The rankly partisan carks of all the Crows are distorted, diminishing echoes of a failing tradition—destroyed as much by Labour as by the Tories. A whole segment of England has been laid waste—with all its family traditions, economic security, local identity and pride, racing pigeons and pints of mild, Low Church respectability, brass bands and hand-sewn union banners that combined the iconography of class and nation. The tough, proud class of Saturday Night, Sunday Morning has become the class of The Royle Family—welfare-dependent and TV-enthralled, living on sink estates beset by crime, with no real hope for the future other than maybe one day being able to leave England for ever.
Faced with this devastation, all the “Awkward Squad” is offering is more of what is already offered by their supposed Labour friends and supposed Tory enemies. Far from helping the workers, too many trade union leaders are instead helping the politicians to export British jobs to the world and to import the world into Britain. But it seems what interests them most of all is helping themselves.
Category: Quote of the Day
Quote of the Day
It’s discouraging work trying to match the righteousness of the Freedom Riders. When the NAACP had a funeral for the N-Word, I was ready to pound the living crap out of anyone who dared resurrect it. Unfortunately, I live in Brooklyn and if I fought everyone who used that word I’d be punching blacks and Hispanics in the face ‘til I was blue in the face. Besides, all my favorite songs use that word like it’s going out of style. Listen to the beginning of “Tight Pants” or “Playstation” for example. Am I allowed to sing those in public?
Quote of the Day
(H/T to Ryan)
“Yes, of course I want to come back to Detroit and work for an auto company after college,” I told a perplexed neighbor at my high-school graduation party. A little background might help.
At the height of the Roaring Twenties, my great-grandfather, living in Rhode Island, was an unemployed immigrant from Quebec. Desperate and looking for a way to achieve the American Dream, he turned to the “Paris of the Midwest” for hope. In a letter to Henry Ford, my great-grandfather said he was a hard worker and wanted to come to Detroit for Ford’s new $5-a-day jobs. Ford wrote him back and hired him; my family planted its roots in Detroit.
My great-grandparents endured the mass layoffs of the 1930s, they became U.S. citizens in Detroit in the 1940s, and they died in Detroit. My grandfather did his time at Ford and moved on to other sectors of the automotive industry. My father currently works for Pacific Insight Electronics, an automotive supplier that deals almost exclusively with Ford.
It was my family’s history with the blue oval that prompted me to choose Ford for my senior project. My former high school offers seniors the opportunity to take the month of May off school to study an industry.
[….]
Participating in an activity for a higher purpose is what Detroit needs if it is to truly reinvent itself. Of course, the poor economy and some poor choices made by the Big Three damaged the city’s status, but there is a lot to learn from companies like Ford. Communication, passion, sacrifice and, most importantly, hard work have reinvigorated Ford. The same traits can help reinvigorate the Motor City.
Although I am going away to college in the fall, to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., I believe my professional aspirations will eventually bring me back to the city that made me possible.
Detroit gave my forefathers hope and prosperity; I believe it is my responsibility to return the favor in whatever way I can.
Quote of the Day
I’ve just received the top-line numbers of Democracy Corps’ most recent poll. From a Democratic standpoint, there’s hardly any good news. Here are the essential findings among likely voters:
· right track/wrong track: 31/61
· the economy: has bottomed out and is starting to improve (40); is at the bottom and is not yet getting any better (22); has not yet bottomed out and will still get worse (34)
· Obama approval/disapproval: 45/51
· Obama shares/doesn’t share your values: 46/51
· Obama is/isn’t on your side: 45/52
· Obama is/isn’t too liberal: 57/38
· Obama is/isn’t a big spender: 61/34
· Obama is/isn’t a socialist: 55/39
· Obama has/doesn’t have realistic solutions to the country’s problems: 43/55
· Mean Republican/Democratic Party ratings: 46.0/43.3
· Mean Congressional Republican/Democrat ratings: 43/4/40.7
· Generic Republican/Democratic Congressional support in November: 48/42
As if all this weren’t bad enough for Democrats, the survey reveals that they’ve lost control of the narrative. For example:
“The best way to improve our economy and create jobs is to invest more to put people to work, develop new industries, and help businesses grow in expanding, new areas.”
