Anti-Semitism and the American Liberal

On June 12, 2011 By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics5 Comments

Why do Liberals hate Israel? And why are the majority of American Jews Liberal?

This is a paradox that has perplexed Christian Conservative Americans, such as myself, for a long time. What is it about the existence of the state of israel that vexes the minds of Liberals and Progressives so?

David Mamet, a former Liberal turned Conservative author is in the process of publicizing his new book, The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture, which studies in depth the themes he announced in his 2008 op-ed for the Village Voice, “Why I Am No Longer a ‘Brain-Dead Liberal.’

Yesterday, June 11th, 2011, americanthinker.com’s Rick Richman posted an article, reviewing Mamet’s new book. In this article, the author touches upon the subject of Liberal Anti-Semitism:

In a chapter entitled “The Intelligent Person’s Guide to Socialism and Anti-Semitism,” he first argues that “social justice” is a sort of Sunday religion that does not carry over to the pressures of the workweek, and he illustrates his thought as follows:

One may bemoan the plight of the Palestinians, who have elected a government of terrorists and daily bomb their neighbor to the West, but we realize that any support past the sentimental is elective: we do not want to live there, nor to go there, and we blink at the knowledge that monies spent in their support may be diverted to the support of terror, and of organizations pledged not only to kill all the Jews, but to kill Americans and Westerners of all faiths.

Where does sympathy stop, and where may it not become sanctimony and hypocrisy?

And then he answers his own question with a mini-drama:

Our American plane has been forced to land at some foreign airport, by the outbreak of World War III. It will not be allowed to depart. Two planes are leaving the airport; we must choose which we want to board. One plane is flying to Israel and one to Syria, and we must choose.

That’s where the sympathy stops.

No one reading this book would get on the plane to Syria. Why? It is a despotism, opposed to the West, to women, to gays, to Jews, to free speech. … And yet one may gain status or a feeling of solidarity by embracing the “Arab cause.”

Mamet’s mini-drama works even if you believe Israel is not a “laudable precious democracy” but “guilty of all the horrors” alleged against it:

I assert that you would still fight with every force and argument at your command to get on the Israeli plane, you and every hard Leftist and every head-shaking misinformed One Worlder and anti-Semite up to and including Jimmy Carter and Noam Chomsky, would, if the issue were his life, suspend his most cherished convictions of Israeli perfidy, and plead for the protection of that state you would then not only acknowledge but assert to be your ally …

There is nothing any reader of this book would not say or do to get himself and his family on the Israeli plane.

Per the americanthinker.com article, one of Mamet’s own previous books: The Wicked Son: Anti-Semitism, Self-Hatred, and the Jews, which is basically an extended letter to his fellow Jews, has a Foreword to the book which ends with this striking paragraph:

To the Jews who, in the sixties, envied the Black Power Movement; who, in the nineties, envied the Palestinians; who weep at Exodus but jeer at the Israel Defense Forces; who nod when Tevye praises tradition but fidget through the seder; … whose favorite Jew is Anne Frank and whose second-favorite does not exist; who are humble in their desire to learn about Kwanzaa and proud of their ignorance of Tu Bi’Shvat; … who bow the head reverently at a baptism and have never attended a bris – to you, who find your religion and race repulsive, your ignorance of your history a satisfaction, here is a book from your brother.

Also, per the article, in his new book, The Secret Knowledge, Mamet asks the following pertinent and poignant question:

Why would any American Jew wish to become a “citizen of the world”? This fantasy is akin to one who believes in the benevolence of Nature. Anyone ever lost in the wild knows that Nature wants you dead. Enjoy the benefits of liberty and defend them as an American, rather than posing as a “citizen of the world.”

In an earlier article, posted on June 2, 2011, on americanthinker.com, Why Does the Left Hate Israel, Richard Baehr attempts to answer David Mamet’s question:

…I have been to several of the left wing Israel hate fests. They are scary. There is real passion in the air. There is something about Israel that gets the juices going. Anti—Semitism is a part of it. There are a lot of people who are envious of Jews, on the left as well as the right. Patrick Buchanan thinks Jews have hijacked the conservative movement. But on the left, particularly in the academy, and in journalism, I am certain there is professional envy of the many Jewish faces and what better way to get even, and get back for sometimes losing the competitive battle, than by picking on the Jewish state as a surrogate. Leftist Jews sometimes lead the assault against Israel in these venues, thereby giving the attacks, whatever their reason, greater moral authority. Few Jews will stand up for Israel in these environments, because of the great pressure on the left to conform to the group think in the institutions they control.

…The evidence I believe is clear today that Israel faces far greater threats from the left than the right. The left is reflexively anti—Israel and has established important beachheads in significant American institutions— academia, the media, and the old line Protestant ‘high’ churches, as well as in the very seats of government power in many Western European countries, and their intelligentsia. It is not surprising that Israel seems unable to get a fair shake from college professors, the BBC, Reuters, NPR, or liberal churches. Being anti—Israel has become part of their religion.

As a Christian American, I know who I support in the Middle Eastern Conflict: God’s Chosen People.

You see, I’ve read The Book. I know the ending. Hallelujah!

In the meantime, pajamasmedia.com’s Andrew Klaven presents the following solution to the problem of Israel, with tongue firmly planted in cheek.

As he himself says:

Now, why didn’t somebody think of this before?

Palin/Weiner: Of E-mails and Tweets

On June 11, 2011June 11, 2011 By kingsjesterIn Politics14 Comments

In my preparation for writing today’s blog, I read an article by The Washington Post, linked to on yahoo.com. In it, two Post writers (trying their best to be Woodward and Bernstein) were desperately looking for something, anything, among over 13,000 e-mails written to and from during by Sarah Palin during her time as Alaska Governor, that they could denigrate and humiliate her with.

These so-called reporters for the Washington Post, and all the other Liberal Democrat Party shills in the sycophantic Main Stream Media, haven’t found a blessed thing.

So, they’re trying to make something out of nothing.

