are on our own":

NewsOK's got the story, "U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn Finds Mixed Views at Forum on Health Care":

More than 500 people attended the noontime event in the Chase Building plaza, and not all agreed with the fiscally conservative Republican.

One woman, a military veteran, asked Coburn, "Morally, how can you deny Americans affordable insurance?”

Coburn was quick to respond.

"One of the reasons it’s not affordable is because government is in the market in the first place,” he said. "Why as a veteran do you have to go to the Veteran Administration (hospital) instead of anywhere else you want?”

After another woman cried as she spoke about a sick relative, Coburn said bigger government won’t lead to health care reform.

"What’s missing from the debate is us as neighbors helping people who need help,” he said.

"The idea that government is a solution to problems is a very inaccurate statement.”

Coburn, who opposes the Democrats’ measure, has introduced a bill that would expand health care by subsidizing private insurance through refundable tax credits and forcing insurers into shared risk pools for those with pre-existing conditions.

Steve Benen, no surprise, has strong words for Coburn:

Coburn's answer represents mindless, reflexive opposition to government, for opposition's sake. It's a worldview that's as shallow as it is destructive ....

I'll never understand the right's obsession with hating the government, but for Coburn to lecture that woman in dire straits about the evils of government intervention in the health care system is callous, cruel, and exactly the kind of twisted thinking policymakers will have to reject to pass real reform.

Benen, the abominable disgrace that he is, doesn't mention that Senator Coburn tells the woman that, "Yeah, we'll help ... the first thing we'll do is see what we can do to help you, individually, through our office." Then Coburn goes on to explain that Americans must reinvigorate our tradition of community caring, focusing on "us as neighbors, helping people that need our help."

We won't get that from radical lefitsts who see every solution to society's problems as strengthening the long arm of the Orwellian state. Benen also might note that ObamaCare's certainly no friend to the woman at the video. Indeed, the logical conclusion is that Zeke Emanuel's cost rationalization regime would likely put the lady's husband out to pasture.

See also, Daily Kos, "This is Your GOP on Healthcare Reform," and Think Progress, "Coburn Tells Weeping Victim of Broken Health Care System That Government Isn't the Solution."

More at Memeorandum.

Related: "Polls Show It's Time for Democrats to Drop Healthcare Reform."

'Leave Our Penises Alone': No Wait! 'Topless Rights' Protest in Venice Beach

Well, Ann Althouse reports on Rush Limbaugh's exhortation, "leave our penises alone":

This is getting out of hand. There is a story that some officials in the Obama administration are pushing for circumcision for all boys born in the USA to fight HIV/AIDS. Not that I'm against circumcision, but it's a family's decision. Leave our penises alone, too, Obama!

Actually, liberated women in Venice Beach are focused on breasts, not penises:

Plus: "Video Snapshot: 'Topless Rights' Protest Hosted by Raëlian UFO Clone Sex Cult."

I think I'll stick to town halls!

Hat Tip: Glenn Reynolds.

Obama Breaks Another Pledge: Now 'Looking Back' on Terror Prosecutions

Gateway Pundit has the video, "Team Obama Opens Investigation of CIA Officials for Treating Al-Qaeda Killers Badly." In a January interview with George Stephanopolous, President-elect Obama pledged, "we need to look forward as opposed to looking backwards."

But from today's Los Angeles Times:

In naming a special prosecutor to investigate the CIA's use of harsh interrogation tactics, the Obama administration has plunged into just the kind of controversy it said it wanted to avoid -- a polarizing, backward-looking fight over issues far removed from the president's top priorities.

At a time when healthcare and other signature initiatives are in trouble on Capitol Hill and President Obama's approval ratings are slipping, he now faces the prospect of a long, distracting probe into policies of the Bush administration -- policies Obama has already denounced.

And the furor is likely to be all the sharper because it pits the most liberal elements of Obama's base against the most unyielding elements of the Republican right.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs sought Monday to position Obama out of the line of fire.

"The president has said repeatedly that he wants to look forward, not back, and the president agrees with the attorney general that those who acted in good faith and within the scope of legal guidance should not be prosecuted," Gibbs said in a statement. "Ultimately, determinations about whether someone broke the law are made independently by the attorney general."

But keeping the president above the fray may not be easy.

