Conservative Donnybrook

While speaking to an assembly of minority journalists in Chicago, Barack Obama chastised the U.S. for its “tragic past.”  Sen. Obama was referring to the treatment of native Americans as well as the institutionalized slavery of millions of African-Americans.  Indeed, these are blemishes on America’s rich and wonderful heritage.  But Barak was not finsished.  He continued,  ”I consistently believe that when it comes to whether it’s Native Americans or African-American issues or reparations, the most important thing for the U.S. government to do is not just offer words, but offer deeds.”  The words Obama is referring to pertain to the House’s formal apology for slavery and Jim Crow laws of old.

Is Obama really calling for reparations?  He is seriously asking me to pay reparations for something that neither I nor my family ever engaged in?  What about my ancestors that may have died fighting to end slavery?  Should I too receive reparations?  Obama needs to expound on this issue.  Please, Senator, go on.

Despite the hopes of East-Coasters, Mid-West folk and the Southern populace, California did not break off and fall into the ocean today.  We survived the minor quake with ease.  Sorry to disappoint you all!

In an effort to understand the mindset of persons of the Paleo persuasion, I have spent the last couple of days reviewing material on Taki’s, Chronicles and even PJB’s site.  What really caught my attention was the anti-military theme played out on Lewrockwell.com.  Rather than producing a justly deserved, long diatribe on how horrible most of the “intellectuals” at LW are, I thought I would simply let you see for yourself just how much many (but not all) of the Lew Rockwell types hate those serving in an American military uniform.  This is by no means an exhaustive list; in fact this collection covers only a portion of the slander levied at members of our armed forces THIS WEEK!  Enjoy.

William Lind
http://www.lewrockwell.com/lind/lind143.html
“I suspect Iraqi officials had not heard the f-word used so many times in one sentence since they last had to pass a roadblock manned by Marine lance corporals.”

Roger Young
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig6/young-r3.html
“Why do militarists proudly point out soldier’s benevolent acts toward civilians suffering the effects of war when it is the soldiers that caused the suffering in the first place?”

“Why are soldiers considered the ‘best and the brightest’…Shouldn’t they be referred to as the ‘clueless and easily deceived?’”

Robert Higgs
http://www.lewrockwell.com/higgs/higgs84.html
“It takes a heap of chutzpah to impose sanctions on a country, kill… hundreds of thousands of children and others with weakened immune systems, then invade the country, killing hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children by bombing, shooting, shelling, beating, stabbing, suffocating, and immolating them, then create such chaos and violence among the populace that millions are forced to abandon their residence and rendered homeless, then announce your regret that so few speak in favor of moderation.”

“U.S. forces continue to occupy Iraq and Afghanistan and to brutalize their people.”

According to WND news, the Obama campaign plastered campaign posters all over the entrance to Judaism’s holiest site, the Western Wall.  This demonstrates the campaign’s lack of respect for religious sanctity.    Does Obama not understand the history and significance of this place?!  Obama reportedly placed a note in one of the Western Wall’s cracks.  My guess is it read “Oh magic wall, make me President.”

Show some respect to Judaism and history next time, will ya?

I figured someone on this site would have to post it:

The city of Thousand Oaks, California voted last month to ban smoking in most public places.  No one may smoke within 25 feet of a playground, in any public area or even on the patio of a restaurant!  This sort of nanny-state political scheme is hard for many in other, more freedom loving places to fathom.  Yet here, in the land of fruits and nuts where I reside, small town city councils like T.O. feel that they had better protect me from…me!  Anyway, the same council just voted to extend the ban to the “playing areas” of city owned golf courses.  You still can’t smoke at the club house or patio but you can now smoke on the tees, the water hazards and practice areas. 

This is nothing new for California, our elected elite have been graciously saving us from ourselves for years.  What is truly amazing about this story is that only one lone council member voted against the smoking ban on certain parts of the course.  His name is Tom Glancy and he is the only worth while member of the council.  Mr. Glancy had this to say, “I really believe strongly in the harmful effects of smoking,” [but] there’s a point at which we draw a line where we say we can’t keep legislating behavior.”