For instance, in a didactic tone, they relayed the contents of one of the e-mails, in the following manner:

Other e-mails make clear that Palin relied on her husband, Todd Palin, for advice on policy issues. In a March 2008 e-mail, for instance, the governor makes clear that he also weighed in on how to deal with Alaska’s burgeoning wolf population, a topic of debate at the time among officials and environmental experts.

The governor told her fish and game commissioner in blunt terms that she opposed using state helicopters to hunt wolves and preferred paying private hunters.

“We have to act quickly on this as predators are acting quickly and rural families face ridiculous situation of being forced to import more beef instead of feeding their families our healthy staple of alaskan game. Nonsense. Unacceptable – and not on my watch,” she said.

Her source of information? “Todd interviewed buddies who live out there… Some confirmation that state intervention isn’t first choice w/the locals,” Palin said.”We need to incentivize here,” including providing money for trappers.

How dare she rely on her husband. Why…it’s almost like they love and trust each other’s judgement!

These intrepid journalists go on to write about their most egregious find among the e-mails yet. Check this out:

The e-mails also reveal Palin’s sensitivity to the way she was portrayed in the media, even at a time when the coverage came mainly from local outlets in Alaska. Palin’s contentious relationship with the national news media has become a major theme of her political persona in the years since the end of the 2008 campaign.

In 2008, for instance, one of Palin’s press aides sent her an essay about Jane Swift, the onetime governor of Massachusetts, who raised young children while in office. Palin responded with a barb about a recent column from a writer at the Anchorage Daily News.

“Pls remind Julia Omalley that ‘they’ said the same thing throughout my career- ‘too young,’ ‘pregnant,’ ‘kids’…’She won’t be able to do it,’ ” Palin wrote. “This coming from good ol’ boys who don’t like change…And so far along in my career we’ve proved them wrong at each turn.”

In another e-mail from 2008, an aide asks about a tanning bed at Palin’s house. A Web site, he said, was implying that the state had paid for it–which had set off a flood of calls from other media.

“The old used tanning bed that my girls have used a handful of times in Juneau?,” Palin wrote back. “Yes, we paid for it ourselves.”

Oh, the horrors. They bought a …GASP!…Tanning Bed. Sebelius and the Department of Health and Human Services will be knocking on her door anytime now.

This is reporting?

Meanwhile, up in the Northeast Corridor, on the other side of the country, and the other side of the aisle, Police are looking into “direct online communications” between New York Representative and adulterous exhibitionist Anthony Weiner and a 17-year-old girl. Authorities are also looking for any other young women who may be involved.

According to Weiner spokeswoman Risa Hellero on Friday night, Weiner’s interactions with the Delaware girl

were neither explicit nor indecent.

Of course not. He was just tweeting her because they’re both huge Lady Gaga fans.

Per Fox News:

Sources close to the student said the girl followed Weiner on Twitter after seeing him speak during a school trip to Washington on April 1. Weiner, after signing on to follow the girl’s Twitter feed, direct-messaged the girl on April 13, the sources said, though it is not clear what other communication the two may have had between or after those dates. Weiner no longer follows the girl on Twitter.

…Now that he’s caught.

Hey, no worries for Weiner, though.

House Democratic leader San Fran Nan Pelosi says the decision over whether the perverted Weiner should resign or not, should be up to the congressman and his New York constituents.

The former Speaker of the House (Thank you, Lord.) said in San Francisco that she believes the decision should be made by “the individual member” (Poor choice of words, Nancy) and the people in his district.

Okay. Let’s compare situations:

On the one hand, we have a Former Governor of Alaska and former Vice-Presidential candidate, who has been the subject of the biggest witch hunt by both the Democrat and Republican Elite Establishment and their willing accomplices in the Main Stream Media that this country has ever seen, and the results are:

Sarah Palin is exactly who she says that she is.

On the other hand, we have this New York Congressman, who, all over the cable news channels, has shown himself to be one of the most obnoxious jerks on Capitol Hill.

He gets caught exposing his shortcomings to several women, while married, through the electronic practice, fovored by schoolkids, of sexting. And,if that was not perverted enough, it now appears that he was communicating with at least one underage girl.

But, that’s okay. His political superior, the ladies (and I’m being generous) on The View, and Liberal pinheads everywhere say that it’s not up to them to judge and his personal behavior has nothing to do with how he represents his constituency.

Goose…Gander. Hypocrisy…thy name is Liberal.

KJ UPDATE 1:26 P.M. CENTRAL: It looks like Weiner’s underage friendship has touched a nerve with the Democrat leadership. CNN reports:

New York (CNN) – Three weighty Democratic voices – including Nancy Pelosi – on Saturday called for the resignation of embattled U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, who has been under fire after admitting to inappropriate communications with women online.

The House Minority Leader, and the chairmen of the Democratic National Committee and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in separate statements called for Weiner to step down.

…And the hypocrisy continues…

Harassing Palin: Times + Post = National Enquirer

On June 10, 2011June 10, 2011 By kingsjesterIn Politics49 Comments

Today, over 24,000 e-mails, to and from Former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, will be released to the public. Eager to try to denigrate and embarrass Governor Palin, in an effort to derail a possible presidential campaign, the two most famous newspapers in America came up with what they thought was a great idea:

At 10:56 a. m. Eastern on Thursday, June 9th, 2011, that bastion of journalism, washingtonpost.com, published the following missive to its loyal readers and moonbats everywhere:

Help Analyze the Palin E-mails

Here’s how to participate: Over 24,000 e-mail messages to and from Sarah Palin during her tenure as Alaska’s governor will be released Friday . We’ll be posting them here, and are inviting you to comment on the most interesting or most noteworthy sections. Please include page numbers and, where possible, a direct excerpt. We’ll share your comments with our reporters and may use facts or related material you suggest to annotate the documents displayed on The Post site. We may contact you for further details, by way of your registered e-mail with the Post, unless you specify otherwise in the comments.

