Here Comes 2010

MC wishes you a healthy, happy, and prosperous New Year. Be not afraid.

Cheney: Obama Pretending We Aren't At War

Former Vice-President Cheney released a statement to Politico about the Christmas Day terror attack. Here it is in full:

"As I’ve watched the events of the last few days it is clear once again that President Obama is trying to pretend we are not at war. He seems to think if he has a low-key response to an attempt to blow up an airliner and kill hundreds of people, we won’t be at war. He seems to think if he gives terrorists the rights of Americans, lets them lawyer up and reads them their Miranda rights, we won’t be at war. He seems to think if we bring the mastermind of Sept. 11 to New York, give him a lawyer and trial in civilian court, we won’t be at war.

“He seems to think if he closes Guantanamo and releases the hard-core Al Qaeda-trained terrorists still there, we won’t be at war. He seems to think if he gets rid of the words, ‘war on terror,’ we won’t be at war. But we are at war and when President Obama pretends we aren’t, it makes us less safe. Why doesn’t he want to admit we’re at war? It doesn’t fit with the view of the world he brought with him to the Oval Office. It doesn’t fit with what seems to be the goal of his presidency — social transformation — the restructuring of American society. President Obama’s first object and his highest responsibility must be to defend us against an enemy that knows we are at war."

No Comment. None Needed.

Click on the image to enlarge. Forward to the President?

Heh: Equal Opportunity Skewering

Besides, MC really likes Reason magazine and its people.

"Bear witness" to THIS, Mr. President!

CAUTION: Video is graphic because being shot down in the streets of Tehran is graphic. Our pathetic President can muster only the limpest of condemnations about this slaughter. Then again, it took him three days to respond to Americans almost being blown out of the sky in their own country. How can we expect him to care about those so far away? Is it 2012 yet?

Will Obama Abandon Iran's Freedom Fighters Again?

MC has gone green again its background color out of solidarity with those in Iran who are attempting to overthrow the clerical fascists now running their country. It is, admittedly, a very slight thing. We know, however, that President Obama could do much, much more in support of these brave men and women. Will he? MC is not hopeful. His is becoming a shameful legacy.

Chinese Dissent Liu Xiaobo Sentenced to 11 Years

Mr. President, could you rouse yourself from your vacation to notice this human rights crime? You fairly bowed before the Chinese PM in Copehagen: could you stand up straight for human rights? Remember your Nobel speech? You said you cared about them; you struck a brave rhetorical pose. Can you ever deliver on anything worthwhile?

Liu Xiaobo was sentenced by the Chi-coms on Christmas Day to 11 years in prison. His crime? Demanding that the Chinese government be accountable to the people for its actions. As of this time, MC has no knowledge of any condemnation of this unjust sentence by the President. This is shameful but of a piece with this weak, craven President.

Click on the title of this post to read more about this brave man.

Ten Questions About Northwest Flight 23

MC was shocked that with Obama as President someone would attempt to again murder Americans aboard planes. Sarcasm aside, the Christmas terrorist attack (and it was an attack, just not successful) is a bracing reminder of the times in which we live and which no amount of government spending, take over of 1/6 of the economy or endless vapid speeches can obscure.

Click on the title of this post to read blogger Stalking on Stilts excellent list of questions to be answered. We know very little at this point but it's important to remember what the essential questions are. MC liked the tenth question very much indeed.

Hat tip: Instapundit

Vic Chesnutt Dead At 45 By Own Hand

There goes Christmas! Vic Chesnutt committed suicide today. MC is very depressed. Do a quick Google search if you don't know about this amazing musician. A songwriter's songwriter. Click on the title of this post to read a brief piece on the loss of this man.

In Defense Of Michael Steele

MC hesitates to ascribe motivations to the recent spate of attacks on Chairman of the Republican National Committee Michael Steele. Certainly it was an open secret that the RNC delegates from the RPM were not among his supporters. Some of them, like Evie Axdahl, continue to wage a disingenous and retrograde war against him. Our RNC delegation needs to be replaced but that's a post for another time (which will come, trust us).

