baldilocks

Victory? What's That?

From President Obama's State of the Union address last night:

As we take the fight to al Qaeda, we are responsibly leaving Iraq to its people. As a candidate, I promised that I would end this war, and that is what I am doing as president. We will have all of our combat troops out of Iraq by the end of this August. We will support the Iraqi government as they hold elections, and continue to partner with the Iraqi people to promote regional peace and prosperity. But make no mistake: this war is ending, and all of our troops are coming home.

Bill Kristol:

Would it have been too much for the president of the United States to have acknowledged and paid tribute to a truly remarkable recent American achievement -- turning around the war in Iraq and putting that war on course to a successful outcome?

Yes it would be too much, for one simple reason: any US military combat victory acknowledged as such by this very Leftist of presidents would contradict a specific narrative. 

This military has been portrayed as villainous or full of victims;  its enlisted personnel have been characterized as uneducated hayseed/ghetto dupes and its commissioned officers as brutal overseers (purposely) leading those dupes to pointless slaughter like pigs. (To be fair, however, President Obama is not this narrative's most full-voiced champion, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid [D-NV] holds that title.)

This Leftist president cannot bring himself to go against that narrative, and it's doubtful that any concepts indicating combat success by the US military even occurred to him  Such concepts are an anathema to the kind of ideologue that the president is.  He can only speak of endings. 

Mercifully, he was cunning enough to speak of that ending in neutral terms.  But we know the truth.

(Thanks to Hot Air)

365

These number the days of Obama.

How's that Hopenchange working out for you?  Massachusetts doesn't even like it.

Scott Brown, who calls himself a "new breed of Republican" won the Massachusetts Senate seat on Tuesday, a seat that was held for 46 years by the late "liberal lion," Ted Kennedy. Brown has vowed to vote against the health care bill currently in the Senate, a prospect which has set off a firestorm of debate and finger-pointing at the White House and on Capitol Hill.

Republicans are celebrating--and the election of a GOP US senator is indeed a big deal in liberal Massachusetts--but this is merely the beginning for a country that must dig itself out of a pile of Leftism that it has been being consumed by for one year.

Having at least one more Republican in the US Senator will at least temporarily halt the effort to open up direct access to the literal and figurative blood vessels of all Americans--an effort which is better recognized by the euphemism "Health Care Reform."   We, the People, still have a lot of work to do.

East Meets West

I got to finally meet Floridian Rattler Gator--also known as J.B. White--when he visited Southern California this past weekend for NFL Playoff weekend.  We had a long lunch during which we solved all the problems in the US.  The solution? Build a bunker.

J.B. has this trustworthy persona that makes you spill your guts--so he knows almost all of my business.  Therefore, you could probably pay him to tell some of my secrets.  (Just trying help a brutha get paid, J.B. lol)

There's one thing we talked about which I'd like to share.  J.B. says that an effective, verbalized, concise counterargument to the idea that "blackness" is a thought process can't be formulated.  With words and argument being pretty much embedded in my DNA, I say that it can. 

To clarify, he's not saying that the concept of blackness-as-thought-process isn't ridiculous.  He merely thinks that there's no counter which could stop that stupidity cold in its tracks.  

What do you think?

Dreaming--and Waking

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

--Martin Luther King, Jr.

(Thanks to MJ Santos)

Haiti Destroyed (UPDATED)

From all reports, yesterday's major earthquake--the strongest in the area in the last 200 years--has disintegrated a country that was barely being held together in the first place.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Haitians piled bodies along the devastated streets of their capital Wednesday after a powerful earthquake crushed thousands of structures, from schools and shacks to the National Palace and the U.N. peacekeeping headquarters. Untold numbers were still trapped.

President Rene Preval said he believes thousands of people were dead from Tuesday afternoon's magnitude-7.0 quake.

"Parliament has collapsed. The tax office has collapsed. Schools have collapsed. Hospitals have collapsed," Preval told the Miami Herald. "There are a lot of schools that have a lot of dead people in them."

The Roman Catholic archbishop of Port-au-Prince was among the dead, and the head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission was missing.

The international Red Cross said a third of Haiti's 9 million people may need emergency aid and that it would take a day or two for a clear picture of the damage to emerge.

