Year: 2011

The Educator’s Oath – How Times Have Changed

Calvin Freiburger bias, education, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, public schools

I just came across the “The Educator’s Oath,” written by Robert L. DeBruyn. Passages of special relevance have been emphasized:

I solemnly pledge to dedicate my life to the science of teaching.
I will give to those who are or have been my teachers the respect and gratitude which is their due.
I will practice my profession with conscience and dignity; the well-being of my students will be my primary concern always.
I will honor the position of parents and uphold public trust.
I will maintain by all the means in my power the honor of my profession. I will respect the privacy of students;
I will teach toward meeting the individual needs and abilities of students.
I will accept all engaged in education and regard all as my colleagues;
I will not permit considerations of religion, nationality, race, party politics, social standing, or the monetary rewards received from my labors to intervene between my duty and my students.
I will maintain utmost respect for human dignity and human values, and I will hold human caring and consideration as the fundamental value in the student-teacher relationship.
I make this promise solemnly, freely, and upon my oath for as long as I am engaged in education.

Lovely sentiments. It’s a shame the public education establishment no longer believes in them.

New on NewsReal – "Archie" Brings Obama and Palin Together, Does More Uniting Than the Real Uniter We Elected

Calvin Freiburger Barack Obama, comics, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, NewsReal, pop culture, Sarah Palin

My latest NewsRealBlog post:

Considering how often left-wing propaganda infiltrates our popular culture, it’s only fair that we acknowledge entertainment media that opts to remain above the fray. You may have heard about one such example: the current Archie story arc in which the comic-book world’s most beloved teenagers cross paths with Barack Obama and Sarah Palin. ComicsAlliance has a new preview of the latest issue’s first five pages, which cast the political powerhouses in some of the least partisan light they’ve ever been under.

The story so far: Archie and Reggie are competing for student council, and their respective supporters decide some star power is in order to boost their chances. Veronica arranges for Archie to be photographed with the visiting President of the United States, while Trula gets a snapshot of Reggie with the former Governor of Alaska. Unfortunately, neither politician knows he/she’s being used as an endorsement…

It’s possible that the final issue might contain subtle jabs at their guest stars, but the previewed pages suggest we’re in for a lighthearted tale that genuinely portrays Obama and Palin as spirited, good-natured patriots. Indeed, this playful imagery seems to be about as confrontational as things get:

Read the rest on NewsRealBlog.

The Tucson Shooting and the True State of American Political Discourse (Updated)

Calvin Freiburger bigotry, blogosphere, conservatism, debate, Democrats, dishonesty, evil, extremism, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, hypocrisy, Left, mainstream media, media bias, politics, responsibility, tone, violence

Bill Clinton. Keith Olbermann. Chris Matthews. Dick Durbin. Scott Feldstein. Jay Bullock. David Frum. Paul Krugman. The New York Times. Jonathan Alter. Bob Kerrey. James Clyburn. Joan Walsh. Robert Brady. Jon Justice, Jane Fonda, Michael Moore, Patton Oswald, Elizabeth Banks, Roger Ebert, John Legend, Josh Groban. Markos Moulitsas. Stuart Shapiro. Patrick Kennedy. Chris Liebenthal. John Kerry. Ed Schultz and Bill Press. Clarence Dupnik. Aaron Mehta.

This is but a partial list of politicians, journalists, bloggers, and celebrities who have chosen to use the horrific shooting in Tucson – which left six people dead, including a little girl, and a Congresswoman fighting for her life – as an opportunity to condemn conservatives and Republicans for allegedly inflammatory rhetoric. Some explicitly claim figures such as Rush Limbaugh or Sarah Palin are culpable for Jared Loughner’s actions, while others insinuate they are dangerously cultivating the sort of hatred and fear that could trigger similar acts in the future. *

Never mind that the perpetrator’s mentally-disturbed, violent tendencies are unrelated to politics. Never mind that the political indicators in his record, if anything, suggest hostility to God and an affinity for radical leftism.  Never mind that his hatred of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords had nothing to do with her or her party’s policies.