OR
“The best way to improve our economy and create jobs is to cut government spending and cut taxes so businesses can prosper and the private sector can start creating jobs.”
FIRST STATEMENT: 43
SECOND STATEMENT: 50
I doubt that anything that will happen between now and election day (or anything Democrats can say) will substantially alter these views; history suggests that by now, they’re too entrenched. And Obama’s ratings, though higher than those of congressional Democrats, are hardly robust. It’s difficult to avoid the conclusion that in this year’s contested races, Democrats who can’t win based on local issues or opposition research will probably lose.
Quote of the Day
The great difference between our western Christian world and the atheistic Communist world is not political, gentlemen, it is moral. For instance, the Marxian idea of confiscating the land and factories and running the entire economy as a single enterprise is momentous. Likewise, Lenin’s invention of the one-party police state as a way to make Marx’s idea work is hardly less momentous.
Stalin’s resolute putting across of these two ideas, of course, did much to divide the world. With only these differences, however, the east and the west could most certainly still live in peace.
The real, basic difference, however, lies in the religion of immoralism . . . invented by Marx, preached feverishly by Lenin, and carried to unimaginable extremes by Stalin. This religion of immoralism, if the Red half of the world triumphs—and well it may, gentlemen—this religion of immoralism will more deeply wound and damage mankind than any conceivable economic or political system.
Karl Marx dismissed God as a hoax, and Lenin and Stalin have added in clear-cut, unmistakable language their resolve that no nation, no people who believe in a god, can exist side by side with their communistic state.
Karl Marx, for example, expelled people from his Communist Party for mentioning such things as love, justice, humanity or morality. He called this “soulful ravings” and “sloppy sentimentality.” . . .
Today we are engaged in a final, all-out battle between communistic atheism and Christianity. The modern champions of communism have selected this as the time, and ladies and gentlemen, the chips are down—they are truly down.
Lest there be any doubt that the time has been chosen, let us go directly to the leader of communism today—Joseph Stalin. Here is what he said—not back in 1928, not before the war, not during the war—but 2 years after the last war was ended: “To think that the Communist revolution can be carried out peacefully, within the framework of a Christian democracy, means one has either gone out of one’s mind and lost all normal understanding, or has grossly and openly repudiated the Communist revolution.” . . .
Ladies and gentlemen, can there be anyone tonight who is so blind as to say that the war is not on? Can there by anyone who fails to realize that the Communist world has said the time is now? . . . that this is the time for the show-down between the democratic Christian world and the communistic atheistic world?
Unless we face this fact, we shall pay the price that must be paid by those who wait too long.
Quote of the Day
“RNC Chairman Michael Steele’s comments about the war in Afghanistan were deeply disappointing and wrong. The chairman of the Republican party must be unwavering in his support for American victory in the war on terror — a victory that cannot be accomplished if we do not prevail in Afghanistan. I endorse fully Bill Kristol’s letter to Chairman Steele. It is time for Chairman Steele to step down.”
Quote of the Day
It annoys me that neo-conservative Kristol now sees fit to grandstand on this Steele gaffe, which actually isn’t as bad as it seems, see below, after having not paid attention to so much else. Point being, suddenly it’s his favorite ox being gored, so he takes the pulpit.
Quotes of the Day
When the House agreed to give subpoena powers to President Barack Obama’s newly formed oil-spill commission, 420 members voted for the plan and only one voted against it: Texas Republican Ron Paul.
A spokeswoman for Paul declined to elaborate on the congressman’s vote.
****
On Monday, a former professor and I were chatting, and the war in Afghanistan came up. I have been supporting a 100 percent pull-out from that country- as well as Iraq- for some time now, and think that with the General McChrystal issue hitting the fan (for the record, I support the president’s acceptance of the general’s resignation), it’s as good a time as any to write about why we need to leave the country.
First, we should leave for humanitarian and ethical reasons. We are sending service members to that country to die for an Afghan leader who is corrupt, and whose brother is a criminal. What is our goal over there? The Afghanistan people are, at best, a tribal people with no real central government and no willingness to even have a central government. Being there to have access to Pakistan is just not a good enough reason anymore. Secondly, to (admittedly, hesitantly) quote a front-page poster at Daily Kos, the worse Afghanistan gets, the less likely we are to leave. Since when does a proper cost-benefit analysis include sending good money after bad, and since when does honoring those who have valiantly served, been injured and/or died in Afghanistan include sending more young people to die without cause?