Recently--quelle horreur!--it was learned (pardon the passive voice, so not MC) that Steele gets paid for speeches to various groups he addresses outside of those within the ambit of his duties as Chair of the RNC. They range from $8,000 to $20,000. The usual political apparatchiks came out whining. Please, spare us. MC bristles at alleged Republicans complaining about making money in a legal, open and transparent fashion. We remember some conservatives kvetching about Sarah Palin's speaking fees. What? Somewhere Ayn Rand was spinning in her grave!

There is nothing in the RNC organizing documents or bylaws that prevent such outside income. Michael Steele's speeches do not come at the expense of his attention to job duties. This is more of the same from people to whom we should not pay attention in the slightest. MC liked the following:

"Former Republican Party chairman and former Virginia governor Jim Gilmore said on C-SPAN, "It's not uncommon for people to have some outside employment as well as being paid as national chairman." The interview was circulated to reporters by Steele aides."

Mind you, Steele has been very successful in raising money for the RNC. Let's not lose sight of that important fact.

Then there was this:

"The races in New Jersey and Virginia were a tide change for the Republican Party," said Katon Dawson, the ex-chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party. Dawson, who lost in the chairman's race to Steele, said "he'll be judged by the midterms."

Really? Judged by midterms? MC isn't much for gambling but that's one bet we'll take against all comers. So knock it off Republicans. We can't afford this baseless attack against an effective, telegenic and competent Chair.

Click on the title of this post to read the lastest story about this issue in the Washington Post.

Obama Exempts INTERPOL From US Laws!

MC is shocked to learn that on December 16th President Obama signed an executive order which exempts INTERPOL from American law. Yes, you read that correctly. Moreover, INTERPOL would not have to respond, for example, to a Freedom of Information request. Any files given to it remain permanently out of reach. The scope of this executive order is amazing and frightening. Being made of sound stuff, MC doesn't frighten easily. This time, however, is different.

Click on the title of this post to read The Corner's take on this development. They ask good questions:

"Why would we elevate an international police force above American law? Why would we immunize an international police force from the limitations that constrain the FBI and other American law-enforcement agencies? Why is it suddenly necessary to have, within the Justice Department, a repository for stashing government files which, therefore, will be beyond the ability of Congress, American law-enforcement, the media, and the American people to scrutinize?"

Go HERE to read The Anchoress' take on it.

Hat tip: The Anchoress.

UPDATE:

MC isn't the only one plotzing about this egregious executive order.

Go HERE for the Pink Flamingo's Bar take.

Go HERE for Brutally Honest's take.

Go HERE for Noisy Room's take.

Obama: 46% Strongly Disapprove

Obama's poll numbers continue to fall, which is some comfort to us all during this week of hideous health care reform votes. Click on the title of this post to read the details.

Stalin: Born 130 Years Ago Today

The Communist Party of Russia asked that Stalin not be slighted today, his birthday. MC can't agree: everyday is a good day for telling the truth about this bloody monster. Click on the image above to read perhaps Stalin's most famous comment. Click on the title of this post to read the story about coverage of his 130th birthday in Russia.

Don't Despair About Obamacare?

Conservative blogs are commenting about a post on Hot Air in which CK Macleod makes the case that there is much still to be done to oppose Obamacare or reverse it should it be enacted into law. People find themselves on one side of this argument or the other. Click on the title of this post to read the piece, with link to critics of the argument, and decide for yourself.

Hat tip: Instapundit

Nat Hentoff: Obama Destructive & Dangerous

Nat Hentoff is a celebrated liberal with genuine principles. MC doesn't agree with him on many things but he remains true to his values and speaks his mind courageously. Click on the title of this post to read an interview with Hentoff that is remarkable for its condemnation of Obama and his policies. Here's a taste:

Nat Hentoff: I try to avoid hyperbole, but I think Obama is possibly the most dangerous and destructive president we have ever had. An example is ObamaCare, which is now embattled in the Senate. If that goes through the way Obama wants, we will have something very much like the British system. If the American people have their health care paid for by the government, depending on their age and their condition, they will be subject to a health commission just like in England which will decide if their lives are worth living much longer.

