Seriously, Why Does The Left Continue To Return To Their Pre- 9/11 Failed Beliefs On Terrorism?

RedLasso
Obama has a fundamental, pre 9/11, misunderstanding of the root cause of terrorism as Tony Blankley explains in this clip.
DKK

Illinois House Republican Town Hall July 15, 2008 6:30PM

I received a telephone invitation from Representative Ron Wait to an Illinois House Republican town hall meeting 6:30 PM tomorrow, Tuesday, July 15,2008, at the Zeke Georgie building.

I encourage everyone who can make it to attend.
DKK

How Was Don Manzullo's Telephone Town Hall On Gas Prices?

I don't know!

The machine that called my house must have thought I was a machine as it apologized for missing me and taunted me with a telephone town hall that I really would have loved to participate in.  Clearly a technological glich as Don's own voice was teasing and tempting me!

I called the Manzullo campaign office to see if I could join but no one answered there.

So, if you participated and have any new information that we would be interested in reading let us know.
DKK

Update:
By the way, this was the second time this has happened.  I think there is something with my phone or their system is tuned wrong.
DKK

About that Iraqi Demanded Timeline -- No Such Beast Exists

The prime minister was widely quoted as saying that in the negotiations with the Americans on a Status of Forces Agreement to regulate the US troop presence from next year, “the direction is towards either a memorandum of understanding on their evacuation, or a memorandum of understanding on a timetable for their withdrawal”.
That was the version of Mr Maliki’s remarks put out in writing by his office in Baghdad.
It was widely circulated by the news media, and caught much attention, including that of Mr Obama.
There is only one problem. It is not what Mr Maliki actually said. … What he actually said was: “The direction is towards either a memorandum of understanding on their evacuation, or a memorandum of understanding on programming their presence.”

Ooww, Sorry Barack -- Your NYTimes editorial was based on thing but poor reporting.  Nothing new there, your entire candidacy is based on poor reporting.
DKK
BBC 

Bush To Lift Executive Order Banning Off Shore Drilling -- Congressional Action Required To Proceed

The White House says President Bush is planning to lift an executive ban on offshore oil drilling. The White House says President Bush is planning to lift an executive ban on offshore oil drilling.

In a Rose Garden statement on Monday, the president plans to lift the ban. But by itself, the move will not lead to more drilling off America's coastline.

That just leaves the Congressional ban that has to be lifted.  Nancy Pelosi says the call for more drilling is just  a hoax but $4/gal gasoline says otherwise.  Those prices are affecting every aspect of the economy today so the pressure on Congress will be immense.
DKK
ABC News

Victory Through Delegitimization -- Warning -- This Is The Post Where I Compare Bush To Reagan

How do you defeat an ideology?

Ronald Reagan won the cold war by essentially refusing to accept the premise, long held and touted as policy by the left, that the US was equal to the Soviet Union.  No better, no worse, just a different system.

Reagan refused to believe that and refused to treat the Soviet system as a system on par with ours.

He delegitimized the USSR in the minds of many in America and around the world.

Today Soviet Communism has pretty much been relegated to the ash heap of history just as Reagan predicted.

Lately I have noticed some using "scare" or "mocking" quotes (not that this is new, I just started noticing it in this context) when referring to the War On Terror.  This is something I imagine might have happened at the beginning of the Cold War.  However, long before the fall of the Soviet Union these had fallen by the wayside as the realization of the historic situation penetrated the elite media classes.

Following 9/11 President Bush realized that we had entered a new era in dealing with terrorism.  As such he formulated the only course of action that had any hope of relegating that ideology to the same ash heap of history that the USSR ended up on.   Unfortunately those who insist on using the "scare" quotes have failed to understand the reality of today's historic challenges.

President Bush formed a strategy premised on delegitimize terrorism by treating any nation that harbors terrorists as terrorists themselves.  He pushed for a worldwide crackdown on sponsors of terrorism, froze the funds of terrorists, cracked down on the trade of weapons on the open seas and removed the governments in two of the worlds worst nations.  Winning the hearts and minds was secondary and only possible by the continued demonstration of and the threat of a willingness to take action to force the issue.  In essence you had to convince governments supporting terrorism or harboring terrorist that it this was too costly.  Thus forcing an active change in their policies from supporting terrorism toward one where terrorism was no longer supported or ignored and quietly accepted.

