00Publius Contributor

00Publius Contributor - Business - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

SEIU Prez Stern Strikes Back Against Rival

May 7, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Accusations are flying thick as bats in the night sky between the Service Employee International Union (SEIU) and their affiliated union, the United HealthCare Workers-West (UHW-W-W), over claims made by the SEIU that the UHW-W misappropriated $6 million in member’s dues money. But, it’s hard to escape the feeling that the SEIU is really just trying to put a stake in the heart of the internal uprising that members of the UHW-W have implemented inside the SEIU by launching harassment lawsuits that seem to have little merit.

The UHW-W, as it happens, is captained by Sal Roselli, president Andy Stern’s chief rival for control of the SEIU. Supposedly the UHW-W used some of this $6 million to pay for a speech by that same Sal Roselli, the man that just so happens to be challenging SEIU president Andy Stern in the upcoming SEIU convention in Puerto Rico in the beginning of June. Roselli has been attacking Stern for his campaign of top down leadership and for his penchant for manufacturing the ouster of local leaders that don’t sign on to Stern’s policies. Many are claiming that this is just an underhanded effort by Stern to destroy his chief rival just before the SEIU convention.

In this case, some are also saying that Stern has launched this lawsuit as a first step to declaring the UHW-W’s leadership defective so that he can place his own appointed guys in power as trustees over the union while the “problems” are ironed out. In this way, Stern’s critics say, he can better assure that the UHW-W will acquiesce to his policies and another rebellious affiliate will be silenced before the convention.

Continue reading “SEIU Prez Stern Strikes Back Against Rival”

00Publius Contributor - Islam - Islamofascism - Media Bias - News - Race - Religion - Security/Safety - Society/Culture

Muslims are Irrational People!

May 7, 2008 by 1 Comment

-By Don Boys, Ph.D.

The “peaceful” Muslims in the streets of Denmark, Paris, London, etc., have displayed their true character (or lack thereof) whenever they perceive a wrong done them proving President Bush and other panderers completely wrong in their assessment of Islam. Most U.S. politicians just don’t get it. Traditional Muslims are barbarians by nature because Mohammed and the Koran promote barbarism. Plus, every traditional Muslim school and mosque promote barbarism since they teach the Koran.

Koranic Muslims (those who really believe the Koran) draw their sword before they put their brains in gear. Muslims have every right to be unhappy, angry, hurt, dismayed, etc., at what they perceive as mistreatment, even sacrilegious treatment of their prophet. However, they can’t fathom freedom of press, religion, association, speech, etc. They are still sixth century barbarians right off the desert! Proof of that is seen in today’s report of a court in Saudi Arabia confirming the beheading sentence of a man who cursed Allah!

Yes, the cartoons were impudent and rude, but so what, and the recent film was precise and powerful but historically accurate. So, why all the yelling and threats? That is what freedom is all about. I suggest that Muslim leaders educate their people in civilized behavior. If they want to live among decent, civilized people, they should drag themselves off the Arabian dessert, dress normally, lighten up, and realize that most of us are not going to agree with their theology nor seek to emulate the sayings and actions of their prophet. We have a culture and theology of our own, thank you.
Continue reading “Muslims are Irrational People!”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

MSNBC Finds Penguins at North Pole… But Penguins Don’t LIVE at North Pole

May 6, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

**Video added below the fold**

**UPDATE AT BOTTOM**

A 15-year-old British girl named Camilla Hempleman-Adams is being hailed as a "hero" for trekking across the ice floes of the North Pole to become one of the youngest women to explore the frozen world of the penguin… well, at least as far as MSNBC is concerned. In their report on the feat of endurance, MSNBC had a shot (about a minute into the video) of penguins on an ice floe. Only one little problem: penguins don’t live at the North Pole. Oopsie.

So, the question remains; if these people can’t even get a simple fact like that correct, how can we believe them that global warming is destroying the world? If they don’t even know where the penguin lives, how can we believe their "science" that states the world is doomed with global warming?

Miss Hempleman-Adams’ goal was to see the supposedly disappearing frozen wilderness before it’s gone the way of the buffalo. So, she and her affluent, famous explorer father trekked across the ice to see the effects of global warming. "I want people to understand that we mustn’t let it be destroyed," she said, "I haven’t thought about breaking a record, it’s much more about climate change for me."

Well, it’s all heartwarming and all, but "hero"? What she did took guts, it was bold and it was not an easy task to accomplish. But, "hero"? I am always seriously annoyed when the word hero is so casually used. Sports people are NOT heroes. Explorers are not heroes. This girl is not a hero. We do not have to elevate her to hero status to celebrate her feat.

Anyway, the silly thing is that MSNBC had to embellish the story of this girl by adding fake footage of penguins even though penguins do not live at the North Pole.

Well, I hope Miss Hempleman-Adams wasn’t too annoyed by the mosquitoes and jungle snakes after she was accosted by those North Pole penguins!

**UPDATE 5PM, 5/6/08**

News flash…. MSNBC edited out the scenes with the penguins in it in their report! Ed Morrissey over at Hot-Air has the story. As Cap’n Ed says, “Something got exposed in this broadcast — scientific illiteracy at MS-NBC.”

**UPDATE 8:00 PM, 5/6/08**

Someone did capture the original:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5bz6h_penguins_news

Continue reading “MSNBC Finds Penguins at North Pole… But Penguins Don’t LIVE at North Pole”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Entertainment - GOP - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

CBS Slights Limbaugh any Credit for ‘Operation Chaos,’ Also Talk of Riots With Obama Loss

May 6, 2008 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

It’s amusing how far some people will go not to give someone credit for something they have done especially if that deserving someone happens to be an ostensible political enemy. In this case we find CBS discussing Republican crossover voters in these primaries, the network newser telling us how crossovers will “skew primary results,” and then they tell us who is responsible for egging on these crossovers. Now, for those of you in the know, you’d automatically assume that CBS is talking about radio host Rush Limbaugh who has been carrying on his “operation chaos” program to encourage Republican voters to re-register as Dems to vote for Hillary, right?

Not to CBS. No, CBS has decided that the real story is that what we have here is “right-wing radio commentators” and “the bloggers” are who is responsible for “operation chaos.” But, in truth, few other radio people are pushing their listeners to re-register and no high profile conservative blogger I know of is doing so either. The whole thing is the brainchild of Rush Limbaugh, not “right-wing radio commentators” — commentators as in plural, more than one.