Jared Loughner thinks in gibberish, processes what he sees and hears in gibberish, and acts on gibberish. Yet we’re asked to hang our heads in shame about an alleged cause-effect relationship that leads from Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin straight to Loughner’s trigger finger?

Bull. I get the intent behind respectfully critiquing this line of attack as Allahpundit does, but doing so misses the point. The point is: this record has already been played time and time again. It’s broken. The people using this to smear conservatives know better. Some of the more shameless ones, like Frum and Feldstein, admit as much—they acknowledge Loughner’s real motives yet proceed to say we should use the opportunity to bash the Right’s “dangerous, irresponsible rhetoric” anyway.

None of this is sincere. We know because these leftist lies about conservatives are nothing new. When a Communist circulated Obama-as-Hitler posters, conservatives were blamed. MSNBC ran selective footage of a black man with a gun, to characterize him as a potentially trigger-happy white supremacist. Leftists have publicly advocated impersonating Tea Partiers. The media misrepresents polls to defame Tea Partiers. Phony quotes attributed to prominent conservatives are disseminated without hesitation.

We know because we have a decade’s worth of hatred, terrorism, anger, bigotry, dishonesty, and violence-inciting from scores of left-wing activists, celebrities, journalists, and public officials on the record. We have violence committed by leftists against conservatives, and violence committed by radical Islamists, for which leftists have a different standard. The online savagery of leftist commenters is the stuff of legend.

If any of these lying, two-faced, murder-exploiting bastards were even remotely concerned about the “tone” of American politics, they would have piped up when it was their side—their fellow travelers, their elected leaders, their favored media personalities—doing the “coarsening.” But with rare exception, they either ignore it outright, make excuses for it, or tell bald-faced lies about their side’s filth coming from “marginalized, unimportant people whose voices don’t carry too far.”

Sure. “Marginalized, unimportant people” like prominent MSNBC commentators Schultz and Olbermann. Like Rep. Alan Grayson, who Obama has showered with praise. Like the current Senate Majority Leader. Like Sen. Dick Durbin. Like Sen. Robert Byrd. Like Rep. Keith Ellison. Like the late Ted Kennedy. Like former DNC chair Terry McAuliffe and numerous other Democrat officeholders. Like former President Jimmy Carter. Like current President Barack Obama. Nah, those “voices don’t carry too far” at all…

You want to know why America’s got problems? Why our political discourse seems so degraded, so futile? Re-read the names comprising the first paragraph, and you’ll have one of the biggest answers. The answer isn’t that we don’t scrupulously follow arbitrary rules of decorum. The answer is that the conduct of bad people in government, in the media, and in the blogosphere has gone unchallenged for far too long. We criticize their misconduct one day, yet we smile at them and act as if it never happened the next. We’re so eager to demonstrate our reasonableness, our maturity that we keep reaching out to the other side, no matter what they do. It never seems to occur to us that they might be giving us a glimpse at their souls.

But these cretins—so consumed by hatred and bias, so devoid of morality, that they’ll exploit murder to hurt their political enemies—bring shame upon their professions and upon our country. Treating these smears like they’re sincere concerns legitimizes them, and guarantees that we’ll see more of this defamation in the future.

Enough. It’s time to stop pretending the participants of this smear campaign are decent people who’re simply misguided. It’s time to stop extending olive branches. To stop pretending it’s respectable to cast votes for them.  To stop giving their blogs and publications our attention and business.

And given the topic, let me be perfectly clear, to preempt anyone who would consider twisting my words against me: this is not a call to violence. The only just response to even evil speech is to exercise your own freedoms of speech and free association. To respond with physical force would be a failure of our human capacity for self-control, a violation of our foes’ God-given, unalienable rights, a betrayal of our respect for the rule of law as citizens in a free society, and a vote of no confidence in our ability to solve our problems through the public discourse and the democratic process.

This much is true: American political discourse is sick. How we react to the murder-exploiters among us will reveal whether or not we’re finally serious about healing it.

