The View From Arlen

Posted 10:07 AM by Hank
I GUESS THE "E" STANDS FOR "EVIL"

Internet auction site eBay last week refused to allow the sale of T-shirts "intended as a print tribute to the U.S. Army infantry unit that captured Hussein in Iraq earlier this month," according to the Associated Press.

The drawing by cartoonist Bill Lunsford featured a muscular Uncle Sam in battle fatigues bearing the Fourth Infantry patch, holding a smoking .357-magnum, and backed by drawings of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. Text accompanying the drawing reads: "One down, one to go."

According to the article, Ebay pulled the item because it has a policy against, "items that 'promote or glorify ... violence.'"

Oh...really?

Playing a hunch, I decided to search Ebay for other items that might be generally perceived as promoting or glorifying violence. In less than five minutes, I found CDs by violent "rap" artists, such as Eminem, 50 Cent, and Ice T, whose infamous song "Cop Killer" contained this deathless prose:

I got my black shirt on.
I got my black gloves on.
I got my ski mask on.
This shit's been too long.
I got my twelve gauge sawed off.
I got my headlights turned off.
I'm 'bout to bust some shots off.
I'm 'bout to dust some cops off.
I'm a COP KILLER, better you than me.
COP KILLER, f**k police brutality!
COP KILLER, I know your family's grieving,
(F**K 'EM!)
COP KILLER, but tonight we get even, ha ha.

There's also violent video games, such as Grand Theft Auto, and even purported "snuff films."

All of which is, apparently, not promoting or glorifying violence.

Apparently, to the management of Ebay, supporting the troops is more offensive than cop killing and general murder.

Remember that, the next time you want to buy something from them.

Posted 5:51 AM by Hank
A TALE OF TWO “HATE CRIMES”

Here are news accounts of two alleged “hate crimes” in Ithaca, the City of Evil. See if you can guess the difference between the two (no fair clicking on the links until you're done):

2002: A young woman was walking down the street when she heard racial slurs about her. Thereafter, a group of people of a another race attacked her, hitting her in the face and body, while continuing to make racial comments. She suffered physical injuries. Once arrested, the defendants were charged with third-degree assault as a hate crime (two counts), first-degree unlawful imprisonment, second-degree assault, and second-degree aggravated harassment. Some of the crimes charged are felonies. The story received front page treatment in the local paper. The community was outraged, holding several meetings and marches to demand that justice be served. Eventually, the assailants went to trial and were sentenced for their parts in the attack.
2003: A young woman was walking out of a concert when she heard racial slurs about her. Thereafter, a group of people of a another race attacked her, hitting her in the face and body, while continuing to make racial comments. She suffered physical injuries. Once arrested, the defendants were charged with assault third degree, a misdemeanor, and harassment in the second degree, a violation. The police determined that no hate crime occurred.
The story received little attention from the local paper. The community barely reacted. It is unknown whether the assailants will ever go to trial and, in fact, were charged as juveniles.

Can you guess the difference between the two cases?

That’s right. In the first case, the victim was black and the assailants were white. In the second case, the victim was white and the assailants were black.

I think you can draw any other necessary conclusions for yourself.

Posted 11:13 AM by Hank
ARE McKINNEY'S FIFTEEN MINUTES UP?

Disgraced former congresswoman and conspiracy theorist Cynthia McKinney made her debut as a visiting professor at Cornell University this week.

Based on press reports, it did not go well for the woman who became (in)famous by spouting "iconspiracy theories about Jews and whites plotting to murder people and prevent her re-election [and] claims was that the Bush administration had prior knowledge of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks."

According to the Cornell Daily Sun, not only was there a poor turnout for her widely publicized lecture on U.S. politics, but students attending called her "incoherent" and said she "did an absolutely dreadful job in answering the questions."

Perhaps most shocking about McKinney's failure to connect with her audience is the location: an Ivy League school that is normally considered a hot bed of liberalism.

Given this dreadful performance, and apathetic (and sometimes hostile) turnout from what should have been her core constituency, one has to wonder if McKinney has finally risen to her level of incompetence and might soon (but not soon enough) exit the public stage once and for all.

Posted 9:36 AM by Hank
WHY DON'T YOU ASK HILLARY, PROFESSOR?

The Auburn, NY Citizen reports that "Dr. Riffat Hassan, Wells College's guest speaker for 'Women in Islam: Beyond the Images,'" recently attacked First Lady Laura Bush for caring about--yes, caring about, the plight of Muslim women:

"All this is very good, but where were you five years ago?" she said. "Women are not worth what oil is."

Where was she five years ago, professor? In Texas. She was not yet First Lady, you feminist twit.

Attacking a Republican for not doing something before she was in a position to do anything and giving the Democrats a free pass...and people wonder why they call them the "angry" left...

Posted 5:22 AM by Hank
YES, IT'S A LIBERAL MEDIA...

One good thing has come out of the upcoming CBS movie about Ronald Reagan, the one that even its screenwriter admits is full of historical inaccuracies: more irrefutable proof that the mainstream media is liberal.

As part of the attention given to the Reagan movie, which fabricates quotes to make the President out to hate AIDS sufferers and ignores the good economic times of the 1980s, more and more news storys are pointing out that the Chairman of CBS is a known liberal. As the Wall St. Journal noted:

The man who green-lighted the Reagan project, CBS Chairman Les Moonves, is already somewhat exposed on the issue of liberal bias. He allowed himself to be seen sitting next to Hillary Clinton at the 2000 Democratic convention in Los Angeles. Last year, he was ridiculed by David Letterman on his own network for a four-day junket to Cuba with other media moguls. During the trip he hobnobbed with Fidel Castro and he returned with the dictator's autograph on a cigar box..

I wonder how liberals, who claim that the mainstream media cannot be liberal because it's owned by millionaires (and who apparently assume all millionaires are Republicans), will explain Moonves...not to mention Ted "CNN" Turner, Michael "Disney/ABC/ESPN" Eisner and all the other wealthy Hollywood democrats.

Posted 3:57 PM by Hank
LIBERAL CENSORSHIP, PART II

After various government officials demanded his termination, conservative radio show host Bob Lonsberry was, in fact, fired.

According to the radio station's press release: “WHAM-AM fired on-air personality Bob Lonsberry for inappropriate behavior,” the statement reads. “After Mr. Lonsberry made inappropriate comments on the air, he convinced us that he was willing to face his mistakes and learn from his behavior. Although Mr. Lonsberry expressed a willingness to change, it became obvious to us that he is not embracing diversity...

Ah, yes, the ultimate liberal crime: thought crime..."the failure to embrace diversity."

Still waiting for the ACLU, the supporters of the Dixie Chicks, the defenders of Bill Maher and the rest of the crowd that claims to worship free speech to come to Lonsberry's aid....

Posted 8:35 AM by Hank
LIBERALS: THE REAL CENSORS

A conservative radio show host in Rochester New York has been indefinitely suspended from his job and is to undergo "diversity training" after making what a local paper called: "comments that alluded to Rochester’s African-American mayor as a 'monkey' and 'orangutan.'”

Lonsberry made two controversial remarks recently that alluded to Mayor William A. Johnson Jr.’s campaign for Monroe County executive.
Late last month, Lonsberry made the first comment after an orangutan briefly escaped from a cage at the Seneca Park Zoo.
“Headline: Orangutan escapes at zoo, runs for county executive. Fascinating stuff,” Lonsberry said.
On Thursday, Lonsberry played what he said was the last caller of his show. Music that suggested a jungle scene with monkey sounds was then heard.
Lonsberry responded, “Freakin’ monkeys loose up at the zoo again. That’s really fine, really fine. Yeah, yeah, and he’s running for county executive. What is with that? I think we better go now.”

After he was accused of racism, Lonsberry called the Mayor to apologize, and insisted that he had no racist intent with his comments.

Despite his apologies, Lonsberry may lose his job. The local liberals, including the Mayor and other elected officials are opening calling for him to be banned or suspended from Rochester airwaves.

Do I approve of Lonsberry's comments?

No.

However, the way that his comments are being addressed is a perfect demonstration of the liberal double standard on censorship.