This delegitimization policy is very similar the one Reagan used to end the Cold War, halting the spread of communism in the world and pushing it back to a point where today many communist nations practice some form of  capitalism.

Through the history of this new policy and throughout the Bush Presidency I have observed the conventional wisdom (which is wrong more often then not) following the same pattern it did during the eight years of Ronald Reagan.  As we know today, and was evident within the term of his successor, the policy worked and the USSR disintegrated forthwith.

That leads me to the future of the current incarnation of the delegitimization policy.  One of the reasons the policy succeeded against the USSR is time, the policy survived the man legitimizing it as the policy of the nation.

With the election of George HW Bush there was no longer any hope that the Soviets would be able to wait out the policy until a more open administration took office.  That knowledge had an impact on their decision making and on their actions.

Would the USSR have survived had Dukakis succeeded and worked with what he called the 'new thinking' in the Soviet Union?

Will the terrorists hold out?  Even more importantly,  will those on the cusp of accepting that the terrorists, who have been knocked back on their heels worldwide and left isolated by the Bush policies, are truly illegitimate hold out for the prospect of 'new thinking' here at home?

Will the policy that can and is delegitimizing the terrorists be given enough time to succeed as it did with the Soviets?
DKK

The Wonders Of Capitalist System

In this post by Chuck Sweeny he wonders if 58,000 people died in Vietnam so we could have cheaper stuff.   This is my reply:

Looks to me that we are doing clean up of those last redoubts of communism after our victory in the Cold War. (Like wrapping up the Japanese holdouts on deserted islands)
Kruschev said he would bury us without going to war because communism was the better system and our own working class would be our undertakers. Fortunately he was wrong. He failed to understand human nature — the working class wants to be upper class and need the sense of accomplishment from working toward success! That is the beauty of capitalism, as the Chinese and soon the Vietnamese, are learning.
Mr. Myerson calls himself a ‘cockeyed optimist’ but it seems like more of the negativism you get from the rest of the Washington media.
David

That was attacked by a commenter known as "redrover" who attacked me for being, "a corporate sponsored traitor to American's values," and, "have ALWAYS needed and used slaves of one kind or another to buttress your business practices."

This is my reply:

Wow redrover, thank you for pointing out these glaring difficulties, for unwittingly reinforcing my point, and for actively making the system you decry work!

Your efforts should be applauded (minus the hyperbole that accuses everyone of being slave owners -- that was a bit over the line, but still, congratulations!)

Think about what your doing, your using the markets the very way capitalist pigs like me not only approve of, but praise!  I am completely seriously, this is not sarcasm!

What type of pressure can be applied to China that would work?  Force or financial pressure?  The threat of an attack or the threat of internal strife from being cut off financially because of human rights practices?  Market driven sanctions are far more effective at garnering change then are government mandated sanctions.

Today's information age has greatly reduced the need for government intervention in the free markets. Praise to you and others like you for using these tools of modern capitalism to press for change.  If it hadn't been for the financial pressure of consumers and investors many companies would still find it acceptable to use child labor, as their customers would never have forced change by threatening the companies market position.  There have been vast improvements worldwide as companies apply market driven pressure to their suppliers far more effectively then government ever could!

Up to 35 million Chinese died when Mao 'reformed' the Chinese economy (up to 60 million total as a direct result of Chinese communism), often of starvation.  Millions more suffered a drop in life expectancy due to lack of proper nutrition and access to proper health care and sanitation.  Yet as the economy is reformed again the Chinese life expectancy has risen (an 11 year average increase 1982 (60) to 2000 (71) and a huge increase of 2 years to 73 years by 2005, and a projected rise to 85 years by 2050 as people are lifted out of poverty).  That was only made  possible by the influx of capital and by people using the capitalist system effectively the way you have!

