ESPN at it again

Remember when they came down on Paul Azinger for making comments about The Messiah? Even though other employees had made harsher comments about Republicans? Well, they're at it again:

ESPN has dropped Hank Williams Jr. from opening Monday Night Football tonight after Williams controversial comments today about President Obama.

Says ESPN, in a statement: "While Hank Williams Jr. is not an ESPN employee, we recognize he is closely linked to our company through the opening to Monday Night Football. We are extremely disappointed with his comments, and as a result have decided to pull the open from tonight's telecast."

What did Williams say? He said "this summer's so-called golf summit between Obama and House Speaker John Boehner" was "one of the biggest political mistakes ever." He then said "It would be like Hitler playing golf with (Israeli leader) Benjamin Netanyahu." Finally he said "Obama and Vice-President Biden are 'the enemy.'"

Hey, ESPN can hire and fire whomever they wish. And I can watch some other channel if they insist on being one-sided about enforcing their political commentary policy.

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Tweet of the Day

People who say Chris Christie is too fat to be president: Girthers.

Link.

Tea Party vs. Wall Street Occupiers

Compare what Tea Partiers want with what these minions desire:

And then there's this list of "demands":

• Demand one: Restoration of the living wage. This demand can only be met by ending “Freetrade” by re-imposing trade tariffs on all imported goods entering the American market to level the playing field for domestic family farming and domestic manufacturing as most nations that are dumping cheap products onto the American market have radical wage and environmental regulation advantages. Another policy that must be instituted is raise the minimum wage to twenty dollars an hr.

• Demand two: Institute a universal single payer healthcare system. To do this all private insurers must be banned from the healthcare market as their only effect on the health of patients is to take money away from doctors, nurses and hospitals preventing them from doing their jobs and hand that money to wall st. investors.

• Demand three: Guaranteed living wage income regardless of employment.

• Demand four: Free college education.

• Demand five: Begin a fast track process to bring the fossil fuel economy to an end while at the same bringing the alternative energy economy up to energy demand.

• Demand six: One trillion dollars in infrastructure (Water, Sewer, Rail, Roads and Bridges and Electrical Grid) spending now.

• Demand seven: One trillion dollars in ecological restoration planting forests, reestablishing wetlands and the natural flow of river systems and decommissioning of all of America’s nuclear power plants.

• Demand eight: Racial and gender equal rights amendment.

• Demand nine: Open borders migration. anyone can travel anywhere to work and live.

• Demand ten: Bring American elections up to international standards of a paper ballot precinct counted and recounted in front of an independent and party observers system.

• Demand eleven: Immediate across the board debt forgiveness for all. Debt forgiveness of sovereign debt, commercial loans, home mortgages, home equity loans, credit card debt, student loans and personal loans now! All debt must be stricken from the “Books.” World Bank Loans to all Nations, Bank to Bank Debt and all Bonds and Margin Call Debt in the stock market including all Derivatives or Credit Default Swaps, all 65 trillion dollars of them must also be stricken from the “Books.” And I don’t mean debt that is in default, I mean all debt on the entire planet period.

• Demand twelve: Outlaw all credit reporting agencies.

• Demand thirteen: Allow all workers to sign a ballot at any time during a union organizing campaign or at any time that represents their yeah or nay to having a union represent them in collective bargaining or to form a union.

They end by saying "These demands will create so many jobs it will be completely impossible to fill them without an open borders policy."

Uh huh.

Look at the bright side -- there is one demand that isn't either absolutely insane or stupefyingly ignorant: Demand ten. In fact, we've advocated for that here at Colossus for years now.

(h/t to The Corner.)

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Our mainstream media and you

They're at it again. Surprise, that! They still beat the "racist" drumbeat against the Tea Party against all evidence (and/or lack thereof) so when there is ANY connection to a Republican with something obviously racist -- no matter how remote -- well, they're gonna LET. YOU. KNOW!! Check it:

So, Rick Perry’s family had a hunting lease on a piece of land that featured a large boulder. On the boulder—either as signage, or a graffiti—was the term “Niggerhead.” As soon as Perry’s family started leasing the land, they painted the rock over. Yet the offensive name was still visible through the paint, and people saw it.

So the Perry family, which never owned this property, eventually turned the rock over to make sure that the offensive term could never be seen. (How much did that cost, by the way? Getting heavy boulder-turning machinery to a hunting camp couldn’t be cheap.)

The Washington Post was able to find multiple people who were willing to claim that the word was visible on the rock while the Perrys were leasing the property—and using it intermittently—back in the 1980s. What the people at the Post apparently cannot reproduce is a picture of the rock. Even though the legend was supposedly very prominent, possibly official signage for that hunting camp, and so difficult to paint over that the word showed through the paint.

Ironically, Perry was a Democrat during most (if not all) of the timeframe in question. That's probably why it wasn't worthy of a mention then, but is now, now that Perry is a member of the GOP.

Not to mention -- where the f*** was the Post back during campaign 2008 with this story and photos? And back to the "racist" Tea Party, where is all the coverage of the actual hate and lunacy (and arrests!) evident at these Wall Street protests?

That's right -- doesn't fit THE NARRATIVE^TM

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The Big Mick

Grab-N-Go burger is the same as In-N-Out burger? So says the latter in this News Journal article today.

Anyone else reminded of "Coming to America," the Eddie Murphy hit featuring John Amos' McDowell's restaurant? Check it out:

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Comedy, thy name is Liberals

So, a bunch of liberals are "occupying" Wall Street. There are a few problems with this though.

For one, to claim Wall Street is "occupied" when its operations have barely been impacted is a stretch, to put it mildly. Second, if they're really upset at Wall Street, I would hope they'll vote against the re-election of a President who's been in the pocket of Wall Street, but somehow I doubt they'll follow through on their rhetoric.

To make things even funnier, they only managed to get as many as a few thousand "occupiers" because of a false rumor that the band Radiohead was going to perform for them:

"I actually think it's kind of ridiculous," said a dreadlocked 20-year-old who identified himself as Pigpen. "The only reason 500 people are here is because they think Radiohead is going to be here."

Organizers were red-faced.

