The ecstasy of Barack
Much has been made of the religious tenor of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.
Reports of women weeping and swooning—even of an audience applauding when The One cleared his proboscis (blew his nose for you mortals)—have become frequent events in the heavenly realm of Obi-Wan Obama.
His rhetoric, meanwhile, drips with hints of resurrection, redemption and second comings. “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for,” he said on Super Tuesday night. And his people were glad.
Actually, they were hysterical, the word that best describes what surrounds this young savior and that may be more apt than we imagine. The word is derived from the Greek hystera, or womb. The ancient Greeks considered hysteria a psychoneurosis peculiar to women caused by disturbances of the uterus.
Well, you don’t see any men fainting in Obi’s presence.
Barack Obama has many appealing qualities, not least his own reluctance to be swaddled in purple. Nothing quite says, “I’m only human” like whipping out a hankie and blowing one’s nose in front of 17,000 admirers. The audience’s applause was reportedly awkward, as if the crowd was both approving of anything their savior did, but a little disappointed at this rather ungodly behavior.
So what is the source of this infatuation with Obama? How to explain the hysteria? The religious fervor? The devotion? The weeping and fainting and utter euphoria surrounding a candidate who had the audacity to run for leader of the free world on a platform of mere hope?
If anthropologists made predictions the way meteorologists do, they might have anticipated Obama’s astronomical rise to supernova status in 2008 of the Common Era. Consider the cultural coordinates, and Obama’s intersection with history becomes almost inevitable.
To play weatherman for a moment, he is a perfect storm of the culture of narcissism, the cult of celebrity, and a secular society in which fathers (both the holy and the secular) have been increasingly marginalized from the lives of a generation of young Americans.
All of these trends have been gaining momentum the past few decades. Social critic Christopher Lasch named the culture of narcissism a generation ago and cited addiction to celebrity as one of the disease’s symptoms—all tied to the decline of the family.
That culture has merely become more exaggerated as spiritual alienation and fatherlessness have collided with technology (YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, etc.) that enables the self-absorption of the narcissistic personality.
Grown-ups with decades under their double chins may have a variety of reasons for supporting Obama, but the youth who pack convention halls and stadiums as if for a rock concert constitute a tipping point of another order.
One of Obama’s TV ads, set to rock ‘n’ roll, has a Woodstock feel to it. Text alternating with crowd scenes reads: “We Can Change The World” and “We Can Save The Planet.”
Those are some kind of campaign promises. The kind no mortal could possibly keep, but never mind. Obi-Wan Obama is about hope—and hope, he’ll tell you, knows no limits.
It is thus no surprise that the young are enamored of Obama. He’s a rock star. A telegenic, ultra-bright redeemer fluent in the planetary language of a cosmic generation. The force is with him.
But underpinning that popularity is something that transcends mere policy or politics. It is hunger, and that hunger is clearly spiritual. Human beings seem to have a yearning for the transcendent—hence thousands of years of religion—but we have lately shied away from traditional approaches and old gods.
Thus, in post-Judeo-Christian America, the sports club is the new church. Global warming is the new religion. Vegetarianism is the new sacrament. Hooking up, the new prayer. Talk therapy, the new witnessing. Tattooing and piercing, the new sacred symbols and rituals.
And apparently, Barack Obama is the new messiah.
Here’s how a 20-year-old woman in Seattle described that Obama feeling: “When he was talking about hope, it actually almost made me cry. Like it really made sense, like, for the first, like, whoa...”
This New Age glossolalia may be more sonorous than the guttural emanations from the revival tent, but the emotion is the same. It’s all religion by any other name.
Whatever the Church of Obama promises, we should not mistake this movement for a renaissance of reason. It is more like, well, like whoa.
Editor’s Note: Washington’s Birthday
As some readers may have noted, we neglected to mention “Presidents’ Day” in our Monday Brief (http://archive.PatriotPost.US/pub/08-08_Brief/), though we can’t say we regret the oversight. The practice of jointly recognizing Presidents George Washington (http://PatriotPost.US/histdocs/gwfarewell.html) and Abraham Lincoln (http://PatriotPost.US/alexander/edition.asp?id=465) hasn’t always been standard. As friend of The Patriot Matthew Spalding, a Heritage Foundation (http://www.heritage.org/) scholar, reminds: “Contrary to popular opinion, no action by Congress or order by any President has changed ‘Washington’s Birthday’ to ‘Presidents’ Day’.” However, today is Washington’s birthday, a date we in our shop are glad to mark.
