28 Senators Call for ACORN Investigation
Apart from Obama's "screw New Europe" maneuver yesterday, brilliantly handled by Rocketman, below, today's news has to include mention of a leaked letter to Harry Reid by 28 other Sentors, calling for an investigation into ACORN not led by ACORN or the "sham Angelides Commission."
Recently, Obama has redoubled his efforts to bury any links with ACORN. Unfortunately for him, this tactic has become so characteristic that people have resorted to making copies of any salient material in order to make that scrubbing more difficult. Today, too, Van Jones comments on his "quitting".
Even so, more is emerging about the typical shell game practice of multi-organizational faces on deeply interpenetrating agendas, as in ACORN and SEIU. Verum Serum noted that Obama and neighborhood acquaintance Bill Ayers worked at the same address for an extended period of time a year ago, and this supplements our knowledge of the linkages. Yesterday, Ben Johnson of Horowitz's Freedom Foundation did a terrific segment on the B-Cast, outlining some of the radical roots of Obama and Valerie Jarrett.
Today, the Washington Times devotes an article to the subject of how Obama has linked health care to immigration reform. He says that illegals will be forbidden from participating in any federal plan, but his intention, which should have been made obvious by the White House's absorption of the Census Bureau, is simply to legalize them. As Johnson notes, that's meant to grow the number of Democrat voters, and is linked as well to the push to give DC representation, which will essentially give Democrats an additional two seats in the Senate "in perpetuity." Technically, such a change to the Constitution ought to require an Amendment; you can bet the Democrats are plotting to circumvent that mechanism.
But changing the rules---again---is nothing new for them:
Speaking of pimp/ho-friendly, the state House of Representatives just voted to change the law so Gov. Deval Patrick can appoint an interim senator ahead of the January special election to replace the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. This measure was pushed by Kennedy himself in the months before his death to ensure a friendly senator would be in place to vote on health-care reform.* It seeks to overturn the law that Kennedy advocated in 2004, taking appointment power away from then-Gov. Mitt Romney, to prevent the Republican from appointing a replacement to then-presidential candidate John Kerry.
* Ironically, it’s starting to look like a friendly vote for health care in the Senate won’t be necessary. Much as it turned out to be unnecessary to deprive the Republican of appointment power in 2004.
Smart Power! or The Sting..?
In a surprising announcement this morning, one that confirmed suspicions that began circulating on Tuesday evening, President Obama announced that the US would scrap plans for a missile defense shield for eastern Europe, essentially reneging on promises that the Bush administration had made that were intended to bolster the security of Poland, the Czech Republic, and the European Union. Instead the President pledged stronger and swifter defense systems, and said that based on Pentagon’s recommendations he would shift the focus to defending against missile threats from Iran that would be viable in the short and medium term. Although Obama’s statement was brief, speaking from Baghdad Vice-President Biden hinted at the logic of behind the decision saying “Iran is not a threat†and “I think we are fully capable and secure dealing with any present or future potential Iranian threat.â€Â But all are not in agreement on Iranian capabilities, pointing to their successful satellite launch; essentially a demonstration of missile technology that could easily be converted to military use.
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Reaction from overseas was mixed to be sure. In the Czech Republic, Social Democrat leader Jiri Paroubek and “activist†Jan Tamas expressed relief and called it excellent news; of course, both were major opponents of missile defense and loathe to the idea of foreign soldiers being stationed on Czech soil. Likewise, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen praised what he called, “A positive step†that would “improve the involvement of all NATO nations.â€Â And the decision was also hailed by Gordon Brown who said that, "Non proliferation remains a very high priority for the United Kingdom."Â
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As would be expected, the Russians were overjoyed with this development. Although Russia’s NATO envoy warned against “childish euphoria†over the announcement, Mr. Medvedev, Russia’s President, said that he appreciated the responsible move by the US and was willing to continue dialogue. State Duma foreign affairs committee head Konstantin Kosachev told the Associated Press: “The U.S. president’s decision is a well-thought (out) and systematic one. Now we can talk about restoration of (the) strategic partnership between Russia and the United States.â€Â But, they evidently weren’t quite pleased enough to agree to any new round of sanctions against Iran, perhaps one of Obama’s motivating factors in the sudden termination of this longstanding defense plan. Just today the Russian foreign minister, Mr. Lavrov, said that his country firmly opposes any new sanctions and believes that such a move would ruin hopes for a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear situation. So, it looks like the Russians have accepted Obama’s olive branch, and repaid him by slamming the door in his face !
