Iran, and What Obama did Right and Wrong

After the obviously fraudulent elections in Iran, Obama reacted carefully, refusing to denounce them at the time. Many on the right took him to task, but I think that he was doing the right thing even if it was Realpolitik in action. Obama had made it clear that he wanted to negotiate without preconditions with the stooge for the mullahs, Ahmadinijad on the issue of Iran's nuclear program, its threats to Israel in particular and Middle East peace in general. By coming down on the side of the protesters he would not be able to have the dialog that he so desperately wanted to have. The side benefit was the Congress expressing their approval of the protesters. By allowing the Congress to vote their concerns, Obama could remain above the fray thereby keeping his options for future negotiations open.
But then, the regime's security forces turned violent. The iconic imagery of Neda, the woman whose death was broadcast to the world over the Internet removed any sense of legitimacy for the government that Obama wants to negotiate with. I would remind him of his speech in Cairo and his Iranian New Year's message that we have more in common with the people of Iran than we do with the regime that is presently killing them. to negotiate with these murderers is going to be impossible.
In every battle, there comes a "culmination point" as Clausewitz said, that point where decisive action can be brought to bear and achieve victory. That point is now passed. When the student pleaded for help from America and the world, Obama did not act. His pathetic statement that Iran must govern through cooperation and not coercion puts on full display the emptiness of his words. Obama forgets that he doesn't have a sycophantic press in Iran, so he won't get the movement in public opinion that he is used to.
President Obama is Exhibit A of why a naif is not a good person to have in the White House.

Scandalous!

Sen. John Ensign of Nevada has admitted that he had an extramarital affair with a former campaign worker. Now, I won't go into the disparate treatment that the media offers to Republicans versus Democrats like this article does. I mean, it would be nice if they gave some attention to Sen.s Dodd, Durbin, Rep.s Rangel, Murtha, Pelosi, Visclosky, Moran, Jefferson, Mollohan, and oh, so many others.
But the interesting thing about the two different groups, is that for the most part Democrats are corrupt for money, and Republicans are corrupt for sex. There are exceptions, (Edwards and Randy Cunningham) but it seems that if you are trying to get rich, be a Democrat in elected office. On the other hand, if you are trying to get laid, be a Republican. Personally I think that the Republicans should be using it as a selling point instead of running away from it.
One thing in Ensign's favor though, he didn't use the excuse that his wife was in remission to justify his actions.

Fox versus ABC

President Obama said in an interview that he "gets generally coverage" from the news networks, except for Fox news. I think the "generally positive" comment is just another of the many examples that he has of not telling the truth. When you have MSNBC (who have the same opinion of O'Reilly as von Brunn, the Holocaust shooter) carrying the water for the President, it's hard to say that he has any critical press outside of Fox. But then we learn that ABC is going to be hosting an infomercial for his health care plan that excludes anyone who has a problem with the plan, and you have the epitomy of the State run media.
Become a revolutionary, watch Fox news.

Letterman Apologizes Again

David Letterman is apologizing again for the Palin jokes. I notice that his statement only includes the youngest daughter. Apparently, he thought that it was perfectly appropriate to mock an 18 year old woman. And no mention of the slutty stewardess looks of the governor.
You can read the statement here. What's interesting is that it took Mark Shield's analysis for him to realize that it was wrong. No self awareness here. Besides, I am sure that CBS was starting to notice the unpleasantness arising from the "joke" and probably insisted that something be done.

UPDATE: Apparently, some idiot in South Carolina compares Michelle Obama with an escaped gorilla. What is going on with any sense of decency? Have we so lost our way that this is what is supposed to pass as humor?

Return of the Conservative

Gallup has a poll out that shows that more Americans identify themselves as conservatives than liberal. According to Gallup,

40% of Americans interviewed in national Gallup Poll surveys describe their political views as conservative, 35% as moderate, and 21% as liberal. This represents a slight increase for conservatism in the U.S. since 2008, returning it to a level last seen in 2004.