"I got hoaxed," said Patrick Bruner, who has been e-mailing on behalf of the Occupy Wall Street protesters. "Radiohead was never confirmed. Completely our fault. Apologies. "

To make things even more amusing:

A crowd of more than 2,000 people marched up Broadway, past a closed City Hall Park, under the arch of the Municipal Building and massed outside what some mistakenly thought was NYPD headquarters.

But most of the chanting horde plopped down in front of One St. Andrew's Plaza, which houses the U.S. Attorney's Office, not the NYPD.

But remember, it's the Tea Party who's stupid, ill-informed and guided by false information.

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$315,000

That's how much William B. Harvey -- former Vice President for Diversity and Equity at the University of Virginia -- makes in a year. $315,000. If I had a kid at UVA and saw what the tuition I was shelling out cost me, I'd demand to know what this ridiculously politically correct dolt actually did to warrant such a salary. It certainly ain't because of "logic" like this regarding why Asian-Americans are underrepresented at the very top levels of American education:

Bill Harvey, vice president and chief officer for diversity and equity, said this discrepancy between higher and lower levels of the University faculty may be because of culture. He said Asian-Americans typically do not actively seek out leadership positions and instead may prefer to take a more supportive role. For example, Harvey said, they may appear more comfortable in roles as senior faculty members.

Now, Harvey's "logic" isn't misplaced since he may actually have a [cultural] point here. The problem is that it is highly doubtful that he'd apply this logic consistently. If a Vice President for Diversity and Equity's role is to "ensure" diversity at virtually any cost -- even at the cost of skirting the law so much so that you may as well be completely over the border -- it would be his job to make sure Asian-Americans were represented at those mentioned higher levels. And, of course, were we to apply Harvey's logic elsewhere, this same explanation should suffice as to why, without racial preferences and quotas, there aren't as many blacks and Latinos at various universities ... for that "may be because of culture" too, might it not?

As we've noted ad nauseum here at Colossus, self-described diversophiles and multi-cultis inevitably just cannot help tripping over their convoluted racial/ethnic/diversity "logic." Consistency is anathema to them, mainly because there is no consistency inherent in what they believe and advocate. For [further] example, Harvey is now Dean of Education at North Carolina A & T University where the student body is 84% African-American, and ten members of its Board of Trustees (out of twelve) are black. If diversity is such the educational "necessity" as vice presidents for Diversity and Equity routinely claim (and get paid handsomely for), why isn't Harvey actively attempting to diversify A & T's population so that the institution will gain all these miraculous "benefits?"

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It's getting so bad for Obama ...

... that he can't even remember his wife's name. Or, maybe he has the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" on his mind. Check it at about the 0:35 mark:

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Welcome to the world of Orwell

The Society of Professional Journalists has acted on behalf of fans of George Orwell everywhere (h/t to John J. Miller):

The Society of Professional Journalists, hearing an emotional plea from Rebecca Aguilar, a member of SPJ and of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, voted Tuesday to recommend that newsrooms discontinue using the terms "illegal alien" and "illegal immigrant." The resolution from the 7,800-member organization says only courts can decide when a person has committed an illegal act.

Aguilar argued that using those words insulted Latinos and all those who are or had once been in the United States illegally. She used the example of her mother, who became a "proud American" in 1980. Her mother felt insulted "every time she heard that word," Aguilar said of the phrase "illegal alien."

Get it? The terms would be insulting to ... people who ARE in the United States illegally! Saying precisely what these people are ... is insulting! One can only imagine what other sorts of manipulative lingo will be thought up by these politically correct peons. We won't be able to use "convicted felon" because a person has already served his time? Or is insulting to him? What should we call him -- a "formerly incarcerated bad choice maker"?

Is it any wonder why the American public more and more despises the media? We're dealing with this sort of politically correct nonsense locally, too.

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Dopey WNJ Letter of the Week

The Rev. Horacio Delano Lewis of Newark, like way too many "progressives," likes to talk the talk about violence and the value of human life; however, a certain thing called abortion never seems to enter into that equation:

With the rampant disregard of human life exemplified by wars, gang activity, animosity, revenge and greed, I ask for detente and the acknowledgement that only God decides life and death. I am indignantly appalled to read of global disrespect for what God has designed. The thought of hurting or in any way destroying a fellow human, even when attacked, unnerves me, since we are all unique, sacred spiritual beings who exist through the will and grace of a supreme power I call God.

People are not given the right to harm God's children; only he decides who lives and dies. Local incidents of homicides are alarming and out of control; we can take a small step, at least in Wilmington, in honoring God, by reminding ourselves that we do not have the authority to disrupt the purpose for which we were created. "Will harm no one today, no one" should be our motto.

Now, just because the rev didn't specifically make note of abortion in his letter doesn't mean he is pro-choice. However, he is indeed just that -- he believes, as noted on his personal website, that the procedure is "a personal issue."

Hey rev -- you just wrote above that "People are not given the right to harm God's children; only he decides who lives and dies." (BTW, shouldn't "he" be written "He"?) Except for abortion, though, right? In that case, it's OK to let a woman usurp God's decision of about life and death!

Figures. Dr. Lewis is, unfortunately, just another "progressive" hypocrite when it comes to the issue of life.

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Herman Cain vs. Morgan Freeman

Yeah, I wouldn't do too much yappin' there, Morgan. After all, when you were president, you allowed part of a comet to wipe out hundreds of a millions of people.

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Wanna see what delusion looks like?

Then check out 9/11 Truther Van Jones on admitted socialist Lawrence O'Donnell's show:

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Watcher's Council results

• *First place with 4 votes! Joshuapundit–-Can Israel Survive?
• Second place *t* with 1 2/3 votes – Bookworm Room-Elizabeth Warren– mob boss
• Second place *t* with 1 2/3 votes – The Noisy Room-Man of the Hour – Herman Cain
• Third place *t* with 1 vote – The Razor-The French Lady of the Mountains
• Third place *t* with 1 vote – Simply Jews-Iranian army parading into the future
• Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote – New Zeal – Red Reps 14: Scoop! Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva’s Communist Party Connections
• Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Right Truth – Hooking Up With Fox News, Google Is Not Stupid
• Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote – VA Right! – Scott Brown Opponent Elizabeth Warren Is an Idiot! The Factory PAID for the IMPROVEMENTS!
• Fifth place *t* with 1/3 vote – The Colossus of Rhodey – I wonder about this
• Fifth place *t* with 1/3 vote -The Political Commentator- White House shills defecting as AP debunks the President on taxes!

