Doug Ross @ Journal

Sunday, March 27, 2011

And Now: A Brief Vignette From the White House

Goldilocks Clinton: Saddam Hussein was too mean, Assad isn't mean enough, but Gaddafi was just right!

If anyone can make sense of the gibberish emanating from the Obama foreign policy team, please let me know.

U.S. Won't Intervene in Syria as Assad Differs From Qaddafi, Clinton Says

Bloomberg - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the U.S. won’t enter into the internal conflict in Syria the way it has in Libya... Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s security forces clashed with protesters in several cities yesterday after his promises of freedoms and pay increases failed to prevent dissent from spreading across the country.

Clinton said the elements that led to intervention in Libya -- international condemnation, an Arab League call for action, a United Nations Security Council resolution -- are “not going to happen” with Syria, in part because members of the U.S. Congress from both parties say they believe Assad is “a reformer.”

“What’s been happening there the last few weeks is deeply concerning, but there’s a difference between calling out aircraft and indiscriminately strafing and bombing your own cities,” Clinton said, referring to Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi’s attacks on the Libyan people, “than police actions which, frankly, have exceeded the use of force that any of us would want to see.”

“Each of these situations is unique,” Clinton said, referring to the Middle Eastern countries dealing with change and unrest, a list that now includes Yemen, Jordan, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Syria and Bahrain.

Let's try to deconstruct the Democrats' foreign policy philosophy:

• Attacking Saddam Hussein's despotic regime in Iraq: Yes, then no (also: accuse Bush and/or the world's intelligence communities of lying).

• Supporting U.S. ally Hosni Mubarak in Egypt against the vicious Muslim Brotherhood: No.

• Attacking Muamar Gaddafi in Libya for slaughtering his own people: Yes.

• Attacking Iranian puppet Bashar Assad and his Hezbollah apparatus for slaughtering his own people: No.

• Attacking Iran and its pre-nuclear terror regime for slaughtering its own people: No.

"We need better judgment when we decide to send our young men and women into war, that we are making absolutely certain that it is because there is an imminent threat, that American interests are going to be protected, that we have a plan to succeed and to exit, that we are going to train our troops properly and equip them properly and put them on proper rotations and treat them properly when they come home. That is an argument we are going to have an easier time making if they can’t turn around and say: But hold on a second; you supported this. That’s part of the reason why I would be the strongest nominee on this argument of national security." --Candidate Barack Obama, Democratic Debate, 31 January 2008

I would pay good money to see this man polygraphed.

Hat tips: Memeorandum, People's Cube (artwork) and Brad. Linked by: Michelle Malkin. Thanks!

One Election Away from Serfdom

David Solway's "The Origins of Postmodernitis" spurred a sublime response by 'Proreason'. It is worth reading and savoring.

Way WAY too complicated, and it misses the key point.

Whatever “post modernism” is, it is a subset of a massive attack on post-1776 western civilization. The American Revolution shattered the eternal construct of civilization that had been in place, unbroken, since mankind emerged from the ice ages, discovered agriculture, and settled into cities. That instigated the need for government, and government quickly and forever forced society into two dominant classes: the governing elite, and the rest, whose mission in life was to serve the governing elite. Since 1776, the goal of many in western civilization has been to restore the old order. Today, the bacteria that seek to force that will on humanity goes by the name “progressivism”, but that name is simply the latest in a long series: royalism, oligarchism, Marxism, Communism, socialism, fascism, liberalism, Statism, and now progressivism.

The names change but the disease does not. They want everything for themselves, and they want you to serve them, forever, with no chance to ever overturn their mastery again.

A lot of people can’t understand why they would destroy the wealth of the world to do that, since well over 90% (probably closer to 99%) of the wealth (read: lifestyle improvements) has been developed since 1776. The answer is simple: when you control EVERYTHING, and 99% of humanity has NOTHING, your wealth is actually far greater than it is when the wealth is spread, as it is today. In other words, Commissars don’t care whether the wealth of the world crashes, because the Commissars’ wealth and power is going up, big-time.