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On balance though there were more negative reactions than positive. Where to begin? Let’s start here at here at home. John McCain said he was disappointed with the seriously misguided decision, and warned that it could undermine US standing in Eastern Europe amid worries there of a resurgent Russia. Senate Republican whip Jon Kyl called the decision “dangerous and short sightedâ€, and warned that “it would send a chilling message to former Soviet satellites who had braved Moscow’s anger to support the systemâ€. And former US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton blasted Obama, “It's just an unambiguously bad decision,†he went on to say, “Russia and Iran are the big winners. I just think it's a bad day for American national securityâ€. Even some of the Democrats are quietly asking the President just what we are going to get out of this concession.
According to Michael Goldfarb of “The Weekly Standardâ€:
This represents a complete capitulation to Russia's Vladimir Putin, who had demanded that the proposed deployments be halted as a price for improved relations. Ironically, the Obama administration, which is appeasing Russia in the hopes that Moscow will help put pressure on Iran, has made this mammoth concession just a few days after Moscow declared that it had no intention of supporting sanctions against Iran.
The consequences of this action in Eastern Europe, especially in Ukraine and in other countries that feel vulnerable to Russian power, will be disastrous. It is a major American retreat in the face of Russian bullying. And we will get absolutely nothing for it.
[emphasis-ed.]
Goldfarb also points out that the administration is being dishonest on their policy “fact sheetâ€:
The White House has put out a “fact sheet†on their policy of Russian appeasement/missile defense surrender. The fact sheet says that the new approach — focusing on SM-3 and sea-based systems (presumably in Turkey) — will “augment our current protection of the U.S. homeland against long-range ballistic missile threats.†That is a lie. This system will provide zero, nada, zilch protection to the U.S. homeland, providing only defense against short- and medium-range missiles to Europe.
The fact sheet says this system will protect “our Allies in Europe sooner and more comprehensively than the previous program, and involves more flexible and survivable systems.†That is a lie. The system that was being placed in Poland is already operational in Alaska. These new plans will now take years of negotiations to implement and will necessarily be less survivable as they will not be underground.
There’s that unfortunate “L†word cropping up again; but I guess Goldfarb is just another racist, you know, as opposed to citing stubborn fats and inconvenient truths. Take a moment and read the whole thing; that the administration would feel the need to smear missile defense in order to justify appeasing the Russians is appalling.
David Frum makes a convincing argument that Obama is heading for a foreign policy disaster; it doesn’t take a preview reel to see that coming attraction.Â
In Eastern Europe, Former Czech and Polish leaders expressed a mixture of surprise, dismay, and angry resentment. Czech legislator Jan Vidim indicated that this development would negatively color future relations between the countries:
"If the administration approaches us in the future with any request, I would be strongly against it,"
In fact Poland’s prime minister refused to take Secretary of State Clinton’s telephone call! And former Polish President Lech Walesa was quoted:
“American has always cared only about its own interests, and those of others only serve the US. Now we have another example of this,†he said in a television interview. “I can see what kind of policy the Obama administration is pursuing towards this part of Europe. We should reconsider our approach to the United States.â€
I’m sure the former leader of the famous “Solidarity†non-communist trade union, whose movement led ultimately to a succession of anti-communist revolutions in Eastern Europe, was especially pleased that the announcement of this historic double-cross coincided with the  anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland; 70 years ago on this day. I wonder if Obama prefaced his statement to the Polish diplomats by wishing them a happy Molotov-Ribbentrop day?
Meanwhile, according to today’s “Kiev Postâ€:
Diplomats here say Moscow hardliners could read the shield backdown as a sign of Washington's weakness. Far from doing the bidding of the United States, they may instead press for further gains to shore up Russian power in the former Soviet bloc.
…
Analysts are particularly concerned about Ukraine, which faces a presidential election next January. Most of Russia's vast gas exports flow through its territory and the country reluctantly hosts a large Russian naval base.
Russia has already rebuked Kiev for its "anti-Russian" stance and refused to deal with President Viktor Yushchenko, tactics which recall those used with Georgia in the period leading up to last year's war.
In a sign of the level of concern, one senior Western envoy here privately estimated the chances of a Russian military intervention in the Crimea over the next year at 50-50
[emphasis-ed.]
But perhaps some of the most startling reactions to this are found in the British newspapers; that have a more gloves-off style, and are far less worshipful of Obama than many of their US counterparts.
