At the same time, his expensive education will have equipped him for nothing. His labor, even supposing that he were inclined to work, would not be worth its cost to any employerpartly because of the social charges necessary to keep others such as he in a state of permanent idleness, and partly because of his own characteristics. And so unskilled labor is performed in England by foreigners, while an indigenous class of permanently unemployed is subsidized.
The culture of the person in this situation is not such as to elevate his behavior. One in which the late Amy Winehousethe vulgar, semicriminal drug addict and alcoholic singer of songs whose lyrics effectively celebrated the most degenerate kind of life imaginablecould be raised to the status of heroine is not one that is likely to protect against bad behavior.
h/t Belmont
The ferocious criminality exhibited by an uncomfortably large section of the English population during the current riots has not surprised me in the least. I have been writing about it, in its slightly less acute manifestations, for the past 20 years. To have spotted it required no great perspicacity on my part; rather, it took a peculiar cowardly blindness, one regularly displayed by the British intelligentsia and political class, not to see it and not to realize its significance. There is nothing that an intellectual less likes to change than his mind, or a politician his policy.
#2
...rather, it took a peculiar cowardly blindness, one regularly displayed by the British intelligentsia and political class, not to see it and not to realize its significance.
The U.S. stock market has nose-dived. Congress just approved the highest debt ceiling in American history, allowing the government to carry over $16 trillion in national debt, and prompting the credit-rating agency Standard & Poors to downgrade Americas multitrillion-dollar debt for the first time in 70 years.
Unemployment is still over 9 percent. Private-sector businesses may have more than $1 trillion in cash, but they will be scared away from hiring or buying for as long as they fear new taxes, new regulations, new entitlement obligations, new plant shutdowns or a new harangue.
Americas Gross Domestic Product is almost static. Every classical Keynesian remedy massive government borrowing and spending (stimulus), near-zero interest rates, public works, expanded federal entitlements has been tried and has failed; together they are turning a modest recovery into another recession. Neither the example of the socialist European Union nor that of big-spending blue-state America suggests that massive government spending and entitlements lead to collective prosperity.
In response to this depressing news, President Obama still offers the same predictably stale sermons: George W. Bush did it. The tea-party fiscal reformers are to blame. Government will fund millions of green jobs. Obamas political opponents want to destroy Social Security and Medicare.
Imagine if President Obama simply stopped diverting blame and tried something different.
There are vast new finds of natural gas, oil, and tar sands offshore and in the American West, the Dakotas, Pennsylvania, New York, and Alaska. This natural wealth represents hundreds of billions of dollars of savings in imported-energy costs and millions of new American jobs. Instead of lecturing about tire pressure and car tune-ups and encouraging people to trade in clunkers, the president could rally the country to go all out right now to develop its burgeoning fossil-fuel resources to supply our needs while we wait for the development of future green energy.
Ever since he began campaigning for the presidency, Obama has hectored the private sector talking nonstop of higher taxes, spreading the wealth, fat cat bankers, paying your fair share, millionaires and billionaires, corporate jet owners, and unneeded income.
Such share-the-wealth tirades were matched with redistributive vendettas. Vast new financial regulations and red tape followed. A new trillion-dollar health-care entitlement was imposed on employers. The National Labor Relations Board is attempting to shut down a new Boeing aircraft plant. The federal government took over private businesses and on occasion reversed the order of payment to private creditors. New environmental regulations have curbed energy and agricultural production. Lifelong academics and government functionaries, not businesspeople, staff the Obama Cabinet and head the administrations agencies.
But imagine if the president had instead promoted profit-making by cutting red tape, praising entrepreneurs, promising no new taxes or burdens on businesses, and offering incentives to open new plants inside the United States. In other words, what if small businesses and large corporations believed Obama to be a friend and partner, a leader who wanted them to make big profits, hire millions of workers, and enrich the country in the process?
In the last three years, the president has increased the national debt by almost $5 trillion. But what if the president were to promise an end to the gargantuan spending and borrowing and were to accept the tax reforms and budget discipline offered by his own Simpson-Bowles Commission, but so far neglected by the administration?
The United States should be in a renaissance. In a food- and fuel-short world, we have vast agricultural and energy resources. While there are riots, strikes, and unrest from Europe to the Middle East, America remains quiet. Foreign depositors even now still believe that the United States is the least likely nation to either confiscate their capital or renege on the interest owed on it. China, Russia, and India have enormous environmental, demographic, and social challenges ahead, of the same sort the United States dealt with decades ago. Our military is far superior to the competitors.