And the non-Council nominations are here!

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Comment of the Day

Jonah Goldberg:

Seriously, in 2008 we elected a community organizer, state senator, college instructor first term senator over a guy who spent five years in a Vietnamese prison. And now he’s lecturing us about how America’s gone “soft”? Really?

'Nuff said. Well, maybe not -- here's Peter Kirsanow:

The Obama brand of liberalism not only is likely to contribute to a “softer” America, but a soft-headed America as well. We condemn tea-partiers and veterans as racists and potential terrorists but we release actual terrorists from Guantanamo because the evident cruelties of that country-club facility are too terrible to bear. We demonize the hard-won, self-made success of risk-takers, but shovel millions of their hard-earned dollars to prop up the uncompetitive but politically correct enterprises of the well-connected. Government policies proliferate that punish effort, risk, and success but reward sloth, identity, and failure.

Soft America calls a 26-year-old a “child” under Obamacare, but court martials him if he’s a Navy SEAL who slaps a vicious terrorist in the course of capture. Soft America promotes the expansion of speech codes on college campuses so as not to give offense to anyone or anything but the First Amendment. Soft America spends $4 trillion to no effect and then asks for more. Soft America works diligently to turn the societal safety net into a hammock. Soft America bows to tyrants but lectures allies. Soft America waters down our history to give minor or even inconsequential figures as much play as giants. Soft America eschews absolutes, derides standards, ridicules heroes, and scoffs at virtue.

If the president is worried that America might get softer and lose its competitive edge, he should take a serious look at his own administration and the ideology that motivates it.

NOW it's 'nuff said!

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She's "one of us!"

Cheeyeah, right. Who the hell is buying this nonsense:

First Lady Michelle Obama was spotted this afternoon on a recession-friendly shopping trip at the Target in Alexandria, Va. A casually dressed Mrs. Obama was snapped by Associated Press photographers wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses pushing her cart and carrying shopping bags.

While the White House does not provide details about the First Lady’s personal activities, “It is not uncommon for the First Lady to slip out to run an errand, eat at a local restaurant or otherwise enjoy the city outside the White House gates,” her Communications Director Kristina Schake said.

Right.

The woman who has an immense entourage with her when she's overseas and who spends her vacations in either Hawaii or Martha's Vineyard ... shops at Target.

Right.

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Delaware's Joe Biden

... actually MAKES SENSE!!! Check it out:

Vice President Joe Biden told Florida radio station WLRN on Thursday that voters should hold President Barack Obama, not former President George W. Bush, accountable for the poor state of America’s economy.

“Right now, understandably — totally legitimate — this is a referendum on Obama and Biden and the nature of the state of the economy,” Biden said.

Polls indicating that more Americans blame Bush for the economy than Obama are not relevant, Biden said.

“Even though fifty-some percent of the American people think that the economy tanked because of the last administration, that’s not relevant,” Biden stressed. “What’s relevant is we’re in charge. And right now we are the ones in charge and it’s gotten better, but it hasn’t gotten good enough.”

Joe's right on both counts. More Americans do blame Bush for the economy. But the number that blame Obama has grown significantly. And why is that? Well, like maybe it's because many believe that Obama's own policies have exacerbated an already bad situation. And what should worry Obama and Biden is that there's only a 7-point economic "blame" gap between Bush and Obama among Independents, at present -- 67% to 60% respectively.

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Thanks for the black eye

Another indoctrinated-in-ed school idiot, it seems. Or, just an idiot:

When someone sneezes, a common response is, “God bless you.” But one California teacher finds this statement so offensive and disruptive that he’s working to cut back on its usage in the classroom.

Steve Cuckovich, a health teacher at William C. Wood High School in Vacaville, California, has attempted to banish the friendly gesture, as he believes it is both disrespectful and disruptive. To punish students who do, indeed, say “God bless you” after one of their classmates sneezes, he purportedly knocks 25 points off of their grade.

Steve says it isn't about religion -- he merely thinks the saying is "outdated" and "disruptive":

When you sneezed in the old days, they thought you were dispelling evil spirits out of your body. So they were saying, ‘god bless you’ for getting rid of evil spirits. But today, I said what you‘re doing doesn’t really make any sense anymore.

Amazing that a supposedly educated man couldn't conceive that the saying -- uttered by children -- just might be a respectful and polite gesture. At any rate, thankfully, the school seems to be siding with parents over this nut.

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Lame review of lame superpowers

One of the comics news sites I regularly visit is Newsarama. It's good for getting up-to-date information on the latest happenings in the comicverse, but unfortunately their "Top 10" lists (or whatever number) are woefully lame. Case in point today: Their "10 Comic Book Superpowers Way Worse Than Talking to Fish" includes the following characters: 3-D Man, Black Bolt, Venom, mutants (in general), and the Great Lakes Avengers. But if you know even a little about comics (and in particular, Marvel), you'd know such inclusions are ridiculous considering all the other characters that are out there. Consider, about those listed above:

• 3-D Man. While his origin (like those of many others) is pretty silly, what is "way worse" about having the strength and stamina of three men -- not to mention being able to see through the alien Skrull's form-changing prowess? Kurt Busiek's "updating" of the character via Triathlon was actually pretty cool, too.

• Black Bolt. Newsarama disses Bolt's extreme vocal powers (he can tear asunder mountains with but a mere whisper) as lame. Besides that being silly, they seem to have forgotten his prodigious strength and ability to project electron beams.

• Venom. Created by Delawarean David Michelinie, Venom is one of Spider-Man's most popular enemies. I, for the life of me, can't figure out how this baddie's powers are "way worse than talking to fish." Simply because, they're not even close to that level of lameness.

• Mutants. Well, yeah -- of course some of them are lame. But how freakin' easy is it to pick out the few such ... out of thousands?