President Barack Obama promised an all-out rescue and humanitarian effort, adding that the U.S. commitment to its hemispheric neighbor will be unwavering.

There are reports that the president has already sent more US troops to the island that Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic, with the Coast Guard having already arrived.  Between Hurricane Katrina and the Boxing Day Tsunami, the US military has plenty of experience in disaster rescue and relief.

Civilian agencies are also on the case.

World Vision

Salvation Army

May God have mercy on these people.

UPDATE: Hip-hop artist Wyclef Jean has had a Haiti relief page for four years, but it appears that the server has been overwhelmed.  Keep trying.

Many more relief programs are listed here.

UPDATE:  Here's Wyclef's donation page (Yele Haiti).

UPDATE: Food for the Poor Twitters

USNS Comfort ready to set sail.

The nearly 900-foot ship is staffed largely by doctors, nurses and technicians from the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda. It has 12 operating rooms and room for 1,000 hospital beds.

UPDATE:

From Chuck Simmons on Facebook:

USCG cutters on location. USAF moving to secure airport. CVN Carl Vinson steaming to assist - expected arrival tomorrow.

UPDATE: Visions of Hell.

Why Harry Reid Can Say What Republicans Can't Say

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

described then-candidate Barack Obama during the presidential campaign as a black candidate who could be successful thanks in part to his “light-skinned” appearance and speaking patterns "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one."

For as much respect as I do not have for the senate majority leader, I have to say this: he spoke the truth.

I have met hundreds of handsome black men--light-skinned and otherwise--who are able to speak with no discernable “Negro” dialect and who are able to turn the dialect on and off—an ability with which I have no problem.  (Know your audience.)  In fact, many such men exist who are far more gifted in the two of the three stated areas than is Barack Obama and in some areas which were not stated by the senator—demonstrable leadership ability being the most important one.

However, I think that many white voters were more familiar with the NBA player/Jesse Jackson attitude and method of elocution as it applies to black American politicians.  In short, liberal white voters (and even some not-so-liberal ones) got fooled by Barack Obama's semi-slick surface.  I’ve said so before, others have said so. Even Obama himself has acknowledged that some white people can be fooled in the manner specified.

It was usually an effective tactic, another one of those tricks I had learned: [White] People were satisfied so long as you were courteous and smiled and made no sudden moves. They were more than satisfied; they were relieved - such a pleasant surprise to find a well-mannered young black man who didn't seem angry all the time.

Dreams from My Father, pp.94-95

People forget that the ‘effective tactic’ mentioned used by now-President Obama was being used to calm the fears of his own mother on the occasion mentioned.  (BTW, he shows particular contempt towards her in the passage.) Ann Soetero may or may not have been fooled by this tactic--Obama was her son, after all.  But, many years later, a lot of other white Americans were.

Of course, many are calling for Senator Reid’s political head in the wake of his telling of this particular truth, especially in light of the statements made by former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) back in 2002 regarding the retirement of the late Senator Strom Thurmond and the Democrat reaction thereto.  Former Senator Lott was forced to resign as majority leader for saying that

...[w]hen Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either.

Thurmond ran in 1948 and was an avowed segregationist at the time.  Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele wants the same fate that befell Senator Lott to befall Senator Reid.

Black man, please.

Expecting the Democrats to play “fair,” especially when they are in a position of power, is moronic.

And note what one of the designated Dispensationalists of Racial Absolution says about the Reid statement.

Al Sharpton:

While there is no question that Senator Reid did not select the best word choice in this instance, these comments should not distract America from its continued focus on securing healthcare or creating jobs for its people [sic]. Nor should they detract from the unquestionable leadership role Senator Reid has played on these issues or in the area of civil rights. Senator Reid’s door has always been open on hearing from the civil rights community on these issues and I look forward to continue to work with Senator Reid wherever possible to improve the lives of Americans everywhere.

What does that mean? It means that those who align themselves with the “correct side of history” are allowed leeway to say what’s on their minds without having to pay a political price in public. 

This is the deal: if you’re assisting in the redistribution of wealth to its “rightful owners,” you get a pass on telling an unflattering racial truth.  If you’re “doing something to for black people,” you get to let a “racist” thought slip through your lips or out of your word processor.  It’s why old Klansmen like Senator Robert Byrd can even use phrases like “white n*gger” and still sit in the US Senate. 