After nearly three years of blaming, apologizing, and explaining what America cannot and should not do, it is past time for a confident President Obama to remind the country that we can do almost anything we wish.
Instead of lecturing some Americans about why they owe their existing wealth to others, why not inspire them to create even bigger new profits to enrich everyone? And in these tough times, let the first family give up vacationing at Vail, Costa del Sol, and Marthas Vineyard; trim White House entertainment expenses; and set an example of thrift for the country to match new budget frugalities.
In short, President Obama could end the current psychological depression and acrimony by promising to lead from the fore rather than continually harping from far behind.
#1
By default I am 100% VDH - here I disagree politely.
Too late for promises. There is nothing, nothing, which would indicate that if elected he will do anything he has promised during campaign, as he has already proved with his first term.
Transparent Gov? Army of Czars, grand signing of pass it to read it legislation, mystery logs at the white house, and my personal theory that all the golf is to avoid a signed guest list.
Accountability of Big Business? Rabble shaking at best, he has signed away $2tril for Big Auto, Big Insurance, Big Bank, and has championed the cause of King Corn by a policy of increasing biofuel requirements.
Redistribution of wealth? Pie in the sky from the get go, but to be sure, anyone out there feel richer? Snob behind the book store counter get the degree yet, or is the book store gone?
Regain popularity worldwide? I'll give a pass on the Africa Horn strikes but he owns Libya - or did after going to Brazil to buy Big Oil - has in fact turned downward. Used to the ole god damn america great satan crap, now we have foreign investors giving open criticism and pinning the tail on the donkey because they own so much US debt and just see more piling on that they now have the attitude of disdain. That is a international popularity downgrade.
Obama likes business people just fine. His business people. And the business of his people are the people who make business at the expense of business.
But I get VDH's opine, just replace -this president- with -a president-.
[Dawn] THE first week of August, according to some commentators, will go down in history as signifying a tipping point in terms of the loss of American hegemony.
This conclusion is based primarily on the downgrading of the United States' credit rating by Standard & Poor's (S&P), in the wake of a Capitol Hill compromise over raising the nation's debt ceiling that was advertised, inter alia, as a means of pre-empting this very outcome.
The subsequent precipitous decline in international stock markets could be construed as substantiating this thesis, although it also underlines America's continuing key status in the global economy. The significance of the fact that China -- and, too a lesser extent, India -- deemed it necessary to berate the US for its fiscal imprudence has not been lost on observers, though.
As America's largest creditor, China's concern is not surprising; and it is widely assumed that China's economy, powering along at a growth rate of about 10 per cent, will in due course overtake that of the US. The tone of the dressing-down, however, was as unprecedented as the ratings downgrade.
Within the US, there has been a degree of outrage over S&P's chutzpah -- it was, after all, among those agencies that, far from raising any flags of warning, continued to award an AAA rating to culpable financial institutions in the run-up to the subprime mortgages crisis. Which is not entirely remarkable, given that the agencies derive their income from these very institutions, hence they can hardly be considered independent. Their appalling judgment entailed no penalties.
It is intriguing, meanwhile, that half of the Democrats in the House of Representatives voted against the last-minute deal hammered out between the White House and leading Republicans, which broadly entails huge spending cuts in the decades ahead, without any commensurate increase in taxation.
Last year, President Barack B.O. Obama agreed to extend his predecessor George W. Bush's tax cuts for the very rich -- which have cumulatively cost the US Treasury more than the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has suggested that he has not given up on the idea of imposing new taxes on the wealthy, but his record of caving in to the Tea Party types does not bode well.
During his presidential campaign, Obama harboured some illusions about a post-partisan America. Given that ideological distinctions between the Democrats and the Republicans have grown fuzzy over the decades, the idea may not have seemed completely fantastical to some. He ought to have known, though, that a rightwards shift in the so-called liberal centre invariably encourages conservatives to drift towards extremes.
What made such a process even more likely was the fact that a substantial proportion of American citizens were discomfited by the very idea of an African-American head of state. Small wonder, then, that the nonsense about Obama's birth certificate gained so much traction.
What's more worrying, though, is the fact that the president has managed to alienate to such an extent the constituency that elevated him to the White House three years ago. It is beginning to seem increasingly unlikely that Obama will be re-elected next year. He may just squeeze in if the Republican candidate is too polarising, but it certainly won't be easy -- not least given the tendency of American voters to simply abstain if they are not too pushed about the results.
