The Eternal Campaign*

*Image courtesy of AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais.

In the Obama administration's most recent foray into another field of potentially dramatic and undoubtedly disastrous societal reform, school kids are being instructed to write letters as a homework assignment to determine just "what they can do to help the president." Or at least this was the line until the administration was challenged on what many parents are terming plain indoctrination.

Though not actually an overt attempt at brainwashing children, this retracted lesson plan does represent an unexpected insight into the administration's thinking--namely, that the new American culture will be one in which the President commands full support for his personal agenda from every corner of society, including from those unable to comprehend fully the national debate and still coming up through their own very impressionable years.

And while this event may ultimately prove to be a factor of the administration's arrogance more than anything else, entrenchment at the most tender levels of education is most decidedly not. Since at least the 1960s, higher education has largely been the domain of the Left for both administrative work and classroom instruction. And if government influence is to become as comprehensive as deemed necessary--in fact, the dominant force from birth to death--then education from kindergarten to the last year of high school becomes the next logical step. The only reason the administration has shown any surprise over parent reaction to their intrusion comes simply because they mistakenly believe that government sway in individual lives is actually innocuous.

In addition to this growing sense of entitlement to determine what is best in all stages of life, there is the recent and troubling production of a celebrity laden video offering undying devotion to the President's reform agenda and even the individual himself. The footage has already stirred up complaints from parents in Farmington, Utah where it was not screened before hapless elementary students were forced to view it. And there can be no doubt that it is the propaganda piece parents are alleging it is--in a bizarre reversal of roles for the People and the Government of our representative republic, there is an oath to "be of service to Barack Obama" and even outright pledges to "be a servant to our president." Did everyone suddenly forget that an elected agent of the government works for the citizens of America, even if that individual is overwhelmingly charismatic and happens to hold as much power as the President?

Strangely enough, supporters of the President may argue that such shameless shilling for the White House has not been promoted or distributed by the administration, that the production is not associated with Barack Obama in any meaningful way. But such an argument is inaccurate at best. The administration has certainly had a tremendously influential voice in this film, along with the bonus of being able to deny the work as the misguided but harmless efforts of well meaning supporters should there be public outcry.

Altogether--given both the speech and video--it seems clear that President Obama continues to cling to his undeniably successful presidential campaign, if only for an inability to face the specter of personal failure. And this makes it difficult to conclude anything other than that he lacks the real capacity to lead, especially after dramatic political losses involving both a very difficult fight over healthcare reform and an obstinate economic recovery.

It could be that the President views education as familiar ground for his associates in the party, even a safe political point in what has been an undeniably exasperating summer. But if the initial reaction from parents with school aged children is any indication, he'll have to demonstrate far more than crafty campaigning to enact his ambitious agenda. In fact, he'll need to show consistent leadership that values the individual--both parents and children.

IN OTHER NEWS: Forget the separation of Church and State. How about the separation of taxpayer money and simple partisan campaigning? To the point, the National Endowment for the Arts is now a propaganda machine for the Obama administration.

As with so many other issues under our monstrously self-involved leader, all interests must seemingly be subsumed to his agenda of radical reform. Unfortunately, the only fresh detail here is the unabashed vigor with which this agency of supposedly independent artists has embraced the opportunity to become a political player.

Allowing Qaddafi To Visit Sends The Wrong Message--Especially To Americans*

*Video courtesy of Fox News.

Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi is coming for a visit to Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. And as the characteristically intelligent Rabbi Shmuley Boteach demonstrates, the current administration's maddeningly obsequious invitation to one of the world's most accomplished former sponsors of terrorism is incredibly shameful.

Granted, it should be said that the good Rabbi has a personal stake in the matter as Qaddafi is moving in next door in preparation for a speech at the perennially tolerant U.N., the master of the Islamic socialism and international terrorism of decades past arrogantly removing a fence and many beautiful trees in the process. And yet so many neighbors have even greater cause for complaint, especially when considering that many of the victims of Pan Am 103--the flight wherein 270 lives were destroyed by terrorist Abdelbaset Ali Mohamed Al Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence officer recently released prematurely from prison to a hero's welcome in Tripoli simply because he is dying from terminal prostate cancer--came from this very neighborhood.

With some soberness, it should be noted that Rabbi Shmuley is correct in suggesting that Secretary of State Clinton ought to permit Qaddafi to pitch his tent on her own lawn, or at least on that of the U.N.--after all, such a selfless act would certainly do much in giving currency to the idea that predictably dismissive politicians actually appreciate the real cost of such an ill-conceived visit. But perhaps the best course of action posited is ultimately to deny his visa altogether and let him stay in his own blighted country to consider the consequences of pursuing peace mostly out of a gnawing sense of political self-preservation.

To be sure, while President Bush normalized relations with Libya and President Obama has continued with that theme--though with an appalling penchant for inappropriate appeasement for those who wield unbridled authoritarianism to retain power--Americans rightly expect continuing progress in Libya towards an open society that respects human life. Or at the very least, they demand such simple reverence while visitors tread on American soil.

To ignore such a reasonable demand sends the wrong message--that both wholesale appeasement for historically brutal regimes and sneering political agendas unreservedly designed for self-preening are of greater significance than the lives of American citizens.

The Left Continues Swinging At The CIA*

*Video courtesy of AP/YouTube.

Talk about crippling our intelligence gathering agencies with an inferiority complex. President Obama has candidly indicated to the CIA that getting tough with terrorists will get them nothing but stern recriminations and endless prosecutions. And that is to say nothing of a general finger wagging in plain sight of the American people.

To the point, our leader has shifted interrogation duty for suspected terrorists from the CIA to the FBI, while partisan tool Attorney General Eric Holder is jeopardizing future intelligence gathering capacities with the nearly limitless nonsense of fretting over the legality of previously approved interrogation techniques--an issue examined carefully and exhaustively by the previous administration while being derided by outraged liberals as an attempt to push the very cusp of the law's expansive boundaries.

