The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Great Post, Sanity Inspector, But What About Slavery?

Posted on | August 30, 2010 | Comments Off on Great Post, Sanity Inspector, But What About Slavery?

by Smitty

The Sanity Inspector captures an excellent thought regarding sectarian relations in the United States, emphasis mine:

Something is coalescing, taking root, something which may have repercussions centuries on down the road.

Americans are a kind, forbearing, humble, welcoming people, lefties’ incessant accusations otherwise notwithstanding. I have never had a negative personal experience with a Muslim and, SFAIK (anonymous internet flammage aside) no Muslim has ever had one with me. I suspect that that is true of most everyone reading this, left or right. In fact, I sometimes have occasion to help Muslims who are new to the area, or to America altogether. They just want to run their convenience stores, parking garages, and halal meat shops, and get on in life, same as everyone else.

And yet the Islamic terrorists, well-trained foreign agent or Sudden Jihad Syndrome flipout, are hiding among them, not us. And the alleged moderate Muslims who run interference for them are quick to scold us for noticing, as are the progressives who tend to make mascots of civilization’s enemies. And every snowflake in an avalanche can plead “who, me?”.

On the ground, under the news radar, most people get along fine much of the time, even in the world’s hot spots. Muslims will even visit Palestinian churches to receive The Virgin’s blessing, I’ve heard. And yet “My biking buddy is a Muslim, therefore Islam is a religion of peace” is as idiotically simplistic a statement as “I get along fine with all the black people at work, therefore there is no more racism in America.” Only difference is that the stakes are far higher with the former delusion.

The people who roll their eyes at the commotion over Park51 do not understand or appreciate the power of symbols–intended or unintended. They do not understand the power of memory, of grievances unassuaged, and how they can be passed along year to year, generation to generation, to unpredictably multiplying effect.

I think we do have an example of such in US History, starting with the 3/5 Compromise in the Constitution, running through the Civil War, the Civil Rights Movement, the Raaaaacism Industrial Complex, and, hopefully, more or less concluding at the Restoring Honor event.
We have to differentiate between forgiving those that undertake evil, to be free of bondage to the past, while retaining a dispassionate recollection of the events, to protect the future from repeats.
For radical Islam, one doesn’t see much hope outside of moderate Imams giving the radical nutjobs the Full Alinsky treatment of outing, personalizing, and ridiculing the notion that explosive garments and landscaping garner nothing in Eternity. How can any sane religion advocate mass murder as an active choice? *cough* Abortion *cough*, ye Christians *cough*.
Beside slavery, there is the more general issue of the Civil War. But the “South will rise again” meme is notional at best. Simply put, the US has no significant cultural memory in which to store resentment. Now, if our government were to remain Full Quisling with respect to radical Islam, things could change, and the gloomy futures come to pass.
However, I predict that in decades out that the leveling power of the Internet is going to dampen the power of radical Islam. If you read Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the current situation is built on enslaving the female half of the population in the Middle East. I submit that Stein’s Law applies. Applying it will take resolve, though. Which is why we must eject the Quislings in two months, and continue to reject Quislings when they run for office.

Category: Protein Wisdom, Rule 1, The Flemish Menace

News You Can Use: Pedal-Powered Submarines

Posted on | August 30, 2010 | 4 Comments

by Smitty

With the economy increasingly under water, you may need some alternate means of getting to work:
TOM has submitted a fresh application for some of that wonderful O-Dough, which we eagerly, expectantly, desperately await, to develop further this new technology for you, our readers. It’s all about you, rumors to the contrary notwithstanding.

Category: humor

Did Murkowski’s Mystery Man ‘Mike’ Tamper With Alaska Senate Vote?

Posted on | August 30, 2010 | 16 Comments

Dan Riehl scored a huge scoop late Sunday night with a letter that Joe Miller’s lawyers sent to Alasksa’s lieutenant governor and the chief of the Division of Elections, regarding the activities of a Murkowski campaign operative on Election Day:

Murkowski observer Mike insisted that he had the right to access the Division of Elections computer database and “check voter records.” Over the Miller campaign’s objections, Mike was allowed to use the state computer for 20 minutes before Division Director Gail Fenumial fortunately ordered him off the state computer.

Shenanigans?  Quite possibly, yet when the Miller campaign complains about this kind of stuff, Murkowski accuses them of being “paranoid.” That’s a point I address in my latest report at The American Spectator:

Of course, it’s not paranoia if they really are out to get you, and Miller’s supporters already had solid reasons to suspect that Murkowski would stop at nothing to retain her Senate seat. Chief among these reasons was the fact that Anchorage political consultant Andrew Halcro placed a call first thing Wednesday morning to Scott Kohlhaas, chairman of the Alaska Libertarian Party. Halcro was asking whether the Libertarians would be open to having Murkowski replace their Senate nominee, Dave Haase. Halcro is a former Republican state legislator best known for his boundless hatred of Sarah Palin. After Palin won the GOP gubernatorial nomination in 2006, Halcro waged a third-party campaign aimed principally at attacking the Republican and earned him the nickname Mr. Nine Percent, that being his share of the vote. Since being chosen as John McCain’s running mate two years ago, of course, Palin has become world-famous and Halcro’s bitterness toward her has only increased.
It was Palin’s early endorsement of Joe Miller that was widely credited with launching the underdog to victory, and thus the intrusion of ex-Republican Halcro into the post-primary phase of the Senate campaign is scarcely surprising. Certainly Miller’s supporters could be forgiven for wondering if Halcro would be reaching out to the Libertarians on Murkowski’s behalf without the senator’s permission, especially after he disclosed to the Anchorage Daily News that he had spoken by phone with Murkowski. . . .