Over 24,000 e-mail messages to and from former Alaska governor Sarah Palin during her tenure as Alaska’s governor will be released Friday. That’s a lot of e-mail for us to review so we’re looking for some help from Fix readers to analyze, contextualize, and research those e-mails right alongside Post reporters over the days following the release.

We are limiting this to just 100 spots for people who will work collaboratively in small teams to surface the most important information from the e-mails. Participants can join from anywhere with a computer and an Internet connection.

If you need inspiration before getting started, take a look at what to expect from the e-mail drop. For micro-updates as tomorrow unfolds, check out our new Twitter feed.

After some unexpected blowback, the Washington Post updated their blog, writing the following:

UPDATE: We have had a strong response to our crowdsourcing call-out on the Palin e-mails. We’ve reconsidered our approach and now would like to invite comments and annotations from any interested readers.

Their readers did not quite respond in the manner in which the Washington Post thought that they would. It seems that Palin Derangement Syndrome only goes so far and then that still, small voice that tells you the difference between right and wrong takes over. Here are some examples of reader feedback they’ve received:

Y’all liberals sure do go to a lot of trouble to try and smear someone you consistantly say is an idiot.

Why are y’all so afraid of Sarah Palin?

So we’re going to spend our valuable time (in my case – $370/hr consulting fee) doing WAPO’s job, for no monetary return? Why? I’m way left, have no patience with moron Palin, but I wonder why you think we’ll all work for you for neither credit nor money.

Rake your own muck. Disgusting that you call on readers to join in your festivities.

Couldn’t agree more. Someone should gather WaPo and NYT staff/exec emails and give them some of their own medicine. Just the start/continuation of the lib/Obama smear campaigns that have been ongoing since the purposeful demonizing of Bush the jr.

What an obvious descent into National Inquirer/Star level urinalism.

Yes. That’s right. The New York Times lowered themselves to the same tabloid level as the Washington Post. At 1:56 p.m. yesterday, nytimes.com posted the following:

Help Us Review the Sarah Palin E-Mail Records

On Friday, the State of Alaska will release more than 24,000 of Sarah Palin’s e-mails covering much of her tenure as governor of Alaska. Times reporters will be in Juneau, the state capital, to begin the process of reviewing the e-mails, which we will be posting on NYtimes.com starting on Friday afternoon.

We’re asking readers to help us identify interesting and newsworthy e-mails, people and events that we may want to highlight. Interested users can fill out a simple form to describe the nature of the e-mail, and provide a name and e-mail address so we’ll know who should get the credit. Join us here on Friday afternoon and into the weekend to participate.

Here are some of the responses that the NY Times received:

Don’t you folks get paid to do this work yourself?

Awesome! The NYT wants non-journalists to do their homework for them!

Jesus, is this what it’s come to? E-lynch mobs combing through data to use to as “gotcha” material?

Yeah, right, people will look for “interesting and newsworthy” emails. Yeah, and Dems are following Obamas plea for civility.

More like the Hatefest begins Fri afternoon, so Dems come early and come often, so our readers can feel better about themselves, after the Weiner debacle.

We will even give credit to the most snarky, snide, sarcastic person…so don’t be shy. We have a terrible President and even worse economy, so we need to divide and distract immediately.

I don’t remember the NY Times asking the public to go through then Senator Obama’s emails to find newsworthy materials…

I don’t recall you soliciting help from people to review the 2,000 page healthcare bill…nor did you do it yourselves.

Now, these two prestigious news organizations face a two-fold problem: First, the majority of their readers and the America public have recognized this tactic for what it is: “gotcha” journalism, and have responded to the newspapers appropriately. Secondly, if there proves to be nothing out of the ordinary as pertains to the day-to-day business of running the largest state in America as a result of their reading of the 24,000 e-mails, the Post and the Times are going to look like bigger sleazeballs than Anthony Weiner.

Sho’ ’nuff hate it for them.

Wars, Rumors of Wars, and God’s Chosen People

On June 9, 2011June 9, 2011 By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics3 Comments

According to officials with our government, President Barack Hussein Obama (peace be upon him) and his Administration are ramping up a covert war already in progress, striking at militant suspects with armed drones and fighter jets.

The Administration is trying to take advantage of internal conflicts in Yemen that has threatened the stability of the small country’s government in Sana, a United States ally. Yemeni government troops had been battling militants linked to Al Qaeda in the southnbut they have now retreated back to the capital. According to our government, the strikes are one of the few options to keep the militants from consolidating power.

Meanwhile, in Iran, where any mention of an Iranian nuclear weapon is taboo, its brutal government continues to swear that its nuclear program is entirely for peaceful, civil purposes.

Yeah, right.

An article appeared on the Gerdab website, run by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, on April 24th, looking forward to the day after Iran’s first test of a nuclear warhead. The following is a translation of the text:

The day after Iran’s first nuclear test is a normal day.

The day after Islamic Republic of Iran’s first nuclear test will be an ordinary day for us Iranians but in the eyes of some of us there will be a new sparkle.

It’s a good day. It’s seven in the morning. The sun is not fully up yet but everywhere is bright. In the northern hemisphere many countries are beginning the day…

The day before, probably in central deserts of Iran, where once Americans and some other Western countries wanted to bury their nuclear waste, an underground nuclear explosion has taken place. The strength of the explosion was not so great as to cause severe damage to the region nor so weak that Iranian scientists face any problems in running their tests.

Today is a normal day like any other. Like 90% of the year, there is news about Iran, and these are the headlines which can be seen on foreign news sites:

Reuters: Iran detonated its nuclear bomb

CNN: Iran detonated nuclear bomb

Al-Jazeera: The second Islamic nuclear bomb was tested0

Al-Arabia: The Shia nuclear bomb was tested

Yahoo! News: Nuclear explosion in Iran

Jerusalem Post: Mullahs obtained nuclear weapon

Washington Post: Nuclear explosion in Iran, Shock and despair in Tel Aviv

Meanwhile, the domestic media will offer many congratulations to the Hidden Imam and the Supreme Leader:

Keyhan: Iran’s first nuclear bomb was tested

Jomhoori-e-eslami: Iran successfully carried out a nuclear test

Iran: By order of the president, Iran’s 100% homemade nuclear bomb was tested

Ettela’at: Iran’s much anticipated nuclear bomb exploded

The news commotion will not knock life in Iran off balance. Civil servants will punch in at work on time as always, while some will be late as always. …The day after the Islamic Republic of Iran’s first nuclear test will be an ordinary day for us Iranians but in the eyes of some of us there will be a new sparkle. A sparkle of national pride and strength.