Secondly, we should leave because the American people don’t support this war. Oh, they say they do. But as New York Times columnist Bob Herbert described in December of last year, our support is minimal. Some money or other means of assistance is sent by those affected directly or indirectly by the war (friends and family with military members overseas, etc.) and some truly patriotic Americans, but most of the nation is satisfied with rhetoric pulled from blogs, talking heads and Associated Press articles. (Oh, yeah, and they have yellow ribbons on their bumpers.) As Herbert put it,
The reason it is so easy for the U.S. to declare wars, and to continue fighting year after year after year, is because so few Americans feel the actual pain of those wars. We’ve been fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan longer than we fought in World Wars I and II combined. If voters had to choose right now between instituting a draft or exiting Afghanistan and Iraq, the troops would be out of those two countries in a heartbeat.
Quote of the Day
I’ve spoken with a number of current and former aides to General Stanley McChrystal today. None of them felt like going on-the-record; no surprise there. But their reactions to his incendiary profile in Rolling Stone mostly ranged from shock to dismay to sadness to think-I’m-gonna-puke.
Interesting Quote of the Day
This is very sad. It’s disturbing how the Neocons, who openly despise the South, and believe in using “noble lies” to manipulate their subject population, have managed to convince millions of well-meaning folks that subservience to the goals of the Likkud Party defines American conservatism. Forget the traditions of Edmund Burke, Richard Weaver, and Sam Ervin; if it’s good for the Likkud, then THAT’s the “conservative” position for these folks. Never mind that Neocon policies have wrecked the military, drained the economy, and gutted the Bill of Rights. Instead, we’re supposed to believe the interests of all Americans and the militant government of Israel are one and the same.
Of course, that’s nonsense. There are many Jews who believe Likkud’s belligerence harms Israel. But as far as I’m concerned, that’s their business. I believe DC should butt out of everyone else’s affairs, starting at home. And there’s no question but that DC’s blind and one-sided support for whatever Israel does has harmed this nation, not only in the financial costs of propping up Israel ($108 billion since 1972), but in diplomatic costs as well as DC’s biased defense of Israeli crimes angers the rest of the world. Some are so incensed that they have vowed revenge against us. How does creating terrorists advance our interests?
Anyway, that’s what happened. I’m not retaliating by deleting the Saber Point link. Instead, I’ll keep it there in remembrance of times past, and for that time in the future when our exploiters and deceivers are exposed for what they are, and compatriots can work together for the good of their own people, rather than sacrificing for foreign powers. — Source
Quote of the Day
This past week, Beck aired a show that was so preposterous in conception — and so emblematic of what’s wrong with American conservatism — that I couldn’t resist giving it a detailed analysis. The unlikely subject of the program was America’s Black Founding Fathers.
In this episode, part of his “Founding Fathers’ Fridays” series, Beck begins by informing his audience that much of what they learned in school is wrong and that for at least a century, American scholars have been suppressing (consciously, I presume) the grand history of African-American achievement. These sins of omission are grave. Forgotten black heroes include, Peter Salem, who was, according to Beck, the “hero of Bunker Hill,” and James Armistad, who, Beck reveals, “may have won the Revolutionary War” through his daring-do.
To back up these revisionary claims, Beck brings on David Barton, a man who made headlines recently in Texas’s “textbook wars” (more on that below). Barton is the president of the “WallBuilders” think-tank, which is dedicated to documenting the religiosity of the Founding Founders and the achievements of African Americans. Reading through Barton’s website, one gets the impression that he all but equates African-Americans’ participation in government with Christian righteousness.
Then comes Lucas Morel, a professor with a doctorate from the Claremont Graduate Program, the hotbed of Jaffa-ite and Straussian conservatism, who declares that “American history can be described as one long Civil Rights struggle,” which, I gather, includes not only the past 45 years of socially uplifting legislation but various world wars.
