The day’s top political news:
From Egypt's order that all 300,000 pigs in the country be slaughtered to travel bans and putting the kibosh on kissing, the world is taking drastic - and some say debatable - measures to combat swine flu.
Egypt ordered the pig slaughter even though there hasn't been a single case of swine flu there and no evidence that pigs have spread the disease. Britain, with only five cases, is trying to buy 32 million masks. And in the United States, President Barack Obama said more of the country's 132,000 schools may have to be shuttered.
At airports from Japan to South Korea to Greece and Turkey, thermal cameras were trained on airline passengers to see if any were feverish. And Lebanon discouraged traditional Arab peck-on-the-cheek greetings, even though no one has come down with the virus there.
Wednesday, the World Health Organization raised its pandemic alert to the second-highest level, meaning it believes a global outbreak of the disease is imminent.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090429/D97SD35O0.html
Obama – those who disagree with him, generate anger and fury within his soul.
Evidence of that anger and resentment has been reflected in outrageous government documents who site such opponents as being potential terrorists – including veterans. Of course our military is among groups most ardent in opposition to many of Obama’s extremist stands.
President Obama said his prime-time press conference on Day 100 of his presidency was intended as a "look forward to ... all of the hundreds of days to follow," but it turned into more of a look back in anger, complete with finger-pointing.
Throughout his hour long session in the White House East Room on Wednesday, the candidate who vowed a new post-partisan Washington, free from the rancorous bickering that often grinds the city to gridlock, ripped Republicans as the members of a do-nothing party of no. Obama’s tantrum began at the top, calling his predecessor, the former head of the Republican Party, a "torturer".
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/30/placing-blame-on-the-gop-obama-looks-back-in-anger/
Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter is a Democrat again following a decades-long turn among Republicans, a defection that has the GOP warning about the perils of unchecked power only a few years after it controlled both the White House and Congress.
Of course, Republicans have never dominated government to the extreme degree Democrats enjoy today.
Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe, one of a few remaining GOP moderates in the Senate, called Specter's decision another sign that the Republican Party needs to move toward the center.
Hmmm, I challenge “moderates” such as Snowe to point out just which positions demonstrating the GOP has moved to the extreme right. As one whose office at the RNC published the party platform of that Ford-era pronouncement – I find not much change. Moderates, by definition, cannot provide dynamic leadership. Claims of massive right wing shifts of the GOP are primarily a result of the mainstream media – an unmitigated gaggle of pro Democrat enthusiasts.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D97S56DG0&show_article=1
Opinion:
Obama and his hatred of normal Americans…it’s not a political claim, it’s a dangerous fact.
Reports from the back rooms of the White House inform us the tea party protest movement and those who participated (and those who still participate) are objects of extreme distaste by Obama.
No surprise. That movement demonstrates a rising tide of outrage over what is going on in Washington – specifically what Obama is proposing and getting his Democrat-dominated Congress to pass.
Of course Obama’s “growing” anger at those who disagree with him politically, is not a new revelation. His disdain for such Americans was revealed in that Homeland Security document seeking to warn all law enforcement agencies that such people (and returning veterans) should be viewed as potential recruits for terrorists. The document echoes comments from Obama himself when he thought he was speaking confidentially to a group of enthusiastic supporters. Homeland Security (and. apparently, Obama’s FBI) targets such people.
During the Bush years, I dutifully listened carefully to the give and take of news conferences since I was obligated to provide talking points from the session to people in Washington who would likely be asked to comment. I was duty bound to pay close attention and keep notes just as a reporter would have had to do.
Shame on me, I didn’t watch Obama’s news conference last night. Why bother? What will be reflected is the media’s most positive spin. Forget fact, this is Obama – “the chosen one”.
Had Obama actually dropped his pants and mooned the reporters -- the New York Times, and other “news outlets” such as all the over-the-air network TV news organizations, would report Obama experienced a “wardrobe malfunction” and – in a most brilliant move – deftly turned around to protect the sensitivities of reporters. “What a guy”.
Obama’s latest love fest with the media was best summed up by Dennis Miller on the O Reilly “No spin zone”. Miller accurately observed the contestant in the Miss USA contest got more challenging questions than the president. Applaud Miller – he summed up the reality quite accurately.
Speaking of that USA contest, has anyone suggested the idiot judge -- Perez Hilton – is guilty per the totally asinine “hate crimes” bill forced through Congress yesterday? Hilton – I presume another sad off-shoot of the hotel family – provided America with a string of brain dead assaults on Miss California because her answer was contrary to his personal beliefs.
