Let me see here: The federal government is going to 'loan' tens of billions of dollars to the automobile companies. Chris Dodd and others have said that in return, the Congress intends to direct mergers, dictate what types of cars the Big 3 will build, what sorts of technology they will develop, what salaries they may pay to executives and even who may be employed as a senior manager.
http://www.clipsandcomment.com/2008/12/07/video-face-the-nation-senators-chris-dodd-jeff-sessions-will-auto-bailout-work-december-7/
So, when did we become a Socialist state?
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Congratulations to the people of Louisiana
Louisiana Voters Oust Rep. William Jefferson
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122862378544585747.html
"In the 2nd Congressional District, which includes most of New Orleans, Republican attorney Anh "Joseph" Cao won 50% of the vote to Rep. Jefferson's 47% and will become the first Vietnamese-American in Congress."
Ah, that would be those white racist Republicans, except the district is "predominantly black and heavily Democratic." And that is a group that has a lot of patience for people like Mr. Jefferson: "New Orleans voters had long been loyal to Mr. Jefferson, re-electing him in 2006 even after news of the bribery scandal broke. Late-night TV comics made him the butt of jokes after federal agents said they found $90,000 in alleged bribe money hidden in his freezer." 'He may be a crook, but he's our crook,' I suppose... And now, the state of Bobby Jindal, the first Indian-American governor, will send to Congress its first Vietnamese Congressman, and an eminently qualified representative he will be: "Mr. Cao came to the U.S. as a child after the fall of Saigon in 1975 and went on to earn degrees in philosophy, physics and law." I remain perplexed on how the Left is able to maintain the falsehood that the Republican Party is hostile to minorities.
A vaguely related thought: The so-called 'religious right' has so far been identified with Evangelicals: Jim Dobbins, Jerry Falwell, etc. This cycle, the Left managed to co-opt the term and convince some people that it's OK to call yourself Evangelical and to vote for a post-Christian, post-Modernist, radically pro-abortion candidate as long as you feel concerned for the underprivileged and are willing to support higher taxes for other people so the gov't can take care of them. But I detect a creeping infiltration of orthodox serious Catholics into the upper reaches of government. Jindal converted to Catholicism in high school. Roberts, Scalia, Alito, and Thomas are all real Catholics. Jeb Bush is Catholic. Tony Blair converted (although he appears to be a bit soft on moral theology in favor of an excess of 'peace and justice'. I love the principled stand taken by many of the bishops, particularly Archbishop Chaput on Abortion and in publicly clarifying the clumsy attempts at obfuscation by Biden and Pelosi on Abortion. While people continue to peel themselves off from the Church and Her authentic teaching, She is militantly defending the Truth. That is Her mission. It is the path of greatest resistance but also the path to continued vibrancy. God bless our Catholic leaders, both religious and political.Obama to Name Shinseki Secretary of Veterans Affairs
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122860348367585539.html?mod=rss_Politics_And_Policy
First thought on this announcement was that it was a continuation of Obama's exquisite PR campaign. He has studiously avoided making policy statements until the most popular answer is obvious. But he has managed to roll out his cabinet in a carefully calibrated manner designed to keep him in the news daily with 'good news' stories. This one is a great example. Japanese American Shinseki's announcement comes on Pearl Harbor Day. Coincidence? If you think so, I have some prime land in South Central Florida waiting for you. Shinseki, we are told, bravely stood up to Rumsfeld on the size of the Iraq liberation force. We are to believe that he was right and was fired for it. But it appears he served a full 4 year term, like his predecessors and successors (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_of_Staff_of_the_United_States_Army). We aren't told that he also stood up to Rumsfeld on the Crusader artillery system - a "Cold War" weapons system. He was wrong. He was right about the Stryker. But he was wrong that it could replace heavy armored vehicles. He was way way way way way wrong on the black beret.
In any case. Good for him. Sec of Vet Affairs isn't exactly the big leagues, but it is an important job and I wish him great success - being a vetran, I have a personal interest in his success...Mencken's theory proved!