Nile Gardiner of “The Telegraph UK†thinks it’s all about appeasing Russian aggression:
This is bad news for all who care about the US commitment to the transatlantic alliance and the defense of Europe as well as the United States. It represents the appalling appeasement of Russian aggression and a willingness to sacrifice American allies on the altar of political expediency. A deal with the Russians to cancel missile defense installations sends a clear message that even Washington can be intimidated by the Russian bear.
[emphasis-ed.]
And Gardiner is not the only skeptic; Toney Halpin rips the President for selling out not only Eastern Europe, but indeed the entire EU:
By trading the loyalty of Poland and the Czech Republic to satisfy Russia’s security concerns, the United States is signalling that it no longer contests Moscow’s right to assert its interests in Eastern Europe.
Ukraine and Georgia’s chances of entering Nato over Russian objections have diminished further. The timing is disastrous for Ukraine in particular, given the Kremlin’s determination to reverse the pro-Western Orange Revolution and ensure victory for a pro-Russian candidate at presidential elections in January.
The Baltic States, already in Nato, will be feeling a chill as they ponder an even more assertive Russia. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have been among the Kremlin’s most vocal critics but Nato’s new Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has declared a “true strategic partnership†with Russia his top priority.
The Bush Administration delighted in emphasising relations with the “new Europe†of former Soviet bloc countries, often at the expense of recalcitrant “old Europe†of Germany and France on foreign policy.
Mr Obama has shown that the US is no longer playing that game. He wants Russian help on Afghanistan and Iran and is leaving Europe to resolve its own relationship with Moscow on everything from energy security to historical grievances.
The Kremlin can barely believe its good fortune. Mr Obama has pressed the “reset†button to improve relations without obtaining anything more than permission for US aircraft to cross Russian airspace on resupply operations for troops in Afghanistan.
…
In fact, Moscow may become more intransigent, arguing that Washington itself no longer takes the threat as seriously as it did by cancelling the missile-defence shield. Any such argument would only harden Israel’s determination to act.
Some analysts in Russia have begun cynically to ask whether the Kremlin wants to see a war in Iran, arguing that this would send oil prices soaring and replenish state coffers emptied out by the economic crisis.
[emphasis-ed]
Smart Power !…The kind we heard about during the last election…
Smart Power !...Bolstering our nation's missile defense program by, you know, canceling the deployment of forward interceptor batteries...
Smart Power !...An Orwellian statement essentially proclaiming that weakness is the new strength...
Smart Power !…Throwing our allies under the bus, or more like to the Russian wolves bear; and all we get is a Bronx cheer, the one finger salute, and a shoulder shrug accompanied by absolutely NO movement on the issue of Russian enabling of the Iranian regime; not even the bone of a minor utterance about the danger of a nuclear armed Iran…
You know who I’ll bet thinks this is Smart Power, besides Obama? General Electric !
Shortly after the pullback on the shield program was announced, Russia's government said Prime Minister Vladimir Putin would meet several U.S. executives on Friday from firms including General Electric, Morgan Stanley as well as TPG, one of the world's largest private equity firms
That would be the same General Electric whose CEO sits on Obama’s economic recovery advisory board; the same General Electric that owns MSNBC. So I guess all those crappy ratings resulting from the network “selling out†in order to get Obama elected were worth it, eh Jeffrey? If wonder if they promised that Olbermann would name Putin, “The Best Person in the Worldâ€, in order to ice the deal?
Is anyone else experiencing deja-vu?
Facilitates a rogue Iran, led by a fanatical leader bent on Israel's destruction?...Check
Shows the “wimp hand†instead of the “pimp hand†to the Russians?...Check
Takes a bad domestic economy…And makes it worse?...Check
Cancels or truncates advanced military systems in the pipeline...Check
Willfully diminishes our military or squanders our advantage...Check
Tells all Americans they have to “sacrifice†and/or “cut back.â€...Check
Now if in the coming months Captain Brilliant! comes out with a lame statement along the lines of, “Putin Liedâ€, or, “Medvedev Liedâ€, like Jimmy Carter did when he lamented that “Brezhnev Lied!†about his intent to invade Afghanistan, then I’ll be sure. He’ll be a worse President than Mr. Carter. But short of that, he’s only tied for the worst! So until then I think I’ll call him Jimmybama…Because of the Smart ! Power…
UPDATE: Darleen over at Protein Wisdom links to an interesting NRO piece by the editors of the same.
