BRITISH ISLAMO FASCISM

Hat Tip: Atlas Shrugs

Europe, environmentalism and the current economic crisis: a contrarian view

A speech from Vaclav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic, speaking in Paris:

I would like, first of all, to express my sincere thanks for giving me the opportunity to be here in your beautiful city this morning and to be able to address this distinguished audience. To say that is not just a usual declaration of courtesy or politeness belonging to such occasions. It is different. In the last almost twenty years after the fall of communism, I have made hundreds of speeches and lectures almost all over the world. Not many of them here. If I am not wrong, my last speech in Paris was in July 2003 a few blocks away, in the Automobile Club at Place de la Concorde.

My wife says that it is because I don't speak French. Maybe it's true but it may also be because I am choosing wrong topics or that my views are politically incorrect. This is certainly true when I speak about Europe and the European Union, and especially when I criticize the currently dominant European ideology I call Europeism. I am afraid that – in the last couple of years – this loosely structured, rather heterogeneous, not coherently described, formulated, analyzed and defended "conglomerate of ideas" has achieved an enormous strength and that it influences our thinking, our policies, our way of life more than we are aware of.

The main aspects of Europeism, as I see them, can be summarized in the following way:

- the belief in social market economy, and the demonization of free markets;

- the reliance on civil society, on NGOs, on social partnership, on corporatism, instead of classical parliamentary democracy;

- the aiming at social constructivism as a result of the disbelief in spontaneous evolution of human society;

- indifference towards the nation state and blind faith in internationalism;

- the promotion of the supranationalist model of European integration, not its intergovernmental model.

Everyone who follows the French political, philosophical, economic, or sociological discourse knows that my position (which means my strong disagreement with this doctrine) goes directly against the politically correct stances in France and, what is probably even more serious, against the deeply rooted and centuries old views of the French intelligencia. With all my affection for France, this country is for me more Colbert than Bastiat, more Fourier and Saint-Simon than Say and Turgot, more Sartre than Aron. There is, therefore, no surprise that I am not regularly invited to speak here.

The issue of Europe and of its future has stayed with me since the fall of communism in spite of other topical issues. It is not surprising. The undergoing weakening of democracy and of free markets on the European continent, connected with the European unification process, is a threatening phenomenon especially for someone who spent most of his life in a very authoritative and oppressive communist regime. I consider, therefore, the marching towards an ever-closer Europe (which is one of the crucial tenets of Europeism) a mistaken project. This ambition was the main building block of the European Constitution and it remains without substantial change in its new version, in the Lisbon Treaty.

The gradual shift from liberalizing and removing all kinds of barriers towards a massive introduction of regulation and harmonization from above, the ever-expanding, overgenerous welfare system, the innovative, and more sophisticated forms of protectionism, the continuously growing legal and regulatory burdens on business, the markets undermining quasicompetition policies, the Single Currency arrangements, are all very real. They weaken and restrain freedom, democracy and democratic accountability, not to speak about economic efficiency, entrepreneurship and competitiveness.

The Czech EU Presidency slogan "Europe without barriers" attempts to bring the original ambitions of European integration – the liberalization, the opening-up, the getting rid of barriers and of protectionism – back to our agenda. And rightly so, because this is more than needed.

I consistently speak about it because I do care about Europe. For me, and my country, the EU membership has never had any alternative, but saying that does not imply that we are willing to accept the dogma that the forms and the methods of the EU institutional arrangements don't have alternatives. To take one as sacrosanct, as the only permitted and politically correct one, is unacceptable. The right of the people to say "yes" or "no" to the European Constitution or to the Lisbon Treaty or to any other similar document should be considered sacred. This right represents the genuine substance (and meaning) of Europe. The attacks on those who dare say "no" to the attempts to accelerate the deepening of the EU, which is the essence and aim of the Lisbon Treaty, are attacks against the true nature of Europe.

Having said that, let me turn to two other issues=2 0I consider significant. I see another big problem in environmentalism and in its currently most aggressive form –global warming alarmism. This ideology has gradually turned into the most efficient vehicle for advocating extensive government intervention into all fields of life and for suppressing human freedom and economic prosperity.

I am frustrated that this ideology has not been sufficiently challenged both inside and outside of climatology. We keep hearing one-sided propaganda, but do not hear serious counter-arguments. It is also evident that the debate should go beyond climatology. We should not accept dividing human beings into climatologists and the uninformed, and rather naive rest of us. The global warming debate is a complex issue and climatology is only a part of it.

There is in this debate a special role for the economic profession, because we have developed a scientific sub-discipline called „the economics of global warming". The economists should come up with their arguments about the inexhaustibility of resources, including energy resources, on condition they are rationally used, which means with the help of undistorted prices and well-defined property rights. They should supply us with comprehensive studies about the costs and benefits of the currently proposed "green" measures and policies. They should prepare – even to non-specialists understandable – arguments about the very complicated relationship between different time horizons (discussed in the economic theory by means o f discounting) . They should return to the elementary economic argumentation about the rational risk aversion (which would help to undermine the fuzzy and fundamentalist precautionary principle, used by the environmentalists) , and they should bring back the discussions about the positive role of markets, prices, property rights and about the tragic consequences of the unavoidable government failure connected with ambitions to do such things as controlling global climate.