• Great Lakes Avengers. I read their original appearance issues and thought they were pretty cool. They were suppose to provide some "comic relief" as it was, and mainstream Avenger Hawkeye once took the helm of the team. But the original line-up's powers were hardly worse than fish-talking, especially those of Mr. Immortal (who couldn't be killed) and Big Bertha (whose strength matched her girth). Oh, and Flatman wasn't just "flat;" he was pretty much just like the Fantastic Four's Mr. Fantastic.

If you want to read about character superpowers that are really much lamer than talking to fish, use Google -- because you'll discover sites like this which make a lot more sense in terms of "Top" lists ... which include NFL Superpro (above) which I myself panned here.

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Racism

Herman Cain says black voters 'brainwashed.'

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GOP is "racist" ... yes, even if they support Herman Cain

Seriously. You can't make this up. No matter what you do or don't do, you're "racist." It's like global warming and George W. Bush -- they're responsible for everything bad around us.

At any rate, third-rate actress/comedienne Janeane Garofalo says the following:

"Herman Cain is probably well liked by some of the Republicans because it hides the racist elements of the Republican party. Conservative movement and tea party movement, one in the same.

"People like Karl Rove liked to keep the racism very covert. And so Herman Cain provides this great opportunity say you can say 'Look, this is not a racist, anti-immigrant, anti-female, anti-gay movement. Look we have a black man.'"

Can't find actual racism? You then say it's "covert." Very convenient. And what happens, Janeane, if Cain wins the nomination? He's been steadily climbing in the polls? Would these "covert racists" actually elect a black man president of these United States??

You freakin' moron.

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Religion of peace

Feds: Local Man Plotted To Attack Pentagon, Capitol.

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Surprise

Frank Miller's long overdue Holy Terror is evoking just the reaction (among some) that I always knew it would. Case in point: Graeme McMillan at Robot 6. He says it's “visually impressive” but also “disturbingly simplistic.” To wit:

This isn’t a story as much as a revenge fantasy from someone who is clearly terrified of the world that he’s found himself living in, and closed himself off from reality as a result; not only are the terrorist villains of the book ridiculously simplistic, but so is the “war” that the Fixer carries out against them. The terrorist characters that appear fulfill almost every single stereotype imaginable about them, including an apparent ability to be wherever they need to be to destroy a helicopter just because the plot demands it, and because it makes the “enemy” more unknowable and scary, and yet they can easily be defeated with guns and bombs, because, you know, more violence is always the answer.

He goes on to say the book is "willfully stupid," "a mix of parody and propaganda," "just a crappy comic," and has "problematic propaganda and politics behind it."

Funny how, in today's contemporary comics, such a portrayal of Islamic fundamentalists is "problematic propaganda and politics," not to mention "stereotypical" and "closed off from reality," yet aside from obvious right-leaning comics opinion sites, we rarely, if ever, read criticisms about these same attributes in comicbooks which lambaste Republicans, the Tea Party, and conservatives in general. See here, here, here and here for starters.

Outrageous political correctness has not only infected modern comics, but too much of its press, too.

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Latest Dem plan to maintain power: suspend Congressional elections

Democrtic North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue has a novel idea for fixing the economy: put off Congressional elections for two years.

Beverly Perdue appeared at the Rotary Club in Cary, North Carolina, today and suggested that the 2012 Congressional elections be suspended so that lawmakers can focus on repairing the economy instead of their next campaign.

“I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won’t hold it against them — whatever decisions they make — to just let them help this country recover. I really hope that someone can agree with me on that,” said the North Carolina governor, a Democrat. “You want people who don’t worry about the next election.”

Ah yes ... so caring ... so noble. And, of course, so sneaky in that such an action would prohibitively benefit Democrats.

Now, you know as well as I do that if a Republican governor uttered this nonsense with a GOP president in the White House with a tenuous hold on the Senate and poised to lose even more House seats in 2012, the mainstream media would be having a week-long field day with this. As it is, Perdue's local fish wrap is already covering for her: "Perdue jokes about suspending Congressional elections for two years" is the Raleigh News & Observer headline. Author "jbfrank" sure seems to "know" that Perdue was "joking" although nothing in her statement -- the full context of which is provided by Frank -- indicates any joking. Frank never questions Perdue spokeswoman Chris Mackey's claim that the governor was speaking in "hyperbole," and immediately slams Republicans for making a big deal out of it, writing "The Republicans sure are taking it seriously as they look to score political points."

A local TV station likewise covers for Perdue. So does the Beaufort Observer. Local WRAL's headline reads "Perdue's election joke sparks controversy." Even the Canada Free Press uses the headline.

Again, where is the "joke" in her full statement?

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Watcher's Council nominations

• Joshuapundit-Can Israel Survive?
• The Noisy Room – Man of the Hour – Herman Cain
• Bookworm Room – Elizabeth Warren — mob boss
• GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – Instability Arc
• The Glittering Eye -The Other Buffett Rule
• The Political Commentator – White House shills defecting as AP debunks the President on taxes!
• The Razor – The French Lady of the Mountains
• New Zeal – Red Reps 14: Scoop! Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva’s Communist Party Connections
• VA Right! - Scott Brown Opponent Elizabeth Warren Is an Idiot! The Factory PAID for the IMPROVEMENTS!
• Rhymes With Right – Court Upholds Rule Of Law, Union Complains
• Right Truth – Hooking Up With Fox News, Google Is Not Stupid
• Simply Jews – Iranian army parading into the future
• The Colossus of Rhodey – I wonder about this
• Snapped Shot – Social Awesomeness

Honorable Mentions:

• The Grouch – Suddenly Obama is Worried About Ventilation?
• The Mellow Jihadi-Vladimir Putin, Lover
• Liberty’s Spirit – Irvine 11 Guilty Guilty Guilty
• Capitalist Preservation – Mrs Obama, mmmmmm! You sure look smokin’ hot in that outfit!

And the non-Council nominations are here!

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Sheila Jackson-Lee -- at it again!

The Texas idiot says “Stop Playing Racial Politics,” then seconds later says she wants Obama’s "Buy American" to be “Buy Small Businesses -- African American Businesses, Latino and Asian" ... but in particular "Our African American Businesses.”