So, let's see, nearly twice as many Americans identify themselves conservative than do liberals. At the extremes, 9% consider themselves very conservative and 5% very liberal, again almost twice the number. Even among pure independents, there is nearly a two to one ratio. The only area that liberals win is in the 18-29 demographic where liberals outnumber conservatives by 31% to 30%.
But the really interesting tidbit is this:

Thus far in 2009, Gallup has found an average of 36% of Americans considering themselves Democratic, 28% Republican, and 37% independent. When independents are pressed to say which party they lean toward, 51% of Americans identify as Democrats, 39% as Republicans, and only 9% as pure independents.

The difference between conservatives and Republicans is the root cause of the poor electoral results of the past few years. Efforts by many to urge the Republican Party to remake itself into the Democratic Party Lite version are doomed to failure. It's kind of like being offered the choice between Pepsi and the generic cola, why bother? What we need is a Pepsi - Tequila contest to attract the voters.
It is not just the Republican's fecklessness on spending that has driven the numbers down though. The State controlled media that slavishly adheres to every "um" and "er" of the One, has prepped the battlespace for the Left party very well. But even in the face of superior artillery and better engineers, small groups acting in concert and cohesion can overcome an opposing force. Especially when numbers are on their side. For instance:

A recent Gallup poll shows Americans overwhelmingly disagree with Obama on closing Guantanamo. Rasmussen reports Republicans and Democrats tied on the generic congressional ballot. Americans have a more favorable opinion of former Vice President Cheney than Pelosi and trust Republicans over Democrats on economic issues. And Reid is down nationally, and in serious trouble in his home state of Nevada.

While it would be an advantage to scrap the name Republican Party, the fact remains that most of the state laws and procedures are only set up to recognize the two major parties. The mission for the conservatives is to take the Republican Party back to being conservative.
With Obama's help, that just might happen real quick.

Killing Strawmen

I don't always go to Wulfgar's site, but every once in awhile, it does provide a certain amount of humor. Specifically, this posting. Now, if you read this post, you will see quite clearly that this is the classic straw man argument, and I mentioned in his comments:

How many bales of straw had to die so uselessly for this post?

To which, he replied:

Lame, Steve. If you see a straw man, point it out. I'll still crush you like a bug, but please, show some courage. Please?

I saw his reply as the equivalent of the "I am not, You are" school of argument, and figured that he couldn't be so obtuse as to ignore that which was obviously in front of his face.

I was wrong.

Then like a child who has found a hammer, he decided to apply it to everything that he could. Such as in the Electric City Weblog posting on David Letterman's over the top gratuitous insult of Sarah Palin's daughter. Under the comments, I said this:

Just another example of the coarsening of our society that 1. the joke was made, and 2. that anyone would rise to defend it. Of course, the liberal use of the word hypocrisy flows only one way. I am sure that everyone will just be having a laugh riot when Letterman starts making jokes about Obama’s daughters.

Now, if you understand the rhetorical trick of the strawman argument, it is clear that there is nothing of the sort present. But Wulfie, armed with his new toy declared:

"I am sure that everyone will just be having a laugh riot when Letterman starts making jokes about Obama’s daughters."

And when he does,. I’m certain that you’ll call him out.

And you stupidly, with no support, accused me of a Straw Man? Steve, you’d best get your … uh … doody together. There, was that polite enough?

This was the beginning of my realization that he had no real clue as to what he understood a strawman argument to be. But the piece' de resistance was when Dave pointed out that Obama is the master of the strawman argument, to which Wulfie replied:

Hmm. Not disagreeing, Sir Mr. Budge Sir, but it would be helpful to the quest of Mr. Eschenbacher if you actually had an example …

Then I knew, that Rob the Wulfie had no idea what a strawman argument actually is. For him to ignore Obama's prolific use of the strawman either implies willful self delusion, or actual ignorance.