The third issue, I would like to mention here today, is the current financial and economic crisis. I recently spent three full days discussing this topic at the World Economic Forum in Davos and my feeling is that the rationality and the economic science have been suppressed or forgotten. The very unpleasant, day by day deeper economic crisis should be accepted as a standard economic phenomenon, as an unavoidable consequence and hence a "just" price we have to pay for the long-term playing with the market by the politicians. Their attempts to blame the market, instead of themselves, are unacceptable and should be resolutely rejected. Their activities, aiming at "reforming" the economic system, are all very doubtful and I as said in Davos: I am getting more afraid of these reforms than of the crisis itself.

Looking for ways out, we should – to use an analogy – strictly differentiate between fighting the fire and drafting fire protection legislation. We have to concentrate on the first task now; the second one can be=2 0done gradually, without haste and panic. A large increase in the scope of financial regulation, as is being proposed these days, will only prolong the recession.

Aggregate demand needs strengthening. One traditional way to do this is to increase government spending, mostly on public infrastructure projects, on condition these are available. It would be much more helpful, however, to initiate a radical reduction of all kinds of restrictions on private initiatives introduced in the last half a century during the era of the brave new world of the "social and ecological market economy". The best thing to do right now would be to temporarily weaken, if not permanently repeal, various labour, environmental, social, health and other "standards", because they block human activity more than anything else.

In the moment of the fall of communism, almost 20 years ago, I did not expect to experience such a degree of government intervention into my own life as I face now. I am, therefore, convinced that fighting for freedom and free markets remains the task of the day. We may be, some of us, oversensitive in this respect but I am sure it is – in principle – not about our personal oversensitivity. It is about the real dangers we see around us. I tried to talk about some of them this morning.

Václav Klaus, Foreign Policy Lecture Series, Foreign Policy France, Ledoyen Restaurant, Paris, 11 February 2009

The "Fairness Doctrine" and Hysterical Myopia

Ben Crystal connects repeatedly with his great take on what looks to be a coordinated attempt by the Dems and the American Left to impose censorship (selectively) on talk radio, virtually the only media genre they don't already dominate.

If your only path to power is to squelch all dissent within a "democratic" Republic, then you obviously don't have faith in the power of your ideas. This is a move better suited to Hugo Chavez or Castro. But--as Crystal points out--it works both ways; one day it might be a Republican in office again (more likely IMO if the Dems in fact do try to silence free speech...):

Of course, as a warning to my Democrat friends, I should be FAIR: a Fairness Doctrine requires an attendant Fairness Doctrinaire. All well and good if you’re a Democrat in a democrat-run America. But what happens when the cycle reverses, as it so often does? For every Carter, there was a Reagan. For every Clinton, a Bush (or even two). In 2009, the Fairness Doctrine Czar might be a hyper-liberal flack like the aforementioned Franken, and judging by how unfunny and unlistened-to his talk radio effort was, he could use the work - and with the right mix of fraud and guesswork, he may have found it in the U.S. Senate. But in 2013? Imagine the horror of a Director Rush Limbaugh - or…horrors…Karl Rove.

To wit: Let’s open our papers years hence and see..

TIMES LATEST TO GET HIT WITH FAIRNESS RULING.
Olbermann waits by phone.

Homogenized Press Reports

September 9, 2016

“DNC headquarters erupted in paroxysms of rage today upon learning the New York Times lead editorial consisted of a studied endorsement of school choice, lower income taxes, heightened military strength and the preservation of the 2nd Amendment. Dennis Kucinich, the current DNC chair said ‘we didn’t deliberately obfuscate the obvious lack of President Obama’s quality and qualifications just to see our media turned against us after only 4 years.’

Kucinich’s comments came as the Times, a redoubtable clearinghouse for DNC talking points, was forced to offer the non-liberal editorial following a Fairness Doctrine complaint from conservative watchdog group “CNN Blows“. When asked about the increase in corporate media outlets being hit with Fairness Doctrine rulings, Fairness Czar Karl Rove said ‘look, this has been the law of the land since February of 2009 - the FAIR application thereof does not change with Presidential administrations.’

RNC chairman Eric Cantor said “Hey, turnabout is fair play. They wanted it when Obama got elected and they used it to hamstring talk radio - now President Palin is forcing the corporate media to play by the same rules. Looks like the hypocritical chickens have come home to roost.’

Surprisingly, the left wing appeared to have been caught completely flat-footed by the new aggressiveness of the Director of the Office of National Speech Control Policy. Rove has been extraordinarily active since being appointed to the office by President Sarah Palin in March of 2013. While the 4 years of the Obama Administration saw the new Fairness Doctrine being used essentially to run talk radio out of business and force Fox News to show 2 hours of Randi Rhodes each night, the new direction has been much more even-and heavy- handed.

And the left is - to turn the phrase - bereft. Once-dependably liberal outlets like the Times and CNN have been forced to not only offer Fairness Czar-approved editorials, they are also no longer allowed to read DNC talking points memos as news copy.

The newest developments promise to incite even more ire from the left. Director Rove’s office has indicated interest in the blogosphere. Although no rulings have yet been issued regarding online opinion comment, ONSCP agents have reportedly been scrutinizing postings on such far-left sites as George Soros-backed Moveon.org, with records requests also landing in the offices of Dailykos.com, a fringe site run by Al Qaeda supporter Markos Moulitsas. Reached by phone in on vacation in Waziristan, Moulitsas said ‘I talked to Osama and Aym….I mean, my advisers..and we are going to bomb….I mean…sue.’