No one in this world has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.
H. L. Mencken
H. L. Mencken
- Observation: "In 1993, a Department of Education survey found that among college graduates 50 percent of whites and more than 80 percent of blacks couldn't state in writing the argument made in a newspaper column; 56 percent could not calculate the right tip; 57 percent could not figure out how much change they should get back after putting down $3.00 to pay for a 60-cent bowl of soup and a $1.95 sandwich, and over 90 percent could not use a calculator to find the cost of carpeting a room. But not to worry. A 1999 survey taken by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni of seniors at the nation's top 55 liberal-arts colleges and universities found that 98 percent could identify rap artist Snoop Dogg and Beavis and Butt-Head, but only 34 percent knew George Washington was the general at the battle of Yorktown."
- Theory: "With limited thinking abilities and knowledge of our heritage, we Americans set ourselves up as easy prey for charlatans, hustlers and quacks." --George Mason University economics professor Walter E. Williams
- Experiment: 2008 Presidential Election
- Results: http://change.gov/
- Conclusion: Theory confirmed. Call it Williams Law of Electoral Ignorance
Military Commissions...
Not that it matters much now, but I came across this bit of WWII history. I can only assume these precedents are valid and were considered in the recent Military Commissions. I don't think US or international law had materially changed in the intervening years. But the influence of the vocal Left in this country has certainly increased. Thus, we find that was once perfectly within the bounds of the Constitution, the Geneva Convention and the Laws of War is suddenly, by judicial fiat, no longer so. And Mr. Obama will have to find his way out of the corner his compatriots on the Left painted President Bush. Will they give him a pass they refused to give Mr. Bush? Will he fold like a cheap card table and release the criminals in Guantanamo back to their "units" in Afghanistan and Pakistan? The world - and the Soldiers fighting in Afghanistan - await the outcome.
http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/wcc/dostler.htm
Anton Dostler was accused of having ordered the shooting of fifteen American prisoners of war in violation of the Regulations attached to the Hague Convention Number IV of 1907, and of long-established laws and customs of war. A plea was made to the jurisdiction of the Commission by his Counsel, on the grounds, first, that the accused was entitled to the benefits of the Geneva Prisoners of War Convention of 1929 in the conduct of his trial, and, secondly, that the Commission had not been legally established. These arguments, and the plea of superior orders later put forward on Dostler’s behalf, were rejected, and he was condemned to death.
"German Gen. Anton Dostler is tied to a stake before his execution by a firing squad in the Aversa stockade. The General was convicted and sentenced to death by an American military tribunal. Aversa, Italy." Blomgren, December 1, 1945. 111-SC-225295. (ww2_171.jpg)
http://archives.gov/research/arc/topics/genealogy/
On War
"Pvt. Paul Oglesby, 30th Infantry, standing in reverence before an altar in a damaged Catholic Church. Note: pews at left appear undamaged, while bomb-shattered roof is strewn about the sanctuary. Acerno, Italy." Benson, September 23, 1943. 111-SC-188691.
http://archives.gov/research/ww2/photos/images/ww2-96.jpg
War destroys the sacred and the mundane.But war cannot destroy Faith.
Faith cannot be taken
Or destroyed;
Only abandoned.
"The USS ARIZONA burning after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor." December 7, 1941. 80-G-32420.
The WWII collection on line at the National Archives is awesome.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
A Day that will Live in Infamy
Pearl Harbor Raid, 7 December 1941
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/wwii-pac/pearlhbr/pearlhbr.htm"A Day that will Live in Infamy"
The USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor is "ground zero" where World War II began for the United States. The event where Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto stated: "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant..."
The USS Arizona serves as the final resting place for many of the battleship's 1,177 crew members who lost their lives on December 7, 1941.
"It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived."
- General George S. Patton, Jr
Thomas Jefferson: “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”
Pray today for our honored dead who gave their most precious possessions, their lives, for our country and our freedom. And pray even more fervently for those men and women who are risking their lives for us today.
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