Do we not have any laws remaining that can shoot down rabid obscenities? Don’t sign me up for a discussion of this Hilton idiot, I’m afraid I would either be dishonest in my response, or commit a crime. However, it seems that Hate Crime bill is totally one-sided and aimed directly at priests and preachers who tell their congregations the Bibles’ view of homosexuality…can anyone cite for me a “love crime”?
But I digress.
Bottom line, why bother taking notes on the Obama responses – they will be cleaned up and restated to protect Obama should his teleprompter malfunction again. No reason to take notes from what Obama says – it wont matter. Wait for how his media mavens report what he says.
Meanwhile, I find the reports the tea party protest movement angers Obama to be reassuring. They worked, and apparently worked well.
What normal America must do is continue the protest movement – now we know Obama is vulnerable to opposing views. Perhaps he can be caught away from his handlers and their teleprompter key boards, and be goaded into dropping the false patina of respectability that shields the real Obama.
“Those the gods would destroy, they first make angry” – or something similar. We have a strategy – make Obama angry, really angry, and wait for him to respond. We would thus see more Homeland Security documents, hear of more uses of the FBI to target Obama opponents, or new insults of normal America.
That use of “Air Force One” for a photo op and barring anyone from warning the public in New York and environs, tells us just how stupid this administration is. We can only wonder what other such examples are being kept concealed as Obama’s people tried to conceal this photo op insanity.
Their frenzied efforts to hide the deed show how they will act when engaging in questionable actions. That descriptions covers a multitude of potential evils.
Buddy
The day’s top blogs – after an oversight of the articles chosen:
1.
Continuation of fiscal irresponsibility
Cong. Spencer Bachus -- Ranking Member, Financial Services Committee
Summation of the current Congressional approach to our fiscal crisis by the top Republican on the Financial Services Committee.
“The First Hundred Days” has become a convenient standard for measuring the “achievements” of a new president or Congress. But there is a danger when the government acts too quickly and overreaches.
2.
http://townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2009/04/28/survival_optional
Survival Optional
Thomas Sowell
It used to be said that self-preservation is the first law of nature. But much of what has been happening in recent times in the United States, and in Western civilization in general, suggests that survival is taking a back seat to the shibboleths of political correctness.
We have already turned loose dozens of captured terrorists, who have resumed their terrorism. Why? Because they have been given "rights" that exist neither in our laws nor under international law.
These are not criminals in our society, entitled to the protection of the Constitution of the United States. They are not prisoners of war entitled to the protection of the Geneva Convention.
3.
The American Spectator : AmSpecBlog : An Evil and Un-American Proposal
An Evil and Un-American Proposal
Matthew Vadum
Now, after President Obama has shown a willingness to pursue vindictive probes of Bush administration officials for the use of enhanced interrogation techniques, the preeminent funder of America's left, George Soros, is calling for the establishment of a kind of star chamber to help the left pay back the previous administration for launching the War on Terror.
According to a report from Byron York of the Washington Examiner, Soros has joined with MoveOn, which he funds generously, to urge the creation of "a commission of inquiry to examine and report publicly on America's use of torture in the period since September 11, 2001."
Soros's proposal was included in an email sent out by his Open Society Institute. The email refers the reader to the "Commission on Accountability," whose website makes the incredible claim that "[t]he report issued by the commission will strengthen U.S. national security and help to re-establish America's standing in the world."
4.
Penn State's Anti-Veteran Bias
Mark Hyman
Move over Janet Napolitano. Your Department of Homeland Security is not the only public institution that claims military veterans pose a threat to public safety.
Napolitano has been under fire from veterans groups and others for a DHS document warning counterterrorism and law enforcement authorities of an alleged threat to the U.S. posed by "domestic rightwing terrorists." Included in the group of potential rightwing terrorists are individuals who are pro-life, support the Second Amendment and oppose the flood of illegal aliens.
The DHS pamphlet ("Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment") also singled out veterans who "were disgruntled, disillusioned, or suffering from the psychological effects of war" for possible recruitment into domestic terrorist cells.
Pennsylvania State University has joined the Napolitano school of thought in warning against the dangers presented by military veterans..
No, it won't.
Now the complete articles:
1.
The following column was printed in The Hill today as part of its first 100 Days of Obama special section:
Continuation of fiscal irresponsibility
Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.)
“The First Hundred Days” has become a convenient standard for measuring the “achievements” of a new president or Congress. But there is a danger when the government acts too quickly and overreaches.