UPDATE II: J.E.Dyer at Commentary magazine weighs in on what he calls Obama's "Ostrich" defense.
Frigging Backward Church Ahead of the Curve
As a confirmed Catholic, I have occasion to listen to Relevant Radio and watch EWTN.
Today on Drew Mariani's Show (Relevant Radio), I came to find out a good deal more about the insidiousness of ACORN and the bastard's father - and more surprisingly (to me, anyway) the close ties he had to several of the Catholic hierarchy in - wait for it.... Chicago - beginning in the '30s... when he was remaking Chicago politics in his image. One wonders if the notoriety Chicagoland has earned with regard to politics can in some manner be said to extend from, if not have been extended forth from, the application of the Alynskyan modality to the fertile shit that was Chicago politics of his day. That's a topic for someone with more acumen than I to investigate.
Nevertheless, what I didn't know was this (do read the comments below the article as well). That the Catholic Church cut all funding to ACORN in late 2008 is telling. One might have noticed how slowly the Church moves to change (which I do not mind a bit)... a by-product of this tendancy toward the static is that the Church is similarly slow to act (which is sometimes, as evidenced by the child sex abuse scandals of late, unfortunate). How did the Church get the drop on ACORN and no one really pay any notice? The Church never gets the drop on anything. And even when She has cause to react, the Church is remarkably deliberate (re: SLOOOOOW) in reacting.
Why? It is in her nature to be skeptical of pop. She is averse to temporal fancy, precisely because it is time-sensitive and newsworthy. And, to a great extent because the Church truly does not see itself as being temporally-bound. And lest we forget: she has survived 2000 years, while under continual siege by those without.
But I have a theory as to why the Church moved to cut the tendrils of its relationship with ACORN before ever being called to account or prompted to do so in any manner. She simply could not afford to tolerate another enemy within her walls - without taking decisive, albeit incomplete, action. Another Fifth Column. That is, She is aware She has been infiltrated. And She is aware the enemies are within her walls. Like Judas among the twelve.
It is only now coming to light the extent to which the Church has been compromised by ACORN and affiliate activists. But it sure as sh*t would explain the numerous times I have heard stunning commentaries and memes coming from the pulpit (or from the mouth of some religious, or the mouths of the hyper-active[ist] portions of the laity) that are absolutely ANTITHETICAL to the teachings of the Church.
And I am not alone in noticing it. It occurs to me that "cafeteria catholics" - the term we use to describe those who would call themselves Catholic, but who refuse to embrace the professions of the Catholic Faith - may only hint at the reality of who these interlopers really are. Judas Lives.
Purge anyone? Count me in.
UPDATE FROM ROCKETMAN:
I'm aware of what you are speaking of. A lot of the Catholics in Maryland, where I used to live, were down with the liberation theology heresy. They were sheltering illegal South American aliens, so I'm not surprised...
This wasn't at my parish, which was a quiet one with a lot of elderly blacks, whites, and curiously enough-Polish immigrants!
There's a little of the social justice thing going around my parish here in [redacted]. It really came to the fore during the last election when, curiously enough, about as high a percentage of the parishoners seemed to be Obam-ites as it shook out nationwide...
They really didn't want to talk much except to cite Boooooosh! as the reason; but I'll never understand how they reconciled the whole abortion-on-demand thing with their beliefs...
Well, at least we're all idol worshipping mackeral snappers...I wonder if that's yet another way in which we're keepin' folks down?
We knew the card game, and now recognize the dealer.
It seems like ever since Chris “Tingle†Matthews declared, “My job is to make the Obama Presidency a success!â€, the legacy media has been doing it’s best to ensure that result. But, in a rare moment of candor and, you know, actual reporting, they seem to have pinpointed the real source of all the race card dealing and opponent vilification of late:
Â
The White House officials are eager to avoid the perception that the president is directly engaging critics who appear to speak only for a vocal minority, and part of their strategy involves pushing material to liberal and progressive media outlets to steer the coverage in their direction, senior advisers said.
When critics lashed out at President Obama for scheduling a speech to public school students this month, accusing him of wanting to indoctrinate children to his politics, his advisers quickly scrubbed his planned comments for potentially problematic wording. They then reached out to progressive Web sites such as the Huffington Post, liberal bloggers and Democratic pundits to make their case to a friendly audience.
Â
[emphasis-ed.]