From 1776 until the mid-19th century, the disposed elite were in disarray and despair. Republican forms of government swept the Western world, often violently. The people could damn well see that the new way was better and they seized the opportunity. But then Karl Marx appeared with the magic elixir of royalism/progressism/et. al. – class warfare, or, at its heart -- economic envy. Since that time, economic envy has been the weapon of choice of the royalists. Indeed, with the exception of Nazi Germany, western history since the mid-18th century has been the clash of two forces, capitalism (and the incredible riches it has brought to the world) and marxism (and the misery and hopelessness it brings to everybody but the Commissars). It looks like an uneven contest, except for the fact that envy is the most powerful emotion. Lust fades, love is transient, but envy simmers and can be flared to epic proportions by a skilled practitioner, community organizer or Mullah whenever the bacteria desire.

So what about “post modernism”? Well, it’s no coincidence that it arose immediately after WWII, because that is when the Marxists felt strong enough to start their long and violent march against western civilization. Unfortunately, as it turned out, free societies actually are capable of developing significantly more military might than centrally planned societies. This, of course, should not be surprising, since free societies are many times more effective than centrally controlled societies in every respect. Russia and China quickly realized that they would never conquer the West in the traditional military way.

So they decided to subvert the West instead. Post-modernism, relativism, unions, the media, the intelligentsia, the language, the culture, religion, balkanizing and angering people in every way possible (women vs. men, homosexuals vs. the rest, blacks vs. whites, city dweller vs. country, and on and on)…all with the purpose of destroying the civilization that stands in the way of the "progressives"' re-ascendancy to absolute power.

Skip to 2011. Barack Obama, an ignorant narcissist, a dedicated Marxist, the greatest con-man in history, sits in the most powerful office in the world. He has a trunk full of tricks to distract the rubes while his masters destroy the US and Western civilization. The Marxian vision is 97% complete. They are one election away from ruling the world. You are one election away from becoming a hopeless serf, as are your children and their children. World order is scheduled to be restored in 2013.

Indeed we face "A Fork in the Road."

Hat tip: James Simpson.

Illinois fiscal death watch: 97% of state workers likely to be required to join public sector unions by 2012

John Ruberry, writing at MarathonPundit, highlights Illinois' suicidal fiscal stewardship. In short, Democrats are prepared to literally destroy the state thanks to their malevolent alliance with public sector union bosses.

...if the pending requests to the Illinois Labor Relations Board are approved, almost 97 percent of all state workers--including many managers--will be represented by Big Labor. Of the 50,000 state workers, only 1,700 will be non-union.

This should not be a surprise. Democratic Governor Pat Quinn has been bathing in public-sector union cash. As I exclusively reported last week, Quinn, the self-described reformer, has received over $5 million in campaign contributions from public-sector unions. And this "goo-goo" continues his attempt to unionize home-based health care workers--many of them are mothers who are taking care of their own developmentally-disabled children. The unions, and I guess Quinn, simply want their dues money to go to the labor bosses--they don't care about these people. And of course some of that dues cash will end up in the campaign coffers of Democratic politicians. Quinn, for instance.

Income taxes, with the blessing of the public-sector unions, are way up in Illinois. So is spending. Illinois has a $15 billion deficit... [and u]nionization is way up.

Meanwhile, former Republican Illinois state Senator Roger Keats, a real good-government person, is leaving the state for Texas, declaring "I am tired of subsidizing crooks."

I don't blame him. The incessant drive for public sector unions is provably destructive.

• Chicago Tribune: "Illinois teacher pension system nearly $40 billion in the hole"

• CNN: "Illinois lawmakers pass massive tax hikes"

• Wall Street Journal: "Illinois Pension Crisis Eludes Easy Solutions"

• WGN: "Caterpillar May Leave Illinois"

Illinois taxpayers are already suffering mightily and, based upon these developments, should prepare to bleed more. More companies will leave, fewer people will be able to pay the oppressive tax rates, the budget deficit will swell, and the entire state will follow Michigan into fiscal purgatory.

Well done, Democrats!

Who Is The Real 'Reich Wing'?

A favorite pejorative used by the progressive left is 'Reich Wing', designed to tar conservatives as Nazi-like extremists. Notwithstanding its nature as a premature violation of Godwin's Law, the term implies a certain set of characteristics presumably endemic to conservatives.

But let's examine those attributes to see if they have merit.

On the Constitution

While conservatives advocate for fidelity and loyalty to the United States Constitution, the progressive left purposefully evades it. The term that is used is "living and breathing", which simply means that the left can morph the nation's highest law into whatever it wishes.

Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan outlined the progressive's perspective in a 1993 tribute to Justice Thurgood Marshall. She quoted from a 1987 speech Marshall in which he said the Constitution as originally conceived and drafted was "defective" and that the mission of the Supreme Courtwas to “show a special solicitude for the despised and the disadvantaged.”

In other words, the Constitution could be "adjusted" to benefit certain parties at the expense of others -- certainly a far cry from the image of justice as a blindfolded seer weighing the merits of two arguments.

In 1933 Adolf Hitler subverted Germany's Weimar Constitution using subterfuge and pretext to eradicate civil rights.

Less than a month after Adolf Hitler’s appointment as chancellor in 1933, the Reichstag Fire Decree invoked Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution, suspending several constitutional protections on civil rights. The articles affected were 114 (habeas corpus), 115 (inviolability of residence), 117 (correspondence privacy), 118 (freedom of expression /censorship), 123 (assembly), 124 (associations), and 153 (expropriation).

On Free Speech

Conservatives believe in free political speech, in each and every situation. But that is not the case with today's leftists.

Put together the left's advocacy of "the Fairness Doctrine", its insistence on "Community Standards" for media, its hatred of the "Citizens United" decision, its efforts to "sabotage" certain news outlets, and one can come to no other conclusion but that it appears terrified of free speech.

No less an eminence grise than then-SCOTUS nominee Elena Kagan asserted that the United States government can ban political books and movies if necessary.

Elena Kagan argued on behalf of Citizens United essentially stating it would not be a violation of the First Amendment to have movies or even books banned. Of course, she only meant certain movies/books for specific times, but even so, I believe the point remains... all tyrants find a pretext for their tyranny. That tyranny may even begin with a humble, caring act, but one day we awake to find we have lost all freedom.

In Nazi Germany, officials banned at least 4,100 different publications. Censorship of media was a regular occurrence and all political messaging emanated from government bureaucrats.

On Intimidation by Uniformed Civilian Forces

Tea Party protests by conservative activists were uniformly civil and represented a true "rainbow coalition" of people with every background, race, religion, and culture.

In Wisconsin and other states, the Left used uniformed civilian enforcers -- including purple-clad SEIU thugs -- to threaten, intimidate and coerce lawmakers and taxpayers.

In Nazi Germany, the term Sturmabteilung (also known as 'Brown-shirts') was used to describe a para-military force deployed by Hitler prior to 1934. They were employed as street thugs and enforcers to attack the Nazis' political rivals in order to secure more power for Hitler's ring of leaders.

Leader Cult

From chants of 'Yes We Can' to a curious iconography that lives on even today, the rise of Barack Obama during the 2008 campaign was orchestrated using a marketing approach that could be considered the construction of a "cult of personality."

Obama was deified in the mainstream press, highlighted in scores of photos using a "halo effect", and lobbed softball questions during television appearances that seemed more like infomercials than serious journalistic affairs.

Such was the case with the rise of the Third Reich. Hitler's power "transcended his official title, reaching into the depths of Germans and German society [and] Hitler became a seemingly flawless revolutionary figure for the German people [and he took] specific measures [designed] to promote the view of himself as larger than life."

Who Is The Real 'Reich Wing'?

Who abuses the Constitution for crass partisan purposes? Who despises free speech and attempts to censor legitimate public opinion? Who rallies around a figure portrayed as some sort of messianic savior? Who uses uniformed thugs to intimidate lawmakers and taxpayers?

We all know who the "Reich Wing" is: it is today's far left Democrats that are now so radicalized even Communists are surprised.

Larwyn's Linx: Free and Fair Elections, True The Vote Style

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QOTD: "The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. … Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that ‘the buck stops here. Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better". -- Barack Obama, 2006

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Wonderful: NAACP willing to risk spread of disease to keep incompetent Veterans Administration dentist employed

Question: At what point does the NAACP become so completely disconnected from its legendary past that it turns into a punchline? Answer: That would be now.

A former supervisor in the Dayton VA Medical Center’s dental clinic blamed intervention by the NAACP for foiling his efforts in the early 1990s to remove a dentist whose lax infection control practices put patients’ safety at risk.

Dr. Dwight M. Pemberton continued to practice dentistry at the Dayton VA, often failing to change latex gloves and sterilize dental instruments between patients, according to VA officials... Between 1992 and July 2010, 535 patients who had invasive dental work by Pemberton may have been exposed to bloodborne pathogens, the VA said. Nine have preliminary positive results for hepatitis B or hepatitis C.