You're allowed to "abuse" black people with one hand if you’re giving them things out of the other.

And when the inevitable uproar from the other side is heard, you, a Democrat, are allowed to say “sorry” and move on.  The Republicans can’t do anything about it, and, as the Reverend Sharpton implied, a few words are meaningless when measured against the importance of the Juggernaut known as Hope-and-Change and its destination—even so-called racist words.

So even though Senator Reid is telling the truth (for a change), he won’t suffer for it. 

How’s that for irony?

UPDATE: Welcome, friends from Hot Air!

UPDATE: And Instapundit Readers!

Standing

Today, the Panty Bomber--Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab--will stand before a US District court in Detroit and be arraigned like a common criminal instead of standing before a military tribunal and being adjudicated like the enemy combatant that he is.  Given the planned criminal trial for 9/11 planner Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, this isn't a surprise, however.

Leaving that aside, I must commend a group of protesters who plan on protesting in front of that court building: a group of Muslims who are indeed asserting that Abdulmutallab did not act in their name—something I suggested.

"We're telling the terrorists we're Americans. If you want to kill Americans come kill us," [Majed Moughni] said.

"We're going to send you back to the caves of Afghanistan because you don't belong in a civilized society.

May God protect those people.

Hanging Out

Stacy McCain is a riot. 

So is Jenny Erikson.

And Chris Cassone.

And Brittany Cohan.

And Mike Flynn.

And it was good to meet Donald Douglas.

For California Gun Owners

From the NRA:

Right-to-Carry Bill Scheduled to be Heard Next Week!

Please Contact the Members of the Assembly Public Safety Committee Today!

Assembly Bill 357 is scheduled to be heard by the Assembly Committee on Public Safety on Tuesday, January 12.


AB357, sponsored by Assembly Member Steve Knight (R-36), would create a “shall issue” concealed handgun permit system in California .  Under current law, an applicant must show cause as to why they should be issued a permit to carry a concealed handgun for self-defense.  AB357 would remove that stipulation and require sheriffs to issue the license if all other mandated criteria are satisfied.

Please contact the members of the Assembly Committee on Public Safety TODAY and respectfully urge them to support AB357.  Contact information can be found below.

    Assembly Member Jose Solorio (D-69) - Chair
    (916) 319-2069
    Assemblymember.solorio@assembly.ca.gov  

    Assembly Member Curt Hagman (R-60) - Vice Chair
    (916) 319-2060
    Assemblymember.Hagman@assembly.ca.gov  

    Assembly Member Warren T. Furutani (D-55)
    (916) 319-2055
    Assemblymember.Furutani@assembly.ca.gov  

    Assembly Member Danny D. Gilmore (R-30)
    (916) 319-2030
    Assemblymember.Gilmore@assembly.ca.gov  

    Assembly Member Jerry Hill (D-19)
    (916) 319-2019
    Assemblymember.Hill@assembly.ca.gov  

    Assembly Member Fiona Ma (D-12)
    (916) 319-2012
    Assemblymember.Ma@assembly.ca.gov  

    Assembly Member Nancy Skinner (D-14)
    (916) 319-2014
    Assemblymember.Skinner@assembly.ca.gov

You know what to do.  It would be nice if Californians became more...polite.

(Thanks to Gerry)

Note, January 5, 2010 (UPDATED)

Today is a busy day--one not much different than the foregoing few days. 

Yes, I have two posts in the mix, one continuing on the topic of the white American fear of being branded racist and another on the fact that America seems to be surrounded by her enemies.

Today, however, I'm going to behave as if I am a citizen of the freest, strongest, most blessed nation on Earth, a country filled with limitless opportunity.  My publisher and I will have a meeting about my novel, during which he will agree to everything I request and, later on, I will have the chance to meet face-to-face with that raging racist Stacy McCain during his sojourn to the West Coast.  (Man, can that guy talk!)  I'll have him buy me a glass of wine to redeem himself.

Maybe we'll invite a certain jazz musician, cyclist, Christian-hater, race-baiter! 

Nah.  Not unless said-person is interested in an exorcism...

Happy New Year!

UPDATE: Due to life circumstances, raging racist Stacy McCain will buy me a drink tomorrow night instead of tonight.  However, my publisher is putty in my hands!