Enjoy:

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Stick to sports, Mike

I see another has tried to cross over into politics from sports -- Mike Lupica of the NY Daily News. If you're gonna do that, it usually helps to 1) not act like you're part of MSNBC's late afternoon-prime time lineup, and 2) know what the hell you're talking about. Case in point about 'ol Mike: Headline -- President Obama has been so weak, even the laughable Mitt Romney could stand a chance.

What makes Romney so "laughable," Mike? We don't know because he doesn't say. Just like the grown-up children of MSNBC do all the time.

Then we read this:

Now, on a morning nearly three years later, it is quiet on Hyde Park Blvd., a Secret Service van parked in front of the house and Secret Service signs posted around the neighborhood, and metal barriers making sidewalks disappear. This happens to be around the corner from the home of Bill Ayers, the guy that idiots on the right tried to make into some kind of terrorist, and maybe two blocks from where Louis Farrakhan lives.

Um, the "idiots on the right" didn't have to "try" to make Ayers a terrorist; he is one -- at the very least a former one -- and he has said as much. Who's an idiot now, Mike?

One of the great candidates out of one of the great political campaigns we have ever seen, a candidate good enough to take out Hillary Clinton in what was supposed to be her year, has turned into this kind of mediocre President, despite his own best intentions and expectations.

Exactly what made Obama "great?" I mean, really. Why was he "great?" The real world answer is that he's not and never was, and Lupica unknowingly points out why: because intentions and expectations don't equate to good policies and leadership. Obama didn't "turn into" a mediocre president; he always was mediocre ... at best.

Obama has done the impossible: Less than five months after the Navy SEALs took out Osama Bin Laden, he's made the killshots a nonissue, even though at the time it was supposed to make him some kind of slam dunk for a second term.

Impossible? Again, this is why Lupica should stick to sports because he knows sh** about history. Just two paragraphs before the one above, Lupica writes that George HW Bush was "another guy whom a bad economy helped throw down an air shaft." Yet, just months prior to that, Mr. Bush had sky-high poll numbers thanks to the overwhelming victory against Iraq in Operation: Desert Storm. So why in the world would Lupica think that a significantly lesser military victory would help save Barack Obama from a significantly worse economy?

Lupica isn't even mediocre as a political pundit. And that makes him worse than the president about whom he writes.

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Dopey WNJ Letter of the Week

Wilmington's Bill Holt is miffed -- MIFFED, I tell you! -- that Delaware's premier conservative blog, Delaware Politics, put up a video comparing President Obama to Hitler:

They use an old movie with Anthony Hopkins as Hitler talking to his Nazi generals and add captions to make it Obama talking to his advisers. It really is repugnant. Tea party supporters need to stop this kind of propaganda.

Not only does it trivialize the evil Hitler and the Third Reich, it's just not right to show the president as Hitler.

Hey Bill -- where were you when these were all over the blogosphere:

And that's just scratching the surface. So, in other words Bill, spare us the whining.

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GOP Majority Leader slur leads nightly news, but when it's Obama ...

... nary a word.

Back in 1995 you may recall then-Majority Leader Dick Armey let slip an anti-gay slur towards Barney Frank: He [supposedly] accidentally said "Barney Fag." I recall that evening at least one major nightly newscast -- ABC's -- led with the story with the byline somewhere along the lines of our leaders "should know better."

Fast forward to 2011. President Obama, speaking at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation gala Saturday evening, said the following:

If asking a billionaire to pay the same tax rate as a Jew -- as a janitor makes me a warrior for the working class, I wear that with a badge of honor.

Video here.

Heard about that in the MSM yet? Cheeyeah, right. But hey -- at least he's keeping in line with the rantings of his pastor.

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Hube's Spanish Language Video of the Week

Kind of a misnomer this time as the song is in English, bit singer Carol C. of Si Sé usually sings in español ... and this tune is just too beatutiful to pass up. Here's "The Rain."

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Sorry -- they're just words

Henry Schleifer in today's Wilmington (DE) News Journal kinda proves he's merely working in the master's program at Georgetown University in Public Policy. What does his article offer that is truly innovative regarding education? Zilch. What he's saying is what his Public Policy professors want to hear -- the same old tired clichés about "not enough money," yada yada yada.

Interestingly, Schleifer invokes the story of a foreign (Colombian) student, a friend of his from college. Schleifer might want to check out this post of mine and how it pertains to foreign students, particularly from poor countries, vs. American students. Then again, he might not ... it might upset his college profs who view as anathema real world (and politically incorrect and inconvenient) situations and solutions.

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Well, comics aren't real life after all

Interesting pick up by Jonah Goldberg on how famous comicbook heroes earned their money ... vs. famous comicbook villains:

While the ruthless corporate CEO as villain is pretty much a stock character in modern pop culture, superhero comics have always conspicuously placed successful businessmen on both sides of the hero/villain divide. Yet an interesting, and perhaps counterintuitive, pattern recently occurred to me. Just off the top of my head, here are some of the most prominent superhero characters who have, for some significant chunk of their histories, been portrayed as CEOs of large corporations:

Bruce Wayne (Batman)
Oliver Queen (Green Arrow)
Tony Stark (Iron Man)
Ted Kord (Blue Beetle)

Here are the first four CEO supervillains who spring to mind:

Lex Luthor
Wilson Fisk (Kingpin)
Adrian Veidt (Ozymandias)
Norman Osborn (Green Goblin)

That's right -- all the heroes inherited their wealth, while the villains built their companies essentially from scratch. Of course, however, it helps that Wayne and Stark are geniuses and were successful (and Machiavellian) businessmen ... and Tony Stark was the antithesis of his trust fund attitude cousin Morgan who wanted to just live a life of all play. In addition, many issues of Iron Man showed Stark as the quintessential compassionate capitalist -- where he made sure his employees were paid well and taken care of, often at odds with Stark Industries' corporate board.

At any rate, it is, as article author Julian Sanchez writes, an interesting "inversion" of "the meritocratic ideal that seems to rule in most modern American fiction," yet

... fits quite naturally with a pre-capitalist aristocratic ethos, which persisted at least through the early 20th century in the form of Old Money’s contempt for the nouveau riche….

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Oh, for heaven's sake

No pun intended.

Now get this: Some football coaches got into hot water because they -- GASP! -- bowed their heads during a student-led prayer.