In honor of our first and (we believe) greatest President, and, arguably, our nation’s most outstanding Patriot, we include two quotes from George Washington which best embody his dedication to liberty and God. The first from his First Inaugural Address, 30 April 1789, and the second from his Farewell Address, 19 September 1796.
“The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the republican model of government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American People.”
“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great Pillars of human happiness—these firmest props of the duties of Men and citizens.”
These quotes aptly sum up The Patriot Post’s mission and purpose.
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
News from the Swamp: The GOP doesn’t get it
Shame on House Republicans for passing over Rep. Jeff Flake of Arizona for an open GOP seat on the Appropriations Committee this week, opting instead for Jo Bonner of Alabama. Flake is arguably the most consistent crusader against earmarks in Congress, and he holds a perfect record in voting for amendments to kill earmarked legislation. He has seniority over Bonner, who can claim an almost perfect record in voting against those same amendments. So why Bonner and not Flake? Perhaps because House Republican leaders are afraid that Flake’s commitment to end profligate federal spending is so sincere that it would harm their own greedy pork projects. They should get wise to the reality of the situation. The GOP ended up in the congressional minority because of its spendthrift ways. It’s painfully obvious that most Republicans in Congress have still not learned the lessons of 2006 and are still not committed to their own party’s platform of limited government. With “leadership” like this, the GOP is likely to stay in the minority.
More bad news: House Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Dan Beard announced that the House Republican website calling attention to earmarks will be shut down because it doesn’t comply with regulations. So much for transparency. There is some good news, however. Last week, we reported that Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ), a stalwart conservative, had decided not to seek re-election this year. After petitions and letters from conservatives around the country (including 146 GOP representatives) pleading with Shadegg to stay, he changed his mind Thursday, saying, “I will campaign for re-election this fall.”
Nominees twisting in the wind
As President Bush’s second term draws to a close, we note a lingering problem, persistent for most of his two terms. There are over 180 qualified nominees presented to the Senate by the President that have yet to receive a confirmation vote. The President went after Democrats on the issue once again, saying, “When men and women agree to serve in public office, we should treat them with respect and dignity, and that means giving them a prompt confirmation vote.” What many don’t realize is that there are dozens and dozens of unfilled positions in the Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Reserve, the Department of Justice and other important federal agencies because Senate Democrats would rather play partisan politics than fulfill their constitutional duty. Some of the most important vacancies are on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has turned decidedly left as a result. “These delays are irresponsible, they undermine the cause of justice, and I call on the United States Senate to give these nominees the up or down vote they deserve,” the President said. However, with President Bush in his last year in office and Democrats banking on one of their own to win the White House in November, it is unlikely they will fill these vacancies now, hoping to populate the bureaucracy with their fellow travelers next year.
Campaign watch: Obama’s commanding lead
John McCain and Barack Obama both won handily in their parties’ respective primaries on Tuesday—McCain in Washington and Wisconsin, Obama in Wisconsin and Hawaii. Obama has won ten straight contests since Super Tuesday—by an average of more than 30 percentage points—giving him a sizeable delegate lead over Hillary Clinton. The Clinton campaign reportedly ended January $7.6 million in debt and is betting the house on the Texas and Ohio primaries on 4 March, in which more than 200 delegates are up for grabs. Unfortunately for Clinton, however, the Teamsters’ endorsement of Obama could be a key factor in Ohio. The Service Employees International Union and the United Food and Commercial Workers also endorsed his this past week. Meanwhile, Clinton’s black supporters are beginning to wonder if the time has come to jump ship and join Obama. Some party leaders are looking to none other than Al Gore to broker a deal that could keep the nomination fight between the two from ending in a debilitating brawl at the convention. Yet considering Al and Hillary’s mutual abhorrence, any such negotiation is unlikely. Besides, Obama has no reason to give up the fight, and Clinton simply won’t give up, no matter the consequences. Call it pathology, but the Clintons are not going to lose graciously. Asked if she’s going to stay in the race if she loses Texas and/or Ohio, Clinton predicted, “I don’t make predictions. I never have, I never will.” Um, right. That whistling sound you hear is not the remains of an obliterated spy satellite; it’s the once-high-flying Clinton campaign plummeting toward earth.