Behold, a trifecta of admissions casually tossed out as if they were common knowledge; and confirming suspicions held by this writer and others. First, an admission that the Obama administration is directing the tone and content of the coverage to achieve the narrative they desire. And, it seems that the CRAZEE H8TING WINGNUTZ were not far off the mark in voicing concern over the President’s address to the nations schoolchildren; otherwise why would the speech text need “scrubbingâ€. Finally, they are pushing out the talking points through a network of nutroot bloggers, Democratic pundits, and friendly legacy media outlets; utilizing their go-between channels of “jouno-listâ€, CAP’s “Progressive Mediaâ€, MoveOn.org, “Common Purposeâ€, and of course, the daily conference call featuring Rahm Emmanuel, George Stephanopoulos, Paul Begala, and James Carville.
As I noted yesterday, the distributed talking points are faithfully parroted in many publications such as, McClatchy and the NY Times; the latter providing the double service of not only pushing the desired meme, as MoDo did here while breathlessly bemoaning today’s lack of civility, but also declaring faithfully the intent of the President and all his men to steer clear of the growing “race debateâ€. I guess this is not part of the “conversation on race†that Obama wanted to have, in which case they shouldn’t have brought it up !
But this strategy is not working out the way it was intended, or as it usually has. While the usual suspects profess their usual OUTRAGE!, some writers are starting to openly mock the strategy as well as the melodramatic crying and gnashing of teeth. And this seems to only make the liberals even more angry, as Peter Wehner notes:
It’s fascinating to watch how furious liberals have become despite Obama’s being president and Democrats’ controlling the Senate and the House by wide margins. This period should be—they expected it to be—years of milk and honey for them. But events and reality have intervened. They see the Anointed One, Barack Obama—their “sort of Godâ€â€”failing. He is not only a mere mortal but also a deeply flawed one.
…
Many liberals simply cannot process this new data, this horrible turn of events. What we are seeing is the equivalent of a computer crash. As a result, they are returning to what has become for some liberals an emotional and psychological norm: anger and fury, overheated and reckless charges, bitterness and pettiness. It is embodied in people like Frank Rich and Keith Olbermann and Joe Klein, but some version of this affliction extends to many others.
Maybe it is simply misdirected anger, but the always astute Victor David Hanson sees it as more like a frustration:
A better explanation than right-wing racism for the Left's exasperation is that in the Bush wilderness years, the Left assumed permanent political marginalization, adopted an ends-justify-the-means strategy of street rhetoric against Bush, then found themselves unexpectedly as the establishment, and now are appalled that anyone might emulate their own past emotional outbursts.
[emphasis-ed.]
That same old hypocrisy of, “What’s good for me, is not for theeâ€; as always, some animals at the farm are more equal than others. As I’ve said before, this canard is wearing thin. People are starting to notice that criticism of the President’s agenda results in one being branded a racist, and reject it. This definitely won’t help Michelle’s children…
So to the President and his administration I say, what’ll it be? A straight up debate; a clean game?  Or will you keep dealing those race cards from the bottom of the deck?
UPDATE: The inimitable Ric Locke weighs in on the careless use of the race card.
MSM Dam Bursts
Yesterday, Rocketman posted on the MSM's calculated recalcitrance in reporting the news burbling in the blogosphere, and there's also a good update at The American Thinker today. But when Jon Stewart is mocking you, perhaps it's time to throw in your cards. This morning, The NYT reported on the burgeoning ACORN scandal, and in a profile on Glenn Beck (which is becoming stock in trade for them), Time outlines some of the impact Beck has had on the stories that are, apparently, suddenly fit to print.
So tight was the feedback loop in the echo chamber, that Nancy Pelosi was blissfully ignorant of ACORN's housing defunding in the Senate. In the past couple of days, even ABC's Charlie Gibson seems to have become aware of the controversy swirling around ACORN.
And suddenly it's become apparent that the intarwebs aren't the tail anymore, but the dog. This time, Big Government's James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles sting San Diego, where an ACORN employee propositions Hannah and offers to help use Tijuana connections to help smuggle El Salvadoran tweens across the border---for a cut of the action. Hell, yesterday even Gibbs had to admit that he found the behavior of certain ACORN employees "completely unacceptable." And today Newspeak was called out for photo flummery.*
This story has legs . . . and not just Hannah Giles's, though obviously those don't hurt.
Darleen notes that the wimmyn have nothing to say about it.