Precisely, Mr. Glancy. 

What’s next, a ban on what I can and can not eat?  To borrow a phrase, “D’Oh!”

Yes. I am referring to a Canadian paper about Canadian politicians, but that doesn’t automatically make everything it says full of crap. In fact, this story hits the nail on the head.

Both McCain and Obama favor the implementation of a cap-and-trade system similar to Europe’s. Yet, as our somehow-not-full-of-crap Canadian reporter notes:

It’s not just that carbon taxes and cap-and-trade don’t remove one molecule of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. It’s that our politicians are ignoring evidence they’re ineffective, impractical, outdated and punitive.

Look at Europe’s Emissions Trading Scheme, the world’s largest cap-and-trade carbon market.

Among its other fiascoes (windfall profits for energy companies and speculators, skyrocketing electricity prices for consumers) emissions are going up.

In other words, it’s not just Canadian politicians, they’re all guzzling the Kool-Aid about as fast as it can be mixed up and poured over ice. The worst part is that cap-and-trade will result in higher energy prices precisely when the energy market is shoving prices into the rude end of the spectrum. These proposals would put an even harsher pinch on American families than would doing nothing. And would accomplish nothing respect to climate change (assuming that it is caused by humans, and that carbon usage is the culprit, and that we can effect the climate by reducing carbon usage, etc.).

While I am on the topic of so-called global climate change, I happened upon a completely unrelated article that may call into question whether human activity can be blamed for climate change at all. These stories (here, here, and here) cast doubt on the assertion that anything humans are doing (or could refrain from doing) would have any effect on the climate. A key point to keep in mind while perusing those stories: there are no (and never have been) humans on Mars, no SUVs, no industry.

The Russkies have reportedly been in contact with the communists is Cuba concerning nuclear bombers.  Sources inside fascist Russia have indicated that the two long time allies may agree to place strategic nuclear bombers on the Caribbean island as a way to “counter” the proposed missile shield Washington plans for eastern Europe.  

Power-hungry and wanting to appear dangerous, the Russian government sees the threat of nuclear war as a reasonable response to defensive installations in Europe.  Even isolationist paleo-conservatives will have to agree that a nuclear Cuba is unacceptable.  But how to prevent it?  A naval blockade will not work this time.  An air blockade would work only if the U.S. is prepared to destroy Russian aircraft, a clear act of war.  The hope is that the Russians, once again, are bluffing. 

However, an effective way to counter act this threat would be to blockade Cuba itself.  This means no foreigin tourism, no foreign investments and no trade would be allowed with Cuba.  This, of course would be a declaration which would have to be enforced by the United States.  A longer-range, more productive plan would be the creation of an economic Monroe doctrine I have advocated for in the past, though this would not fix the immediate problem, it would help to turn away most of central and south America’s, as well as the Caribbean’s, pink tide (an old article).

As advertised, the inevitable has occurred: Obama has conceded victory in Iraq.

In essence, Obama has declared the war in Iraq all but over. “There is security progress,” he said during yesterday’s news conference in Amman, Jordan. “Now we need a political solution.” While a diminished U.S. force under his presidency would continue to protect U.S. personnel, target terrorists and provide training, he said, it would be up to Baghdad to consolidate the victory by “setting up a government that is working for the people.”

Obama’s insistence on bringing the troops home within 16 months necessitated his finding that Iraq was stable during his visit. He can now argue that a continued American presence in Iraq would be counterproductive, which might even be true to a point. However, he misses the point that his telegraphing of the American troop drawdown brings with it the risk that whatever insurgency may still exist will simply wait us out. Plus, it is quite possible that so rigid a redeployment will leave the Iraqi military in a position where we are committed to leave before they are truly ready to assume the role that Obama would thrust upon them. A more flexible approach, with a general commitment to turn over the security of Iraq to Iraqis, as McCain suggests, would be a much safer route and would allow for the inevitable screwballs that war tends to serve up.

