Gorby In, Garbage Out

If this doesn't open your eyes up to what is going on, Nothing will!!

By JAMES TARANTO on WSJ.com

Mention the name Mikhail Gorbachev to anyone under 35 or so, and you'll likely draw a blank look. Even those old enough to remember Gorbachev may be astonished to learn that he is still alive. Yet although history's second and subsequent drafts have relegated him to a supporting role, the first draft--that is, the journalism of the 1980s--mistook him for the lead character. In 1989 Time magazine named Gorbachev, not Ronald Reagan (or Margaret Thatcher or Lech Walesa or Pope John Paul II), "man of the decade."
But Gorbachev's name came up earlier this week in an odd context, an Associated Press "analysis" by Steven R. Hurst of President Obama's foreign policy:

President Barack Obama has gone abroad and gored an ox--the deeply held belief that the United States does not make mistakes in dealings with either friends or foes.

And in the process, he's taking a huge gamble both at home and abroad, for a payoff that could be a long time coming, if ever. . . .

While historic analogies are never perfect, Obama's stark efforts to change the U.S. image abroad are reminiscent of the stunning realignments sought by former Soviet leader Michael Gorbachev. During his short--by Soviet standards--tenure, he scrambled incessantly to shed the ideological entanglements that were leading the communist empire toward ruin.

There are lots of problems with Hurst's analysis, one of which is that the "belief that the United States does not make mistakes" is not an ox but a straw man, as Hurst himself implicitly acknowledges:

Critics, especially those deeply attached to the foreign policy course of the past 50-plus years, see a president whose lofty ideals expose the country to a dangerous probing of U.S. weakness, of an unseemly readiness to admit past mistakes, of a willingness to talk with unpleasant opponents.

In other words, the people who supposedly believe that the U.S. does not make mistakes are arguing that the U.S., right now, is making a big mistake!

The Obama-Gorbachev comparison is what really got our attention, though. There is a striking parallel between the two men, in that both have drawn adoring coverage from the media. But what makes Gorbachev an interesting figure is also what makes him a relatively minor one: He was consequential because he was passive.

Gorbachev did not succeed in bringing down the Soviet empire. He failed at saving it. History is replete with circumstances in which evil triumphed because well-intentioned statesmen failed to act effectively. In this case, freedom triumphed because an ill-intentioned statesman failed to act effectively.

Gorbachev was a communist who presided over the disintegration of the country he had been chosen to lead. There are those who say the same thing about Obama, but most of them are right-wing nuts.

DHS Chief Napolitano: Illegal Immigration Is Not a Crime

from Newsmax.com

By: Jim Meyers

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano stunned many listeners during an appearance on CNN when she asserted that illegal immigration is really not a crime.


In an interview with CNN’s John King last week, Napolitano discussed Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Ariz., a strict enforcer of immigration laws who says he wants illegal aliens to be prosecuted and jailed.


King said: “A lot of Democrats in Congress want you to investigate him. They think he is over the line. He says he is just enforcing the law and the problem is the federal government.”


Napolitano responded: “Sheriff Joe … knows that there aren’t enough law enforcement officers, courtrooms or jail cells in the world to do what he is saying.


“What we have to do is target the real evil-doers in this business, the employers who consistently hire illegal labor, the human traffickers who are exploiting human misery.


“And yes, when we find illegal workers, yes, appropriate action, some of which is criminal, most of that is civil, because crossing the border is not a crime per se. It is civil. But anyway, going after those as well.”


The fact is, crossing the border without authorization is a crime. The statute reads: “Any alien who enters or attempts to enter the United States at any time or place other than as designated by immigration officers . . . shall, for the first commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than 6 months, or both.”

