I appreciate that Rove is called “the architect” by his admirers – possibly by virtue of transforming what should have been a walkover against an empty suit like John Kerry into a squeaker and meeting the attacks and slanders against the Bush administration with some of the most tepid and ineffectual responses in modern history (effectively surrendering the narrative to the Left) – but I’m sure this time he’s onto something.
People of Color at the Tea Parties
This video says it all:
This should obliterate the American people’s trust in the mainstream media for the foreseeable future.
Democrat Tax-Cut Propaganda Obliterated
Michael Eden at Start Thinking Right has a must-read article destroying the Democrats’ lies on tax cuts. Be sure to take the time to read the whole thing to learn all sorts of good stuff, not the least of which being the discovery of which radical right-wing corporate stooge said the following:
“Our tax system still siphons out of the private economy too large a share of personal and business purchasing power and reduces the incentive for risk, investment and effort – thereby aborting our recoveries and stifling our national growth rate.”
Huh
A couple weeks back, deranged commenter ObamaYoMama angrily accused me of lying when I characterized him as saying Islam’s “not really a religion.” So imagine my surprise (well, okay, I wasn’t that surprised) to see him today say that Islam “is not really a religion.” Huh.
Thoughts on 9/11
On September 11, I was still in middle school. Around the middle of an otherwise-unremarkable school day, we began to hear unsettling murmurs of a plane hitting a skyscraper somewhere. Near the end of the day, our English teacher told us that it was the World Trade Center, and two planes had been deliberately rammed into it, causing the towers to collapse and kill God knows how many people.
It was a sickening wake-up call. Such monstrosities simply didn’t happen on American soil outside of the movies. I had been starting to develop a mild interest in politics prior to 9/11 (due in large part to abortion), but the sudden death of 3,000 civilians for nothing more than getting on a plane or showing up to work in the morning drove home the urgency of political involvement. It wasn’t just far-away bickering; what our country did or didn’t do could have serious real-world implications. I was no soldier, but if I could use the skills I did have to prevent this from happening to anyone else again, I was in.
Nine years later, the political landscape isn’t as neatly divided between right and wrong, problem and solution as it once seemed – as admirably steadfast as he was in the beginning, George W. Bush’s execution of the Iraq War and his failure to root out political correctness in the military may have disastrous long-term ramifications for the war, and the libertarian trends in the Tea Party movement are threatening to take the Right’s eye off the ball entirely. Even so, the broad strokes are still there:
Either we believe in fighting those who wish us harm, or we don’t.
Either we believe in denying them the means to cause mass destruction, or we don’t.
Either we believe in honestly examining their motives – including religious – or we don’t.
Either we understand that endlessly talking to the irrational is itself irrational, or we don’t.
Either we understand that those who want us dead will accept no concession other than our death, or we don’t.
Either we see 9/11 for what it was – pure, unadulterated evil – and understand the ramifications for our future, or we don’t.
We don’t need new investigations into what “really” happened. We don’t need hand-wringing about whether or not we deserved it in some way, or whether or not we’re becoming the bad guys in response. We don’t need to keep indulging those who insist on lying about us and about our enemies. We simply need to ask ourselves whether or not we’re prepared to pay any price or bear any burden to prevent it from happening again.
Rave Reviews 5!
Ladies and gentlemen, after a long, inexcusable hiatus, I’m thrilled to announce that Rave Reviews is back! We’ve got a lot of catching up to do, so sit back and feel the love!
