Conservative Donnybrook

… whether this editorial from NRO was real or an Onion parody.

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.

President Obama has once again disgraced the Office of the Presidency and the prestige of the United States by bowing to a crowned head.  You may recall how Obama bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia earlier this year.  Now the President has bowed to the emperor of Japan. 

The United States was founded on the rejection of royalty and imperialism and yet our very own has lessened the stature of the United States by assuming a submissive position to arrogance and demagoguery… not once but twice.

Let’s see if the White House denies this bow.  Was Barack admiring the emperor’s shoes?  This is disgusting.

William Jefferson (Convict, LA) was sentenced to 13 years in prison for bribery and money laundering (which may be the first time in history someone demonstrated such utter incompetence by utilizing a freezer instead of a washing machine).

There is now, officially, no more reason to ever tune to CNN.

Lydia McGrew has a salient word on the “command” structure of “today’s military” that allowed, even enabled, Hasan the terrorist. The President empowers them.

Speaking of the President and his Marxist/Maoist advisory staff, he was forced to throw another one under the bus. Make that two.

This should (but won’t) assuage any lingering doubt that “free trade” is globalist socialism.

Speaking of which, we have a newly-coined self-descriptive for President Obama: “Pacific” American. (That he may be all in all.) This comes in the President’s groveling admission that we are, in fact, no longer the world’s superpower nor anything like a creditor nation. In point of fact, we do “not seek to contain” China, a “strong, prosperous China can be a source of strength for the community of nations,” and we will continue pretending to insist on reciprocity in trade. (Be sure to watch the brief video excerpt of the President’s remarks embedded in the BBC article.)

Here’s to another exciting week! Some of us here at the Conservative Donnybrook will be meeting with our attorney this week to finalize some details and continue making tentative plans for the inevitable funeral for the constitutional republic. Thanks to all who have expressed their thoughts and prayers for Uncle Sam. If he were capable, I’m sure he would thank you himself.

UPDATE: Uncle Sam has taken a sudden downturn. It doesn’t look good, friends.

thanks to immigration advocates or libertarians like Lindsey Graham, John McCain, and, sad to say, Ron Paul.

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.

On the same day that Michael Jackson beat it for the great beyond, Pelosi and her cohort passed the largest tax increase in the history of history. Perhaps you missed it; the news tended to focus only on the passing of a pop singer of doubtful moral character to the exclusion of a number of other stories. Can anybody tell me what ever happened with that North Korean freighter that the U.S. Navy was bird-dogging? Anybody hear about the AMA revolting against Obama’s healthcare scheme? You might have heard that we won the war in Iraq. Maybe not. Did anyone hear that an American soldier was captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan this week? How about that Barack Obama’s nominee for the upcoming Supreme Court vacancy was overturned this week by that same Court?

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.

About two and one-half weeks ago the Empire State Stem Cell Board voted to spend some of its $600 million budget, which is funded by the state, to pay women $10,000 for the opportunity to harvest their eggs. The eggs would then be used to create embryos from which stem cells would be harvested. The story does not indicate that men would be paid for donating their sex cells.

If you stick with the story, the ethical question is raised (buried) toward the end of the article.

Remember when the United States used to stand for democracy and the rule of law?  Those were the days!  The United States used to support smaller democratic states going as far as to help craft constitutions, federal laws, judicial systems and legislatures.  Not any more.  Now the U.S. has signaled that we stand for left-wing tyrannts, socialist dictators and the rise to power through illegal means.  Constitutions, courts and legislatures be damned.  Now we stand with Fidel, Hugo, Evo and Rafael in supporting those that would disregard a democratic constitution, government and the rule of law.  Now Obama will have the United States return to supporting dictators in Latin America.  Now we support Zelaya and his clearly illegal and undemocratic methods.

The United States must end the cycle of supporting tyrants in Latin America.  Zelaya is/was a socialist and a dictator in the making.  This was no coup, the military in Honduras arrested the president after he illegally solicited assistance from the dictator Chavez to illegally hold a referendum which would have allowed him to run for election indefinitely.  Furthermore, the military arrested Zelaya upon request from the Honduran Supreme Court after its judgement was dismissed by the would-be dictator Zelaya.  Zelaya actively attacked a military installation with leftist supporters.  His goal was to distribute illegal ballots in an attempt to forever control the nation.  Only the legislature can call for a constitutional referendum. 

So, the legislature condemned Zelaya, the Supreme Court condemned him and the military defended democracy and the rule of law by abiding by the constitution and the wishes of the other two branches of government by arresting the hack. 

And Obama calls for a return of the socialist would-be dictator in defiance of democracy and the rule of law.  Mr. Obama, one’s character can be determined by the company he keeps.  Fidel and the mini-communists in this hemisphere are not good company.