To add insult to the left wing’s deepening injuries, only last week, MSNBC announced the termination of Keith Olbermann. Olbermann’s ouster came after Director Rove’s office ruled the far-left cable net offer a nighttime host who ‘Isn’t a complete no-talent bloviating partisan hack who wouldn’t know the truth if it bit him on his pansy ass and who doesn’t owe his entire career to the much funnier Dan Patrick and the much more important Bill O’Reilly.’

Unable to find an outlet with a right-wing commentator sufficiently lacking in quality, honesty and talent, Olbermann remains unemployed - and possibly unemployable; an ironic icon of the policy he and the rest of the liberal media once championed.”

A Fair forecast, indeed.

Read the whole thing.

Word is that Obama may try to use the FCC and some of those community organizers at ACORN--who are getting paid $2 Billion of our tax dollars out of the "stimulus" package--to make life miserable at the local level for local radio station owners who choose to put a (popular, ad-selling) Mark Levin or Rush Limbaugh on the air rather than (unpopular, non-revenue generating) Air America zeros. But Crystal is right that this sword cuts both ways. And what goes around could eventually come around to haunt them in places like the print media, MSNBC, CNN, etc.

The Democrats need to figure this out: Politically motivated censorship is not only un-American, it's a stupid idea. For one thing, it would not happen quietly--it would be blatantly transparent to every single media-savvy American and it would electrify the Right like nothing else could.

The Democrats should care about that, even though they obviously don't give a damn about this:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

You would have thought the Democrats had lost the last two elections; right now they are acting more like paranoid Banana Republic dictators than they are acting like a party that the public would otherwise be inclined to support. It is almost as if they are thinking: "uh oh, they are about to find out the truth about us..."

And if they keep up this kind of crap, it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

TODAY IS OBAMA'S BIRTHDAY - IN THE ISLAMIC CALENDAR

LAST NIGHT, PUNDITARIAN DISCOVERED THAT TODAY IS PRESIDENT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA JUNIOR'S BIRTHDAY - IN THE ISLAMIC CALENDAR!

WHY NOT SEND HIM YOUR WISH FOR A HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

SEND HIM AN EMAIL AND CUT AND PASTE ONE OF THESE:



























OR JUST PHONE HIM HERE: White House Phone Numbers:

• HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRESIDENT OBAMA: 202-456-1111
• Switchboard: 202-456-1414
• FAX: 202-456-2461

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MR. PRESIDENT!

Tomorrow, 22 Safar 1430, is Barack Hussein Obama, Jr.'s birthday according to the Islamic calendar. Happy Birthday, Mr. President!

Bat Yeor on Geert Wilders

BAT YEOR ASKS: Does defending Western values constitute “inciting hatred”?

RTWT.

HERE'S THE WAY I SEE THE SITUATION - AND THE WAY FORWARD:

• THE POSTMODERN LEFT HAS BRAINWASHED MOST OF EUROPE INTO BELIEVING THAT WESTERN CIVILIZATION IS NOT WORTH DEFENDING AND THAT ISLAM - AS A VICTIM OF THE WEST - DESERVES SPECIAL TREATMENT.

• JIHADISTS ARE EXPLOITING THIS TO COLONIZE EUROPE AND FORCE IT FIRST INTO DHIMMITUDE, AND THEN OUTRIGHT ISLAMIFICATION.

• THEY WILL SUCCEED UNLESS THE POSTMODERN LEFT IS DISCREDITED AND THROWN OUT - NOT JUST FROM THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS BUT FROM THE EU.

• IN BRITAIN, THE TORIES ARE AFRAID TO CARRY THE PATRIOTIC MANTLE BECAUSE MOST OF THEM ARE AFRAID OF BEING CALLED NATIONALISTS, JUST AS MOST OF THEM WERE AFRAID OF BEING CALLED EUROSKEPTICS.

• THIS IS WHY THOSE WHO OPPOSE DHIMMIFICATION HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO SUPPORT THE BNP.

• EITHER THAT WILL SCARE THE TORIES INTO SUPPORTING AND DEFENDING A BRITISH AND CHRISTIAN BRITAIN, OR THE BNP WILL TAKE OVER.

REAL REASON HILLARY WENT TO ASIA FIRST: TO SET UP OBAMA'S APPEARANCE IN INDONESIA

XINHUA:

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton would discuss the Middle East issue with Indonesian Foreign Minister Nur Hassan Wirajuda during her visit to the country on Feb. 18-19 as parts of her first week-long Asia trip starting on Sunday, Wirajuda said here Monday.

Minister Wirajuda told reporters before a hearing with the parliament that other issues would include the dispute on Iran nuclear, the issue of Afghanistan and the development in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

"We predict that the discussion would be about how to boost bilateral relations and the progress in the region particularly ASEAN and East Asia and also the international problems such as the issue of the Middle East, Afghanistan and Iran," he said.

The Minister said Clinton's visit to Indonesia was in an effort to improve the relations between the United States and the East Asian nations. During her trip to Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and China, Clinton will show the U. S. interest in the region.

BAH HUMBUG. IMHO: THE REAL REASON IS TO FINALIZE ARRANGEMENTS FOR OBAMA TO SPEAK THERE IN ... APRIL.

