"They do not understand that politics is a conflict of forces; they supposed it was a conflict of arguments. They mobilized rights, not supporters. The Jacobins had used the Rights of Man to inspire revolutionary armies; in the Habsburg Monarchy the national leaders thought that rights alone were enough, and accumulation of rights irresistible."
The Habsburg Monarchy, 1809 - 1918 by A. J. P. Taylor
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Picture This by Joseph Heller
I recently finished reading this. Here's the comment I posted at Library Thing.
"The subject of Picture This is a painting by Rembrandt. The painting is Aristotle Contemplating a Bust of Homer which becomes a nexus that joins a large number of narrative threads that wind thru history. Some of the main threads are the lives of Socrates, Alcibiades, Plato, Solon, Aristotle and Rembrandt; the Athenian and Dutch empires; the Peloponnesian War and some of the wars fought by the Dutch during Rembrandt’s life; the dictatorship of the Thirty that executed Socrates; Plato’s repeated attempts to found his perfect state in Sicily; the trial and death of Socrates."
"The subject of Picture This is a painting by Rembrandt. The painting is Aristotle Contemplating a Bust of Homer which becomes a nexus that joins a large number of narrative threads that wind thru history. Some of the main threads are the lives of Socrates, Alcibiades, Plato, Solon, Aristotle and Rembrandt; the Athenian and Dutch empires; the Peloponnesian War and some of the wars fought by the Dutch during Rembrandt’s life; the dictatorship of the Thirty that executed Socrates; Plato’s repeated attempts to found his perfect state in Sicily; the trial and death of Socrates."
Continuing in My Populist Vein, Here's Tito the Builder
Why does it appear that the Democrat Party hates and fears people who work for a living? Could it be because they don't bundle?
Chris Hitchens and Eric Alter Argue Iraq
Alter thinks we should not be in Iraq because (1)France and Germany disapprove and (2) our army really belongs in Rwanda and the Sudan.
Alter says we fought alone in Iraq. There have been English, Italian, Spanish, Polish and other forces fighting along with Americans in Iraq. By alone does he just mean that France and Germany were not there? Or is this like when Obama says he strength came from small donors. But most of his donors gave thousands but he likes the cachet that comes from the repetition of 'small donors.'
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Obamanista's Commandments
from http://thatsmeontheleft.blogspot.com/2008/10/i-will-vote-obama.html
Monday, October 27, 2008
I will vote Obama
I will vote Obama
I will vote for a man I know nothing about
I will vote because it is time for a black man in the White House
I will vote for a man I really haven't researched, and I really don't want to know anything bad about
Because I will feel noble and good that I voted for a black man
or a man who definitely is NOT George Bush
I will vote for a man whose mother left America on purpose and stated the Americans around her in Indonesia were "not her people"
I will vote for a man whose father and stepfather were not Americans or Christians even though I felt uncomfortable about that Romney fellow and his Mormonism
I will vote for a man whose father figure mentor in Hawaii was a communist and hated America and "white oppression"
I will vote for a community organizer, even though I don't know what that is
Saul Alinksy is the creator of the community organizer concept
I will not Google Saul Alinsky
I will not Google ACORN
I will vote for a man who ran unopposed for his Illinois State Senate Seat
I will not Google how that happened to occur
I will vote for a man who allies himself with an unrepentant radical terrorist
But he is an "education reformer" now!
I will not Google Bill Ayers enough to find out what he wants to reform public education into
although my children go to public schools
I will vote for a man who listened to Reverend Jeremiah Wright for 20 years
I certainly will NOT Google Black Liberation theology, white oppression, and Marxism in the same search!
I will feel good about myself after I vote Obama
who is not George Bush
I will feel good that America voted for Obama
I will await the praise from the world's opinion of us on our wise choice...