Don’t worry , Gentle Reader, with our involvement in now 4 wars and all the turmoil in the Middle East, President Obama has come up with a solution to bring peace among the warring Arab nations and make them allies of America: split Israel in half.

There’s just one problem with Obama’s brilliant display of Smart Power!

Israel Prime Minister Bejamin Netanyahu told our boy Scooter:

No way. No how.

From my article Obama Gets Schooled, posted May 21st:

The day after Obama spoke to the American people from the State Department, with an audience of 12 sycophants, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, commanding the nation of Israel to give up half of their nation to the Palestinions, including a number of Christian holy places, he had a scheduled face-to-face meeting with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu.

To say that it did not go well for Obama, is like saying that General Custer had a minor disagreement with the Indians.

In a magnificent display of leadership, Prime Minister Netanyahu told Obama what he could do with his command that Israel return to its 1967 boundaries.

Their meeting ran over by two hours, cancelling their luncheon plans.

While the two leaders agreed that there must be ironclad Israeli security alongside a Palestinian nation, no progress whatsoever was made on the issue of where the borders should be.

In response to Thursday’s speech by Obama, Netanyahu said:

While Israel is prepared to make generous compromises for peace, it cannot go back to the 1967 lines. These lines are indefensible.

As they sat together on a couch in front of the cameras after their private meeting, an uncomfortable looking Obama tried his best to spin their meeting into a positive thing. The president said:

Obviously there are some differences between us in the precise formulatons and language. That’s going to happen between friends.

Looking toward Netanyahu, he added:

What we are in complete accord about is that a true peace can only occur if the ultimate resolution allows Israel to defend itself against threats, and that Israel’s security will remain paramount in U.S. evaluation of any prospective deal.

The following video from The Jerusalem Center, explains exactly why Israel’s security is dependent upon keeping her borders just as they are.

Zechariah 12:3

3 On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. All who lift it will surely hurt themselves. And all the nations of the earth will gather against it.

Imperious and Oblivious is No Way to Go Through a Presidency

On June 8, 2011June 8, 2011 By kingsjesterIn Politics9 Comments

If you or I accumulate massive amounts of debt which we cannot pay back, it invariably leads to a declaration of bankruptcy.

In the case of the Obama Administration, when a Liberal-led Federal Government accumulates massive amounts of debt which will take generations to pay off, it is called an economic policy.

Per USAtoday.com:

The government added $5.3 trillion in new financial obligations in 2010, largely for retirement programs such as Medicare and Social Security. That brings to a record $61.6 trillion the total of financial promises not paid for.

This gap between spending commitments and revenue last year equals more than one-third of the nation’s gross domestic product.

Medicare alone took on $1.8 trillion in new liabilities, more than the record deficit prompting heated debate between Congress and the White House over lifting the debt ceiling.

Social Security added $1.4 trillion in obligations, partly reflecting longer life expectancies. Federal and military retirement programs added more to the financial hole, too.

…The $61.6 trillion in unfunded obligations amounts to $527,000 per household. That’s more than five times what Americans have borrowed for everything else — mortgages, car loans and other debt. It reflects the challenge as the number of retirees soars over the next 20 years and seniors try to collect on those spending promises.

According to accountant Sheila Weinberg, founder of the Institute for Truth in Accounting, a Chicago-based group that advocates better financial reporting, these figures are only the tip of the iceberg:

The (federal) debt only tells us what the government owes to the public. It doesn’t take into account what’s owed to seniors, veterans and retired employees. Without accurate accounting, we can’t make good decisions.

Meanwhile, as The Regime leads us deeper and deeper into debt, Unemployment remains at 9.1. and one-sixth of our citizens remain on SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program.

So, what’s the Administration doing about America’s Economic Crisis?

Well, first, its Chief Economic Adviser is getting the heck out of Dodge.

Per politico.com:

Austan Goolsbee, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, plans to return to teaching economics at the University of Chicago this fall, the White House announced Monday night.

Goolsbee has been on leave for four years from the university’s Booth School of Business and could have lost his tenured position at Chicago, where he was a professor for 14 years before joining the administration, if he did not return, an official said.

Goolsbee, one of Obama’s longest serving aides, was an economic adviser on the 2004 Senate campaign, and the senior economic adviser on the 2008 presidential campaign.He was appointed to the Council of Economic Advisers when Obama became president, and was made chairman when Christina Romer resigned last September to return to the University of California at Berkeley.

“Since I first ran for the U.S. Senate, Austan has been a close friend and one of my most trusted advisers,” President Barack Obama said in the White House’s announcement. “Over the past several years, he has helped steer our country out of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and although there is still much work ahead, his insights and counsel have helped lead us toward an economy that is growing and creating millions of jobs. He is one of America’s great economic thinkers.”

Goolsbee’s departure once again puts the president’s economic team in flux. National Economic Council chairman Larry Summers left the administration at the beginning of the year, replaced by Gene Sperling, who served in that job under President Bill Clinton. Jared Bernstein, Vice President Biden’s chief economic adviser, left last month.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is the only senior official remaining from the economic team that inherited a financial crisis and recession when Obama took office.

But, what about the President of these United States, Barack Hussein Obama, you ask? Surely, he is in the process of taking austere measures to get his disastrous Economic Policies under control…isn’t he?

Nope…and don’t call me Shirley.