Newspeak's defense of their cropping the photo is unintentionally hilarious:
*
Frank J. De Maria, the vice president of corporate communications at Newsweek, issued this statement Wednesday in response:We doubt any reasonable reader would, in David’s phrase, think something “sinister, macabre, or even evil†was going on in that image as presented. Yes, the picture has been cropped, an accepted practice of photographers, editors and designers since the invention of the medium. We cropped the photograph using editorial judgment to show the most interesting part of it. Is it a picture of the former vice president cutting meat? Yes, it is. Has it been altered? No. Did we use the image to make an editorial point — in this case, about the former vice president’s red-blooded, steak-eating, full-throated defense of his views and values? Yes, we did.
Dick Cheney, red in tooth and claw, full-throated in his gaping maw, is THE ULTIMATE CARNIVORE.
College Politico Not Backing Down
Seems like Politico has gotten more than that for which they bargained. Steve Gutowski, the College Politico, was a guest on yesterday's B-Cast, and announced that he'll go to court to defend his site.
Get your popcorn.
Adding fuel to the Outrage! or beginning the race card’s swan song?
For some time now I’ve been noting the gratuitous use of the race card by the Presidents supporters against any who might dare to oppose his legislative agenda. That practice, as well as the whole comic opera that is identity politics in America may have reached a crescendo yesterday, with the same pronouncement by Jimmy Carter; a former President who has rehabilitated his personal reputation with the American people over the years, but not necessarily his reputation for political acumen, or leadership skills. Carter, who essentially called Congressman Wilson out as a racist, southerner-to-southerner, went on say that racism plays an important role in the opposition Mr. Obama has faced.
"I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he's African-American," Carter told NBC News. "I live in the South, and I've seen the South come a long way, and I've seen the rest of the country that shares the South's attitude toward minority groups at that time, particularly African-Americans."
"That racism inclination still exists, and I think it's bubbled up to the surface because of belief among many white people -- not just in the South but around the country -- that African-Americans are not qualified to lead this great country. It's an abominable circumstance, and it grieves me and concerns me very deeply."
Indeed, following Wilson’s admittedly boorish behavior during the Presidents address, for which he quickly apologized-an apology accepted by Mr. Obama, Speaker Pelosi wished to steer the house debate back toward health care; but some house members would have none of it. Of course, we all know that Wilson was censured in the well of the House chamber, and deservedly so; but it was not unprecedented and perhaps if Bush critics had been held to a similar standard the Wilson censure wouldn’t seem so hypocritical.
The problem is that the public, especially the independent voters, is becoming increasingly skeptical to these breathless charges, as this latest Rasmussen poll indicates. And well they should be, regardless of what the punditry or the political elite maintain; unless of course this is the national conversation on race that Mr. Obama thought we should be having. If this exchange with Eric Dyson on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe†is any indication, then the over-arching meta-narrative may indeed be in trouble. If you can’t spare, or stomach, the entire 9 minutes then may I suggest that the real meat is around the three minute mark where Maria Bartiromo refutes Dyson’s risible assertion that no one ever called a President a monkey using one of her own colleagues, Erin Burnett, as an example. Then, fast forward to 7:45 and listen to the last two minutes; here Maria scores a direct hit as she ask Dr. Dyson if the 20-odd percent of folks who have come to disapprove of Obama since February have suddenly become racists!
James Boswell, in his book, “The Life of Samuel Johnsonâ€, states that Johnson was referring to false patriotism when he made his often quoted statement; “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel!†  The Krauthammer twist on that same theme is, “The Racism accusation is the last refuge of a liberal scoundrelâ€. And the more people realize the gratuitous way it’s applied in our country, the closer we will come to realizing Dr. King’s dream of a colorblind society. Let’s all hope that this is the signal of the coming swan song for the race card and identity politics in America.
UPDATE: Well, maybe I spoke too soon. According to ACE, Maxine Waters wants the legacy media to intimidate investigate the ordinary citizens RAAAAACIST Teabaggers! who aren't down with Obama's agenda. She wants the MSM to "vet" them, like they "vetted" Joe the Plumber, but, you know, not Obama or Van Jones...
UPDATE II: Jules Crittenden and Legal Insurrection have more on why the left should quit taking refuge behind the race card.
UPDATE III: Darleen Quick at Protein Wisdom weighs in with some more examples of the intensity of the identity politics card game going on right now.