* UPDATE: The second paragraph has been modified from its original version to more accurately reflect the caveats made by some of those named. In the comments, Scott Feldstein requests that I remove his name entirely. That’s not going to happen, but his complaint did convince me that this change was in order, because I value truth and accuracy regardless of which political agendas they advance or hinder.

New on NewsReal – Race Police Turn on Roger Ebert Over Politically-Incorrect Tweets

Calvin Freiburger Uncategorized

My latest NewsRealBlog post:

The announced revisions of Mark Twain’s classic The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn—“replac[ing] the ‘N’ word with slave, ‘injun’ with Indian, and ‘half-breed’ with half blood”—have demonstrated that leftists don’t always practice what they preach when it comes to respecting artist’ creative work or sheltering children from controversial subject matter. Other leftists, however, will respond more consistently—and, if the controversy over Roger Ebert’s contribution to the debate is anything to go by, they’ll get pilloried by their own for doing so:

Ebert responded to the ‘Huck Finn’ announcement on Wednesday by tweeting to his 300,000-plus followers, “I’d rather be called a N***** than a Slave.”
The tweet set off a storm of heated feedback toward the influential critic, describing him as “disrespectful” and “ignorant.”

“Fair point, from some1 who’s likely to be called neither,” @urbanbohemian said.

Others accused Ebert of believing he’s allowed to take liberties with the word because his wife, Charlie “Chaz” Hammel-Smith, is black.
“R U OUT OF UR freakin head? jus cos ya wife is black dont give u the right to throw tht word around like its nothing. A*******” @iamichelle said.
Ebert retracted his statement Thursday by conceding that, as people like @urbanbohemian pointed out, he would never be called either word.

Ebert’s offense, I take it, is minimizing a slur whose full implications he as a white man can’t fully understand. True, Ebert doesn’t know what it’s like to endure such bigotry at all, much less have such experiences be a recurring part of daily life. But the observation that racial epithets can’t compare to actually being enslaved hardly implies that the word is “nothing”; indeed, the point seems so obviously true that no unique racial or cultural experience is necessary to understand it. Substitute the n-word for any number of racial, ethnic, cultural, or religious slurs—are any of them worse than being a slave?

Read the rest on NewsRealBlog.

Rave Reviews 6!

Calvin Freiburger blog, blogosphere, debate, extremism, fun, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, moonbats, personal attacks, Rave Reviews, stupidity