When Dixie Chick Nathalie Maines said she was ashamed over the President being from Texas, it offended a lot of people. A lot of whom decided--of their own free will--not to buy or play Dixie Chick records any more. Nobody from the government said they should be banned. People took it upon themselves to vote with their pocketbooks.

But a lot of people on the left called that "censorship."

Contrast that to what's going on in Rochester:
we have the Mayor of a City, the local NAACP and the members of a government legislative body calling for a talk show host's termination based on something he said. Government officials are openly calling for someone--someone who in the past has disagreed with them--to be taken off the air.

In other words, we have government figures directly calling for someone to be punished for their words.

Ladies and Gentlemen, that's real censorship.

Where are all the self-proclaimed guardians of free speech now?

Probably listening to their Dixie Chick records and figuring out ways to get more conservatives silenced.

Posted 10:18 AM by Hank
A MORE OR LESS RHETORICAL QUESTION

Will the same liberals who have denounced the military "brass" as warmongerers for at least thirty years, and who claimed that Colin Powell's status as a retired general made him unfit to serve as Secretary of State, suddenly start arguing that Wesley Clark's military service makes him more qualified to be President?

Posted 8:15 AM by Hank
JOHNNY CASH, R.I.P.

It's possible that, if you consider his longevity, conisistent level of quality, and influence on other musicians, Johnny Cash was the greatest recording artist in American history.

His career spanned nearly half a century. Cash first started recordinging at legendary Sun Records in the 1950s. He was present alongside Elvis at the birth of rock and roll. He was still recording up to his death at 71, earning a grammy for best country album a few years ago, and an MTV video award just last month. Everyone from Bob Dylan to U2 to Justin Timberlake considered him a role model and an essay at MTV refers to him as the "Original Gangsta" for his outlaw personna, best epitomized with probably the greatest single line in all of country music: "I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die" from "Folsom Prison Blues."

However, calling Cash a "gangsta" ignores the fact that, with his marriage to June Carter in 1966, he became a devoted family man. A successful singer-songwriter in her own right, Carter nursed him back to health several times over the marriage. Totally devoted to each other, she wrote--and he sang--"Ring of Fire," a song written about the depth and inevitability of their love:

Love is a burning thing
and it makes a firery ring
bound by wild desire
I fell in to a ring of fire...

June Carter died in May. Johnny Cash was never well after that.

According to the press, Cash died from "diabetes that resulted in respiratory failure."

I say he died of a broken heart.

Rest in Peace, John. And give June a hug for us all.

At my door the leaves are falling
A cold wild wind has come
Sweethearts walk by together
And I still miss someone

Posted 4:50 AM by Hank
AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS AT WORK

The Associated Press is reporting that a Rochester, New York, school is sending its children out to document and write essays about the poverty and drug dealing in their neighborhoods:

The public school's 75 sixth-graders are preparing for an unusual assignment this month: Using donated disposable cameras and their essay books, each one must come up with a personal view of "health and safety" in their impoverished neighborhood on the city's west side.

This is not, in itself, a particularly offensive excercise. However, a statement from one of the students is telling. As part of his assignment, one boy will be on the lookout for "those little bags they put drugs in that be all over the ground."

"...that be all over the ground"?

Maybe they should be teaching grammar instead.

Posted 5:17 AM by Hank
WARREN ZEVON, R.I.P.

Very sad news today.

The press is reporting that Warren Zevon, who struggled with terminal cancer while finishing his latest album, The Wind, died Sunday in his sleep at his home in West Hollywood, Calif., a spokesman said. Zevon was 56. He was the author of such wry tunes as Werewolves of London and I'll Sleep When I'm Dead.

I don't know what Zevon's politics were. He was probably a liberal. But his music and tough-guy lyrics were tailor made for conservatives, being full of (as one of his best songs put it) "Lawyers, Guns and Money." While other artists in the 1970s were singing of peace, love and understanding, Zevon was gleefully writing songs about solidiers parachuting into third world countries for a little "Jungle Work." Writing about boxing in "Boom Boom Mancini," Zevon summed up the warrior aesthetic of the sport, with lyrics as blunt as "the name of the game is be hit and hit back."

With the exception of "Werewolves," Zevon never had a lot of wide-spread success as a singer. However, as a song-writer, Zevon was widely respected by his peers, with his songs being covered by such diverse artists as Linda Rondstadt, Dwight Yoakam, Meat Loaf and the Grateful Dead. In fact, Zevon was so respected that no less a luminary than Bob Dylan took to covering Zevon songs in concert, including "Accidentally like a Martyr," "Mutineer," and the ubiquitous "Werewolves." Zevon considered this late fact a special honor, telling the New York Times, ''There are levels past which things no longer connect...There's nothing to relate them to; there's no way to really analyze them. To hear Dylan sing not just one song, but another. . . . It's a big thrill, but beyond the honor, it's just so strange, beyond even computing.''

Like a lot of truly great artists, it looks like only death may bring Zevon the following he deserved in life, after laboring as a cult figure for over twenty years after "Werewolves," Billboard is reporting that his final album, the beautiful "Wind," with its self-aware cover of Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," entered the charts at Number 16 and has gone to Number One at Amazon.com.

Still, Zevon apparently had few regrets. Appearing on David Letterman last October, Zevon was asked if he had any "great insights" about dying that he wanted to share with his fans. Rather than launch into a long, self-pitying sermon, Zevon chucked and said "...Enjoy Every Sandwich."

Sleep Well, Warren.

Posted 3:52 PM by Hank
STILL NO "CONTROLLING LEGAL AUTHORITY" I GUESS

Remember how former Vice President Al Gore was caught engaging in illegal fundraising, both at a Buddhist Temple and from the White House itself? Al's defense, as you might recall, was to say that there was "no controlling legal authority" and then calling for more campaign finance reform laws. Most Democrats, and some Republicans, also called for more laws. Eventually the "McCain Feingold" law was passed.

As usual, however, no authority is "controlling" enough for the party of Clinton. It looks like the Democrats--after claiming to support campaign finance reform--are once again working over time to skirt the law. According to the Associated Press: Democratic-leaning interest groups are emerging as a "shadow party" working to raise millions of dollars to try to defeat President Bush while working around a new law designed to take big money out of politics.

Well, at least they're consistent...consistently crooked.

Posted 12:36 PM by Hank
ARNOLD TO GOP:
"COME VIT ME IF YOU VANT TO LIVE"

As nearly everyone in the free world (and even Ithaca, the City of Evil) has heard, box-office superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced he is running for California Governor in the wake of the pending recall election of incumbant Grey Davis.

Early reports have Arnold, a Republican, holding a commanding lead in the polls. Given that California is the largest state in the nation, and given that Arnold is a Republican, you would think that every Republican on earth would be wildly ecstatic right now.

Unfortunately, that isn't so. As is, sadly, too often the case, a vocal minority of the GOP is working on shooting the party in the foot again.

Rather than rejoice at the possibility of a "Terminator Juggernaut" (which would be a great title for a movie, by the way), some on the right are complaining that Arnold isn't conservative enough.

Instead of uniting behind an electable candidate, they're whining that Arnold, who is, admittedly, a moderate to liberal Republican, is not "ideologically pure" enough for them. So they are throwing support at different candidates, including Bill Simon (who lost to Davis just last year--now there's a track record) and complete unknowns like Tom McClintock and Rebecca Jackson.

The Republicans who are doing so are, in my opinion, shooting themselves, and the party, in the foot, for a number of reasons.

First off, they forget that California is not a conservative state. A Republican presidential candidate has not carried the state since 1988. They are represented in the U.S. Senate by two of the biggest liberals out there, Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer and in Congress by, among others, ultra-liberal Nancy Pelosi. Their Federal Appeals Court is the infamous Ninth Circuit, that banned the Pledge of Allegience. Two of its largest cities are Los Angeles (home to every Hollywood leftie from Barbra Streisand to Susan Sarandon) and San Francisco (nuff said). In fact, in California, Democrats outnumber Republicans by 1.5 million voters.

Therefore, the only way for the Republicans to win a governorship is to win over Democrats. And a conservative candidate is not going to do that. But Arnold, a more liberal Republican married to a Kennedy, and blessed with superstar charisma, can.

In addition, an Arnold win has repercussions for the entire nation. Because of its size, California can help decide the 2004 Presidential race.