While average Americans, such as my bride and myself, were eating Cheesy Hashbrowns Hamburger Helper and Hot Dogs on TV trays while watching a NCIS rerun, the Obamas were graciously hosting a state dinner for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, featuring a menu of:

White House Honey Gastrique

Tuna Tartare with Rye Crisps

Pickled Young Carrots and Mustard Oil

Spring Pea Salad

Shaved Ham and Ginger Snaps

Petite Filet

With Maryland Crab Ravioli

Wild Ramp Puree

Apple Strudel

Golden Raisins and Topfen

What the heck is Topfen?

Y’know…at the rate that this educated-beyond-his-intelligence, imperious, golf-playing, gum-smacking buffoon keeps obliviously running our nation into the ground, I fully expect him, one day soon, to respond to an economic question at one of his almost non-existent press conferences by answering:

Let them eat arugula!

Rep. Anthony Weiner: You Reap What You Sow

On June 7, 2011June 7, 2011 By kingsjesterIn Politics8 Comments

I remember the first time that I really paid attention to Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY).

He was in a shouting match with Fox News Anchor Megyhn Kelly and was acting like a totally obnoxious jerk.

As I later found out…he wasn’t acting.

Yesterday, after a week of denying showing off his shortcomings while engaged in a practice that schoolkids call “sexting”, and posting a lewd picture of himself on Twitter, Weiner broke down in a press conference, admitting most of what he did, and asking for forgiveness.

However, he refused to resign from the House of Representatives.

From behind a podium at the Sheraton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, Weiner made the following statement:

Last Friday night I tweeted a photograph of myself that I intended to send as direct message as part of a joke to a woman in Seattle. Once I realized I posted it to Twitter, I panicked, I took it down and said that I had been hacked. I then continued with that story to stick to that story which was a hugely regrettable mistake.

Weiner then apologized to the Seattle student whom he sent the tweet to.

Conservative reporter and web mogul Andrew Breitbart had gotten hold of new photographs of Weiner in all his glory (can I say that?), forcing the Congressman into a hastily-prepared press conference.

According to Weiner:

To be clear, the picture was of me and I sent it. I am deeply sorry for the pain this has caused my wife, Huma, and our family, andmy constituents, my friends, supporters and staff.

The Democrat Congressman from New York came under national scrutiny last week for a dirty photo sent from his Twitter account of a man in grey underwear to a 21-year-old woman.

Before delivering his mea culpa yesterday, the juvenile congressman had told anyone who would listen that it was not him who sent that photo. Weiner claimed that he had been hacked.

Hardly the word that I would have used, considering the image in the photo…

Weiner had immediately got himself a lawyer to advise him on what legal action should be taken. According to his spokesman Dave Arnold, the congressman’s “accounts were obviously hacked.”

Again, an uncomfortable term to use in this situation.

The “crotch” photo was first reported Saturday by Andrew Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com.

Before Weiner even took the podium, Breitbart was behind it, answering the media’s questions per their request.

Anonymous sources claim that Weiner’s wife, Huma Abedin, wanted to stand by her husband at the press conference, but Weiner would not allow her to attend, proclaiming to her

it’s my responsibility. I’ll deal with it.

Weiner also said that

over the past few years I have engaged in several inappropriate conversations conducted over Twitter, Facebook, e-mail, and occasionally on the phone with women I have met online.

He went on to say that he

exchanged messages and photos of an explicit nature with about six women over the last three years.

Per the disgraced Congressman, “most” of the flirtatious electronic messaging took place before his marriage, but he was forced to admit that some took place afterward.

According to Meagan Broussard, a 26-year-old single mother from Texas, Weiner was eager to

hear about if I wanted him or thought he was attractive.

Which is this idiot? A United States Congressman or a Middle Schooler?

Weiner told everyone gathered that:

I’m not resigning, and I’m going to try very hard to go back to work a better man and a better husband, too.

Uh Huh. Gimme that ol’ time contrition.

Keeping his job may not be up to Rep. Weiner. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi immediately called for an ethics committee investigation to see if House rules were broken. Weiner’s office then released a statement saying I welcome and will fully cooperate with an investigation by the House Ethics Committee.

When reporters asked him if he would split from his wife, Weiner said he loved wife Abedin very much and that they would not split.

That may not be his option, either.

After his press conference, Congressman Weiner appropriately snuck out of the hotel via the back door, followed by photographers.

Regardless of Weiner’s reprehensible actions, Liberal talking heads on all the cable and broadcast news programs are still vainly attempting to defend this pervert, blaming his actions on the pressures of the office, and attempting all manner of moral equivalency arguments in Weiner’s defense.

Check out Baba Wawa, Joyless Behar, and the rest of the hens on ABC’s The View:

BARBARA WALTERS: Anthony Weiner, whom I also know, has a problem. He can be very sarcastic and very sardonic and, you know, there are a lot of times you wish he would not say it. He is a good congressman. He has been an effective congressman. If Sarah Palin can still ride around on her bus and be considered as a possible president, this man can override this, stay in congress and just hope that there’s another scandal that’ll take him off.

JOY BEHAR: Wait a minute. Let me defend Sarah. Let me defend Sarah.

WHOOPI GOLDBERG: A scandal that’s going to take us off in a second is they’re going to black us out. We’re done.

BEHAR: Let me defend Sarah for 30 seconds. The woman has no sex scandal in her dossier, in her arsenal. This is a completely different thing from Sarah Palin, and I want to defend her here.

ELISABETH HASSELBECK: I’m taking my pulse.

I think Mark Twin put it best, when he quipped:

Man is the only animal that blushes…or has a need to.

AGW Supporter: Tattoo the Heretics!

On June 6, 2011 By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics4 Comments

Richard Glover is an Australian Broadcaster and Sydney Morning Herald Op Ed Columnist. The following statements are from a piece that the newspaper published by him, yesterday morning:

Surely it’s time for climate-change deniers to have their opinions forcibly tattooed on their bodies.

Not necessarily on the forehead; I’m a reasonable man. Just something along their arm or across their chest so their grandchildren could say, ”Really? You were one of the ones who tried to stop the world doing something? And why exactly was that, granddad?”

