RUTHFULLY YOURS

http://www.steynonline.com/6151/where-the-action-is

This column appears in the March 10th issue of National Review, but is especially timely in the week of all the pitching and wooing of CPAC:

People keep asking me whom I favor for the 2016 Republican nomination. I politely demur — and not just because it’s almost three years till Election Day, and at this stage in the 2008 cycle I’m not sure I’d ever heard of Barack Obama. As a resident of a New Hampshire township with more than 37 people, I don’t have to seek out presidential candidates; they’re there at the inn and the general store and the diner and the Grange. I’ve seen enough next-presidents-of-the-United-States for several lifetimes: Phil Gramm, Pete Wilson, Bob Dornan, Elizabeth Dole, Orrin Hatch, Gary Bauer, Lamar Alexander, Tom Tancredo, Tommy Thompson, Alan Keyes…

Would it have made any difference to the country had any of these fine upstanding fellows prevailed? Or would we be pretty much where we are anyway? Aside from a trade agreement here, a federal regulation there, I’d plump for the latter. You can’t have conservative government in a liberal culture, and that’s the position the Republican party is in. After the last election, I said that the billion dollars spent by the Romney campaign on robocalls and TV ads and whatnot had been entirely wasted, and the Electoral College breakdown would have been pretty much the same if they’d just tossed the dough into the Potomac and let it float out to sea. But imagine the use all that money and time could have been put to out there in the wider world. Liberals expend tremendous effort changing the culture. Conservatives expend tremendous effort changing elected officials every other November — and then are surprised that it doesn’t make much difference. Culture trumps politics — which is why, once the question’s been settled culturally, conservatives are reduced to playing catch-up, twisting themselves into pretzels to explain (including in the pages of this magazine) why gay marriage is really conservative after all, or why 30 million unskilled immigrants with a majority of births out of wedlock are “natural allies” of the Republican party.

http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2014/03/07/desmond-tutu-climate-expert/?print=1

Noxious gasbag.

South Africa’s peace icon Desmond Tutu on Friday urged the United States to reject Canada’s Keystone XL pipeline, saying the “carbon bomb” would upend the US role fighting climate change.

“The verdict on whether to approve or reject the Keystone XL pipeline could, in just one stroke, confirm or condemn America’s prospects for climate leadership,” said the letter, released by the advocacy group Avaaz.

“This is a US policy decision that will have truly global significance. Keystone has been called the ‘fuse to the biggest carbon bomb on the planet,’” said the letter, timed for the final day of a public comment period on the pipeline.

In a time of turmoil all over the globe, a clergyman most noted for winning the Nobel Peace prize is babbling about the world’s greatest superpower needing to worry about “climate leadership.”

Whatever that is.

http://www.nationalreview.com/node/372793/print

Vladimir Putin is a lucky man. And he’s got three more years of luck to come.

He takes Crimea, and President Obama says it’s not in Russia’s interest, not even strategically clever. Indeed, it’s a sign of weakness.

Really? Crimea belonged to Moscow for 200 years. Russia conquered it 20 years before the U.S. acquired Louisiana. Lost it in the humiliation of the 1990s. Putin got it back in about three days without firing a shot.

Now Russia looms over the rest of eastern and southern Ukraine. Putin can take that anytime he wants — if he wants. He has already destabilized the nationalist government in Kiev. Ukraine is now truncated and on the life support of U.S. and European money (much of which — cash for gas — will end up in Putin’s treasury anyway).

Obama says Putin is on the wrong side of history and Secretary of State John Kerry says Putin’s is “really 19th-century behavior in the 21st century.”

http://www.nationalreview.com/node/372901/print

Here is a selection of recent headlines: “Jon Stewart Destroys Megyn Kelly,” “Jon Stewart Destroys Fox News’ ‘Spite-Driven Anger Machine,’” “Jon Stewart Destroys What’s Left of Peggy Noonan’s Credibility,” “Jon Stewart Destroys Fox News Over Syria Coverage,” “Jon Stewart Destroys Glenn Beck’s Utopia,” “Jon Stewart Destroys Bill O’Reilly” — there are about 520,000 more — and, not to be missed, “Jon Stewart Destroys Chicago-Style Pizza.”

The sound of terrors is in his ears at 11 p.m. on Comedy Central, and in prosperity the destroyer cometh upon him.