So, for the purposes of his clarification, and to help him not look quite so dumb, let's take a look at what a strawman argument actually is. In general terms, it is a rhetorical device that is dishonest. It is designed to set up a false argument in order to destroy that argument, and thus destroy the supposed proponent of the argument, even though that is not what they argued. A more formal statement can be found at Wikipedia, (just to make it easier than looking it up in a book) and is related in part here:

A straw man argument is an informal fallacy based on misrepresentation of an opponent's position.[1] To "attack a straw man" is to create the illusion of having refuted a proposition by substituting a superficially similar proposition (the "straw man"), and refuting it, without ever having actually refuted the original position

As to the strawman Killer in Chief, we only have to go visit that bastion of Right Wing thought, the Washington Post, which reports that President Obama

President Obama likes to portray the battle over the economic stimulus package that passed the Senate on Tuesday as a stark choice between his approach and that of those who would "do nothing."

"Nothing is not an option. You didn't send me to Washington to do nothing," Obama told a gathering of 1,500 here on Tuesday, bringing the crowd to its feet as he campaigned for passage of the more than $800 billion package.

The president used the same language Monday in his first prime-time news conference, suggesting that lawmakers who opposed his prescription want the government to ignore the deepening economic crisis.

"There seems to be a set of folks who -- I don't doubt their sincerity -- who just believe that we should do nothing," he said.

But in truth, few of those involved in the stimulus debate are suggesting that the government should not take action to aid the cratering economy.

Many of the president's fiercest congressional critics support a stimulus package of similar size but think it should be built around a much higher proportion of tax cuts than new spending. Others have called for a plan that is half the size of the one headed for a House-Senate conference -- still massive by historical standards.

Even those who think that no new government spending is necessary do not advocate a stand-still approach. A newspaper ad by the Cato Institute, signed by 250 economists, argued for removing "impediments to work, saving, investment and production" and said that "lower tax rates and a reduction in the burden of government are the best ways of using fiscal policy to boost growth."

You can even read more in that ultra right wing anti government rag, The New York Times. From that article:

“There are those who say these plans are too ambitious, that we should be trying to do less, not more,” Mr. Obama told a town-hall-style meeting in Costa Mesa, Calif., on March 18. “Well, I say our challenges are too large to ignore.”

Mr. Obama did not specify who, exactly, was saying America should ignore its challenges.

Similarly, the next day in Los Angeles, Mr. Obama took on Wall Street and Washington, two of his favorite straw men. “I know some folks in Washington and on Wall Street are saying we should just focus on their problems,” Mr. Obama said. “It would be nice if I could just pick and choose what problems to face, when to face them. So I could say, well, no, I don’t want to deal with the war in Afghanistan right now; I’d prefer not having to deal with climate change right now. And if you could just hold on, even though you don’t have health care, just please wait, because I’ve got other things to do.”

Mr. Obama continued on the offensive against straw men that day in Los Angeles, pointing out that critics told him not to go on “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” on NBC because “I can’t handle that and the economy at the same time.” Then, his audience primed, he delivered his standard kill line: “Listen, here’s what I say. I say our challenges are too big to ignore.”

And who can argue with that? Like most straw men, Mr. Obama’s are not complete fabrications. White House officials correctly pointed out that Senator Jon Kyl, Republican of Arizona, took a crack at Mr. Obama for appearing on the Leno show, saying that his “suggestion is that he come back, since he’s taken full responsibility, and get his people together” to confer on the budget.

But that is still a ways from the tortuous construct which Mr. Obama ended up with, that turned Mr. Kyl’s remark into one that somehow needed the “our challenges are too big to ignore” rebuttal, since it suggests that one of those challenges was apparently appearing on Leno.

And just to make it easier to understand for Rob

The telltale indicators that a straw man trick is on the way are the introductory words “there are those who say” or “some say.”

“In strawmanese, you never specify who ‘those who’ are,” Mr. Safire said. “They are the hollow scarecrows you set up to knock down.”

Now there is another version of this trick which does specify the person but is just as dishonest because it implies things that are not said. But that is the subject for another post.

An Interesting Exercise

California is facing a $24 Billion dollar deficit, and everyone is trying to figure out how to pay for it since the voters rejected the tax increase pushed by the Democratic Majority. The LA Times has an interactive site where you can try your hand at balancing the budget. Give it a try.

Brilliant!

