The Anchoress
Actually, the Linkfest will be coming up, but I had to share Chris Muir’s great cartoon, (H/T Amused Cynic):
Oh, come on, laugh! If you’re not allowed to laugh at your president, then you’re already not free!
Check back for lots of links! Today will be a “day of continual linking” with constant updates, so keep coming back! One quick thought: If any congressional critter needs an excuse to suddenly “switch my vote in order to take a serious look at this provision, they’ve got it. And they’d end up being public heroes. CONTINUOUS LINKS BEGIN BELOW – I’ll post them as I read them! Sorry for delays – lots of traffic today (Welcome Ldot and Insty readers!):
The “Serious Threat” of free speech and of holding one’s own public opinions in Britain How quickly England has tumbled. Tumbling happens overnight. 11:34 PM
John Kerry on why Tax Cuts aer bad: “[Americans are] free to invest their money anywhere they want, if they choose to invest!” Oh, heavens! Freedom! Liberty! We’re not to be trusted with it! Or our own money! Go watch at the link. 11:16 PM
Ending Welfare Reform as We Know It: Mickey Kaus thought the Democrats would wait longer than two weeks to begin dismantling what many of us call Bill Clinton’s Best Legacy. Ouch. That has to hurt. 10:45 PM
Financial Times: not loving the Obama Stimulus. That can’t make the Democrats happy. Why shouldn’t we all be miserable? 10:40 PM
Widespread Abuse in Chicago Public Schools: Very disturbing reports which are receiving minimal attention – perhaps because Arne Duncan, who ran the schools, is Obama’s new Secretary of Education?
Of the 568 verified cases [of abuse], only 24 led to termination. Records show one teacher who quote “battered students for several years” was simply given a “warning” by the Board of Education.
And another student was given “100 licks with a belt.” The abuse was substantiated, but the records show the teacher was not terminated.
These abuses were reported in October, too. Again, minimally. Can you imagine the outcry if this was anyone else’s SecEd? I mean anyone’s. The coverage would be wall-to-wall. 10:19 PM
Forget about Energy Independence: They never meant it and don’t want it. We’re to be hostages to foreign oil and Al Gore for the foreseeable future. Little Miss Attila recommends activism. 10:00 PM
The Day the Economy Almost Died: This is the thing Rush Limbaugh was playing today, (noted at 12: 50 PM) which could not have made some people very happy:
Sweetness and Light has more and more on all that. See also the strategy of Orchestrated Crisis.
And interestingly, some Dems were saying back in May 2008 – when the market was over 12,000 that they’d be dusting off the “New Deal” no matter what. (H/T) Show of hands, please, how many of us thought the whole damn thing was always a huge manipulation? I am sad to think Bush got played. But then again, he got played with the WMD intel, too. Bush trusted too much, perhaps. Kanjorskiy, btw, voted against the stimulus bill. 5:56 PM
American Compassion: I know that we have historically tried to help in situations such as these, if possible. But would our new Nationalized Health Care have room for compassion? – 5:37 PM
“The time for talk is over!”: That’s another way of saying ‘I’m done pretending to listen to anyone who disagrees; you just shut up now, and let me do what I want. I won.’. Kind of breathtaking to hear an American president say it, no matter which way. This is still America, isn’t it? There is no such thing as no more talk. Sorry, I’m not gonna jawohl on that. 5:24 PM
Breaking Poll: 75% against Nationalization of banks. I’m guessing the Democrats and President Obama, who do not actually need a single Republican to move whatever legislation they want, will respond thusly: “Polls? We don’t need no stinking polls! We Won!” Because they loved it so much when they perceived Bush to be governing that way. This whole through-a-glass -darkly -backwards mirror thing is dizzying. Everything that was “bad” before is now “good.” I can’t keep up. 5:15 PM
The 20 Most Influential people in Obama’s White House and the list of lobbyists.
Walter Williams: writes there is wisdom in doing nothing to the economy. He points to this piece in the Christian Science Monitor and expounds. Read it all. Read the stuff I linked to at 2:55 PM.
Then ask yourself: Are there any folks in Congress with the courage to do nothing? Or are their any members of congress at least scared enough – after seeing the market respond to Geithner’s incoherent, deer-in-headlights conference to stop this Titanic bill from being launched off of Obama’s desk and steering us toward the iceberg, straight ahead? Melt the phones, folks. 5:02 PM
Take a break: Don’t despair. But take a breather. John Nolte has 5 great “conservative” moments in film. Some of them I’d never seen. This one is particularly poignant:
3. “This reading will not stop.” A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945):
There are a few interesting things in this clip. The obvious one being that such a simple truth about the greatness of America would never make it into a studio film today. And if it did there would be so many asterisks about Indians, global warming and trans fat, you’d think MSNBC wrote it.
The grandmother as the wise one is interesting, as well. Today, she’d be presented as senile, horny or both. The only people Big Hollywood allows to be The Teller of Deep Truths anymore are either lunatics or the homeless.
The second part of the speech is as important as the first. For the film, the grandmother is setting up the central theme, but she’s also reminding all of us that in America success and compassion are not mutually exclusive.