One could get bogged down deconstructing the assertions of the pair, so, I’ll focus on just one. Beck became particularly giddy over Barton’s tale of the “Black Paul Revere,” Wentworth Cheswell, a brave African-American New Hampshirite who was elected as his town’s constable in 1768 and in 1775 made an all-night ride from Boston to declare to his community “The British are coming!”
Did you know that Wentworth Chesswell was black? No? You’re not alone, because neither did his constituents, who were under the mistaken assumption that they were governed by an Anglo-Saxon. There’s also no mention of an African in the Cheswells’ authorized family tree, though historians have located a 17th-century Negro, “Richard Chesswell,” who was likely Wentworth’s grandfather, making the later, at the very most, a quadroon. Put simply, the “Black Paul Revere” probably could have gained admission to the 18th-century version of a WASP country club. Even PBS, which one wouldn’t expect to discount Cheswell’s blackness, writes that the Chesswell genealogy stands as an example of “the ‘passing’ process”…
(Also lionized in the Black Founders pantheon was an 18th-century “African-American preacher” of a white congregation, Lemuel Haynes.” Does this man look African to you?)
Quotes of the Day
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
===
Which is to say, they’re starting to figure out that being President of the United States has not conferred magical powers on Obama, and he didn’t bring any magical powers of his own to the job.
A degree from Harvard Law isn’t necessarily helpful to fixing a mechanical engineering problem, which is what BP is dealing with in trying to cap the Deepwater Horizon well.
The Gulf oil spill is not a political problem. You can’t negotiate a compromise with a broken well. Nor is the oil spill a legal problem. You can sue BP, but litigation isn’t going to cap that well. And all the “community organizing” in the world isn’t going to fix the problem, unless you’re planning to plug the well with SEIU members.
What is Obama’s greatest skill? Reading speeches. As I remarked in February 2009, Obama could read the ingredients from the side panel of a box of pancake batter (“…dextrose, partially hydrogenated soybean oil with mono- and diglycerides…“) and inspire standing ovations from an audience of adoring Democrats. But all Obama’s oratorical powers are useless to the task of plugging that well.
Quote of the Day
All these things are minor irritants compared to the way the Obama administration is backing Peronist Argentina’s claim to the Falkland Islands – or, as Obama’s people call them, “the Malvinas”. British troops were the only sizeable contingent to support the US in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have fought alongside America in most of the conflicts of the past hundred years. Yet, when the chips are down, Obama lines up with Hugo Chávez and Daniel Ortega against us.
Not that we should feel singled out. The Obama administration has scorned America’s other established friends. It has betrayed Poland and the Czech Republic, whose Atlanticist governments had agreed to accept the American missile defence system at immense political cost, only to find the project cancelled. It has alienated Israel and India. It has even managed to fall out with Canada over its “Buy American” rules and its decision to drill in disputed Arctic waters. Never has there been a worse time to be a US ally.
No one denies that Obama was dealt a rotten economic hand; but he has played it ineptly. His policies are serving to make his country poorer, less free and less respected. And that is a problem for all of us .
Quote of the Day
As several recent surveys make clear, concern about deficits and debt is rising sharply. An NBC/Wall Street Journal survey conducted in early May showed that the share of individuals rating “the deficit and government spending” as the top priority for the federal government to address has jumped since January from 13 to 20 percent—second only to job creation and economic growth. According to Gallup, “federal government debt” now ties with terrorism for the top spot in perceived threats to our future well-being. It is entirely possible that we are reaching an inflection point in public attitudes that will force the political system to change course.
[….]
In plain English: the higher spending and public debt go, the stronger the economic case for fiscal restraint. At some point, serious deficit reduction ceases to be a green eye-shade exercise and becomes essential for sustainable economic growth. But when? After summarizing the grim prognosis for U.S. deficits and debt during this decade and beyond, Auerbach and Gale formulate the choice as follows:
“[P]olicy makers will need to decide when to cut off stimulus and start imposing fiscal discipline. Cutting off stimulus too soon could plunge the economy into a new downturn, as happened to the United States in 1937 and Japan in 1997. Letting stimulus run for too long could ignite investors’ fears and create a ‘hard landing’ scenario.”
