The Civil Rights Division encourages qualified applicants with targeted disabilities to apply. Targeted disabilities are deafness, blindness, missing extremities, partial or complete paralysis, convulsive disorder, mental retardation, mental illness, severe distortion of limbs and/or spine. Applicants who meet the qualification requirements and are able to perform the essential functions of the position with or without reasonable accommodation are encouraged to identify targeted disabilities in response to the questions in the Avue application system seeking that information.

If references to God are unacceptable on military hardware, then the same argument can be made against sending U.S. Treasury notes to Muslim nations. Shall we stop sending bills with references to God on them to Afghanistan? Iraq? Think before you complain, MPAC.

As we’ve all heard, according to Harry Reid, among Obama’s electoral advantages is that he’s “light-skinned … with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.”

Now, certainly, this comment sets off all sorts of PC alarm bells, but of course, it’s basically true, right? What’s more, it’s obviously not racist at all.

OK, it’s not nice to use the term “Negro” any more, fine, but give me a break, the man’s 70 years old, and it’s not exactly a racial epithet — just an old term that’s fallen out of fashion.

The “dialect”? I think we’ve all noticed Obama turn on Great Black Orator mode, even though he’s not very good at it, in contrast with his more natural Midwest Whitebread mode. But I think it’s safe to say that the more “black” your speech, the less likely average white folks are to vote for you. Now take that as an indictment of white racism or whatever, but it seems pretty inarguable to me.

Why, here’s Camille Paglia writing during the ‘08 campaign:

I have become increasingly uneasy about Obama’s efforts to sound folksy and approachable by reflexively using inner-city African-American tones and locutions, which as a native of Hawaii he acquired relatively late in his development and which are painfully wrong for the target audience of rural working-class whites that he has been trying to reach. Obama on the road and even in major interviews has been droppin’ his g’s like there’s no tomorrow.

But these ideas are forbidden! Paglia must resign! Willmoore must resign!

The most dubious part of the comment is probably the “light-skinned” part — I’m not so sure that makes such a big difference, but who knows? It’s not a crazy notion.

But the funny thing about all of this is that what Reid is basically saying is that he thinks whites are racist. Normally, the assumption of the bigotry on the part of white Americans is not only condoned, but it serves as one of the core background assumptions to the entire PC project.

Then again, these PC rituals of outrage and contrition never seem to have a close relationship with what the offender actually said. But Reid crossed some PC tripwires with his vaguely icky turns of phrase, and therefore he must prostrate himself before the sensitivity gods.

But what about double standards? Wouldn’t a Republican have suffered more for saying the same thing? Well, of course he would, but that’s life. And ultimately, conservatives do themselves no favors for playing this game.

Sure, it’s nice to get the chance to watch a big-time Democrat squirm under the rules set down by his PC brethren. It seems like Ann Coulter had great fun with this when, on Geraldo Rivera’s show, after Sharpton went on at length about what a swell guy Harry Reid is, Coulter asked, “Did he ask you to stop using your Negro dialect too?”

Well hey! That’s pretty funny, and if anyone deserves it, it’s Sharpton. But ultimately, isn’t it pretty stupid for conservatives to get into the game of jumping all over folks who broach subjects forbidden by PC fashion? This is a game that conservatives can never win, and the whole thing brings to mind a certain aphorism about getting into the mud with pigs.

The list of officially-sanctioned viewpoints and subjects for discussion grows ever-smaller. Why, these days, just opposing gay marriage can cost you your job. Conservatives will not benefit by throwing in their lot with the PC thought police. Paul Gottfried puts it best:

What the GOP is doing will have dire consequences, beyond the richly deserved fate of making the party look foolish. It will stifle the freedom to engage in honest political discussion, an activity that the attack on Reid and before that on Lott is going to make more difficult. As the “sensitivity” net widens and as unauthorized questions about race, gender, and lifestyle are put outside the limits of “sensitive” dialogue, we will suffer as an already diminished free society. While there is plenty of blame to go around for this situation, the GOP has done its part here, in its desperate hunger for minority votes. … Now the GOP has moved out in front as an advocate of leftwing thought and speech control. The campaign against Reid illustrates this.

UPDATE: I just remembered this one….