In the early 1990s, “I came very, very close (to) limiting his (Pemberton’s) privileges, but at the eleventh hour ... the race card was played, and the direction I got from above was that we were going to reverse course and try something different,” the supervisor told VA investigators in September...

...The supervisor, according to the transcripts, believed he was barred from discontinuing Pemberton’s privileges due to a letter the VA received from the local NAACP chapter in support of Pemberton, who is black... VA investigators told the supervisor they knew other clinic workers had reported Pemberton’s poor infection control practices to him....

...Pemberton, who had been earning $165,878 per year, retired Feb. 11 at age 81 while administrative action against him was pending. He had not seen patients since July, when two clinic workers alerted VA officials outside the clinic of his poor infection control practices.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wouldn't even recognize today's NAACP, which embraces inequality and radical divisiveness. Its one-sided advocacy for the Democrat Party, which has failed people of color for 8 19 decades in a row, is proof that it is little more than an anachronism.

Hat tip: J.P. Image: Veterans Today.

Berlusconi's 'Bunga-Bunga' Girls: Why can't WE have a pervert instead of a leftist ideologue?

If nothing else, the accusations of debauchery leveled against Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi make for interesting, uhm, reading.

They are not the type of photographs that usually emerge from gatherings hosted by heads of state... But these images reveal what goes on behind closed doors at Silvio Berlusconi’s infamous ‘bunga bunga’ parties.

...The pictures were discovered on laptops and cameras seized from dozens of female party guests as part of an investigation into claims that the Italian prime minister paid for sex with underage girls... One picture shows TV showgirl Barbara Guerra, 32, wearing a tight-fitting police uniform and pouting as she dangles a pair of handcuffs...

...Guerra has appeared on an Italian reality TV show and is the former girlfriend of Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli.

...Another picture shows two unidentified women about to kiss, while further images capture other female party guests in provocative poses... All were taken in the early hours of the morning at Berlusconi’s home in Arcore, near Milan.

Officials said Berlusconi had ‘ridiculed’ the police and ‘seriously offended’ nurses after it emerged women wore the uniforms as part of stripper acts at the parties... The phrase ‘bunga bunga’ is said to refer to an after-dinner sex game. The risque photographs form part of the 20,000 page prosecution case against Berlusconi, who will appear in court next month accused of underage sex and abuse of office.

The 74-year-old is alleged to have given money and jewellery in exchange for sex with 17-year-old belly dancer Karima El Mahroug and 32 other women in the space of two months... Berlusconi is also accused of using his power as prime minister to secure the release of Miss El Mahroug when she was arrested for theft last May.

Well, if I were forced to choose, I'd take the pervert over the Marxist.

Radicalization of Democrat Lawmakers Surprises Even Communists

The invaluable MacIver Institute has done yeoman's work all year tracking the Republicans' efforts to politically neuter Wisconsin's powerful public sector union bosses. Their latest video is a doozy.

The heated rhetoric and aggressive attitude of some Democratic lawmakers in Wisconsin has surprised many, even revolutionaries, says a leader of the Communist Party USA.

Rep. Peter Barca (D-Kenosha): "We will carry on this battle to the streets of Wisconsin... every turn they take, all of your faces will appear... and we will not quit fighting until this is reversed, this assault on the working people of Wisconsin!"

Even the Communist Party is surprised by the violent rhetoric coming from Democrats...

Scott Marshall, CPUSA Vice Chair: "there is a radicalization going on among Democratic legislators that I've never seen in my lifetime..."

The Communist Party was actively involved in the Madison protests... in fact, one of the most recognizable symbols used in the protests was also used by International Socialist Tendency, Austria's Community Party, and Malaysia's Socialist Party.

It can also be found on the office doors of some Democrat lawmakers, like Senator Chris Larson.

Wisconsin Democrat Senator: "This has always been about 'workers' rights', so we want to unite, we want to fight, we want to get back 'workers' rights'!"

That kind of rhetoric has led the Communist Party to consider collaborating [more openly] with Democrat Party lawmakers.

Consider the import of these statements.

The Democrat Party is so poisoned, so laced with the traitorous and defective ideology of Marxism, that it must be flushed into the toilet bowl of history. In 2012, you must vote -- and you must make sure your family, friends and colleagues vote: every Democrat must go. That, combined with the rejection of RINO candidates in GOP primaries, will -- God willing -- allow us to expand the beachhead we established in 2010. Our mission is simple to explain: to reestablish our Constitutional Republic.