Forget that stripping the CIA of its bread and butter to favor the more problematic of two troubled organizations defies both a reasonable commitment to keeping our government within its wisely appointed bounds and common sense. Or that conducting a very public vilification of our nation's special servants is an extremely disagreeable and unnecessary attempt to hinder those who must take controversial risks to protect our country, both now and in the future. Clearly, it seems that President Obama is shoving aside the brave sacrifices of individual patriots in favor of a lumbering, incompetent government bureaucracy. Again.

To be sure, American intelligence has had its share of mistakes, miscalculations, and downright messes well out of proportion to its seemingly elite members. But President Obama should not simply conclude that an organization mandated to fight crimes against the nation--a policing action by definition--can replace the one currently facing the heavy and at times uncomfortable action of waging a brutal war against terrorists. Such is the purview of the CIA--despite ex-officer Robert Baer's idealized memory to the contrary--an agency more or less well equipped to do such lifting, or at least it is so as far as winning the war of ideas is concerned.

To maintain otherwise is to pretend that suspected terrorists are due the same rights as American citizens protected under the Constitution; that prosecution in civil courts is always desirable to that of military trials; and that the War on Terror is nothing more than politicized semantics, an overblown fear tactic utilized in garnering Republican votes, or oil, or whatever the Left has sanctimoniously deemed to be The Devil Himself on any particular day.

And this is a mistake, as the immediate and lasting consequences of softening the public perception of current circumstances does nothing to protect innocent lives--in fact, it endangers them as never before and promotes the further encroachment of a supposedly protective government.

Significantly, interrogation involves trickery, lies, and extreme forms of mental anguish by definition--and this is what forces nasty individuals bent on bloodshed to give up critical secrets without our operatives needlessly resorting to outright physical torture. Americans should not be squeamish about these facts, and neither should they be pulled into the current administration's overly dramatic canard that all of this amounts to some sort of revelation concerning new and unusually barbaric tactics. In fact, all of this is just old, mundane methodology that has been proven effective at the complementary goals of both making terrorists talk and safeguarding the nation's future.

IN OTHER NEWS: David Hedrick--a disabled U.S. Marine--gives Congressman Brian Baird a well deserved piece of his patriotic mind, especially over the egregiously inappropriate "brown shirt" label so obnoxiously shot off onto town hall protesters by the latter.

It seems the only embarrassment here is that other like minded individuals did not speak up sooner, as it will take a tremendous and consistent groundswell of opposition from citizens to topple the monumental hubris of the Obama administration over healthcare reform.

Iranian Defiance Redux*

*Image courtesy of AP Photo/Vahid Salemi.

The West should not be fooled by Iran's sudden commitment to transparency in its nuclear program, no matter how encouraging such an unexpected development seems.

Granted, recent actions by this terrible regime appear to demonstrate positive progress towards genuine cooperation with reasonable international requests for inspection. But these are really just diplomatic delays designed to placate the growing concerns of occidental powers over that nation's ambitious tyranny.

Take, for example, the report that Iran is prepared to allow inspections of its supposedly peaceful nuclear program "without preconditions." Of course, this same rhetoric has been trotted out before, and the results have not been encouraging. And not coincidentally, it should also be noted that Iran is being pressured by a September deadline that is presumably enforceable with harsh economic sanctions should Ahmadinejad fail to comply--a veritable fait accompi at this point.

But Iran is also gambling on the continuation of a pathetically limp American response as President Obama remains overwhelmingly engaged in a punishing domestic debate over healthcare reform. Or at the very least, the regime is relying on squabbling in the U.N. as allies interested in their ideology or overabundance of oil ensnare any sanctions in weeks or even months of international bickering. Both scenarios are equally likely. And when all is said and done, all Ahmadinejad really needs is time for further development, a gift he will likely receive with little serious opposition in gross counterpoint to what is actually conceived for his militarized nuclear program--namely, the threat of absolute annihilation for Israel and the benefits accrued from becoming the unarguable savior for the extremists populating so much of the Muslim world at present.

Remarkably, this dramatic and dishonest reinvention of Iran's political stance comes just as the murderer of Neda Soltan is identified as Abbas Kargar Javid, a Basij militia member fleeing the scene after absurdly claiming that he only meant to shoot Soltan in the leg. Significantly, Iranian leaders are acutely aware of Western anger over their brutal and unconscionable crackdown on freedom seeking citizens. And they also know that undeniable government involvement in Soltan's death--a fact vehemently denied previously--could potentially galvanize both Iranian and American voices in harshly condemning months of wanton deceit and bloodshed.

Consequently, to avoid the utter abrogation of his government's agenda, Ahmadinejad has shrewdly offered a potential international victory to President Obama just as he needs a win most, while at the same time maintaining much of his own political power on the world stage for the critical near future. And regrettably, some period of time--likely not more than a few dozen months--harnessed with both religiously sanctioned authoritarian rule and interminable international apathy is all that he really requires to achieve nuclear weaponization and an intractable place among the major world powers.

So in the end, it seems that Iran's unmitigated embarrassment for lack of control over ten weeks of protest has been masterfully converted into a subtle power play by one of the Middle East's worst demagogues. And thus the pressing need for President Obama himself to reject this specious offer of transparency out of hand and to supply unqualified condemnation for the murder and torture of so many innocent Iranians at the hands of Ahmadinejad.

IN OTHER NEWS: European anti-Semitism unabashedly continues with an article written by freelance journalist Donald Bostrom published in Sweden. Therein, he claims to have witnessed IDF soldiers harvesting organs from Palestinians killed in clashes with Israel, a patently evil and inflammatory claim with roots as far back as the 1990s.

Of course, Bostrom also possesses no evidence--just his own devotion to bigotry and the excruciatingly small idea that Jews are responsible for all that is wrong in the world. But these facts also shouldn't stop much of Europe from embracing such claims; in fact, such anti-Semitism remains highly fashionable in that part of the world, regardless of their many vaunted claims to widespread cultural enlightenment.

The Defeat Of Obamacare (A Primer For The White House)*

*Image courtesy of AP Photo/Gerald Herbert.

If the recent town hall meetings are any indication, the White House was clearly not prepared for the fury Americans have vented over the soon to be defeated healthcare reform legislation currently being contested in virtually every venue available to the public. Why else the "unexpectedly personal moment" of President Obama's while attacking private insurance companies to convince town hall participants that he couldn't possibly pull the plug on grandma?