"Unfortunately, the pressure . . . to indict someone will be overwhelming," said Mark Lowenthal, a former senior CIA official. That will produce "two simultaneous unappealing outcomes," he said. "Half the population will think it is a whitewash and the right people weren't indicted. And half the population will think it is a lynch mob.

"If the White House thinks they can control this," Lowenthal said, "they aren't nearly as smart as I think they are."

Also, previously, from Jennifer Rubin, "Torture Prosecutions and Obama’s Radical Political Agenda."

Cartoon Credit: William Warren at Americans for Limited Government.

Political Terror in the Heartland: Quincy Tea Party Fundamentalists

From Founding Bloggers, "EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Political Terrorism In The Heartland – Inside the Quincy Tea Party Cell":

This is part one. Click the link for the full video.

Hat Tip: Glenn Reynolds.

Holder to Reopen CIA Abuse Cases

From the Wall Street Journal, "Prosecuting the CIA":

'It would be unfair to prosecute dedicated men and women working to protect America for conduct that was sanctioned in advance by the Justice Department." –Attorney General Eric Holder, April 2009

"Justice Department Names Prosecutor to Reopen CIA Abuse Cases" –Wall Street Journal, yesterday

Mr. Holder had it right the first time. His about-face yesterday, compounded by his release of a 2004 internal CIA report on that agency's handling of terrorists, opens a political war that President Obama, the CIA and above all the country will live to regret.

This is a trap the Administration set for itself. Mr. Obama and his team have attempted to appease their political left by publicly denouncing the Bush Administration's national security policies, even as they claimed to want to forget the past. Their disparagement has only fed the liberal demand for Bush prosecutions and increased the pressure on Mr. Holder to appoint a prosecutor.

Justice threw kerosene on those politics yesterday with its release of findings compiled by the CIA's inspector general in 2004 about the agency's detention and interrogation of terrorists. The ACLU had won a court order for their release. We were still reading its hundreds of pages at deadline, but most of the supposedly damning details had already been leaked. The new bits include the fact that interrogators threatened terrorists with a gun shot in a nearby room, with a power drill and cigarette smoke, and against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's family. We suspect millions of Americans will be shocked to learn that these unshocking details are all that the uproar over "torture" is about.

Also, John at Power Line:

Having read the CIA report in its entirety, I am struck once again by how humane our treatment of captured terrorists was intended to be, and generally was. The handful of incidents highlighted by press accounts of the report came to light precisely because they were reported as deviations from the treatment of detainees that had been authorized by DOJ lawyers.

I'll be reading over more of this information today.

There's lots of debate at Memeorandum.

Interesting to me is what's going on at the CIA. See ABC News, "Obama White House v. CIA; Panetta Threatened to Quit: Tensions Lead to CIA Director's "Screaming Match" at the White House." Also, the Astute Bloggers, "THE SOPRANOS STYLE OF ERIC HOLDER."

Obama Faces Pressure to Postpone the Public Option

President Obama should abandon the "public option" altogether, and push for genuine reform of insurance markets instead. He's a Democratic-socialist, so of course he won't. The guy's apparently willing to tank a second term in the process, so give the dude credit for tenacity (or bone-headedness).

In any case, from CNN, "Obama, Democrats Urged to Find Unity on Health Care Reform":

With health care negotiations stalled until Congress comes back from August recess, a top Democratic strategist says President Obama and his party need to seize control of the debate.

"We need message discipline on the Democratic side," Democratic strategist and CNN contributor Donna Brazile said. "I can't speak for Republicans, but I can tell you, without message discipline, this has been a very difficult, uphill battle for the president."

Obama has spent the past week trying to put out fires sparked after his administration appeared to hedge on support for a government-run public option. Some of the greatest criticism is coming from liberals who are now threatening to vote against any bill that does not include such an option.

At a town hall meeting over the weekend, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-California, implored the president not to drop the public option plan and said his efforts to be bipartisan are futile.

"Yes, we know that you are a nice man, that you want to work with the opposite side of the aisle. But there comes a time when you need to drop that and move forward," she said. "We're saying to you, Mr. President, 'Be tough. Use everything that you've got. Do what you have to do. And we have your back.'

Maxine Waters pisses me off, frankly. "Be tough ..." Give me a break. The rest of the country is not like Waters' South Central socialist constituency in the 35th Congressional District.