CBS is bending over backwards in order NOT to mention Limbaugh’s name so as not to give him publicity, apparently. But, it simply is not factual to say that “right-wing radio commentators” are responsible for this crossover voting effort when it is basically ONE “right-wing radio commentator.” This spiteful avoidance of naming Limbaugh makes their report factually incorrect.

Continue reading “CBS Slights Limbaugh any Credit for ‘Operation Chaos,’ Also Talk of Riots With Obama Loss”

00Publius Contributor - Business - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Media Bias - News - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Unions Kill Trade Agreement – Real Improvement Unrewarded

May 6, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The powerful union lobbies in the US have cornered their lapdogs in the Democrat Party and succeeded in killing the free trade agreement that we had brokered with Colombia. The main reason that unions twisted the arms of their Dem representatives is supposed to be because of Colombia’s admittedly horrid history of violence against unions and workers.

John Sweeney, president of the largest US federation of unions, the AFL-CIO, detailed the allegations in a Washington Post op-ed April 14: “In Colombia, joining a union or advocating for workers’ rights can be a de facto death sentence,” he said. “The human-rights atrocities against union activists and supporters are not isolated, rogue events; they are committed largely by the armed forces and paramilitary organizations with ties to elected officials close to President [Alvaro] Uribe.”

Now, who can deny that such a history is lamentable? I, for one, am one of those folks who complains that the US government works so closely with the murderous, inhuman Chinese, for example, so I can very much sympathize with the sentiment that we should not reward criminal nations that perpetrate such murderous and violent actions against their own people.

Continue reading “Unions Kill Trade Agreement – Real Improvement Unrewarded”

00Publius Contributor - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Israel Teitelbaum - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture

School Choice Competition Working in Florida, New Report Shows

May 6, 2008 by

-By Israel Teitelbaum

Florida’s McKay Scholarship Program for Students with Disabilities Linked to Public School Achievement Increases.

Washington, D.C. (May 2, 2008)—America’s largest school voucher program for students with special needs, the John M. McKay Scholarship for Students with Disabilities, has led to increased achievement among public school students with special needs, a new report by the New York-based Manhattan Institute reveals.

The Alliance for School Choice—the nation’s preeminent nonprofit organization promoting school vouchers and scholarship tax credit programs—hailed the report as further evidence that the competition brought about by private school choice benefits public schools.

Authored by Jay Greene and Marcus Winters, the report, titled The Effect of Special Education Vouchers on Public School Achievement: Evidence From Florida’s McKay Scholarship Program, concludes that “rather than being harmed, public schools respond to the challenge of exposure to school choice by improving the education they provide.”

According to the study, students with mild disabilities who are educated in Florida’s public schools posted significant test score improvements in math and reading. These gains occurred when other students with special needs transferred from public schools to private schools using the state’s McKay Program.

“The paper is the first quantitative evaluation of a voucher program designed specifically for students with disabilities,” said Alliance President Charles R. Hokanson, Jr. “Jay Greene and Marcus Winters provide a rigorous, scientifically valid, and conclusive study that adds significant substance to the debate over the impact of competition and school choice on public schools.”

The McKay Program was established in 1999 and is benefiting 19,439 students this school year. Throughout the country, five states (Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, and Utah) offer special needs scholarship programs.

“Several local organizations—including Step Up for Students and the Florida Alliance for Choices in Education—as well as the Florida Department of Education, deserve significant credit for ensuring that this important program benefits not only the students who receive scholarships but students with special needs all throughout the Sunshine State,” said Lori Drummer, state projects director for the Alliance.
Continue reading “School Choice Competition Working in Florida, New Report Shows”

00Publius Contributor - Congress - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - Technology - Warner Todd Huston

Is Hard Work An ‘Asian Value,’ No Longer America’s? Hardly!

May 5, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

I always find it amazing when writers in the mainstream press seem to have so little knowledge of America and its history. Of course, I suppose that being blissfully ignorant of US history does help paper over their betrayal, substituting the feeling that they can maintain allegiance to American “ideals” as they attempt to advocate for the sort of socialist/communist vision that they want America to become, quite despite its true character and principles. Heck, if you don’t know you are betraying your own country, you can’t be ashamed of yourself for it, right? In any case, here we have another prime example of such a betrayal by The New York Times’ Thomas Friedman from his May 4 piece where he has decided that America is finished, done, kaput. And guess what? It’s all George W. Bush’s fault — shocking, I know.

Freidman imagines that he has found the pulse of the people and he has found that they are aching for nation building. Not nation building in Iraq or Afghanistan, but in the USA. He says we have little to show for our efforts in Iraq, that “we’re just not that strong anymore.” He also claims that we have no “leverage” in Iran.

Heck, he should know. After all he and his paper have been attempting to foster these very situations for 8 years. If what Friedman is saying is true, then he and his anti-American paper deserve hearty congratulations for their success at nation destroying — ours.

Continue reading “Is Hard Work An ‘Asian Value,’ No Longer America’s? Hardly!”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Energy - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - The Heritage Foundation

The Bear Truth (Polar, that is)

May 5, 2008 by 1 Comment

-By The Heritage Foundation

Environmentalists are in their normal state of righteous frenzy over the Department of Interior’s continued deliberations on whether or not to list the polar bear as “endangered” pursuant to the Endangered Species Act. Responding to a California judge’s decision ordering Interior to make their decision by May 15, Natural Resources Defense Council’s Andrew Wetzler said, “The science is absolutely unambiguous that the polar bear deserves protection.” The Center for Biological Diversity’s Kassie Siegel added: “The science is perfectly clear. There’s no dispute. The polar bear is an endangered species.” This rhetoric is 100% typical of the environmental movement. All scientists agree with us. There is no debate. Politicians need to conform to our agenda or we’ll all soon die. The problem in this case is that someone forgot to tell the Canadians.

An independent committee of scientists told the Canadian government last Friday that the polar bears are not, in fact, threatened or endangered. The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada did give the bears a “special concern” status, though, Canada’s weakest classification. Chairman Jeffrey Hutchings announced: “Based on the best available information at hand, there was insufficient reason to think that the polar bear was at imminent risk of extinction.” Hutchings went on to explain that the polar bears were facing threats from over-hunting and oil and gas development, but that the current modeling is not reliable enough to determine exactly what impact global warming is having on the bear.