But lest we forget the President's true aims here, not every bureaucrat has a grandmother measuring out her final days under the agonies of modern healthcare. And not every government decision-maker living on the tax-payer's dime is as fantastic a smooth talker as our elected leader.

Yet the polls--for whatever they are worth--offer a partial explanation for much of the anger poured out over this audacious, government-sponsored repudiation of the individual's worth. Tellingly, a Gallup Poll produced this summer indicates that 40% of Americans view themselves as conservative, 35% as moderate, and only 21% as liberal. And that makes this a center-right nation, regardless of any vague notion of change voters hoped to extract from a new and decidedly different Chief Executive.

As the astute Michael Barone posits on the issue, the disparity many Americans are sensing right now comes down to the difference between membership in the party leading the reform push and actually believing both heart and soul in an extreme liberal agenda. And unfortunately for a very far left leadership set, the party does not always keep the faith.

Perhaps this is why Sarah Palin can cut so very deeply with her remark on the chilling "death panels" proposed as a funded option for the elderly every few years, a model reportedly suggested to inform these gentle souls as to what their scant options are under single-payer healthcare--a particular part of the legislation that has thankfully been nixed as a precursor to final irrelevancy for the work as a whole.

Without a doubt, the legislation itself is an unmistakable wish list of liberal ideology that grinds against the basic sentiments of most Americans. And while the majority of citizens want to see all of their neighbors have access to adequate insurance and healthcare options irrespective of pre-existing conditions, the price to both our characteristic American individuality and national pocketbook is just too much.

Mercifully, the public or single-payer option is quickly evaporating as those close to the push for this irrational healthcare reform have switched their focus to non-profit insurance cooperatives. And while this option has its own negative consequences--including the possibility of a subtle government buyout on the way to public insurance in the future--it appears to be a less egregious alternative at present than the economic ruin and aggression against the individual of the current plan that is being talked up like so much golden utopia. But such are the victories afforded frustrated voters when elected representatives lack the courage to speak loud enough to be heard over the beat of socialism's drums.

Now the only thing left is to note just how much longer President Obama and his team of arrogant academics are willing to push for this societal shake down. To be sure, they remain inexorably committed, but the longer this absurd debate continues, the more those usually disinclined to voice their opinion on such matters will become staunch opponents of the White House and its laundry list of unacceptable freedoms.

And that is a mess the President will be cleaning up for some time to come.

UPDATE: The White House's obnoxious fishy e-mails project appears to be shut down, hopefully due to the understandable outrage of American citizens. However, further complaints can and should be sent via the condescendingly named "Health Insurance Reform Reality Check" website using the "Contact Us" button.

As with the former avenue for dissent, this one ought to be brimming with all sorts of democratic ideas and suggestions for healthcare reform--whether or not President Obama wants to hear about it.

IN OTHER NEWS: In a bold condemnation of Khomenei's role in Iran's rigged election and post-election crackdown on protesters, an unprecedented appeal has been sent to the Assembly of Experts to investigate the torture and rape allegations slowly filtering out of that country's demonic prison system and to condemn the mass trial of dissenters currently under way.

And while this is a courageous action likely to be ignored--and regrettably so--it should do some good in heartening those still fighting for their own rights of freedom in Iran, even if the West remains damnably silent.

Obamacare On Life Support*

*Image courtesy of AP Photo/Jae C. Hong.

The insidious healthcare reform being crammed down American throats by the Obama administration has become a dramatically divisive issue in recent days. But this should not be surprising given the scramble by the White House to quell reasonable debate on the issue by maligning protesters. But the resulting sense of uneasiness in Americans only undergirds the argument that the lengthy legislation itself heaps bureaucratic disdain on the individual and his inalienable liberties--after all, if just selling the reform requires that the individual be treated like a disposable statistic, the reform itself will likely do that and much more.

And while few politicians or citizens have actually slogged through this behemoth of dense prose steeped in soft socialistic principles--at the very least, the idea being that an engorged government can decide better than any individual how life ought to be lived, or that distant bureaucrats can care better for patients than immediate medical professionals and family members--the affixed political endorsements or lack thereof by many prominent national organizations is very telling.

For example, the National Association of Pharmaceutical Representatives has admitted the tremendous windfall they stand to reap should the reform pass. The thinking here--and it is likely correct--is that treatment under the new healthcare program will simply mean more medication and less surgery, therapy, and rehabilitation, whether or not this is the best course for patients. Moreover, much of the bill comes down to saved money and quite possibly whatever minimal care the government can get away with using a single-payer system--after all, successful business management is often about cutting unnecessary expenditures, and under the esteemed weight of healthcare reform, many current supporters will undoubtedly be shocked at just what is deemed extraneous to good care when the government is allotting the coinage.

On the other hand, sensing the negative impact this reform will have on Medicare and ailing seniors across the nation, the American Association of Retired Persons has refused to endorse the pending legislation--a course completely opposite the one claimed by President Obama in his recent town hall speech--while the considerable power wielded by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has been skillfully employed in crafting a noteworthy ad campaign strongly protesting this bait and switch foisted upon Americans by the White House.

More importantly, public outcry has been considerable and frustrated. And no wonder, as grassroots efforts have been mocked as ignorant mob actions while an immediately pressing healthcare crisis is itself manufactured by President Obama as a raison d'etre for such unprecedented reforms. Add to this the shrill complaint of liberal hag Nancy Pelosi and Obama henchman Steny Hoyer that voices of dissent are "simply un-American" and one begins to understand that reasonably concerned Americans are being viciously set up for a catastrophic fall.

And that is the real issue here. Americans rightly expect the majority to be given appropriate and timely legislative action according to their desires and the rule of law, while it is also understood that the minority is to receive just consideration of their viewpoint and protection for the same. Significantly, President Obama and his apologists have grossly perverted this fundamental model of democratic governance by trampling on the majority and demanding the triumph of minority ideals and notions of equality--a socialist action in spirit, if not the letter.