Mr. Stewart is the host of a fake news show, the genesis of which probably was a conversation that went approximately like this: Brother-in-Law: “There’s nothing funny on Saturday Night Live except the ‘Weekend Update.’ They should really just do that for the whole show.” Jon Stewart: “Hey . . . !” Mr. Stewart is among the lowest forms of intellectual parasite in the political universe, with no particular insights or interesting ideas of his own, reliant upon the very broadest and least clever sort of humor, using ancient editing techniques to make clumsy or silly political statements sound worse than they are and then pantomiming outrage at the results, the lowbrow version of James Joyce giving the hero of Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man the unlikely name of Stephen Dedalus and then having other characters in the novel muse upon the unlikelihood of that name. His shtick is a fundamentally cowardly one, playing the sanctimonious vox populi when it suits him, and then beating retreat into “Hey, I’m just a comedian!” when he faces a serious challenge. It is the sort of thing that you can see appealing to bright, politically engaged 17-year-olds.

His audience is not made up of bright, politically engaged 17-year-olds. But Mr. Stewart has pulled off a pretty neat trick: He has, as the half-million or so headlines mentioned above indicate, made fake news into real news, and it is not an accident that the verb “destroys” so often follows his name. Mr. Stewart is the leading voice of the half-bright Left because he is a master practitioner of the art of half-bright vitriolic denunciation. His intellectual biography is that of a consummate lightweight — a William and Mary frat boy who majored in psychology, which must have been a disappointment to his father, a professor of physics — and his comedy career has been strictly by-the-numbers, from the early days on the New York City comedy-club scene to changing his name (Mr. Stewart began life as Mr. Leibowitz) and a career-boosting stint on MTV, where he was second only to Beavis and Butt-Head in the ratings. He subsequently may have matched Beavis and Butt-Head’s popularity, but he has never risen to comparable heights of social insight.

http://americanthinker.com/2014/03/democrats_unleash_the_irs_tyrant.html

Lois Lerner did not flinch from using the IRS to persecute conservative citizens groups and corrupt the 2012 election. Once again she has taken the Fifth rather than come clean to Congress about what the IRS did to squelch the Tea Party and others, and who ordered it. President Obama brazenly lies to Bill O’Reilly’s face and says there’s not a smidgeon of scandal. This is an unrepentant crew.

Obama is channeling Clinton’s famous hair-splitting on whether oral sex is sex. It all depends how you define scandal. Since Democrats believe they have the right to use the IRS to persecute political opponents, perhaps in Obama’s eyes, there is no scandal.

Democrats are embracing their inner tyrant. Voters tell pollsters they are ready to hand the Senate to Republicans in 2014 so we can repeal Obamacare. Not to worry, Democrats have an answer, and it is not to respect their constituents and repeal the monstrosity.

The Democrat answer to the voter’s revolt is the IRS. From now on, the IRS will openly suppress the conservative vote.

The White House is working to make permanent the IRS targeting of opposition groups before the 2014 election. According to Kim Strassel of the Wall Street Journal, “Treasury appears to have reverse-engineered the carefully tailored rule—combing through the list of previously targeted tea party groups, compiling a list of their main activities and then restricting those functions.”

Texas’s Ted Cruz offered an amendment to prohibit IRS employees from deliberately targeting individuals or groups based on political views. It was unanimously rejected by every member of the Democratic majority.

http://carolineglick.com/surviving-obama/ Bloomberg columnist Jeffrey Goldberg minced few words in discussing the interview that US President Barack Obama gave him on the eve of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s latest visit to Washington.   Speaking with journalist Charlie Rose, Goldberg equated Obama’s threat to stop supporting Israel in international forums to the talk of a mafia don. […]

THE ILLINOIS PRIMARY IS ON MARCH 18TH…..RSK

http://www.barenakedislam.com/2014/03/05/look-at-all-the-illinois-representatives-who-support-terror-linked-muslim-brotherhood-front-group-cair/
If any of them represent you, let them know what you think about their speaking for a group that has been designated by the FBI and several in Congress as a supporter of U.S.-designated terrorist groups.
1dick_durbin“For more than 10 years, CAIR-Chicago has enhanced the understanding of Islam within our communities by facilitating dialogue, protecting civil liberties, empowering American Muslims, and building coalitions which promote justice and mutual understanding. I applaud your commitment to guaranteeing that our country’s ideals are fully respected and realized for all.”

– Dick Durbin
U.S. Senator, State of Illinois

Bobby-Rush
“I commend CAIR-Chicago for promoting public service through this evening’s theme, “Forward,” and being a leading and nationwide advocate for justice, mutual understanding and trust. Over the years, members of the Council on American Islamic Relations have made tremendous contributions to the growth of our state, and today we recognize those who truly stand out as models of achievement.”

