With reference to the Obama administration's continuing war against Fox News , specifically referring to the recent attempt to impose the exclusion of Fox from the White House press pool for an interview opportunity, I said, The State having the power to restrict the free--even partisan press--is a greater danger to the American republic than anything that press might ever say. To which Dana Garrett responded, And if the Nazi press wanted to be part of the press pool and attend White House News briefings, then as far as your concerned the White House is OBLIGATED to oblige them? You are the one who claims to be the constitutionalist. Please point out in the constitution where the President is obligated to recognize just any "news organization" as responsible purveyors of free speech. And, amazingly, Hube fell for this line: As often as I disagree with Dana, I must say he's on the money with the above. Did anybody notice Dana palm that card? Neither my statement nor a...

I have blogged before about Daniel J. Cassidy, the publisher of Sunlit Uplands [according to Blognet News, currently the number one political blog in South Carolina], who is homophobic, thinks there should be laws prohibiting anonymous blogging,is a birther, and believes that the government is preparing to round up all conservative dissidents into FEMA re-education camps. Today he hits a new low , introducing a video clip of President Barack Obama at a Virginia fund-raiser (you know, the one where he tells a heavily partisan crowd that his political opposition should just stop talking so much) with this title and lead-in sentence: Barry Soetoro Reveals His Inner Thug Here's the great "unifier" in action. A real statesman -- perhaps by Kenyan tribal standards. Most of Mr. Cassidy's posts are retreads from World Net Daily or equally credible sources. This one he wrote himself. Let's be clear: this is protected political speech, but Mr. Cassidy has another title a...

Several years ago I visited the DHS Center for Domestic Preparedness in Anniston, AL, where police, EM personnel, and firemen train for first response and security issues. There is a class section on improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and booby traps, where they give you the cook's tour of how simple it is to rig them up and what are the latest gizmos for detecting them. There are two training rooms: one is a room that is mocked up to be a terrorist cell headquarters, and is filled with booby traps that you have to try and find without setting off the explosives (a light goes off to indicate that you will not be a recurring guest star on NCIS). This wasn't what interested me the most, however. Two of the walls were decorated with flags and graffiti of different domestic terrorist groups , including the Aryan Nation, Christian Identity movement, and ... The Nation of Islam. Problem is: for all that you may not like the Louis Farrakhan (I wasn't so hot on Elijah Mohamme...

From The Daily Campus : Recently, at Central Connecticut State University, a student was brought into the police station after he gave a class presentation about carrying concealed handguns on campus. What was his transgression? He dared to talk about guns in class, which made his classmates feel "scared and uncomfortable" according to his professor. John Wahlberg was in Paula Anderson's introductory public speaking class when the students received an assignment to make a presentation about a "relevant issue in the media." Given the fierce debate about whether or not students and professors should be allowed to carry weapons on campus - ignited by the fatal shootings at Virginia Tech - Wahlberg thought that concealed carry was an appropriate topic for class. It is important to note that while Wahlberg is a gun owner and a Second Amendment advocate, he never threatened to harm anyone during his presentation. After giving the presentation - during which he advocat...

Not because law enforcement decided that a Sarah Palin mannequin hung in effigy as part of a Halloween display in Hollywood is not a hate crime; I happen to believe that's protected speech. No, the reason that hate crimes are a dangerous idea is because had the same display included Barack Obama it might have been: [Sheriff's Department spokesman]: Whitmore said that potential hate crimes are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. If the same display had been made of a Barack Obama-like doll, for example, authorities would have to evaluate it independently, Whitmore said. "That adds a whole other social, historical hate aspect to the display, and that is embedded in the consciousness of the country," he said, adding he's not sure whether it would be a hate crime. "It would be ill-advised of anybody to speculate on that." This sort of speaks for itself, and if you don't get it, no comment of mine will cause you to see the light.