WSJ: OBAMA'S NEGATIVITY IS CATASTROPHIC

WSJ: Obama's Rhetoric Is the Real 'Catastrophe'

By BRADLEY R. SCHILLER

President Barack Obama has turned fearmongering into an art form. He has repeatedly raised the specter of another Great Depression. First, he did so to win votes in the November election. He has done so again recently to sway congressional votes for his stimulus package.
[Commentary] AP

In his remarks, every gloomy statistic on the economy becomes a harbinger of doom. As he tells it, today's economy is the worst since the Great Depression. Without his Recovery and Reinvestment Act, he says, the economy will fall back into that abyss and may never recover.

This fearmongering may be good politics, but it is bad history and bad economics.

WE AGREE - AND POSTED THIS FACT ON 1/26/09, AND AGAIN ON 1/31 - TWICE, HERE AND HERE. AND REITERATED IT ON 2/9/09.

• OBAMA IS A NATTERING NABOB OF NEGATIVITY.

• AND IT HURTS THE ECONOMY.

• THEY TRIED TO GET US TO LOSE IN IRAQ WITH THEIR RELENTLESSLY NEGATIVE AND DEFEATIST RHETORIC.

• AND THEY'RE DOING THE SAME THING WITH THE ECONOMY - JUST SO THEY CAN TAKE CONTROL OF IT.

• IT'S LONG BEEN PART OF THE SOCIALIST TACTICAL PLAYBOOK - TO CREATE CATASTROPHE SO THEY CAN PICK UP THE PIECES, AND OBAMA IS MERELY CARRYING IT OUT.

DISSENT ACCORDINGLY.

BOTTOM-LINE: WE HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR BUT FEAR ITSELF - AND SOCIALISM.

ACCORDING TO NOAA, LAST YEAR WAS COLDER THAN NORMAL

OFFICAL MAP AND LINKS HERE.

• IF CO2 AND OTHER SO-CALLED MAN-MADE "GREENHOUSE" GASES HAVE GONE UP STEADILY - ESPECIALLY SINCE 2000 (DESPITE KYOTO!), THEN THIS SHOULD NOT BE HAPPENING - UNLESS AGW IS BS.

• WELL... AGW IS BS.

• END OF STORY.

MURTHA'S HOMETOWN PAPER: "MURTHA UNDER MICROSCOPE"

JOHNSTOWN TRIBUNE-DEMOCRAT: Murtha under the microscope | After 35 years, scrutiny tighter than ever

On Feb. 5, John Murtha celebrated the 35th anniversary of the day he first took the oath of office as a member of the U.S. House. The oath was administered by Majority Leader “Tip” O’Neill, who later became Murtha’s political mentor, because House Speaker Carl Albert was out of the country.

To commemorate the milestone, Murtha’s staff issued a news release touting the fact that “of the nearly 10,650 men and women who have served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1789, only 80 have served longer than Congressman Murtha.”

In that release, Murtha said, in part: “The challenges we face today are enormous, and certainly there is much good work to be done. I’m confident that, just as we’ve done over the past 35 years, we will continue to improve our quality of life here in western Pennsylvania and throughout our nation.”

It’s hard to imagine many times during those 35 years when Murtha faced the level of scrutiny and animosity he experiences today.

... Now, a pair of federal raids have again drawn Murtha into the spotlight.

In January, Kuchera companies of Windber were raided and files were confiscated, and the companies are now the focus of an investigation over the use of funds.

Last week, ABC News reported that back in November another federal probe targeted PMA Group, a Washington, D.C., lobbying agency founded by former Murtha aide Paul Magliochetti. While the congressman has ties to both Kuchera and PMA Group, neither of the federal raids have yet been linked to Murtha – even indirectly.

But Murtha should understand that every move he makes and every affiliation he has – or has had – will be under the microscope for the remainder of his days in office.

And the lawmaker cannot hide his head in the sand and hope the glare of the spotlight goes away. We would, however, urge him to avoid the avoidable – such as calling his constituents “rednecks” and urging the government to send terrorists into our midst. He will get plenty of attention every day without wiggling the bait. Sometimes, we would bet, that day with O’Neill seems like a lot more than 35 years ago.

THIS ABSCAM SLIMEBALL CROOK OUGHT TO GET 35 YEARS BEHIND BARS!

FIRST THEY CAME FOR YOUR HAMBURGERS...

BREIRBART/AFP:

When it comes to global warming, hamburgers are the Hummers of food, scientists say.

Simply switching from steak to salad could cut as much carbon as leaving the car at home a couple days a week.

That's because beef is such an incredibly inefficient food to produce and cows release so much harmful methane into the atmosphere, said Nathan Pelletier of Dalhousie University in Canada.

Pelletier is one of a growing number of scientists studying the environmental costs of food from field to plate.

By looking at everything from how much grain a cow eats before it is ready for slaughter to the emissions released by manure, they are getting a clearer idea of the true costs of food.

The livestock sector is estimated to account for 18 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and beef is the biggest culprit.

Even though beef only accounts for 30 percent of meat consumption in the developed world it's responsible for 78 percent of the emissions, Pelletier said Sunday at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

That's because a single kilogram of beef produces 16 kilograms carbon dioxide equivalent emissions: four times higher than pork and more than ten times as much as a kilogram of poultry, Pelletier said.

If people were to simply switch from beef to chicken, emissions would be cut by 70 percent, Pelletier said.

THESE NANNYSTATE LEFTISTS WILL NOT STOP UNTIL THEY CONTROL EVERY PART OF OUR LIVES.