UPDATE IV: The always insightful Ric Locke weighs in on the dynamics of how we got to this point in general.
UPDATE V: You know that the card playing is getting out of hand when independants like Ann Althouse are voicing their displeasure with the racialist demagoguery being employed by Obama's political allies.
Politico Tries Bullying College Politico [UPDATED]
Yesterday, Steve Gutowski of Eyeblast got a shout out from Scott Baker of The B-Cast, who was on Glenn Beck's radio show, as one of the independent citizen journalists making a difference (disclosure: I do research for The B-Cast). Hours later, he received a cease and desist email from a lawyer representing The Politico:
Hello everyone,
As you know I've reserved these emails purely for tipping you on big stories which have received little or no coverage. Unfortunately this email is of a much different sort. I need advice and help.
Today I received a cease and desist letter from Dow Lohnes PLLC on behalf of Capitol News Company LLC which is the publisher of POLITICO. They claim that my domain name "thecollegepolitico.com" and its contents are "confusingly similar" to their trademarks. They then make absurd unfounded claims that I somehow specifically choose to use the term "politico" in my name to steal their readers and confuse them into thinking that POLITICO is a tiny conservative college opinion blog run by a single person.
They replay this same argument several times and then "demand" that I, within 10 days, stop all use of the label "The College Politico", literally give them control of my domain name "thecollegepolitico.com", and write them a letter declaring I will permanently cease and refrain from all future use of "The College Politico" or anything similar to POLITICO.
Just to explain... when I created my blog I had no intention to draw any relation to POLITICO. I was simply trying to find a snappy way to describe myself, hence The College Politico. I also cant see how anyone who visits my site could ever get the idea that I was in any way affiliated with POLITICO.
In my opinion this is an ugly attempt to intimidate me into handing over a brand which I've worked extremely hard to build. A simple google search shows that the term "Politico" is used in a myriad of other politically focused sites which makes me feel as though they are singling me out.
Unfortunately, I'm not a lawyer and I have next to no money to spend on one. That's where I really need help... does anybody know a good lawyer that might want to help me out for little or no money?
Also do you guys think they have a case? Should I just give up and turn over my site to them? Should I go after them with a lawyer or in public or both?
I have the email which includes their cease and desist letter that I can forward you if you want to see exactly what they're claiming.
Thank you,
Stephen Gutowski
The College Politico
I had a post all cued up and ready to go, but I decided to hold off, and instead emailed Politico for comment, thinking that perhaps they were unaware of what was being done on their behalf by legal counsel for their parent company, Capitol News Company LLC. I've received no response.
Meanwhile, other bloggers, including Patterico, were let in on the information, and Pat decided to go public last night, having put in a call to the attorney who sent Steve the letter and written to an acquaintance on staff. Ace followed, and Steve himself posted, as did Dan Riehl. Please notify me, if I'm missing anyone. Pat stresses, quite correctly, that the term politico is in the dictionary, and Steve notes that it has been around since 1630.
If you've been to both sites, you're aware that there's little resemblance. Politico does have a site called Campus Politico, established in the lead-up to the 2008 elections, thus post-dating College Politico. And via happyfeet at Patterico's we discover that this isn't the first time they've threatened legal action under color of owning the rights to any version of the word "politico." I've received information that Steve has been put in touch with a patent and trademark attorney. I think they're not going to find the bullying so easy this time. As somebody snarked in Twitter last night, "I think I'll reserve the rights to the word 'pundit' on the internet."
I've also reported the incident to FIRE, as, though Steve's graduated, he has kept his site open for collegians to write about politics, and it certainly does involve free speech issues.
Here's a Glenn Greenwald post from a couple of years ago, when Politico was a new venture, talking about the shadowy right-wingers funding the enterprise. I'm participating in the boycott, but if you were to go to the site today and check out the article on a "series of right-wing scoops," you would come away thinking that the authors were practically begging for the reimposition of the Fairness Doctrine, so called. (Reread it. It's pretty fair, though one part really bothers me).
Something's happened at Politico. Perhaps they're under a different ownership, or new management. Someone with access to filings might want to follow the money and see where that leads. I'll let you know if I ever hear from them.
UPDATE: Steve's going to be on the B-Cast today at 5:00. Please join us. Show starts at 4:00 Eastern.
Ed Morrissey of Hot Air and Insty weigh in.
How the Fourth Estate became the Fifth Column
On the heels of Rocketman's post immediately below, I thought to re-post the following...