The only question was whether anyone would connect his late consession with his prior opposition to the strategy which brought us to this point. (Ramirez nailed it!) It is nice that Obama can rely on the fruits of the sound strategy of President Bush and General Petraeus. Had it been up to Obama, our troops would have left Iraq with their tails between their legs, smarting from defeat in an “unwinnable war.” The forces of radical jihad would have enjoyed a large feather in their caps after chasing the Great Satan out of the Fertile Crescent. Emboldened, they would have exploited that situation to recruit even more terrorists who would take the fight to the Americans. And this world would be more dangerous than it is.

UPDATE: It seems that Obama was asked by the MSM whether, in retrospect, he would change his vote against the surge:

The freshman senator, who is currently in the middle of a worldwide public-relations campaign to make himself look more presidential, told ABC News’ Terry Moran that he still would have voted against the troop surge in Iraq even knowing what he knows today.

He is now starting to take a bit of heat for that position.

The District of Columbia still doesn’t get it. Even after Justice Scalia went to all the trouble to explain it to them. This is a bit of an elderly story (I didn’t see it until today), but I think it is still worthy of comment.

It seems that after winning a landmark case in front of the Supreme Court of the United States, Dick Heller, Scalia opinion in hand, went to the Metropolitan Police Department headquarters to register his handgun. His application was rejected. Apparently, it seems, any gun which loads from the bottom is a machine gun (or closely related).

There are lots of people who know more about guns than I, but I have a fair amount of familiarity with the topic. In attempting to think of a semi-automatic pistol that does not load from the bottom, I have come up blank. Perhaps someone knows of a side-loading semi. In fact, it seems to me that the only firearms I know of which are side-loading are machine guns!

It would seem that Mr. Heller is looking at another round of litigation to challenge the application of the District’s licensure of handguns. It’s a shame that Scalia’s work fell on deaf ears. Perhaps in Heller II, he will use small words so that even the District City Council members will understand.

Charles Krauthammer has a great piece in the Washington Post about Obama’s modesty or lack thereof. Obama’s penchant for portraying himself in “elevated” positions has been discussed on this blog before. What I absolutely do not understand is how otherwise reasonable people will get weak in the knees when they see Obama speak. Don’t they understand he has done nothing of record (that would distinguish himself from other law professors) throughout his professional career? Next thing you know we will be told that Obama has a divine right to rule the United States. One can only hope that sooner or later Obama’s real professional record (which is non-existent) will catch up to his continuous self-aggrandizement.

UPDATE 07.23.08: The best line of this article is “strode onto the world stage with trademark audacity.” Yet another example of Obama trying to use historical symbolism to create a professional record that simply does not exist.

Today I have added a new webzine called The Catholic Thing to our blogroll. The Catholic Thing is being launched (actually it was launched in early June - I am behind in finding it and spreading the word) by Dr. Robert Royal in association with Dr. Michael Novak and Dr. Ralph McInerny. Some of you may remember Dr. McInerny for his now-sadly-defunct magazine Catholic Dossier: Issues in the Round. By far, Catholic Dossier was my favorite Catholic magazine of any I’ve ever read.  Some of the other regular columnists are: Hadley Arkes, Michael Uhlmann, Mary Eberstadt, George Marlin, Bill Saunders, Brad Minor and Austin Ruse. With any luck, and with our prayers, Dr. Royal’s new enterprise will capture some of the spirit of that publication. So far, the results are promising.

Two announcements:

First, beginning tomorrow, Conservative Donnybrook is encouraging all lawyers and friends of CD to begin a novena to pray for the successful passage of the candidates taking the New York bar exam. The prayer which CD asks everyone to pray is as follows each day beginning on July 19 and ending on July 28, the day before the exam:

On behalf of the takers of the New York Bar Exam, we pray:

O Ineffable Creator,

True Fountain of light and wisdom, shed the brightness of Thy Light upon the darkness of my understanding;

Grant me acuteness in understanding what I read, power to remember it, readiness in learning it, subtlety in interpreting it, and clearness in expressing it.

Order the beginnings of my work, direct its progress, and bring it to fulfillment, through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Second, CD invites our audience to watch this space for the inevitable announcement when Obama concedes victory in Iraq after his tour there.