McCain pledges no new taxes
George Stephanopoulos, host of ABC’s “This Week,” got John McCain to pledge last Sunday that he would not raise taxes as president. McCain went further to state that even if the economy worsened, he would not raise taxes. McCain has taken a lot of heat from conservatives for voting against the Bush tax cuts in 2001 and 2003, while using leftist class-warfare rhetoric to defend his votes. At the time he expressed concern that the cuts would unfairly favor the rich: “I cannot in good conscience support a tax cut in which so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate among us at the expense of middle-class Americans who most need tax relief.” As for the pledge, readers will recall that George H.W. Bush made a similar pledge not to raise taxes in 1988 in his efforts to appease the more conservative elements of the GOP. “Read my lips” soon entered the Hall of Fame for broken campaign promises when the elder Bush reversed himself in office two years later, eventually losing the White House to Bill Clinton. Let’s hope that McCain doesn’t make the same mistake as Bush 41, should he get that far.
NYT hit piece on McCain
Timing is everything. Just as John McCain has all but wrapped up the Republican presidential nomination, The New York Times, which by the way endorsed the senator on the GOP side, trotted out an old scandal story they have been holding for some time. During McCain’s 2000 campaign, anonymous advisors apparently became concerned because “[a] female lobbyist had been turning up with him at fund-raisers, visiting his offices and accompanying him on a client’s corporate jet.” These anonymous sources feared that the relationship had become romantic. And that pretty much sums up the entirety of The Times’ story, though they managed to ramble on for more than 3,000 words. For his part, McCain said, “I’m very disappointed in the article. It’s not true.” The lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, also denies “special” treatment from McCain. Of course, their denials will not weigh as heavily as the allegations. The Times’ goal of damage was met by headlining a non-story. The Times, though, may have inadvertently succeeded in rallying the Republican base around McCain—something that McCain himself has heretofore been unable to do. How? By reminding all conservatives who their real enemy is.
From the (far) Left: Obama’s communist mentor
While Senator Barack Obama has been touting himself as the candidate for change, one thing he has conveniently not been advertising is his close relationship while growing up with Frank Marshall Davis, a known communist writer and member of the Communist Party USA. In his book, Dreams from My Father, Obama tells of “a poet named Frank” who cautioned the young future senator before he left for college against forgetting his “people” and against “believing what they tell you about equal opportunity and the American way and all that [stuff].” This is the same Frank who, according to Professor Gerald Horne, a contributing editor of Political Affairs, the Communist Party journal, “befriended” the Obama family after moving to Hawaii from Kansas.
Obama followed the ideologies of his mentor, openly attending socialist conferences and brushing elbows with the Democratic Socialists of America. While he vehemently denies being a “hard-core academic Marxist,” his socialist-inspired philosophies often belie that claim.
In January, the communist newspaper People’s Weekly World published a letter from a supporter celebrating Obama’s Iowa caucuses victory as “more than a progressive move; it was a dialectical leap ushering in a qualitatively new era of struggle.” The letter goes on to say, “Marx once compared revolutionary struggle with the work of the mole, who sometimes burrows so far beneath the ground that he leaves no trace of his movement on the surface. This is the old revolutionary ‘mole,’ not only showing his traces on the surface but also breaking through.”
There is an inherent contradiction in seeking to become the next leader of the free world while clinging to Marxist philosophy. Common sense dictates that one who would bear the standard of liberty should embrace its philosophies. Unfortunately, common sense has become rather uncommon in today’s political arena. Had it not, perhaps more scrutiny would be directed toward a certain senator from Illinois who grasps Marxist ideologies with one hand and seeks to lead the United States of America with the other.