Canadian scientists are not the only ones who do not believe the polar bears are becoming extinct. The native Inuit Indians, a society that has depended on the polar bears for its livelihood for generations, also is against listing the polar bear as endangered. The Inuit no longer trust scientists after researchers drastically underestimated bowhead whale populations in the Arctic. Jayko Alooloo told The Canadian Press: “We don’t believe the scientists’ information any more. (Hunters) will ignore new quotas.”
Continue reading “The Bear Truth (Polar, that is)”

00Publius Contributor - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - GOP - News - President - Society/Culture

The Supremes uphold election integrity

May 4, 2008 by

-By Michael M. Bates

Heaven knows Jimmy Carter is wrong much of the time. Yet even the former president has his better days. One of them occurred during his service as co-chair of the 2005 Commission on Federal Election Reform. Carter joined in the commission’s recommendation for a voter photo identification requirement.

On Monday, the Supreme Court upheld Indiana’s law mandating voters to produce a photo ID. Reaction to this commonsensical ruling was predictable.

Barack Obama called the decision wrong and charged it would hurt minorities, the elderly, the poor, and blustering retired ministers moving into multimillion-dollar mansions in Tinley Park gated communities. OK, so I made that last part up.
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00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Health - News - Selwyn Duke - Society/Culture

The Hard Truth about a Soft Science: Why Psychology Does More Harm Than Good

May 4, 2008 by 1 Comment

By Selwyn Duke

In his book The Future of an Illusion, Sigmund Freud said of religion and morality,

“It would be an undoubted advantage if we were to leave God out altogether and admit the purely human origins of all the precepts and regulations of civilization.”

In making this statement, Freud weighed in on one of life’s most important questions: What is the nature of right and wrong? Is it real, something existing apart from man, a reflection of Absolute Truth, of God’s will? Or is it, in accordance with the atheist model, merely a product of mortal minds and thus synonymous with consensus opinion? Freud made it clear he believed the latter.

While many may debate Freud’s influence over modern psychology, there is no doubt that the atheism and moral relativism he espoused reign in it. This is not to say there aren’t exceptions. There is the American Association of Christian Counselors, and many people will speak glowingly of positive experiences with Christian therapists. And, while I myself would never have need of such services (although some of my critics may beg to differ), I have had the pleasure of corresponding with an individual of this stripe, author, speaker and family psychologist John Rosemond, a man traditional to the core. Yet, in just the way we refer to the Founding Fathers’ ideology as “classical liberalism” so as to distinguish it from the modern variety, there is a reason why we use a modifier and call such people “Christian Counselors”: They are not the norm.
Continue reading “The Hard Truth about a Soft Science: Why Psychology Does More Harm Than Good”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Media Bias - News - Religion - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

‘Conservative’ Christian’s ‘Manifesto’ Has Few Conservatives Involved

May 3, 2008 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

On May 2, the Associated Press uncritically reported that an effort to clarify where “evangelicals” stand in the culture/political war in America is soon to be released. It is to be called “An Evangelical Manifesto” and is touted by the AP as a statement by “evangelicals” that “faith is now too political.” That isn’t all. The AP is claiming that it isn’t just Christian leaders in general that are saying this but that it is “conservative Christian leaders” who are standing up and denouncing politics in religion. But a little investigation proves that “conservative leaders” is not a very good description of those who have signed onto this “manifesto.” In fact, many of the most well-known conservative Christian leaders in the country have decided not to sign onto the “manifesto” and many more weren’t even consulted or included in the creation of this highly political document that pretends it stands against politics.

Sadly, this “manifesto” that is claiming to want to take religion back from its political involvement is itself a political statement, one that was created by people that refused to include Christian leaders from the right side of the political spectrum. This so-called “manifesto” seems to be just another attempt by the political left to undermine the devotion of Christians to the political right.

And the AP is more than happy to help them along…

Conservative Christian leaders who believe the word “evangelical” has lost its religious meaning plan to release a starkly self-critical document saying the movement has become too political and has diminished the Gospel through its approach to the culture wars.

The statement, called “An Evangelical Manifesto,” condemns Christians on the right and left for “using faith” to express political views without regard to the truth of the Bible, according to a draft of the document obtained Friday by The Associated Press.

If we are to just swallow whole what the AP is selling, we’d imagine that Christian leaders on the conservative side are upset over what has happened to their faith. In fact, the AP flat out declares it to be so.

The document is the latest chapter in the debate among conservative Christians about their role in public life. Most veteran leaders believe the focus should remain on abortion and marriage, while other evangelicals—especially in the younger generation—are pushing for a broader agenda. The manifesto sides with those seeking a wide-range of concerns beyond “single-issue politics.”

This so-called “manifesto” has not been released, so we do not have a full list of all those who have signed onto the letter. But many details about the contents and those who have signed onto the thing have been reported. And what we find is that a large number of those Christian leaders who are associated with powerful right leaning organizations were refused a place at the table of the creation of this document.

Continue reading “‘Conservative’ Christian’s ‘Manifesto’ Has Few Conservatives Involved”

00Publius Contributor - Family - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - Thomas Brewton

Europe: The Dark Continent

May 3, 2008 by

-By Thomas E. Brewton

The light of God’s truth has been snuffed out in Europe, now the least Christian and the most secularized and socialized part of the world.

This week, Black Rock Congregational Church is focusing on worldwide missionary programs and the 20-plus missionaries that the church supports. In that connection, rather than a traditional sermon, we at Black Rock-Long Ridge Congregational Church (North Stamford, Connecticut) heard a report by Dr. Ted Noble, one of those missionaries. His subject was the appalling decline of Christianity throughout Europe.

Fewer than one percent of Europeans are Christian believers. Elsewhere, especially in Africa and Asia, the percentage is much higher and growing. Europe has become a spiritual wasteland in which people look to the political state for their salvation.
Continue reading “Europe: The Dark Continent”

00Publius Contributor - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Texas Pol Caught drunk Driving: Name That Party!

May 2, 2008 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Well, we’ve played “Name That Party” so often that it is getting to be old hat. How many times have we seen it where the MSM refuses to mention that a Democrat is the troubled politician in the news? We’ve also said many times that if only that criminal politician were a Republican, why we’d get the party mentioned ASAP. We say it and accept the claim as fact, but we don’t often focus on examples to prove our case. Our detractors point to that and say “prove it!”