The Census Gave Birth To Christ? Who Knew?

The above poster is being widely disseminated in order to, um, encourage participation in the census by Hispanics. In fact, most of these posters were printed in Spanish. Some say they are a not unsubtle attempt to have illegal immigrants (there's no such thing as an undocumented immigrant) participate. Why else "Don't be afraid?" MC is not anti-immigrant in the slightest. We do tend to believe the laws of immigration should be followed. Click on the title of this post to read the story in the Washington Post. In English.

Meltdown With Keith Olbermann

Really, this is so over the top, so out of control that you have to watch it twice. Keith and his kool aid drinking followers think a great deal of themselves. MC and most Americans do not.

Schadenfreude: Copenhagen Collapse

The "science" is fraudulent. The "consensus" non-existent. The attendees mostly third world hacks and leeches preaching to the already converted idiots. "Greener than thou," in Sarah Palin's phrase used against the odious governator of California. (Has anyone ever used Facebook to such amazing effect? No.)

Copenhagen, in Politico's phrase, is imploding from within and collapsing from without. MC likes the parallelism (symmetry?). Above are Copenhagen environmental wackos under arrest, handcuffed (does that plastic degrade?) and awaiting processing. We would be unkind to wish them processing at an abattoir but the thought did cross our minds.

MC, like its readers, will be relieved when this dreadful year ends. Click on the title of this post to read the coverage at Rediff, a very good online site from India.

Shepard Fairey: "Disappointed With Obama"

The artist who produced the ridiculous Obama poster from which at one time there was no visual escape now says that he is disappointed in Obama. What took him so long? But, in a perfect caricature of liberalism, he says he's even more disappointed in the American people.

Of course. The American people elected the community organizer and when he turned out to be another hack pol of extreme left-wing tendencies they began to recoil. Obama's failure is the American people's failure. Click on the title of this post to read the comments yourself.

Hitchens Talks Sense About Ft. Hood & Islam

MC thinks Christopher Hitchens rather gets the best of Robert Wright, who exhibits the blindness of the Left on these and many other issues.

Best Magazine Cover Of 2009?

MC really enjoyed the cover of the December issue of Reason magazine. Click on the title of this post to read its contents online.

Someone Gets Snippy On 60 Minutes!

The interview is a mess, as Jenifer Rubin at Commentary notes. Forget what hope his Nobel acceptance speech may have given you. His comments about the war are simply disgusting. Is it 2012 yet? Lord, what a fraud.

Marianne In Chains*: "The Internet Is A Danger For Democracy."

Imagine posting a mild, anonymous negative comment about a cabinet official. Then imagine that that cabinet official issues a subpoena, learns your IP address and then your real identity. Imagine the police come to interrogate you and charge you with insulting an official, an offense punishable by a fine of $18, 000.

Welcome to La France.

Imagine still, if possible, the head of the Democratic or Republican party saying in a radio interview that "the internet is a danger for democracy."

The internet is exposing the mandarin class of politicians in France and they do not like it much, non! One French commenator stated that "[t]he internet is 'desanctifying' a once untouchable political class. . . 'We now have politicians who are scared.'"

Well that's a start, non?

Alas, one of President Sarkozy's closest advisors was histrionic enough to say: "We can no longer say anything, we can no longer do anything. It's absolute transparency--it's the beginning of totalitarianism."

No it is not. It's the beginning of citizens (remember them, French revolution types?) taking back their government from the high priests of the École Normale Supérieure or Sciences Po.

Click on the title of this post to read the NYTimes story.

*Apologies to Robert Gildea, author of the book by the same name: Marianne In Chains: Daily Life In The Heart Of France During The German Occupation. Purchase it here.

What Does The Managing Editor Of Foreign Policy Magazine Call This? A "Thing."

Blake Hounshell, the managing editor of Foreign Policy magazine, tweeted that: "the berlisconi [sic] thing will probably make him more popular and distract from his legal woes." The managing editor of Foreign Policy magazine can't spell the Italian Prime Minister's name correctly? He appears to be as badly educated as Obama.