To highlight that contradiction, we have created our own Obama ‘08 bumper sticker (http://PatriotShop.US/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=732) and T-shirt (http://PatriotShop.US/product_info.php?cPath=35&products_id=731) for The Patriot Shop. These are direct parodies of Barack’s own products, and include the famous mug of murderous commie thug Che Guevara (http://PatriotPost.US/news/obamas_campaign_office.asp)—as worn by dirty hippies everywhere—over the blue stripes of the Cuban flag. Yes, some leftists may actually like the design, but we think that only serves to further the point.
This week’s ‘Alpha Jackass’ award
“[F]or the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country, and not just because Barack has done well, but I think people are hungry for change.”—Would-be First Lady Michelle Obama
Barack Obama later defended his wife: “What she meant was this is the first time that she’s been proud of the politics of America. She has seen large numbers of people get involved in the process, and she’s encouraged.”
Nice try. The Obamas fit in nicely within the “blame America” crowd and apparently missed things like our nation’s unity and resolve after 9/11; its victory in the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall; the first black Supreme Court Justice and first (and second) black Secretary of State, just for starters.
Michelle, who along with her husband boasts multiple Ivy League degrees and professional successes, might do well to recall the words of a real patriot, George Washington: “The name of American, which belongs to you... must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism.”
Around the world: Castro steps down
Fidel Castro, Maximum Leader of the penal camp that is modern Cuba, and darling of the American Left, announced this week that he is resigning his official position due to health issues. Castro has been in increasingly poor health since a series of hushed-up surgeries in 2006. While his successor has not yet been named, his brother Raul is the most likely candidate. Nothing like freedom, eh?
One thing that stuck out was, naturally, the mainstream media’s coverage of this last remaining relic of the Soviet satellite system. Here’s what The Washington Post had to say: “Along the way, the son of a wealthy sugar farmer from Cuba’s windswept eastern province inspired a new generation of left-leaning Latin American leaders, backed Marxist revolutions from Central American to Africa, survived CIA-financed assassination attempts and stood defiant against a decades-long U.S. trade embargo.” Reuters called him a “head of state” and a “charismatic leader” who was “admired in the Third World for standing up to the United States but considered by his opponents a tyrant who suppressed freedom.” One man’s Communist dictator...
Amazingly, it was left to The New York Times to state the plain truth: “[Castro] turned his back on those democratic ideals, embraced a totalitarian brand of communism and allied the island with the Soviet Union. He brought the world to the brink of nuclear war in the fall of 1962 when he allowed Russia to build missile-launching sites just 90 miles off the American shores. He weathered an American-backed invasion and used Cuban troops to stir up revolutions in Africa and Latin America.” Let us then bid a not-so-fond and long-overdue farewell to this “charismatic” tyrant. And let us hope that the long-suffering Cuban people can one day soon join the community of free nations.
NATIONAL SECURITY
Homeland Security front: Politics first
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi put politics before national security last week when she blocked a bipartisan bill that would have provided litigative immunity to telephone companies which helped their government conduct surveillance on terrorists after 9/11. The bill received broad support in the Senate, and about 40 Democrats in the House also favored it. Telcos which cooperated with the intelligence community are currently the defendants in more than 40 lawsuits totaling over $40 billion. The result of these lawsuits is that telco executives have become reluctant to wiretap suspected terrorists, hindering our nation’s ability to fight the War on Terror. By blocking the telco-immunity provision, Nancy Pelosi has effectively said that she expects agencies like the NSA to listen to our enemies without the use of ears, and that companies who have helped catch terrorists should be punished. Not surprisingly, the ACLU praised Pelosi and her fellow Democrats for blocking the bill.
However, the ACLU suffered a setback on Tuesday when the Supreme Court declined to hear its appeal on an NSA wiretap lawsuit. A lower court had ruled that the plaintiff had no standing to sue because it couldn’t prove that it had been wiretapped, and the Supreme Court agreed. Unfortunately, this single decision will probably have little effect on the willingness of telcos to cooperate with the intelligence community. Wiretapping without immunity will continue to make telcos the target of lawsuits, and executives who cooperate with the government anyway could be sued by shareholders for putting their companies at legal risk.