I looked for video the other day of her town hall, which was a no-conflict zone from what I read. Here's some video that's now been uploaded:

My earlier post is here, "Maxine Waters on ObamaCare Protests: 'I Sent Them a Message ... Don't Try That With Maxine Waters'."

Also, from Gateway Pundit, "Socialist Maxine Waters Blasts "Neanderthal" Opposition to Obamacare ...Update: Waters Challenges Town Hall Protesters."

Dick Morris: Democrats Could Lose 100 Seats in 2010

From Gateway Pundit, "Dick Morris Warns Democrats Could Lose 100 Seats in 2010":

Barack Obama's approval ratings continue to plummet ... Gallup shows the president's approval ratings hitting a new low.

The president's Rasmussen approval index numbers also hit a new double digit low this weekend at -14. Barack Obama's presidential index numbers are back in negative double digits for the first time since he smeared the nation's police force by saying an officer had acted stupidly for arresting Obama's out of control Harvard friend.

Glenn Beck Goes After Van Jones and 'Color of Change'

I'm back to teaching this week, so I wasn't home in time to catch Glenn Beck go on the attack against Van Jones, the co-founder of Color-of-Change (the group boycotting Beck's show on Fox).

Glenn Beck used his popular Fox News show this afternoon to attack the background of Van Jones, a White House environmental advisor who co-founded an African American political advocacy group that organized an advertising boycott of his program.

During his 2 p.m. PDT show, Beck did not address the boycott spearheaded by Color of Change to protest the talk show host’s remark last month that he believes President Obama is “a racist.”

Instead, he spent a large share of his program suggesting that Jones, who co-founded Color of Change in 2005, is a radical. Jones now serves as a special advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

During a six-minute biographical profile, set to ominous music, Beck said Jones was twice arrested for political protests and has described himself as a "rowdy black nationalist." The talk show host cast the piece as part of a broader examination of Obama's "czars," special advisers to the president who "don't answer to anybody."

"Why is it that such a committed revolutionary has made it so high into the Obama administration as one of his chief advisers?" Beck asked.

More at the link, via Memeorandum.

What is Budget Reconciliation?

The latest buzz in the protracted healthcare debate is over Senator Charles Schumer's suggestion that Senate Democrats may seek to pass ObamaCare via the "budget reconciliation" procedure.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

The obvious problem is that Schumer's plan is fundamentally dishonest. According to the Rules of the House of Representatives:

Created in a budget resolution in 1974 as part of the congressional budget process, the reconciliation process is utilized when Congress issues directives to legislate policy changes in mandatory spending (entitlements) or revenue programs (tax laws) to achieve the goals in spending and revenue contemplated by the budget resolution. First used in1980 this process was used at the end of a fiscal year to enact legislation to fine tune revenue and spending levels through legislation that could not be filibustered in the Senate. The policy changes brought about by this part of the budget process have served as constraints on the levels of mandatory spending and federal tax revenues which also has served since 1981 as a vehicle for deficit reduction.

And here's Wikipedia's entry:

A reconciliation instruction is a provision in a budget resolution directing one or more committees to submit legislation changing existing law in order to bring spending, revenues, or the debt-limit into conformity with the budget resolution.

Democrats would be violating existing congressional norms and formal procedures in seeking an end-run around the filibuster. And it turns out that Senate Dems have encouragement from the White House:

The president and his advisers have started devising a strategy to pass a measure by relying only on the Democratic majority in each house of Congress, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Progressives will argue that resort to "reconciliation" is a common legislative practice; that Senate Republicans used the procedure when they held the majority. For example:

For more detailed information on how exactly the reconciliation process works, see this diary on Congress Matters. This is the same procedure that was used by Senate Republicans under President Bush to pass his first round of tax cuts. It’s been used over 20 times in the past 35 years, by both parties.

Well, if that's the central example of GOP use of reconciliation, the Republicans were within proper procedure in promoting the passage of tax legislation through reconciliation. It would have to be a new twist in lobbying for ObamaCare for Dems to call the legislation an "entitlement" or a "revenue program." The administration's healthcare reform would be a major new social policy expansion - and it would be a "discretionary" appropriation, not a fixed-outlay entitlement. And it's certainly not a matter of routine budgetary appropriations. Thus, it's sneaky and underhanded for leftists - such as Senator Schumer above, but also blogger Steve Benen - to disguise reconciliation for ObamaCare as possible as a normal legislative alternative. As Benen wrote the other day:

Republicans and political reporters are describing reconciliation as the "nuclear option" as a way to make it seem as if reconciliation is some kind of outrageous abuse of the legislative process. It's meant to remind political observers of the time Republicans planned to eliminate judicial filibusters through an outrageous abuse of the legislative process.