Quote of the Day
If Sarah Palin played a loud, grinding instrument, she would be in my band.
I’m sorry, but that’s just funny…. Sarah Palin….grinding….. ROFLMAO! 😆
Funny Quote of the Day
Lollar, a general manager at Cintas, is unabashed when it comes to addressing accusations of racism by the tea party movement’s opponents. “Can you believe that I have been accused of being a racist?” he asked the college Republicans. “Somebody once called me a racist. I looked at them and said, ‘My wife’s black — I can’t be!’” he joked to the crowd at a tea party rally in March.
Quote of the Day
I am an old Republican. I am religious, yet not a fanatic. I am a free-marketer; yet, I believe in the role of the government as a fair evenhanded referee. I am socially conservative; yet, I believe that my lesbian niece and my gay grandchild should have the full protection of the law and live as free Americans enjoying every aspect of our society with no prejudices and/or restrictions. Nowadays, my political and socio-economic profile would make me a Marxist, not a Republican.
I grew up in an era where William F. Buckley fought the John Birch society and kicked them out of the Republican Party. I grew up with -– in fact voted for the first time for –- Eisenhower. In 1956, he ran a campaign of dignity. A campaign that acknowledged that there are certain projects better suited to be handled by the government. See, business thinks in the short term, as he said. That’s the imperative of the marketplace. I invest and I expect that in a few quarters, I garner the fruits of my investment. Government, on the other hand, has the luxury to wait a few years, maybe decades, for a return on a given investment. As a former businessman, I know that first hand. Am I a Marxist for thinking that?
[….]
I do not recognize myself in the Republican Party anymore. As someone said it before, I did not leave the Republican Party, the Republican Party left me. I have the same ideological positions on most of the issues that I had when I voted for Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan and George W. Bush in 2000. However, I just cannot trust the reins of our government and nation, of this formidably complicated and complex gigantic machine that is the USA, to the amateurish leadership of the Republican Party.
We are living through tough times. We are being challenged like I have never seen America being challenged before. China is a formidable foe, and it is out there competing against us on every field and beating us on several fronts. While our education budgets are being slashed in every state across the nation, China is doubling and tripling theirs. These are the challenges and challengers that we are facing. And we need our best and brightest to lead us, not a half-term governor or radio/TV talking heads.
Maybe I am too old and too cynical, but I think the Republican party is in the last stages of agony. If nothing happens, we might win an election or even two, but in the long run we will lose America.
Quote of the Day
“It is impossible for the man of pious reflection not to perceive in it [the Constitution] a finger of that Almighty hand which has been so frequently and signally extended to our relief in the critical stages of the revolution.” — James Madison, Federalist No. 37
Quote of the Day
Not since the Iraq war has America been so divided on an issue. Yes, ideology is playing a part. Conservatives despise government intrusion in the marketplace, but liberals love it. Right now, however, most polls show the majority have turned on Obamacare. The latest Wall Street Journal poll, for example, shows 48% opposing and just 36% supporting.
So here’s my question: What would Marcus Welby and Dr. Kildare say? These guys usually had the answers back when wise doctors were the subjects of TV programs and health care seemed to be a glamorous profession.
Would Ben Casey support Obamacare? We know the M*A*S*H guys would. Dr. Jekyll might like it, but Mr. Hyde? I don’t know.
What I do know is that many Americans are sick of the whole health care thing. And no prescription on earth will change that.
Quote of the Day
As Iran approaches what could be the defining moment in an uprising that few thought would last this long or become this strong, perhaps Iran’s leaders should keep their gaze focused on the earth. It’s shifting beneath them.
Quote of the Day
History will record that these remarks from his State of the Union address were the only case legendary barrister Barack Obama ever argued before the Supreme Court. And he lost.
Even when presented with a short, straightforward, simply stated question by Rep. Mike Pence, Obama couldn’t help but to formulate a different question.
Pence asked: “Mr. President, will you consider supporting across-the-board tax relief, as President Kennedy did?”
The question Obama wanted Pence to ask was: Mr. President, will you join Republicans in cutting taxes of billionaires?
