Action on Tibet

The True Majority website has set up a petition calling for an end to China's violent actions against Tibet. Click on the link and you can sign it.

For too long, our people and our government have been appeasing China in order to advance our own economic interests. We should begin taking action to show the Chinese that they cannot trample on human rights and international law without consequences.

Tibet Troubles

They told us that bringing the Olympics to China would quell Beijing's human rights issues.

Yeah, just like the 1936 Berlin Olympics turned Nazi Germany into a human rights leader.

Obama, Religion, and Race

The clip posted below features the full speech Senator Barack Obama gave yesterday regarding the recent press frenzy over controversial remarks made by his pastor.
They offer many insights into the issue of race in America.

Sen. Obama rightly points out that his election will not solve all of our racial problems. At the same time, he notes that as people come together, we will form a more united people. An African-American president will mark a great step toward racial progress.

The Senator also notes that just because someone is his pastor does not mean that he endorses everything that person believes or says. He further points out the great racial divide in American religion, and the difference in black and white religious practices.

Beyond that, I'll let the Senator speak for himself. His words are far more eloquent than mine.

The (Airline) Gods Must Be Crazy!!!

I have been looking at various airlines' prices for flights from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. Things are truly getting nuts! Many of the airlines are only offering flights with connections, some as far away as Dallas, TX. Continental's cheapest flights are over a thousand dollars!!!

The only really cheap flights seem to be from Southwest Airlines. However, given their recent safety concerns, I am not certain I want to deal with them.

Part of this is the result, I suspect, of high gas prices. However, it is also a sign that our air travel system, like much of our infrastructure, is in decay.

A Nation of Idiots

In this week’s issue of The Nation, the letters page is crammed with complaints from angry Hillary supporters who were ticked off that the magazine has endorsed Obama. The majority of them were so stupid as to beggar belief. I do not know where to begin.

Perhaps I should start with the person who said that men have been in charge long enough and that only a woman can solve America’s problems. Given that Hillary Clinton voted for many of the nation’s problems as a Senator, including the Iraq War and the Patriot Act, this seems rather doubtful. Even if women are better suited to solving these problems, it’s certainly not this woman. As Reason Magazine noted, this only exposes the bankruptcy of identity politics.

In one particularly galling letter, some idiot tries to harp on the fact that the Constitutional amendment giving women the vote was passed decades after the amendment giving African-American men the vote. This completely ignores the fact that, except for a brief period during Reconstruction, in many parts of this country, black people couldn't exercise that constitutional right until the 1960s. Many civil rights activists died for that right. This letter practically spat on their graves.

Another writer claimed that Obama would be unelectable. If so, than Hillary doesn’t stand a chance in hell. With all the baggage she has, the Republican attack machine will literally bury her in mud. I can just imagine the infamous September 2008 You Tube video “Have a Cigar, Hillary?” Although her supporters claim that the Republicans have thrown all they can at her, the fact that they have so much to throw should give one pause.

Karen, Shut the Heller Up

In yesterday’s Inquirer, columnist Karen Heller wrote a fairly stupid commentary on the Elliot Spitzer case. In it, she gives Spitzer’s wife unsolicited advice on how she should have reacted, as if she gives a damn what some newspaper columnist in Philadelphia thinks.

Does Ms. Heller have a degree in psychology or marriage counseling that we don’t know about? Has she been receiving off the books tutoring from Dr. Phil? If not, she should shut up.

Frankly, I am getting sick of hearing about the Spitzer Affair. There are far more important things the news media could be focusing on right now. Let’s make a list.

1. The resignation of Admiral Fallon, who had been military commander in the
Middle East. His resignation apparently stems from disagreements about the strategy we should pursue against Iran.

2. President Bush’s veto of a bill that would bar government agents from using waterboarding in interrogations.

3. The real reason behind rising oil prices. Although Hillary Clinton blames OPEC, the increase stems from speculation driven by the weak dollar, combined with political events overseas. It is not an issue of supply.

4. How our nation’s inflation is being driven by the move to ethanol. As a recent NPR story notes, the diversion of corn to ethanol is raising food prices across the board. Even meat is being affected, as most corn is grown for animal feed.

This focus on unimportant, salacious stories is reminiscent of the mindless chatter that passed as news before 9/11. It almost makes one question the wisdom of the first amendment.

Spitzer Down the Tubes

Well, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer’s career is pretty much down the drain. Personally, I think this is a waste and an overreaction to what was essentially a private peccadillo. Gov. Spitzer was a talented force in politics, and his skills should not be thrown away just because of his sexual issues.

Think about it. What real bearing does this have on his ability to govern? None, other than the fact that our infantilized media, who crawl over everything having to do with sex, won’t leave him alone about it. Successful presidents such as JFK, Dwight Eisenhower, and FDR engaged in all manner of philandering, with no discernable affect on their job performance. I see no way in which the involvement of money changes that, other than the existence of anachronistic, nanny-state laws.

Naturally, the folks at Reason’s Hit and Run Blog are crowing over this, a rather ironic position to take when you advocate the legalization of prostitution.

Time to Get Rough, Barack

Barack Obama's campaign recently condemned one of his unpaid aides, Professor Samantha Power, for referring to Sen. Hillary Clinton as a power-hungry monster. My only question is: why?

As Andrew Sullivan notes, Senator Clinton and her husband will do whatever it takes to stay in power. They will stoop to dirty tricks (e.g. the race baiting inherent in their release of the Somali Barack photo), negative campaigning, and manipulating the nomination process to get elected.

It's time to fight back. And we have so much to do so with. If Hillary Clinton wants to run on her record, let's start with her health care screw ups. I can see it now...

"It's 3 AM. Your children are sick. Who do you want in charge of our national healthcare system? A man who is willing to work in a bipartisan fashion to create a workable, affordable system, or a politician who wastes opportunities through partisan bickering?"

Strip Search at School

A young female student at a Middle School was recently strip searched by school faculty because another student wrongly accused her of supplying him with drugs. Reason Magazine's Hit and Run blog has the scoop.

The Ninth Circuit Court is claiming that this is not a violation of Fourth Amendment rights, even though they didn't even bother informing the parents. If there were any real sense in the justice system, the school staff who performed the seach would be registering under Megan's Law.