Department of Military Readiness: Satellite down
Bull’s-eye! Wednesday evening, the U.S. Navy missile cruiser USS Lake Erie fired a modified SM-3 anti-ballistic missile (ABM) interceptor and destroyed a U.S. spy satellite that had failed in 2006 shortly after reaching orbit. The Pentagon ordered the shoot-down in hopes of destroying the satellite’s onboard tank of fuel, 1,000 pounds of hydrazine, an extremely corrosive and dangerous compound that, had it survived reentry and landed in a populated area, could have injured or killed people who came in contact with it. Of course, it might also have had something to do with the fact that the satellite was one of the most advanced ever launched, and the U.S. was not about to let it fall into the wrong hands. Shortly after the strike, a senior defense official close to the mission said it appeared that the tank and fuel were destroyed. Because the satellite was already in low, decaying orbit, almost all of the debris will reenter and burn up within a few days, unlike the Chinese anti-satellite test in January 2007, which left a cloud of debris in orbit that threatened numerous satellites.
While destroying the hydrazine may have been the publicly expressed mission of the intercept, there is absolutely no doubt that the Pentagon also wanted to execute this mission in order to test further its fledgling ABM system under operational conditions. The satellite was, after all, traveling at 17,000 mph. Much to consternation of Russia, China and the Left, it worked magnificently once again. Anyone thinking of launching a missile at the U.S. will now have another large seed of doubt as to whether said missile could actually make it. Well done, Navy! The Gipper must be smiling.
This week’s ‘Braying Jenny’ Award:
“I feel at great pain when the spotlight is on the death of 4,000 American soldiers, while 600,000 Iraqi deaths are ignored. War is not a movie, it is a tragedy of dead bodies, victims, the disabled, orphans, widows and the displaced.”—actress Sharon al-Stone in an interview with the Arab newspaper, Al-Hayat
Not only are Stone’s figures completely made up but she never bothered to complain about how many Iraqis Saddam murdered. Or maybe that’s where she got “600,000.”
Profiles of valor: USAF Tech. Sgt. Sudlow
United States Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jeremy Sudlow of Pandora, Ohio, toured in Iraq leading the 424th Medium Truck Detachment on supply convoys that logged more than 434,000 miles on some of the world’s most dangerous roads. The cargo in Sudlow’s convoys allowed Coalition forces to maintain their operational tempo and complete their respective missions. Despite the constant threat of IEDs and car bombs, Sudlow and Detachment 424 escorted 4,680 tractor-trailers and protected 2,300 foreign-national drivers. By taking the initiative to upgrade the convoy vehicles under his command with “Go-Lights” and sirens, Sudlow substantially increased the safety of his men and their chances of success. Sudlow also helped capture a group of thieves who had stolen military and civilian equipment from his convoy. For his service, he was awarded the Bronze Star, the military’s fourth-highest combat award.
Immigration front: Blue state progress
Slowly but surely, even those in the bluest of states are coming to realize that illegal immigration is a problem. Using Arizona legislation (http://archive.PatriotPost.US/pub/08-07_Digest/page-3.php) as an example, New Jersey Senate Majority Leader Stephen Sweeney placed his support behind a measure to get tough on businesses which knowingly hire any of the estimated half-million illegal aliens in New Jersey, including pulling the business licenses of repeat offenders. As expected, the Garden State business community doesn’t take kindly to the idea. New Jersey Chamber of Commerce Vice President Jim Leonard pointed out, “[C]reating a patchwork of laws on this issue throughout the nation makes it even more difficult to run a business.” He said the issue is one best handled on the federal level—and one can see how well that has worked.
An example of the federal government dropping the ball on the issue was brought up in neighboring Pennsylvania, where Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) called on Washington to end the catch and release of illegals who aren’t deported once their jail terms are up. Specter claimed Pennsylvania was spending $20 million a year on incarcerating aliens, a cost reimbursed by the federal government. One idea floated by Specter was for the Secretary of State to limit visas from countries slow in reaccepting their citizens, with reducing foreign aid to recalcitrant nations as a further step.