The 61 per cent turnout in 2008 was extraordinarily high by US standards; last year's Republican landslide in the midterm elections was based on a turnout of about 40 per cent -- which, albeit not unusual, is pathetic for a nation supposedly dedicated to 'spreading democracy' in various parts of the world.
One of the most pertinent critiques of the debt deal has been that it will exacerbate America's biggest socio-economic problem, namely the appalling level of unemployment. The leading Republican negotiators have been accused of behaving like terrorists. That's hardly a complimentary assessment, particularly in the run-up to the 10th anniversary of the Sept 11 terrorist attacks. It barely needs to be pointed out that those who wish America ill will be heartened by recent intimations of its capacity for self-harm.
Obama, meanwhile, might do well to soak up some ancient wisdom. There is, for instance, a fable attributed to Aesop about a man and his son taking their donkey (which coincidentally happens to be the Democratic Party's symbol) to market.
They are berated first of all for not riding the beast, so the man puts his son on the animal's back. Soon thereafter, the son is accused by other passersby of being lazy, so the father replaces his son as the rider. Inevitably, this action too is criticised, so he seats his son in front of him. Whereupon the two of them are accused of overburdening the animal.
After a bit of pondering, they tie the donkey's feet to a pole and decide to carry the animal instead, which leads to much jeering. As they are crossing a bridge to get to the market, the donkey disentangles one of his legs and kicks out. In the fracas that ensues, the animal falls over the bridge and is drowned because its forelegs are still tied.
The moral of the story? Those who seek to please everybody will please nobody.
To which one might add: those who please nobody cannot seriously aspire to a two-term presidency. Yet the prospect of Obama losing in 2012 is an unpleasant one -- not on account of his (lack of) achievements, but because of the likelihood that his successor could be someone as crazy as Michele Bachman. The idea of a representative of the loony right presiding over the possible end of empire hardly bears contemplation.
Eventually someone will have to start wondering whether free-market capitalism, which entails the supremacy of the profit motive, is such a good idea after all. But it would be silly to hold one's breath.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/11/2011 00:00 ||
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FOX FIVE'S BOB BECKEL > not an S & P lover thats for sure, but does make a good point that S & P is the only internationally recognized credit rating company to downgrade the US from its decades-old "AAA+" rating.
FITCH, MOODY'S, LLOYD'S, ETAL. THE WORLD IS LOOKING AT YOU!
There are only two regional powers that could invade Syria and hold territory. One is Israel which will not be doing so and one is Turkey which might.
Turkey has an enormous advantage in air power over Syria probably has enough competent ground forces to take and hold a buffer zone.
The questions are:
- 1. What would be in it for Turkey; and,
- 2. What would the rest of the world do?
#1, Turkey feels its prestige is on the line. They hate the thought of chaos on one of their borders. They hate the thought of a neighbor essentially defying them. They also believe that the population in a buffer zone would consider them as heros. On the other hand, an invasion would be costly. It would also seem to be a danger diplomatically which brings us to
#2, The Gulf States, the Saudis and maybe a few more countries would probably support such a move. If Assad fell as a result, any condemnations would be hollow and any UN statements would be even more watery than otherwise.
Any bets on whether this plays out and how deep a buffer zone would be needed, e.g., 5 mi or 10 mi or 15 mi?
AoS at 1230 CT: original opinion pieces by Burg readers are always welcome. Put your name on it at the top so that we know. I added Lord Garth's name to this one. Thanks for the contribution, LG!
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
08/11/2011 00:00 ||
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Turkey has a Kurdish problem. The Kurds are breading faster than the Turks so the problem will become worse.
Invading Syria and convincing Turkish Kurds to move and give up all claim to land in Turkey in exchange for their own homeland would solve that problem.
Manage that and then Turkey just has to solve their self-created Cypress problem.
#2
Is there an article this is supposed to be linked to?
The Turks aren't going to invade Syria. For one thing, Kurds aren't nomads, you can't convince them to go seize Arab lands to the south & evacuate their actual homes in southern Turkey. Not unless you want to indulge in the usual ethnic-cleansing atrocities to *make* them want to do so.
Also, the Turkish military is paralyzed by Erdogan's rolling purge and decorative show trial display. They couldn't even plan an incursion right now, not without half the staff involved getting tossed in jug for plotting another phantasmic coup. Frankly, if I were a Turkish officer, given an order to plan an invasion of a neighboring country with which we were technically at peace, I might convert the exercise into a coup myself if I thought I could get away with it.