Call this one more proof of the claim.

Continue reading “Texas Pol Caught drunk Driving: Name That Party!”

00Publius Contributor - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Family - Media Bias - Nancy Salvato - News - Religion - Society/Culture

The Confluence of Religion & Freedom

May 2, 2008 by

-By Nancy Salvato

“Textbooks today are trapped in an ideological straitjacket that, in contrast to the surrounding popular culture, restricts content and sterilizes social realities.” – The Mad, Mad World of Textbook Adoption

I’ve always enjoyed learning about history. When I look back on my history classes, it wasn’t because I was interested in reading the textbooks, it was the teacher who made history come alive, by inserting anecdotes that made it “real,” showing footage of actual events, or by connecting what happened in the past to the present. As a matter of fact, most of the textbooks I used put me to sleep. I loved to read and often wondered why we couldn’t just read books instead of textbooks to learn about people, places, and events.

During my senior year of high school, learning was a little more fun because we read news magazines and newspapers for Current Events class and because we read works of fiction and non fiction in Language Arts. In college, history classes as an upper classman were the most compelling because there were no textbooks, just books on a particular aspect of history. All things considered, it is somewhat surprising that I majored in history without reaching the conclusion of many of my peers who believed history to be completely boring. I have to credit the teachers who made it a subject worthwhile.

Continue reading “The Confluence of Religion & Freedom”

00Publius Contributor - Education - Family - News - Religion - Society/Culture - Thomas Brewton

Cheap Grace

May 2, 2008 by

-By Thomas E. Brewton

Reactions of some nominal Christians to the message of Pope Benedict XVI are nothing more than liberal-progressive-socialistic “toleration.”

In his April 18th column for the Washington Post, E. J. Dionne, Jr. expresses the misgivings of liberal-progressives who enjoy the ritual of religion, but don’t want to be bothered with following the teachings of Jesus.

Mr. Dionne writes:

The most jarring word that Pope Benedict XVI is using during his visit to the United States is “countercultural.” The American sense of that term is shaped by the 1960s: free love, drugs, hippies, rock music and rebellion. Needless to say, that’s not what Benedict is preaching.

That word is the key to understanding how Benedict’s message runs crosswise to conventional liberalism and conservatism. Benedict came to the United States as a quiet but forceful critic of “an increasingly secular and materialistic culture,” as he put it during yesterday’s Mass. Almost any American who paid attention to his sermon had to be uncomfortable because all of us are shaped by the very forces he was criticizing.

Benedict directly challenged an assumption so many Americans make about religion: that it is a matter of private devotion with few public implications.

Continue reading “Cheap Grace”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Media Bias - News - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Dock Workers Stay Shut Down Docks: For Benefits? No, to Protest War!

May 1, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Is national security policy any business of a dock workers union? Just think about that for a second. Should some union, just because they have the power to shut down a vital business, take advantage of that capability for ANY reason outside of their direct concerns with their jobs? What other reasons beside their actual business should they be allowed to inconvenience the whole country for? Should dock workers be able to cost the country billions of lost business because, say, they are upset that the L.A. Lakers aren’t doing so well this season? Maybe they’ll shut down the entire west coast because the right person didn’t win on “American Idol”?

In any case, a protest of the Iraq war (something that is not the union’s business either directly or even indirectly) is why union thug Bob McEllrath sadi that the dock workers all walked off the job today.

All 29 ports on the West Coast, including the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, have been effectively shut down this morning as thousands of dockworkers stayed home to protest the Iraq war. The walkout comes two months before the contract between dockworkers and and port operators expires. Louis Sahagun has the story:

“We are supporting the troops and telling politicians in Washington that it’s time to end the war in Iraq,” union president Bob McEllrath said.

What the government does in Iraq is NONE of the union’s business. Certainly as American citizens it is the business of each member. but this has nothing whatsoever to do with union business. This is an illegitimate strike and each and every one of these “workers” should be fired immediately.

This is an unconscionable misuse of the power of a union.

Continue reading “Dock Workers Stay Shut Down Docks: For Benefits? No, to Protest War!”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - History - Media Bias - News - President - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Dick Polman’s Skewed, Left-Partisan History Lesson

May 1, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Dick Polman is a long time Philly columnist and extreme left-winger that rarely makes any attempt to seem “fair and balanced,” so it isn’t surprising that his latest attempt at prescient punditry is a plaintive plea for the Democrats to chill out and just get along so that they can beat the “septuagenarian” McCain. But, his piece is so filled with horribly misconstrued historical analysis that it is hard to let him slide and mark it up solely as another forgettable example of the kind of partisan claptrap most of his work turns out to be. But, with the sort of half informed historical analysis he indulges in to cajole people to vote for the Democrats, this latest piece is too dishonest to just let it slide by. If anything calls for a fisking, this one does.

Polman starts his lamentably bad history lesson with this taunt to the Democrats.

If the Democrats somehow contrive to blow this presidential election, they should be consigned to the dustbin of history – or to a display case at the Smithsonian, where perhaps they can share space with the Whigs.

To which I say, heck, if the Democrats weren’t consigned to the dustbin of history after supporting slavery, starting a civil war, losing that war after 620,000 Americans died, supporting Jim Crow, supporting Japanese internment, continuing to support Jim Crow, fighting civil rights, and building a failed and expensive socialist state, a little primary fight between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton is certainly not going to do them much harm!

Continue reading “Dick Polman’s Skewed, Left-Partisan History Lesson”

00Publius Contributor - Business - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - News - Society/Culture - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Teamsters: We Promise not to use Guns and Knives (wink, wink)

May 1, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

George Lenard has a great little post at his “George’s Employment Blawg” about how the Teamsters are promising not to use violence, guns, knives, etc., in their protests against employers. But, here is the thing: they wouldn’t have to make these promises unless they either already HAVE done that stuff before or they have a propensity to do it.

Here’s George’s post…

Overnite-Teamsters NLRB settlement reveals Teamsters’ ugly underbelly

The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page (sorry, subscribers only), has an editorial entitled “The Teamster Promise” that excerpts from and links to the Teamsters’ NLRB settlement arising out of “a nasty–and ultimately unsuccessful–strike against Overnite Transportation Co.”

