Often the Left is so predictable. While Norway mourns the deaths of the 92 (so far) shooting victims, kook bloggers at FireDogLake, Democratic Underground, and elsewhere are already labelling the alleged killer to be “right wing.” This meme appears to have started with a comment made by a Norwegian political science professor who speculated
It’s on. No longer are we to look at Plans A, B, C, or D (Spain, Germany, Denmark, Japan) as the supposed ‘clean energy economy’ successes. Nope. Those didn’t fare so well under scrutiny, so now Harry Reid has seen the future , and it works: ‘green energy’ in Red China. Here’s to some fun walking through the vacuity of this latest comparison, a country whose average manufacturing job pays
From Politico’s “Morning Energy”: TOTAL RECALL – If environmentalists are going to get results in their push for clean energy, they need to pipe down about climate change and speak up about national security and job creation, Arnold Schwarzenegger told college energy clubs on a recent conference call [with Energy Secretary Steven Chu]. Er, that’s not even selective memory. More like amnesia. I understand the part about running from your Plan A — after all, this very marching order first came from pollster Stanley Greenberg and led to John Kerry saying of his cap-and-trade bill “This is not an environment bill” (oddly, it amended the Clean Air Act, granted power to EPA, mentions ‘environment’ 97 times, ‘climate’ 220 times, ‘greenhouse’ 650 more times…but, hey, the pollster said say something else !). But the Secretary and Governator are also forgetting that the damage these policies wreak has been specifically, thoroughly and professionally exposed as regards the very countries Obama used to tell us to look because they were his models ( Spain , Denmark , Germany ; the sole exception not receiving the full review is Japan ). He no longer cites them, obviously due to said exposés, but he still pushes the costly schemes (he knows, and cares not. That is disturbing). Now they’re going to say ‘China!’. Which was not their first choice, but fifth, for a reason: to compare us with them is absurd . And so about that ‘security’ thing. Recall the recent ‘gathering storm’ (yes, Germans actually wrote that) and ‘it gets dark in Germany’ headlines. Now those headlines are popping up here, and for the same reason. Consider Climate Wire today (subscription required): “RENEWABLE ENERGY: Fickle winds, intermittent sunshine start to stress U.S. power system”. Keep that one handy for in the event O repeats his German example, which he seems to be holding on to in reserve, having whipped it out when he though no one was listening (in a Saturday radio address in December), but has otherwise avoided after Spain, Denmark and Germany were exposed. Such praise went the way
In November 2008 California voters passed Proposition 11, which took away from the state legislature the power to reapportion itself every 10 years and gave it to a new citizen commission. In a state where no incumbent had lost in the last decade and where the legislature’s approval rating was stuck at 16 percent, this seemed like manna from heaven. It did not seem so to the special interests — particularly the state’s public employee unions — who depend upon a pliant legislature to keep the money trough full. The Citizens Redistricting Commission, which will also redraw congressional districts, was chosen through a multi-step screening process of several thousand applications until 14 finalists were chosen by the State Auditor: 5 Democrats, 5 Republicans, and 4 independents or members of other parties. Their charge was to make all districts more or less equal in population and to avoid the tortured gerrymandering practiced by the majority Democrats in the legislature over the last two census cycles. A new day of competitive legislative races was about to dawn. Or was it? Someone must draw the actual maps for the many districts and the commission called for bids. The winning bid went to Q2, a small firm based in Berkeley that had what Sacramento Bee political writer Dan Walters called “indirect, but unmistakable ties to Democrats.” The head of the firm, Karin MacDonald, also is the head of the Statewide Database, the data bank used for redistricting. It, in turn, was created by one Professor Bruce Cain in 1981 when he worked as a consultant to the State Assembly’s Democrats. Cain is a co-owner of Q2. When the commission’s staff developed the specifications for bids they called for bidders to show experience in Metropolitan Statistical Areas, large urban areas defined by the U.S. Census. At the last minute, the staff changed the specification to read “experience in a large incorporated city.” Q2 could not have qualified under the original specification, but could under the revised one. If you are beginning to think there is something rotten in Denmark, you’re right. The other bidder was the Rose Institute of Claremont McKenna College in Southern California. It has ties to Republicans. Both bidders were asked to identify all sources of income over the previous five years. This was easy for small Q2, but Rose is part of a large institution that has hundreds of donors whose identity cannot be disclosed under IRS regulations. Rose certified that it had no supporters who posed a conflict of interest. Not enough, the commission said and disqualified them. That the commission supinely accepted this slight-of-hand reflects its ideological bias As the Auditor, a political appointee, was sifting through the applications, racial and ethnic activists
Obama is committed to partnering with other countries rather than going it alone as did his predecessor George W. Bush, which both broadens and complicates the decision-making process. – Inner Party Truth-Organ, Reuters. (HT:New York Times) Jeffrey Goldberg at The Atlantic read this purgative and quickly needed a lavatory in which to up-chuck. His nausea is understandable. His restraint in castigating such rampant dishonesty in the service of such a small and petty POTUS, was not as commendable as he thinks. This fraudulent garbage deserved a stronger, more virile rebuke. Goldberg offered the following “suggestion” to the proud media organ of The Democratic National Committee known as Reuters. This, of course, is wildly inaccurate and misleading. Say what you will about the second Iraq war, but George W. Bush made partnerships with many nations in advance of the invasion, including and especially America’s most valuable ally, Great Britain, as well as Australia, Spain, Hungary, Poland, Denmark, South Korea, the Czech Republic, and a couple of dozen others. Reuters should correct this inaccurate statement. (HT: The Atlantic) No, Mr. Goldberg, Reuters did not just make an inaccurate statement. They deliberately and mendaciously lied! The nameless coward who authored this piece of “analysis” should apologize. Reuters should furthermore acknowledge their longstanding loyalty and advocacy on behalf of the Democratic Party. The Democratic National Committee should be properly billed for such media contributions-in-kind in accordance with whatever Dog’s Breakfast of campaign finance legislation applies to these cheap propaganda stunts. Out of pure blogging sadism, I elected to document the extent of the dishonesty that Reuters just attempted to pass of as news “analysis”. The Wikipedia page on the Multi-National Force – Iraq , lists 40 distinct nations that at least contributed a small force. American military personnel have constituted roughly 75% of the manpower used in Iraq from 2003 to the present date. We lead and bore the heaviest load. But then again, it was pretty much our idea, prior to being codified into 17 separate UN resolutions. The US mission in Libya has halting rhetorical support from The Arab League and may be palmed off onto NATO. How many countries are contributing? This is hard to determine, but certainly not forty. France, Spain, and Italy desperately need Libyan oil. Great Britain is involved on behalf of French President, Nicholas Sarkozy. Qatar sent four fighter jets. They perhaps want to be seen as good-guys, so that any possible Qatari no-fly zone will tilt towards the rulers, not the insurgents. Reuters could eschew its partisan affiliation and honestly report the following. Obama is committed to keeping Libyan oil flowing and arranging Kaddafi’s Big Hook-Up In The Sky with the 72 virgins of recent Islamo-fascist yore. He won’t admit this is the case and hasn’t even informed the US Congress why in the heck the US military is involved in this Charlie Fox-Trot. The decision-making process will remain quite broad and complicated until the French President Sarkozy grows exasperated with this piddle-(redact) and assumes proper adult responsibility for the current Kinetic-Military-Desert-Camporee. -My totally fictional account of what DNC Reuters should have actually said.
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Proud DNC Affiliate, Reuters Describes The Libyan Coalition