Finally, the Iranians would definitely go nuts if Turkish soldiers started playing "Blitzkrieg along the Euphrates". It probably wouldn't go so far as actual festivities, but I doubt Erdogan needs the mullahs making faces across his eastern border. They might even start arming the Kurds.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
08/11/2011 9:17 Comments ||
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no link... it is an opinion piece
by me
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
08/11/2011 9:38 Comments ||
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#4
Dollars to donuts Erdogen is trying to replace the entire military command with hand picked Islamist loyalists with no serious military training or experience, just like what the Iranians did after their revolution.
Such people are utterly indifferent to their own military getting slaughtered, since they distrust or even hate them anyway. Then their next thought is to augment their diminished numbers with civilians to charge the enemy machine guns.
Because, in the final analysis, such scum don't give a crap about civilian casualties, either.
The only twist to this scenario is NATO, because they won't give diddly for support to a non-NATO certified officer, even if he is adorned as a 14-star general.
While it's unlikely that Erdogen would pull out of NATO, Turkey would no longer be a functioning part of it. Much to the delight of the Greeks, who are capitalizing on every gaffe the Turks pull.
#5
Such people are utterly indifferent to their own military getting slaughtered, since they distrust or even hate them anyway. Then their next thought is to augment their diminished numbers with civilians to charge the enemy machine guns. Because, in the final analysis, such scum don't give a crap about civilian casualties, either.
Same could be said about a great many governments.
#6
Frankly, if I were a Turkish officer, given an order to plan an invasion of a neighboring country with which we were technically at peace, I might convert the exercise into a coup myself if I thought I could get away with it.
Precisely. A troop mobilization could turn into a purge of Turkey's Islamists.
#7
Dollars to donuts Erdogen is trying to replace the entire military command with hand picked Islamist loyalists with no serious military training or experience, just like what the Iranians did after their revolution.
Such people are utterly indifferent to their own military getting slaughtered, since they distrust or even hate them anyway. Then their next thought is to augment their diminished numbers with civilians to charge the enemy machine guns.
I think the mistake here is in assuming that Turkish soldiers will simply obey their superiors. The Islamists are at a point of inflexion. The existing internal security apparatus isn't strong enough to be able to use the usual threats of assassination and torture to cow the Turkish military. The problem is that to get over the threshold, the Islamists in power need to push beyond the point that fear supersedes resentment and rebellious sentiment. But in taking the steps to get to the point where fear inspires automatic obedience, they may trigger an insurrection by troops fearing that it may soon be too late to remove the looming tyranny.
The other problem is that the Arabs won't take too kindly to Turks invading Arab lands. It's one thing to invite Turks into a country, and quite another to get them to leave. Talk about deja vu all over again. I don't think there is a single Arab country that thinks it could stop the Turks once they get going. Why would Saudi Arabia want Turkish troops closer to its borders? Didn't they have enough trouble evicting the Turks after centuries of Turkish domination? Note that the Turks don't have a problem exterminating rebellious populations. How do Arabs justify supporting a Turkish invasion that then - in order to minimize Turkish casualties - kills millions of Arabs in an effort to drive them out of Syria?
#8
Finally, the Iranians would definitely go nuts if Turkish soldiers started playing "Blitzkrieg along the Euphrates". It probably wouldn't go so far as actual festivities, but I doubt Erdogan needs the mullahs making faces across his eastern border. They might even start arming the Kurds.
I think this is the biggest factor weighing against any invasion.
Well, second biggest, after the chaos unleashed by the latest purges.
#9
The Kurds don't lack for small arms or training. They've made nods & winks and a package dropped off the truck or 2 into a well organized, experienced and effective National Militia, reminds of um..... that deh... Haganah.
Posted by: S ||
08/11/2011 14:04 Comments ||
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I'm with Moose and Zang. Turkey looks like it is going thru a soft version of the purges after the Iranian 'revolution'.
The last thing the Turk Government would want to do is mobilize the army.
+ no one is going to welcome the Turks as liberators.
#13
Good question, because Iran is already thinking about colonizing Iraq, when the US leaves. Taking Syria would leave them with a huge Near East bloc.
What about Iran's nukes? The won't announce that capacity until they get nuclear tipped ICBMs, targeted at US cities.
Why won't BHO pre-empt a Homeland threat? His Homeland isn't in the US.