NOT VOLUNTARILY.

AND ONCE AGAIN THIS TIME IT'S ON ACCOUNT OF AGW - A TOTALLY FICTIONAL BOGEYMAN AS LIKELY TO BE EFFECTED BY HAMBURGERS AS BY THE MAN ON THE MOON.

MADAME SPEAKER, WHAT SHOULD WE DO UNTIL THE PORKULUS KICKS-IN DURING THE 4TH QUARTER?

THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION NOW ADMITS THAT THE PORKULUS BILL WON'T HAVE ANY NOTICEABLE EFFECT UNTIL THE 4TH QUARTER.

SO... MADAME SPEAKER, WHAT SHOULD WE DO UNTIL THE PORKULUS KICKS-IN DURING THE 4TH QUARTER?

NEW CHARGES LEVELED AT OLMERT

Corruption charge 1,000,000 looks to be filed:

(IsraelNN.com) Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been implicated in a new corruption scandal. A report put out Monday by State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss accuses Olmert of using his political pull to get an irregular loan approved.

Olmert pressured then Treasury Accountant-General Yaron Zehalka to approve a loan for the Jerusalem Engineering College, Lindenstrauss found. The alleged incident took place while Olmert served as Finance Minister.

I hope that a new government will be formed soon, so that then, he'll really have to step down and face them.

OBAMA WILL HAVE USA PARTICIPATE IN DURBAN II HATE-FEST RUN BY CUBA, IRAN AND LIBYA

KIRSANOW/NRO:

... the Obama administration's decision to participate in preparations for Durban II is a worrisome development, betraying the kind of foreign policy fecklessness and deference to despots that was a hallmark of the Carter administration.

Durban I was an anti-West (with particular animus directed toward the U.S. and Israel) orgy wherein representatives from repressive, totalitarian regimes denounced democratic capitalism while demanding reparations from its practitioners.

... Durban II preparations are being led by Libya, Iran, and Cuba. That, by itself, should provide a bit of insight. If the Obama administration believes its participation in the Durban II bashfest can have a salutary effect on the human rights policies of these regimes, we're in for a long four years.

OBAMA WILL FIT RIGHT IN: OBAMA HAS MORE IN COMMON WITH THE AMERICA BASHERS THAN WITH THE READERS OF NRO OR WITH GOP VOTERS.

OBAMA REPRESENTS THE "BLAME AMERICA FIRST" WING OF THE DEMOCRAT PARTY - AS KIRKPATRICK DESCRIBED IT IN 1984:

They said that saving Grenada from terror and totalitarianism was the wrong thing to do - they didn't blame Cuba or the communists for threatening American students and murdering Grenadians - they blamed the United States instead.

But then, somehow, they always blame America first.

When our Marines, sent to Lebanon on a multinational peacekeeping mission with the consent of the United States Congress, were murdered in their sleep, the "blame America first crowd" didn't blame the terrorists who murdered the Marines, they blamed the United States.

But then, they always blame America first.

When the Soviet Union walked out of arms control negotiations, and refused even to discuss the issues, the San Francisco Democrats didn't blame Soviet intransigence. They blamed the United States.

But then, they always blame America first.

When Marxist dictators shoot their way to power in Central America, the San Francisco Democrats don't blame the guerrillas and their Soviet allies, they blame United States policies of 100 years ago.

But then, they always blame America first.

The American people know better.

They know that Ronald Reagan and the United States didn't cause Marxist dictatorship in Nicaragua, or the repression in Poland, or the brutal new offensives in Afghanistan, or the destruction of the Korean airliner, or the new attacks on religious and ethnic groups in the Soviet Union, or the jamming of western broadcasts, or the denial of Jewish emigration, or the brutal imprisonment of Anatoly Shcharansky and Ida Nudel, or the obscene treatment of Andrei Sakharov and Yelena Bonner, or the re-Stalinization of the Soviet Union.

The American people know that it's dangerous to blame ourselves for terrible problems that we did not cause.

They understand just as the distinguished French writer, Jean Francois Revel, understands the dangers of endless self- criticism and self-denigration.

He wrote: "Clearly, a civilization that feels guilty for everything it is and does will lack the energy and conviction to defend itself."

With the election of Ronald Reagan, the American people declared to the world that we have the necessary energy and conviction to defend ourselves, and that we have as well a deep commitment to peace.

And now, the American people, proud of our country, proud of our freedom, proud of ourselves, will reject the San Francisco Democrats and send Ronald Reagan back to the White House.

OBAMA IS NOT ONLY TAKING US DOWN THE ROAD TO SERFDOM ECONOMICALLY, HE IS ALSO TAKING US DOWN THE ROAD OF APPEASEMENT.

IT WILL END AS BADLY NOW AS IT DID IN 1980.

OR WORSE.

IF PASSING THE PORKULUS WAS SO URGENT THAT THEY HAD TO DO IT IN 15 HOURS, THEN WHY IS OBAMA WAITING FOUR DAYS TO SIGN IT!?

• IT'S KRAUTHAMMER'S QUESTION.

• OF COURSE, IT'S RHETORICAL.

• WE KNOW THE ANSWER.

• THE BILL IS SO FULL OF CRAP THAT IT WOULDN'T HAVE PASSED IF PUBLIC KNEW WHAT WAS IN IT.