Yet very clearly, Americans overwhelmingly oppose healthcare reform in its current state as proposed by President Obama. But the White House isn't listening, and this is why dissent has been so adamantly vociferous. By crushing honest debate with baseless accusations of ignorance on the part of town hall protesters and by applying such an unsparing blitzkrieg of political pressure on individual dissent, the current administration has shown that it will always place its own power and that of a swelling government above the rights of the people, person by person if necessary.

But Americans will not forgive or forget such low behavior easily--a sobering thought considering that voter backlash could very well promote conservative ideals well beyond the ambitious liberal agenda of President Obama in the months and years to come, no matter how the healthcare debate is ultimately concluded.

IN OTHER NEWS: Despite a glowing report on Pakistan's status as a viable nation since Taliban butcher Baitullah Mehsud was unceremoniously sent to his eternal damnation--granted, a development that is worthy of genuine plaudits for the Obama administration, or at least for those piloting the UAVs--this struggling country remains a nearly lawless region in the control of terrorists hell-bent upon the destruction of civilization and the undeniable blessings it bestows.

Case in point, a clever report by Professor Shaun Gregory of Bradford University in the United Kingdom documents three attempts by terrorist groups to knock out Pakistani nuclear sites, the most serious being in 2008 by Taliban suicide bombers that destroyed entry points to an armament complex at a major nuclear facility. This chain of nearly unknown disasters demonstrates a terrifying lack of information sharing by media outlets when it comes to such serious security breaches. And it also means that Pakistan is far from being a stable nation honest about its feebleness in the face of bloody extremists.

Unfortunately, this indicates a very prolonged struggle for Pakistan indeed, as no nation can adequately push back or even destroy the ubiquitous threat of terrorism until it has admitted just how destructive it really is to those critical elements basic to advanced societies across the sweep of history--life, prosperity, and freedom.

Pakistan's Bleak Future*

*Image courtesy of AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini.

A recent, chilling report describes how Pakistani police refused to protect Christians and their homes in the city of Gojra from militant supporters of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a violent Islamic group with links to Al Qaeda.

Maintaining that the pages of a Koran had been destroyed, these murderers went to work by gas bombing homes and shooting innocents. Reportedly, eight were killed in the fires--four of them women and at least one a child--and two others shot. Locals insist that the number of casualties is actually in the dozens. And they also vehemently deny that any Koran was destroyed or otherwise defiled by the three boys at the root of this story, though no one is arguing that local clerics callously demanded their deaths.

Is it any wonder that so many doubt that Islam is truly a religion of peace or even reason when such bloodshed is not wholeheartedly condemned? Surely, the vast majority of Muslims do not condone such extreme violence, hatred, and murder, but their characteristic silence does little to convince Western minds of their commitment to genuine peace and tolerance--inside or outside of Pakistan.

But as mentioned before in these pages, Pakistan is virtually finished as a civilized country capable of supplying anything of value to the world. Clearly, citizens there will have to make tremendous sacrifices if they wish give their children a nation free of oppression and terror. And they must also willingly decide to defend their own minority groups if they wish the West to believe that they are serious about the victory of moderate religious influence over extremism.

IN OTHER NEWS: The furor over President Obama's list of dissenters grows as details of his healthcare reform plan continue to unfold. And at least one legal expert has posited that such a list is likely illegal according to the Privacy Act of 1974, while the ACLU has registered its own dismay at this shameless browbeating of Americans.

A brief and basic synopsis of how citizen's information can be handled legally by the government according to the Privacy Act of 1974 can be found here.

Institutionalized Tyranny*

*Image courtesy of AP Photo/Gerald Herbert.

The White House recently unveiled a plan allowing Americans to report on their neighbors, family, and friends should they offend President Obama by speaking out against his disastrous healthcare plan. Quite simply, well-meaning citizens can have offending "chain emails or [. . .] casual conversation" turned in for careful scrutinization by our loving leader's band of faithful disciples.

The Soviets would likely be very proud. Certainly, the NKVD would be.

Given this development, is there any question that the Obama administration will carelessly trample the rights of the individual for the sake of their vision of a socialized future? Interestingly enough, such an ambition is becoming increasingly more difficult to argue against as average Americans are starting to discern the real price of dissent under our current leadership.

Reasonable American citizens concerned with this brazen attempt at limiting free speech may self-report their own hopefully offensive material via flag@whitehouse.gov (the idea being to overflow their inbox) or even sign the petition against tax-funded abortion at the American Center for Law and Justice.

IN OTHER NEWS: The Supreme Court will add Sonia Sotomayor as an Associate Justice on Saturday. Significantly, 31 Republican senators voted in protest against her record of race-based legislation from the bench, while 9 Republican senators bought the laughable line that she is a misunderstood mainstream judge.

Whatever the case may be, President Obama's history of liberal activism and social engineering will become a legacy far outliving his presidency with Sotomayor carrying on the good fight for years to come.

The Baffling Paradox Of Jewish Anti-Semitism*

*Image courtesy of AP Photo/Dan Balilty.

Anti-Semitism as expressed by the American Jewish community itself has become quite popular of late, though why this troubling phenomenon has achieved any acceptance defies easy description. And why Jewish and non-Jewish critics alike are not speaking out to a greater degree in condemning these acts is also problematic.

Take, for example, the perennially obnoxious comedienne Roseanne Barr and her photo shoot for "Heeb Magazine," an irreverent rag backed by nihilistic film director Steven Spielberg that apparently challenges traditional Jewishness through a popular culture approach. In the latest witty issue, Barr dresses up as a domestic Hitler--complete with iconic mustache and swastika armband--as she eats burnt gingerbread cookies representing the Jews ruthlessly murdered during the Holocaust by the Nazi regime. Notably, Barr is herself Jewish, as is Spielberg. And this somehow makes such a tasteless exercise in gross insensitivity amusing.

Another despicable individual of note is Professor William Robinson--also Jewish--at University of California, Santa Barbara. This academic pillar sent his sociology students a series of pictures equating Holocaust victims with Palestinian casualties of recent Israeli military operations in Gaza, though with no explanation provided to give any historical context whatsoever. As just one example from this rare piece of scholarship, Jews waiting in line to be gassed are directly compared to Palestinians standing at an Israeli security checkpoint, as if the two were unarguably analogous.