Capitalism is a wonderfully motivating system for positive change as you have proven!  It has built in incentives and rewards but it also has very effective market driven penalties that you have harnessed for good, working the system the way it was designed to work.  This is why capitalism beats communism every time.

Thank you again!  Even as you are forced to become that which you hate we do appreciate that sacrifice and your efforts.
David

I post because it demonstrates extremist behavior, proves a point, is entertaining, and it seemed worth posting.
DKK

Tony Snow Dies At Age 53

Tony Snow, the former White House press secretary and conservative pundit who bedeviled the press corps and charmed millions as a FOX News television and radio host, has died after a long bout with cancer. He was 53.
A syndicated columnist, editor, TV anchor, radio show host and musician, Snow worked in nearly every medium in a career that spanned more than 30 years.
"Laura and I are deeply saddened by the death of our dear friend, Tony Snow," President Bush said in a statement. "The Snow family has lost a beloved husband and father. And America has lost a devoted public servant and a man of character."

DKK 
Fox News

Night is Merely The Shadow Of the Earth

Night is Merely The Shadow Of the Earth not the spread of darkness.
DKK

Birthday Weekend -- Slow Or No Posting

DKK

Chicago 2nd Amendment Rally In Photo's (Heller Rally)

Freedom Folks attended the 2nd amendment rally in downtown Chicago:

We just got back from the Heller rally in downtown Chicago and let me say these are some happy people.

DKK

PC World Gone Wild -- Working, Holes Questioned!

Across Atlanta they stood, orange signs with black letters that read "Men At Work" or "Men Working Ahead."
Sometimes, the signs stood next to women working alongside the men.
Good demanded Atlanta officials remove the signs and last week, Atlanta Public Works Commissioner Joe Basista agreed.

AJC -- 'Men At Work' signs to disappear in Atlanta

A special meeting about Dallas County traffic tickets turned tense and bizarre this afternoon.

County commissioners were discussing problems with the central collections office that is used to process traffic ticket payments and handle other paperwork normally done by the JP Courts.

Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield, who is white, said it seemed that central collections "has become a black hole" because paperwork reportedly has become lost in the office.

Commissioner John Wiley Price, who is black, interrupted him with a loud "Excuse me!" He then corrected his colleague, saying the office has become a "white hole."

That prompted Judge Thomas Jones, who is black, to demand an apology from Mayfield for his racially insensitive analogy.

Mayfield shot back that it was a figure of speech and a science term.

 

SciGuy -- Is "black hole" a racially insensitive term?  

DKK 

Airplane Manufacturing Update

In what amounts to another rebuke for the Air Force, Defense Secretary Robert Gates is taking over  the process of buying a new fleet of aerial tankers, and partially opening it for rebidding. Last month, several comparatively small errors were found  in the original Northrop Grumman-Airbus joint venture's figures, switching the total cost calculus on the huge deal a few million dollars in Boeing's favor.

The original announcement of Airbus getting a piece of the deal, supplying the airframes, riled up many antagonists. This move, with political accountability involved, looks like a big victory for Boeing.

American Thinker Blog 

 

The global aircraft market will be boosted in the next two decades by demand for fuel-efficient jets as airlines replace old fleets to combat high oil prices, US plane maker Boeing forecast on Wednesday.The Chicago-based manufacturer made the prediction at a London press conference as it unveiled a 20-year outlook for the commercial aviation sector.
"We see a bigger demand for replacing older, less efficient aircraft," Randy Tinseth, vice president of marketing, told reporters.
Boeing said airlines were eager to replace their older fleets with new fuel-efficient aircraft -- such as Boeing's Dreamliner jet and the Airbus A380 and A350 -- amid record high oil prices that are pushing up the cost of jet fuel or kerosene.

