If Only Some Could Have Seen This Coming

So, Scott Fenstermaker, the lawyer for one of the accused terrorists behind 9/11, has announced that the men would not deny their role in the 2001 attacks but "would explain what happened and why they did it."

So basically, it's not going to be a trial, but an "Inside the Actor's Studio" for terrorists. Just yards from where thousands of innocent Americans perished, we'll all get to understand the motivations that drove these men to do what they did. I mean, since we know they're not going to deny their guilt– it's no longer about justice. It's just about "why, why, why." We'll learn exciting things about their childhood, their dreams of martyrdom, and how evil America is. It will be a show trial, without the "trial" part.

God, if only someone could have seen this coming.

Oh, wait...we all saw this coming. The only people who didn't? Those who let it happen.

There are three reasons for that:

-One, those people are stupid.

-Two. There's a belief shared by the "why do they hate us" faction of America that we are equally responsible for the terror attack. If we were just better people - nicer, less successful and less "American" - no one would try to kill us! Replacing Bush with Obama was supposed to help with all that. It didn't.

-Three, we've elected people consumed by the idea of root causes – a pseudo-intellectual exercise that prevents a real understanding of evil actions. Every culprit can tell a story, but by listening to that story, you insult each and every one of his victims. But to abort any argument based on root causes, simply say, "there are plenty of unhappy people who don't fly planes into buildings." Of course that's just too sensible for the best and the brightest.

Read more...

Chicken Littles Still Thrive

So last week we all read about the scandal at the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit. There a hacker revealed confidential emails exposing attempts by global warming apostles to manipulate embarrassing info that countered their warming claims. These emails have been called "the nail in the coffin" of global warming hysteria.

I wish that were true.

Check out the sites where the Chicken Littles still thrive. About the hacked emails, The Huffington Post says "this criminal activity has created fodder for right-wing groups to promote their own agenda that global warming is not real." And, after admitting he was "deeply shaken" by the emails, a Guardian columnist adds that "To bury man-made climate change, a far wider conspiracy would have to be revealed."

Really?

For fun: imagine if these leaked emails weren't about global warming, but Gitmo. Or Dick Cheney. Or Sarah Palin's private life. How fast would Time, Newsweek, and an intensely sweaty Andrew Sullivan be all over them - calling these emails corruption of the highest order?

But they can't do this here. Because the lie is the lie that the media believed in. It's their Watergate - so it's no wonder there's no "Woodward and Bernstein" to bring it down.

So, where does this leave Al Gore? He's got his hands all over this leafy Ponzi scheme, and he stands to make buttloads of money off propagated fear. Something tells me he won't be discussing these emails in Copenhagen. Because as long as the sky keeps falling, his bank account keeps rising.

Read more...

Quote of the Day

Gratitude is not a spiritual or moral dessert which we may take or push away according to the whims of the moment, and in either case without material consequences. Gratitude is the very bread and meat of spiritual and moral health.

Have you thanked God today for the blessings you have?

Read more...

New York Times Concerned About Secrecy

Here’s a dirty little secret about The New York Times. It likes to leak things. Important things. Things that change the course of the public conversation. From the Pentagon Papers to the ruined terrorist-surveillance programs of the Bush era, the Times has routinely found that secrecy is a danger and sunlight is a disinfectant.

Until now. A troublesome hacker recently released e-mails going to and from the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia in Britain, e-mails that exposed how the "scientific experts" cited so often by the media on global warming display are guilty of crude political talk, attempts at censoring opponents, and twisting scientific data to support their policy agenda.

The e-mails prove just how dishonest this left-wing global warming agenda truly is. And now suddenly, the New York Times has found religion, and won’t publish these private e-mails. Environmental reporter Andrew Revkin, who’s more global warming lobbyist than reporter, quoted – sparsely – from the e-mails, but declared he would not post these texts on his "Dot Earth" blog on the Times website: "The documents appear to have been acquired illegally and contain all manner of private information and statements that were never intended for the public eye, so they won’t be posted here."

Read more...

Jobs Saved? One.

Obama is claiming he has saved hundreds of thousands of jobs during what they continue to call the worst economic climate in our lifetime. Putting aside the fact that the Carter years, and a couple that immediately followed Carter were probably worse (but may not be before this is over), Obama is doing a good job of ensuring that we top the Carter years and possibly even the Great Depression of the '30's with his departure from common sense economics.