Kosovo declares independence
Seventeen years after the breakup of Yugoslavia began, the last region under Serbian rule has declared its independence. Kosovo, a predominately Muslim territory composed mostly of ethnic Albanians, officially broke with Serbia on Sunday. The United States and a number of other Western countries immediately recognized its status as a nation. Among the nations that refused to recognize the newborn state, however, are Greece and Spain (which don’t want to encourage their own separatist movements), and Serbia and Russia (which oppose self-determination in general). Serbia has pledged to do everything in its power short of military intervention to oppose Kosovo’s independence, which in Balkan terms is probably a sign of progress. The Serbs killed between 10,000-12,000 Kosovars in the 1996-1999 Kosovo War, and at least 3,000 more are still missing. Since 1999, Kosovo has been a United Nations protectorate occupied by 16,000 international peacekeepers. Kosovars tend to be moderate Muslims, and they hold a high opinion of the United States as a result of our efforts to contain their chief tormentor, the late Serb President Slobodan Milosevic. If Kosovo has its way, it will be a democracy that enjoys normal relations with the European Union and the United States. We wish the Kosovars Godspeed in their new endeavor.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
Americans vote with their feet
A recent survey by United Van Lines reveals some interesting patterns in the movement of Americans from state to state. An average of 20,000 Americans relocate across state lines each year, with a definite pattern of households moving from the Northeast and the Midwest to Southern and Western states.
What’s responsible for this overwhelming pattern? The most reliable indicator is that folks are moving from states with high income-tax rates to states with little or no income taxes. There are, of course, many reasons why families relocate, but it’s instructive to note that, of the eight states that have no income tax (Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming), every last one has gained in net domestic migrants.
North Dakota lost a greater percentage of citizens than all but one other state, Michigan, while South Dakota ranked in the top 12 states to which people are moving in droves. The two states are very similar, except for one big difference: North Dakota has an income tax; South Dakota does not. Similarly, tax-and-spend California is experiencing a dramatic loss of highly educated, upper-income households to neighboring Nevada, which—you guessed it—has no income tax.
Politicians assure us that Americans are willing to pay higher taxes for the sake of more government services, but these demographic trends reveal otherwise. The lesson for state legislatures is clear: Keep raising taxes, and there won’t be anyone left to tax.
The flat tax: Great idea, great reality
Taxation is always a topic in an election season. Democrats argue for more taxes, while Republicans at least talk as if they want less, though the differences usually amount to Republicans wanting taxes to grow at a slightly slower rate than Democrats would prefer. There isn’t much being said to get a constitutional federalist very excited—at least, not much that gets taken very seriously. Ron Paul has argued that the federal government shouldn’t be allowed to tax citizens directly (a strange idea, except for the fact that it’s constitutional); Mike Huckabee has argued for a national sales tax and the elimination of the IRS; Fred Thompson has suggested a two-tiered flat tax.
These are all great ideas that would do much to shrink the size of the federal government and extend greater economic freedom to our citizens, but they receive virtually no serious attention in the mainstream media. It is typically assumed that these ideas are hopelessly impractical and would result in economic disaster.
What everyone seems to miss, however, is that these aren’t just ideas. A low flat tax, for example, has been enacted in several nations with great success. Promptly after receiving her freedom from communism, Russia enacted a 13-percent flat tax—and saw her revenues increase as the economy flourished. The popularity of the flat tax has led several other nations—Estonia, Serbia, Ukraine, Georgia, Romania, Slovakia and Macedonia—to enact similar reforms with nearly universal success. A recent study from the National Bureau of Economic Research reveals another reason to favor the flat tax: the low and indisputably fair rate encourages individuals and businesses to file their taxes, and the result has been drastic reductions in tax evasion. The flat tax is a great idea—and a great reality. If only the United States would learn from her friends in the former communist world.
Regulatory Commissars: Changing oil
As oil topped $100 a barrel this week, there is more talk in Congress of drilling. No, scratch that—it’s taxes they’re talking about. The House is again seeking to increase taxes on oil companies as a “solution” to the problem of high gas prices. But does anyone honestly think that the oil companies won’t raise their prices when their taxes go up? As for the numbers, according to the Energy Information Administration, the top 27 energy-producing companies paid more than $81 billion in income taxes in 2006, with the average tax share of net income at 41 percent. Other U.S. manufacturers pay roughly half that. That also represents an increase of 82 percent over just two years.