On second thoughts, maybe the tattooing along the arm is a bit Nazi-creepy. So how about they are forced to buy property on low-lying islands, the sort of property that will become worthless with a few more centimeters of ocean rise, so they are bankrupted by their own bloody-mindedness? Or what about their signed agreement to stand, in the year 2040, lashed to a pole at a certain point in the shallows off Manly? If they are right and the world is cooling – ”climate change stopped in the year 1998” is one of their more boneheaded beliefs – their mouths will be above water. If not …

OK, maybe the desire to see the painful, thrashing death of one’s opponents is not ideal. But, my God, these people are frustrating. You just know that in 20 years’ time, when the costs of our inaction are clear, the climate deniers will become climate-denial-deniers. ”Who me? Oh, no, I always believed in it. Yes, it’s hard to understand why people back then were so daft. It’s so much more costly to stop it now.”

That’s why the tattoo has its appeal.

The Mark of the Beast?

Leonard Weinstein, ScD, published an article on 4/25/2009 titled Disproving The Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) Problem.

Here are some excerpts:

A hypothesis has been proposed that human activity over about the last 150 years has caused a significant rise in Earth’s average temperature.

…In order to support a hypothesis, specific predictions need to be made that are based on the claims of the hypothesis, and the predictions then need to either happen or be falsified. While the occurrence of the predicted events is not proof positive of a hypothesis, they increase the believability of the claims. However, if the predictions are not observed, this tends to indicate the hypothesis is flawed or even wrong. Some predictions are absolute in nature. Einstein’s prediction of the bending of light by the Sun is such a case. It either would or would not bend, and this was considered a critical test of the validity of his hypothesis of general relativity. It did bend the predicted amount, and helped raise the concept to the status of theory.

Many predictions however are less easily supported. For example, weather forecasting often does a good job in the very short term but over increasing time does a poor job. This is due to the complexity of the numerous nonlinear components. This complexity has been described in chaos theory by what is called the butterfly effect. Any effect that depends on numerous factors, some of which are nonlinear in effect, is nearly impossible to use to make long-range predictions.

However, for some reason, the present predictions of “Climate Change” are considered by the AGW supporters to be more reliable than even short-term weather forecasting. While some overall trends can be reasonably made based on looking at past historical trends, and some computational models can suggest some trends due to specific forcing factors, like any respectable hypothesis, specific predictions need to be made, and then shown to happen, before the AGW models can have any claim to being reasonably valid.

The AGW computational models do make several specific predictions. Since the time scale for checking the result of the predictions is small, and since local weather can vary enough on the short time scale to confuse the longer time scale prediction, allowances for these shorter lasting events have to be made when examining data that is supposed to be supporting the predictions. Nevertheless, if the actual data results do not significantly support the stated predictions, the AGW hypothesis must be reconsidered or even rejected as it stands.

…The final question is what prediction has the AGW hypothesis made that has been demonstrated, and that strongly supports the hypothesis. It appears that there is NO real supporting evidence and much falsifying evidence for the AGW hypothesis as proposed. That is not to say there is no effect from Human activity. Clearly human pollution (not greenhouse gases) is a problem. There is also very likely some contribution to the present temperature variations from the increase in CO2 and CH4, but it is almost certainly a small effect and not a driver of future climate.

Any reasonable scientific analysis must conclude the basic AGW hypothesis fails.

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney disagreed with Professor Weinstein, just last Friday:

Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney broke with Republican orthodoxy on Friday by saying he believes that humans are responsible, at least to some extent, for climate change.

“I believe the world is getting warmer, and I believe that humans have contributed to that,” he told a crowd of about 200 at a town hall meeting in Manchester, New Hampshire.

“It’s important for us to reduce our emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases that may be significant contributors.”…

In addressing climate change and energy policy, Romney called on the United States to break its dependence on foreign oil, and expand alternative energies including solar, wind, nuclear and clean coal.

Man-caused Global Warming has been revealed as nothing more that a con game, designed to make money for its investors and to bring power and prestige to its prophets.

Al Gore has turned out to be the P.T. Barnum of our time. And, for Mitt Romney to make a statement like this, does nothing but illuminate a dangerous naivete and questionable judgement.

Faith, Values, and Freedom

On June 5, 2011 By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics6 Comments

Hanging out on Conservative websites, I’ve noticed a disturbing trend: an intentional redefinition of Conservatism.

Pundits and posters who have a socially Liberal agenda, or, are quite often just plain Liberal, have tried to corrupt old fashioned Conservatism and mutate it into whatever they want it to be: from Libertarianism to Progressivism.

In Washington, D.C. on Friday, there was convention held by the Faith and Values Coalition.

The Coalition is headed by Ralph Reed, who made his name as the political strategist for the Christian Coalition in the 1990s. It was founded by Reverend Jerry Falwell in November of 2004.

As I wrote yesterday, faith plays a very important role in Americans’ lives, as does the concept of family values. 92 % of Americans believe in God. 75 % of Americans self-identify as Christians.

The GOP faces a problem. The only insider giving lip service to matters of faith and values, Mike Huckabee, has announced that he isn’t running.

The only other potential candidate who is unafraid to proclaim their Christianity is former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, whom the GOP Elite seems to be ignoring as long as they can.

So, how can the GOP Elite try to convince Christian Conservatives that they’re one of them?

In their minds, the answer was, by showing up at a two-day convention in Washington, DC, to brag on how strong and traditional their faith and values are, in order to try to solicit Christians’ votes.

At Friday’s session, the candidates and potential candidates spoke about religious/social issues and low-tax crusades, in an attempt to bridge the gap between Fiscal Conservatives (Moderates) and Reagan Conservatives (SoCons).

If the GOP power structure can’t accomplish this feat, they will lose the upcoming National Election, because even the Gallup polls show that there are far more Conservatives in this country than there are Moderates.

Speaking of Moderates, Moderate Jon Huntsman told the crowd:

I do not believe the Republican Party should focus solely on our economic life to the neglect of our human life. If Republicans ignore life, the deficit we will face is one that is much more destructive. It will be a deficit of the heart and of the soul.