Waldo brought my attention to this one, although I disagree strongly with his sweeping generalization in the opening line: Christians are innovative when it comes to ducking responsibility for their bigotries. This is the poster placed all over campus on an Ohio community college by an atheist group promoting its next meeting: It brought out the predictable narrow-minded rejoinders that the people behind the poster were mocking religion : Student aide Jessica Hodge said she felt the poster would “pollute the minds” of her children, ages 2 and 5, if they saw it. “It looks like soft-core pornography,” she said. “I don’t think they’re making a statement at all. They just want to shock everyone.” A Christian, Hodge said she doesn’t try to force her opinions on others. Questioning religion is fine, but mocking it isn’t, she said. As another Christian who believes in the First Amendment, Jessica, I need to explain to you that mocking religion is perfectly fair game. And I'd also point...

(h/t The Curvature)

I found an unsolicited letter in my mailbox today from David Horowitz saying you liberals are blocking Islamo - demofascist -commie awareness week. Is this true you traitors ? I am so incredibly sick of the turpitude and screed of the conservative movement, that I am at a loss for words right now. Well you will be happy to know I sent him back this message: Dear Mr. Horowitz, It is with great sadness I received your letter. It clearly demonstrates how great the Islamo - democommie -fascist threat to our great nation is. It is almost as great as the threat posed by other groups like the entire left. I loved it when you said, " Part of the motivation for Discover the Networks is....the view that leftist individuals and groups provide support, intentionally or not, for Islamic terrorism, and thus require ongoing scrutiny." And when you provided proof in your Book Unholy Alliance that made me a think of you as a new Lenin. I mean if all the Islamo - democommie -fascists get to...

I present this and dedicate it to Martin Luther King as long as You Tube allows it to stay online.....for they like other corporate outlets have censored it repeatedly and censored and suppressed the voice of some of the people, and by doing so, suppress the voice of all the people. For even if a person says something you do not like you should use reason, education, discussion to debate and judge your own moral conscience with them; to discuss these issues. They deserve freedom of expression just as you do. You must not censor the people if you hope to protect the First Amendment of the Constitution, and if you believe in it, as an American company, you want like Larry Page and Google, free expression and information. This film been removed from online forums more times then the controversial movie about Islam called Fitna. If you choose to censor this people, be sure we have read Henry David Thoreau's On Civil Disobedience , repeatedly. And we can use it against the "corpo...

Steve wrote an interesting look at why someone like Pat Buchanan should not be painted with a broad condemnation brush and written-off solely based on his comments related to race. Buchanan gave a very interesting analysis * of the war issue and the larger ideological context in which it resides : [ * - Jeanne Kirkpatrick was a professor of mine at Georgetown University. From 1994-95 I studied in her courses 'Critique of Utopia' and 'Capitalism, Competition, and Democracy' .] I agree with everything Buchanan says in the video but do I agree with everything Buchanan says anywhere else I have heard him? Certainly not but it worries me not an iota because , as Steve mentioned, he is not elected and has no public power to wield over any of us. Nevertheless, as the above video attests, Buchanan has had valid and insightful ideas and analyses for many big questions, not the least of which was a very realpolitik critique of the Iraq war. Even more, his critique was based n...

I have a lot of admiration for Barack Obama the man, and a lot of trepidation about Barack Obama's very Statist plans for the government if he takes it over. So be it. What I want to do today, however, is tell Barack Obama not to disown or distance himself from Reverand Jeremiah Wright. Wright is an easy target for the media feeding frenzy, because he has adapted the black liberation theology primarily developed by James Cone and Dwight Hopkins into an evangelical outreach ministry focusing on African-Americans. This is a legitimate theological school of thought that is taken seriously around the world, especially with feminist/womanist and asian/latino interpreters and theologians. In fact, if you look at the "interview" of Wright on Hannity and Colmes , you'll note that while being shouted down he attempts to get the academic credentials of his movement into the conversation: WRIGHT : If you're not going to talk about theology in context, if you're not ...