#14
What about Iran's nukes? The won't announce that capacity until they get nuclear tipped ICBMs, targeted at US cities.
Why would they wait until they can reach the U.S., Glavitle Bucket1058, when Israel is so much closer, and they see wiping Israel off the map as necessary to redeem the entire Muhammed experiment?
For a while now, Glenn Reynolds has argued that Jimmy Carter is the best-case scenario for Obama because its been pretty obvious for a while now. But its only this morning that I figured out the why....
Carters biggest failure wasnt bad policy prescriptions. Some of his were terrible, but many he was willing and able to correct midcourse. Carters main failure was a failure of leadership. When we needed reassurance, he proved feckless. When we needed inspiration, he told us to lower our expectations. Carter could have been policy perfect from the beginning to the end of his administration but he still would have lasted only one term.
Jimmy Carter could not lead this nation. He couldnt lead the way out of a wet paper bag. He couldnt lead a dog to kibble. Jimmy Carter is a bad leader.
Which brings us to President Barack Obama.
Weve seen over the last two years that Obama isnt much of a leader, either. His speeches have become boring and pedantic and hectoring. His foreign policy is irresolute where it isnt plain laughable (and laughed at from Moscow to Beijing to Caracas). His signature domestic achievements ObamaCare and the stimulus dont even have his own fingerprints anywhere near them. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid cobbled them together in the dead of night. All Obama did was wave his magic pen on the dotted line, and expect everything to turn out all right.
Barack Obama cannot lead this nation. He couldnt lead the way out of a wet paper bag. He couldnt lead a dog to kibble. Barack Obama is a bad leader.
And thats where things really get bad....
Posted by: Mike ||
08/11/2011 06:51 ||
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Should we start sending the White House sweaters?
#6
Yep, man is in a race with Buchanan. Unfortunately, I suspect his actions will result in another Constitutional Amendment to move the inauguration closer to the election date to minimize the damage potential in the future.
#7
Weve seen over the last two years that Obama isnt much of a leader, either.
Even the left is carping about President Obama's obvious lack of "leadership" skills. The word "spineless" has been bandied about quite abit lately. Politically, he may be able to overcome that deficiency by running a 'the other guy is worse' campaign. However, if he starts to slide any further in the "Trust" catagory - he's toast.
#9
Sweet Jesus Besoeker Slick Willie was a damn Eisenhower compared to this sucker.
Posted by: S ||
08/11/2011 14:08 Comments ||
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I hate to say it - in fact, I really hate to say it - but the country would have been better off with Hillary Clinton as president. You know: given no other choice than Obama or Hillary.
#11
I hate to say it - in fact, I really hate to say it - but the country would have been better off with Hillary Clinton as president
You sure you don't overestimate the influence Bill would've had in Hillary's administration (IMO, she's has reality dysfunction just as bad as Obama---and, unlike him, she isn't lazy).
#13
Some people thought Rush was being too clever by far when he encouraged people to vote for Obama in the primaries. He intended, of course, to keep HRC out of the Presidency, but misread the likelihood that Obama would win the general election.
...How many times have we heard it said that Mr. Obama is the smartest president ever? Even when he's criticized, his failures are usually chalked up to his supposed brilliance. Liberals say he's too cerebral for the Beltway rough-and-tumble; conservatives often seem to think his blunders, foreign and domestic, are all part of a cunning scheme to turn the U.S. into a combination of Finland, Cuba and Saudi Arabia.
I don't buy it. I just think the president isn't very bright.
Socrates taught that wisdom begins in the recognition of how little we know. Mr. Obama is perpetually intent on telling us how much he knows. Aristotle wrote that the type of intelligence most needed in politics is prudence, which in turn requires experience. Mr. Obama came to office with no experience. Plutarch warned that flattery "makes itself an obstacle and pestilence to great houses and great affairs." Today's White House, more so than any in memory, is stuffed with flatterers.
Much is made of the president's rhetorical gifts. This is the sort of thing that can be credited only by people who think that a command of English syntax is a mark of great intellectual distinction. Can anyone recall a memorable phrase from one of Mr. Obama's big speeches that didn't amount to cliché? As for the small speeches, such as the one we were kept waiting 50 minutes for yesterday, we get Triple-A bromides about America remaining a "Triple-A country." Which, when it comes to long-term sovereign debt, is precisely what we no longer are under Mr. Obama.