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Colorful complaints, lousy aims, illiterate corrections, nasty insinuations, blind rage, character assassination, toxic blends of arrogance and stupidity…you’ll find it all in the latest installment of Rave Reviews!
I’m not too impressed with Calvin Cheeseburger’s ability to analyze this situation. If this is what passes for a Hillsdale College intellect I am doubly disappointed. Please Horowitz, I know you are trying to help reform our crappy universities but why do you have a lot of these Jr. Jim Bobs writing this juvenile crap on your website? – iopscusa
All your response has done is prove that you are nothing more than an angry and horribly brainwashed blogger who makes false accusations and assumptions of anyone who would dare to question your indoctrination. – Aaron
You’re full of crap Calvin. –  Newsman
The people I wish to sway will not be convinced by prim chiding from doe-eyed innocents like Calvin Freiburger — however well-mannered they may be. If I am to be credible and effective, I must have something far more substantive to give them. –  Lori Heine
What astounds me is your ignorance, Really, really ignorant. But maybe I am wrong, perhaps you are one of the 821 people in america that have a passport, and quite worthy of opinion. – Anonymous
That’s just stupid. I would think that Mr. Freiburger would know better than to make such a silly statement. – LucasMcCain  
And behold a person who is willing to give up liberty for safety and deserves neither. – Joseph Veca
I read the exchange you had with him and you didn’t lay a glove on him. You obsession with Ron Paul and trying to prove he’s a bigot is laughable. This entire episode is about endless war for Israel. Israel Israel Israel. Our great ally Israel. – WilliamRD
All you’re references do is force me to go through pages of biased writing to click on links that lead to another bias website for ‘proof’. I understand if you’re opinions aren’t swayed but how can you not admit that you are wrong on his opinions. If you don’t like his policy that’s youre choice but you basically walk around spreading lies/half truths about Paul. – AlwaysTurning
…young Mr. Freiburger has become unhinged…what else would you expect from somebody who proudly displays Dr. Laura on his blogroll?  – conimbricenses
Did you actually write a smear article against a 75-year-old grandfather who’s done nothing more than stick to his principles for 30 years in Congress? …Have you ever met the guy? You’d be embarrassed by your words. You’ve never met less of a “demagoge” in your life. Ron Paul never asked to be a leader. For 28 years of his career (after being an OB/GYN for most of his life) he’s preached and practiced with humility and humbleness the same philosophy of liberty in a sea of corrupt statists… all without a fan club, all without the Tea Party. Calvin, where will YOU be when you’re 75? Fighting tooth and nail to restore liberty to Americans? Or will you just be sniping from your wheelchair on a war glorifying blog? – pimpfresh
By telling such blatant lies over and over again (and expanding them in some cases), you are actually smearing yourself. – deleted4026005
You’re just a Big-Government Republican; the level of taxation doesn’t seem to be an issue with you: rather, who gets to divvy up the stolen dough. – efffrem
I am just commenting on your in ability to understand his clear comments about issues previously discussed, which appears from some of your past comments to be a common theme. –  kwg1
More excuses for you personal attacks is another sign of a immature person. – aspacia
This is becoming too heartbreaking to read. – Jenn Q. Public
I don’t think you yourself was being level-headed and rational – but rather immune to sound argument. You never got it. Sorry. – Skandinav
You know you’re not allowed near any of my female friends or relatives now, right? –  Rob Taylor
Stop pretending that you are anything but a Christian Talibanist. Liberty offends you…You may think that you have me dead (I’m quite sure that the words “to rights” was an after thought) but all you have done is shown yourself repeatedly to despise liberty. – Reason_For_Life
So… why are you afraid of a group whose conservative street cred has been proven time and again, participating in a conservative event? Why do you fixate on the “gay” part of the phrase “gay conservatives”? – Jesse Hathaway
…a college kid in desperate search for a sinecure at some think tank in an attempt to prove his bonafides… – bvw
…totally deranged, neoconservative moonbattery…Calvin Freiburger and people like him are very confused, and very misinformed. – Wesley Messamore
People like Calvin are hacks and very far from anything intellectual. The most in depth literature he has probably ever read was probably something by Bill O’Reilly or Ann Coulture. – David Hazi  
The author is a complete fool.  I’m not just saying that because I disagree with him.  It’s because that’s what people who know Calvin on a personal level have told me. – Mike Phillips
…mean-spirited bozo… – Hec Jervae
Calvin – you’re a hack! Get a fuckin’ real job – join the Marines and head to Afgahnistan’s Kandahar Province for an 18 month tour. Calvin – are you buying gold/silver yet? Calvin – are you learning Chinese? – wailtd
You can feel his intensity and anger just reading his words. He’s pathetic. A waste of time. –  theCL
Hey Calvin why dont you go pop your mouth back on dick cheneys tit, stop pretending people read your crummy blog and get over it. not all of us get a raging hard on when thinking about pre-emptive nuking 3rd world countries. – calvin=idiot
pussy. – Frank
You would do well to mind your own hypocrisy before you begin to critique others’…Mr. Freiburger, to state this gently, you come across as a bully. – Dustin
In short, he reads like a liberal troll with a conservative ideology. I cannot imagine a worse combination of intellectual bankruptcy. – Lloyd
…overall it’s hopeless to try an make any type of point to this man… –  Kyle
Calvin Freiburger Online: Shouldn’t you be reading?