More substantively, his comments are shocking in their indifference to violence upon a democratically elected leader. MC has no doubt if it had been Fidel Castro Blake would have been distraught and stamped his tiny feet in rage against reactionaries. @Shabbosgoy sent the following tweet back to this cretin:

"Thing? You mean a violent hateful assault on his person? Broken nose and two teeth? That "thing?" Liberals are pathetic."

Somehow This Must Be Bush's Fault Too

Climategate: We Can Turn Off Your Camera

Hat tip: Powerline

Click HERE for the backstory.

Sarah Palin Reads William Shatner

The Siren Call Of Tyranny

This book was published almost a decade ago and its author himself died in 2006. Still, as the Wall Street Journal said, it "ought to command close attention" because Revel was "the pre-eminent French political philosopher of the second half of the twentieth century." Click on the title of this post to read the WSJ's review.

RIP: Thomas Hoving 1931-2009

In his decade long tenure as director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Thomas Hoving effectively changed how every museum in the world operates. He had his critics but MC isn't among them. Hoving sought to keep museums alive and (that dreaded word) relevant. For the most part he succeeded even if lesser lights took his example to mean that fluff and nonsense should be part of the museum experience. It shouldn't but he can hardly be held accountable.
Click on the title of this post to read his obituary in the NYTimes. From the article:

Philippe de Montebello, who worked for many years under Mr. Hoving and succeeded him as director, said on Thursday: “People criticized him for his excesses, but you have to remember that it is not the timorous who climb life’s peaks. He has left us with a changed museum world.”

. . . . .

“Great art should be shown with great excitement,” he once said, citing an observation by a previous Met director that the museum is the “midwife of democracy.”

“And damn it, it is!” he said.

Happy Chanukah

We wish our Jewish friends, readers, colleagues and acquaintances a very happy Chanukah (however the Chosen people spell it; when you decide on one way get back to us; then again, unanimity wouldn't be very Jewish now, would it?). Rest assured MC and other gentiles are on your side. You are not alone.

Vaclav Havel: The Foreign Policy Interview

MC is fond of Vaclavs: Vaclav Havel and Vaclav Klaus. Click on the title of this post to read a most interesting interview with Vaclav Havel. Google his name to learn about him if you don't know about him or who he is. Such people actually walked amongst us. And don't forget to Google Vaclav Klaus: a global warming skeptic of long standing. Those Czechs. MC found the following excerpt insightful:

FP: After President Obama's decision to postpone his meeting with the Dalai Lama, you said something to the effect that these small gestures seem harmless, but over time can have a powerful, cumulative effect. For the hardhearted realists, can you explain that effect?

Havel: We know this from our modern history. When [French Prime Minister Edouard] Daladier returned from the [1938] Munich conference, the whole nation was applauding him for saving the peace. He made a miniscule compromise in the interest of peace. But it was the beginning of a chain of evil that subsequently brought about many millions of deaths. We can't just say, "This is just a small compromise that can be overlooked. First we will go to China and then perhaps talk with the Dalai Lama." It all looks practical, pragmatic, logical, but it is necessary to think about whether it is not the first small compromise that can be the beginning of that long chain that is no good. In this case perhaps it will not be, but it was the first thing that came to my mind.

President Obama's Nobel Acceptance Speech

MC tries to be fair, which is more than we can say of those on the Left. Click on the title of this post to read President Obama's acceptance speech and judge it for yourself.

Plus Ca Change . . . .

plus ca la meme chose? (the more things change, the more they stay the same)

Bill Kristol at The Weekly Standard certainly thinks so. Look at the similarities between Obama's Nobel acceptance speech and his predecessor's State of the Union address:

"proliferation may increase the risk of catastrophe. Terrorism has long been a tactic, but modern technology allows a few small men with outsized rage to murder innocents on a horrific scale....

"We must begin by acknowledging the hard truth that we will not eradicate violent conflict in our lifetimes. There will be times when nations – acting individually or in concert – will find the use of force not only necessary but morally justified.