During President Obama’s inauguration, I expressed hope that we would learn lessons from our rushed response to the financial crisis. Decisions made in a stress-filled environment under the pressure of short-term crises consistently resulted in flawed policy. Poorly vetted decisions can have enormous and unprecedented consequences.
The American people want the president and members of both parties in Congress to work in a thoughtful, comprehensive and deliberate way to solve our economic challenges. I’ve been to the White House to discuss financial markets reform and with my colleagues stand prepared to engage in dialogue with the president on a range of issues. My guiding principle is that we must take into account long-term implications as well as short-term benefits.
Unfortunately, we’ve seen too many of the same mistakes repeated over these first weeks. Every day has seemingly brought news of another large government program, intervention, mandate or tax passed in great haste.
Borrowing and spending got us into this mess and more borrowing and spending will not get us out of it. Nevertheless, a so-called stimulus bill was rushed to a vote with little examination or consideration of options. Reports are now revealing the massive amount of wasteful spending in the bill.
Barely pausing, the House then passed a bloated $3.6 trillion budget that calls for huge amounts of spending, taxing and borrowing that will place a heavy debt burden on our children and grandchildren for the rest of their lives.
The job-killing “cap and tax” proposal will raise energy prices at a time when working families and small businesses are struggling to make ends meet. My constituents in Alabama have told me they can’t afford to pay more for gasoline and coal-powered electricity, but that’s what this regressive national energy tax will do.
As the top Financial Services Committee Republican, my hope for the first 100 days was to see the administration work to formulate and execute an exit strategy from the financial bailouts that ensures taxpayers are paid in full. Unfortunately, what we have seen is a continuation of shortsighted, ad hoc decisions that have resulted in more market uncertainty and taxpayer exposure.
There has been a failure to impose strict accountability and transparency on the use of TARP funds. With potential taxpayer exposure in the trillions of dollars, it’s long past time for complete disclosure. The TARP’s independent inspector general’s recent report confirms this. But the glaring lack of adequate oversight did not stop the president from opening the door to another $750 billion in bailout money.
The toxic assets plan proposed by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner would put taxpayers on the hook for trillions of dollars of bad loans and, as I warned, can be gamed by scheming banks.
We have seen the administration use activist authority to mandate a management change at private corporations. With substantial government stakes in other private companies, many rightly question where this dramatic expansion of control will lead. The problem with government getting involved in the management of business is that decisions will be based on the government’s political agenda, not sound economics. The answer is to end the practice of the government picking winners and losers through taxpayer bailouts. This will protect taxpayers and help bring stability to our markets, which is critical to our long-term economic viability.
It is essential to remember that our free-enterprise system has created unparalleled opportunity and prosperity for generations of Americans. We have always succeeded by putting our faith not in government, but in the people. That is why our country has always solved its problems and emerged stronger after every test.
The American people expect us to work together to create jobs, keep taxes low, make energy more affordable, and tighten the budget just like families have been forced to do. That, I hope, will be the focus for President Obama and Congress as we continue to debate and work to make America a stronger and more prosperous nation.
Bachus is the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee.
2.
http://townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2009/04/28/survival_optional
Survival Optional
Thomas Sowell
It used to be said that self-preservation is the first law of nature. But much of what has been happening in recent times in the United States, and in Western civilization in general, suggests that survival is taking a back seat to the shibboleths of political correctness.
We have already turned loose dozens of captured terrorists, who have resumed their terrorism. Why? Because they have been given "rights" that exist neither in our laws nor under international law.
These are not criminals in our society, entitled to the protection of the Constitution of the United States. They are not prisoners of war entitled to the protection of the Geneva Convention.
There was a time when people who violated the rules of war were not entitled to turn around and claim the protection of those rules. German soldiers who put on U.S. military uniforms, in order to infiltrate American lines during the Battle of the Bulge, were simply lined up against a wall and shot.
(NOTE: Bravo. Terrorists deserve the same fate and reflect the same dynamics as those Nazi soldiers. Terrorists follow no rules at all – they are driven by radical versions of religion that lead them to proclaim they will slaughter all those who don’t embrace their version of religion.
Some liberals present an idiotic argument suggesting our handling those captured in war with kid gloves and with the restrictions of Geneva – will be reflected in the handling enemies use with our POWs they capture. Huh? Have such liberals forgotten Vietnam? The US treated Communist captives by Geneva rules – the Communists inflicted brutal, savage, and uncivilized mistreatment on Americans they held captive. Communists – as with the Japanese of WWII – ignore Geneva. Certainly they are not signatories.