The posted notice, which is buried deep in the Teamsters’ website, is of course part of a “non-admit” settlement. The number of charges alone is mind-boggling. But, knowing NLRB practices, one must assume there was credible evidence some Teamster somewhere, engaged in every one of the following outrageous activities they have now promised not to do. I’m quoting extensively, as did the Journal, because it really covers the waterfront of union violence:

  • “WE WILL NOT brandish or carry any weapon of any kind, including, but not limited to, guns, knives, slingshots, rocks, ball bearings, liquid-filled balloons or other projectiles, sledge hammers, bricks, sticks, or two by fours .
  • “WE WILL NOT use or threaten to use a weapon of any kind, including but not limited to guns, knives, slingshots, rocks, ball bearings, liquid-filled balloons or other projectiles, picket signs, sticks, sledge hammers, bricks, hot coffee, bottles, two by fours, lit cigarettes, eggs, or bags or balloons filled with excrement .
  • WE WILL NOT damage, threaten to damage or attempt to damage any vehicle or equipment owned or operated by Overnite, its employees or security guards, by any means or manner, including but not limited by slingshots, rocks, ball bearings, liquid-filled balloons or other projectiles, knives, picket signs, sticks, sledge hammers, bricks, bottles, two by fours, eggs, or paint, or by tearing off mirrors, windshield wipers or antennas, or breaking windows.
  • WE WILL NOT disable or attempt to disable vehicles owned or operated by Ovemite, by any means or manner, including but not limited to disconnecting or otherwise severing air brake lines, padlocking doors, spraying substances in or otherwise jamming locks, stealing keys, puncturing radiators, cutting hoses or door cables, flattening tires or throwing, placing or otherwise spreading any nails, screws, star nails, jack rocks or similar devices capable of puncturing tires on any road surface.
  • WE WILL NOT endanger or impede the progress of or harass any non-striking employee or any employee of a neutral person doing business with Ovemite, while he or she is operating a company vehicle or his or her own personal vehicle, by forcing or attempting to force him or her off the road, blocking, delaying or limiting his or her access to or passage on any road, swerving toward, driving recklessly near, tailgating or braking abruptly in front of him or her, impeding his or her progress by speeding up and slowing down, driving at speeds below the legal minimums while in front of him or her.
  • WE WILL NOT endanger or impede the progress of or harass any non-striking employee or any employee of a neutral person doing business with Ovemite, while he or she is operating a company vehicle or his or her own personal vehicle, by jumping on vehicles, by attempting to open the doors of vehicles, by throwing paint on windshields, by using mirrors, laser pointers, spot lights or flash photography in the eyes of drivers, or by obstructing the view of drivers by holding picket signs over the windshields of vehicles.
  • WE WILL NOT engage in mass picketing or otherwise impede the ingress or egress of Ovemite employees or employees of any other employer to or from any Overnite service center or any facility of any neutral person doing business with Overnite or patrol or walk across the entrance of any Ovemite service center or a facility of any neutral person doing business with Overnite in such a manner as to impede or delay the ingress or egress of any individua1.
  • WE WILL NOT batter, assault, spit on, blow whistles loudly near a person’s ear, throw any liquid or solid object at, or attempt to assault any non-striking employee of Overnite or any member of his or her family or any employee of a neutral employee doing business with Overnite, or any security guard or supervisor or manager of a neutral employee doing business with Overnite in the presence of employees.
  • WE WILL NOT threaten to kill or inflict bodily harm, make throat slashing motions, make gun pointing motions, challenge or threaten to fight or assault employees, threaten to sexually assault non-striking employees or their family members, threaten to follow non-striking employees to their homes, use racial epithets or obscene gestures at non-striking employees or otherwise threaten unspecified reprisals on any non-striking employee of Overnite or any member of his or her family or any employee of a neutral employee doing business with Overnite, or on any security guard, supervisor or manager of Ovemite or neutral employers doing business with Ovemite in the presence of employees.
  • WE WILL NOT videotape or photograph any non-striking employees of Ovemite, or vehicles of Ovemite or of its nonstriking employees while engaging in coercive activity observed by or known by those being videotaped or photographed or threaten to release the photographs, names, addresses or phone numbers of non-striking employees in order to intimidate the non-striking employees.
  • WE WILL NOT prevent any non-striking employee from accessing an Ovemite vehicle or a personal vehicle or block Ovemite vehicles or the personal vehicles of non-striking Ovemite employees.
  • WE WILL NOT threaten to fine or cause the discharge of non-member employees because they cross a picket line or refuse to go on strike.
  • WE WILL NOT threaten to cause any employee’s discharge if they do not engage in a strike or picketing of Ovemite or of any neutral person doing business with Ovemite.
  • WE WILL NOT attempt to harass and intimidate employees or security guards on Ovemite property by using mirrors to reflect sunlight into the eyes of Ovemite drivers or use mirrors or laser pointers to shine light into the eyes or video cameras of security guards.
  • WE WILL NOT remove the personal property of non-striking employees from their personal vehicles.”

There you have it. While hopefully not every Teamsters’ local is equally disgusting, that’s their potential bag of tricks. Such conduct should be anticipated and prepared for by employers facing a Teamsters strike. And employees facing a decision about Teamsters representation should probably be given a copy of this notice as fair warning of what they might be getting into.

____________

Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as newsbusters.org, townhall.com, New Media Journal, Men’s News Daily and the New Media Alliance among many, many others. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs to discuss his opinion editorials and current events. He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the new book “Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture” which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of publiusforum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Media Bias - News - President - Race - Religion - Selwyn Duke - Society/Culture

When Will We Admit the Truth About Barack Obama?

May 1, 2008 by

By Selwyn Duke

If you interview someone for a job, you’ll expect him to tell you what you want to hear. There’ll be a façade, and his darker side will remain well-hidden. Now, let’s say a requirement for the job is that the applicant likes children, and he does his best Captain Kangaroo. But then you find out he has a job history of indifference to and perhaps even abuse of them and that, during unguarded moments, he has expressed disdain for them. What will you believe, what he tries to sell you or history and hair-down revelations?
Remember this when evaluating the profound discrepancy between Barack Obama’s damage-control denials and flowery rhetoric, and his long track record. Understand that he, like the other candidates, is interviewing for the job of president with you, the interviewer. His job is to bend the truth; your job is to discern it. The only question is: Who will do a better job, he or you?

Either Obama really is a savior for the third millennium, or the answer is that he is, thus far, besting many of you. Millions flock to him, registering oohs and ahs, fainting and fawning. Even critics and watchdogs heap praise upon him; Bill O’Reilly said he likes Obama and Sean Hannity proclaimed him a “good man.” But what is the truth about this applicant?