CIA Confirms: Waterboarding 9/11 Mastermind Led to Info that Aborted 9/11-Style Attack on Los Angeles

Tuesday, April 21, 2009
By Terence P. Jeffrey, Editor-in-Chief

(CNSNews.com) - The Central Intelligence Agency told CNSNews.com today that it stands by the assertion made in a May 30, 2005 Justice Department memo that the use of “enhanced techniques” of interrogation on al Qaeda leader Khalid Sheik Mohammed (KSM) -- including the use of waterboarding -- caused KSM to reveal information that allowed the U.S. government to thwart a planned attack on Los Angeles.


Before he was waterboarded, when KSM was asked about planned attacks on the United States, he ominously told his CIA interrogators, “Soon, you will know.”

According to the previously classified May 30, 2005 Justice Department memo that was released by President Barack Obama last week, the thwarted attack -- which KSM called the “Second Wave”-- planned “ ‘to use East Asian operatives to crash a hijacked airliner into’ a building in Los Angeles.” (Full Story at CNSNews.com)

No wheeling or dealing when it comes to killing

Kudos to Carl Olson at Ignatius Insight

The New York Times ponders the fight and focus of the President:

Mr. Obama has not conceded on any major priority. His advisers argue that the concessions to date — on budget items, for instance — are intended to help win the bigger policy fights ahead. But his early willingness to deal or fold has left commentators, and some loyal Democrats, wondering: where’s the fight?

“The thing we still don’t know about him is what he is willing to fight for,” said Leonard Burman, an economist at the Urban Institute and a Treasury Department official in the Clinton administration. “The thing I worry about is that he likes giving good speeches, he likes the adulation and he likes to make people happy.”

So far, he said, “It’s hard to think of a place where he’s taken a really hard position.”

It's not hard at all. Here's a clue: it begins with an "a" and end with murder. It just happens to be the one issue on which Obama has always taken a really hard position. But perhaps that is simply a given for Mr. Burman...

Senate Committee Approves Pro-Abortion Kathleen Sebelius For Health Secretary

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A Senate panel today approved the nomination of pro-abortion Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to become President Barack Obama's health secretary. The Senate Finance Committee voted 15-8 for her nomination and now it heads to the full Senate for a debate and vote. There is no timetable on when the Senate will vote to confirm Sebelius, but political observers expect the Democratic-controlled chamber to approve her. The vote could take place as early as later today or later this week. Republicans on the committee who voted against Sebelius cited their concerns about her lengthy pro-abortion record. That includes vetoing several pro-life bills and a close relationship with late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller who has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to support her political campaigns and those of her close allies. "I don't think we'll ever get a pro-life person appointed to that position with this president, but we want to make sure we don't get somebody that has got radical views on abortion," Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa said. Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, another GOP member, added that he initially thought Sebelius "seemed to be a qualified candidate for the job." "However, after learning about her inexplicable omission of donations from the late-term abortion doctor George Tiller, I have to reevaluate my support for her nomination," Hatch said. All of the Democrats on the panel backed Sebelius' nomination along with two Republicans, pro-abortion Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine and Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas, who normally votes pro-life but supported the Obama nominee from home state. Full News Story at LifeNews.com

The Gathering Marriage Storm

Posted by Tom McFeely

Wednesday, April 22, 2009 8:48 AM 

This video is part of the National Organization for Marriage’s new "Gathering Storm" media ad.

It’s especially timely today, as state legislators in Connecticut may vote today on legislation to codify same-sex “marriage” in that state.

Last weekend, as CNS reports here, Connecticut’s bishops used weekend Masses to urge parishioners to fight the proposed legislation.

Pulpit announcements read in churches statewide April 18 and 19 called on Catholics to help defeat a Senate bill that seeks to codify the Connecticut Supreme Court’s ruling last October legalizing same-sex marriage. TheConnecticut bishops warned the bill “fails to protect the First Amendment rights of individuals, religious organizations and related societies,” CNS reported.