As noted in Insight magazine, "a Republican governor would do wonders for President George W. Bush's effort to win California's 55 electoral votes in the fall of next year, say GOP activists..

Furthermore, an Arnold win is not just good for President Bush. It's bad for the Clintons.

The Chicago Sun-Times has reported that "[Former President Bill] Clinton has been [to California] a couple of times and is managing the [Davis campaign] by phone. If Davis survives, he'll owe it to the Clintons. Then, if Hillary jumps into the presidential race, she'll have the California delegates locked up as well as the ones in New York." On the other hand, if and when Davis loses, and Arnold wins, that's another nail the Clinton coffin, coming on the heels of the disasterous showings for candidates he supported in last year's House and Senate races.

So, to recap, an Arnold Schwarzenegger victory would give the Republicans the governorship of the largest state in the nation (and one the most liberal). It would help cement a victory for President Bush in 2004 and embarrass Slick Willie and the Hildebeast. So what's not to like?

Politics has always been the art of compromise...and about winning elections. Arnold may not be the most conservative candidate out there, but he's certainly the most electable. For that reason alone, Republicans ought to get behind him...or resign themselves to running behind the Democrats one more time.

Posted 6:59 AM by Hank
IN THE BOLD TRADITION OF CLEAVON LITTLE...

Remember that scene in "Blazing Saddles," the funniest movie of all time, where African-American Sheriff Bart and his deputy, the Waco Kid, had to lure those KKK members away from the meeting of "rustlers, cutthroats, murderers, bounty hunters, desperados, mugs, pugs, thugs, nitwits, half-wits, dim-wits, vipers, snipers, con men, Indian agents, Mexican bandits, muggers, buggerers, bush-whackers, horn swagglers, horse thieves, bull-dykes, train robbers, bank robbers, ass kickers, s*** kickers, and Methodists"?

They decided the quickest way to lure them out was to have the Sheriff, played by Cleavon Little, pop his head up and say "hey, where are all the white wimmin at?" It worked and the KKK members, so wrapped up in their narrow way of thinking, walked right into that trap and were captured.

I think it's time for me to put my own spin on this plan, in relation to supporters of Presidential candidate/mad doctor Howard Dean.

According to the Washington Post, "a volunteer outfit affiliated with the doctor's campaign....hammers reporters deemed critical of Dean and urges its followers to flood the in-boxes of offending journalists."

So, here's what I figure: since these Dean supporters are mindlessly attacking anyone who dares question their particular Presidential moondoggie, let's lure them over here for a while.

Okay, ready...here goes:

Dean is loser....he's a short, angry, over-privileged elitist, suffering from "little man" syndrome, who was barely able to govern a state with more cows than people and whos primary export is dioxin laced ice cream. The guy couldn't successfully be president of a David Crosby fan club which, by the way, is probably who he gets his foreign policy views from.

Okay, that's done. Now excuse me while I go wait by my "in" box.

Posted 9:52 AM by Hank
OTHER BLOGS OF NOTE:

Here's a list of other conservative blogs you might enjoy:

Adam Bishop
A Guy Named Rob
Alphabet City
The Angry Clam
Anna Z.
Ben's Views
Blogolution
The Blog That Care Forgot
Brazos Cantina
The Buzz Blog
Cathryn Crawford
Chad Fairbanks
Everything Politics
Federal Review
Gary Cruse
Imal
MHGinTN
Michael King
Regnum Crucis
Redcloak's Romper Room
Republican Rants
Seamole
Southack
Sparta
The View from Arlen
William McKinley

Posted 4:21 PM by Hank
BILL CLINTON: STILL A DEADBEAT

The sleazemaster-in-chief, Bill Clinton, breaking with long-standing protocol, still continues to attack his successor in office.

The latest attack is on the tax cut. Clinton reportedly indicated "it's a total waste...it means an extra $80,000 for him, and he doesn't need it. He's rich enough as it is."

If Clinton is so rich, then maybe he ought to pay his bills.

According to one recently published report, "the Clintons still owe 1.7 million and 6.5 million dollars in separate legal bills due to the past White House investigations. " And, according to Opensecrects.org, the Clintons are still operating their legal defense fund.

And yet Clinton "doesn't need" $80,000.00.

Typical Clinton: worrying about federal deficits instead of his personal deficits.

Posted 8:00 PM by Hank
THE KENNEDY-CUOMO SPLIT

A merging of two criminal families, uh, I mean, "political dynasties" is coming unraveled, with the reports that the marriage of Andrew Cuomo and Kerry Kennedy is over. And the split is not amicable.

The reason for the rancor?

The New York Daily News is reporting that the reason for the split is that Mrs. Cuomo was having an affair. According to the paper: she had an affair with "a married man Andrew considered one of his closest friends."

I'm not 100% serious here, but isn't Bill Clinton one of Andrew Cuomo's closest friends?

Hmmm.....

Posted 7:41 AM by Hank
ANTI-PLEDGE DAD: YOUR FIFTEEN MINUTES ARE ALMOST UP

Michael Newdow, the California man who challenged the Pledge on behalf of his public school student daughter--and who got the infamously liberal Ninth Circuit to declare the Pledge unconstitution--now wants to defend himself in the U.S. Supreme Court.

According to the Legal Times:

In a filing with the high court later this week, Newdow says, he plans to make it clear that he wants to take on the Supreme Court both pro se and pro hac vice -- joining the extremely small club of high court advocates who are not members of the Supreme Court bar but who argue their own cases nonetheless. **** "I think I am highly qualified to argue this case. There is no one who knows this case better than me," says Newdow, who notes that he has written every brief and argued every minute of his case so far. "There may be people who know the legal issues better, but I needed to get an atheist to argue this. I want me."

The article also reports that this is not sitting too well with Nedrow's fellow liberals:

Newdow's insistence about pressing his own case before the Supreme Court is causing discomfort among some of his natural allies.**** Both the American Civil Liberties Union and People for the American Way are staying on the sidelines **** "He's in over his head, but he won't let anyone else take it over," says one civil liberties activist who is monitoring the case. "A lot of us would breathe a sigh of relief if the case would just go away. It's a no-win situation."

Furthermore, according to the article, Nedrow is not even the girl's custodial parent, and has only limited visitation with her.

Solicitor General Theodore Olson's brief challenges Newdow's standing in the case, because he is the noncustodial parent of his daughter. When asked about the standing issue in a phone interview, Newdow angrily launched into an indictment of the "insane and grossly unconstitutional family law system" that resulted in his loss of custody. "I am a terrific father, and yet I am the only person in the world who is forbidden to see her -- except every two weeks."

Based on all of this. You have to wonder: is this case about his daughter? Or about him?

In fact, is it even about a Constitutional principle? It seems to me that, if Nedrow really wanted to win this case before the High Court, he would be accepting help from professional attorney, the ACLU and other liberal groups that he has driven away. Instead, it seems, he is trying to make this case about himself.

Someone should tell this guy there are better ways to get notoriety, especially since the Supreme Court will most likely rule against him.

Maybe he should audition for a new reality show: When Idiots Attack.

Posted 7:20 PM by Hank
SHARPTON EATS HIS "GREENS"?

With the 2004 Presidential race hurtling towards us like a comet in a 1950s "b"movie, the left wing political parties of America, both major and minor, are attempting to find their standard bearers to take on the currently still popular President Bush.

One such party is, of course, the Green Party, home to aging hippies who couldn't bother to shed their birkenstocks and young so-called anarchists who strangely enough call for more government intervention in their own lives.

In 2000, the Greens ran Ralph Nader, professional scold, who, some say, was famous enough to draw enough votes away from the equally scolding Al Gore to allow President Bush to get elected.

With the next election rolling around, however, there is still a question of whether or not the Greens will get Nader to run again. After all, Nader probably needs time to manage his "vast personal fortune" before venturing out again to attack the rich as evil.

Therefore, the Green party is out looking for a new presidential candidate. And one potential candidate hails from Ithaca, the City of Evil.

As reported in the Ithaca Times:Paul Glover, Ithaca's most well-known activist, has been tapped as a potential candidate for the Green Party to run in the 2004 presidential election [along with] party consul David Cobb, and former Georgia Representative Cynthia McKinney.