Please read the whole thing. Trying to summarize six days of craziness in 1,000 words proved to be enormously challenging, perhaps as difficult as replacing the valve head on a 2004 KIA Optima:

That’s my 17-year-old son Jim working on the car Sunday. He and our buddy Carlos expect to have it running tomorrow evening.

Let me be clear: I am not blaming shady Murkowski campaign operatives for this expensive repair, but who knows what other shenanigans will be afoot by the time I make it to Anchorage?

PREVIOUSLY:

Category: Alaska, American Spectator, Dan Riehl, Election, Joe Miller, Republicans, Senate

‘ZOMG! Editors R All H8ers!’

Posted on | August 30, 2010 | 18 Comments

“So, you guys, I wrote an essay at The Daily Beast – do you all know that I write there? I totally do – that was the bomb when my snuggly lion of the Senate, TEd Kennedy, died. I’m a Progressive Republican so I’m above all that icky partisan stuff. And I’m super cool and hip and a true individual – and all my friends who invite me to their parties say that Ted Kennedy was awesome.”

That’s just one excerpt from the “lost” chapters that Lori Ziganto and Jenn Q. Public say didn’t make it into the final edition of Meghan McCain’s Dirty Sexy Politics.

Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life.

And Mary Jo Kopechne could not be reached for comment.

Category: Celebrities, humor

On Not Being Lured Into Mis-Underestimating President Obama

Posted on | August 29, 2010 | 39 Comments

by Smitty (h/t Rhiel World View)

I just don’t see the value in belittling the President over a still shot. Or non-grasp of basic athletic skills. Granted, it’s been tradition at least since Chevy Chase used to go after Gerald Ford on SNL. I remember reading that Ford used to have a sense of humor about it. But commencing with W., the personal ad hominem seems to have gone beyond the dozens and into the realm of propaganda.

If you have a video clip of BHO demonstrating a non-grasp of depth perception, fine. But ‘less is more’ when it comes to this sort of thing. The ‘Boooosh is an idiot’ line was equally tiresome, recall.

Did you notice the country is in a financial crisis? Let’s collaborate on holding the GOP feet to the fire:

[DeMint] warns: “This may be our last chance with voters, because if we’re given the majority . . . and don’t reform Washington, everybody is going to say, ‘What’s wrong with these guys? We need a third party.’”

Category: Barack Obama

More Examples Of The Progressive Inverted Tongue

Posted on | August 29, 2010 | 1 Comment

by Smitty

Modern sophists don’t believe in any sort of absolute truth. This makes conversation challenging, as they will frequently attack the definitions of terms in lieu of dealing with reality. I call this Orwellian language use the Progressive Inverted Tongue, and I doubt not from which PIT it emerges.

Two fine examples came through the Reader recently:
Stogie publishes a Global Warming lexicon that will help you understand the twists and turns of a conversation on how science, too can become corrupt.

The Lonely Conservative features Star Parker in a trailer for ‘I Want Your Money’ discussing the Welfare State, and offering a personal account of how welfare achieves the opposite of what it sets out to do.

PIT is a shorter, more general version of Opposite Words, from the mighty House of Eratosthenes. We’ll see if the term meets Morgan’s approval.

Category: Saberpoint

Seniority as a Liability

Posted on | August 29, 2010 | 29 Comments

“The harsh reality is that in the tech world, companies prefer to hire young, inexperienced, engineers. And engineering is an ‘up or out’ profession: you either move up the ladder or face unemployment.”

This is true in many other professions, notoriously including sales. Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman was, after all, a story about a salesman who had grown too old for what is really a young man’s game. If you don’t become an executive — e.g., vice-president of sales — it’s not likely you’re going to reach retirement age doing the same job you were doing when you were 25.

From the standpoint of economics, seniority has no intrinsic value. Indeed, there are many professions in which mere experience is less valuable than the superior energy and adaptability of youth. It was therefore a foolish thing for labor unions, at their height of their power in the mid-20th century, to insist on the “last-hired, first-fired” principle of seniority which protected older workers, per se, at the expense of efficiency.

It’s a dog-eat-dog world, and if you think you can get ahead without improving your skills — constantly hustling to stay ahead of younger competitors in the work force — you’re at risk of becoming obsolete.

Excuse me if there’s no time to extend this into a full-blown essay. I’m still working as hard as I’ve ever worked in my life. Lots of the people I once worked with in the news business are now in some other line of work. 

Me? I’ve got a deadline for tomorrow’s American Spectator.

Category: Economics, Journalism

Rule 5 Sunday

Posted on | August 29, 2010 | 25 Comments

by Smitty

Rule 5 has always celebrated beauty and honor, and honors the outgoing Miss Venezuela, Stefania Fernandez, who handily crushed a tyrant with a flag, lighting up the following blogs with a bolt of Pure Awesome:

In this conceptual re-enactment, a white-haired Stefania Fernandez confronts and vanquishes the evil Chavez: Read more

Category: Rule 5
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