Luckily, Obama’s reformulation gave him an opening for a killer answer: “What you may consider across-the-board tax cuts could be, for example, greater tax cuts for people who are making a billion dollars. I may not agree to a tax cut for Warren Buffett.”
Republicans should take that answer and run like a thief in the night! OK, let’s cut taxes on everyone except billionaires. I’d even support a specific tax expressly on Warren Buffett. Now, son, how much will you give us for these magic beans?
If only Republicans could maneuver Obama into answering a question on abortion, we could probably get him to agree to ban all abortions –– except in the case of teenage girls who have been raped by their fathers. (This is how I assume Obama would rephrase the question.)
No conservative argues like this. To the contrary, we’re morose that Nexis archives are not more complete, so we can’t quote liberals directly more often.
Quote of the Day
Like Carter’s, Obama’s presidency will face complications. As a Nobel Peace Prize laureate whose most notable foreign-policy decision so far has been further committing the United States to a war in Afghanistan, Obama is well aware that U.S. interests don’t always correspond with a universally recognized moral standard. Carter had to face the fanaticism of Khomeini and an aroused Iranian people. Obama must deal with the Islamist extremism inspired by Osama bin Laden, and the temptation will always exist to address such problems through military action. Obama acknowledged as much in his Nobel address. But the prudent statesman, as Carter discovered, will know that the decision to use force always places a nation onto morally uncertain terrain in which power is limited and losses may sometimes have to be absorbed. Despite the many challenges that arose during his presidency, Carter avoided putting the United States in that position. This was not weakness; it was shrewd statecraft, and a worthy example for Obama to follow.
Quote of the Day
The single most insulting remark made about blacks in my lifetime was Bill Clinton‘s announcement — after being caught in the most humiliating sex scandal in world history — that he was “the first black president.”
He did not call himself “the first black president” when liberals were dancing and singing to Fleetwood Mac at his inauguration. He did not call himself “the first black president” when he was feeling our pain and being lionized by the media. He did not call himself “the first black president” when he was trying to socialize health care or passing welfare reform.
Not until he became a national embarrassment did Clinton recognize that he was “the first black president.”
At least he could finally get his own coffee.
Quote of the day
Sorry, No PB pub tonight. Couldn’t quite find anything I liked, suggestions are always welcome….
A woman named Nancy Spagnolo who lives in Bethany, Connecticut e-mailed me shortly after I interviewed Hume. “Religion is such a deeply personal issue and it is wrong to discuss what another person should believe. Mr. Hume should have contacted Tiger Woods privately instead of taking it public.”
That’s not a bad point. I’m sure Brit Hume had noble intentions when he addressed the golfer publicly, but it was a deeply personal assessment of Woods’ predicament. We are all sinners. How many of us want to be told how to achieve forgiveness in a public forum?
That being said, Brit Hume has a perfect right to espouse what he believes is a healing tonic. The forgiveness Christianity offers has helped millions of human beings throughout history. The world would be a better place if every person on earth understood the basic philosophy of Jesus. Mr. Hume was simply exercising his free speech rights and the fact he is paid well to do that speaks to his intellect and insight.
Anti-religious sentiment is currently chic in America. You can see it displayed in the media almost everyday. Brit Hume sent some advice to Tiger Woods. He did so meaning well. Mr. Woods is free to take it or leave it. There was no harm in this.
Quote of the Day
I would say the greatest failure of the Church today is its unwillingness to say and do the unpopular thing. Too many Christians busy themselves these days trying to come up with new ways of being admired and desired by the world rather than simply being obedient to the Lord they claim to love.
With a self-sustaining focus on acquiring evermore results and relationships (i.e., “church growth”) by way of pragmatism and consensus, none of which is biblical, today’s Christians are, by and large, being persuaded and trained week after week to embrace surveys, marketing principles, public relations programs and people skills as their new commandments with dialectically-trained consultants and facilitators posing as prophets and preachers – people pleasers who know how to work the crowd and steer the herd while selectively applying the scriptures as needed to maintain a biblical appearance of righteousness and religiosity.
We’re essentially giving people what they want at church these days in hopes they will reciprocate with more participation and support. How is this “tactic” any different from those used on Wall Street and in Washington D.C.?
“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” – 1st Corinthians 1:18