• THE TROUBLE IS, WE'RE GONNA MAKE SURE THE PUBLIC FINDS OUT, AND WE'RE GONNA MAKE SURE THEY GET MAD AND WE'RE GONNA MAKE SURE THEY BLAME OBAMA AND REID AND PELOSI.

• AND OBAMA AND REID AND PELOSI ARE GONNA PAY THE PRICE IN 2010.

THEY PROMISED HONEST LEADERSHIP AND OPEN GOVERNMENT - THEY LIED. SEVEN TIMES.

IRONIC: LIBS BLAME BUSH FOR CURRENT FINANCIAL CRISIS, BUT IT WAS BUSH'S LIBERAL POLCIES WHICH CONTRIBUTED TO IT, NOT HIS CONSERVATIVE POLICIES

GWB was a mixed bag - a staunch conservative on some things - like national security and taxes and right to life, and a liberal on other things - like amnesty for illegal aliens, medicare spending, education spending. And he was a centrist on other things - like AGW and Iran and North Korea.

But because of the Iraq War, the left thinks of him as a fascist war-monger and much of the MSM agrees with this shallow and incorrect assessment.

I think Iraq may go down as Bush's greatest success. Along with his two SCOTUS appointments.

But on balance, Bush was - IMHO - a liberal, albeit a liberal hawk like FDR, Truman, JFK, and LBJ. And Scoop.

YES: BUSH WAS A BIG-SPENDING LIBERAL. COMBINED WITH HIS RIGHT TO LIFE STAND, AND HIS LOW-TAX STAND, THIS MAKES HIM - ON BALANCE - A CENTRIST.

FDR and Truman were HAWKIER. JFK more bellicose. LBJ more liberal. But Bush is more like them than any other presidents.

Bruce Bartlett - a conservative economist who served under Reagan agrees - and has written a book about Bush LIBERAL BIG-SPENDING; according to PUBLISHER WEEKLY:

From Publishers Weekly

Liberal commentators gripe so frequently about the current administration that it's become easy to tune them out, but when Bartlett, a former member of the Reagan White House, says George W. Bush has betrayed the conservative movement, his conservative credentials command attention. Bartlett's attack boils down to one key premise: Bush is a shallow opportunist who has cast aside the principles of the "Reagan Revolution" for short-term political gains that may wind up hurting the American economy as badly as, if not worse than, Nixon's did. As part of a simple, point-by-point critique of Bush's "finger-in-the-wind" approach to economic leadership, Bartlett singles out the Medicare prescription drug bill of 2003— "the worst piece of legislation ever enacted"—as a particularly egregious example of the increases in government spending that will, he says, make tax hikes inevitable. Bush has further weakened the Republican Party by failing to establish a successor who can run in the next election, Bartlett says. If the Reaganites want to restore the party's tradition of fiscal conservatism and small government, he worries, let alone keep the Democrats out of the White House, they will have their work cut out for them. (Feb.)

Over the last 8 years, the liberals frequently blamed Bush for running up HUGE deficits.

They are not so angry about deficits NOW, are they!?

And they argue all the tax cuts went to the wealthy - a patently false claim proven wrong by any and all factual analyses of the tax data.

NONE criticizes Bush for his (1) endorsement of Fannie Mae (albeit with MUCH MORE OVERSIGHT THAN THE DEMS WOULD ALLOW!!!) or for (2) his HUGE increase in HIV drug aid for Africa - as if it was our colony, and as if USA taxpayers had as responsibility to pay for the treatment of an STD by ignorant tribalistic primitives - who are generally antagonistic to US policy - on the other side of the Earth. Or for his HUMONGOUS increase in education spending. In fact, GW BUSH presided over the LARGEST INCREASE IN DOMESTIC SPENDING SINCE LBJ! (And he kept calling Islam the "religion of peace" - YUCH; insane!)

And all this liberal policy stuff got him ZERO credit among the libs or the MSM. ZERO. ZILCH. BUPKUS. All it did was inflate the deficit and INFURIATE CONSERVATIVES.

This is why Bush declined at the polls: because he did not govern as a CONSISTENT CONSERVATIVE; he governed as a "compassionate" conservative - which actually meant in practice a LIBERAL conservative.

Now.... well, now the libs are in control and they're blaming Bush and doing the VERY SAME CRAP WHICH GOT US HERE!

We have 18 months to inform the electorate.

We have 18 months to look into every nook and cranny of the PORKULUS Bill and find all the pork, all the special favors, all the corrupt payola.

It's there in black and white.

IT MUST BE: if it wasn't there then Obama would have made sure that we all had time to read it BEFORE it was voted on.

THIS IS OUR MISSION: EXPOSE PORKULUS - AND THE SOONER THE BETTER.

AND THEN NOMINATE AND ELECT REAL CONSERVATIVES.

Not half-assed ones like GHW Bush.

We haven't had a REAL conservative president since Reagan. And the one before that was.... Coolidge. WE NEED ANOTHER!

[ASIDE: Bush will go down in history as a great president if we recover from the economic mess this year - as I think we will, and if Iraq holds together. Defending the USA from a second attack while decimating the enemy and reshaping the Middle East - and appointing two YOUNG CONSERVATIVES to the SCOTUS - are GREAT accomplishments.]

French Holocaust Role Recognized

From BBC News Europe:

France's highest court has recognised the state's "responsibility" for the deportation of Jews in World War II.