That’s a good point, about success and compassion. I wish I’d written more about the compassionate side of America here4:00 PM
Blacklisting Iranian Kurds: To Please Iran? Okay, it’s Newsmax, and I usually don’t link to them, but this is interesting, particularly when Michael Totten wrote a while back that Iraqi Kurds, who live on the border of Iran, wish they and all Kurds could become “America’s 51st State”. Just something to read and ponder, that’s all. We shouldn’t forget these things. 3:51 PM
Found an earmark, found an earmark, found an eaaaaarmark last night…or, today, rather. Yeah, there’s more than just one. 3:43 PM
From Hope to Doomsday: In just three little weeks, it’s all a catastrophe, and even though the Democrats voted for or oversaw everything that is wrong with the country, and controlled both houses for the last two years, it’s all Bush’s fault, too. That just sounds too neat, doesn’t it? Nothing is that simple. 3:39 PM.
Ann Althouse: Citing is citing Chuck Schumer for Contempt, and with good reason. Tom’s annoyed enough by it to print all of Schumer’s office numbers so that he may learn how people feel when they are treated with contempt by the people who are supposed to be SERVING us. Malkin has more. Meanwhile, – they’re laughing? They think this is incompetence is funny?3:25 PM
Leaving economies alone: Sounds promising but remains untried. Sometimes doing nothing is doing something. 2:55 PM
Saul Alinsky’s Brightest Pupil: In an email, someone scolded me not to associate Obama with Lenin, as I did at 11:49 AM. This person wrote:
Just stick to the basics: he is ignorant, dangerously so…No need, indeed counterproductive, to drag Lenin out of his mausoleum; and no need to give him more credit than he deserves for actually knowing history.
I disagree. President Obama is clearly very bright and not at all ignorant. I suspect he is Saul Alinsky’s brightest pupil, which is why he is president, today and not Hillary Clinton, another bright Alinsky disciple who rather wore out her welcome and no longer seemed fresh.
But no matter, Clinton at State, now, and coincidentally, Barbara Boxer, who is very ‘useful,’ has apparently told people in private that one of Hillary’s early, pet schemes (and one Obama seems to support as they’re quite a tag-team) – the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is now on the State Department’s front burner – a treaty Boxer said will be ratified in “about two years.” This Is World Net Daily, so, take it with a grain of salt. File it away, somewhere, in your memory. Something to look forward to. 2:48 PM
In case you’re wondering: Yes, I have had the toffee being advertised in my right-hand sidebar – from The Toffeehouse – and it is frankly incredible, dangerous, delectable stuff. Yes, you will love it. And yes, the monk coffee is the best I’ve ever tasted. Yes, I’m totally serious. 2:45 PM
Jack Cafferty: Helping Obama throw The Pelosi under the bus 2:35 PM
This being a war president stuff is tough!: Gitmo detainees were not Miranda-ized. Hmmm, yes, creates difficulty, doesn’t it? Stupid Bush should have made sure every terrorist caught by our military was read his or her miranda rights, even though they ummm…were arrested by the military in war zones. Stupid Bush did not do that because…well, they were arrested by the military in war zones, and because doing so would have created a presumption of rights and liberties to which non-citizens or non “persons of the United States” were actually entitled. To Mirandize them would have blurred the distinction between civilian and military actions, and it would have sent a lot of confusing and possibly dangerous messages to an enemy that is not looking for land, money or acquisition but mere dominance and oh yeah, our deaths.
Since President Obama seems determined to prosecute these people though our civilian courts and – presumably – to house them in our jails, this Miranda problem…yes…it’s a difficulty:
The administration is also reviewing whether the controversial military commission system instituted by President George W. Bush should be retained in some form for detainees who cannot be tried because of Miranda or other legal hurdles.
“The executive order purposely did not eliminate or do away with military commissions, and that is because there is an understanding that option needs to remain open to see what the review turns up,” the senior Obama administration official said. “Some revised type of military commission might possibly be necessary, but that is very much an open question.”
Under the Bush administration’s wartime approach, prisoners were captured and interrogated for intelligence purposes, then held as a preventive measure. No Obama official has suggested that prisoners should have been read their rights on a battlefield. But once the decision was made to put them on trial, the legal picture changed. Some legal experts said they should have been re-interviewed and warned that their statements would be used against them.
Others said that for many, the history of their captivity makes trial in civilian court improbable. “If you want to prosecute them, I have to think Miranda would apply. Miranda always applies in criminal prosecution,” said a former Bush administration official, who spoke about pending cases on condition of anonymity. “Miranda hasn’t applied to most things that happened in war before because there is no prosecution involved.”