The House and now the Senate have passed near unanimous resolutions “Expressing support for all Iranian citizens who struggle for freedom, human rights, civil liberties, and the protection of the rule of law.”  Only one Member of the House voted “Nay,” Ron Paul.  The House Resolution states:

Resolved, That the House of Representatives–

(1) expresses its support for all Iranian citizens who struggle for freedom, human rights, civil liberties, and the protection of the rule of law;

(2) condemns the ongoing violence against demonstrators by the Government of Iran, pro-government militias, and affiliated entities against the people of Iran, which has escalated since the June 12, 2009, process of selecting Iran’s next political leader; and

(3) affirms the universality of individual rights and the importance of democratic and fair elections.

In his statement of opposition, Paul said:

I rise in reluctant opposition to H Res 560, which condemns the Iranian government for its recent actions during the unrest in that country. While I never condone violence, much less the violence that governments are only too willing to mete out to their own citizens, I am always very cautious about “condemning” the actions of governments overseas.

Of course I do not support attempts by foreign governments to suppress the democratic aspirations of their people, but when is the last time we condemned Saudi Arabia or Egypt or the many other countries where unlike in Iran there is no opportunity to exercise any substantial vote on political leadership? It seems our criticism is selective and applied when there are political points to be made.  

I adhere to the foreign policy of our Founders, who advised that we not interfere in the internal affairs of countries overseas. I believe that is the best policy for the United States, for our national security and for our prosperity. I urge my colleagues to reject this and all similar meddling resolutions.

It is amazing that Paul inspires anyone at all… other than the Iranian dictatorship.  I mean, refusing to express support for democracy, freedom and the rule of law for all Iranians simply because the House has not done so for Egyptians or Saudi Arabians is childish.  And “meddling resolutions?”  Seriously?  declaring support for the oppressed is now “meddling?”  Jeesh, I suppose Paul would rather the U.S. to turn a blind eye to all atrocities committed around the world.  What a bum.

The Drudge Report is reporting that ABC will sponsor “news” programs for the president endorsing his socialism.  Having caught wind of the bias, the RNC contacted ABC to obtain airtime to voice Republican opposition to the socialization of American medicine.  The request was denied by ABC.  No opposition to the Dear Leader will be tolerated by ABC. 

Is this it for ABC?  Is this the end of one of America’s oldest networks even trying to appear independent?  I for one have liked the news with Charles Gibson.  No longer.  Throw it on the pile with GM, AIG, etc….

The floodgates are being cracked ever so lightly. These examples of State sponsored death are alarming, but not at all unanticipated. When a society embraces a pervasive Culture of Death, there will be fewer and fewer brakes on its moral degeneration.

A judge in Minnesota has issued a warrant for the arrest of a mother who failed to show up for a court hearing.  Earlier, the court ordered the boy’s parents to force him to receive chemo-therapy treatments for his Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The parents objected on religious grounds.  Their son, the infirmed, also objected, going as far as to tell the judge “I’d fight it. I’d punch them and I’d kick them” if doctors attempted to administer the treatments.

What the court has done here is violate the Constitution in the name of science.  So what if the boy’s cancer can easily be cured by treatment?  So what if the court believes that his life can be saved?  Why should the court get to make a decision on this boy’s health?  If anyone has the right, it is the infirmed boy.  If his immaturity is a bar, then it is his parents whom should make the decision.

This is an attack on parental rights, religious freedom of the individual and the Constitution itself.

Much hullabaloo has been made in California over COLA… that is, cost of living adjustments.  With our beautiful state in dire straits, many local governments (Los Angeles included) have asked public servant unions to fore-go their annual cost of living adjustments.  I find this sort of thing outrageous.  What right does a local government have to ask employees to fore-go what they contracted for so long ago?  The whole point of a COLA is to ensure that the value of the dollar earned by the employee fairly reflects the cost of living in a given area.  Asking civil servants to disregard their contracts in a fiscal emergency is unfair and an insult to the taxpayer.

It is my opinion that COLAs ought to be mandatory this year.  The overall cost of both ownership and renting a family home has dropped dramatically over the past year.  the price per gallon of gasoline is nearly half of the cost it was the year before.  automobiles cost less, tangible personal property costs less.  Almost everything is cheaper.  The cost of living in California, especially Southern California, has dropped by margins unseen in modern history.  I am all for the COLAs.  By all rights, the union members deserve a downward COLA adjustment to reflect just how far a dollar earned can go.

To support their savior, Barack Obama, Georgetown University covered the name of Christ during a speech by the chosen one.  Apparently the President asked Georgetown to cover any signage or symbols on the Gaston Hall stage where he was to deliver a soul-stirring speech.

A spokes-hole for the once Catholic institution said:

“In coordinating the logistical arrangements for yesterday’s event, Georgetown honored the White House staff’s request to cover all of the Georgetown University signage and symbols behind Gaston Hall stage….  Frankly, the pipe and drape wasn’t high enough by itself to fully cover the IHS and cross above the GU seal and it seemed most respectful to have them covered so as not to be seen out of context.”