Explain away radical Islam’s practice of beheading those they hold captive. Such treatment is not rare and the plush treatments at Gitmo wont have the slightest impact.
This is war. Liberals have never been able to intellectually grasp that reality – its why they should have no voice in running the war – that includes molly coddling of terrorists in our hands.)
Nobody even thought that this was a violation of the Geneva Convention. American authorities filmed the mass executions. Nobody dreamed up fictitious "rights" for these enemy combatants who had violated the rules of war. Nobody thought we had to prove that we were nicer than the Nazis by bending over backward.
Bending over backward is a very bad position from which to try to defend yourself. Nobody in those days confused bending over backward with "the rule of law," as Barack Obama did recently. Bending over backward is the antithesis of the rule of law. It is depriving the people of the protection of their laws, in order to pander to mushy notions among the elite.
Even under the Geneva Convention, enemy soldiers have no right to be turned loose before the war is over. Terrorists-- "militants" or "insurgents" for those of you who are squeamish-- have declared open-ended war against America.
It is open-ended in time and open-ended in methods, including beheadings of innocent civilians.
President Obama can ban the phrase "war on terror" but he cannot ban the terrorists' war on us. That war continues, so there is no reason to turn terrorists loose before it ends. They chose to make it that kind of war. We don't need to risk American lives to prove that we are nicer than they are.
The great Supreme Court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes said that law is not some "brooding omnipresence in the sky." It is a set of explicit rules by which human beings structure their lives and their relationships with one another.
Those who choose to live outside those laws, whether terrorists or pirates, can be-- and have been-- shot on sight. Squeamishness is neither law nor morality. And moral exhibitionism is beneath contempt, when it sacrifices the safety of those who live within the law for the sake of self-satisfied preening, whether in editorial offices or in the White House.
As if it is not enough to turn cutthroats loose to cut throats again, we are now contemplating legal action against Americans who wrung information about international terrorist operations out of captured terrorists.
Does nobody think ahead to what this will mean-- for many years to come-- if people trying protect this country from terrorists have to worry about being put behind bars themselves? Do we need to have American intelligence agencies tip-toeing through the tulips when they deal with terrorists?
In his visit to CIA headquarters, President Obama pledged his support to the people working there and said that there would be no prosecutions of CIA agents for prior actions. Then he welshed on that in a matter of hours by leaving the door open for such prosecutions, which the left has been clamoring for, both inside and outside of Congress.
Repercussions extend far beyond issues of the day. It is bad enough that we have a glib and sophomoric narcissist in the White House. What is worse is that whole nations that rely on the United States for their security see how easily our president welshes on his commitments.
So do other nations, including those with murderous intentions toward us, our children and grandchildren.
Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institute and author of Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy.
3.
The American Spectator : AmSpecBlog : An Evil and Un-American Proposal
An Evil and Un-American Proposal
Matthew Vadum
Now, after President Obama has shown a willingness to pursue vindictive probes of Bush administration officials for the use of enhanced interrogation techniques, the preeminent funder of America's left, George Soros, is calling for the establishment of a kind of star chamber to help the left pay back the previous administration for launching the War on Terror.
According to a report from Byron York of the Washington Examiner, Soros has joined with MoveOn, which he funds generously, to urge the creation of "a commission of inquiry to examine and report publicly on America's use of torture in the period since September 11, 2001."
Soros's proposal was included in an email sent out by his Open Society Institute. The email refers the reader to the "Commission on Accountability," whose website makes the incredible claim that "[t]he report issued by the commission will strengthen U.S. national security and help to re-establish America's standing in the world."
(NOTE: we all must concentrate on alerting – and appropriately alarming – Americans about George Soros. He conspires against America and uses billions with which he underwrites assaults on democracy and freedom. Moveon.org is a prime example of the Soros effort.
Soros may have met all the technical requirements for citizenship, but he is far from being a real American – he more closely reflects the thinking and principles of his Communist East European roots. If Soros’ name and fingerprints are on a project of movement – its not likely to be one working in the best interests of this country and its people.)
No, it won't. It will poison America's politics for decades to come, as former Solicitor General Ted Olson told York. It is the kind of thing a Third World banana republic does.
After being disappointed time and time again by the pseudo-conservative Bush administration, which among other things, started the country down the road to Mussolini-style corporatism, I have no affection for the ancien regime, but in America we resolve policy differences through elections. We don't use the legal system after officials have left office to turn their lives upside down in pursuit of a nakedly partisan political agenda.