– Bobby L. Rush
U.S. Representative, 2nd Congressional District of IL

Mike-Quigley
“CAIR-Chicago facilitates open lines of communication between different cultures and religions. Their efforts encouraging equality, enhancing cultural knowledge, and promoting justice are both admirable and necessary. The work that CAIR-Chicago does for our city and across the nation not only enriches the Muslim community but also expands the breadth of dialogue between cultures. I thank them for their efforts.”

– Mike Quigley
U.S. Representative, 5th Congressional District of IL

Danny-Davis
“I salute CAIR-Chicago for their commitment to justice and equality for Muslim Americans and all Americans. CAIR understands that in defending Muslim Americans against employment discrimination, prison abuse, hate crimes and citizenship delays they are also defending our American values for every American”

– Danny K. Davis
U.S. Representative, 7th Congressional District of IL

Tammy-Duckworth
“Your promotion of open communication, tolerance, and acceptance is greatly appreciated. I thank CAIR for all the work you do in promoting these qualities within our communities. It is through your work and the support of those in attendancetonight that we can overcome the obstacles ahead to achieve our shared goals of justice and understanding.”

– Tammy Duckworth
U.S. Representative, 8th Congressional District of IL

Andre-Carson
“CAIR continues to be a strong advocate for our community through its commitment to promote equal justice while encouraging understanding and dialogue among all faiths. The theme “Forward” is very fitting for this milestone anniversary. This organization has made great strides over the last ten years, and I hope that these accomplishments will inspire and strengthen your resolve for the work ahead.”

– Andre Carson
U.S. Representative, 7th Congressional District of IL

postcard-final

URL to article: http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/richard-l-cravatts/the-agony-of-moral-defeat/

Perhaps when literary critic C.S. Lewis despaired of “omnipotent moral busybodies . . . who torment us for our own good,” he was speaking about those well-meaning, but naïve college students who “torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.” Lewis’s observation seemed to have been given credence in the past weeks by the very public, tendentious rants of two coeds, one at Harvard University and one at UCLA, as they railed against a world in which their dreams of social justice for the oppressed and weak was not being realized, despite their best efforts.

In the first instance, in an op-ed in the Harvard Crimson entitled “The Doctrine of Academic Freedom,” Sandra Y.L. Korn, majoring at Harvard, tellingly, in the history of science and studies of women, gender and sexuality, decided that academic freedom was undeserved by those who hold beliefs different than hers and her fellow “moral busybodies”— those who have decided what is moral, what is right, and what is acceptable speech and behavior on Harvard’s campus and in the world beyond. “Why should we put up with research that counters our goals simply in the name of ‘academic freedom?’,” she asked, seemingly without embarrassment. Academic freedom, she contended, should be put in check so that unwelcomed viewpoints can be suppressed. As an alternative virtue, she suggested “a more rigorous standard: one of ‘academic justice.’”

Israel’s Homicidal Peace Partner URL to article: http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/israels-homicidal-peace-partner/ Solomon Yahya was born in Yemen in 1915. He worked as a gardener for forty years in Israel. Even long after retirement he continued doing the work that he loved. A month before the Madrid Conference at which Israel was forced to negotiate with the PLO, he […]

http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=7609

Rocking the boat?

On Wednesday, Israeli Navy commandos intercepted a commercial ship in the Red Sea between Eritrea and Sudan that was transporting weapons from Iran to terrorists in Gaza.

Because the commandos that boarded the vessel were wearing helmet cameras, there is real-time footage of the operation. And what the pictures reveal are dozens of Syrian-made long-range missiles, hundreds of pounds of payload and sacks of concrete with a “made in Iran” label in plain English.

According to sources in the Israeli defense establishment, this event is merely the tip of the iceberg. At its epicenter is the Quds Force of the Iranian Republican Guards, the unit in charge of “exporting the Islamic Revolution” worldwide. Key to the success of its goal is arming and financing terrorist networks bent on Israel’s annihilation.

Israeli intelligence has been closely monitoring the activities of Iran’s global reach and Middle East stronghold. Wednesday’s interception of the Klos C ship was one among many thwarted attempts by the ayatollah-led regime to transfer arms to Palestinian terror groups. One shudders to think of all the successful efforts emanating out of Tehran that Israel was unable to block.

It is this that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu keeps trying to hit home with the American administration. His constant warning (reiterated during his speech on Tuesday at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual policy conference) that Iran has not become more moderate with President Hassan Rouhani at its helm — and that time is running out before it acquires nuclear weapons — sounds like a broken record.