I will be surprised when they still hate us
I will be surprised when I start to hate who I voted for
I will vote "anybody but Obama" in 2012
~Joseph
Monday, October 27, 2008
I will vote Obama
I will vote Obama
I will vote for a man I know nothing about
I will vote because it is time for a black man in the White House
I will vote for a man I really haven't researched, and I really don't want to know anything bad about
Because I will feel noble and good that I voted for a black man
or a man who definitely is NOT George Bush
I will vote for a man whose mother left America on purpose and stated the Americans around her in Indonesia were "not her people"
I will vote for a man whose father and stepfather were not Americans or Christians even though I felt uncomfortable about that Romney fellow and his Mormonism
I will vote for a man whose father figure mentor in Hawaii was a communist and hated America and "white oppression"
I will vote for a community organizer, even though I don't know what that is
Saul Alinksy is the creator of the community organizer concept
I will not Google Saul Alinsky
I will not Google ACORN
I will vote for a man who ran unopposed for his Illinois State Senate Seat
I will not Google how that happened to occur
I will vote for a man who allies himself with an unrepentant radical terrorist
But he is an "education reformer" now!
I will not Google Bill Ayers enough to find out what he wants to reform public education into
although my children go to public schools
I will vote for a man who listened to Reverend Jeremiah Wright for 20 years
I certainly will NOT Google Black Liberation theology, white oppression, and Marxism in the same search!
I will feel good about myself after I vote Obama
who is not George Bush
I will feel good that America voted for Obama
I will await the praise from the world's opinion of us on our wise choice...
I will be surprised when they still hate us
I will be surprised when I start to hate who I voted for
I will vote "anybody but Obama" in 2012
~Joseph
Monday, October 27, 2008
When in Doubt, Call Everyone A Racist
This is from Amanda Carpenter at http://townhall.com/Columnists/AmandaCarpenter/2008/10/27/dem_playbook_shows_dirty_tactics
From the Kerry campaign came advise on how to phrase accusations of voter fraud when there was no evidence. Quotation from the Kerry instruction manual:
“If no signs of intimidation techniques have emerged yet, launch a ‘pre-emptive strike.’” The manual said this should be done by placing stories in mainstream and specialty press “in which minority leadership expresses concern about the threat of intimidation tactics” and “prime minority leadership to discuss the issue in the media; provide talking points.”
Some of the suggested talking points included lines like “Nothing is more despicable than trying to deprive any American of the previous right to vote, the foundation of our democracy for which so many have sacrificed.”
I take, "prime minority leadership to discuss the issue in the media; provide talking points.” to be incitement to cause others to accuse people of criminal activity without factual basis. It could also be translated as, "win at ANY cost."
From the Kerry campaign came advise on how to phrase accusations of voter fraud when there was no evidence. Quotation from the Kerry instruction manual:
“If no signs of intimidation techniques have emerged yet, launch a ‘pre-emptive strike.’” The manual said this should be done by placing stories in mainstream and specialty press “in which minority leadership expresses concern about the threat of intimidation tactics” and “prime minority leadership to discuss the issue in the media; provide talking points.”
Some of the suggested talking points included lines like “Nothing is more despicable than trying to deprive any American of the previous right to vote, the foundation of our democracy for which so many have sacrificed.”
I take, "prime minority leadership to discuss the issue in the media; provide talking points.” to be incitement to cause others to accuse people of criminal activity without factual basis. It could also be translated as, "win at ANY cost."
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Polls, Sampling and Voter Suppression
Some good news from http://virginiavirtucon.wordpress.com/2008/10/24/interesting-tidbit-on-polls/
Interesting tidbit on polls
Posted on October 24, 2008 by Riley From VV contributor Ignatius:
I was having dinner a night ago with a friend of mine who is a statistician for a well-regarded private polling company. They do some work for Republicans in California, but most of the work they do is for Democrats or Democrat-leaning operations (Unions, etc.). Anyway, her shop was retained to do a few Presidential polls for targetted states on behalf of a union so the union could decide where to spend their ad dollars for the last week. They did Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and Missouri. After mocking the hell out of the voter id spreads used by Rassmussen, Zogby, etc. (and this is coming from a committed Dem who will be voting for Barry O) she said the results of their polling lead her to believe that McCain will definitely win FL, OH, NC, MO and NV. She says Obama definitely wins New Mexico. She said that Colorado and New Hampshire were absolute dead heats. She said she thinks there is a 55% chance Obama holds on in Pennsylvania and a 75% chance McCain wins Virginia. She absolutely laughed at the public polls showing Obama leading Virginia–and pointed out that all of those polls rely on Dem turnout being +4 and as much as +7, when in 2006, Republicans actually had the advantage by +3. She also pointed out that the numbers for Obama in SWVA look absolutely awful and that McCain is running 10 points better then Allen did in NoVa. Anyway, her companies conclusion is that the election will come down to Colorado, New Hampshire and the Republican leaning district in Maine, which in her opinion might very well decide the Presidency (apparently the district in Nebraska that Obama thought he might be able to get is now off the table). She said she has very little doubt that the public polling is part of a “concerted voter suppression effort” by the MSM. She said IBD/TIPP was the only outfit doing public polling that was “worth a bucket of warm piss”.