“I bet he’s also one of Tom Krannawitter’s lapdogs…er…lapcats?” – Conimbricenses
“Don’t even pretend like you’re interested in a debate. You’ve already made up your mind…Your and other’s immaturity is the reason why I left the Republican party.” – Eagle
“I stand by my original contention that Sean Hannity is a racist and that Mr. Freiburger’s defense of said racism suggests that he too might harbor the same sentiments…He really is overinflated with his sense of self-importance.” – Priscilla
“Damn Calvin, I never dreamed you could stoop so low. But, unfortunately, I was obviously wrong… you couldn’t be more naïve… silly and asinine… extremely sensitive political correct sensibilities.” – ObamaYoMama
“Behold the ‘Vitriolic Right’ for whom all politics is personal, nasty & vicious.” – John Guardiano
“Holy cow, what a blowhard!… a loudmouth undergrad from a joke of a college with an unread blog who looks like a nerdier Harry Potter.” – anon
“Gee Calvin, you must have taken ‘Attempted Insult Lessons 101’…” – Pat
“Don’t give Calvin a pass on being a class A tool himself.” – Scott Feldstein
“Many of the posters here, especially ‘Calvin,’ should come to the realization that courts don’t give a flaming rat’s ass what you personally think, nor does anyone else in the entire world except you.” – Zorky
“Is this what passes for honest intellectual debate at Hillsdale these days? That’s a sad and surprising revelation if so.” – M. O’Neal
“You surely attempt to sound middle ground on this and fair. But you really aren’t.” – Robert
“I believe Mr. Freiburger writes these pieces so often because he is extremely insecure.” – Mike
“What nonsense!” – tramky
“Nice article, although you misunderstand Christianity.” – @InvisibleAir
“Your hatred of Obama is really off the charts. Where were you when Bush Jr was wrecking the country and the world?” – ganymede
“Yet the Puritan need to control and “perfect” others continues – on the right and the left. Give it up. The world can’t take any more of your good intentions.” – R Sweeney
“Don’t waste your time with Calvin Freiburger. He is the most intellectually dishonest person I have encountered to the right of Karl Marx.” – The Inquisitor
“Even if you aren’t violent, you are fanning the flames, inciting those that may be on the edge. There is more at stake here than whether someone is for or against the issue. There is the rule of law. This misogynistic thinking imitates Sharia law. This is America.” – Naomi Litvin
“Calvin, you are being deliberately obtuse.” – Optimus Maximus
“Your analogous safety-fascist measures all decrease safety… It is precisely the lack of principled commitment to freedom you exemplify that has allowed liberty to recede and tyranny to gain ground in America.” – Tim Starr
“Calvin, it appears you have forgotten what America is all about! Oh no!” – britney12
“‘Conservatives’ like you are no friend to truth.” – headjanitor
“When you can’t answer a question, simply attempt to mock the questioner.” – QSuzy
“You’re obviously a leftist posing as a conservative to meet your own ends, whatever those may be. Either that or you’re a practicing homosexual yourself.” – Trucon
“You can take your totalitarianism and shove it up your a$$ with a d!ld0.” – aspacia
“You definitely have an anger management problem. It seems anyone disagreeing with your interpretation of history ends up with comments about them like the ones above. Grow up!” – kwg1
“Calvin, you REALLY don’t want me to start in on your writing style. To be honest a lot of your work resembles a right wing version of the Huffington Post screed.” – Joseph Veca
Calvin Freiburger Online: shouldn’t you be reading?
Rave Reviews 5!
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Ladies and gentlemen, after a long, inexcusable hiatus, I’m thrilled to announce that Rave Reviews is back! We’ve got a lot of catching up to do, so sit back and feel the love!
“I bet he’s also one of Tom Krannawitter’s lapdogs…er…lapcats?” – Conimbricenses
“Don’t even pretend like you’re interested in a debate. You’ve already made up your mind…Your and other’s immaturity is the reason why I left the Republican party.” – Eagle
“I stand by my original contention that Sean Hannity is a racist and that Mr. Freiburger’s defense of said racism suggests that he too might harbor the same sentiments…He really is overinflated with his sense of self-importance.” – Priscilla
“Damn Calvin, I never dreamed you could stoop so low. But, unfortunately, I was obviously wrong… you couldn’t be more naïve… silly and asinine… extremely sensitive political correct sensibilities.” – ObamaYoMama
“Behold the ‘Vitriolic Right’ for whom all politics is personal, nasty & vicious.” – John Guardiano
“Holy cow, what a blowhard!… a loudmouth undergrad from a joke of a college with an unread blog who looks like a nerdier Harry Potter.” – anon
“Gee Calvin, you must have taken ‘Attempted Insult Lessons 101’…” – Pat
“Don’t give Calvin a pass on being a class A tool himself.” – Scott Feldstein
“Many of the posters here, especially ‘Calvin,’ should come to the realization that courts don’t give a flaming rat’s ass what you personally think, nor does anyone else in the entire world except you.” – Zorky
“Is this what passes for honest intellectual debate at Hillsdale these days? That’s a sad and surprising revelation if so.” – M. O’Neal
“You surely attempt to sound middle ground on this and fair. But you really aren’t.” – Robert
