RUTHFULLY YOURS

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/351916/immigration-bill-or-it-corker-hoeven-amendment-everything-wrong-washington-andrew-c

I was just watching Senator Ted Cruz’s floor speech in opposition to the atrocious immigration bill and took note of a remarkable exchange between Senators Cruz and Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat and mastermind of the legislation. The short YouTube video is worth your time (Schumer interrupts about a minute in). Cruz pointed out that the hefy 1,200-page Corker-Hoeven Amendment was dropped like a stealth bomb late Friday with supporters now pushing for an immediate vote when it is perfectly obvious that no one could possibly have read, studied and analyzed the proposal. As if it were a defense, Schumer insisted that of the 1,200 pages “only” 100 pages are new, and that certainly a senator should be able to read “only” 100 pages of “important legislation” over a weekend.

Let’s pretend Schumer is correct — and he’s not: Senator Corker says it is actually 119 new pages. When a bill is amended in a sneaky manner, as this one has been, no responsible senator could just read 100 new pages. The amendments are interspersed thoughout the bill — it’s not like you could sit and read them as a unit, even if you had the time. Since the proponents are clearly trying to pull a fast one, prudence, as Senator Cruz pointed out, would dictate rereading every line of text, old and new, to search for insertions — and, indeed, news reports indicate that numerous new buy-offs and pot-sweeteners have been inserted.

But there is a larger point: no “important legislation” should be 100 pages long, much less 1,200 (or the even more mind-boggling girth of monstrosities like Obamacare). The United States Constitution is about 4,500 words long — outfits like Cato and Heritage publish it in small pamphlets that can be read in a few minutes. Nowadays, not only are the bills so gargantuan that no one could conceivably master them and predict their consequences; each page produces even more pages of regulations. They can’t even be lifted, much less digested.

http://spectator.org/archives/2013/06/24/the-nsa-isnt-the-irs Which is why Edward Snowden needs to be hit with more than a tax audit. Momentary Muscovite Edward Snowden is now in Russia’s capital, enjoying Vladimir Putin’s hospitality while en route to Caracas or Havana or some other totalitarian hellhole where, presumably, he thinks he’s going to be feted as a hero. He should […]

http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/novelists-view-world/2013/jun/24/bigotry-paula-deen-weeps-alice-walker-laughs/

WASHINGTON, June 24, 2013 — Celebrity chef Paula Deen is a celebrity no more. She was fired from the Food Network for a racial slur, the N-word, which she uttered some time ago. She has since apologized for those hurtful remarks against African-Americans. Deen has begged for forgiveness. Nothing doing. Life will never be the same for Paula Deen.

Life is much sweeter for celebrity author Alice Walker, who remains kosher despite remarks hurtful against the Jewish people. She has made no apologies. None necessary. Despite her festering grudge against Israel and her acrimony against Jewish people in general, life is good.

A new book of hers has just been published and already she has book tours lined up across the country. She is being praised and applauded.

No forgiveness necessary for Alice Walker.

In this new book of hers, some 80 pages are given to tantrums against the Jewish people. No problem. Who cares? Last Sunday she starred on C-Span.

A few weeks earlier she was honored at the New York’s 92nd Street Y. Her fan-base remains strong and loyal.

http://politicalmavens.com/

Something must happen to sound judgment at high altitudes. In Colorado, the state’s civil rights division has ruled that a six year old boy who dresses as a girl must be allowed to use the girl’s bathroom The state ruled that “compartmentalizing a child as a boy or a girl based solely on their visible anatomy, is a simplistic approach to a difficult and complex issue.” This is an interesting conclusion which can be rephrased as stating that a six year old’s personal evaluation of his own gender and sex is more accurate than the biological evidence of same. Even more to the point, it implies that the willingness of parents to give in to the demands or supplications of a very young child, or for them to shape those demands willfully or unconsciously, must be valued above biological facts. In the photograph accompanying the news story in the NYTimes of Jan 24th, the mother is wearing pants that are several inches longer than her legs. Perhaps her own dysmorphic disorder has her believing that she is six feet tall and needs to dress accordingly; is this someone whose judgment about how to dress her own son should be automatically trusted?

At six, children are usually in first grade learning to read and write and deal with rudimentary lessons in socialization and the three R’s. If the concept of gender determination is so complex, should it be left to children that young and immature to decide? Shouldn’t parents delay acting decisively on such important matters until their child is older and more mature? Coy, the six year old boy in question, is viewed as having made his own choices as to what to wear, selecting dresses and growing his hair long. Anyone who has been a parent knows that children can choose only between choices they are GIVEN – not every parent would agree to let a boy wear his fantasy clothes to school. Not every parent would allow a young child to be the sole determinant of his haircut.

There’s an old joke about a doti

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324637504578565530512048940.html At this writing, Edward J. Snowden, the fugitive National Security Agency contractor indicted on espionage charges, is in Moscow, where Vladimir Putin’s spokesman insists his government is powerless to detain him. “We have nothing to do with this story,” says Dmitri Peskov. “I don’t approve or disapprove plane tickets.” Funny how Mr. Putin always […]