The Council of State said the state had permitted or facilitated deportations that led to anti-Semitic persecution without being coerced by the occupiers.

But the council also found reparations had since been made "as much as was possible, for all the losses suffered".

Correspondents say the ruling is the clearest such recognition of the French state's role in the Holocaust.

Between 1942 and 1944 some 76,000 Jews were deported from France by the Vichy government in collaboration with the German occupying army.

In 1995, former French President Jacques Chirac officially recognised the French state's responsibility in the deportation of French Jews, putting an end to decades of ambiguity by successive governments.

"These dark hours forever sully our history and are an insult to our past and our traditions," he said. "Yes, the criminal folly of the occupiers was seconded by the French, by the French state."

SENATOR BURRIS MAY FACE PERJURY CHARGES IN ILLINOIS

SUN-TIMES: Illinois lawmakers mull Burris perjury probe.

State lawmakers are calling for a criminal investigation into whether U.S. Sen. Roland Burris committed perjury before a state impeachment panel, in the wake of a Sun-Times exclusive story published online today.

The development comes after the Chicago Democrat failed to initially disclose under oath to a House panel that he was hit up for campaign cash by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's brother.

State Rep. James Durkin (R-Western Springs) said Saturday that the Sangamon County state prosecutor‚s office will be asked to review Burris‚ Jan. 8 sworn testimony before the House panel to determine whether Burris (D-Ill.) perjured himself.

"I don't trust anything that comes out of Roland Burris‚ mouth or from his pen," Durkin said.

"We had a major league situation facing us. This is a United States senate seat that came under the most clouded of circumstances," Durkin said. "This is supposed to be about the year of reform this is about ethics and about transparency." Durkin questioned why he found out about the additional testimony Friday night from the Sun-Times. "Why were we kept out of the loop? Why were we kept out of the latest filing of Roland Burris?"

Word that Burris' account of his appointment has changed yet again came as a surprise to some of his colleagues in the Senate, who were not aware of the affidavit's filing until learning of it from press accounts. It was unclear what response might be triggered by Burris' revisions.

An aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who initially sought to block Burris from being seated, said the Senate leader intended to take a closer look at Burris' new affidavit.

MORE HERE VIA MEMEORANDUM.

REZKO. BLAGO. BURRIS.

PRETTY SOON OBAMA HIMSELF WILL BE INDICTED...

OBAMA TO CREATE COMMISION WITHOUT COMMISSAR TO LORD OVER CAR INDUSTRY

NYTIMES:

President Barack Obama plans to appoint senior administration officials -- rather than a single ''car czar,'' as had been discussed -- to oversee a restructuring of the auto industry.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers will oversee the across-the-government panel, a senior administration official said Sunday on the condition of anonymity because no announcement had been made.

''The president understands the importance of this issue and also understands that the auto industry affects and is affected by a broad range of economic policies,'' the official said.

As the teams move forward, Obama ''wants to make sure that we're getting the expertise and input of agencies across the government,'' the official said.

Obama and his aides face difficult choices on the fate of the U.S. auto industry, weighing the cost of pouring billions more into struggling companies against possible bankruptcies that could undermine plans to jump-start the economy.

WSJ:

The administration has decided to forgo naming one individual to oversee the process.

Treasury is expected to bring in Ron Bloom, a special assistant to the president of United Steelworkers union and a former investment banker, as a senior advisor to help handle auto-related issues, these people said.

The hiatus, in which the industry awaited the car czar, slowed progress in restructuring talks between automakers, bondholders and the United Auto Workers union, according to people familiar with the matter. Without someone firmly in charge, the various stakeholders have not felt compelled to come to the bargaining table, these people said.

IF GOVERNMENTS COULD RUN THE AUTO INDUSTRY THEN WE'D ALL BE DRIVING SOVIET VOLGAS!

• I THINK THAT OBAMA COULDN'T FIND ANY BUSINESSMAN TO TAKE THE JOB.

• MUCH LIKE HIS PROBLEM IN FINDING A COMMERCE SECRETARY:

• NOBODY IN BUSINESS WANTS ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS SOCIALIST!

• FACT: OBAMA HAS NOT A SINGLE PERSON IN HIS CABINET FROM PRIVATE ENTERPRISE AND THE FREE MARKET!
  

• THEY'RE ALL POLITICIANS, BUREAUCRATS OR PROFESSORS.

JUST LIKE IN THE USSR!

AND RON BLOOM: HE'S BEEN A PART OF THE USW FOR 13 YEARS! HE'S A PRO-UNION ANTI-MANAGEMENT GUY, AND UNIONS ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM!

MORE HERE.

VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA BUSHFIRE ARSONIST NAMED: SOKULUK

3NEWS:

Name suppression has been lifted for the Victorian man who is accused of lighting a bushfire that killed 21 people.

Brendan Sokaluk, 39-years-old, is accused of starting the fire last Saturday that swept through the Gippsland area, destroying 36-thousand hectares.

The man from Churchill was not present at his court hearing in Melbourne today.

He faced one charge of arson causing death, one of intentionally lighting a bushfire, and one count of possessing child pornography.
Sokaluk's lawyer has described his client as a “bit of a loner” and in a “fragile” mental state.

NOT A MUZZIE, OR AN ABO':

Sokaluk Was Volunteer Firefighter!