AFP

Call it an understatement, or call it an overstatement, but we do seem to be in unprecedented times right now. The airlines are under pressure as we’re facing a weakening worldwide economy, surging oil prices, and slowing traffic growth.
It’s an extremely dynamic period for the commercial aviation industry. And it’s also, shall we say, an interesting and challenging time to be releasing our latest 20-year forecast.
I’ve just presented to journalists here in London the 2008 Current Market Outlook (CMO). And the bottom line is that the worldwide market for commercial airplanes is shifting to new, more efficient jetliners, as airlines replace older and less efficient airplanes.
In fact we’re seeing a much greater share of demand for replacement airplanes in the forecast: 43% in this year’s outlook compared to 36% in last year’s CMO. In a tough, competitive environment, airlines are looking for ways to cut costs. With high fuel prices, it certainly makes more and more sense for airlines to replace their old aircraft with new, fuel efficient airplanes, and we have reflected that trend in our analysis.

Boeing -- Randy's Journal

Boeing Has Released its market outlook that includes a review of their last projections and they seemed to do a pretty good job at it:

How’d we do? As you can see, our 2000 market outlook accurately projected the demand distribution by airplane type. The quantity of aircraft ordered is also in line with our projection. But we did slightly under-forecast the number of single-aisles needed and also under-forecasted the popularity of twin-aisles, while over-estimating the large airplane (747, A380) demand.

Boeing -- Randy's Journal

That all looks pretty solid for Boeing.
DKK


 

 

 

Manzullo Stands Up To China's Import Dumping!

Washington, Jul 8 -

Congressman Don Manzullo today urged the federal government to penalize Chinese companies dumping tires on the U.S. market below cost to give American companies, including Titan Tires of Freeport, a chance to compete fairly in the off-the-road (OTR) tire market.

Manzullo testified this afternoon before the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) on the petition for relief from China’s unfair trade practices brought by Titan Tires and the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union.

The ITC and the U.S. Department of Commerce preliminarily ruled that 15 Chinese tire companies were illegally selling tires under fair value on the U.S. market and were also receiving illegal subsidies from the Chinese government to give them a competitive advantage against the seven American OTR tire companies.

Those Chinese companies could face tariffs up to 210 percent if the federal agencies agree with Manzullo and make their preliminary rulings final. In fact, the Commerce Department just made their final determinations this afternoon that the Chinese companies had indeed illegally dumped tires on the U.S. market and received illegal subsidies from the Chinese government. If the ITC follows suit next month (decision is expected by Aug. 21) and determines that the U.S. companies were injured by the unfair trade practices, the tariff penalties will go into effect.

During his testimony, Manzullo pointed out U.S. imports of foreign-made OTR tires increased 81 percent from 2004 to 2007 while the market share of American companies dropped significantly. During that time, China was illegally subsidizing those companies while they were illegally dumping those tires on the American market below fair prices, Manzullo said.

“I’m confident that the workers at Freeport’s Titan Tire plant can produce and sell the most affordable and highest quality tire if given the chance to compete fairly, but right now they are not competing on a level playing field,” Manzullo said. “China illegally subsidizes its industries and manipulates its currency to unfairly give an advantage to its manufacturers over American workers, and those Chinese companies must be punished in this case. I urge the ITC and the Department of Commerce to confirm their initial findings and slap tariffs on these offending Chinese companies that are threatening American jobs.”

DKK
Representative Don Manzullo

Are You Embarrassed (êtes-vous embarrassé)? Not One Bit -- But What An Attitude!

Barack Obama has scolded Americans for embarrassing him by failing to speak other languages while traveling abroad, yet forcing Europeans to speak English while here. Are you embarrassed, too? Don't be.
...
But no matter how humiliating Obama finds our monolingual ways, there's good reason why Americans don't have to speak foreign languages while others must speak English: The U.S. has unprecedented influence in international affairs, an indispensable role in global markets and economic superiority. Simply put, we are the world's dominant nation.

IBD

This is Obama's fifth such utterance or display of this type according to Bay Buchanan  who feels Obama has a patriotism problem that won't sell in middle America. The election will come down to Obama vs Obama. (Hannity and Colmes).

Via Redlasso

Bob Novak explains why Obama keeps making these elitist statements, it's because he was brought up believing these very ideas.  I think it is also why neither Obama nor the left understand why anyone would object to what he says.  Novak also thinks it is a shame that Obama implies to Hispanics that learning English is not that important.