(Full story at NCRegister.com)

Obamas Spending vs Obamas Spending Cuts - in Pictures

from Heritage Foundation:

According to reports, President Barack Obama plans to convene his Cabinet for the first time today, where he will order members to identify a combined $100 million in budget cuts over the next 90 days. Just how laughable is Obama’s latest stunt to try to maintain his “fiscal responsibility” credentials? This graphic from Heritage’s John Fleming might help:

 

Harvard University economics professor Greg Mankiw’s comments:
To put those numbers in perspective, imagine that the head of a household with annual spending of $100,000 called everyone in the family together to deal with a $34,000 budget shortfall. How much would he or she announce that spending had to be cut? By $3 over the course of the year–approximately the cost of one latte at Starbucks. The other $33,997? We can put that on the family credit card and worry about it next year.”

Bishop R. Walker Nickless 'Sadness at Notre Dame'

And then there were 9.

Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

This is in violation of the U.S. Bishops teaching that no honors ever be given by our Catholic institutions to those who support and promote the killing of innocent human beings through abortion. This is truly a sad day for the famous university dedicated to our Blessed Mother. 

 

SIOUX CITY, IA (Catholic Online) - As a part of a larger article written for the "Catholic Globe", the Most Reverend R. Walker Nickless added his voice to the growing crescendo of voices opposing the invitation by the University of Notre Dame to President Barack Obama to address their 2009 graduates and receive an honorary Doctor of Law Degree. The Bishop wrote:  

SADNESS AT NOTRE DAME 

 

"I know many of you join me in surprise and anger that the University of Notre Dame - which for many is “the” example of a Catholic University - through its president, Father John Jenkins, has invited the most pro-abortion president of the United States not only to give the commencement address this year, but also to receive an Honorary Law Degree.

"This is in violation of the U.S. Bishops teaching that no honors ever be given by our Catholic institutions to those who support and promote the killing of innocent human beings through abortion. This is truly a sad day for the famous university dedicated to our Blessed Mother.

"I encourage those who care to write to Father Jenkins and express their displeasure with this invitation. May Father Jenkins have the courage to rescind this invitation and not be afraid of the possible embarrassment by admitting that he has made a bad decision.

"Catholic institutions of higher learning must always be places where the Catholic values we hold so dearly will always be supported and promoted - not where the culture of death is allowed to be honored or valued. Let us pray for those who work so hard to keep our Catholic institutions truly Catholic in all they do to promote the gospel of life.

"May this Lent bring us to accept the need for a renewal of our entire faith, and the desire to live only in and through our Lord Jesus Christ, in His Church and in all His holy sacraments! Pray for me, and know that I continue daily to pray for all of you.

Your brother in Christ,

Most Reverend R. Walker Nickless, Bishop of Sioux City 

 

Our Problem is Immorality

Great article by Walter E. Williams. 

My friend David has this great commentary about the article an d has graciously allowed me to include it here in my post:

'This is an interesting column. It essentially reflects the "philosophy of the human person" taught by the Catholic Church. Each person is possessed of a dignity endowed by God and thus is sancrosanct; he or she can not be transgressed upon or acted upon without consent or genuine "due process". There is more to this view of the human person, but Dr. Williams is on the right "trajectory". . . and it is indeed the source of our manifold societal and governmental problems.' 

 
  by Walter E. Williams


Most of our nation's great problems, including our economic problems, have as their root decaying moral values. Whether we have the stomach to own up to it or not, we have become an immoral people left with little more than the pretense of morality. You say, "That's a pretty heavy charge, Williams. You'd better be prepared to back it up with evidence!" I'll try with a few questions for you to answer.


Do you believe that it is moral and just for one person to be forcibly used to serve the purposes of another? And, if that person does not peaceably submit to being so used, do you believe that there should be the initiation of some kind of force against him? Neither question is complex and can be answered by either a yes or no. For me the answer is no to both questions but I bet that your average college professor, politician or minister would not give a simple yes or no response. They would be evasive and probably say that it all depends.  (Full story at Townhall.com)