After living part of my adult life in Asia, specifically in South East Asia, at first I found it very difficult to understand the American reluctance to accept and tolerate people who were either Lesbian, Gay or Transsexual. I had seen many. Some were my friends. In Thailand there is nothing wrong with having a highly educated ladyboy as a friend to advise you on meeting a nice highly educated upper middle-class Chinese woman. So I never really thought anything of ideas like homophobia until I came home to the United States. It seems to me that Thai's are much more honest about things generally and about sexuality in particular without all of the stigma we associate with it. You can read about ladyboys here: http://www.thai-blogs.com/index.php?blog=8&cat=290 Any offense against a Thai ladyboy may wind up getting you beat to a pulp as many are experts in kickboxing and can be quite aggressive. If only the same were true in America. I am sure things would change overnight here f...

Folks, I am sorry, I am still new at this so if the spacing or scope of the document is not correct, I apologize. I am not opposed inter-Americanism or pan-Americanism and I never really have been. I like the idea of an "empire of liberty" that Jefferson said his principles would bring about. I think it is the best and most socially responsible model out there for the development of trade agreements. That being said, that model is opposed to our managed free trade agreements in NAFTA and CAFTA which both 1.) create net job loss in the intended countries are fueling immigration, 2.) create jobs on one end, for one class, in the social scale, but are non-reciprocal agreements that do not promise jobs in this country and 3.) create political tensions in each region they are enacted in. Much like Roman trade agreements that assure stability by protecting the propertied classes, NAFTA and CAFTA fuel the problems of immigration normal North Americans are forced to deal with. I am s...

OK Bloggers, The race is on. We need some research to fulfill the needs of our deviant liberal friends, which nation or group of nations, the US, South East Asia, or China has the highest documentable rate of prostitution? I will give you a clue, the US and China do not post rea l numbers or give you the actual scale of the problem. As we all know what a fat horn dog Ben Franklin was, I thought this quantification of prostitution rates might make him proud. I am not sure how proud he would be to know that there is a hooker dance party community in his native Philadelphia. At the same time, I want to make it very clear that I find this type of exploitation deplorable and want to find ways and have helped the Global Mission for Comprehensive Human Development find ways to create better paying jobs for people who were forced into this lurid business. But one thing is clear according to the interviews we have conducted, independent Hookers (without a pimp) have more fun. Those with a pimp ...

... and this time it's not for national security. Libertarians and fellow travelers will recall the uproars over the Patriot Act giving law enforcement agencies the right to snoop into your reading habits via your library card or your bookstore purchases. And, of course, to argue that this constituted the beginning of a slippery slope is to have yourself written off as a Libertarian whacko. Our law enforcement agencies would never go after our reading habits for anything less that the prevention of another September 11 attack, would they? So this from libertariansf : Recently unsealed court records reveal that US Magistrate Stephen Crocker of Wisconsin refused a request from federal prosecutors to issue a subpoena to Amazon.com. Prosecutors wanted to compel the online bookselling giant to reveal the identity of thousands of used book buyers as part of their case against Madison WI public official Robert D'Angelo, who was accused of running an online business from his office ...

It is really uncomfortable to defend free speech, because you often have stand beside those who say things you find personally noxious. And there's always the temptation to label speech you personally find offensive as hate speech so that you can get it outlawed (of course, if I think it's hateful, everyone else must also, right?). But sometimes it's just exhilarating to tee off on somebody with an idiotic argument. The Arch-Bishop of Canterbury is upset that Great Britain is scrapping its old blasphemy laws, reports the Telegraph : New legislation may be needed to protect religious believers from "thoughtless and cruel" attacks if Britain's ancient blasphemy laws are scrapped, the Archbishop of Canterbury said yesterday. Dr Rowan Williams conceded that the blasphemy offences were flawed and no longer served any purpose, but he questioned whether recently introduced laws banning incitement to religious hatred were an adequate substitute. The Archbishop said ...