They're actually opposites. When Senate Republicans crafted the real "nuclear option" in 2005, the idea was to change the rules in the middle of the game. The Senate can change its rules with 67 votes, but Trent Lott & Co. thought they'd try it with 51 votes. Senate Dems, at the time, threatened all-out political war over this, which is why Lott referred to his underhanded scheme as the "nuclear option."

Reconciliation, in contrast, is part of the existing Senate rules. No one's talking about changing anything -- just following the process that's already in place.

Except, those "existing Senate rules" authorize reconciliation for entitlements or tax-budgeting items, of which ObamaCare is neither.

More at Memeorandum.

**********

UPDATE: From reader Dave, in the comments:

Dr. Douglas, not to defend Up-Chuck Schumer here in any way, as I find him nearly as despicable as Ted Kennedy, but I think a pretty good argument could be made that ObamaCare is, in fact, an entitlement, right along the lines of Social (In)Security.

Absolutely. ObamaCare will indeed end up as the mother of all entitlements, if fully implemented as the full-blown socialized medical scheme the radical lefitsts want. The issue here is the sales pitch. Obama and the Democrats have not sold ObamaCare as a federal entitlment, because everyone knows we need to cut entitlement spending, which is strangling American solvency and indebting future generations. Leftists can't cram down another "entitlement" on the American public, and hence they can't use the "reconciliation" process unless they say they will.

Jasmine Fiore Manhunt: Ryan Jenkins Found Dead in Canada Hotel Room

Being a local story, I followed the news of Jasmine Fiore with a little more interest than usual. I had just come home from dropping off my new course syllabi at the copy center at my school. Flipping on the TV, I caught the local ABC News report on the disovery of Jasmine Fiore's body in a garbage dumpster in Buena Park. (See, "Body Found in Suitcase is Missing Model.") As they often do, the newscasters showed a map of the area, and the approximate location of the apartment complex where the body was found. I had stopped for gas at an Arco station right near there on the way home, so it made the story even that much more compelling.

The story garned international news coverage with its celebrity/gossip tie-ins. And now that suspected killer Ryan Jenkins' body has been found, we can expect a good day's worth of news coverage through the early-week media cycle. Here's the local news video from KABC-TV Los Angeles, "Ryan Jenkins Found Dead in Canada":

TMZ posted the story late last night, "Ryan Jenkins Dead -- Hangs Himself." Also, from KTLA-TV Los Angeles, "Police: Model Murder Suspect Hanged Himself." Plus, from CNN, "Suspect in Model's Murder Found Dead in Canada."

Related: In a development perfectly "shaped" for the forensic skills of breast-expert Robert Stacy McCain, Jasmine Fiore's body was identified by her implants. A couple of related articles here. See, "Killer Removed Jasmine Fiore's Teeth, Fingers, Before Stuffing Her in a Suitcase," and "Murdered Model Identified by Breast Implants."

British Quangos to Ban 'Everyday Racist and Sexist Language'

Via Blazing Cat Fur, check out this piece from the Times of London, "Quangos Blackball ... Oops, Sorry ... Veto ‘Racist’ Everyday Phrases":

It could be construed as a black day for the English language — but not if you work in the public sector.

Dozens of quangos and taxpayer-funded organisations have ordered a purge of common words and phrases so as not to cause offence.

Among the everyday sayings that have been quietly dropped in a bid to stamp out racism and sexism are “whiter than white”, “gentleman’s agreement”, “black mark” and “right-hand man”.

The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission has advised staff to replace the phrase “black day” with “miserable day”, according to documents released under freedom of information rules.

It points out that certain words carry with them a “hierarchical valuation of skin colour”. The commission even urges employees to be mindful of the term “ethnic minority” because it can imply “something smaller and less important”.

The National Gallery in London believes that the phrase “gentleman’s agreement” is potentially offensive to women and suggests that staff should replace it with “unwritten agreement” or “an agreement based on trust” instead. The term “right-hand man” is also considered taboo by the gallery, with “second in command” being deemed more suitable.