At least two of Robinson's Jewish students dropped the course--others are also presumably disturbed, but not enough to protest by withdrawing--and contacted the Simon Wiesenthal Center to make a video reading of Robinson's bizarre introduction to the material he humorlessly entitled "Parallel Images of Nazis and Israelis."

Ultimately, any legitimate group in society has the right to create some humor at their own expense, even if others tempt widespread condemnation for the same. But groups stooping to the same level of racism and genocidal hatred that historical enemies have utilized to murder innocents of their own kind is also horribly wrong.

Why are bigots such as Barr and Robinson tolerated? Perhaps it is an attempt to show the world that Jews are not really different from any other religious or cultural group. Or maybe that the Holocaust and ongoing anti-Semitism are regrettable but understandable aspects of strained relations with the rest of the world as Jews continue with their inexplicable habits of living. Or even that Jewish remembrance of atrocities is a juvenile and petty bid for the undeserved benefits of victimhood. Yet, all of these are vicious and dangerous lies that do in fact risk Jewish lives both here in America and abroad--and that much is obvious to reasonable individuals.

Clearly, criticism of this kind is not to say that such irresponsible behavior automatically guarantees another Holocaust. Or at least it is not to put direct blame on such choices. But these troubling events do erode the basic respect owed to any legitimate member group of society--in this case, a historically innovative contributor well out of proportion to its numbers--and dismisses one of the worst catastrophes in human history as a mere annoyance, a galling footnote repeatedly brought up that should serve only as a point of derision rather than profound contemplation.

And in the end, behavior like that isn't anywhere close to being funny or smart.

IN OTHER NEWS: Iran's murderous regime forces over 100 election protesters to court for crimes against clerical rule just days before Ahmadinejad's installment for a second term, claiming that many defendants were tools of antagonistic foreign states.

It has been reported that confessions have been offered by some individuals, though these were undoubtedly forced. And there also seems to be an inability on the part of defendants to obtain lawyers. Those fortunate enough to do so often find them locked out of the courtroom.

Additionally, three American tourists hiking near the Iranian border have been detained, though there is little substantive information regarding their captivity. Barring their release, occidental observers will likely know very little about what they are suffering at any point in the foreseeable future.

And there is no word yet as to whether or not President Obama will stand up and condemn these obvious abuses of human rights, but such an event seems extremely doubtful--after all, to date he has done virtually nothing to stop the shedding of innocent blood in Iran.

ObamaCare: Who Needs Surgery? Just Take A Pill*

*Video courtesy of YouTube.

The above video is very disturbing, if only for the fact that it underscores the argument that President Obama's plan for rationed, socialized healthcare will only place a dollars-and-cents value on individual American lives--and a cheap one, at that.

Interestingly enough, both the so-called Blue Dog Democrats and Republicans have each recently offered non-binding health insurance alternatives, though whether these are workable solutions to this odious healthcare catastrophe remains to be seen.

In the best event, Congress will not act on any comprehensive healthcare bill--or at least not anytime soon. Reasonable observers can usually agree upon the need for reform, perhaps even drastic change, but this pressing need doesn't mean that more government intrusion is the solution. In fact, as in so many scenarios, it is actually a compounding problem. And the current reform under consideration is just that--a hasty governmental fix to a complex issue profoundly affecting hundreds of millions of lives for years to come.

Healthcare decisions--and this includes those made in quality-of-life and end-of-life contexts--should most definitely not be made by bureaucrats and politicians pondering banal statistical extrapolations on the cost of providing adequate individual care for one procedure or another. People are not, and never have been, numbers. To the point, these issues should be handled by qualified medical professionals and specialists, patients, and in some cases, patient advocates such as loving, immediate family members if an individual cannot argue on their own behalf.

And whatever healthcare plan comes to the forefront, it is clear that it should include for patients more insurance coverage choices at reasonable rates, greater access to alternative treatment options supported by research, and an undeniable affirmation of their right to a respected voice in the specific treatment approaches applied to their own care.

In other words, both President Obama and Congress should simply show a genuine respect for human life.

IN OTHER NEWS: For better or worse--and really, it is the latter of the two--Sonia Sotomayor moves closer to confirmation as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.

Taking The Iranian Nuclear Threat Seriously*

*Image courtesy of AP Images.

American interests in the Middle East can be protected from a nuclear Iran by a "defense umbrella," according to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Come again?

Clinton's second hasty try, as cited in the article above, does deny any sort of "nuclear umbrella" to shield presumed protectorate countries from Iranian aggression. Yet as so many have noted of this sloppy remark--and she knows better as a vetted veteran of high-powered political maneuvering--the suggestion is that America will actually permit the development of such a pernicious danger towards vital friends like Israel.

Thankfully, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates appear to agree that this threat will not be tolerated ad infinitum--and perhaps of greater importance, that all deterrence options remain viable for just such a threat. To be sure, Israel will need these options as experience has shown that dictators tend to force the international community beyond all reasonable limits in the misguided pursuit of world-stage influence and irrational, nationalistic pride.

But allowing such sobering hypothetical scenarios, the question remaining can only be one of tolerance. With the middling support President Obama and others have shown Israel since his infamous Cairo speech, Iran will undoubtedly be given an unreasonably long tether to strain against. And this is unpleasant news indeed for those aware of the real dangers posed to Israel and other American allies in the Middle East.

Perhaps President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton will put aside their shared pursuit of legacy and popular image long enough to address some of the more challenging issues facing America at present. Doubtful, but one can always hope.

IN OTHER NEWS: It appears that Thomas Daniel--the independent investigator persistently lobbing obnoxious ethics complaints at Sarah Palin--is in fact a major contributor to the Democratic Party. Unfortunately, it seems no one noted his faithful personal contributions to this institution, or that peers in his law firm frequently serve as counsel of record for the party on the left, or that several lawyers he makes a living with recently represented President Obama in his bid for this country's highest office.

Minor details, we must suppose, when one is bent on the character assassination of perhaps one of the strongest threats to liberal ideology to come out of the Republican ranks in several years.