Nightmare in Arizona

Calvin Freiburger Congress, dishonesty, extremism, Gabrielle Giffords, insanity, Left, tragedy, violence

The shooting that took six lives, including a little girl and a judge, and have seriously injured Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, is absolutely sickening. Pray for the full recovery of those injured, and for comfort and peace for those who lost loved ones.

Donald Douglas and Walter Hudson have great round-ups of details about the shooter, a mentally-disturbed, gold-standard loving, atheistic, paranoid, anti-government fan of The Communist Manifesto. The info contained therein puts the lie to the dishonesty and hypocrisy of those blaming the shooting on everyone from Sarah Palin to the Tea Party movement to the Religious Right.

This is nothing new – leftists defame conservatives whenever violence is inflicted upon one of their own, and even when it isn’t. There’s not much more to say about it that hasn’t already been said, save reiterating the one thing everyone who hears this filth needs to understand.

This line of attack isn’t sincere. Those pursuing it know better. They don’t care what really motivates killers, or what conservatives do and don’t say. They say it anyway because they’re fundamentally indecent people. Period.

Coulter vs. Stossel on Drug Legalization

Calvin Freiburger conservatism, Coulter, drug legalization, drugs, Fox Business, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, libertarianism, order, society, Stossel

Not everyone on the Right has jumped on the “legalize it!” bandwagon. Here’s Ann Coulter on John Stossel’s Fox Business show, articulating the flip side of libertarians’ rosy predictions:
http://www.popmodal.com/nvp/player/nvplayer.swf?config=http://www.popmodal.com/nvp/econfig.php?key=c30751156cea2d60aacb

Around the Web, GOProud Edition

Calvin Freiburger blogosphere, Breitbart, conservatism, gay marriage, GOProud, homosexuality, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, LA Times, mainstream media, marriage, media, media bias, misc, NewsReal, RINOs, social issues

There are a couple noteworthy things in Los Angeles Times‘ report on the storm brewing over GOProud’s involvement in CPAC. First, the conference has lost its biggest name yet: the Heritage Foundation. Second comes a new indication that tolerating gay people isn’t the problem: “CPAC has refused to schedule a panel about traditional marriage.” Third, the paper quotes Family Research Council president Tony Perkins as emailing to supporters: “Conservatives and homosexuals cannot coexist in a movement predicated on social values.” But that’s not how the quote appears in FRC’s strong public statement: “Conservatives and homosexual activists cannot coexist in a movement predicated on social values.” Either Perkins changed his tune for public consumption, or the LA Times is lying. I’m gonna guess it’s the latter.

At NewsReal, David Swindle and the infamous Ryan Sorba are debating, “should gays be part of the conservative movement?” David’s correct as far as the debate goes, but frankly the whole conversation draws time and attention away from what the GOProud controversy is really about: not gay rights, but whether or not the radical gay agenda is infiltrating the conservative movement.

Speaking of confusing the issue, Andrew Breitbart’s take is more than a little disappointing: “even though I’m sensitive to the social conservative movement […] the treatment that they’re giving gay conservatives at CPAC deeply offends me.” Y’know what offends me, Andrew? Blatant misrepresentation of what’s going on. What treatment? Which gay conservatives have been mistreated? Details, please.

New on NewsReal – The Top 8 Most Conservative Episodes of "The Twilight Zone"

Calvin Freiburger conservatism, NewsReal, pop culture, Rod Serling, sci-fi, TV, Twilight Zone

My latest NewsRealBlog post:

There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone.


The Twilight Zone, Rod Serling’s classic series of strange and supernatural tales, is fondly remembered for living dolls, ghostly stalkers, and memorable aliens, but much of its success and staying power is owed to the profound messages at the heart of many of its episodes. Some stories—like the classic “Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?”—are pure escapist fun, but in keeping with a long-running tradition in science fiction, many use fantastical elements and premises to grapple with fundamental questions of morality, justice, and human nature.

And unlike the genre’s more contemporary offerings, the seriousness and care with which The Twilight Zone’s writers approached the subject matter leads, more often than not, to valuable lessons that all Americans can embrace. While not all of the following examples are strictly political in nature, they all complement or reinforce bedrock conservative philosophy, while undermining the psychological underpinnings of the Left.