“I believe Mr. Freiburger writes these pieces so often because he is extremely insecure.” – Mike
“What nonsense!” – tramky
“Nice article, although you misunderstand Christianity.” – @InvisibleAir
“Your hatred of Obama is really off the charts. Where were you when Bush Jr was wrecking the country and the world?” – ganymede
“Yet the Puritan need to control and “perfect” others continues – on the right and the left. Give it up. The world can’t take any more of your good intentions.” – R Sweeney
“Don’t waste your time with Calvin Freiburger. He is the most intellectually dishonest person I have encountered to the right of Karl Marx.” – The Inquisitor
“Even if you aren’t violent, you are fanning the flames, inciting those that may be on the edge. There is more at stake here than whether someone is for or against the issue. There is the rule of law. This misogynistic thinking imitates Sharia law. This is America.” – Naomi Litvin
“Calvin, you are being deliberately obtuse.” – Optimus Maximus
“Your analogous safety-fascist measures all decrease safety… It is precisely the lack of principled commitment to freedom you exemplify that has allowed liberty to recede and tyranny to gain ground in America.” – Tim Starr
“Calvin, it appears you have forgotten what America is all about! Oh no!” – britney12
“‘Conservatives’ like you are no friend to truth.” – headjanitor
“When you can’t answer a question, simply attempt to mock the questioner.” – QSuzy
“You’re obviously a leftist posing as a conservative to meet your own ends, whatever those may be. Either that or you’re a practicing homosexual yourself.” – Trucon
“You can take your totalitarianism and shove it up your a$$ with a d!ld0.” – aspacia
“You definitely have an anger management problem. It seems anyone disagreeing with your interpretation of history ends up with comments about them like the ones above. Grow up!” – kwg1
Around the Web
Chris Barnhart has a series of thoughtful observations on a Florida group planning to burn Korans this September 11.
What does the 14th Amendment’s citizenship clause really mean?
What kind of sex-obsessed nut do you have to be to consider the Left too puritanical on sex-related issues?
This weekend, I counted down the top seven manifestations of education bias in America for NewsReal. Zombie has some solutions.
Barack Obama can’t stop whining about his job. Y’know, Barry, if we’re too mean for your, you don’t have to run again in 2012….
Ye Hypocrites!
James Jae Lee, the guy who held the Discovery Channel offices hostage, was a nut. He alone was responsible for his actions. It is, however, noteworthy that our culture’s self-proclaimed arbiters of virtue and civility in the media, who see virtually every expression of conservative speech or activism as a potential catalyst for murder and mayhem, don’t seem all that interested about Lee’s stated leftist influences. It’ll be interesting to see if anyone even calls him an eco-terrorist.
Not surprisingly, the biggest hypocrite turns out to be Drama Rat himself, Charles Johnson, who actually has the gall to lecture us about not smearing an entire movement with the actions of one nut. Again: least self-aware blogger EVER.
John Guardiano Responds, Fails (Updated)
As much as I once applauded and cited some of John Guardiano’s work, I could never get over his devotion to the deplorable David Frum, whose dishonesty should repulse all men of goodwill, regardless of political leanings. But his increasingly-hyperbolic attacks on Islam’s critics – including falsely accusing Andy McCarthy of wanting to strip Muslims of First Amendment protection – have confirmed that he and Frum are two peas in a pod.
Guardiano has responded to my post on that point. Since the evidence he originally offered was bogus, he now claims the proof is in McCarthy’s latest book, where McCarthy discusses how Islam is not merely a religion, but also a comprehensive social and political program, and therefore not everything that falls under the banner of “Islam” is constitutionally protected.
The problem, of course, is that McCarthy’s right about both Islam and the general principle that not every “religious” act is covered by freedom of religion. Witch-burning is just one of many things that members of other religions could claim their faith demands; would Guardiano say that by making such an obvious statement, I’m advocating denying First Amendment protection to Puritans? Further, neither statement comes close to claiming that Muslims deserve no religious liberty, or that no aspect of Islam is constitutionally protected.
So, yes, John, you lied about Andy McCarthy, because – like the deranged blowhard you work for – you are psychologically disposed to assume the worst from people who say things the “wrong” way.
I just have three more things to say to John. First, how can you in good conscience write for such a dishonest, demagogic website as FrumForum? Second, as David Swindle has noted, you have yet to clearly demonstrate that your foes’ assessment of Islam is wrong. Lastly, yes, I believe the Founders would respect Muslims’ true religious liberties, it’s worth noting which assessment of Islam our forefathers would find more accurate. Hint: it’s not yours.
Update: In response, whining about “nastiness.” If I were him, I’d be more concerned about having allied myself with the dishonest “Right” rather than the “vitriolic.”
Conservative Standards 