Interesting tidbit on polls
Posted on October 24, 2008 by Riley From VV contributor Ignatius:
I was having dinner a night ago with a friend of mine who is a statistician for a well-regarded private polling company. They do some work for Republicans in California, but most of the work they do is for Democrats or Democrat-leaning operations (Unions, etc.). Anyway, her shop was retained to do a few Presidential polls for targetted states on behalf of a union so the union could decide where to spend their ad dollars for the last week. They did Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and Missouri. After mocking the hell out of the voter id spreads used by Rassmussen, Zogby, etc. (and this is coming from a committed Dem who will be voting for Barry O) she said the results of their polling lead her to believe that McCain will definitely win FL, OH, NC, MO and NV. She says Obama definitely wins New Mexico. She said that Colorado and New Hampshire were absolute dead heats. She said she thinks there is a 55% chance Obama holds on in Pennsylvania and a 75% chance McCain wins Virginia. She absolutely laughed at the public polls showing Obama leading Virginia–and pointed out that all of those polls rely on Dem turnout being +4 and as much as +7, when in 2006, Republicans actually had the advantage by +3. She also pointed out that the numbers for Obama in SWVA look absolutely awful and that McCain is running 10 points better then Allen did in NoVa. Anyway, her companies conclusion is that the election will come down to Colorado, New Hampshire and the Republican leaning district in Maine, which in her opinion might very well decide the Presidency (apparently the district in Nebraska that Obama thought he might be able to get is now off the table). She said she has very little doubt that the public polling is part of a “concerted voter suppression effort” by the MSM. She said IBD/TIPP was the only outfit doing public polling that was “worth a bucket of warm piss”.
Questions
Here are a few questions that VDH has suggested.
"Why didn’t Colin Powell and Co. jump ship in, say, June or July, and endorse Obama after many months of campaigning when his positions were already well known? That is, why wait until late October when, after the financial meltdown, Obama surged in the polls? Had Powell come out even in the first week of September, he could have demonstrated that although Obama was down by three points, he was willing to stick his neck out with a principled endorsement that may well have made him persona non grata in a McCain-administration Washington.
"Why didn’t the media or McCain just ask Obama a few of the following questions: Why did you keep emailing and phoning Bill Ayers for three years after 9/11, when the country was gripped by fear of terror, and Ayers, like bin Laden, said that he had not done enough bombing, and had no regrets about the terrorism he had committed?
Why did Obama say in 2004 to the Chicago Sun-Times that he went to Trinity Church every Sunday at 11AM, and then later claim he had not been there that regularly once Rev. Wright’s venom was disseminated to the general public? Is Obama for, or not for, a simple yes or no, missile defense, nuclear power, off-shore drilling, and coal-powered electrical generation? There might be legitimate answers, but surely the public could profit by them, rather than worry over the Palin pregnancies, wardrobe, or Tasergate.
"Why did the greatest furor against Palin originate with women, both liberals like a Gail Collins, Maureen Dowd, or Sally Quinn, or conservatives such as a Peggy Noonan or Kathleen Parker?
"So far, none of them has adduced the necessary arguments that would justify their venom against Palin: they have not demonstrated that Vice Presidential nominee Palin has less government or executive experience than does Presidential nominee Obama; they have not shown that she has said anything in two months as disturbing as what Joe Biden says almost any day, and, in that vein, they have written few columns about Biden’s lunatic assertions, such as FDR addressing the nation on television as President in 1929, or that
our nation’s enemies will test Barack Obama, and his reaction will so disappoint the American people that his polls will immediately sink; they have not shown that Palin’s ideas about shrinking government and keeping taxes low are less sound than Obama’s in time of economic downturn to raise aggregate taxes and expand government. So whence the vitriol, especially the frequent invective about Palin’s family, education, accent, or mannerisms, or the rather sexist suggestions that her looks bewitched either McCain or others?"