Senator Lamar Alexander has introduced a bill that would give every tax payer shares of stock in Government Motors and Chrysler, once they emerge from bankruptcy. This makes so much sense, since it gets the government out of the business of running a car company (having failed at governance, they are trying something else) and putting the value that the tax payers have made back into the hands of the tax payer. We should do the same thing with AIG, Citibank and all the rest of the pots that the government has been meddling in.
Of course, this idea makes too much sense to ever come to pass.

Answering Mark T

Mark T. left a comment at Electric City which was his usual tripe, and I noted how it was as usual, essentially inane. Mark replied

Oh, please, elucidate. Enlighten and inspire me all at once!

While I know that this was phrased in a sarcastic mien, I am still willing to take his challenge. Let's take these a bite at a time. First:

It was “activist” judges who installed Bush as president.

Sorry Mark, but you are a victim of the corporate newsrooms who hide the real information from you in order to obey their masters who control all of our information. Your statement is partly true, in that it was the "activist" Florida Supreme Court that ruled that a statute governing when the election was to be declared didn't mean what it said. If they would have followed the clear law, there would not have been a need to go to the SCOTUS. Even there, the original ruling was 7-2 that the method of counting votes used by Florida was unconstitutional. The 5-4 ruling was whether or not to stop the unconstitutional counting. Your example demonstrated your point, but not in the way that you meant. It was the rejection of activism that disregarded the law that allowed Bush to retain his majority.
Next you said:

This notion that the constitution is a static document that spells out how cases should be determined is utter fantasy. The constitution is a broad outline with a great deal of room for nuance and legitimate disagreement.

The Constitution is the framework under which we have agreed to organize limited government for assistance in our affairs. To call it a living document is the same as saying that the wood that makes up the frame of a house is "living." Law provides its benefit by giving us a sense of certainty. If you go to a lawyer for advice, he or she may tell you that the law is clear, and that you will prevail or not. But if the law is nothing but nuance, everything becomes subject to litigation. And even if you lose, applying nuance would get you into the Supreme Court where the adverse ruling could be overturned. Of course, if you win, the other side could also apply nuance which would get you into the Supreme Court where the adverse ruling could be overturned. In other words, everything has to go to the Supreme Court for final determination, which just bogs down the Supreme Court, and provides no guidance on what the state of the law is except moment to moment.
Applyng Obama's criteria of "empathy" to judging reduces all of the cases to passion plays. And with your background, I am surprised that you don't realize that the wealthy litigants would have the better supply of assets to sway the judge with emotional tugs at their heartstrings.
Next you said:

Furthermore the founders were far from infallible (slavery, women voting, electoral college, appointment of senators).

You are right that the Founders were far from perfect. No human endeavor is ever perfect. But what the Founding Fathers were was incredible. They managed to take 18th Century concepts and used them to create the most incredible document for self governance ever devised. And the most amazing thing is that they created the ability to modify it (slavery, women voting, appointment of senators for example). If you demand perfection, you will achieve it in that you will be perfectly disappointed.
Finally:

On top of that, societal values change - people are more accepting of gays now than ever before in history, and that should be reflected in court rulings.

Yes, American societal values change, but that doesn't mean that the courts are the way to affect change. In fact, the activism of the California Supreme Court led to Proposition 8, which has set back acceptance of gay marriage by at least 15 years. Your lack of willingness to consider the legislative route to societal change reflects poorly on your belief in the essential ability of citizens to respond to societal changes.
I hope that you will consider these points, and if I am wrong, I am willing to listen. But don't rely on common leftist dogma, use facts and real argument.

I'm So Dizzy, My Head is Spinning

Watching Meet the Press this morning, I saw Sen. Richard Durbin debating Newt Gingrich about Guantanamo. You have to give the Senator credit, he is an ardent partisan who skillfully avoids answering questions that are unpleasant for him, while focusing on niggling differences to justify his position. Watch it here:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

What I came away from this interview was that for Democrats, Republicans are a bigger threat to the country than terrorists.