President Obama Loses Some Of His Luster*

*Image courtesy of AP Images.

President Obama's catastrophic push for socialized healthcare reform is quickly deteriorating--mostly, as Charles Krauthammer puts it, because "[r]hetoric met reality." In other words, doctors, nurses, and regular Americans that use or will need to use our healthcare system in the near future realize that services will not get better. And they will cost far more than anyone will be willing to pay.

To the point, while the American Medical Association recently backed the President's plan, many of its members are jumping ship while noting the long lines, care rationing, and ultimately inferior quality of delivered services that are sure to result should the reform be rammed through Congress. And they are not alone. In a recent policy piece for the Mayo Clinic, it was noted that the reform will actually inflate patient costs while ensuring poorer care. Significantly, this comes from an institution seemingly committed to a drastic overhaul of modern medicine in America.

Without a doubt, many of those who actually remain committed to achieving quality care at reasonable fees view this bill as nothing other than idealistic or self-preening boilerplate aimed at an unprecedented reordering of American society that will do little to care for a growing and aging population.

Thank goodness Americans at least have a reprieve from this legislation as it is likely to be postponed past Obama's arbitrary August deadline. Perhaps by then, Republicans and Democrats will come together in a commitment to meaningful and effective healthcare reform that puts more choices in the hands of the people.

IN OTHER NEWS: President Obama shows his undying friendship to radicalism by involving himself in a local Cambridge matter to defend his friend Henry Louis Gates Jr., a leading light in the academic pantheon of politically correct race relations. All this, of course, because one Police Sgt. James Crowley Jr. had the nerve to investigate a possible break-in at a previously burglarized home only to discover Mr. Gates trying to enter and refusing to identify himself. While Gates did eventually provide identification, he also threw a tantrum and flatly accused the officer of racism--a claim echoed by that darling of the Democrats with the statement that Sgt. Crowley "acted stupidly," as quoted in the linked article above.

Unfortunately, such is to be expected as President Obama claims Mr. Gates as a personal friend, and he is undoubtedly all about the payback expected in personal, Chicago-style politics. Of course, one might also note that our leader runs with a very nasty group of egotistical people.

The Rape Of Iran's Women*

*Image courtesy of AP Images.

"The Jerusalem Post" is currently carrying an interview with a serving member of the Basij militia in Iran. And it is horrifying.

The interview itself was obtained by telephone after this married man with his own children served a period in jail for showing some humanity to two Iranian teenagers; apparently his error was in allowing them to escape imprisonment, an undeniable hell for those forced to experience such a place. And this, unfortunately, is the one encouraging point delineated throughout the course of the conversation.

The Basij militia member interviewed eventually details his so-called honor to marry virgins the night just prior to their own executions. As Iranian law under Ali Khamenei forbids the execution of virgins for whatever crime, this man would then be joined to these tortured individuals in an obviously forced ceremony, see to their drugging to ease any struggle, and then rape them--a legal right that he admits caused more anxiety and suffering in these young girls than the executions that followed.

Apparently his experience is not unusual.

Oddly enough, it needs to be said here that any regime torturing and murdering its own citizens is depraved--and such a fact should draw reasonable minds together with the aim of its overthrow. But any culture that routinely sanctions the legal rape, torture, and murder of women and children is playing with the blackest sort of sin--and that kind of tyranny deserves not only the harshest condemnation in words, but also utter annihilation by whatever violence justifiable within moral limits, either by their own freedom-seeking citizens or by a nation such as America that holds the moral and historical imperative to act.

Without a doubt, Iranians have the right to freedom. Their men have a right to dignity and the honorable pursuit of any worthwhile profession. Their women have a right to speak, to live their lives unmolested, and to be free of the fear attached to indiscriminate execution. And their children have the same rights in fully realizing their own potentials, along with a supreme right to innocence as they grow toward maturity.

President Obama knows this. He has known this long before he ascended to the Presidency. And he has no excuse to remain silent concerning the atrocities being carried out right now with such terrifying brutality in Iran. Consequently, both Democrats and Republicans should join together in condemning his appalling lack of action, his inexcusable lack of courage, and his inscrutable lack of support for Iranian freedom.

After all, there is enough complicity in these horrific crimes as it is.

Iran's Struggle For Freedom Continues*

*Image courtesy of AP Images.

Contrary to the fashionable and yet damning mutism presented by the White House concerning pervasive human rights abuses in Iran, citizens of that troubled country continue to protest courageously for their own liberties.

Significantly, tens of thousands crammed into Iran's primary prayer service on Friday as the cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani called for "action to remove this doubt" stemming from Ahmadinejad's rigged election. And this after so many days of falling behind in the headlines. Tellingly, those attempting to attend the sermon received a government dose of tear gas before, during, and after services for their efforts.

Another less than pleasant vignette serves to illustrate what the average Iranian protester has to look forward to on any given day: human rights lawyer Shadi Sadr was kidnapped and beaten on her way to Friday prayers with friends, a practice apparently intensifying with Iran's repressive regime in recent days. Significantly, Sadr requires medical attention and was scheduled for an operation in the coming week--an appointment she is unlikely to meet while being relentlessly interrogated and beaten in prison for her pains in supporting the radical idea that all men, women, and children might in fact have God-given liberties. She joins a growing group of as many as 2,000 individuals that have been scooped up and arrested since the election protests began.

Hopefully, Iranians understand that American prayers are surely with them as they continue to fight the tyranny of their own government with commendable courage, even if our politicians are not. With this in mind, President Obama should not place his confidence in their kind feelings should they succeed in what is clearly a just revolution for freedom.

IN OTHER NEWS: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli populace in general buck some of the ridiculous strictures insisted upon by the international community by allowing a construction project in East Jerusalem to move forward. And just as a matter of record, it should be noted that there are those that popularly believe any such activity on this side of the city is a settlement, and therefore an obstacle to peace in the Middle East.

Unfortunately, there is no word yet as to whether or not any descendants of the axis of aggression serving as the catalyst for the Six-Day War in June 1967 have finally recognized the depressing consequences of their own hubris. Then again, expecting such an admission would be paramount to suggesting that Israel has the right to both existence and natural growth--even in East Jerusalem.