Here is a list of documents and such kept hidden by the Obama campaign:
1. Occidental College records — Not released
2. Columbia College records — Not released
3. Columbia Thesis paper — not available, locked down by faculty
4. Harvard College records — Not released, locked down by faculty
5. Selective Service Registration — Not released
6. Medical records — Not released
7. Illinois State Senate schedule — ‘not available’
8. Law practice client list — Not released
9. Certified Copy of original Birth certificate - - Not released
10. Embossed, signed paper Certification of Live Birth — Not released
11. Harvard Law Review articles published — None
12. University of Chicago scholarly articles — None
13. Record of baptism– Not released or ‘not available’
14. Illinois State Senate records–’not available’
If Gov. Palin had kept such things under wraps and had such a long list, the number of dinosaur media members that would have had strokes would have overloaded the hospitals of New York and Washington. Since it is Obama it is not even mentioned in polite company. (God save us from 'polite company.')
I invite the reader to reflect on why these items have been kept hidden. If you only came up with explanations that show Barry in a good light, a bright future awaits you writing children's literature, fantasy and fairy tails.
"Why didn’t Colin Powell and Co. jump ship in, say, June or July, and endorse Obama after many months of campaigning when his positions were already well known? That is, why wait until late October when, after the financial meltdown, Obama surged in the polls? Had Powell come out even in the first week of September, he could have demonstrated that although Obama was down by three points, he was willing to stick his neck out with a principled endorsement that may well have made him persona non grata in a McCain-administration Washington.
"Why didn’t the media or McCain just ask Obama a few of the following questions: Why did you keep emailing and phoning Bill Ayers for three years after 9/11, when the country was gripped by fear of terror, and Ayers, like bin Laden, said that he had not done enough bombing, and had no regrets about the terrorism he had committed?
Why did Obama say in 2004 to the Chicago Sun-Times that he went to Trinity Church every Sunday at 11AM, and then later claim he had not been there that regularly once Rev. Wright’s venom was disseminated to the general public? Is Obama for, or not for, a simple yes or no, missile defense, nuclear power, off-shore drilling, and coal-powered electrical generation? There might be legitimate answers, but surely the public could profit by them, rather than worry over the Palin pregnancies, wardrobe, or Tasergate.
"Why did the greatest furor against Palin originate with women, both liberals like a Gail Collins, Maureen Dowd, or Sally Quinn, or conservatives such as a Peggy Noonan or Kathleen Parker?
"So far, none of them has adduced the necessary arguments that would justify their venom against Palin: they have not demonstrated that Vice Presidential nominee Palin has less government or executive experience than does Presidential nominee Obama; they have not shown that she has said anything in two months as disturbing as what Joe Biden says almost any day, and, in that vein, they have written few columns about Biden’s lunatic assertions, such as FDR addressing the nation on television as President in 1929, or that
our nation’s enemies will test Barack Obama, and his reaction will so disappoint the American people that his polls will immediately sink; they have not shown that Palin’s ideas about shrinking government and keeping taxes low are less sound than Obama’s in time of economic downturn to raise aggregate taxes and expand government. So whence the vitriol, especially the frequent invective about Palin’s family, education, accent, or mannerisms, or the rather sexist suggestions that her looks bewitched either McCain or others?"
Here is a list of documents and such kept hidden by the Obama campaign:
1. Occidental College records — Not released
2. Columbia College records — Not released
3. Columbia Thesis paper — not available, locked down by faculty
4. Harvard College records — Not released, locked down by faculty
5. Selective Service Registration — Not released
6. Medical records — Not released
7. Illinois State Senate schedule — ‘not available’
8. Law practice client list — Not released
9. Certified Copy of original Birth certificate - - Not released
10. Embossed, signed paper Certification of Live Birth — Not released
11. Harvard Law Review articles published — None
12. University of Chicago scholarly articles — None
13. Record of baptism– Not released or ‘not available’
14. Illinois State Senate records–’not available’
If Gov. Palin had kept such things under wraps and had such a long list, the number of dinosaur media members that would have had strokes would have overloaded the hospitals of New York and Washington. Since it is Obama it is not even mentioned in polite company. (God save us from 'polite company.')
I invite the reader to reflect on why these items have been kept hidden. If you only came up with explanations that show Barry in a good light, a bright future awaits you writing children's literature, fantasy and fairy tails.
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