In support for a Green candidacy, Glover cites what he sees as the inability of the Democrat party to nominate a sufficiently "progressive" candidate, bemoaning, at his website, the fact that "Sharpton will raise important issues but will be marginalized by ...establishment...Democrats"

In other words, one of the three people being most seriously considered, after Nader, as the Green Party's presidential candidate, is expressing admiration for the ideas of a known, thug, racist and anti-Semite.

Sharpton first came to prominence (or notoriety) in 1987 as one of the men involved in the Tawana Brawleyhoax. For those who have forgotten, Brawley, a then-fifteen-year-old black girl, claimed a gang of white law enforcement officers had abducted and raped her, setting off a national furor over alleged racism. Later, however, her story was determined by a grand jury to be hoax. Furthermore, one of the men accused by Sharpton sued him and the others for libel. The jury found Sharpton liable for making "false and defamatory statements" about the matter. One of Sharpton's co-defendants, attorney C. Vernon Mason, "was disbarred in 1995 for price gouging, theft and abandoning clients."

That was not the end of Sharpton's racial fear-mongering, however.

During New York’s 1991 Crown Heights riots Sharpton reportedly said, “Don’t just talk about the jeweler [whose store was burned] on Utica. Talk about how Oppenheimer in South Africa sends diamonds straight to Tel Aviv and deals with the diamond merchants right here.” Furthermore, as recently as eight years ago Sharpton:

"marched besides picketers protesting a Jewish-owned business in Harlem as they shouted 'blood-sucking Jews' and 'Jew bastards.' That little exercise in brotherhood resulted in eight deaths"

Nice guy, huh?

Apparently, one of the potential national standard bearers of the Green party thinks so.

Some people might say, "well, that's bad, but what makes the Greens any worse than the democratic party? They're always cozying up to Sharpton too."

I'll tell you what.

The Democrats are forced to deal with Sharpton because, right or wrong, they allowed him to insinuate himself in their party. Now he's there, stinking up the already putrid air of the left wing.

Any other party, however, does not have Sharpton. They don't have to deal with him. And they shouldn't deal with him.

But one of their "leaders," the same one who is trying to distance his party from the Democrats is expressing admiration for the fact that Sharpton espouses the same ideas the Green Party does.

The fact that one of the only persons who, by the left's own admission, seems able to sell their ideas is racist ought to give the left pause as to whether those ideas are worth selling

Posted 8:41 AM by Hank
REPUBLICAN SEN. HONORS AN "ENEMY"

No wonder Republicans sometimes feel like we are fighting an uphill battle for the hearts and minds of America.

It's hard not to feel that way when some of our own are actually honoring the very people on the left who seek to defeat us.

Witness this dispatch from today's Ithaca Journal:

ITHACA -- State Senator John R. Kuhl Jr., R-53rd District, recognized three women, including two from Tompkins County, in the New York State Senate's sixth annual "Women of Distinction" program at an awards ceremony in Albany.

This year's honorees [included] Asma Barlas ...of Ithaca.

Barlas is the associate professor and chair of the department of politics and the former director of the Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity at Ithaca College.

****

Barlas is virulantly Anti-Republican, Anti-American and appears to be an Anti-Semite.
Shortly after September 11, Barlas penned a column for the Ithaca College Alumni magazine in which she proclaimed that people like Osama bin Laden, as well as all sorts of "moderates" hate America because America's foreign policy since World War II has been one that "seeks control over the entire world by any means necessary." Furthermore, Barlas said, "people everywhere are sick and tired" of our "political economy based on their systematic abuse, exploitation, expropriation, and degradation."
Responding to a study that found Ithaca college "plagued by liberal bias," Barlas accused Republicans of trying to "stamp out diversity in the name of diversity" and made derogatory comments towards "conservative white male[s]."
In addition, she accused the Bush administration of conducting "unilateral, unprovoked, and unlawful act of aggression" against Iraq, and surely delighted anti-Semitic conspiracy theorists everywhere by parroting the lie that war against Iraq was "promoted 'by a small group of 25 or 30 neoconservatives, almost all of them Jewish, almost all of them intellectuals ... people who are mutual friends and cultivate one another and are convinced that political ideas are a major driving force of history'."
To be blunt, Kuhl might have better honored one of the Dixie Chicks, or even Susan Sarandon.
His recognition of this venonmous toad of a woman as a "woman of distinction" demonstrates his complete incompetence as a Republican Senator and his total inability to represent the views of his conservative Upstate New York Constituency.
He should step down immediately.

Posted 4:11 PM by Hank
LIVING WAGE: THE CONSERVATIVE'S FRIEND?

It recently occurred to me that maybe, just maybe, the folks on the left that bleat and bray about the need for a “living wage” have done those of us on “the right” a favor.

Now, if you’re like me, you think the whole living wage argument is just another example of folks on the left not realizing that money doesn’t appear out of nowhere. The living wage folks ignore that raising salaries for people raises costs of doing business. That raises prices. And when the employees getting the raises are government (or school) employees, it raises taxes. All of which raises the cost of living. Which means the folks who got the raise aren’t any more ahead than they were in the first place.

Still, the living wage theory may, just may, have its uses for a conservative.

This thought occurred to me after I was forced (uh, I mean, requested) by my wife (who, as always, will be referred to as “Peggy” for the sake of anonymity) to come into Ithaca, the City of Evil and attend a dinner event being thrown at the home of one of her fellow Cornell employees. Other than myself, I think everyone there was a Cornell employee. In fact, most of them were professors.

Once Peggy realized where the dinner conversations were going she pulled me aside and begged me to keep my opinions to myself. First of all, Peggy is my no means as conservative as me to begin with (she was born a Catholic in Boston; her parents probably had a picture of Kennedy next to the statue of Jesus in the bedroom). Second, she needs to work with these people and, as I think we all know, “tolerance” in Ithaca never includes tolerance towards conservatives.

As you might expect, in a room full of college professors, the dinner conversation was dominated by two basic areas.

The first was their lifestyles. I have to admit, these folks live pretty good. They travel all over the world. They live in what had to be $200,000-plus houses. They drive high end cars (mostly Volvos). They attend various cultural events. Their kids want for nothing.

The second was various recitations of the standard issue liberal themes. One of which was, of course, redistribution of wealth, and how the rich don’t pay their “fair share.”

Now, as always, something about this didn’t seem to make sense to me. But it didn’t hit me right away. To be frank, since I couldn’t say anything back, I was trying not to listen too hard. After all, I was trying to digest my food and having to listen to leftists drone on isn’t the most conducive situation for doing so.

Later, however, it hit me just how hypocritical and foolish you could make these people look when they start whining about wealth redistribution.

Now, at this point, you might be asking “but what does this have to do with why we should thank the folks who call for a living wage?”

I’ll tell you what.

According to the Ithaca Times (and as a good liberal paper, they should know), “‘Living Wage’” is the name for a weekly paycheck that just covers expenses - rent, transportation, food, health care, recreation and entertainment, a small amount of savings, taxes, and some miscellaneous costs.”

In other words, a living wage is the basic amount of money a person needs to survive.

Living wage estimates vary depending on the local cost of living, but in Ithaca, the Alternative Federal Credit Union (an “enlighted” financial institution) has estimated it should be $8.68 an hour for a 40-hour workweek.

In other words, to get by in Ithaca, a person only needs to make $18,060.00 per year.

Call me crazy, but I have a distinct feeling that the average Cornell professor, living in a $200,000 home, driving a $40,000 foreign car, vacationing all over the world, and giving his or her kid anything they want, probably makes a whole lot more than that $18,060.00.

So, the next time you hear some leftist college professor (or similarly well off liberal) go on about how we need to redistribute wealth, ask them what they think of the “living wage” concept.

Odds are that they will be 100% in favor of it.

And ask them if it’s true that the living wage is the basic amount that a person needs to survive.

Again, the odds are that they’ll agree. They might even half close their eyes and nod sagely, thinking that they are starting to “enlighten” you.

Then say, “and in Ithaca, that’s probably–let’s be generous here– $20,000.00"?

Again, more sage nodding. Possibly, they’ll add “Maybe even more.”

Once they admit this (And how could they not? After all, they don’t want to start arguing against the living wage, do they?), point out to them:

“Well, you obviously make A LOT more than that. So you obviously make MUCH more than is needed to survive. If you really wanted to redistribute wealth, shouldn’t you take every dime of your salary over that living wage and donate it to the poor? Instead of spending it on expensive cars, trips and houses?”