Flip-floppin’ Moderate and former Massachusetts Governor, Mitt Romney, proclaimed that it’s “a moral tragedy for us to pile up more and more debt” that is passed on to younger generations.

Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty (yawn) was there. Pawlenty was raised Catholic but became an evangelical while dating his future wife, Mary. Pawlenty began and ended his speech to the convention on Friday with biblical quotes. He said the nation must turn toward God, protect the unborn, support traditional marriage and keep Americans secure.

Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, who is slowly moving toward beginning a presidential campaign, reminded the crowd that she home-schooled her five biological children and served as foster mother to 23 others. She also reminded the audience that “marriage is under siege” in America, and then, closed with a prayer.

Perennial presidential candidate,Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, struck his familiar libertarian themes, and quoted from the Bible’s first book of Samuel.

Rick Santorum and Herman Cain were scheduled to speak yesterday, with former Godfather’s CEO Cain giving the keynote speech of the convention.

Cain delivered a barn burner of a stump speech, per thehill.com:

“We have become a nation of crises,” he said. “And we have a severe deficiency of leadership crisis in the White House.”

Speaking to the largely evangelical crowd, Cain invoked Scripture from the beginning and related spiritual experiences when explaining what inspired him to run for the White House. He cited his desire to “make this world a better world” for his grandchildren, as well as his struggle with cancer five years ago.

When asked in a brief interview with The Hill if he considers himself a social or fiscal conservative candidate, he said that “those are just labels.” He cited his opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion and emphasized his business credentials, asserting that he was both.

Cain, who has never held elected office, addressed questions of his lack of foreign policy experience by claiming that Obama lacked those credentials, too.

“Reporters like to ding me that I don’t have any foreign policy experience,” Cain said. “Uh, does the current president have any?”

He criticized the Obama administration for having a “foggy foreign policy” and said that his position on Israel would be straightforward.

“The Cain doctrine would be real simple when it comes to Israel: You mess with Israel, you mess with the United States of America,” he said to a long standing ovation.

Now, there’s a man who gets it.

Americans long for a return to genuine Conservatism. Reagan Conservatism. We are not Europe. We are not some Third World Barrio. This is America. We are Americans…and we are exceptional.

A Saturday Report From a “Bitter Clinger”

On June 4, 2011 By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics3 Comments

An Australian group, going by the name of Mypeace, has launched a blasphemous, ill-informed “public awareness campaign in that country’s largest city of Sydney. It’s tagline:

Mypeace says that the purpose of the campaign is

to inform, not offend.

Uh huh.

One Catholic bishop has called the campaign

a direct assault on Christian beliefs.

Billboards in the metropolitan Sydney area sport one of four simple slogans:

Jesus: A Prophet of Islam
Holy Qur’an: The Final Testament
Muhammad: Mercy to Mankind
Islam: Got Questions? Get Answers.

According to Islamic doctrine, the 7th century Arabian Mohammed was the last in a long line of prophets of Islam stretching back to Adam, and including Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Solomon, Jonah, John the Baptist – and Jesus. The “Got Questions?” ad in Sydney also describes Abraham, Noah, Moses, Jesus and Mohammed as “prophets of Islam”.

Every billboard invites Australians to get in touch with mypeace by phone or online, for literature and a free copy of the Qur’an. According to the Muslim organization, the ads will stay up for one month.

Later in 2011, the slogans will be seen on numerous public buses in the city.

One of the billboards calling Jesus a Muslim was vandalized a day after it was put up.

According to Mypeace, it is attempting to

address the many misconceptions on Islam, to educate fellow Australians on Islam, invite them to ask any questions that they may have.

On its website, Mypeace states that

“Islām” is an Arabic word which means peaceful, willing submission – submission to the code of conduct ordained by God. So Islam is a religion, but it is also a complete way of life based upon a voluntary relationship between an individual and his Creator. It is the way of life ordained by God which was taught by each of His prophets and messengers, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon them). What distinguishes Islam from other religions is that it refuses to accept any form of creation, whatsoever, as a deity worthy of worship. Instead, it emphasizes the exclusive worship of the one God who created the entire universe and to whom all creation will eventually return.

Monotheism is the foundation of Islam and its most important concept which cannot be compromised in any way. Not only is God acknowledged as the sole creator and sustainer of everything in existence, but Islam declares that He is the only true deity and He alone is worthy to be worshipped. Further, it recognizes that the attributes of God are nothing like those of His creation and cannot be compared to it; He is absolute, perfect and unique. By following God’s guidance as revealed in the Quran, an individual can obtain meaning and purpose in this live and eternal paradise in the hereafter. [‘Permission from ‘Saheeh International’]

“peaceful, willing submission”…Daniel Pearl remains unavailable for comment.

Julian Porteous, auxiliary bishop at the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, fought back in an article, writing:

In Australia with its Christian heritage a billboard carrying the statement ‘Jesus A prophet of Islam’ is provocative and offensive to Christians.

Central to Christianity is the belief that Jesus Christ is more than a prophet. He is the Son of God. He is acclaimed Lord and Savior of humanity. This statement is a direct assault on Christian beliefs.

According to the Bishop, religions should not

set out to antagonize those with differing beliefs.

Dialogue between the religions can only take place when it is founded in mutual respect. It is not fostered by provocative statements.

Porteous urged Mypeace to withdraw the ads.

In a related story, gallup.com posted a poll on Friday whose results showed that 92 % of Americans still believe in GOD. This result is only 4 % lower than the 96% figure that Gallup pollsters found when they asked the question in 1944.

Among to those polled, belief in God drops below 90% among younger Americans, liberals, those living in the East, those with postgraduate educations, and political independents. However, belief in God is nearly universal among Republicans and conservatives and, to a slightly lesser degree, in the South.

How many of these American believers in God are Muslim?

Per adherents.com:

According to an academic review of available survey-based data in 2001, informed by information provided by Muslim organizations and mosques, the highest reasonable total number of Muslims in the United States is 2.8 million.

A more realistic number, supported by statistically significant survey data comparable to what has been used to to calculate the sizes of other religious groups, is less than 2 million Muslims in the United States, or about 0.5% of the total population.