(Spoiler Alert: the following pages will include discussion of the episode’s twist endings. Consider yourself warned.)

There’s a signpost up ahead. Next stop…

8.) “The Masks”
A wealthy, dying old man (Robert Keith) invites his money-grubbing children and grandchildren to celebrate one last Mardi Gras in an odd way: by wearing ghoulish masks until midnight, each a reflection of the wearer’s character flaws: cowardice, greed, vanity, and cruelty. They reluctantly agree, since Grandfather has made cooperation a prerequisite of his will. But even for a fortune, his self-absorbed family can’t resist complaining about the indignity of it all, and with his dying words, he bluntly explains the purpose:

Because you’re cruel and miserable people! Because none of you RESPOND to love! Emily responds only to what her petty hungers dictate, a prime example of this being her marriage to Wilfred… a marriage which broke her dear late mother’s heart, in every sense! Wilfred responds only to things that have weight and mass and gaugeable value! He MEASURES novels, he doesn’t experience them! He JUDGES artwork, he doesn’t seek out its beauty or its meaning! And Paula lives in a mirror; the world is nothing more to her than a reflection of herself. And her brother… Humanity to him is a small animal, caught in a trap, waiting to be tormented! His pleasure is the giving of pain, and from this he receives the same sense of fulfillment most people get from a kiss or an embrace! You’re CARICATURES, ALL of you! Even without your masks, you’re CARICATURES!

Once the clock strikes midnight and Grandfather’s drawn his last breath, the children can barely contain their excitement at the thought of their new riches. But to their horror, they discover their masks have twisted their real faces to reflect the ugliness of their souls.

Bad apples are one thing. Every movement has them. But when one surveys the Democrat Party, the mainstream media, and the academic world, it’s striking to note the viciousness, dishonesty, and opportunism that is not only tolerated, but rewarded by the Left. It makes you wonder what Michael Moore, William Ayers, or Keith Olbermann’s masks would look like…and it cautions conservatives to keep their own hearts pure.

Read the rest on NewsRealBlog.
 

New on NewsReal – The Real Story Behind Kathy Griffin’s War on the Palins: The Media Laps it Up

Calvin Freiburger Hollywood, media, NewsReal, Sarah Palin, Willow Palin

My latest NewsRealBlog post.

There are few personalities which more perfectly embody Hollywood’s decency deficit than alleged comedienne Kathy Griffin. Known more for attacks on Sarah Palin’s family than for anything resembling a career, Griffin’s latest bid for the spotlight is her New Year’s resolution that “it’s [sixteen-year-old] Willow’s turn to go down. In 2011, I want to offend a new Palin.”

Incredibly, Griffin is trying to pass her attacks on a politician’s teenage daughter off as a moral crusade:

Griffin’s publicist told ABCNews.com, “When any public person puts ‘your such a f****’ on their Facebook wall, they are guaranteed to make it into Kathy’s act.”

The backstory: on Jan. 1, Griffin told The Hollywood Reporter that Alaska’s former first family is on her radar. “I’ve already gone for Sarah, Todd and Bristol obviously,” she said. “But I think it’s Willow’s year to go down. In 2011, I want to offend a new Palin.”

Griffin’s reasoning: Willow Palin reportedly posted homophobic slurs on Facebook in November, and “You don’t throw around the f-word without hearing from me about it.”
The Palins did not immediately respond to ABCNews.com’s requests for comment.

Griffin has been vocal about stopping gay bullying since the apparent suicides of several gay teens in 2010. She donated her income from a Dec. 16 show to The Trevor Project, an organization aimed at helping teens deal with depression and thoughts of suicide.

Willow Palin is the daughter of a “public person”; to most people with a basic sense of decency and restraint, that does not make her a “public person,” too. And while this certainly makes for a cautionary tale about thinking before you post anything anywhere on the Internet, the Facebook pages of minors are not public forums.

Read the rest on NewsRealBlog.