Ben Smith over at politico has penned a piece (of something) about John McCain’s history of joke making.  He condemns the man for having a sense of humor, something more politicians need.  Are McCain’s jokes that horrible?  Nah, tasteless at time, funny at others but not horrible.  So why this desperation?  Does Mr. Smith fear a McCain presidency so much that he lambastes the man for telling a joke of two?  I dunno.  So why, oh why is Mr. Smith so rattled by humor?  Has Ben ever made a funny?  If not he should start, it is therapeutic.  Otherwise his “reporting” career may yet prove to be his only joke!

Earlier today I noted that the asinine commentators on CNBC were discussing the question of whether the energy bull market had run its course. This after two consecutive days of oil prices falling. TWO DAYS! Granted, oil dropped 7% over the past two days, but are you kidding? Two days marks an enduring trend? Ironically, today was the first day that it cost me more than $50 to fill up my 12-gallon tank ($4.15/gallon this morning). What a rude shock that was.

President Bush’s lifting of the executive order banning offshore drilling was and is a good thing. Although, it should be seen in context with a wider energy policy which seeks to develop and exploit new technologies, expands domestic onshore oil production, and diversifies our energy portfolio by bringing online more options like nuclear energy. This clearly should be coupled with conservation, even if the president will not command Americans to conserve.

In the last few months, there have been stories that indicate that the late oil price boom has not been driven solely by supply and demand, but rather by speculation in the futures market. These stories have noted that as oil prices soared, non-OPEC nations have dramatically increased production and more than met the demand. In short, supply has been outstripping demand. Simple economics confirms that this is probably true. If the commodities market, taking into account the future price of oil bets that oil prices will increase, more investors will enter the market and drive the current price up. In return, producers will increase production. At the same time, because oil consumption is extremely inelastic demand will decrease only marginally. The result is that there will be a surplus in production, which nonetheless will demand a price higher than the equilibrium point would dictate. Granted, demand is booming as previously second and third world nations modernize (India and China, conspicuously), the global demand for oil increases. But, growing demand does not tell the whole story.

The point, of course, is that effect prices at the pump today, one must craft a policy which will have an effect on the futures market. One way to do that is to commit to greatly increasing future supply. This is what the president has allowed oil companies to do. The big question in my mind is whether the oil companies will take advantage of the increased availability of drilling opportunities. Time will tell. If it appears that the United States is poised to enter the world oil market on a large scale in five to ten years, that should suffice to drive futures prices down and the price at the pump will follow. How much is anyone’s guess. Right now, I would be happy if it just stopped going up.

Now, if Pelosi and company will lift the Congressional ban, we might see some relief at the gas pump.

Israel has done something so foolish, so ridiculous, so mind bogglingly stupid that even their enemies were shocked. What has Olmert done, you ask, to provoke such harsh criticism? He, essentially, agreed to free terrorist-murders in exchange for the kidnapping and assasination of Israeli soldiers.

Now, before you recoil from my extremely provocative statement, stop and think about what has happened. Two years ago Hezbollah invaded Israel, kidnapped two soldiers and killed them. Israel, not knowing the soldiers had been murdered, fought a futile war with Hezbollah and lost. In the process, more than 1,350 civilians lost their lives on either side of the border. Hezbollah managed to keep hold of their catch, refuse Israeli entry into Lebanon and, in the process, win the war and throw the whole of Israeli security in doubt.

In response to the freeing of five living and dangerous terrorist-murders, a spokes-hole for Hamas’ prime minister said that the release “shows that the only successful way to free the prisoners is by kidnapping soldiers.” Now, Israel has a long history of this odd behavior. For many years they have freed terrorists in exchange for both living and dead captured Israeli soldiers. Never has this policy done a positive thing for the nation or its people. It certainly has not slowed the operations of Islamic terrorists.

What today’s folly has demonstrated is Israel’s lack of will to destroy the enemy. Losing the war two years ago was both an embarrassment and strategic blunder. But caving to terrorist demands simply to recover the remains of those who fought and fell is an affront to their families and their service. If this was to be the fate of Israel, then why did they fight Hezbollah in the first place? Make no mistake, the enemy is emboldened and ruthless. More destruction will flow from Olmert’s mistake.