Via Redlasso
DKK

Markets Work -- Gas Usage Drops As Prices Rise

As average gas prices hit a record high of $4.108 a gallon this week, the government released new data showing that drivers have cut back their use of the fuel to levels not seen in five years.
The average price of gasoline in the U.S. has been above $4 a regular gallon for more than a month, AAA reports, putting a dent in gasoline demand.
Even through the Fourth of July weekend -- a time when Americans traditionally get on the road -- gasoline consumption dropped 3.3% from last year to 9.347 million barrels a day, according to weekly data .

DKK
WSJ

US Attracts More Auto Production

Toyota's got some changes and rearranges underway with its North American facilities to better serve the demands of the market. The biggest news is that Prius production will be coming Stateside, which will help unkink the supply pipeline, if not also lower costs. A new facility in Blue Springs, Mississippi is being readied for the battery-pack-mobile...

DKK
Autoblog -- Prius production headed to Mississippi

Congress Takes Constitutional Action To Avoid Unpredictable Supreme Court

It seems that both the majority and minority leadership in the Senate, along with their counterparts in the House, is concerned about the current makeup of the Supreme Court — especially the unpredictable nature of Justice Kennedy - and the uncertainty as to what the future holds in store in terms of possible appointments by the next President.  To address this issue they chose to insert language into the FISA legislation which states that for the next five years, any litigation involving two or more states shall be submitted to Congress rather than the judiciary, and the outcome of the dispute will be determined by a vote of both houses, with the congressional delegations of each state involved in the dispute disqualified from voting.  The disposition of the dispute as established by the vote must also be agreed to by the President for it to be binding on the states involved.

This constitutional move was inserted into the FISA legislation at the last minute.  Most likely to avoid having the Supreme Court decide the gay marriage issue.

While this might ensure some stability for the short term on this issue, does this action remove an arrow from McCain's quill as the election approaches?  I don't think so.  I think the courts will remain a big issue for both sides.
DKK
Patterico --Apparently, there was a curious little provision tucked away into the FISA legislation that went unnoticed before the bill was signed yesterday by President Bush.

Just How Reasonable Are They After All?

Pajamas Media has posted a column by an Iranian who infiltrated Iran's Revolutionary Guard for the CIA. He writes that "the men who ordered the destruction of the Pan Am flight over Lockerbie and the bombings of the Marine Corps barracks in Lebanon, the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, and the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia are pursuing the nuclear program in Iran and with one goal in mind: to obtain The Bomb." He adds: "And they want to destroy you."

DKK
Powerline -- The spy who came in from the cold

Daily Trek -- July 11, 2008

What'd I miss?

Everything you need to know to stay informed each day in 5 minutes or less!  Read your regular news and include this and you will be able to participate in most any current events discussion.
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Did Obama walk into a trap by agreeing to visit Iraq?  I just wonder if anything he does will really matter if the media continues to cover for him?

GM may keep the brands they have now but reduce or eliminate overlapping models.

Obama's own web site is a great place for those who are upset about his flips to the right to vent, isn't it?

"India would rather save its people from poverty than global warming, and would not cut growth to cut gases."  I don't blame them.

I reported earlier that cleaner air was being blamed for increased temperatures over Europe New Science reported: “unfortunately cleaning up the skies has allowed more of the sun’s rays to pierce the atmosphere, contributing to at least half the warming that has occurred.”  The article also points out that, as I have said many times, we really have no clue what we are doing -- the models are based on assumptions that don't hold up to real world observations!

Gay man sues bible publisher for including hateful language.

Phil Gramm was just a little too honest about the economy -- but I would put more blame for whining on the media not the American People.

ACLU has already sued over FISA!

Are the Democrats shifting away from the greens to reality?  A compromise on drilling may be under consideration.

But don't tell Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic House Leader says that the push for drilling is just a hoax!

Barack W. Bush -- Even closer the McCain!

Congressional Democrats are considering limiting how much of their information can be used on blogs and YouTube.  Reducing our access to information and reducing our Representatives ability to communicate with us.

Dr. James Hansen, who has accused everyone but his Taxi driver of attempting to silence him on his global warming crusade declined an open invitation to debate the issue at William and Mary College.
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DKK