Reason #4,035 to Defund the EPA Immediately: It's Sending Your Tax Dollars to Fund GOP Attack Ads

'Had people listened to (James Hansen) twenty years ago, Manhattan wouldn’t be underwater now.' -- Steve Goddard
It should come as no surprise that the flat-earth, no-growth, environmental leftists who run the EPA have commandeered your tax dollars to attack Republicans.

As IBD reports, the EPA has enjoyed a long, partisan relationship with the American Lung Association (ALA). And both organizations are up to no good, given that American taxpayers' dollars are being used for crass political purposes.

The Environmental Protection Agency is giving funds to charitable organizations to attack GOP members of Congress. Did you know telling the truth about climate change causes childhood asthma?

This relationship between the EPA and the ALA goes back to at least the early 1990s.

As John Merline reported in IBD way back in 1997, from 1990 to 1995 the EPA gave the American Lung Association some $5 million. JunkScience.com reports that the EPA has given the ALA an additional $20 million the past decade.

In return, the ALA is putting up billboards in opposition to reining in an EPA that is guilty of at least mission creep and at worst of accumulating power not authorized by our elected representatives in Congress.

In other words, American taxpayers are shelling out dough to help fund the enormous federal bureaucracy's message that it needs more taxpayer dough.

The EPA is responsible for tens of millions of deaths around the world. It should be defunded immediately.

Larwyn's Linx: Be Bold!

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Nation

Be Bold!: AT
Strange What Gets Them Excited In Wisconsin: LegalIns
Daley: Failed Mayor of a Failed City: RWN

Moonbat: Our Constitutional Freedoms Come From... Democrats: Malkin
True the Vote summit, day one: Going national: Tatler
Anybody But Gorelick: Tapscott

Military Gay Training: RSM
Illegals Fastest Growing Segment of Foreign-Born Population: AmSpec
CBO: Tax Citizens' Mileage Via Tracking Devices: WZ

'Responsibility to Protect': The End of National Sovereignty?: Loudon
Anti-American foreigners buying off our professors: PJM
Radicalization of Dem Lawmakers Surprises Even Communists: MacIver

Economy

WI Collective Bargaining Bill Published; Begins Tomorrow: GWP
Obama’s Monetary Policy: Stick It to the Middle Class: PJM
I, Public Employee: AT

MI: Organizing in Taxpayer-Funded Email Accounts: RWN
Caterpillar Threatens to Leave IL Over Recent Tax Hike: GWP
On GE's Pathological Aversion To Paying Taxes: ZH

Climate & Energy

Haley Barbour: National Policy Should Assume Global Warming is Happening: WZ
EPA Funding Attack Ads Against GOP?: BlogProf
Happy Alpha Proxima Day 2011: CBullitt

Media

My suggestion to replace Couric: Tatler
In Denial: Bill Moyers Claims 'We've Heard No Reporter -- Not a One' Advocate Liberal Ideas on NPR: NewsBusters
Why We Elected an Unqualified Lie: EIB

World

Great News: Al Qaeda Helping Themselves To Missiles in Libya: JWF
California Lawsuit Alleges FBI Violation of Muslim Rights: PJM
Obama, Holder Claim They Did Know About Operation Gunrunner: WZ

Obama Tells Congress: We Won’t Kill Gaddafi: WZ
Botched Neocon Wars? Hardly: AmPower
Pics From the Front: WZ

Worry Over Islam Like Hitler’s Hatred of Jews?: PJM
Islam In Norway: Bullying Kids For Being Blond; Children Threatened If They Bring Salami To School: BigPeace
Threatened With Death for Finding a Link Between Islam and Evil: Moonbattery

Exclusive: Israeli Vice PM Moshe Yaalon: "Iran is Involved" in Gaza Rocket Attacks: CBN
Arab Revolutionary Wave Targets Assad: IPT
Dangerous breach suspected at Japanese nuke plant: MyWay

SciTech

Tools of Tradecraft: More Spy Gear From the CIA, Others: Wired
Identifying Tor Users Through Insecure Applications: Schneier
An Unsung Hero of the Nuclear Age: Slate

Cornucopia

Obama Kinetic Military Action Figure: Flopping Aces
Our Own Mid-East Crisis: Why Vogue Sucks: MOTUS
Just Like a Real War: VA Right

Image: Obama Kinetic Military Action Figure
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Have you seen Marizela?