Minority Rule*

*Image courtesy of AP Images.

It seems that Sonia Sotomayor has mustered enough colonic fortitude to muddle through the Judiciary Committee hearing on her Supreme Court nomination and confirmation without actually betraying how her racially-driven philosophy of the law and even the world will affect her judgments.

But as Louis Michael Seidman has carefully pointed out in the third installment of a recent debate over her future role on the Supreme Court, Sotomayor "very substantially misrepresented her own views" during the hearing. Clearly. And so it is that many continue to wonder just how she will perform once installed on America's highest judiciary body--as a Justice cautiously and yet firmly applying the fundamental principles of our Constitution, or simply as a predictable liberal ideologue dabbling in the legislation of divisive race politics.

Given these lingering doubts, Sotomayor will undoubtedly find her seat as Associate Justice. But even with those crucial 60 votes in pocket, it is absolutely appropriate that nominees thrust forward to potentially fill what is ostensibly a life-long position safeguarding our fundamental law be given a thorough and challenging test concerning their past decisions and writings, their current attitudes towards the law and their role in administering it, and their outlooks on the future of our nation's legal system.

To this end, reasonable observers might understandably conclude that Sotomayor got off easy given her previous statements showing obvious racial preferences and the "disheartening" campaign of late to smear firefighter Frank Ricci. And for the most part, these same bystanders would be correct, though a caution against the temptation of character assassination also bears some consideration here--after all, destroying a candidate for lofty office is much different than simply rejecting the same.

And for this very reason, the role of party politics should not be overlooked in this critical vetting process. Notably, Patrick Leahy's shameless exercise in keepsake photography does little to help Democrats seem impartial. In fact, the undiluted lovefest pursued by the majority party should give even casual observers pangs of embarrassment not easily dispelled in the near future. Conversely, the Republicans thankfully included in this hearing generally asked appropriately pointed questions, though without any regrettable hint of hysteria. To be sure, the ambiguity so many Americans are feeling towards an arguably hypocritical nominee were adequately presented without the questioners coming off as the sniveling minority party--a right not held by any group of elected officials.

Yet only time will tell if our nation and history itself can treat Sotomayor's obvious deficits with the same magnanimity and forbearance, especially as we have yet to see what challenges she will face on the bench. Whatever the case may be, Americans should be deeply grateful for a solid and at times majestic system of law that generously permits so many missteps and downright mistakes.

IN OTHER NEWS: Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf concludes that the Obamacare bills currently on the table would drive both government spending and healthcare costs through the roof. Will this warning be enough to stop the asinine socialization of our healthcare system? Probably not. Or at the very least, it won't be enough to stop the misguided effort. And that should be enough to disturb anyone planning on medical care in the foreseeable future.

The Price Of Pelosi's Career*

*Image courtesy of AP Images.

It seems there is nothing Democrats will not do to save Nancy Pelosi's career.

First it was the push to label the CIA as a den of liars for failing to brief her on waterboarding. As it turns out, she was briefed along with everyone else in Congress that cared to listen.

And then she asserted that the CIA lied to Congress about a covert operations program that never got off the ground, though this seems an asinine point as these efforts were reportedly aimed at counterterrorism. Truth be told, Congress was actually briefed and Director Panetta has also posited that nothing illegal was done.

How many lies will be told to cover up earlier lies? No one knows, but it should be obvious by now that the Democrat's push to target publicly the intelligence agency charged with protecting American lives is despicable.

IN OTHER NEWS: Kim Jong Il apparently has pancreatic cancer. Thank heaven for simple mercies.

Obama, Israel, And Self-Loathing*

*Image courtesy of AP Images.

In a troubling opinion piece for "The Wall Street Journal" that can only be described as a fantastic foray into the depraved depths of unmitigated self-flagellation, Alan Dershowitz has attempted to make the nearly untenable case for President Obama being a true friend to both American Jewry and the state of Israel.

To the point, his apologetics conveniently begin with the statement that Obama's stance on settlements nearly matches that of his predecessor, though with the bizarre caveat that development must logically be vertical for peace to become attainable--and this with no aforethought as to just what kind of tempting targets these miraculously funded and constructed apartment towers must present to rocket-toting terrorists.

Another assertion--really a belief, and a laughable one at that--is that President Obama is seriously committed to an Iran free of nuclear weapons and that his appeasement-minded administration does not actually claim a link between Israel's settlements and that other regime's aggression. Clearly, this is a convenient bit of political arithmetic, ignoring the fact that mainstream liberals increasingly root almost every conceivable dilemma in the Middle East somewhere in the establishment or continuing growth of Israel. President Obama is no exception.

And finally, the right of the IDF "to prevent and deter rocket fire" sounds laudable coming from Dershowitz, but no mention is made of the ethical choice to preserve Israeli lives and freedoms by targeting the homes and operations of terrorists. In fact, little is suggested for the preservation of innocent Israelis other than maintaining the status quo--a losing proposition, to be sure.

In other words, Dershowitz ultimately remains completely unwilling to admit that President Obama harbors some very troubling and apparently persistent grudges against Israel, and that this very attitude will in fact cost Israeli lives and further stir up anti-Semitism throughout the world to the point where this valuable ally may actually cease to exist.

Apparently, these are the petty details lost in the historic nature of a White House that makes grand, sweeping plans with absolutely unimpeachable wisdom. And as Melanie Phillips so aptly describes in her showdown with Dershowitz, this is also the aggravating nature of our current cult of personality--a phenomenon strangely present not just with so many average Americans, but even more so with the vast majority of the American Jewish population long and unreasonably in the pocket of the Democrats.

But blessedly, pressure does matter, as does calling President Obama on his explicit bias. What else could explain his desperate attempt of late to woo Jewish leaders and convince them that he really wishes to foster only the truest of friendships with them and their voting congregations?

Perhaps the only question now is how much self-loathing this vital community will take before it's realized that an enemy to Israel's safety and future success cannot be a true friend to Jews anywhere.

Zelaya Was Legally Removed From The Presidency In Honduras*

*Image courtesy of AP Images.