"But as a head of state sworn to protect and defend my nation,...I face the world as it is, and cannot stand idle in the face of threats to the American people. For make no mistake: evil does exist in the world. A non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler’s armies. Negotiations cannot convince al Qaeda’s leaders to lay down their arms.

"So yes, the instruments of war do have a role to play in preserving the peace....

"But it is also incumbent upon all of us to insist that nations like Iran and North Korea do not game the system. Those who claim to respect international law cannot avert their eyes when those laws are flouted. Those who care for their own security cannot ignore the danger of an arms race in the Middle East or East Asia. Those who seek peace cannot stand idly by as nations arm themselves for nuclear war.”

-- President Barack Obama, Nobel Peace Prize speech, Oslo, Norway, Dec. 10, 2009

--

"Our second goal is to prevent regimes that sponsor terror from threatening America or our friends and allies with weapons of mass destruction....

"North Korea is a regime arming with missiles and weapons of mass destruction, while starving its citizens.

"Iran aggressively pursues these weapons and exports terror, while an unelected few repress the Iranian people's hope for freedom....

"States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world. By seeking weapons of mass destruction, these regimes pose a grave and growing danger. They could provide these arms to terrorists, giving them the means to match their hatred. They could attack our allies or attempt to blackmail the United States. In any of these cases, the price of indifference would be catastrophic.

"We will work closely with our coalition to deny terrorists and their state sponsors the materials, technology and expertise to make and deliver weapons of mass destruction....

"We'll be deliberate, yet time is not on our side. I will not wait on events while dangers gather. I will not stand by as peril draws closer and closer. The United States of America will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most destructive weapons.”

-- George W. Bush, State of the Union speech, Washington, D.C., Jan. 29, 2002

"Is-ness." "Ought-ness." Obama Accepts Prize

America woke up to Obama pontificating to the world and groaned. His speech was even more content free than most (question: why does Obama have two teleprompers? answer: one for each face) and he spoke gibberish about the "is-ness" of this and the "ought-ness" of that. He should never quote MLK, Jr. Ever. He shrinks in a flash before our eyes in comparison.

Obama has thoroughly insulted the Norwegians by refusing lunch with the King (MC does not want to know what Norwegian royalty eats for lunch; most likely a variation on the bleak food scene in the Twin Cities), refusing to sit still for a peace concert and declining to meet with children (where is Andrew Sullivan whining about kids (ie, Trig Palin) as props?) to talk about peace. MC can't help but feel that somehow it is deserved. After all, Norway insulted the world by awarding the prize to Obama in the first place.

N.B.: MC knows we've used the photo above once before but it was too perfect not to use it again on the day Barry picks up the medal.

The CBC Shames The Alphabet Networks

The lack of genuine coverage by the major broadcast networks shocks MC just when it thought it could no longer be so.

Rush Limbaugh Interviewed By William Shatner

Twenty-nine Years Ago Today

John Lennon was shot dead outside The Dakota in Manhattan.

The Gray Lady Begins Newsroom Layoffs

MC doesn't wish unemployment on anyone; we know too many people who are un or under-employed. Still, it's remarkable that the fatuous "paper of record" has come to the sorry state it has. Blame hubris, liberal ideology and contempt for its readers. Yes, the internets play a large part as well across the newspaper industry. But, weirdly, when it comes to the NYTimes' current trouble these layoffs most likely would take place even in a healthy economy. MC has empathy for the individuals involved; none for the institution.

Click on the title of this post to read about the layoffs that begin today.

Remembering Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941

MC would be remiss not to observe this day for that which it has become: one that lives in infamy. Click on the image above to enlarge (the USS Shaw explodes during the Japanese attack). Despite MC's best internets research, we could find no example after the attack of anyone in America asking why they hated us. How times have changed.

Send A Message To Copenhagen Warmists

The farce of the century opens today in Copenhagen and will be with us for two long, painful weeks, the second of which will include an appearance by President Obama. MC isn't sure it can bear both his acceptance of the laughable Nobel Peace Prize and his preening moralizing about a hoax he takes (too) seriously. We'll do our best as will our readers.