Outrageous!  I sure hope that Notre Dame is paying attention.  South Bend, are you listening?

We know that Obama is no fan of religion and this is nothing shocking.  But the fact that a university that claims to be Catholic would cover the name of Christ in order to appease an enemy of the faith is nothing short of depressing.  It is commonly known that Georgetown University does not represent the faith.  They (and many other Catholic schools) are, as others here have pointed out, CINO.

Well, well, well. The Russian Menace has now come out in favor of a world gold standard in order to “uphold discipline in the world financial system.” Sound like any elderly third-party presidential candidates from Texas you know of?

What’s more, the Great Enemy of the East, China, seems open to the idea as well. Need I say more?

Two conclusions necessarily follow from these disturbing developments.

1. Ron Paul and his followers are fascist sympathizers and possibly traitors. They should be watched closely at the very least.
2. We need to invade Russia as soon as possible.

I think I speak for all of the regular contributors when I say that Conservative Donnybrook is embarrassed to admit that it missed a pretty major story. Apparently, there was some sort of ill-conceived effort to increase the tax on beer in Oregon by 1900%. This should have been filed under OUTRAGE ALERT and all of us missed this story. I did not learn of it until my father came to visit me this previous weekend and he asked me about. You can imagine his astonishment as I admitted that I knew nothing about it. Even worse, it appears that the ultra-left-wing-activist site, Huffington Post, cadged to the tragedy while we sailed blithely onward. We apologize to our readers and pledge to spend more attention on beer and alcohol-related stories in the future.

Today, Arlen Specter (“R”-Pa) wrote an op-ed piece in the Washington Post in which he explained his latest betrayal of his party. According to Specter, he was prompted to his action by the “unemployment figures announced Friday, the latest earnings reports and the continuing crisis in banking,” which convinced him that something had to be done. To fail to act, would be to let down all the other nations of the world, who are looking to the United States for leadership (even though I thought they all hated us). Since “[t]he moderates’ compromise, which faces a cloture vote today, is the only bill with a reasonable chance of passage in the Senate,” one can hardly blame him for acting promptly. After all, something had to be done. He doesn’t say it, but I suspect he was attempting to preserve his principles by compromising his principles in this matter.

Specter was abetted by the Maine Senatorial contingent.

The American auto industry will be taken over by a czar, a “car czar” that is.  President Bush and top Democrat lawmakers have agreed in principal to continue robbing the taxpayers while expanding the scope and power of the federal government.

Under the plan, the Bush and Obama administrations will work together to find a “suitable” de-facto owner of the Big Three.  This “car czar” will hold the strings of a purse filled with $15 billion in looted cash.  He alone will have the right to spend, demand repayment and force bankruptcy of the now federalized industry.  The power Motor City once generated will now be delivered by the Big Red Washington Machine.  In return for stealing from the taxpayers (again) and giving the funds to private businesses (again), Washington will receive a massive cut of profits (if any); A sort of steal-from-the-poor-to-give-to-the-dumb-and-rich maneuver.  Shareholders, however, are to be barred from receiving dividends or other distributions.  So, the only real winners here are the federal government, the giant and lazy unions and auto executives.  Everyone else loses big time.

Those who know me know that there has never been a bigger supporter of the American auto industry than myself.  I have never owned anything other than a Ford product.  Should FOMOCO take one penny, one red cent from this “loan” I swear I will never buy another of their products.  The same goes for Chrysler (owned, incidentally, by a CANADIAN company with plenty of money) and GM.  As crazy as it sounds, the most American thing I could do under those circumstances would be to buy…gulp…a Toyota or Subaru.  I swear it shall be done.

With the take-over of the financial markets and now the stealing of the auto industry, I have to wonder what is next.  Utilities?  Already happened or happening.  Water?  Ditto.  Agriculture?  Probably not too far off.  How far will this go until we see full fledged fascist socialism in this nation?  We are goose-stepping at an ever increasing pace.

On Monday an atheist advocacy group gained permission from Governor Gregoire to erect a paean to atheism in the rotunda of the Washington State Capitol building. The sign reads:

At this season of the Winter Solstice, may reason prevail.

There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell.

There is only our natural world.

Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts

and enslaves minds.

This is the second such display to be officially sanctioned by the government – the other is in Madison, Wisconsion. The assault on Christianity proceeds apace.

President Bush has failed his nation again.  The President issued 14 pardons to day, none of them went to political prisoners Ramos and Compean. The two former Boarder Patrol agents have spent nearly two years in prison for doing their job.  Please, visit this site to urge President Bush to pardon these wrongly convicted men.

Jim Rogers is upset about the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac debacle.  So am I. 

The Fed has now bailed out “homeowners” whom had no business buying AND lenders who lined their pockets while destroying their business.  Now its MY job to pay off these loans from both ends?!  Outrageous.