We now have a definition of a "saved job" according to the administration. Obama claims to have saved over 14,500 jobs in one federal office. Quite a feat. It turns out, however, that 9,300 of those were counted as a saved job based on the fact that the federal employees were given a pay raise. Luis Rosero, HHS spokesman said "If I give you a raise, it is going to save a portion of your job." Hence, some of these outrageous numbers we are seeing and which fly in the face of all reason given the continuing rise in the unemployment rate, are due to people who would not have lost their jobs getting pay raises.

Let me repeat that: If you would have kept your job regardless of anything the administration has done concerning the economy and if you got a pay raise, Obama saved your job.

Based on that definition, I wonder how many jobs Bush saved or created during his eight years in office. Oh wait.... that doesn't count.

The reality is that Obama hasn't saved or created very many jobs at all. In fact, if you offset every job that may have been saved or created by the stimulus package with the ones that were lost because of Obama's policies (based on his own claim that the unemployment rate would have topped out at 8.2 percent had we done nothing) we have a net loss of several MILLION jobs.

There is one job he has definitely saved, though. Just one that he can point to and say that "This person now has a job and wouldn't have if not for my administration." That would be the job of HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. The former governor of Kansas left the State in such horrible shape that her successor had to make an announcement yesterday that the state was making several millions of dollars in budget cuts. This makes four consecutive years that the State budget has had to be cut because of declining revenues. To make matters "worse," that announcement had to be made by a Democrat Governor. In other words things are in such a mess in the State of Kansas that a LIBERAL DEMOCRAT GOVERNOR IS MAKING BUDGET CUTS!!!

There is no doubt that Kathleen Sebelius would have been voted out of office (if she ran again in 2010) in the State of Kansas. There is also no doubt that the challengers that are emerging on the Republican side are much stronger candidates than any she actually faced when she did run for office in the state.

Clearly one of the reasons Obama picked Sebelius to be the HHS Secretary is so that she wouldn't be out of a job in 2010.

Good job, Obama. One job saved. Put THAT on recovery.gov.

Read more...

Islam Is as Islam Does

I just ran across another article by a bleeding-heart liberal who described the Fort Hood terrorist as a "lone nut" who had difficulty adjusting to military life. His actions, of course, had nothing to do with the co-incidental fact that his religion was Islam. Islam is, according this this article and an increasingly loud majority of liberals, an inherently peaceful religion and we have nothing to fear from it.

As far as I'm concerned, Islam is as Islam does. Apart from the Islamic Terrorist Traitor Major, over 14,000 other acts of terrorism have been committed in the name of this "peaceful religion" since 9/11 with countless thousands of deaths and injuries as a result.

There is no radical Islam. There is no Fundamentalist Islam. There is no Terrorist Islam. There is just Islam, and those who misunderstand the religion are the so-called "peaceful" Muslims who may not overtly support terrorism, but who covertly support it by nurturing, protecting and covering up the more active brothers and sisters amongst them.

Our leaders continually hammer away at the idea that America is not at war with Islam. While that is true, perhaps we should be, and we should make it official. It may be the only way we will all be safe.

Islam is a belief based on hate and grievance and likes to portray itself as a victim while itself victimizing others and victimizing even its own. Kind of like liberalism.

Read more...

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Read more...

The Girl Who Cried Racism

Apparently, it's RACISM DAY, here at "Handbasket." I found this little gem over at Spectator." I particularly like the title. A take on "The Boy Who Cried Wolf," it is easy to see how our society has become jaded to cries of racism that people don't even pay attention any more. This whole situation is an example of the racism is trivialized, making real issues of racism "back-burner" issues.

The Girl Who Cried Racism

By Christopher Orlet on 11.23.09 @ 6:08AM

Kennett, Missouri, is best known these days as the hometown of pop rock diva Sheryl Crow. Sheryl Crow and now Heather Ellis. The latter is no rock star, but she is a bona fide celebrity (or one famous for being famous). Ellis, 24, the celebrated Wal-Mart line-cutter, earned her 15-minutes of celebrity when she accused a Wal-Mart shopper, cashier, assistant store manager, security guard, and Kennett police officers of racism. By the second day of the trial -- which ended last Friday in a plea bargain -- it was clear from mainstream media coverage that pretty much the whole town of Kennett was racist.

The facts were these: Ellis, then a college student, was in line at the local Wal-Mart, when she decided her lane was moving too slowly. She then joined her cousin in a faster moving lane, cutting in front of a line of waiting customers. The customer she cut directly in front of, Teresa Kinder, objected, especially when Ellis repeatedly shoved Kinder's merchandise back down the conveyer belt. The assistant store manager and a security guard arrived and asked Ellis to leave. When she refused, police were called. Ellis was later placed under arrest, and charged with disturbing the peace, trespassing, resisting arrest, and felony assault of police officers.