Let me tell you a story. In 2002, President Bush signed into law a bill titled the “Born Alive Infants Protection Act” (BAIPA). This law was necessary because, believe it or not, infants were being born alive during attempted abortions and then, ancient Spartan style, left to die. Jill Stanek wrote about this last year, saying:
Continue reading “When Will We Admit the Truth About Barack Obama?”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Media Bias - News - President - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

SFChron: Moford’s Vicious Attack on Laura Bush

April 30, 2008 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Laura Bush, docile doormat Behold, the ideal Republican wife: Prim, sexless, nearly useless, lets the men do the real thinkin’. Hot!

Yes, that was the headline for Mark Moford’s column in the San Francisco Chronicle today. Not only does the very title of this screed of ignominious proportions rip into the first lady for no worthy reason, Moford also says that being a Catholic woman is “unfortunate.” Shamefully, he also calls the Bush daughters their “twin Styrofoam peanut daughters,” so it isn’t just Laura Bush he unduly attacks. It’s been a long time since a major newspaper has published a so-called editorial with this much vitriol contained within.

Moford tries to explain why conservative women find themselves raising an eyebrow at loudmouthed women like Teresa Heinz Kerry and Hillary Clinton (when she was first lady) but he completely mischaracterizes why people react to them the way they do as mere distaste of their gauche personalities as opposed to opposition to their ideologies and a feeling that such women overstep their boundaries.

Moford starts his column off recounting how a “conservative Catholic” female friend of his had expressed to him her hatred of Teresa Heinz Kerry. I have to say, I can’t imagine why this woman is a friend of Mofords at all considering the way he describes her as having an “unfortunate choice of religious and political affiliation.” It makes me wonder if he took the character he describes from someone else’s life? Moford so obviously despises conservative Catholics that it is hard to believe that he suffers any to be in his life.

Continue reading “SFChron: Moford’s Vicious Attack on Laura Bush”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Contrary to Claims, Obama Very Close With Racist Preacher, Wright

April 30, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

See 2012 update: Obama’s 2007 Race-Baiting Video, Admits Being Close To Racist Preacher, Wright

**I published this on 3/17, but felt it worth re-publishing after the latest example of Obama pretending to be “shocked” by the racist Rev. Wright’s actions**

Many in the newsmedia are reacting with quite restraint to the revelations of comments by Obam’s racist “spiritual mentor,” Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Jr. Imagine if this were a Republican politician linked to such outrageous talk and you’ll realize how the MSM has been studiously underplaying this controversy. A benefit of the doubt seems to be the rule of thumb for how the media is treating Obama, a benefit that would be denied a GOP candidate.

But, as ABC’s Jake Tapper asked concerning Obama’s knowledge of Wright’s racist rants: What did Obama know and when did he know it? In this posting Tapper finds that Obama was distancing himself from Wright a year ago causing the question to be raised if Obama long ago wondered if Wright would be a liability? But, there is video of Obama lovingly introducing Wright even after that proving not only that Obama is very, very close to Rev. Wright, but also that he was not distancing himself from the man at all.

On June 5th, 2007, Senator Barack Obama spoke before 8,000 people gathered in Hampton University’s Convocation Center. Most of them were pastors and ministers attending a conference there.

He was there to speak on mostly post Katrina issues and to criticize the Bush administration’s efforts during that natural disaster. Obama tried his catch phrase of the moment, saying that a “quiet riot” might be occurring in America and he affirmed that he felt that America was a racist nation, that the reaction to Katrina had just “pulled back the screen” on America’s racism. Obama also used rhetoric heavily doused with religious symbolism.

But, that boiler plate aside, there was two very interesting segments in Obama’s remarks concerning his racist “spiritual mentor,” Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Jr. that are not getting the press it deserves. (See the video at Channel 2 News Chicago)

He was effusive in his praise and admiration for Wright, this foaming at the mouth, hate monger. This runs contrary to his late claims that he is somehow shocked by Wright’s racism, or that he now disagrees with him as well as his claim that he was not familiar enough with Wright to know of his point of view.

As the speech kicked off (at 1:07 into the video), Obama introduced the Rev. Wright to the audience with these glowing and highly personal words:

And then I’ve got to give a special shout out to my Pastor. The guy who puts up with me, counsels me, listens to my wife complain about me. He’s a friend and a great leader not just in Chicago but all across the country, so please everybody give an extraordinary welcome to my pastor Dr. Jeremiah Wright, Jr., Trinity United Church of Christ.

Where’s he at? There he is. That’s him, that’s him right there.

You wearing a suit today, right?

This reveals a very intimate portrait of Obama and Wright’s relationship. Notice the last bit where Obama jokes about Wright’s penchant for wearing an Afrocentric style of dress and that his wearing of a suit at that event was uncommon. These are the remarks of a close friend to another loved intimate, not the words of a man making perfunctory comments.

Later in his comments Obama mentioned Wright again. (At 13:43 in the video)

You know, I’ve been on a journey trying to get at the truth that question for a long time. I mention Rev. Wright… I first met Rev. Wright when I moved to Chicago after college.

And that’s where I met Rev. Wright and started going to Trinity United Church of Christ and he helped me on another journey and introduced me to someone named Jesus Christ. And I learned that my sins could be redeemed. I learned that those things that I was too weak to accomplish myself, maybe he could accomplish them for me if I placed my trust in him. And I learned that ordinary people can achieve extraordinary things when they believe in him and they come together and are guided by him.

So, we see that Obama obviously had a close, long-term relationship with Wright not a casual one where Obama might have missed the Reverend’s long-standing agenda.

It is also interesting that Obama’s rhetoric was so steeped in evangelical Christian rhetoric. Isn’t a “fanatic” Christianity one of the charges so often leveled by the left against president Bush? Don’t they so often say that he is somehow too religious? And, how often did we hear from the MSM how “controversial” Bush (or any Republican) was for delivering a speech before Bob Jones University?

And remember, Bush just went to make a single speech at Bob Jones University and the media slammed him for months afterward. Yet, Barack has had an intimate, 20-year relationship with Wright who has vehemently called for God to damn America and the media yawns at the news.