On the supply side, Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez has decided not to cut off supply to the U.S. after all, despite an international lawsuit filed recently by Exxon Mobil (http://archive.PatriotPost.US/pub/08-07_Digest/page-4.php). However, there was an explosion Monday at a refinery in Texas, which could be closed for two months. Refineries aren’t exactly a dime a dozen as it is. Building more refineries and responsibly drilling on the coasts and in the Arctic National Wildlife Wasteland are the necessary prescriptions.
CULTURE
’Non Compos Mentis’: Guns and the media
In the wake of the recent murders at Northern Illinois University, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley is pushing for further gun-control legislation in the state, blaming “gun violence” for all manner of ills in our society. Meanwhile, the media are tripping over themselves trying to blame guns and not culture for the problem. The Washington Post reported, “If there were lessons learned after the Virginia Tech massacre, they were: Lock down and notify. Virginia Tech officials did neither until hours after the first shots sounded across the Blacksburg campus in April. Northern Illinois University did not make the same mistake Thursday.” Gee whiz, it’s a good thing they notified everyone that a “gunman” killed six unarmed students. We would hate to think we live in a country where citizens are disarmed and gunned down without a follow-up notification. As we have said before, the problem is that these schools are “gun-free” zones (http://PatriotPost.US/alexander/edition.asp?id=529), meaning only killers can have guns.
In another story involving a gun, Fox News headlined, “Screaming Gunman Terrorizes Washington K-Mart Customers.” Yet in the first sentence of the story, the reader learns that the screaming man was armed only with a knife until he broke a display case and stole a gun and ammunition, which he never fired. If Fox can’t do any better than that, we suggest a five-day waiting period before they publish stories on guns.
Around the nation: Lucrative jobs protect planet
The left constantly gripes that the reason conservatives refute the legitimacy of “global warming” is that conservatism is purely profit driven. The problem is that leftists either don’t know or don’t care that consensus is not a legitimate scientific concept. Liberals promote global warming as a means to power, fame and wealth. For example, one of the so-called climate change “crusaders,” San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, just created a job entitled Director of Climate Protection Initiatives. The position will pay a cool $160,000 annually and with a title like that, it would seem as though it would entail a great deal of responsibility. However, this is just the latest string of new job creations by Mayor Newsom. The city of San Francisco currently has two dozen employees working on so-called “climate” issues, costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands annually. Apparently, it is proponents of environmental hysteria, not doomsday skeptics, who are motivated purely by profit.
Faith and Family: Study of faith in God
The Associated Press reports, “University of Oxford researchers will spend nearly $4 million to study why mankind embraces God.” Over three years, the Ian Ramsey Center for Science and Religion will gather theologians, philosophers, anthropologists and other academics to “study whether belief in a divine being is a basic part of mankind’s makeup.” Roger Trigg, acting director of the Center, believes that anthropological and philosophical research indicates that a belief in God is a universal human impulse. We might call that a keen sense of the obvious. Trigg says, “One implication that comes from this is that religion is the default position, and atheism is perhaps more in need of explanation.” How politically incorrect!
And last...
Not all Democrats are pumped about the “change” that Barack Obama promises, and Hillary’s supporters in the media have let slip some not-so-subtle reminders of that fact lately. One could forgive Ted Kennedy’s drunken confusion of Obama’s surname with the first name of a certain notorious terrorist, but then respected “news” organizations filed stories that referred to the “Osama” campaign. Reuters reported, “Clinton focused on contests in the heavily populated states of Ohio and Texas in three weeks as her best hope to stop Osama’s surge.” James Taranto of The Wall Street Journal quipped, “[M]aybe Reuters believes one man’s terrorist is another man’s tribune of change we can believe in.” CNN’s Alina Cho also goofed, saying, “Barack Obama’s campaign has been dogged by false rumors, among them that Osama is a Muslim, Obama rather.” Later in the week, MSNBC committed a similar screw-up during “Hardball” with Chris Matthews. As Matthews described the bickering over the alleged plagiarism in Obama’s speeches, a graphic in the back showed Osama bin Laden with the headline “Words About Words.” To borrow from the title of Barack’s bestselling book, perhaps this is simply what comes with the Audacity of Hype, er, Hope.
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