What's wrong with this picture? A mere sign of courtesy and respect gets these coaches in trouble -- but this a-hole encourages his students to attend a meeting where he makes a royal jackass out of himself, and not a thing happens to him.

Whoa.

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Maybe they should change their name to "P.C. Matters"

How utterly ridiculous can Media Matters get now? Answer: Pretty damn ridiculous.

At the Fox News-Google GOP presidential debate, co-moderator Chris Wallace used the pejorative term "illegals" to refer to undocumented immigrants and read a question from the public that used the term, as well. Journalists have called on the media to stop using the term "illegals," but Fox's "straight news" shows use it consistently nonetheless.

Wallace Tells Romney, "You Vetoed Legislation To Provide Interstate Tuition Rates To The Children Of Illegals." From the debate:

WALLACE: Governor Romney, I want to continue a conversation that you had with Governor Perry in the last debate. In Massachusetts, you vetoed legislation to provide in-state tuition rates to the children of illegals. Governor Perry, of course, signed the Texas DREAM Act to do exactly that."

Get it? Because some journalists got together and "called on the media to stop using the term 'illegals,'" it is thus now a "perjorative" term. And since FNC's straight news shows use the term, this means that these straight news shows ... aren't really straight news shows.

This PC nuttery sure sounds familiar.

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Thanks for the black eye

As yet another example of how "progressives" view free speech, not to mention how teachers should NOT do their job, we see this:

Great job there, teach. Not only do you bring your students along to witness your how you're not impartial, but you call people with whom you disagree -- not to mention who hold a very popular (and legitimate) point of view -- "Nazis."

As WR Chandler notes (to whom the hat tip goes for this video), "If he taught my kids, I would pull them out of his class yesterday." Got that right, brotha.

UPDATE: Thanks to AJ Lynch, check out this local news story on the teacher. As AJ noted, notice how they don't ID the teacher but do mention how he's "in good standing." He also, by the way, expressed "regret" that his comments "went too far." Well that's a relief.

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The new civility

Via Ace -- a "progressive" yells "Your mom is a whore" to Bristol Palin:

I like this a-hole's "intelligent" retorts to Bristol's query as to why he said what he did: "Because she's evil." "Because she's the devil." But wait -- I thought "progressives" hated the extreme Religious Right! Why is he sounding exactly like them, then?

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I wonder about this

MSDNC's Keith Olbermann replacement, "Crazy" Larry O'Donnell, went on yet another idiotic rant the other night, this time about GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry:

And secondly, the Republican party of the 21st century, if we are to judge by the debate audiences, has obviously lost its soul . . . This Twilight Zone: how can this happen? Here's their favorite killer, state-sanctioned killer up there. They boo him after he calls them heartless.

Right. So now we're going to judge the entire GOP by the reactions/utterances of a few idiots at some debates. Boy, this tactic sounds familiar -- what was done to the Tea Party! Y'know, I wonder why when a few assorted knuckleheads at Democratic events make a scene that the entire party isn't so labeled ... nah. I don't wonder why. It's so pathetically obvious by now, why. Yeesh.

Oh, and Larry -- if you're so concerned about "state-sanctioned killing," when will you do a semi-coherent rant about liberal states' abortion policies? If you're SOOOO concerned about the government getting involved in "killing," where's the concern about purely innocent life? Why do so-called "progressives" seem to always reserve their outrage for the executions of heinous killers? Our old friend Perry is a textbook example (surprise!) of this; in comments here and at CSPT he believes he has a consistent "pro-life" view because he "personally" is against abortion and capital punishment. However, when pressed on the issue, he admitted that he "doesn't have the right" to tell a woman what to do with her body ... but he does believe it his duty (right) to lobby state legislatures to abolish the death penalty. The counter to this is, obviously, why does Perry believe he has the right to overturn what a jury and judge(s) have determined through a lengthy judicial process when it comes to a brutal killer ... but not to tell a woman she cannot terminate the life of a 100% innocent baby?

It makes not one iota of moral sense. Much like, as you may have recently read, his views on Israel and the Palestinians which are also shared by far too many fellow "progressives."

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Remember ...

... this post from 2006? Still rings truer than ever today, I'm sad to say.

Kilroy has more.

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Why is college so damn expensive again?

... when there are such ridiculous idiots teaching at them -- and they have absolutely NO idea what a college is supposed to be about when it comes to freedom and exchange of ideas?

Case in point:

Students at Sam Houston State University (SHSU) in Texas found this out the hard way yesterday when they erected a “free speech wall” — a recently popular way for students to highlight the importance of free speech in which students put up a freestanding wall covered in paper, upon which anyone can write anything they want. Students jumped on the chance to participate. To cite a few examples: “Don’t hate against Gays …,” “If you make less than $200,000 Republicans don’t care about you,” “Life’s not a bitch, Life is a beautiful woman …,” “Han Solo Shot First,” “My boyfriend is a liar!,” “Legalize Weed!!!,” and “NAZI PUNKS FUCK OFF!!!”

But just hours in, the free speech wall was vandalized by a professor — yes, a professor! — who was offended that someone had written “FUCK OBAMA” on the free speech wall. Students being students, the “F-word” was written on the wall many times about many different topics, but apparently the only expletive that offended this professor enough to take action was the one referring to President Obama.

The professor, whom students identified as Joe Kirk, demanded that the student groups sponsoring the wall — including Republicans, Democrats, libertarians and socialists — cover up only the Obama statement. They refused. He then told them that he would come back with a box cutter and cut it out of the wall himself, which he then did. You can see the before and after pictures at thefire.org.

Shocked that a professor would do this, the student organizers got in touch with the campus police. When the police arrived, they interviewed the students and the vandalizing professor. Then came the surprise: The police told the students that since Prof. Kirk was offended by some profanity on the wall, the students were engaging in “disorderly conduct,” a misdemeanor, and had to cover up all the swear words on the wall or take it down. Realizing that this would make a mockery out of the purpose of a free speech wall, the students simply disassembled the wall. Thus ended SHSU’s several hour-long experiment with free speech.