I mean, really? Bernanke “is the principal architect of the government’s interventions in the banking industry during the financial crisis. That intervention probably represented the best available course of action in the circumstances, and it very likely averted a much worse recession… .” New Deal Republicans stand by their man.

Furthermore: “Bernanke has earned himself some enemies — enemies to be proud of [sic].” So, because Ron Paul doesn’t like you, you’re a genius? That’s the standard at NRO these days, it would appear. No, “the first order of business for Bernanke and the Fed is to lead the slow return to financial normalcy while standing ready to mitigate the effects of any unexpected economic shocks that may come… …to press for radical restructuring at the Fed, as Paul and Frank do, is hazardous.”

We must maintain the status quo in order to prevent the disastrous results we can necessarily expect from having, well, instituted that very status quo. Don’t you ninnies get it? Back to work, serfs, and spend EVERY DIME we graciously give you, whether earned or extended through whatever credit we deign to leak to you!

And the icing on the cake: NRO schlocks calling Ron Paul for being “a little dishonest” because, even though he makes no bones about wanting to abolish the Fed, somehow his initial tactic of calling for a full, independent audit as a first step in that direction is just disingenuous and mean. Poor Ben. Poor, poor Ben. He’s got all of these problems – the weight of the financial world – on his shoulders, and he’s got a “puritanical libertarian” [I swear they juxtaposed those terms] and a corrupt homosexual politician asking unfriendly question about what he’s doing with Americans’ life savings, tax revenues, and interest rates! The horror!

While conceding that we “wouldn’t know it to hear Bernanke speak lately,” he is really busy trying to maintain low prices [obviously for "consumers" in our "consumer economy" in which we are all simply supposed to "consume" and "consume."]. “For the past many decades, that has come to mean keeping a damper on inflation, a critically important task. We have severe unemployment and jaw-dropping deficits that Democrats are laboring mightily to make worse. The dollar and the creditworthiness of the U.S. government are objects of skepticism, and a serious spike in inflation would exacerbate that.” Nevermind that Ron Paul’s other crazy ideas would counteract inflation far better (indeed, the usual canard is that he would cause hysteria-inducing, starvation-causing “deflation”). No, any stick at hand with which to beat a straw man.

They caution us that “a central bank in thrall to the short-term political needs of congressmen would be a catastrophe.” Indeed, it would. And that is actually what we have today. Because the money behind those short-sighted congressmen which keeps them in power is the money that is coming from and simultaneously keeping afloat that very central bank. And who, precisely, do the editors of the magazine-formerly-known-as-the-premiere-conservative-periodical think Paul wants doing the audit? Other Congressmen or the CBO? Something – a hunch, call it – tells me Ron might be thinking more along the lines of independent, contracted, professional forensic accountants.

“Independence is the Fed’s characteristic virtue, as solvency is the FDIC’s and creditworthiness is the Treasury’s.” Oooops, bad choice of analogies. (“The FDIC’s Deposit Insurance Fund, which protects bank deposits, fell below zero in the third quarter of this year. Fifty U.S. banks failed, taking the fund down to negative $8.2 billion. It’s only the second time in the agency’s history that it has slipped into the red.” says the NPR article.)

Maybe when the kids at NRO finish prep school, they’ll have a little more clarity and credibility.

27                As the boys grew up, Esau became a Democrat, a man who loved big government; whereas Jacob was a simple man, who kept to his tents.

28                The people loved Esau, because they were fond of largesse; but the founding fathers preferred Jacob.

29                Once, when Jacob was treating a wounded sheep, Esau came in from the open, with a hangnail.

30                He said to Jacob, “Give me some of that medical treatment, I am uncomfortable.” (That is why he was called America.)

31                But Jacob replied, “First give me your birthright in exchange for it.”

32                “Look,” said Esau, “I’m on the point of dying. What good will my freedoms and liberties do me?”

33                But Jacob insisted, “Swear to me first!” So he sold Jacob his birthright under oath.

34                Jacob then treated his hangnail, and Esau sighed in relief, got up, and went his way. Esau cared little for his birthright.

Our country was yet again grievously wounded because of “free trade,” “tolerance,” and interventionism.

Would that the myriad soldiers — in Texas, of all places — had availed themselves of the duty to protect themselves and their comrades and loved ones by carrying concealed weapons, this comatose piece of excrement would have been dead after the first shot was fired.