Many institutions have urged their workforce to be mindful of “gender bias” in language. The Learning and Skills Council wants staff to “perfect” their brief rather than “master” it, while the Newcastle University has singled out the phrase “master bedroom” as being problematic.

Advice issued by the South West Regional Development Agency states: “Terms such as ‘black sheep of the family’, ‘black looks’ and ‘black mark’ have no direct link to skin colour but potentially serve to reinforce a negative view of all things black. Equally, certain terms imply a negative image of ‘black’ by reinforcing the positive aspects of white.

“For example, in the context of being above suspicion, the phrase ‘whiter than white’ is often used. Purer than pure or cleaner than clean are alternatives which do not infer that anything other than white should be regarded with suspicion.”

More at the link.

By the way, this story reminds me of back in 1990, when I was joined the College Democrats' club at Fresno State. The group had a huge wooden booth out on the university quad area, and it had to be taken off campus during the summer. A local union electrician agreed to store it for us, so we had to dismantle the monster (partially at least) to be able to move it. I was working with one of the women from the club, trying to pry off some of the interior baseboard. While she was pulling up and twisting I said, "You just have to manhandle that thing." She stopped right there, gave me a look, and said, "manhandle it"? I immediately realized I was insufficiently trained in the politically correct doctrines of feminism. I apologized and quickly took the hammer from her hand before she cracked my cranium with it real good!

(P.S. "Quangos" are "quasi-autonomous non-governmental organizations," a bureaucratic term for non-profit public-sector agencies. Check out more good stuff at Blazing Cat Fur, in any case.)

Already Losing the Argument: Leftists Denounce Town Hall Citizens as 'Angry White Racists'

Recall that Democrats are losing the healthcare debate so badly that the some folks are seriously questioning President Obama electoral viability.

And what's the response among Democratic leftists and the mass media? Dig in further in demonizing concerned citizens as "Functionally Retarded Adults" and "hypocritical nihilists." Janeane Garofalo's at it again, for example. She attacked the "teabaggers" once more in a performance at D.C.'s 9:30 Club on Friday night:

Do you remember tea baggers?" Garofalo said. "It was just so much easier when we could just call them racists. I just don't know why we can't call them racists, or functionally retarded adults" ...

"The functionally retarded adults, the racists - with their cries of, ‘I want my country back,'" she said. "You know what they're really saying is, ‘I want my white guy back.' They apparently had no problem at all for the last eight years of habeas corpus being suspended, the Constitution being [expletive] on, illegal surveillance, lied to on a war or two, two stolen elections - yes, the John Kerry one was stolen too. That's not tin-foil hat time. That's just..."

Also, Kevin Drum attacked town hall protesters as "nihilists and hypocrities":

Both parties have their extreme wings, but the GOP's is not only way deeper into crazy land ("death panels" for them vs a public option for the most liberal Dems), but it's virtually all they have left. Michele Bachman is pretty much the modal Republican now, not just a fringe nutball. Conversely, Dennis Kucinich, who's far to the left but perfectly sane and coherent, barely gets the time of day from the mainstream core of the Democratic Party.

I don't actually mind if most or all Republicans vote against healthcare reform. They're Republicans! They're opposed to expanded government programs and private sector regulation and new entitlements. But the death panels and the home nursing inanity and the "healthcare racism" and the town hall screeching and all the rest are the mark of a party that's gone completely off the rails. They're doomed until they figure out a way to extricate themselves from the Beck/Limbaugh/Fox News axis of hysteria.

Right.

Drum really ought to check public opinion polls once in a while. Currenty, just one fourth of the American public "strongly approves" of President Obama, and a majority of 51 percent disapproves of the president's performance:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday [August 23, 2009] shows that 27% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty-one percent (41%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -14. These figures mark the lowest Approval Index rating yet recorded for this President.

Then we have the mainstream press, which is totally in the tank for socialized medicine. The Los Angeles Times has practically become a PR firm for ObamaCare. And yesterday's fawning story of radical Congresswoman Maxine Waters was over the top. And just this morning, the San Jose Mercury News pumps up the "angry white nihilist" line. See, "White Anger Fueling Health Care Debate":

Ex-Marine Jack Burke went toe-to-toe with his congresswoman at a street fair in San Carlos last week, convinced President Barack Obama's health care reform would mean politicians, not doctors, would make his medical decisions.