In light of the criticism of Bush’s injecting “too much religion” in his presidency or that his administration is just like a ”Christian Taliban”, it is also a legitimate question to ask, where are those same accusers when this 2007 speech by Barack Obama is so filled with religious fervor? Where are the anti-religious left and the so-called separation of Church and Staters at now?

In fact, this entire speech is filled with nothing but class warfare, expansions of social programs, raising the minimum wage, typical great society type junk all couched squarely as a civic responsibility enmeshed with Obama’s view of Biblical precepts.

Now, as far as what Obama knew of Rev. Wright’s racist comments and when he knew it, ABC’s Jake Tapper is right on when he notes that Obama had dis-invited Wright from delivering the public invocation at his candidacy announcement more than a year ago. This obviously reveals that Obama had begun to distance himself from Wright before he announced formally for the presidency. It is plain that Obama knew of Wright’s problematic ranting long before his sudden claim that he is shocked by Wright’s past rhetoric.

Continue reading “Contrary to Claims, Obama Very Close With Racist Preacher, Wright”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Islam - Islamofascism - Media Bias - Military - News - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Two Recent Success in WOT You Didn’t Hear About in the Media

April 30, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Taliban suffered a big loss in Pakistan/Afghanistan this month and so did al Qaeda in Iraq, but the MSM has been practically silent on these great successes. It only goes to show that the media is so completely sold on the claim that the war is lost that they aren’t interested in doing any real reporting on the war.

Not only has Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki headed up a brilliantly successful attack on rebel leader and Iranian backed Moqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi army in Basra, but it seems that Maliki’s hard-line against Sadr has convinced Iraq’s main Sunni block to return to their places in the Iraqi government. Sadr has called for a ceasefire between forces loyal to him and the Iraqi government. At this point, al-Maliki seems poised on a breakthrough in Iraqi affairs that could lead to more involvement and less bloodshed. This is all something that few expect possible only a few months ago.

The western press has reported the information above widely, if not enthusiastically, but that isn’t the only good news in Iraq. What seems to have been given short shrift is the fact that al Qaeda has been severely hurt in Iraq, even “decapitated.”

Continue reading “Two Recent Success in WOT You Didn’t Hear About in the Media”

00Publius Contributor - Business - Congress - Dan Scott - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Energy - Media Bias - News - Science - Society/Culture

When the cure is worse than the disease

April 30, 2008 by 3 Comments

-By Dan Scott

In my last article I ended with mentioning that there will be increased Ethanol mandates on top of the absurdity of the failed government policy on electric generation. The current run up in food prices is devastating to the world’s poor. How else does one explain the food riots in Haiti, Egypt and Bangladesh? Are they so far away that it is easy for us to ignore, play ignorant or the part we played in it? We are looking at the beginning of a huge humanitarian crisis of epic proportions if ethanol mandates and subsidies are not immediately suspended.

Low global wheat stocks, coupled with the emergence of a virulent crop disease, are threatening the world’s food supply, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Edward Schafer told food aid groups Wednesday.

“We have never been less secure about the near-term future of wheat,” he said. “Here in the United States it is our most basic crop with a farm gate value of $16 billion (€10 billion). Global wheat stocks are at an unprecedented historic 30-year low, and U.S. wheat stocks are at unprecedented 60-year low.”
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00Publius Contributor - Business - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Education - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

New York Times Attacking Textbook Makers, Veiled Attack on Capitalism

April 29, 2008 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

College textbooks are overpriced and something should be done. Why, Congress should even step in! That is the message that The New York Times wants us to understand and I can’t say it is, in and of itself, entirely the wrong message — save the whole bit about Congress stepping in, of course. But, as is typical of The New York Times, their story is only a small part of the whole story. In their exuberance to shake a finger at book manufacturers and in their hurry to blame capitalism the Times missed the bigger story.

The Times reports that “College students and their families are rightly outraged about the bankrupting costs of textbooks that have nearly tripled since the 1980s.” They also report that a bill is pending in Congress that would “require publishers to sell ‘unbundled’ versions of the books…” This, the Times feels, is the right move to solve the problem. Any first year economics student, however, knows there is far more to it than just slapping more regulations on book publishers.

Still, the Times thinks it has the prescription for what ails our students.

“The bill is a good first step. But colleges and universities will need to embrace new methods of textbook development and distribution if they want to rein in runaway costs. That means using digital textbooks, which can often be presented online free of charge or in hard copies for as little as one-fifth the cost of traditional books. The digital books can also be easily customized and updated.”

The Times gravely assures us that, “Right now, textbook publishers are calling the tune.” Naturally, The NYT acts as if these evil capitalist textbook companies are abusing their status as official providers of books merely to rip-off our students. But the Times doesn’t bother to fill the reader in on the full story. The greater story is far more disgusting than just that of a textbook company taking advantage of our students.

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00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Entertainment - Frederick Meekins - Media Bias - News - Race - Religion - Society/Culture

Does Winfrey Ride The Beast?

April 29, 2008 by 1 Comment

-By Frederick Meekins

At one point in her career, Oprah Winfrey was pretty much seen as a harmless crank as to the casual viewer catching the show in passing assumed that the program dealt primarily with her seesawing weight and whether or not her shackup might secretly prefer to be paid in three dollar bills. However, as she has amassed considerable power and influence during her 20 plus years in the public limelight, this broadcaster is no longer an innocent afternoon distraction filling the time between when one arrives home from work and when dinner is set on the table but rather has intentionally set out to subvert American culture and the spiritual well being of the nation.

Not content with the worlds of television, publishing and politics now that she has taken an interest in Barack Obama only because he happens to be Black, Winfrey has now set out to establish her web presence as well. According to the March 3, 2008 edition of USA Today in an article titled “World Is Oprah’s Classroom”, Winfrey plans to lead an online interactive book discussion.

However, there is more to the book being studied than the typical feminist drivel one would expect women of the upper income bracket to be sitting around and reading. The title of the book alone is enough to send a chill down the spine.

The book is titled “A New Earth: Awakening To Your Life’s Purpose” by Eckhart Tolle. It is through this text that Winfrey hopes to be the False Prophet to Obama’s Pseudo-Messiah.
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00Publius Contributor - Business - Economy/Finances - Islam - Islamofascism - Media Bias - News - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - The Law - Warner Todd Huston

Islamic Shari’ah Banking, Is It Invading America?