The Voters Have Spoken - The Bast**ds

At least, that is what I am sure that the political leadership in California is saying right now, what with their plebiscite on further confiscatory taxation being rejected so heartily. According to the old adage, "As goes California, so goes the Nation. That was certainly true in the '70s when Proposition 13 started a real revolt on taxes that swept across the country. You could even argue that they have paved the way for the mess we are about to enter with overspending and overtaxing. But it took California quite a while to get into this mess, and it was driven by politicians who promised all sorts of wonderful and happy programs that were all going to do so much good. I suppose the next step is for the wise solons of Sacramento to start slashing everything, which will then present the voters with the reality that there is no such a thing as a free lunch. You can't control spending and taxes and get every little nicety that appeals to you. Adults have to make choices, and the choices are often hard, but that is why they get to make them. Maybe the voters of California have realized that the promised Nirvana if they would just pay more is not going to come about. Just like we probably will realize in less than a year and a half on the national level.
The problem to me though, is this a well thought out assessment of their situation, or a gut reaction to the idiots in Sacramento? Don't get me wrong, I concur with the results, but when you match up the sort of initiatives that get passed, you wonder if people really do understand them. For instance, in Montana we have passed an increase in the minimum wage that is paired with the CPI for increases, and expanded SCHIP to children of families making $50,000 a year. Leaving aside the merits of these proposals, fiscally speaking they are a disaster. Businesses are raising prices to make up the increase in wages, thereby reducing the value of the wage increases and children are being dropped from family health care plans to become covered by the state.
I don't know what the answer is to my fellow citizen's inability to understand the complications of their choices. But maybe for a cynic, the answer is clear: Appeal to emotion and get your way (at least temporarily) and deal with the consequences later.
Oh wait, that's just what is happening now.

No Kidding!

From Bloomberg.com:

President Barack Obama, calling current deficit spending “unsustainable,” warned of skyrocketing interest rates for consumers if the U.S. continues to finance government by borrowing from other countries.

“We can’t keep on just borrowing from China,” Obama said at a town-hall meeting in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, outside Albuquerque. “We have to pay interest on that debt, and that means we are mortgaging our children’s future with more and more debt.”

Holders of U.S. debt will eventually “get tired” of buying it, causing interest rates on everything from auto loans to home mortgages to increase, Obama said. “It will have a dampening effect on our economy.”

Now, what is he going to do about it, except make it worse?

Tasteless, But Amusing

The ultimate in vacations. Be sure to click the "Read More" for the testimonials.

Nancy, You Got Some 'Splainin To Do

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Waffle House
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

This is not about the morality of "torture." This is about the cynical manipulation of the Left by politicians who are only interested in power, not the truth.

What Will They Think of Next?

Sen. Baucus' Finance committee is looking to remove the tax deduction that businesses get for providing health care in order to expand the Medicare\Medicaid provisions to more who are uninsured. What a wonderful idea, and I am sure that they have thought this all the way through of course. While I agree that giving employers a tax break has skewed the system to its present day unworkable mess, I think that their solution is going to make the situation even worse. If that is possible.
If a business will lose the deduction that they get, less of them will offer health care. First off, it's expensive, and at a time like right now, it's not needed as an incentive to get workers to come and work for you. Second, if they tax the workers for the received benefit, how many are going to ask for the contribution in cash instead of insurance, and then not buy the insurance. Thereby raising the number of uninsured. That would be my personal preference of course, since I am covered by two plans that I don't pay for, nor do I use. Give the money to me, let me invest or save it, and when the time comes that I go to a doctor, I will negotiate the price I am willing to pay. But I know that the majority of people are not going to save it and instead will be showing up on the Emergency Room door with no insurance at all (the present situation, but there are going to be a heck of a lot more of them).
So, what is the answer to the problem? Darned if I know, short of repealing the XIII amendment and forcing doctors to work for free. We have contrived such a monstrosity that the only answer may be to scrap the whole deal and start over. No insurance for anyone. Not much of a campaign motto though.
Any other bright ideas?

How to End the Obama Presidency in 2012

This is just speculative of course, but if you wanted to see the end of the Obama administration, the following steps will have to take place:
1. Quadruple the Deficit from 2008.