Yes, yes, difficult. Suddenly all the “stupid Bush” policies look like the complex issues they really were. Oh, sorry, was that schadenfreude? I can assure you, I don’t find any of this fun. 2:00 PM
Arlen Spector: I hate to be rude, but let’s suggest that perhaps he is very confused and needs to retire. He may need help with that. 1:48PM
Counting all the Straw Men: Obama makes President Clinton look like George Washington, who could never tell a lie. What happened to 2008 Campaign Obama? 1:35 PM
Why controlling the census matters: John Fund explains it in full. So, yes, Obama always wanted to control the census. Can you imagine the screaming if that Nazi Bush had tried it? But President Bush sort of you know…loved America just the way she was, rules, Constitution, and all. I know, I know. That’s not what they told us. It’s not what they’re telling us now! I understand: President Obama loves America even more than Bush did, which is why he’s going to change everything and control as much of it as he can from the Oval Office. And you’d better agree, or you’re unpatriotic. Despite the narrative, if you search you’ll find that Bush never really called anyone unpatriotic. Obama and his bots however, started calling “treason” (and Obama himself began to narrowly define patriotism) what, just a week into experiencing some mild dissent?
And of course, dissent is no longer the highest form of patriotism. What will the combination of Obama having the Census and ACORN getting mega funding do to our future elections? It’s a question worth asking. I’m getting mad. And lunch. And some really outstanding Mystic Monk Coffee while I can still afford the luxury of a great cup of coffee instead of some ersatz swill. 1:03 PM
Stocks Tumbling: As the Senate passes a bill to end America as we know it. Well, Michelle Obama did say her husband would “never let us go back to the way we were.” Is anyone surprised – by any of this? James Pethokokous writes: Geithner goes from Indispensable to Indecipherable, Unfortunately, it’s not a joke. 12:55 PM
Rush Limbaugh: I missed the beginning, so I didn’t catch the source, but he was playing tapes of someone talking about an “electronic run on the banks” in September/October that was probably the source for the information take to Bush with the advice, “something drastic must be done or the whole world’s economy will tumble.” I didn’t hear it all – it sounded hot – but Limbaugh wonders if Mr. Soros, who has a history of playing with economies, was involved.
I’ve never forgotten this little-seen article from January, 2008 which talks about his involvement in “destroying” Bush’s last year, and which I linked to here. It’s interesting, anyway. Thanks to Pianogirl for the link! 12:50 PM
No Wonder Obama is campaigning for this stinker of a stimulus: A new Zobgy poll says 90% of Republicans and 60% of Independents dislike the bill. I think a responsible Senate should look at this, but they won’t. 12:36 PM
Ed Morrissey: Obama outright lied last night – at least twice – and showed a tenuous grasp of history. I disagree with Ed about the history part. Obama understands history very well. He understands that if you lie about history enough, then the lie becomes the “truth” as far as the populace is concerned. Just like when Obama spoke to al-Arabiya TV and completely mischaracterized the “last 20-30 years” history between the Arab nations in the Middle East and the US. “A lie told often enough becomes the truth” who said that first? Oh, right… it was first said by Lenin! See Ed? Obama knows history! And too many of us have forgotten.11:49 AM
A BLUE DOG DEMOCRAT: Comes up with a better stimulus priced at only 170 Billion!. Hey, can we look into alternatives before we saddle the nation with the Socialist Wet Dream that is the Obama/Pelosi/Reid Omnibus Earmark Debacle? Are we allowed to slow down, here? To collect our breath and take a closer look at this boonswaggle? No? The President insists we must “rush it through”? We’ve gotta finish this thing today? Boy, that makes me so not trust him. Read more about this alternative stimulus idea!
Walt Minnick, a freshman Democrat from Idaho, is pushing a better idea: The Strategic Targeted American Recovery and Transition Act (START)… His START plan is a $170 billion “bare bones” pure stimulus approach that would put $100 billion immediately into the pockets of low- and middle-income Americans, then use the other $70 billion for basic infrastructure projects that create jobs. START requires that all funds not spent by 2010 be returned to the Treasury. START also stops stimulus spending when the nation’s Gross Domestic Product increases in two of three previous quarters, and all START payments are required to be posted on a public website.
President Obama should LOVE this! He said he was going to “strip things that are excessive” – I heard him at the inaugural! And he said transparency! I heard him, he said it over and over again! Transparency! Were they “just words”? Call your representative and your senator and ask them to take a look! 11:38 AM
Obama’s “inherited trillion dollar deficit”: Didn’t President Bush make a point of working WITH Obama on that first 700 Billion dollar “bailout”? Takes some chutzpah to work with a man on a project and then blame him for what you agreed on. 11:30 AM
This story did not get enough attention: It was, in fact, a very big black eye for the President and his Administration, who looked more than a little inept and rather duplicitous and disrespectful, too. “Saudi? Does Saudi sound okay to you?” 11:29 AM
So, Senator Leahy, who knows all about being truthful, wants to empanel a Truth-finding commission on President Bush. Good. Go ahead. I can’t wait. I doubt it will ever be more than showboating and window-dressing because the Democrats will never be able to look deeply into the Bush adminstration’s “many war crimes and lies” without finding themselves deeply enmeshed in the decisions, votes and ummm…”lies” they’re demanding to investigate. They’ll eventually draw a penny-ante “finding” which the press will much ballyhoo for a few weeks and then all quietly disappear. But hey, our enemies in Iran our friends we haven’t met yet in Iran are all for prosecuting Bush in order to end terrorism, which as we know, never, ever existed until Bush was in office.11:27 AM
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