So, is Olmert complicit in the death of two of his nation’s citizens? No, not these two. But a case sure can be made that his actions make him responsible for the next soldiers kidnapped and killed. And there are sure to be more to come.

With their standard bearer taking a beating on energy policy, Congressional Democrats have revealed today that they are working on Stimulus Package, the Sequel. The politics behind this is obvious. I suppose the Democrats think that voters will say, “Golly! Nancy Pelosi sent us a check for $400, let’s vote for the Democrats this time around. At least they care about us little people.”

While I will be happy to receive a rebate on my overpayment of taxes, the Democrats should not make the mistake of thinking that their pandering will influence my vote. They should have never taken the money in the first place. Lowering tax rates and curbing spending would go a long way toward reviving a flailing, over-regulated, economy.

It has happened.  Anheuser-Busch has agreed to InBev’s acquisition offer of $52 billion.  The King is dying and will be dead by year’s end.  Thank you, Budweiser, for all the good times.  I will keep you in my heart, but no longer in my stein.  The sale to the Belgian-Brazilian beer slingers is an affront to patriotic Bud drinkers all over America. 

This deal leaves America without a macro-brewer all her own.  Miller (disgusting) is owned by the South Africans.  Coors, in partnership with the Canucks.  So I say fare thee well, I am sure the communists in asia and the fascists in Russia will treat you right.  I, however, will from this day forward pour my affections out of a Firestone bottle.

Ahh, what was and what could have been….

One final tribute:

Back in 2003, Ann Coulter wrote a column exposing the fact that a fellow named Greg Packer had been repeatedly interviewed, at numerous unrelated events, and by multiple news organizations, as a “man on the street:”

Another average individual eager to get Hillary’s book was Greg Packer, who was the centerpiece of The New York Times’ “man on the street” interview about Hillary-mania. After being first in line for an autographed book at the Fifth Avenue Barnes & Noble, Packer gushed to the Times: “I’m a big fan of Hillary and Bill’s. I want to change her mind about running for president. I want to be part of her campaign.”

It was easy for the Times to spell Packer’s name right because he is apparently the entire media’s designated “man on the street” for all articles ever written. He has appeared in news stories more than 100 times as a random member of the public. Packer was quoted on his reaction to military strikes against Iraq; he was quoted at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, the Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Veterans Day Parade. He was quoted at not one — but two — New Year’s Eve celebrations at Times Square. He was quoted at the opening of a new “Star Wars” movie, at the opening of an H&M clothing store on Fifth Avenue and at the opening of the viewing stand at Ground Zero. He has been quoted at Yankees games, Mets games, Jets games — even getting tickets for the Brooklyn Cyclones. He was quoted at a Clinton fund-raiser at Alec Baldwin’s house in the Hamptons and the pope’s visit to Giants stadium.

The AP went so far as to ban Packer quotes, although that didn’t keep him out of AP articles for long. And you can still see his name crop up from time to time. It is has evidently proved impossible for the media to cease to be taken in by this guy.

So today, where else does Greg Packer crop up today but in a ABC News story about the 3G iPhone Launch?

Last year, New Yorker Greg Packer was first in line at the same store to pick up the iPhone. This week, he stood out front to cheer on his 3G-buying brethren. “I was here at 5 a.m. on Monday morning last year. The phone was coming out at 6 p.m. that Friday. This was my spot right here,” Packer said, pointing to Simon’s spot. “People brought me food. I was the first person to buy the phone.”

I can’t decide if this guy is a pathetic attention-starved loser, or is just someone with an unusual hobby. But still, it’s fun to spot his name in news articles, it’s like finding Waldo.

the anti-war crowd raised a big stink over the Bush administration’s claim that Iraq was buying yellowcake from Niger? They claimed it never existed, that it was a false pretext to go to war, some even went so far as to claim that Saddam Hussein’s regime was not seeking nuclear armament. Well guess what, we found the yellowcake. It’s funny that this hasn’t been all over the news in the same manner that the Niger/Iraq yellowcake documents were.