QOTD: "Every. Single. Last. Shred of credibility held by the Left went straight to hell last week.

1) Obama sends us to War #3.
2) Obama then goes on vacation.
3) Obama then hands Soros-dominated Petrobas an oil rig permit. Something we’re not allowed to have.
4) Petrobas can now drill in the Gulf of Mexico. Something we’re not allowed to do.
5) Petrobas then will sell the oil to the US. Because we can’t drill our own.
6) Obama admits the trip to Brazil is to help the economy of Brazil – while completely ignoring our ruined economy.
7) During all this, Obama almost completely ignores the earthquake/nuclear meltdown in Japan, the effects of which have now reached our shores.

I dare – DARE any Liberal to defend this." --Lumpy Gravy

Friday, March 25, 2011

Blunt Opinions on the 2012 GOP Presidential Field

In 2008 I learned my lesson: it's never too early to start examining GOP presidential candidates and to offer my take on winners and losers. The last thing we need in 2012 is an incoherent ('Heh, my friends...'), wish-washy "maverick" who is unmoored from the Constitution.

So I'm sure this take is going to piss off a lot of folks. Tough.

In reverse order of desirability -- using the 10-point must system -- the field is:

Jon Huntsman [1 point] - Who? The former ambassador to China, appointed by Barack Obama, was the media's attempt at marketing a Republican presidential nominee. His liberal track record, combined with his Obama affiliation, make him a non-starter for anyone right of Kathy Griffin.

Ron Paul [1 point] - The once-obscure Texas Congressman has made headlines over the last few years with his attempts to audit the Federal Reserve (okay), his Leftist youth supporters (not okay), his isolationist foreign policies (really not okay), and his tacit acceptance of 9/11 Trutherism (absolutely unacceptable). Echoing Dennis Kucinich's calls for Obama's impeachment (over a supposed violation of the unconstitutional "War Powers Act" - MP3) seals the deal.

Donald Trump [2 points] - The uber-successful real estate tycoon appears to have a single mission: promoting the Donald. His campaign contributions to Chuck Schumer, Anthony Weiner and other Leftists are troubling on their own. But combined with his refusal to entertain questions from conservative media, his campaign has the makings of a publicity stunt, not the effort of a serious GOP candidate.

Mike Huckabee [2 points] - Sorry, folks, but Huckabee is -- in the words of Ann Coulter -- "the evangelical liberals like." In 2008 Huckabee was marketed by the media in ways no real conservative would have ever enjoyed. Why? Because Huckabee was unelectable in the general election, seeing as how his prior positions were largely indistinguishable from those of Barack Obama. His awful track record on illegal immigration, global warming, higher taxes, crime and parole are, to say the least, ominous. Constitutional conservative? Hardly.

Chris Christie [3 points] - The New Jersey governor has the best YouTube cameraman in the business following him around. His candid exchanges with teachers and other union members are posted immediately on the video-sharing website and have garnered widespread attention. Receiving less attention, however, is his odd refusal to join the 30 states fighting Obamacare in the courts. Then add in his past support for global warming legislation, gun control, amnesty for illegal aliens, and erstwhile RINOs Mike Castle and Meg Whitman. To make matters worse, Christie recently launched thinly veiled attacks on Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann and Rush Limbaugh. The governor has some wonderful YouTube moments, but he appears to be miles way from the kind of conservative that Reagan would have embraced.

Mitch Daniels [4 points] - We don't know if Indiana's popular governor is running or not, but one would certainly expect an attempt. Daniels is marketed as a "Reagan Republican", but he joined that administration very late in the game and served as a key aide to RINO Dick Lugar for many years. In his speech at CPAC, Daniels' split-brained message suggested that conservatives abandon social principles to concentrate on fiscal issues. Uhm, why? And his bizarre advocacy of VAT taxes and cuts in defense spending should trouble every Republican.

Newt Gingrich [5 points] - Is there a smarter candidate from either party than the former Speaker? I think not. But even putting aside his bumbling campaign kickoff, Gingrich's well-documented personal foibles and collaboration with Nancy Pelosi on 'climate change' advocacy are problematic indeed.