It wasn't just health care making him angry, Burke said a few moments later. It was Obama's plan to limit global warming; it was the auto industry and all the other bailouts; AND it was health care. The retiree said it all felt so wrong, so contrary to how he was raised.

"I just feel the government is intruding in our lives," Burke said.

With the civic dialogue aflame with phrases like "death panels" and "the blood of tyrants," conversations with voters like Burke suggest more is brewing in the nation's troubled soul than a debate over the mechanics of health care reform. Many say the tempest over health care has its origin in the new administration's breathtaking pace of change and in the long-term social and demographic trends that helped put the nation's first African-American president in the White House.

But there is also a powerful social catalyst: The recession has savaged whites and middle-aged men to a degree unseen in most people's lifetimes. And that has helped make many in those groups desperately, angrily anxious about change.

So I guess that's a nice way for the paper to say town hall protesters "just want their white guy back."

In any case, you've got to love Larry the Homeless Guy up top, protesting yesterday at Senator Lisa Murkowski's office in Anchorage. The picture's from Liberty Belle's report:

It was a very calm group with few outbursts. Lucky me, I got to sit right in front of the most rude people there. Big surprise: lefties. When someone mentioned the drift towards socialism this country is experiencing, they booed loudly and yelled unintelligible things. When another woman expressed her concern about the illegal immigration problem, the woman behind me screamed, "RACIST!!" At first I thought she was joking, but no, she was dead serious.

Democrats have now invented the "Obama racism corollary" to Godwin's Law (to paraphrase the Economist, leftists have already lost the debate if they're reduced to attacking town hall citizens as "racist").

See also, the Juneau Empire, "More Than 700 Attend Murkowski Town Hall."

Recess Rally at Representative Jerry McNerney's Office

From PipeLine News, "Hundreds Turn Out For Pleasanton, CA Tea Party Protest Of Jerry McNerney":

Even temperatures approaching the century mark failed to dampen the spirit of a large and rambunctious crowd of anti-Obamacare protesters as they gathered outside the district office of Jerry McNerney [D, CA 11] this afternoon.

Though Pleasanton is the focal point of McNerney's district, he is nowhere to be seen, steadfastly refusing to meet his angry constituents face to face. When his office staff was questioned regarding why he was hiding from the people who elected him, they asked that our cameras be removed.

This is the Democrat approach to Constitutional rights, they have and deserve them...you don't.

The participants in the event gave many reasons for being there.

Jane from Contra Costa County said, "What brought me out here today, and what has brought me out here on many Friday nights, is out of control spending and the growth of government...I don't want the government involved in my health any more than it already is."

Dwayne came to the rally because, "I'm going to voice my opinion against what' s going on with the healthcare issue and the administration in general, and I think that what they're doing, by cramming healthcare down our throats; it's a, unconstitutional and b, immoral."

Lori offered her reason for attendance, "I decided to take a stand against what's going on in Washington. I realized that I never fought for my country, I reaped all the benefits of years of others fighting for my country, so this is my way of fighting for my country."

More at the link.

Plus, the Contra Costa Times, "Health Care Reform Opponents Rally Outside McNerney's Office."

Conservatives Adopt 'Rules for Radicals'

From the New York Times, "Know Thine Enemy":

Saul Alinsky, the Chicago activist and writer whose street-smart tactics influenced generations of community organizers, most famously the current president, could not have been more clear about which side he was on. In his 1971 text, “Rules for Radicals,” Mr. Alinsky, who died in 1972, explains his purpose: “What follows is for those who want to change the world from what it is to what they believe it should be. ‘The Prince’ was written by Machiavelli for the Haves on how to hold power. ‘Rules for Radicals’ is written for the Have-Nots on how to take it away.”

It is an irony of the current skirmishing about health care that those who could be considered Mr. Alinsky’s sworn enemies — the groups, many industry sponsored, who are trying to shout down Congressional town hall meetings — have taken a page (chapters, really) from his handbook on community organizing. In an article in The Financial Times last week, Dick Armey, the former Republican House majority leader, now an organizer against the Democrats’ proposals on health care, offered his opinion: “What I think of Alinsky is that he was very good at what he did but what he did was not good.”

The disruption of the town hall meetings has many Alinsky trademarks: using spectacle to make up for lack of numbers; targeting an individual to make a large point; and trying to use ridicule to persuade the undecided. Here are excerpts from “Rules for Radicals.”