This is the conundrum the faux "progressive" academic Left has put us all in. They're all for freedom -- including speech -- but you have to exercise those freedoms in a manner that they want you to. Is it any wonder, then, why the faux "progressive" academic Left are so enamored with Marx, communism, Castro, Chávez, Mao, etc.? Nope. They act just like 'em.

UPDATE: Looks like UVA is dealing with its own similar incident. Again, "progressives," this is what you've sired with your overzealous zeal for multiculturalism and "sensitivity." In your world, "free speech" is the goal -- unless it offends some designated "historically aggrieved" group, that is.

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Watcher's Council results

Yours truly came out on top. Thank you for the honor, fellow Watchers!

• *First place with 2 1/3 votes! The Colossus of Rhodey–-Let me tell ‘ya something
• Second place *t* with 1 2/3 votes – Bookworm Room-Dakota Meyer; or who carries the seeds of greatness?
• Second place *t* with 1 2/3 votes – Joshuapundit-Ambassador Rice:US ‘Not Involved’ In Toning Down Language Of Pal UN Statehood Resolution
• Second place *t* with 1 2/3 votes – Right Truth-The Islamist With Absolute Power Who Could Change The World
• Second place *t* with 1 2/3 votes – The Razor-Turkey’s Most Dangerous Game
• Third place with 1 1/3 vote – The Noisy Room – Anarchist Theater- Days Of Stage
• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – Simply Jews – Tankies giving a new job to the Green Helmet?
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Political Commentator – What do Barack Obama and the Edsel have in common?
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Rhymes With Right – The Last Drive
• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – VA Right! – Drats! We Are All Racists Now!
• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – Sea Wars
• Fourth place *t* with 1/3 vote – New Zeal – Rosa DeLauro: Still hanging With the Connecticut Communists

And the non-Council results are here!

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Spot the irony

MSDNC's Chris Matthews let out this whopper the other day:

Professor Peterson, let me ask you about white votes. Do you have a sense as you've looked at politics in America that there are some white voters who will vote for an African-American say once? And they will hold that person to a very rigorous standard. Perhaps a much higher standard than they would a white politician.

Hey Chris -- do you honestly believe a white politician with Barack Obama's quite skimpy experience and background would have won the primary -- let alone become president?

I wonder if this is a phenomenon you professors have looked at analytically at all, this sense of, okay, you've got your shot, but let's see you do it, if it isn't really, really good, you know, you're out of there.

"Really really good?" Hell, Obama's poll numbers against the current GOP field are pretty freakin' spectacular considering his job performance has been really, really bad. What does that say, Chrissy? Would that be the case with a white president in this situation? Why did voters vote out George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter when their economic situations were arguably less severe than what we see now?

But just keep playing that "card," Chrissy, with guests that'll always be sympathtic to your racer viewpoint.

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Joe Biden must be rubbing off on his boss

What an idiot:

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Watcher's Council nominations

• The Noisy Room – Anarchist Theater- Days Of Stage
• Simply Jews – Tankies giving a new job to the Green Helmet?
• Rhymes With Right – The Last Drive
• The Political Commentator – What do Barack Obama and the Edsel have in common?
• GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – Sea Wars
• Joshuapundit-Ambassador Rice:US ‘Not Involved’ In Toning Down Language Of Pal UN Statehood Resolution
• The Colossus of Rhodey – Let me tell ‘ya something
• New Zeal – Rosa DeLauro: Still hanging With the Connecticut Communists
• Bookworm Room – Dakota Meyer; or who carries the seeds of greatness?
• VA Right - Drats! We Are All Racists Now!
• The Glittering Eye -What’s In A Name?
• The Razor – Turkey’s Most Dangerous Game
• Snapped Shot – Thank Heavens
• Right Truth – The Islamist With Absolute Power Who Could Change The World

Honorable Mentions:

• The Grouch – Who Are The Real Cronies?
• The Mellow Jihadi – A Revolution In Morocco
• The Right Planet – Resurrecting Education
• Capitalist Preservation – The ‘Buffet Rule’: Ohhhh, Barack means Warren?!?!

And the non-Council nominations are here!

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Tweet of the Day

Infuriating!!!!!!!!!!!! O. Hatch: "Solyndra rcvd more money than 35 states got for roads and bridges"

Link.

It's two, two, two presidents in one!

The Messiah in 2009:

The Messiah just recently:

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Let me tell 'ya something:

You can't get more moronic than the absolute cretins who continually criticize Israel about their "occupation" and "harsh" treatment of the Palestinians ... yet either completely overlook how the Palis (and their Arab allies) feel about, and treat, Israelis and Jews in general ... or just refuse to address it. I'm serious. These people have serious flaws in their basic moral structure.

The catalyst for this post is two-fold. First is this Jay Nordlinger piece:

I was talking yesterday to a friend of mine about the Israel Philharmonic’s experience at the BBC Proms. Demonstrators refused to let the orchestra proceed with its concert. My friend said, “Were they pro-Palestinian?” I said to her, “Well, I would call them anti-Israeli.”

I am pro-Palestinian, and so is Natan Sharansky — and so is Bibi Netanyahu. We want Palestinians, and everyone else, to live in peace and freedom. We are so pro-Palestinian that we actually think they should be free of dictatorship, tyranny, want, squalor, and lies. Something like 1.5 million Arabs — “Palestinians,” if you like — live in Israel. (It used to be that the only “Palestinians” were Jews. The Israel Phil. began life as the PSO, the Palestine Symphony Orchestra.) When Palestinian homosexuals and other “undesirables” flee for their lives from the West Bank or Gaza, where do they flee? You bet.

“Pro-Israeli” and “pro-Palestinian” — very unhelpful terms. Decent people are pro-everybody. But these terms are unavoidable, I suppose, like those other unhelpful terms “pro-war” and “anti-war.” We’re all anti-war (except for psychopaths): Some of us think that this or that war is necessary and justified, some of us don’t.

Precisely. How would history have been different if the Palestinians accepted the 1948 UN Partition Plan? There was the ever-sought after "two state solution" right then and there. But no; though imperfect (as all plans are), the Plan fairly dealt with increasingly difficult issues that the British had gotten weary of (hence, their turning the hassle over the then-nascent UN). What we had was one side accepting the plan and beginning to make their new sovereign home, and the other shunning it -- and then teaming with numerous surrounding countries to obliterate the other new sovereign state. That's right -- obliterate.