I weep for the country that used to be the United States of America but which is now the United State of Aetna, indivisible, with tyranny, oppression, and “free” “healthcare” for all.

If you can’t beat ‘em, I suppose, you join ‘em. So, I will show how even the the Michael Jackson estate would be affected by the Cap and Trade bill that the House of Representatives passed last week. But first, a little about the bill itself. The bill itself states that its purpose is ”[t]o create clean energy jobs, achieve energy independence, reduce global warming pollution and transition to a clean energy economy.” Some of that may need to be explained. For instance, global warming pollution is carbon dioxide – the same stuff you exhale. Indeed, each respirating organism on earth is now categorized as a polluter. For an idea of what “transitioning to a clean energy economy” looks like, take a look at Spain. Apparently, if we look at Spain, it is possible to create clean energy jobs, but each one will cost between $750,000 and $1.4 million and will cost 2.2 jobs in other areas per job created. On other hand, we will be saving the planet, right?

But, how do they propose to do it? The bill is designed to increase the price of energy in order to drive down consumption.

During the campaign, Obama also pledged that he would never raise taxes in any form on Americans making less than $250,000 per year. But his cap and trade tax is estimated to cost American families almost $2,000 a year when it becomes effective, growing to almost $7,000 a year for a family of four by 2035. That will be paid through higher prices for electricity, oil, gasoline, natural gas, home heating oil, coal, food, and every product that is produced or transported using energy.

In short the Cap and Trade proposal passed out of the House last week is a “Tax on Everything” – everything that uses energy. An interesting exercise is to try to think of anything that you purchase that requires no energy to produce, deliver, sell, or consume. The increased costs associated with that energy usage will be embedded in the price of every consumer good and service that Americans utilize. As a result, Americans will purchase fewer goods and services. If Americans purchase fewer goods and services, then companies who provide those goods and services will be forced to cut production (read: jobs). But, hey, we’re saving the planet.

One of my “favorite” provisions of the bill is in sections 201-203, which requires every State to adopt the building codes of California. (See ACES Sec. 201(c)(3) which reads “COMPLIANT CODE — For the purposes of meeting the target described in subsection (a)(1)(A) [which required that State's become compliant within one year of enactment] for residential buildings, a State that adopts the code represented in California’s Title 24-2009 by the date two years after the enactment of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 shall be considered to have met the requirements of this subsection for the applicable period.”) The code then goes on to dictate to State legislatures the legislation it is required to pass and the timeline on which it is required to pass it.  The States are to be denied federal funding from the Act if they are found to be noncompliant. Indeed, if  the State fails to enforce compliant building codes within 2 years, the Secretary of Energy shall enforce the codes within that State.

The bill requires not only new buildings to satisfy whatever arbitrary standard the Secretary chooses, but it also places the burden on homeowners of existing houses to “retrofit” their property before they are allowed to sell them. This provision alone will place an incredible economic burden on homeowners whether they earn $250,000 or not.  Their mobility, their choice of where to live, their ability to change jobs will be affected by this single onerous provision. But, we will gladly sacrifice our freedom because it’s saving the planet, right? I hope MJ installed new windows and an EnergyStar compliant furnace before he died, otherwise his estate’s going to get hit with a gigantic bill to retrofit Neverland Ranch before they can sell it and distribute the proceeds to his heirs.

There is plenty more where that came from in the bill that has nothing to do with the actual Cap and Trade bits and which are sure to raise the eyebrows (or ire) of anyone who loves his freedom. For instance, there is an entire section regulating outdoor lightbulbs to be brighter and last longer. There’s even a provision regulating the type of bulb one can use to illuminate their artwork, including mandating its color spectrum and power factor.

As mentioned earlier, outrageously, this bill passed the House of Representatives 219-212. Now the bill goes to the Senate. If the Senate passes the bill, it will become law. If the Senate passes any kind of compromise bill, it will go to conference and will become law in some form. The only hope now is that the Senate stops this bill dead. “Obi Wan Senati, you’re our only hope!”

After all that, I apologize, but I don’t really care how this bill will affect the Jackson estate. I can assure you it would be bad. But, thanks for all the MJ Googlers for stopping in.