It has been revealed that a man accused of lighting the Bush fires that caused mass death in the Churchill area is VOLUNTEER CFA FIRE FIGHTER Brendeon Sokaluk. Sokaluk, 39 years old has a name of ethnic Russian slavic non Western European, Non British origin.

MORE:

Sokaluk maintains a MySpace page that given what he has done is spooky.

Sokaluk was clearly bitter on a couple of fronts. A failed relationship with someone called Alexandra resulted in a profile comment of “my interest are to enjoy life to the fallest [sic] and not with alexandra because she roots behind your back and lies a lot.”

The page is scattered with appalling spelling, suggesting that Sokaluk may have been illiterate, or had suffered a learning disability.

In the hero section, Sokaluk writes ” my heroe [sic] is mother earth with out her we all would be dead.”

His MySpace profile also suggests that Sokaluk has an affiliation to a US religious group by the name of “The Truth of God,” a group known to hold extreme views against women clergy and gay people.

Sokaluk worked for his own company, Brendan Scrap Metal Pickup, in Hazelwood, Victoria.

EVEN MORE:

Brendan Sokaluk, the man accused of lighting a fire that killed 21 people in Victoria may have been acting out after being jilted by his possibly firefighter ex, The Inquisitr has learned.

In our earlier post, we noted that Sokaluk was bitter about an ex called Alexandra, writing “my interest are to enjoy life to the fallest [sic] and not with alexandra because she roots behind your back and lies a lot” on his MySpace page.

With thanks to @cravenjade on Twitter, we can reveal that person may be a volunteer bush firefighter, although we don’t yet have her last name.

Alexandra is 31, lives in the Gippsland area, and works in age care as her full time position.

Notably, her profile picture, and other pictures on her MySpace page show her in a CFA (Country Fire Authority) uniform.

Her friends list includes other fire fighters, although disturbingly one set of pictures is made under the title of “pyro;” we’re not sure if that’s the name of the dog pictured, or another reference.

SICK. SAD. SICKENING.

BOOB JOB GETS BOXER BANNED

NO: NOT BARBARA BOXER... SARAH BLEWDEN:

Female boxer Sarah Blewden gets banned from competing because of her false boobs Model Sarah Blewden is the first Briton to be banned from competing as an amateur boxer because of her breast implants.

Boxing chiefs barred Sarah, 25, after being warned the repeated blows could damage breast tissue. The fighter, who hoped to compete in the 2012 Olympics, had a boob op in 2003 taking her from a 32B to 32C. Sarah, who runs a hair salon, only turned to boxing two years ago to keep fit. But she had talent and was stunned when the Amateur Boxing Association refused her permission to compete.

Medics insisted her boobs were at risk of contraction or distortion if hit. Cells in tissue pushed forward by the implants could also be harmed.

Sarah, of Poole, Dorset, said: "It is ridiculous. My surgeon said they make me no more vulnerable than any woman. They are not enormous and they are gel so won't burst." She asked to wear a breast protector, but she was told it might not work. ABA's Tony Attwood said: "International rules forbid anyone with breast implants continuing to box."

I'D GO 15 ROUNDS WITH HER!

SERIOUSLY, THIS IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF OVER-REGULATION OF INDUSTRY BY THE LEFT, AND THE NANNYSTATE.

SHE WOULD BE GREAT FOR THE BOXING INDUSTRY. SHE SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO MAKE AN INFORMED PERSONAL DECISION.

ECONOMY STABILIZING - WITHOUT OBAMA'S PORKUPENDOUS STIMULATION

MAXED OUT MAMA:

... in fact, the signs of US economic stabilization (not the bottom, but getting there) are beginning to pop up like weeds.

Retail Sales. There are several significant things about January.

First, the weather was not favorable, and anyone who remembers the recent spate of weakening retail sales which were all attributed to snow and ice will get a chuckle out of the fact that retail sales rose this January. It appears that consumers are no longer as frightened of snow and/or the wrong color walls.

Second, auto sales increased, and dealer auto sales increased.

Third, the SA retail total increased from December, although it is still 9% lower than Jan 09. Fourth, electronics picked up, clothing picked up, general merchandising picked up, and restaurants & bars picked up.

The general pattern is one of recession, but the end to the steep fall in consumer spending.

Half to 2/3rds of this is driven by the fall in gas and heating oil prices. The rest is due to the fact that things wear out and the financial conservatives are beginning to spend a bit. Between the two, employed people have a little more money each week in their pockets and they may not be willing to spend recklessly, but they are spending for things that are useful and needed.

The fact that retail sales are stabilizing strongly indicates that we are way further toward the low point of this recession than to the beginning.

... Unemployment continues to rise after the trough, so from a consumer perspective, the trough will seem somewhat later. However, as retail stabilizes one big source of layoffs will drop.

Also, a quick look at Treasury receipts shows that the decline in corporate profits is beginning to level out, which of course is correlated to layoffs. This means that the rapid decline sequence (lower sales, lower profits, layoffs, lower sales, etc) is beginning to shade towards its natural end.

IT'S A LONG, FACT-FILLED POST WITH GRAPHS AND COMMENTARY. CHECK IT OUT.

OBAMA'S BIGGEST FEAR NOW IS THAT THE PUBLIC REALIZES WE'RE RECOVERING BEFORE HE CAN DOLE OUT ALL THE PORK-MONEY AND TAKE CREDIT.

JUST AS WITH IRAQ, THE LEFT WISHES THINGS GET WORSE.