As mentioned earlier in this venue, the so-called coup declaring Roberto Micheletti (pictured above) the interim president of Honduras was entirely legal and sanctioned by the Constitution, Supreme Court, and Attorney General of that land.

And this is a fact most journalists and world leaders should be able to discern as that country's most basic law explicitly forbids the lengthening of any presidential term--or even proposing it, as did Zelaya.

Making Sense Of Sarah Palin's Resignation*

*Image courtesy of AP Images.

Is it too presumptuous to assert that the ubiquitous interpretations of Sarah Palin's recent resignation by supposedly objective journalists, undeniably extreme Democrats, and unnecessarily weakened Republicans have all been farcockt? After all, these professional commentators and politicians are guessing at her political future just like everyone else. What they come up with could be just as overblown as any other speculation built up without hard facts.

But even a casual sampling of analyses by the so-called experts has been very telling of the deep bias against her not only as a politician, but also as a person: a characteristically unruffled Charles Krauthammer called her "delusional" and her resignation "a quitting"; Michael Barone, usually very astute, claimed complete shock and dismay at what he very much doubts is a political "masterstroke"; a smirking Keith Olbermann overtly suggested that politics were "just too complicated for her"; and Rick Sanchez at CNN even questioned whether or not their might be a pregnancy involved.

Wow. For a political figure that supposedly has laughable relevance in the current political climate and very little sway with reasonable thinkers, there exists an almost hysterical rush to wholesale judgment and overly grateful political eulogy here.

But as Chris Stigall over at "Big Hollywood" has thankfully pointed out, increasingly socialistic Democrats need someone to sneer at as their social programs bankrupt the country and painfully ineffective Republicans need a real conservative to salvage an admittedly damaged party image. In other words, Palin remains a potential threat to both those unwilling to grapple with the reality of our country's problems and those unable to translate conservative principles into effective action with any sort of consistency. And this means that politicians and journalists unsympathetic to her unconventional rise to power act as if they would just rather that she disappeared from the political stage altogether--no Palin, no problem.

Political machinations aside, what is clear is that Palin is now largely free from asinine legal attacks predictably hidden under a pressing need for transparent governance and the inappropriate smears against her children aimed at hobbling her power as an advocate for traditional values. So whether or not her resignation precludes a presidential run in 2012--and that outcome seems dim mostly due to the vociferous pontifications from her naysayers rather than as a reflection of her actual chances--Palin can marshal her tremendous ingenuity and personal courage to provide the kind of common sense leadership so desperately needed right now in America.

And that's just what she's been trying to do since she was pushed onto the national stage just a handful of months ago.

IN OTHER NEWS: Thousands of freedom seekers of all ages again protest in Tehran while shouting "death to the dictator." The usual harsh reprisals--including the lock down of mobile phone services, arrests, tear gassings, beatings, and killings--were issued from the tyrannical Iranian government without the least indication of hesitation, but the movement for Iranian freedom undeniably lives on. And as the Western world still owes these protesters a firm and genuine show of support, one wonders how many protests are needed for the White House to take notice--officially speaking, of course.

AND FINALLY: Kim Jong Il's regime continues its belligerence with a round of cyberattacks aimed at both South Korea and America. No word yet on whether the Obama administration will get up the guts to challenge this increasingly arrogant form of North Korean despotism springing from that supposedly soft, innocuous matrix called Communism.

The Ongoing Crises Presented By The Axis Of Evil*

*Image courtesy of AP Images.

In case you missed it, North Korea's Dear Supreme Leader and Wacko For Life decided to mark our American Independence Day with seven missile launches of noticeably increased sophistication. Here, one wonders what sort of appeasement President Obama might quickly foist upon the increasingly edgy and disinterested dictator as quaint places such as South Korea, Japan, and oh, perhaps the United States wait to see if they will become needless victims of his irrational aggression.

By now, this appeasement approach should be seen for what it is--a cowardly and ineffective excuse for real leadership and deterrence in very precarious times. Kim Jong Il, for one, certainly understands that Democrats in Congress and President Obama's administration will do little to threaten, much less act against, a repressive regime bent on turning dissenters and avowed enemies into piles of ash.

Sidestepping this threat tempts one to believe that President Obama is either arrogant towards those who oppose his soft worldview or ignorant concerning the true nature of the threats we face. Worse yet, perhaps it is really both.

In either case, President Obama's unbecoming and unreasonable gentleness with tyrannical murderers was also on display in the recent rejection of Ahmadinejad's reelection by a prominent organization of Iranian clerics. Apparently, The Association of Researchers and Teachers of Qom has labeled those Iranian citizens killed in election protests as martyrs and has also called for opposition to the government. In addition, Ali Reza Beheshti--son of a prominent Revolution leader--has called for the election results to be nullified, according to the Fox News article linked above.

Clearly, it seems that this new revolution is continuing forward, with or without our help and apparently underground, though it could come at a much reduced cost in Iranian blood if we were to show anything even resembling support. To be sure, even a direct, simple statement affirming the overwhelming American feeling of empathy for Iranians would do much to reverse the devastating effects of so much apathy falsely paraded about as wise restraint.

And where, reasonable critics might ask, was President Obama on both of these events as we marked the birth of our free nation? Pushing his domestic agenda while the likes of failed Republican presidential candidate John McCain at the very least called for support of Iranian protesters and the official denouncement of Ahmadinejad's government, all on moral grounds.

How utterly depressing for a nation formed and preserved through the actions of brave men and women willing to sacrifice their reputations and even lives in the cause of freedom. One could guess--and likely be correct--that history will not treat President Obama's cowardly denial of support for Iranians or his nonexistent condemnation of erratic North Korean actions with any sort of kindness.

IN OTHER NEWS: Vice President Biden supports Israeli military strikes against Iranian nuclear ambitions. Really? Is this another gaffe? Another way to escape responsibility in dealing with the problem of Iran? We'll know when the White House babysitters allege that Biden misspoke, or didn't know what he was talking about, or simply throw their hands up and feign audacious journalistic malfeasance on the part of Fox News.

UPDATE: The State Department puts the kibosh on Biden, denying any "green light" for Israel to strike Iran.