Selwyn+Duke

Congress - Conservatives - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Government - History - House of Representatives - Liberals - President - Selwyn Duke

When the Democrat Party Left You Behind

November 8, 2010 by

-By Selwyn Duke

Many years ago, a very nice lady with whom I was having a political discussion announced to me, “I’m a Democrat.” My immediate response was, “By birth or by choice?”

It’s a relevant question for many Americans, as some treat party affiliation as if it’s akin to ethnicity. It can work like this: Their pappy was a Democrat, and their grandpappy was a Democrat, and their great-grandpappy was a Democrat, so they have to be one, too. This is despite the fact that the party has changed along with the generations. Their grandfather is gone — and so is the party that he once supported.

This is why it’s interesting when an elderly person who was a passionate Democrat in his salad days is still so today. I would say to such an individual, “It was very brave of you to admit you were all wrong about things and abandon all your old beliefs.” If this left him puzzled, I’d explain that since the Democrat Party is radically different today than it was 50 years ago — since it’s now pro-abortion, for all intents and purposes promotes faux marriage, advocates race-based quotas, pushes amnesty for illegals, bails out wealthy fat cats with our tax money and refuses to enforce laws in a race-neutral fashion (the Black Panther case), among other things — that he must accept this radical agenda as well. After all, to oppose this ideological sea-change in the Democrats but still support them would be to place party ahead of principle.
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When the Democrat Party Left You Behind”

Alaska - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Ethics - Government - Journalism - Liberals - Media - Media Bias - Selwyn Duke - Senate

Caught Red-handed: CBS Reporters’ Scheme to Undermine Republican Joe Miller

November 4, 2010 by

-By Selwyn Duke

In a case of JournoList redux, mainstream media reporters have again shown that their business is propaganda, not news. In a shocking voicemail accidentally left on the cell phone of Alaska GOP senatorial candidate Joe Miller’s spokesman, Randy DeSoto, journalists can be heard scheming to manufacture stories for the purposes of undermining the Republican’s campaign. Reporting on the story, WorldNetDaily’s Aaron Klein writes:

the journalists can be heard plotting to “find” a “child molester” among the politician’s supporters.

The reporters are also overheard hoping for violence against Miller so they can “send out a tweet” and Facebook alert that “Miller got punched” at a rally he held four days ago.
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Caught Red-handed: CBS Reporters’ Scheme to Undermine Republican Joe Miller”

Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Ethics - Government - Liberals - Selwyn Duke

The Democrats’ Final Recourse: Massive Vote Fraud

November 1, 2010 by

-By Selwyn Duke

The reports are rolling in from all over the country.A Craven County, NC resident attempts to vote a straight Republican ticket but his choices come up straight Democrat four times, despite receiving assistance from poll workers.In NC’s Lenoir County, registered Democrat Ervin Norville also tries to vote straight Republican but finds that his ballot has the names of several Democrat candidates selected.

Boulder City, NV resident Joyce Ferrara says that when she and several others went to vote for Sharon Angle, they found that Senator Harry Reid’s name was already checked off.
In Dallas County, TX’ congressional district 30, Democrat Eddie Bernice Johnson’s name was the only one on the ballot in a few locations (no, she isn’t running unopposed).And some states have been late in mailing out military absentee ballots, whose recipients, interestingly, are known for their Republican leanings.
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The Democrats’ Final Recourse: Massive Vote Fraud”

Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Government - Liberals - Selwyn Duke - Taxes

If You’re Not Reading This Article, Please Don’t Vote While Many Think

October 29, 2010 by

-By Selwyn Duke

It has become apparent that most Americans simply don’t take voting very seriously. This is especially true of those who encourage voting. They’ll tell us that walking into a polling place and pulling a lever is our civic duty, but this isn’t true. Our civic duty is to cultivate wisdom in ourselves and become conversant with the issues; the walking and pulling part is just a natural by-product of that.

Yet so many try to pull others to the polls, claiming that mass participation in the electoral process somehow makes our country better. I guess this is in the way that having everyone take a turn in the cockpit of a 747 would make air travel better or having everyone try his hand at brain surgery would make brains better. The latter is hard to imagine, of course, but it would increase the likelihood those brains would vote Democrat.
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If You’re Not Reading This Article, Please Don’t Vote While Many Think”

Constitution - Crime - Libertarian - Selwyn Duke - War On Drugs

Yes, Folks, We All Would Legislate Morality (Psst, Even You Libertarians)

October 27, 2010 by

-By Selwyn Duke

Really, I must be a glutton for punishment. During the past couple of weeks, I wrote two articles on libertarianism and made the point that for a law to be just, it must have a basis in morality. These commentaries evoked quite a response, ranging from lauding me as brilliant to lambasting me for not having two brain cells to rub together. And the negative responses were most notable. For daring to mention morality and law in the same breath, some implied I was like the Taliban, one respondent called me a “neoconservative” and a blogger said I was a socialist (yes, really, yours truly!). Pretty funny that, when talking about a man who proposed the Defense against Tyranny Amendment.