Repost of 2004 essay written by Daniel P Collins, MD (Naples Florida)
Framers of the Constitution recognized the need for a Free Press to report on governmental action to the citizenry. They accorded unique privileges to the news media to protect and ensure this vital activity. It is now obvious, with the secret ABC memo, and the “60 minutes†debacle, that the media does not know the difference between freedom & license or that privileges always carry concomitant responsibilities. The media has shifted from a legitimate mission of reporting the news to a mission of creating the news. In so doing, it has become the “Fifth Columnâ€*, undermining & eroding the Republic from within. The media manipulation of the election environment to insure a close election, great copy for press & TV, calls for encouragement of visceral hatred of various groups: bad for the nation, but newsworthy. They gleefully & dishonestly set to work. After all, the ends justify the means: the creation of news. Honesty, morality, ethics or National Welfare be damned. The Fifth Column has a job to be done!
*From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Fifth column stands for any clandestine group of people which works inside a nation to undermine its strength (psychological warfare), while at the same time the nation suffers a direct attack from a foreign power. The term was coined by General Mola in a radio address during the Spanish Civil War1936–1939). As a Nationalist general, he sent four of his army columns to capture Madrid, which was being defended at the time by the Republican forces. The general referred to his hidden supporters inside the capital as his fifth column. Originally, the term was used by Leon Trotsky as name for the Fifth Army, which was founded as an elite military unit during the Russian Civil War. In the aftermath, Ernest Hemingway wrote his one and only play entitled The Fifth Column, which depicts the role of the two protagonists, a writer and a journalist, during wartime. The title hints at the similarity of the protagonists with the supporters of Emilio Mola, as both were performing "behind enemy lines" influence.
Daniel P. Collins, Sr. is a retired Pathologist living in Naples, Florida.
The Legacy media’s “intellectual incuriosity”; part deux.
You would think that after the fallout stemming from the lack of reportage on the Van Jones story, as well as the revelation of falling public trust in their accuracy and objectivity in a recent Pew poll, that the legacy media would be on top of the most recent scandals involving ACORN; especially since they were dropped from participating in the census and the Senate overwhelming voted to cut off their access to public funds. But that is not the case.
As usual, all we hear “crickets†and deafening silence…
Don Surber points out that the NY Times has one of the largest reporting staffs in the US, but amazingly does not have anyone available to cover the growing ACORN scandal, an organization who counts among their alumnus the current President of the United States, and instead are going with wire stories. And, in an almost absurd statement, ABC’s Charles Gibson proffered that he didn’t even know about it!
Instead, major media outlets seem to have become obsessed with reporting, and “outingâ€, the hate-mongering racists that are behind the dissent to Mr. Obama’s legislative agenda. Speaking about this past weekend’s protest in Washington DC, Howard Kurtz strains to reach for a racist motivation, an exercise which ACE thoroughly destroys. Conversely, I doubt that Mr. Kurtz or any of his colleagues will see anything wrong with Congressman Johnson’s (D-Ga.) assertion that unless Joe Wilson is censured, and his underlying “ideas†rebuked, then folks will once again don white hoods and go riding through the countryside. Is the Congressman’s assertion asinine and hyperbolic? In a word, yes. Will he be taken to task by the legacy media for inflammatory remarks that demonstrate a racialist outlook? Somehow, I don’t think so. Heck, Keith Olbermann will probably crown him as the best person in the world! It’s just the usual pathetic media double standard, as Mark Salter observes at RCP.
This is a subject that I’ve written a few posts on, and unfortunately will likely have the opportunity to do so in the future. But the Democrats and their media allies should reconsider the bias in their reportage. Not only to slow the decline of the legacy media outlets, but to ensure that those charge others of racism, perhaps the most toxic pejorative in America today, does not go the way of the boy that cried wolf in the fable.
Exit Question:Â Is Allah Pundit right when he pronounces the much heralded post-racial Presidency dead and buried?
UPDATE (SHOCKAH!): Boston.com  breaks meta-narrative ranks reporting on how Obama's Kenyan relatives live in ABJECT! poverty. You'd think he would do them a solid and let them hold a little somethin'...
Considering that Obama often admonishes us on how, "WE are our brothers keeper", and on, "Spreading the wealth around", you'd think that the legacy media would be all over it; as they often say about conservatives, "Because of the Hypocrisy!". I wonder when MSNBC will tackle this one..?
At POWIP, we report, you decide…
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