...it takes actual smarts to understand that glibness and self-belief are not sufficient proof of genuine intelligence. Stupid is as stupid does, said the great philosopher Forrest Gump. The presidency of Barack Obama is a case study in stupid does.
Posted by: Mike ||
08/11/2011 06:43 ||
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I din't think he was too bright a couple of days ago. Even more so today. Does bright mean conniving and deceptive?
Posted by: Shakey Steve ||
08/11/2011 10:52 Comments ||
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All true and more de Medici, but your defeatest attitude is of little help. Hopefully, we have learned well the lessons of racist, tribal leadership which by the way, represent the foundations of modern collectivism.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/11/2011 15:36 Comments ||
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#7
Short Answer: Yes
Long Answer: Yeah.
Posted by: Charles ||
08/11/2011 16:15 Comments ||
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Charger has a post(opinion) "British Degeneracy on Parade" that I found very interesting. He mentioned Aethelred the Redeless so I did a little search. Good stuff really. In reading I found a quote by Christopher Columbus: "Columbus had said, "We will sail to the west, and ever to the west, until the west becomes the east." This is Obama. He has set his course. Smart? that is another story being told. I hope it has a good ending.
Oh the legend lives on from Palestinians on down
Of the big thing they call a bulldozer
The dozer, its said, always flattens its dead
When the left wing protesters turn looney.
With a carbon steel frame sixty-two metric tons more
Than the flat Rachael Corrie weighed empty.
The blade it is true is a thing to be feared
When the treads of the dozer start rolling.
The Cat was the pride of the Israeli side
Coming back from some hills in the Gaza
As the big dozers go, it was bigger than most
With a diesel of four hundred horses.
Concluding some berms with a couple of quick turns
Then they left fully fueled up for Rafah
When later that day her megaphone sang
Could it be that dumb b***h they was hearin?
The dirt in the treads made a tattle-tale sound
As the mud broke over the blading
And every man knew, as Miss Corrie did too,
Twas a big Caterpillar come dozin.
The blade came down and the dumb twit stood her ground
When the D9 bulldozer came plowin.
Devoid of good sense and ignoring all risk
She turned her back on the oncoming dozer.
When it finally came, the dumb b***h kept her place, sayin
Surely, theyll stop what theyre doing.
Under the tread her air pathway caved in, she said
Dammit, this shouldnt have happened!
Her friends called in that the blonde b***h was down,
And the bomb storage house was in peril.
And later that day when her lights went outta sight
Came the death of the flat Rachael Corrie.
Does any one know where the sense of libs go
When the blade turns the minutes to hours?
The soldiers all say shed have got out okay
If shed put fifteen more feet behind her.
She might have been crushed or she might have split wide;
May have broke ribs and her bladder.
And all that remains is the traces and the stains
Of her imprint, the tread tracks and splatter.
Arafat stews, Hizbollah spews
From the rooms of their compounds in Gaza.
The ISM screams like a spoiled preteen
They voice their support for the terror.
And dont we all know, when the buses explode
Theyll march out their apologists willing,
Now activists go as the drivers all know
With the big caterpillars remembered.
In a musty old room in Ramallah they prayed,
In the ISM office of terror.
The door bell chimed till it rang seventy-two times
For each cleat on the big Caterpiller.
The legend lives on from Palestinians on down
Of the big thing they call a bulldozer.
The dozer, they said, always flattens its dead
When left wing protestors turn looney!
(hat tip to BastardSword Blog & apologies to Gordon Lightfoot)
#2
Probably too subtle for most Islamists to notice. They prefer a target that is simple and easy to understand, like cartoonists and filmmakers.
They feel far less threatened by literate text, because they assume that they can out-b.s. and lie their way around it. Just send in the CAIR spokesman, and he can spin day into night, accuse the burning orphans of aggression, and demand apologies for even the suggestion that Muslims are to blame, which at the same time decry "terrorism committed by Crusader Christians" against theoretical Muslims.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Stephen Green ("Vodkapundit")
Weve seen over the last two years that Obama isnt much of a leader, either. His speeches have become boring and pedantic and hectoring. His foreign policy is irresolute where it isnt plain laughable (and laughed at from Moscow to Beijing to Caracas). His signature domestic achievements ObamaCare and the stimulus dont even have his own fingerprints anywhere near them. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid cobbled them together in the dead of night. All Obama did was wave his magic pen on the dotted line, and expect everything to turn out all right.
I don't buy it. I just think the president isn't very bright.