Launching an American Inquisition is pure madness. It's a slow kind of national suicide by investigation and litigation.
4.
Penn State's Anti-Veteran Bias
Mark Hyman
Move over Janet Napolitano. Your Department of Homeland Security is not the only public institution that claims military veterans pose a threat to public safety.
Napolitano has been under fire from veterans groups and others for a DHS document warning counterterrorism and law enforcement authorities of an alleged threat to the U.S. posed by "domestic rightwing terrorists." Included in the group of potential rightwing terrorists are individuals who are pro-life, support the Second Amendment and oppose the flood of illegal aliens.
The DHS pamphlet ("Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment") also singled out veterans who "were disgruntled, disillusioned, or suffering from the psychological effects of war" for possible recruitment into domestic terrorist cells.
Pennsylvania State University has joined the Napolitano school of thought in warning against the dangers presented by military veterans. The university's Division of Student Affairs produced a series of vignettes under the category of "Worrisome Student Behavior." According to the Penn State website, the "vignettes demonstrate common situations where faculty or staff are attempting to help students."
(NOTE: the degree of left wing corruption of academia is clear, obvious, and a blight on education for several decades. We may be seeing such left wing bigotry more evident today – after all, the radical extremists who openly declared their hatred of America are today’s academia.
Even such anti American scum as Angela Davis, and William Ayers, are being offered by colleges and universities as fountains of knowledge.
No wonder we are in the mess we are in.
I am compelled to note a counter argument – my college-aged son refuted my outrage by noting accurately that despite decades of education being corrupted by left wing loons and bigots – the leftist arguments are not taking with the brighter graduates. He cited himself and others – members of a reassuring number of recent collegians - who profess patriotic, honest, intelligent beliefs in our country and its heritage.
Don’t you just hate it when your son is more accurate than you on a family debate?
Aren’t you greatly relieved he is correct on this current issue?)
One of the vignettes (offered by Penn State) featured an Iraq war veteran who displayed aggressive behavior toward his instructor. In an office meeting with her department chair, the instructor characterized the veteran as dimwitted, poorly-educated, inattentive to instruction, argumentative and threatening.
Instructor: I'm still having problems with that student I mentioned.
Department Chair: The veteran?
Instructor: Yeah. He's having problems with his papers still. His grammar is really poor and he veers off-subject and he's just not really seeming to understand the assignments.…I just feel kind of nervous talking to him. He's very, his tone is very confrontational and I feel like he's always on the verge of losing his temper."
In the video, the veteran threatens the instructor after receiving a C+ on his assignment.
Veteran: I just want the grade I deserve. You know what? You'll see. You'll be sorry. I'm going to get you fired.
The university removed the video from the Student Affairs website after receiving student criticism.
What is truly worrisome is how Penn State's Division of Student Affairs, presumably the office that advocates on behalf of students, portrays military veterans as academically-challenged, belligerent and potentially violent. This is an incredibly ignorant tone emanating from academia considering it was the tremendous influx of World War II veterans who helped fuel the enrollment and growth of hundreds of colleges and universities immediately following the war.
Even Penn State has benefited handsomely from veterans-turned-students. The school has been closely associated with military training since passage of the Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862. Present-day on-campus military training programs include Army, Navy and Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps programs. The university credits veterans with contributing to the expansion of its 19 extension campuses around the state.
In 2001, Penn State President Graham Spanier announced the school's 5-year, $453 million contract with the Department of the Army to provide distance learning to an estimated 15,000 soldiers worldwide. The school's "World Campus" program continues today.
The school's anti-veteran bias appears to violate the university's own personnel policies. Policy AD29 State of Intolerance prohibits "discriminatory bias against or hatred toward other individuals or groups based on characteristics such as…veteran status."
Imagine the public outcry if PSU had instead identified the student exhibiting "worrisome behavior" as black, Hispanic, a homosexual or a Jew? Race, religion, ethnicity and employment history are immaterial if an individual behaves inappropriately. Bad behavior is bad behavior. Yet, Penn State authorities felt compelled to identify the aggressive student portrayed in the video titled "I Deserve A Better Grade…Or Else" as an Iraq war veteran.
A representative in the office of President Spanier referred all inquiries to a university public affairs official. A phone call to that individual requesting comment was not returned.
I'll bet anyone wishing to accept -- that "Joe Pa", Penn State's best known faculty member, resents the schools inanity on this issue as much as I.
Buddy