“If you’re not doing that, aren’t you being greedy? Aren’t you being a hypocrite? If you’re not part of the solution, aren’t you part of the problem?!?”

Once you throw that “classic” sixties slogan back at them, they should freeze like suburban deer looking into a set of headlights.

Granted, they are NEVER going to admit to being wrong. Or even of being a hypocrite. But, hopefully, your line of reasoning has stunned them enough to stop talking for a while.

And sometimes, getting a liberal to “shut up” is the best you can hope for.

Posted 8:22 AM by Hank
LIBERALS, PESTILENCE AND PROFILING

If you don’t know what SARS or “Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome” is, you haven’t been watching or reading the news, or watching the Tonight Show, for the last month.

This highly infectious respiratory disease is causing fear and consternation throughout the world, and various officials have taken various measures to combat it, including officials at one of the most reliably liberal places in America.

Fox News is reporting that “The University of California at Berkeley will turn away new students from SARS-infected China, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong this summer in what is believed to be the first such move by a major U.S. university to prevent the spread of the virus.”

Let me get this straight: one of the most liberal colleges in America is basing decisions on who should or shouldn't attend classes because of the students' countries of origin? It’s judging who may be a threat to others’ safety based on ethnicity?

Isn’t that...racial profiling?

How is it different than airlines or federal officials basing decisions on who should or shouldn’t board airplanes because of passengers’ countries of origin? How is what Berkeley’s doing anything other than judging who may be a threat to others’ safety based on ethnicity?

Much like affirmative action, it looks like liberals don’t care about minority rights when the minority is Asian.

However, if I was an Asian student, I wouldn’t worry. There’s a sure-fire way to get into Berkeley, even if they have SARS.

The should claim to be gay.

After all, if twenty years of AIDS (re)education has taught us anything, its that, no matter how infectious and deadly a disease is, if enough sufferers are homosexual, it would be wrong to discriminate against them.

So my advice to the students trying to get into Berkeley is this: paint pink trianges on your surgical masks and practice chanting “we’re here, we’re queer, get used to it.”

You’ll be taking classes in no time

Posted 8:30 AM by Hank
TAXING LESSONS

Ithaca, New York, the most liberal city in America, has struck again. This time by looking to impose a tax directly on children.

The Ithaca Journal reports that Board of Education officials have proposed a $180.00 per year parking fee to be charged students who drive to school. According to the Journal, the fee would be applied to "things that will benefit all students," which, it turns out, consist largely of "positions which involve communicating with new families at the schools."

In other words, students are being taxed to pay for more bureaucratic fat at school. Niiiiiiccce...

The mentality seems to be the typical liberal one: that students who drive must be able to afford the cost. So this is just another way of "taxing the rich."

However, as with most liberal schemes, this ignores reality. Many of the students who drive to school do so because they have after school jobs, in order to pay for things that "rich" children may get from their parents gratis. But now, in addition to the usual taxes on their labor, such as payroll, they are being socked with Ithaca's own version of a commuter tax.

Faced with this tax, the students are already planning to do what many business owners do when confronted with taxes: looking for ways to avoid it. The Journal article notes that "according to parents and students...students will get around the fee by parking on surrounding streets."

So the kids now have their first lessons in loopholes.

And this lesson may be another reason why this scheme will backfire. By imposing a fee so high that no one bothers to pay it, the school may actually lose money (a fact one board member acknowledges to the Journal).

On the other, maybe this was a good thing. School is supposed to be a place for learning, of course. And, in this case, there would appear to be a lot of valuable lessons being taught:
that higher taxes often cause a loss of revenue; that people will look for a way to avoid paying taxes; that taxes on "the rich" often hurt the middle class and the wage earner.

As noted above, it looks like some of the children might even be learning these lessons.

The real question is...are the adults?

Posted 2:30 PM by Hank
WHAT IF THEY GAVE A WAR PROTEST AND NOBODY CAME?

Even though the hard-core anti-American protesters are still plotting against this war (see my April 9 post), it certainly appears that the movement has lost its momentum.

The best evidence of that may be a recent announcement in Ithaca, New York:

Subject: [Ithaca Sharks] April 12th DC Peace Bus Trip Cancelled

Greetings Peace-Loving People of the Greater Cayuga Basin...

The Peace Buses for April 12th have been cancelled.

Currently, people are seeking alternative actions to express their
dissent and opposition to this illegal, immoral, insane, unjustified,
unjustifiable, injust [sic], racist, greed-driven, violent, destructive,
horrible and deadly war.

Not enough tickets were acquired to make a bus trip possible.

To anyone who is unfamiliar with Ithaca, let me tell you: this is big news.

Ithaca is widely considered the most liberal city in America, even more liberal than Berkeley. It's so liberal, the leftists at Utne Reader voted it "the most enlightened city in America," and some conservatives (myself included) refer to it as "The City of Evil."

Ithacites protest at the drop of a hat (or beret).
They protest businesses.
They protest unemployment.
They protest sex crimes.
They even protest women having to wear shirts.

Ithaca is so ready for a protest that, as the local newspaper recently put it, "in most places, youngsters spend their summers camping, or at the mountains or the beach. In Ithaca, they learn how to become social activists"

In fact, less than a month, they were able, in a city of only 29,000 people, to get seven hundred and fifty hippies together to protest the war.

And now?

Protests are being cancelled for lack of interest.

If the people in the City of Evil, the most liberal city in America, have to cancel a protest for lack of interest, then I think it's fair to say that this war is, in fact, won.

Posted 6:11 PM by Hank
PEACENIKS: RAILING AGAINST THE LIGHT?

By many accounts, and with the grace of God, the war in Iraq is over. Even Iraq’s ambassador to the United Nations has effectively admitted this.

This news, however, seems lost on the "anti-war" movement. The left-wing Indymedia sites are still discussing plans for upcoming rallies, and Craig Rosebraugh, the former spokesman for the the terrorist-group Earth Liberation Front, has called on anti-war protesters to take "direct actions'' against U.S. military establishments, urban centers, corporations, government buildings and media outlets.

In other words, the leftists are still protesting a war that appears to be already over, except for the clean-up.

I'm not sure why this is. Some of it is the fact that their movement is actually anti-America, not anti-war. But I have to suspect that some of it is simply residual energy. These clowns built up so much anticipation for a quagmire, during which they would protest like it was 1969, that now they have no way to dissipate their orgiastic, America-hating energy.

Luckily for them, I have a suggestion:

Take a cue from what liberal actress Janeane Garafalo promised to do if the United States "goes in, liberates Iraq [with] people in the street, American flags, hugging our soldiers."

Apologize.

That's right.

Apologize to President Bush for calling him a reckless cowboy, for claiming this war could not be won, for claiming he was waging an unjust war, for claiming it would be a massacre.

Apologize to the soldiers they attacked, called baby killers and called for the deaths of.

Apologize, most of all, to the Iraqi people, for efforts at continuing the regime of their mass-murdering oppressor, Saddam Hussein.

And, if they can't do that, if they don't have the integrity to admit they were wrong, then they should take the advice of some
ecstatic Iraqis said on a banner directed towards the Human Shields:

Wankers go home.

Posted 3:09 PM by Hank
MORE PROOF: THEY AREN'T ANTI-WAR
THEY'RE JUST ANTI-AMERICA

"Anti-war" demonstrators in San Francisco have asked that the police not wear American flags when policing protesters because the colors make anti-war demonstrators uncomfortable.

Bonnie Weinstein, co-founder of Bay Area United Against War, said flag-wearing cops "might seem like kind of a threat...it's obviously meant to annoy people."

In other words, the protesters admit our flag, the American flag, "annoys" them.

So much for their "dissent is patriotic" argument.

Posted 8:46 AM by Hank
DO THEY REALLY SUPPORT THE TROOPS?

The "anti-war" protesters like to claim they support the troops, even when they criticize the president.

For example, today's Ithaca Journal has a letter from an "anti-war" advocate in which he writes "It is important to keep in mind that criticizing the president and his misguided decision to go to war unilaterally, without the support of a new U.N. security resolution, does not mean you do not support our young men and women in uniform. To be against the war doesn't mean that you are against our troops."