That said, click on the title of this post, or click HERE, to send a brief message to the global bureaucrats gathering to eat caviar wedges (wedges?) in Copenhagen. The format limits you to 150 characters, Twitter-like. Say whatever you like ("Climategate!" is succinct) but please say it politely. Rudeness is a hallmark of liberals. Oh, and enjoy yourselves while you are sending your message. Aren't the internets great?

The Lines Cross & In Less Than A Year

No, we could not have predicted this. Anyone who says they could or did isn't being honest. Click on the title of this post for more information from Pollster.com.

Click on the image above to enlarge it.

Please Share This Important Video

MC previously wondered about the suddenly short hair. Now we know.

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Sun

Climategate is all the rage and well deserves to be. Scientific fraud on a scale unseen in our lifetimes. MC hasn't posted on it because of wall to wall coverage on other blogs and some media. Sunspots, however, receive less coverage but ought not to. True, Al Gore and CRU won't talk about them but there appears to be a great deal of (credible) science correlating sunspots or their absence with the earth's temperatures. The fewer sunspots, the chillier here on earth.

The sun has a role in climate change? Simply too intuitive for the climate frauds and impossible to tax and manipulate whole societies around the world. Click on the title of this post to read possibly more than you might want to on the subject (but thank God someone with sense is keeping watch).

Today's Circus: White House Jobs Summit

Not to worry: Obama has already said it won't actually create, you know, jobs! Click on the image above to enlarge his house of cards.

On The One Hand, On The Other

Tevye seems to be the dominant analytical prism through which most conservative commentators viewed President Obama's strange, in Krauthammer's word, speech last night at West Point announcing deployment of another 30,000 troops to Afghanistan. On the one hand, most agreed, he was defensive, uninspiring, graceless and put some of the cadets literally to sleep. On the other, he did announce a troop increase and in numbers close to what General McChrystal requested. Is MC churlish to ask for a slightly higher bar for the Commander in Chief?

Yes, the Left is in high dudgeon about the troop increase but when is it never not when it comes to things military? Liberal intellectual icon Gary Wills positively threw a fit in print by declaring that he will never praise Obama again nor give him any money. Take that. Demogogic Chris Matthews suggested outloud that the venue of the speech was an enemy camp. Rep. Maxine Waters was saddened (she of two modes: sad or angry). Senior senator from Illinois Dick Durban was positively acidic when he responded with a two sentence reaction, to the effect that Obama had said he wanted time to make this decision and Durbin was going to take his time to think through what was offered in the speech. Can this marriage survive?

The always lugubrious Joan Walsh of Salon declared herself to be deeply disappointed, "saddened even" but in the end not feeling betrayed. Such a big girl! She then closes out what passes for analysis but reads more like a therapy session in print, that the whole sordid affair is Bush's fault and takes comfort from the fact that Obama isn't Cheney. Well, one squish's riches is another conservative's poverty.

Rachel Maddow fretted that Obama has embraced the fundamentals of the Bush Doctrine (which one she didn't say and there are many formulations of it although sneering Charlie Gibson would deny it) while Glenn Greenberg said the speech was "a mishmash of political calculations bereft of principle and plagued by numerous internal contradictions that make it impossible to understand, let alone defend." Really, who on earth would have thought that an inexperienced community organizer would fail to make an effective Commander in Chief? Tom Friedman, reflecting upon Afghanistan, was positively incoherent. Again.

Rich Lowry, in a piece for the New York Post, had possibly the most Tevye of all the Tevye analyses on the Right. That was fine, as far as it went. Yet he did end with a wonderful flourish, looking at Obama's poor performace and, a la Don Rumsfeld, observed that one goes to war with the President they have.

Finally, Der Spiegel sent the Tevye prism packing and thoroughly panned the speech from both sides of the political spectrum. Read the article here. It ended on a merciless note: "The American president doesn't need any opponents at the moment. He's already got himself."

Click on the title of this post to be taken to Real Clear Politics from which the views of the usual suspects Left and Right can be accessed.