(I like this one)

Find a single person to focus your energies on:

It should be borne in mind that the target is always trying to shift responsibility to get out of being the target. There is a constant squirming and moving and strategy — purposeful, and malicious at times, other times just for straight self-survival — on the part of the designated target. The forces of change must keep this in mind and pin that target down securely.

Maxine Waters on ObamaCare Protests: 'I Sent Them a Message ... Don't Try That With Maxine Waters'

If there's a single member of the House Democratic caucus who personifies the official leftist thug political identity, Representative Maxine Waters should be at the top of the list.

Well it turns out that Waters held an ObamaCare town hall today at L.A.'s Southwest College. The Los Angeles Times reports approvingly on Waters' public option absolutism, "Rep. Maxine Waters a Hard-Liner for Public Healthcare Option." But the story at the local Daily Breeze really captures the parochial nature of congressional politics, and also Waters' authoritarian style:

In a departure from what has become a familiar scene in the national debate over health care, nobody clashed at a town hall meeting hosted by South Bay Democrat Rep. Maxine Waters on Saturday.

Instead, the more than 400 people who attended the event at Los Angeles Southwest College near Inglewood applauded, chanted and gave standing ovations during Waters' presentation, which lasted far longer than the two hours it was scheduled for.

"The health care system is broken and it's got to be fixed," she said. "It's not simply about the 47 million people who are uninsured, it's about people who can afford health care, who are paying premiums every month but finding that their premium costs keep increasing. God forbid you have a catastrophe."

In good spirits, Waters said she had a theory why the tense atmosphere of other meetings was absent from Saturday's event.

"I sent them a message," she said to cheers. "Don't try that with Maxine Waters."

Other politicians have faced angry questioners when they hosted similar events in recent weeks. And protesters have used the events as opportunities to criticize not only health care reform, but other policies of President Barack Obama.

But Waters' audience was on her side. They carried signs saying "Who would Jesus not insure?" and "Stand together." Many of the cars in the parking lot had Obama bumper stickers.

The only time they booed was when Waters mentioned Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor, who helped popularize the idea that "death panels" would decide end-of-life issues for seniors.

Be sure to check the photo slide-show at the article. Waters' constituency is likely a prototypical "public option" demographic - low SES and radicalized by hard-left ideologies (for some evidence of the latter point, see this report from the event, "Maxine Water's Town Hall").

Fortunately, this report by Alberto Vargas cuts through some of the inbred ideological isolation: "Rep. Maxine Waters calls opposing senators, 'Neanderthals' ":

In an effort to make president Obama look like a saintly victim of injuctice, Rep. Maxine Waters threw some political jabs on Saturday.

"Yes, we know that you are a nice man, that you want to work with the opposite side of the aisle. But there comes a time when you need to drop that and move forward," Waters said. "We're saying to you, Mr. President, 'Be tough. Use everything that you've got. Do what you have to do. And we have your back.' "

Yes, Rep. Waters, Obama's a very moderate politician. He reflects the wishes of the majority of Americans, right? Is this the bologna you'd like people to consume? It ain't working. Americans aren't dumb. The townhall meetings have been a clear indicator that people have had enough.

Resorting to the only tactic that those on the left resort to when losing a battle, Rep. Waters goes on to say about the senators not going along with Obama's plans, "Not only are we going to do everything we can to organize and put pressure on the senators -- some of whom are Neanderthals..."

What a civil way to engage in discourse Mrs. Waters. Congratulations! You're really going to win support for your cause like this. Can you imagine if a conservative, or independent spoke like this? The media would be all over it. Where's the media now? Neandethals?

Well, of course Maxine Waters isn't about "engaging in discourse" and "winning support." She's an elected thug, and she's perfectly happy to mouth tough-talk, since she's not likely to face an electoral challenge anytime soon. Earlier Waters slipped in admitting during a congressional hearing that she'd "socialize" the oil industry. To that, Urban Grounds responded with a post asking, "What Else Would Maxine Waters Nationalize?" Ahh, health care might be a safe bet ...

Recess Rally in Orlando, Florida

From Rachel Pereira, "Thousands of people turned out for the tea party":

Plus, Rachel's sign:

Check the post for shots of Rachel with Hulk Hogan.

Hat Tip: Glenn Reynolds.