April 28, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Daily Record in Baltimore, Maryland recently published a story by Brendan Kearney that oddly seems to present a conflict between a bank employing Islamic Shari’ah law with its American investments and some black American borrowers and painting it as a racist issue. Sadly, the real story, that of Islamic law being imposed on American investors, is sidelined in order to pursue the race card. (Full story reprinted at BlackEnterprise.com)

As The Record reports, a black couple in Baltimore — I identify their race because it is pivotal to how The Daily Record reports the story — had contracted with the Church’s Chicken restaurant chain to open a new outlet in Baltimore. Unfortunately for the entrepreneurial couple, as they were investing in their chicken outlet, Church’s Chicken was purchased by Crescent Capital Investments Inc., the US affiliate of the Bahrain-based First Islamic Investment Bank BSC. And, upon the restaurant chain’s purchase, these new Islamic corporate owners decided to institute Shari’ah laws upon their investments.

This caught the Beasleys new restaurant in a tough spot because pork products were on the morning breakfast menu for the Church’s Chicken chain. Because Shari’ah law principles had been imposed on the Beasleys’ new restaurant, they would be barred from serving their breakfast menu items, their corporate owners informed them. This barring from being able to serve their breakfast items, the couple maintains, contributed to the restaurant’s failure and their eventual bankruptcy.

Where the racism charge comes in is that older Church’s Chicken establishments, stores already open and operating, were grandfathered in and allowed to continue serving the pork food products. The new corporate masters decided that only new establishments would be barred from serving pork. As it happens, all the previous chicken restaurants in the area were owned by white people or people of other ethnicities besides black. As a result, the Beasleys imagined that the reason they were being prevented from selling the pork items on their menu was because of their race.

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00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Frank Salvato - Media Bias - News - President - Security/Safety - Society/Culture

Barack Obama: It’s More About His Choices

April 28, 2008 by

-By Frank Salvato

Many of the more conservative talking heads – and even some on the Left side of the aisle who support Hillary Clinton – are espousing their concern about Barack Obama’s “associations.” They point to Obama’s spiritual advisor, Jeremiah Write, and note his “friendly” relationship with unrepentant domestic terrorists William Ayers and his partner Bernadine Dorhn and wax alarmingly about his willingness to associate with such people. Certainly, Wright, Ayers and Dorhn are interesting if not contemptible people but a person’s associations concern me less than a person’s choice to defend those associations.

The moment the Jeremiah Wright issue was brought into the public eye the taboo of aggressively examining the background of the first Black man with a real chance to capture the presidency was lifted. Begrudgingly, the star-struck mainstream media – so in awe of Barack Obama’s “rockstar” political presentation – has begun, ever so apathetically, to cover the issues of his candidacy that the new media has exposed.

When the racism and bigotry of Obama’s spiritual leader, Jeremiah Wright, was first exposed in February of 2007 by The New Media Journal’s Erik Rush in a column titled Obamination, all those critical thundered that Obama had to denounce not only Wright’s statements, but the church and the man himself. What Obama responded with was a denunciation of the statements and a redirection. He chose to redirect the conversation to one about race in America. Obama made a conscious decision – a choice – to tacitly defend his pastor of 20 years even though it was plain to the world that Wright was a bigot, a racist and a socio-political opportunist.

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00Publius Contributor - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Elections - Illinois ConCon - News - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Powerful Lobbyists Line Up Against Voice of the People in Illinois

April 27, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

At last YOU can have a say in Illinois!

The Illinois Constitution has an interesting provision in Article 14. It’s a rule where every 20 years a Constitutional Convention can be called to consider alterations and amendments to the state Constitution. The Convention itself isn’t called automatically, though. Only the question of calling or not calling the convention can be on the ballot at first.

Illinois has developed the reputation as one of the most corrupt anti-democratic state in the union and now we have this one small chance to change that. This is one chance, but a fleeting one, to finally have a say in what our politicians do. Do you want a chance to actually have a voice in state politics at long last? Vote yes on the ConCon.

Illinois DESERVES Better!

Naturally, there are very powerful people lined up to deny the citizens of Illinois from having their say after decades of being ignored, trodden upon and stolen from. After seeing politician after politician go to jail for corruption and graft.

These powerful folks don’t want their sweetheart deals and back room power-brokering to be upset by we lowly and forgotten citizens… you know, we who pay ALL of their bills with our exorbitant taxes?

So, guess who opposes the right of the people to have their say?

Unions stand against the people.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Workers are against the ConCon. Why? Why else but because it will threaten their overly cushy jobs and their bloated and illicit pension and healthcare plans– the sort of plans that no one in the private sector is ever able to get.

The The Illinois Federation of Teachers and the Illinois Education Association are against the ConCon. Why? Well, how could they continue to so mis-educate our children so blatantly without ever being called to account for their failures if the people were ever called to have a say on their shoddy efforts at education?

A Constitutional Convention threatens the undeserved perks and high spending jobs they have. No wonder they are afraid of the people having their say.

As in everything, there are certain dangers. We might end up seeing taxes actually made worse instead of better. But, we also have the opportunity to put term limits on the thieves in office, pass a recall amendment, even finally pass that concealed carry bill that most people in the state support but is so continually blocked by just a handful of anti-American Chicago powermongers.

Certainly once we say yes to the ConCon our work it cut out for us. But we have to say yes to even get that one chance to be heard in Springfield, at long last. If we don’t say yes now, it’ll be 20 more years before we have a chance to have a say again.

Saying no out of fear that things “could” get worse is no option. Step up to the plate, Illinois. NOW is the time to FINALLY have YOUR say.

SAY YES TO THE ConCon!!

For more info go to the Illinois Citizen Coalition.

5 Important things you can do to get involved in fixing our FAILED government.

1. Give yourself permission to believe good things are possible. Stop cursing the darkness of Illinois politics and become the light that fixes our state.

2. Schedule a Town Hall meeting on the Constitutional Convention. We have speakers across the state that can present or debate the benefits of a convention.

3. Become an organizer. Your help in identifying “Yes” votes is important.

4. Help raise money. Powerful interests on both the left and right are fighting to keep things just the way they are. You can become part of the solution by finding people willing to become donors and paid members of the Illinois Citizens Coalition.

5. Make phone calls. If you find 10 people to call 10 people, your efforts can become part of the multi-partisan movement to clean-up Illinois. We can provide you with phone-scripts and telephone.

Continue reading “Powerful Lobbyists Line Up Against Voice of the People in Illinois”