Not surprisingly, there are two very different versions of what happened. Ellis and her aunt say she was pushed by Ms. Kinder and called racial slurs. They say police roughed her up, tore her jacket, and told her to "go back to the ghetto." Police, store management and witnesses, meanwhile, say that Ellis was belligerent, and that she kicked officer Albert Fisher in the shin and hit Sgt. Joe Stewart in the mouth, splitting his lip. Whatever the truth, it is obvious that a minor instance of rude behavior and bad manners escalated into a felony assault on a peace officer.

The mainstream media was quick to indict Kennett as a racist community. An ABC News headline read: "Heather Ellis Could Face Prison Time After Cutting the Line at Walmart." Not for assaulting police officers, mind you, but for "cutting the line." CNN's Randi Kaye went after the entire town of Kennett, accusing it of being "a community known for racial tension." CNN showed more bias when it suggestively referred to Kennett's "predominantly white police department." (In fact, Kennett has two minority cops, which accurately reflects the percentage of minorities in the town.) Groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and Southern Christian Leadership Conference noted that the town's police have been accused of racial profiling minority drivers, a charge that has been leveled, one time or another, at just about every American city and town with minorities.

Needless to say, racial tensions exploded after Ellis made her accusations. White supremacist groups began slithering into town to spread their hateful propaganda, while big name minority activists flew in from New York and Washington DC, to further heighten tensions. Ms. Ellis's father, a local Baptist preacher, called the trial a "big, racial discrimination cover-up," which seems an odd comment since trials are supposed to promote justice, not cover up the truth. (Perhaps the state judicial system is racist too?) Ellis and her various coalitions and supporters quickly hired the top criminal lawyers in St. Louis: Scott Rosenblum and T.J. Hunsaker. When asked by reporters to comment on the charge of racism, Rosenblum would say only: "I'm not going to go there."

The fact that Rosenblum and Hunsaker had to settle for a plea bargain suggests Ellis didn't have a prayer in beating the assault charge, regardless of the extenuating circumstances. In the end, Ellis was convicted of the lesser charges of resisting arrest and disturbing the peace. The plea bargain stipulates she must attend two hours of anger management class.

"MANNERS ARE OF MORE importance than laws," wrote Edmund Burke. "Upon them, in a great measure, the laws depend." But good manners are today considered passé, a quaint and spurious remnant of our dark past. So many of today's young people simply do not care how their rude or anti-social behavior affects others. It is almost like no one else exists but himself or herself. I experience this form of anti-social behavior on a daily basis, whether it is the young hoodlums in the street outside my window playing loud and obscene music at 3 a.m. or young people talking loudly and obscenely on their cell phones during a movie. And you can see where they get it. I have attended theater productions where adults bring their toddlers and allow them to chat endlessly throughout the performance, no doubt finding this behavior "cute."

If our young are not taught good manners, they are well-schooled in resentment studies, during which they learn the various benefits of victimhood and the importance of political correctness. Good manners will never get anyone 15 minutes of fame, but bad manners and crying racism is almost guaranteed to buy you fifteen minutes and then some.

The tragedy is that by rushing to Ellis's defense, by excusing her actions, and by concocting blanket racism charges against an entire community, the "various coalitions" and civil rights groups have done great damage to the laudable goal of combating racial prejudice.

Perhaps now that the rock star has returned home to Louisiana, the Ellis-and-mainstream-media-created racial tensions will cool and Kennett, Missouri, can get back to being what it was: a normal southern town trying to deal with serious economic problems.

Read more...

Diversity for Thee, But Not for We

A tip of the hat to Legal Insurrection for pointing out this article by Michelle Malkin.

Host Chris Matthews and his guests on MSNBC were bashing Sarah Palin and her "all-white" followers. The left loves to play the race card.

By the way, have you ever noticed that on MSNBC, all the talking heads and over 90% of the guests are .... white?

Just sort of makes a tingle run up and down your leg, doesn't it?

Read more...

What Year Would You Prefer?

Would you rather grow up in 1957 or 2009 and why?

Scenario 1:

Jack goes quail hunting before school and then pulls into the school parking lot with his shotgun in his truck’s gun rack.

1957 – Vice Principal comes over, looks at Jack’s shotgun, goes to his car and gets his shotgun to show Jack.

2009 - School goes into lock down, FBI called, Jack hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors called in for traumatized students and teachers.

Scenario 2:

Johnny and Mark get into a fist fight after school.

1957 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins.. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up buddies.

2009 - Police called and SWAT team arrives — they arrest both Johnny and Mark. They are both charged them with assault and both expelled even though Johnny started it.

Scenario 3:

Jeffrey will not be still in class, he disrupts other students.