At first glance, that seems reasonable.

But, like so many positions held by the left, you need to take a second, or even third, glance.

The letter goes on to state "...if you protest the war then you are against our president, not the young men and women who will be sacrificed in the name of avarice and imperialism."

So this is how the anti-war crowd "supports the troops"? By telling them that they are fighting, not for freedom, but for "avarice and imperialism"?

And this isn't the only example. More and more you see the "peace" protesters engaging in outright hostility toward our troops, such as incidents where they:

Threw blood on a recruiting office;
Carried banners stating "we support our troops when they shoot their officers;"
Called soldiers "baby killers";
Taunted soldiers' children; and
Threw stones at National Guardsmen.

And it's not just the "extreme" side of the anti-war movement, nor is it a few "atypical" members. More and more, the people who claim to be supporting the troops, but aren't, include "mainstream" liberals.

Just last week, a Columbia University professor "called for the defeat of American forces in Iraq and said he would like to see 'a million Mogadishus' - a reference to the Somali city where American soldiers were ambushed, with 18 killed, in 1993." The crowd applauded his call for our troops' defeat.

And, that same week, a Democratic congressman, Maurice Hinchey, accused our troops of, in effect, committing war crimes in Iraq. A few days later, he received a standing ovation from the anti-war crowd for his comments.

So, to summarize: the left claims that they support the troops. Their "support" is manifested by attacking their mission, attacking them physically, calling for their defeat and/or death and accusing them of war crimes?

With "friends" like this, who needs the Iraqi army?

Posted 9:30 AM by Hank
MADE IN THE SHADE
MORE ON THE ITHACA SOLAR PANELS

Oh, this is rich.

Previous readers of "the View From Arlen" might recall me writing about the solar panels on the Ithaca library.

To make a long story short: The cash strapped Tompkins County government might have to cut hours at their library in Ithaca. However, part of the reason, in my humble opinion, that the government is cash-strapped is that the government, in an all too typical exercise in trendy liberalism, decided to spend half a million dollars to install solar panels on the library. The library is located in upstate New York, not exactly the sun belt of America.

But now it gets better.

The Ithaca Journal is reporting that "The City of Ithaca plans to build a seven-story parking garage adjacent to the library as part of its Cayuga Green project. That building would effectively shade out the library's solar panels."

In other words, all the global warming on earth won't make those solar powered white elephants do what the enviros wanted.

This has, of course, started something of a war--a taxpayer funded war--between the City and County. The County wants the City to pay to move the panels. The City points out that no laws are being broken. In fact, the County installed the panels on a one story building in an area zoned for buildings 100 feet tall.

If you asked my opinion--and no one in Ithaca ever would--the solution is to move the solar panels, all right...to a building in Florida.

Sell the panels on ebay and cut the county's losses.

Of course, that would mean that a group of liberal politicians would have to admit they were wrong....and the odds of that happening are, pardon the pun, pretty dim.

Posted 6:53 AM by Hank
COME FLY WITH ME

CBS News, home of dictator-loving "Dirty Dan" Rather, has published an article questioning whether the panel investigating airline security and September 11 has a conflict of interest.

The reason for the possible conflict is the allegation that "the Sept. 11 commission is stacked with members tied directly to the airline industry."

Good Lord (choke)!

How dare they appoint people who might actually have some knowledge of how these industries work?!?

Much better to appoint--I guess--Professors of Rural Sociology or French philosophy students. Then the commission can debate extisentialism while trying to learn every bit of rudimentary data on airlines, in order to have an informed opinion.

Oops. I forgot. The liberals don't want informed opinions.

They're looking for a knee-jerk liberal response that blames--cue spooky music--big business for September 11, not the Muslim terrorists who were really at fault.

And aren't these the same liberals who whine and cry about Homeland Security all the time? The ones who complain and moan about how their rights are being taken away?

Now they are complaining their airlines don't have enough security?

Just one more example of their true agenda: Anti-Bush at any cost.

Posted 8:51 PM by Hank
A THANK YOU LETTER TO A PEACE PROTESTOR

Today was the day that students were supposed to cut classes to protest the war.

I'm ashamed to say that my daughter (at least for now; the lawyer is drawing up the disownment papers) "LuAnne" (the names have been changed to protect the guilty) participated.

I realize that, most likely, this was due, in large part, to peer pressure. After all, she goes to school in Ithaca, the city of evil. Her teachers practically made going a class assignment.

Even so, I'm --as you might expect--furious, especially after all the things I've said (and posted here) about how the anti-war movement was really a "pro-Saddam" movement.

So, after a night of yelling and pouting (some of it on my part), I decided to take a break and log onto the computer.

When I sat down, I saw that LuAnne was still logged into her "hotmail" account. And there was a message with the subject line "Thanks a million" from "Supreme_ruler_Saddam@Iraq.Gov."

Seeing that, I decided that, in the spirit of homeland security, (and the fact I paid for damn computer) I should open it. After making sure my anti-virus was up to date, I clicked on the message, and this is what I found:

Dear Peace Protestor:

I just wanted to drop this note to think you for all your help.

Every time you protest the war, every time you delay the inevitable attack from the United States, you give me more time to:

Build weapons of mass destruction;

Develop nuclear weapons to use against my enemies;

Hide the weapons I already have;

Rape and torture more women and children;

Murder more of my own people, like the thousands I’ve murdered already.

It’s a good life, ruling my own country, killing anyone just because I can. Watching them starve while making millions off my oil wells. And, thanks to you, I’m still here doing it.

I look over at Afghanistan, the last place your President liberated, and I cringe. Business is booming there, and people are coming out of poverty. Women , once treated worse than dogs, are allowed to go to school. It’s every thing I don’t want for my country: free, happy, people.

However, thanks to you, I can delay that. Maybe even prevent my people from getting freedom. With a little luck, and some more time, I just might be able to stay in power and keep committing my evil acts.

And the best part is: most of you say that you think I’m evil. But you still do your best to keep me in power.

You ignore every murderous, vicious act I’ve ever committed. You “forget” I invaded other countries. You act like I never tried to build nuclear weapons. You ignore all the evidence that Colin Powell presented , showing my ties to terrorism. When Powell showed that I was fooling the U.N. weapons inspectors, you said give the inspectors–and me–more time.

So, keep up the good work protestor. You buy me enough time, one of these days, I’ll get those nuclear weapons, those chemical weapons, those biological weapons. Then, who’ll stop me from invading my neighbors?

From attacking Israel?

From helping my terrorist friends fly another couple airplanes into one of your buildings?

Like I said, keep protesting the war....

And keep watching the skies....

I owe you a lot, peace protestors. Without you I’m nothing.

Your friend,

Saddam

Posted 5:02 AM by Hank
DOWNTOWN ITHACA: (NOT) GOING TO THE DOGS

You hear a lot about cities wondering why their downtowns are dying.

Here's a good example:

Ithaca, New York, about thirty years ago, tore up what could be considered its Main Street and installed a pedestrian mall, known as "the Commons." If I recall correctly, the concept was supposed to revitalize what was a dying downtown by making it possible for people to stroll from store to store, like a mall.

Unfortunately, in what may have been a precursor to the idiotic decision to install solar panels on the library (also downtown), they forgot that Ithaca is in upstate New York and that half the year's worth of weather is more conducive to ice fishing than outdoor mall walking. So, in the end, all they really accomplished was tearing up the convenient parking and making it more difficult for people to drive to the stores.

As a result, all the department stores, drug stores, grocery stores and other "anchor" businesses died out. Which, of course, led to other businesses shuttering their doors, including, believe it or not, McDonalds.

And so, every few years, the enlightened folks of Ithaca commission yet another study on how to revitalize the place.

Of course, none of them work.

Meanwhile, the Ithaca government does its level best to drive what business is there away.

Today's Ithaca Journal, for instance, reports on a pet grooming business that has been doing quite well on the Commons. Or was, until someone remembered there was a "No Dogs Allowed" rule on the entire area.

So now, we have a business, a successful business, that can't attract its clientele, all because of government regulation.

Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems to me that, nationwide, our downtowns tend to have more government regulations than our suburbs. And it also seems that our suburbs continue to attract new businesses, and people, while downtowns whither and die, rotting cities from the inside out.