Estimates of the U.S. Muslim population of 6 million, 8 million, 10 million or more may indeed be correct, but are not supported by empirical data. Such numbers may best be understood as “spiritual” numbers, rather than actual numbers.

However, according to the American Religious Identification Survey from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, 75 % of Americans identify themselves as Christian.

The vast difference in numbers probably explains why we haven’t seen Mypeace’s “public awareness” campaign in America…yet.

Of Mitt and Mandates

On June 3, 2011June 3, 2011 By kingsjesterIn Politics3 Comments

The week before the 11th Circuit Court begins to hear arguments in the case concerning the Constitutionality of Obamacare, brought by attorneys representing the 26 states that are appealing it, President Barack Hussein Obama’s acting Solicitor General has come up with brilliant advice for the majority of Americans who remain opposed to socialized medicine and the pecuniary taxes which our government will impose upon us with its implementation.

Acting Solicitor General Neal Kumar Katyal was standing before the 6th Circuit Court on Wednesday, defending Obamacare against an appeal by the Thomas More Law Center. He told the federal appeals court that Americans who didn’t like the individual mandate could always avoid it by choosing to earn less money.

You see, SG Katyal was struggling to defending the unconstitutional law in front of the three-judge panel, which was comprised of two Republican-appointed judges and a Democratic-appointed judge. The judges were actively expressing their doubts about the government’s defense of the health care law, more so than the Fourth Circuit panel that heard the Virginia-based Obamacare challenge last month in Richmond did.

Of course, the Fourth Circuit panel is made up entirely of Democrats, and two of the judges were appointed by Obama himself.

I’m shocked.

Katyal was put on the spot, when Judge Jeffrey Sutton, nominated by President George W. Bush, asked Katyal if he could name one Supreme Court case which considered the same question as the one posed by the mandate, in which Congress used the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution as a tool to compel action.

Katyal had to admit that the Supreme Court had “never been confronted directly” with the question, but deferred to the Heart of Atlanta Motel case as a relevant example.

The Heart of Atlanta Motel case was a landmark 1964 civil rights case in which the Court ruled that Congress could use its Commerce Clause power to bar discrimination by private businesses such as hotels and restaurants.

Judge Sutton wasn’t buying that argument:

They’re in the business. They’re told if you’re going to be in the business, this is what you have to do. In response to that law, they could have said, ‘We now exit the business.’ Individuals don’t have that option.

Then, Katyal, desperately attempting to come up with a brilliant argument, replied:

If we’re going to play that game, I think that game can be played here as well, because after all, the minimum coverage provision only kicks in after people have earned a minimum amount of income. So it’s a penalty on earning a certain amount of income and self insuring. It’s not just on self insuring on its own. So I guess one could say, just as the restaurant owner could depart the market in Heart of Atlanta Motel, someone doesn’t need to earn that much income. I think both are kind of fanciful and I think get at…

Sutton stopped him cold, saying:

That wasn’t in a single speech given in Congress about this…the idea that the solution if you don’t like it is make a little less money.

Katyal’s problem was that fact that the so-called “hardship exemption” in the health care law that he was referring to is limited, and only applies to people who cannot obtain insurance for less than 8 percent of their income. So earning less isn’t necessarily a solution, because it could then qualify the person for government-subsidized insurance which could make their contribution to premiums fall below the 8 percent threshold.

Katyal floundered about during the oral arguments in a vain attempt to respond to the judges’ questions concerning what the limits of Congressional power would be if the courts ruled that they have the ability under the Commerce Clause to force individuals to purchase something.

Per Judge Sutton, it would it be “hard to see this limit” in Congressional power if the mandate is upheld, and he concentrated on the word “regulate” in the Commerce clause, explaining that the word implies you’re in a market. According to the Judge:

You don’t put them in the market to regulate them.

And, in a related story, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney announced the kick-off of his Presidential Campaign yesterday, at Stratham Farm in New Hampshire, a must-stop location for all GOP contenders.

On May 12th of this year, Romney gave a speech defending his role in the passage of the Massachusetts state-run Healthcare system, affectionately known as Romneycare.

He argued that his state-based approach was different than the president’s and was the right legislation for Massachusetts:

…I also recognize, a lot of pundits are saying I should stand up and say this whole thing was a mistake.

But there’s only one problem with that—it wouldn’t be honest. I, in fact, did what I felt was right for the people of my state.

We’re going to care for one another. I’m proud of the fact that in our state, when we faced real challenges … we didn’t just say, ‘Well, it’s a problem no one can solve.’ We said, ‘We gotta job to do. We gotta help people.

It wasn’t perfect. It included a number of things I’d do differently.… But overall, am I proud of fact we did our best for people, and we got people insured? Absolutely.

The first distinction between what we did in my state and President Obama did was our plan was a state solution to a state problem, and his was a power grab by federal government to put in place a one-size-fits-all plan.

This is what we would call [the] free-rider program.It wasn’t a larger number of people, but a growing problem.

On the other hand…former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin thinks that ol’ Mitt should be hanging his political future on how wonderful Romneycare is:

I think that he’ll have maybe a bit more challenges with independents who make up the tea party movement, wanting to make sure we are not going to — we won’t have any excuses or perceived political reasons to grow government. In my opinion, any mandate coming from government is not a good thing, obviously, and I am not the only one to say so. But obviously there will be more explanation coming from Governor Romney for his support of government mandates.

The day after Gov. Romney’s announcement of his candidacy, my mind strays back to this exchange he had with Charlie Gibson and Fred Thompson during ABC’s January 2008 Republican presidential debate:

GIBSON: But Government Romney’s system has mandates in Massachusetts, although you backed away from mandates on a national basis.

ROMNEY: No, no, I like mandates. The mandates work.

THOMPSON: I beg your pardon? I didn’t know you were going to admit that. You like mandates.

Well, Gov. Romney, I don’t. Like Governor Palin, and the majority of Americans, I prefer FREEDOM.

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