And this was just the beginning.

Jews, hundreds of thousands of who were forced to flee their homes in myriad Arab countries as a result of the Israeli-Palestinian-Arab conflict, settled elsewhere -- many in Israel. But the Palestinians? Two of their "friends" gobbled up the territory allotted for them (as per the Partition Plan) after their unsuccessful attack on the new Israel. Then, the Palis weren't accepted by their Arab "friends" if they wanted to resettle there. Like ... why?

The history since then, as any fan of history knows, is one of continued Arab aggression towards Israel, and one of continued Israeli survival and victory. 1967 and 1973 were the other two "big" conflicts, but there have been many more "smaller' skirmishes in between and beyond. But the utter idiocy of those believe there is some sort of ... "equivalence" between Israel and the Palestinians continues to know no bounds.

One of those utter idiots (and the second part of the catalyst for this post) is our old "friend" Perry, once a prolific commenter here before he took his morally questionable antics over to Common Sense Political Thought and most recently to his own blog. (I won't link to it; he doesn't deserve the hits.) Some of his past dreck regarding Israel and the Palestinians here at Colossus can be seen here; most recently, however, he's been at his usual self in this CSPT thread. Check out some of his comments (my emphasis):

* How about discrimination against Arabs and Palestinians by Israelis in their own territory – West Bank? Not anecdotal, and pathetic. Your anecdotal information is a starter, but on Israeli/Palestinian/Arab relations, being selective is typical propaganda ...

* Please show me the evidence that the Palestinians want the Jews “eradicated”, or that they have “genocide on the brain”. Based on the Israeli utter inhumane treatment of Gazans, one might be tempted to conclude the opposite as you have. (Perry claims to know about the Hamas Charter, yet amazingly then demands evidence that Palestinians wants Jews eradicated.)

* My problem with the Jews is the way they have behaved toward the Palestinians for over a century now! And make no mistake, the Arabs have put the Israelis on the defensive with their threats and intransigence. (Oh! Good to know Perry cedes a point to the Israelis! Except, of course, there has been a LOT more than just "threats and intransigence" now, hasn't there?)

* The “Jews right of return to Arab lands” based on what, Hube? A proclamation from God? I have just received a proclamation from God that the 1967 boundaries should be recognized and obeyed! (This was response to my question about the JEWS' "right of return" since Perry is in favor of the Palis' right of return to their old homes. Perry didn't know that hundreds of thousands of Jews -- perhaps as high as over one million -- were either expelled from Arab countries after 1948 or basically had to leave due to deteriorating conditions -- threats, violence, killings.)

* Wrong again, Hube! Who is it that is seeking a two state solution for Palestine. Not the Israeli’s, as they continue to encroach on Palestinian territory, which is the behavior of a country who wants a one state solution – Israel. (Perry has obviously forgotten 1948 and all the way up to 1967. Then the Clinton-initiated peace offer which Yassir Arafat rejected. Then the Israeli pull-out of the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, the Palestinians finally SAY they want a two-state solution, and all of a sudden there's a "serious" offer/plan. Despite the fact that, y'know, Hamas still has the destruction of Israel in its charter.)

Nothing really new here, as I noted. And please excuse my profanity in some of the comments at CSPT in response to Perry. The reason for that is 1) Perry perpetually plays a game whereby he conveniently "forgets" what other people have posted, and then demands sources, etc., and even claims that you've lied; and 2) frankly, I've about had it with Jew-bashing. What is it with this irrational distaste for people of the Jewish faith?

As I mentioned in one of the comments at CSPT, I think one of the reasons "progressives" hold Israel in disdain is because they've violated an important "progressive" tenet -- not playing the victim. Israel doesn't play the victim even though they've often been the actual victim. They've held fast, fought back, and developed a modern nation based on democratic principles ... all the while their neighbors have been constantly at their throats. "Progressives" despise that, for this means that Israelis don't need them.

Personally, I think this has a lot (all?) to do with anti-Semitism worldwide. People hate Jews precisely because they've been so successful -- even though they've been persecuted for just about all of their history. But ... why? Why do people disdain a group who values education and hard work? Values family and religious belief? Good Lord, just stop and consider what the Jewish people have contributed to mankind over the centuries -- for example in the fields of medicine and science alone. It's astounding.

As I once told the inimitable Soccer Dad in a fairly lengthy e-mail conversation years ago, I once was a "member" of that elitist "progressive" cadre who viewed the Israelis as conquering ogres who were "subjugating" and "oppressing" the Palestinians for no good reason other than simple hatred and for an outrageous land grab. Yes, that was back in my college days. Surprise that, eh? But, of course, as with anything else, I then grew up.

All of this does not mean to imply that criticism of Israel is anathema. Debating the utility of building more settlements in the West Bank, the effectiveness of myriad security measures, etc., are certainly items for legitimate debate. But do not attempt to play it "straight down the middle" as if there is any real such equivalence between the Israelis and the Palestinians. To wit:

• The Israelis have only ever wanted to be left alone and live in peace.

• The Palestinians (and their Arab "friends") have, since 1948 refused to recognize Israel (with just a few exceptions in the decades since), attacked it three times all-out, countless times in minor altercations and via terrorism, and some entities even have in writing the explicit desire to annihilate Israel and Jews in general.

• When there has been a legitimate peace offer made, Israel has accepted it and even given back land acquired in a defensive war (see: Egypt).

• Israel has even given back land acquired in a defensive war when there hasn't been a serious peace offer (see: Gaza Strip).

• Israel has made land-for-peace offers to the Palestinians, the most generous of which was during the Clinton administration where the Palestinians would have had approximately 95% of their original land area back. They refused this offer.

The Palestinians could have their "two-state solution" tomorrow if they dropped their arms, renounced terrorism, renounced terror groups like Hamas, and recognized Israel's right to exist as a sovereign state. Period. Unfortunately, they (and their Arab "friends") are too consumed by the irrational hatred of Jews to do this. And there will be no real peace in the Middle East until this ridiculous and maniacal hatred is expunged.

UPDATE: Great timing. Check out Cal Thomas's article about Israel over at Newsbusters.

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