Somebody had better notice the connection, and do something about it, before its too late.

Posted 9:59 AM by Hank
A GAY OLD TIME

The Ithaca Times had an article this week entitled Gay men's group seeks to establish community "outside the bar scene".

This article struck me as funny for a couple of reasons.

The first is that this group, hoping to establish a community "outside the bar scene," is holding its organizational meetings in a gay bar.

The other, more serious, but still "funny" aspect of this is that:

The support group is being established with help from the Mental Health Association in Tompkins County. Beth Jenkins, executive director of the MHA, said the association has been supporting individuals with a variety of issues and concerns to establish different self-help support groups using training and workshops. "People will find strength within peers," she said.

So let me get this straight (no pun intended): for years, the "enlightened" folks have been telling us that being gay is perfectly natural and A-OK. If that's truly the case...if being gay is not a "mental illness," then why do they need assistance from a mental health association?

I'm sure the enlightened will tell us it's because gays are "stigmatized" and this causes them to have more mental health issues.

Maybe that's true.

But even if that is the case, is the solution really to establish a taxpayer-funded gay dating service?

What am I saying? Throwing government money at a problem is always the solution with these folks.

Posted 7:00 AM by Hank
TERRORISTS TO HIPPIES: "THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT"

With the ever increasing likelihood of war with Iraq, it's interesting, and kind of sad, to watch the so-called "peace" protesters reveal more and more of their true colors.

For months now, the peaceniks have been claiming this was no evidence that Saddam Hussein was building "weapons of mass destruction." They also claimed that there was no proof that Iraq was tied to September 11 terrorist Osama bin Laden. Over and over they told us that we should let the U.N. Inspectors keep working.

Then, along comes Secretary of State Colin Powell who, on February 5, makes a masterful speech to the United Nations with all the proof we need that Saddam is guilty. Powell painstakingly explained the evidence of noncompliance--including:

*satellite image of a weapons munitions facility, which is known to have held chemical weapons;

*pictures of a ballistic missile facility two days before the inspectors arrived, with vehicles outside including a crane for moving missiles;

*satellite photos showing truck convoys lining up at known weapons factories to transport forbidden material out ahead of the inspectors' arrival;

*intercepted phone conversations in which Iraqi military men discuss their efforts to deceive the inspectors. In the intercept, Mr Powell says, one of the officers says: "We evacuated everything. We don't have anything left."

*proof that "Saddam Hussein has directly participated in the effort to prevent interviews" with Iraqi scientists;

Powell also demonstrated that Iraqis visited Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan and provided training to al-Qaeda members.

And the response from the left was:
"Powell didn't present any evidence....we need to let the inspectors keep looking."

Then, on February 11, Osama bin Laden himself surfaced on videotaped, and practically admitted to ties between him and Iraq.

And how did the anti-war crowd respond?

You guessed it:

There is no evidence of a Saddam-bin Laden connection.
This is no clear evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq
Let the inspectors keep looking.

And that's not all. Some of the pacifists are heading to Iraq to serve as "Human Shields" even though they admit: “Of course we are aware we may get used as propaganda or worse by Saddam Hussein."

It sort of reminds you of little children having a temper tantrum, with their fingers in their ears, saying "I'm not listening," and singing at the top of their lungs.

Of course, the anti-war crowd sees their stubborness differently. The anti-war crowd will try to tell us that this is because of their "principles." They have said, and keep claiming, that their opposition to war is solely because they are "pacifists."

But the evidence is starting to pile up that this has nothing to do with principles or pacifism. As their arguments fall, more and more "pacifists" are starting to demonstrate that their real motiviation is hatred....against the United States.

Daniel Flynn, in On the Street with the Protestors, describes who makes up the majority of the "peace" movement:

While a small number of families, political moderates, and senior citizens salted the ranks of Saturday's march, a much-larger contingent escaped the notice of most journalists. Waving inflammatory signs, wearing scary costumes, and partaking in street theatre, the anti-American extremists who dominated the event were hard to miss. Yet, they were somehow overlooked in most of the press accounts of the protest. ....protesters labeled 9/11 "a drop in the bucket" and compared it to breaking a nail... [and] what did they see as a serious terrorist threat? A glance at the thousands of signs on the Mall revealed the answer. Placards read: "USA Is #1 Terrorist," "Bush Is a Terrorist," "The NYPD Are Terrorists Too," and "Get the Terrorists Out of the White House...A table display exhorting passersby to defend North Korea's right to nuclear weapons or an activist who cheered in vain for a policeman to fall off a fire-escape ladder 30-feet above a Pennsylvania Avenue restaurant were typical of the happenings at this weekend's rally ."

And Washington Post columnist Michael Kelly points out the anti-war movement:

"cheers on...the speaker at the Washington rally who declared that "the real terrorists have always been the United Snakes of America [and] the former Black Panther Charles Baron, who said in Washington, "if you're looking for an axis of evil then look in the belly of this beast."****(They) marched last weekend with people who held signs comparing the president and vice president of their country to Hitler, and declaring, "The difference between Bush and Saddam is that Saddam was elected."

To make matters worse, these "pacifists" aren't just confining themselves to attacking our institutions. Now, some of them, taking a page from "Hanoi Jane" Fonda, have started accosting the wives of our men in uniform, calling them "baby killers" and saying they hope the soldiers die.

Supporting Korea's right to have nukes, comparing September 11 to breaking a nail and accosting the wives of solidiers with cries of "baby killers"...does that sound principled and pacifist...or anti-American?

At this point, some of you might be saying "Well, that's bad. But aren't you blowing this a little out of proportion? Is this really support for Saddam and the terrorists?"

Giving aid and comfort to the enemy? Sure is.

But don't take my word for it. Take Saddam's.

In a recent interview, Saddam was asked "I wonder whether you could say something yourself directly through this interview to the peace movement of the world that might help to advance the cause they have in mind?"

His response: "...we admire the development of the peace movement around the world in the last few years. We pray to God to empower all those working against war and for the cause of peace and security based on just peace for all."

In other words: "thank you for your support."

Posted 5:19 AM by Hank

THE FRATERNITY OF HARD KNOCKS

A recent article about a Cornell fraternity got me thinking about Social Security.

And not because looking at the year the members will graduate and comparing it to the year I graduated college makes me feel old (though it does).

Instead, the article got me thinking about social security in terms of its funding.

The Cornell Daily Sun reported that the Delta Chi fraternity was shut down because, simply put, they did not have enough money for operating expenses. As a result, the brothers had to move out and find alternate housing.

Part of the problem was in the fraternity's decreasing membership. As the Sun explained:

“In the past three years, the pledge class decreased from 17 to 10 to eight. The budget was written primarily by the seniors, the largest class (T)he budget did not account for decreasing membership and the increasing dues remained the responsibility of underclassmen...’It's pretty clear to us that if the seniors had supported the budget [by also living in the house], this probably wouldn't have happened,’.”

In other words, the seniors were the ones with voting power. So they set a budget up that required younger members to pay into the system and support the seniors. But there were not enough younger members paying in to adequately fund the system. So it collapsed.

Sound familiar?

It should. It is exactly the problem facing social security.
When Social Security began, we had enough workers paying taxes to adequately support retirees. In 1935 there were 30 workers for each retired person. But by 1955 the number dropped to 16 workers. Today, just three workers support each retiree.

In order to keep the system afloat, Congress has already raised taxes 30 times in 60 years to bail out Social Security.

Furthermore, this approach has proven to be a band-aid, not a fix. To continue to pay Social Security's existing debt, Congress would have to raise taxes another 50%.

And the problem will only get worse. Soon the Baby Boomers will retire. Then we'll have only two workers paying for each retiree.

The brothers of Delta Chi have learned a hard lesson in economics. Hopefully they will take it with them and apply it to “the real world.”

They had better. We all had better. Otherwise, like the displaced brothers of Delta Chi, a lot of senior citizens may be looking for “alternate housing”: at the poor house.

Posted 1:42 PM by Hank
BEING LIBERAL: THE NEW GET OUT JAIL FREE?

The press has been reporting that former U.N. Weapons inspector Scott Ritter, on two separate occasions, attempted to entice teenaged girls over the internet to meet with him for sexual purposes.