Tim Pawlenty [5 points] - The Minnesota governor is, in on the national scene, somewhat of a cipher. Minnesotans know, however, that T-Paw supported boondoggles like light rail, universal health care, price controls for drugs, 'green energy' programs, a Sharia-compliant home ownership program and the use of stimulus money to facilitate rampant deficit spending. On the plus side, he's offered consistent, strong support for immigration enforcement.

Haley Barbour [5 points] - The Mississippi Governor is ineligible to run for another term in his state. A social and fiscal conservative, Barbour's main problem is his lengthy career as a lobbyist and political operative. Update: 'So Long, Haley.'

Herman Cain [6 points] - A highly successful businessman, Cain is credited with helping to defeat Hillarycare, the Clinton administration's run at socialized medicine. A Tea Party favorite, Cain appears to have true conservative credentials but is largely unknown outside of the cognoscenti.

Rand Paul [7 points] - The newly elected Senator from Kentucky appears to be a true Constitutional conservative. He's been brave enough, for example, to offer massive budget cuts -- in the trillions -- to address the catastrophic Pelosi-Obama-Reid budget deficit. His most problematic issue is one that plagues his father: an isolationist foreign policy that seems to downplay the threats that America faces around the globe.

Rick Santorum [7 points] - The former Senator from Pennsylvania is a social conservative who has been rock solid on illegal immigration. He helped lead the successful 1996 Welfare Reform Act, assisted in exposing the abuse of the Congressional Bank, supported Mitt Romney over John McCain in 2008, and consistently backed a robust armed forces effort against Islamofascism. One negative mark: losing his reelection campaign in 2006, though a concerted national Democrat and legacy media effort contributed mightily to his loss.

Mitt Romney [7 points] - The 2008 Presidential candidate has but one major issue dogging him: his Massachusetts version of Obamacare, which has proven much more costly and much less efficient than anticipated. A former missionary and successful businessman, Romney has proven to be a solid executive, helping to rescue the troubled 2002 Olympiad from fiscal ruin and transforming it into a profitable venture.

John Bolton [8 points] - the former Ambassador to the United Nations, Bolton is a foreign policy expert and an eloquent advocate for a strong national security posture. Having served in the Reagan, Bush 41 and Bush 43 administrations, Bolton seems to embrace true "Constitutional conservative" principles that underpin his personal philosophy.

Michele Bachmann [9 points] - The first female Republican elected to Congress by Minnesotans, Bachmann has a strong conservative track record. The founder of the Tea Party Caucus opposed the bank bailouts, socialized medicine, global warming and/or climate change (whatever it's called these days), the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill, and other Democrat initiatives that threaten the Constitution. Her outspoken support for conservative values have made her a Tea Party favorite.

Sarah Palin [10 points] - John McCain's 2008 running mate was the target of some of the most vicious character assassination attempts in modern political history. After an exceptional track record as a local official, mayor, and then governor, Palin was tarred as "inexperienced" and "stupid", though her resume far surpassed that of the Democrat presidential candidate. Post-election, a series of 18 frivolous lawsuits, most launched by Democrat political operatives, threatened to bankrupt her and her family. She resigned the governorship and began raising money for Tea Party-backed conservative candidates in 2010, arguably becoming the primary rainmaker in the historic GOP landslide. Palin's charismatic appeal, plain-spoken American values and love of country make her a favorite for conservatives and a huge target for Democrats and legacy media, who appear terrified by her amazing popularity.

Others: Marco Rubio and Allen West would be conservative favorites if they ever decide to throw their hats in the ring. At this point, it seems they will serve Florida in the Senate and House, respectively.

Who did I miss? Where was I off-base? Let the flame-wars begin!

Linked by: Ace o' Spades. Thanks!

The Rise of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, Right on Cue [Dan from New York]

Dan from New York:

In post-revolutionary Egypt, where hope and confusion collide in the daily struggle to build a new nation, religion has emerged as a powerful political force, following an uprising that was based on secular ideals. The Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group once banned by the state, is at the forefront, transformed into a tacit partner with the military government that many fear will thwart fundamental changes.

It is also clear that the young, educated secular activists who initially propelled the nonideological revolution are no longer the driving political force...

* * * * * * * * *
It’s hard to believe, but that’s a direct quote from a New York Times story, Muslim Brotherhood a Rising Force in a New Egypt. We will forgive the writer for treating this as news. After all, he only reads the New York Times.