1957 - Jeffrey sent to the Principal’s office and given a good paddling by the Principal. He then returns to class, sits still and does not disrupt class again.

2009 – Jeffrey is given huge doses of Ritalin. He becomes a zombie. He is then tested for ADD. The school gets extra money from the state because Jeffrey has a disability.

Scenario 4:

Billy breaks a window in his neighbor’s car and his Dad gives him a whipping with his belt..

1957 – Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college and becomes a successful businessman.

2009 – Billy’s dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy is removed to foster care and joins a gang. The state psychologist is told by Billy’s sister that she remembers being abused herself and their dad goes to prison. Billy’s mom has an affair with the psychologist.

Scenario 5:

Mark gets a headache and takes some aspirin to school.

1957 – Mark shares his aspirin with the Principal out on the smoking dock.

2009 – The police are called and Mark is expelled from school for drug violations His car is then searched for drugs and weapons.

Scenario 6:

Pedro fails high school English.

1957 – Pedro goes to summer school, passes English and goes to college.

2009 - Pedro’s cause is taken up by state. Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that teaching English as a requirement for graduation is racist. ACLU files class action lawsuit against the state school system and Pedro’s English teacher. English is then banned from core curriculum. Pedro is given his diploma anyway but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he cannot speak English.

Scenario 7:

Johnny takes apart leftover firecrackers from the Fourth of July, puts them in a model airplane paint bottle and blows up a red ant bed.

1957 – Ants die.

2009 – ATF, Homeland Security and the FBI are all called. Johnny is charged with domestic terrorism. The FBI investigates his parents — and all siblings are removed from their home and all computers are confiscated. Johnny’s dad is placed on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.

Scenario 8:

Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee. He is found crying by his teacher, Mary. Mary hugs him to comfort him.

1957 - In a short time, Johnny feels better and goes on playing.

2009 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces 3 years in State Prison… Johnny undergoes 5 years of therapy.

Read more...

O'Reilly and Religion Don't Mix

I cringe every time Bill O'Reilly says he's going to have a guest on his show to discuss anything of a religious nature. Bill just gets lost when it comes to religion.

O'Reilly is Catholic. I have no problem with that. His guest last night didn't say what her beliefs were, but she was obviously not evangelical, nor did she approach religion with a conservative viewpoint. She is a "Religion Editor" for the Washington Post and recently wrote a column "attacking" Sarah Palin's faith.

Attacking may not be the right word. Mocking or ridiculing might be more accurate.

They discussed Sarah Palin's own expression of her faith and her trying to find and follow God's plan for her. This guest implied that if Palin were intellectually honest, she'd either have to say that running for office in '08 was not God's plan or that losing was God's plan. O'Reilly was clueless in searching for a response.

I won't presume to know what Sarah Palin's specific beliefs are with regard to God's plan in our lives or how much "control" He exercises over events. I can only express what my beliefs are.

In a broader sense, God does, indeed, have a plan for all of us. It is the same plan for everyone. He calls us all to repent from our sins and to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. He calls us all to live a life directed by Him and the teachings in the Bible.

Does that mean that everyone follows this plan? Of course not. My belief is that each of us is free to choose and to do as we please. We can seek him and accept his gift of salvation for us. Or we can go our own way.

I also believe that God give a specific calling to some people with regard to their vocation or profession. I don't believe that He does this for everyone. Did God call Sarah Palin to be Vice President? I doubt it. I think he calls Sarah Palin to be faithful and to use the position that she has to do as much good in our nation as she can. But God doesn't push the buttons in the polling booths. So even if God wanted Sarah Palin to be V.P. (or the next President), that doesn't mean it's going to happen. We can still chose.

The guest last night also implied that if Sarah Palin were consistent in her beliefs, then she would say that it was in God's plan for her daughter to become pregnant out of wedlock, since that's what happened.

Again, that's complete B.S.

I don't think any Christian believes that everything that happens is a part of God's plan. We live in an imperfect and fallen world. Most of what happens in this world happens contrary to what God wants.

This is why I don't like the phrase some Christians use that "God is in Control." Strictly speaking, he isn't. We are. And the natural laws of the universe play a role. I do think that God intervenes in our lives at times. I also think he lets us live the consequences of our choices at times. We also sometimes have to deal with the consequences of the choices of others.

To say that God reigns is different than to say he's in control. I believe that God does, indeed, reign. He oversees all. And, in seeing all, his heart breaks at what's going on this world.

One day things will be different. Until that day comes, each of us must seek and try to follow God's plan.

And I think God's plan for Bill O'Reilly is to keep people off his show who want to talk about religion.

Read more...