2. Have lower tax receipts.
3. Destroy the willingness of private investors to contribute to anything the government has an interest in.
4. Have the government borrow most of the available capital, thereby reducing the availability of business to borrow.
5. Destroy the American automobile industry by handing it to the UAW.
6. Raise taxes.
7. Ignore the continued corruption of many of the top Democrats.
8. Alienate the Left by continuing the same policies that Bush used.
9. Raise interest rates.
10. Increase inflation.
11. Maintain high unemployment in non-government jobs.
12. Maintain a certain level of disdain for a significant portion of the electorate.
13. Increase the costs of energy.

Of course, having all of these things come together at the same time is highly unlikely. Just as it is that Obama would actually do all of these things.

This is Cool

While I realize that this is not much different from the old player pianos, this is still pretty cool. And I think that the graphic depictions of the notes makes more sense than standard musical notation.

A Nation of Laws, or a Nation of Courts?

President Obama makes much hay out of the idea that he is restoring us to a "Nation of Laws" at least in regards to how we treat those who are trying to kill us. All well and good of course, but apparently, that is the only place that laws would apply. If law gets in the way of a greater public good, well, we'll just get a judge to get around that problem.
Consider his declaration of who he is looking for to replace Justice Souter on the Supreme Court. He

wants “someone who understands justice is not just about some abstract legal theory,” he said, but someone who has “empathy.”

In other words, judges should decide cases not on the legal merits, but on the desired outcome. Kind of makes you wonder why we should even have any legislative bodies to pass laws doesn't it?
But as with so much of the Obama administration, they see an immediate and precise solution to a problem, but don't look for the unintended consequences. As Michael Barone notes in this piece,

who is going to buy bonds from unionized companies if the government is going to take their money away and give it to the union? We have just seen an episode of Gangster Government. It is likely to be part of a continuing series.

Following it out to its logical conclusion, our entire governmental apparatus is going to be turned over to our wise jurists who will only use their enormous power for good, at least as they see it. Forum shopping just became a lot more attractive. Add in that if you are a private investor looking for a safe but low yield return for your retirement, are you going to invest in anything that the government will now say is not in the greater good? But in the auto case, by trying to reward the unions for all of their good and dutiful service in getting him elected, he may have just sown the seeds of their own destruction.

Feces, Fan Collision

Something very interesting is going on regarding the Chrysler bankruptcy. Apparently, a very well respected bankruptcy lawyer has claimed that the "Car Czar" (fresh off from his latest pay to play meeting) told his firm that they had to accede to the agreement that gave majority control of the remnants of Chrysler to the unions. The White House has supposedly threatened to unleash their lap poodles (the White House Press) if the little old ladies who had invested in Chrysler bonds to fund their retirement didn't agree to accept basically ten cents on the dollar. (Why is it that Obama hates poor old retired people?) The White House of course has denied any such allegations in total. Which may have been the end of it, but the lawyer's client won't confirm or deny the allegation. Now, if it's just plain untrue, why not deny it? On the other hand, if it is true, wouldn't that invite the ankle biting press in anyway? It would seem to fit the expected pattern of using the courts to reward the Democratic constituencies that elected "The One." Very suspicious, but not yet beyond a reasonable doubt.
But the lawyer has just filed a motion in bankruptcy court to stay the agreement since it is in essence an unconstitutional taking under the V Amendment.
As Hot Air points out, you would think that our constitutional scholar/President would know that sort of thing.

A Simple Question

The current mantra espoused in the astroturf generated letters to the editor all seem to proclaim the general failure of capitalism. My question is, what would they replace it with?
Socialism as a precursor to communism leavens the masses more effectively than capitalism, but does so by limiting individual performance. It restricts innovation and inventiveness and replaces it with government mandated rules and procedures. It still maintains an elite that get to decide who is rewarded or punished. And since these "elites" are human, they are just as vulnerable to human failings as capitalists, but they have much more power than capitalists have.
Communism fails to answer the basic question of who will clean the sewers? If all labor has its dignity, who would prefer to muck out sewage instead of working in a clean lab?
What model reduces inequality while allowing for individual excellence and fulfillment and at the same time maximizes individual freedom? There are no historical examples that I can think of that would accomplish this.