The second time Ritter was arrested, but the charges were later dropped (under circumstances that are slightly suspicious).

Apparently, this news about Ritter has some of the liberal crowd up in arms.

You would think they’d be up in arms over the idea of this man trying to proposition an underage girl. After all, when it comes to child abuse, the left usually takes has a hard-line stance against the accused abuser. They are always saying (more or less correctly) that "Children should be seen and heard ... and believed." In fact, one liberal company, Northern Sun Merchandising: Products for Progressives, sells t-shirts with that slogan as a “feminist statement.”

Given their usual position, you would think that, as good liberals, the peaceniks would be calling for Ritter’s scalp (or other body part).

But they aren’t. Instead they are up in arms over what they perceive as an “attempt to discredit” Ritter.

Ritter, you see, is not just any former weapons inspector. He is a vocal critic of President Bush, and a vocal apologist for Saddam Hussein.

As a result, once the allegations surfaced, the leftists, rather than attack a suspected child abuser, rallied around him as a victim of that “vast right wing conspiracy” that haunts their imaginations.

For example, the Auburn (NY) Citizen reports that:

Ken Mochel, one of the founders of the Cayuga Council for Peace...said the charges against Ritter reminded him of the Vietnam era. There is a constant attempt to discredit anyone standing up to the government, he said. **** Florence Smith, part of the Greens organizing committee that invited Ritter to speak in Auburn, remained skeptical....It seems doubtful that he would go into the public spotlight if this was in his background, she said.

This demonstrates just how far in denial the left is.

Haven’t these people heard of accused celebrity child porn traffickers R. Kelly, Pee Wee Herman and Pete Townsend? How about accused statutory rapist (and famous film director) Roman Polanski?

None of these individuals let what they were/are accused of prevent them from entering (or remaining in) the public spotlight. Why would Ritter?

Furthermore, this is not the only thing in Ritter’s past that discredits him. As the Wall Street Journal recently noted, “Mr. Ritter has taken $400,000 from Shakir Al-Khafaji, an Iraqi-American businessman with ties to Saddam.”

All of this points up, once again, just how hypocritical the left is.

Normally, to the left, even a whiff of sexually inappropriate behavior toward a woman is enough to make a man a criminal (remember Clarence Thomas). Sexually inappropriate behavior towards an underage female ought to be enough to get a man shot.

But, just like sexual harrasser Bill Clinton (and half the Kennedy family), whenever the alleged perpetrator is anti-Republican, or anti-American, they get a pass. “It’s just about sex,” the left claims, “what’s the big deal?”

Similarly, the left normally considers any sort of financial tie to a subject to be a complete disqualification when it comes to that subject. For example, they constantly claim that President Bush’s and Vice President Cheney’s pasts as businessmen discredit them on nearly every subject.

However, when the person is against the Bush administration, a financial incentive to be against Bush, like Ritter has, means nothing.

It’s almost like, to the left, Anti-Americanism or Anti-Republicanism, is the new teflon. It deflects any and all criticism.

Given this, maybe the attorneys for Kelly, Townsend, etc., should adopt a new legal strategy. Rather than address the charges of child porn, they should simply have their clients chant “no blood for oil,” and “Bush is the Real Terrorist.”

In the eyes of the left, at least, that would apparently be enough to make charges of child sexual abuse vanish completely.

Posted 5:52 AM by Hank
BRIEF ONE: MORE ON THE LIBRARY

This is good.

Today's Ithaca Journal has a letter about the Tompkins County Library funding issue (see last week).

According to the letter, volunteers were willing to help, so that the library could remain open. However, the union wouldn't allow it.

Remember that, the next time some union person tells you that they are for the little guy.

Unions give a lot of money to the democratic party.

If Republicans were smart they'd use this to shut down unions: "Unions keep kids illiterate. Stamp out unions. Do it for the Children."

Posted 7:09 PM by Hank
YOU SAY YOU WANT AN E-VOLUTION...

There are two growing trends in Ithaca, New York, that might, at first, seem unrelated. However, I'm wondering if there isn't a common connection.

The first is that Ithaca seems to be getting a lot of muggings lately.

Yep, you heard me.

The most enlighted city in America, home to Cornell University, is experiencing an apparent increase in violent crime that seems, per capita, to be nearly as bad as what you would get in New York City or Los Angeles.

In the last month alone, there were two muggings and an incident where “a 16-year-old boy...pulled out a box cutter and held it to [a] girl's neck.”

According to the Ithaca Journal, “Ithaca police are investigating ...but said they do not believe there is cause for alarm.”

Of course not.

This being liberal, nonjudgemental Ithaca, “alarm” would probably be interpreted as “disapproval.” And we can’t have disapproval, can we?

But I digress.

The other problem is that Ithaca is becoming overrun with deer.

And not just any deer. These deer are violent “urban deer.”

As the Ithaca Journal noted:

"Deer herds are causing wrecks, wrecking crops and ...doubling every two to three years in areas where there's ample food and few predators."

So, in other words, if you’re unfortunate enough to live in Ithaca (or, as some conservatives call it, “the City of Evil”), you seem to have a pretty good chance of either being robbed at gunpoint or attacked by Bambi’s “gangsta” cousin.

Why do you suppose that is?

I have a theory.

Ithaca, as we know, is ultra-liberal. Quite possibly, the most liberal/pacifist/hippie, city in America. And, if there’s one thing liberal pacifist hippies hate and fear (other than four more years of a Bush presidency), it’s guns.

And if we all know Ithaca is full of anti-gun types, why wouldn’t the criminals know it? And, therefore, commit their crimes in a place where there is very little chance of an intended victim shooting back?

And wouldn’t the deer at least figure out (on some instinctual level) that no one there is shooting at them?

So, to recap: the liberals of Ithaca, being opposed to guns, are being preyed upon by predators, in the form of armed criminals. At the same time, the animals that they themselves should be preying upon, the deer, are instead also preying on the liberals. The leftists are getting it coming and going (and not in that whole sexually permissive way they wanted, either).

You know, I just had a thought.

Maybe this is natural selection in action.

Maybe we are seeing the beginning of liberal extinction in the most natural of liberal habitats (a small college town).

Maybe...just maybe... liberals will go the way of the dodo bird.

No pun intended.

Posted 5:46 AM by Hank
KEEPING LIBRARY USERS IN THE DARK

Today, I was reading the Ithaca Journal’s articles about the problems with the Tompkins County Budget and the library. And I have to say I wasn’t at all that sympathetic when I read about the poor library workers and their need to cut hours if they didn’t get more money.

Some of my lack of sympathy was overfamiliarity with the tactic. Whenever government workers see their budget cut (or not raised), the horror stories begin. The exact horror story depends on which bureaucracy is telling the tale. Social workers threaten us with dead kids. Teachers threaten us with illiteracy. And librarians threaten us with closure (and ultimately, I think, dead illiterate kids).

Another reason for my lack of sympathy was perspective from my own life. Having been born and raised (and still living) in one of the small towns that dot upstate New York, I had never even lived in a community with a full-time library until I went to college (and if any Tompkins County librarians are reading this—yes, despite the lack of full-time library hours in my home town I WAS able to get into college…and graduate).

But those weren’t the only reasons I didn’t feel too bad for the library folks. My other reason was the day and time I read about them.

It was January 10. It was nineteen degrees out. It was snowing outside. In short, it was pretty much the type of dark, cold, short, day, you expect for much of the year in Upstate New York.

So, you might ask, what does this have to do with my lack of sympathy for the library staff in their quest for additional funding?

I’ll tell you what.

Tompkins County is in upstate New York. At least half the time, it is cold and dark. Even in the summer it rains a lot.

And, despite being in cold, dark, upstate New York, the “educated idiots” of Ithaca, in order to make a political statement, spent $500,000.00 to put solar panels on the library. What kind of moe-ron spends this kind of money for solar panels on a public building in this area and think they would recoup the cost in any way, shape or form? They might better have spent the money to have extra hours in perpetuity…or to buy a herd of hamster and a really big wheel if they wanted something energy inefficient.

But what do I know? I didn’t have the benefit of seven day a week library service growing up. Therefore, I’m probably just not “enlightened” enough to realize that making a political statement about solar energy is more important work for a library than allowing folks to read books.