Now, to review the morality/law nexus in brief, I previously wrote (I recommend reading the first two pieces, here and here, for background):
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Yes, Folks, We All Would Legislate Morality (Psst, Even You Libertarians)”

Selwyn Duke

Libertarianism’s Folly, Part Two

October 21, 2010 by

-By Selwyn Duke

In a piece I recently wrote about the dangers inherent in libertarianism, I pointed out that libertarians, by applying their live-and-let-live philosophy to the moral sphere as well as the governmental, do nothing to maintain the societal moral framework that enables people to govern themselves from within and that ensures Big Brother won’t have to do so from without (I recommend you read the piece). Not surprisingly, this provoked some angry responses and fallacious counter-arguments. This article is my response to them.

I will start with the one thing that characterizes libertarians as much as anything else: a misunderstanding about the nature of law. To illustrate the point, consider the commentary of “End the Fed,” a “devout libertarian” who posted under my first piece. He wrote:
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Libertarianism’s Folly, Part Two”

Budget - Congress - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Federalism - Founders - GOP - Government - History - House of Representatives - Liberals - Libertarian - Republicans - Selwyn Duke - Taxes - Thomas Jefferson

Libertarianism’s Folly: When the ‘Live and Let Live’ Mentality Becomes Vice

October 12, 2010 by

-By Selwyn Duke

While there was a time when I might have described myself as a libertarian, those days are long gone. In fact, I don’t even call myself a conservative anymore. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I agree with libertarians on many issues, and their governmental model is vastly preferable to what liberals have visited upon us. Yet there is a problem: However valid their vision of government may be, their vision of society renders it unattainable.

Thomas Jefferson once said, “The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.” Now, I certainly agree with the first sentence, as it’s merely a statement of the obvious. But then we have to ask, what constitutes “injurious”? And, when determining this, do we completely ignore indirect injury? Then, if we do consider the latter, to what extent should it be the domain of government? (When pondering these matters, note that the Founding Fathers didn’t reside on the modern libertarian page. They certainly would have, for instance, supported the idea of state and local governments outlawing pornography and would be appalled at what is now justified under the First Amendment.)
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Libertarianism’s Folly: When the ‘Live and Let Live’ Mentality Becomes Vice”

Congress - Delaware - Elections - GOP - Government - House of Representatives - Republicans - Selwyn Duke

Analyzing Extremism: O’Donnell vs. Coons

October 1, 2010 by

-By Selwyn Duke

Unlike for most Americans, the Delaware senatorial primary was not my first introduction to Christine O’Donnell. I remembered her from as far back as approximately two decades ago, making appearances on shows such as “Politically Incorrect.” So when I heard about her supposed “extremist views,” I had to wonder if I was overlooking something. It’s hard to forget such a pretty face, but did I fail to recollect some strange aspect of her ideology?

So I did a Google search and quickly found criticism of her at the Huffington Compost. “What better source for getting the dirt, real and imagined, on a Tea Party candidate?” I thought. Yet I figured I knew what I’d find, and I was right. Had she ever proclaimed herself a Marxist? No, that was her opponent, Chris Coons. Had she ever belonged to a socialist party? No, that was Barack Obama in the 1990s. Did she once advocate forced abortions and sterilization? No, that was the president’s “science czar,” John Holdren. Had she headed up an organization that promoted “fisting” for 14-year-olds and books featuring sex acts between pre-schoolers? No, while Obama’s “Safe Schools Czar” Kevin Jennings did do that, O’Donnell’s sin is far different:
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Analyzing Extremism: O’Donnell vs. Coons”

Barack Obama - Christianity - Democrats/Leftists - Government - Islam - Liberals - President - Religion - Selwyn Duke

Barack Obama: The Man Who Would be God?

September 29, 2010 by

-By Selwyn Duke

When writing about Barack Obama’s religious orientation recently, I pointed out that while I do believe he favors Muslim over Western culture, bowing before another — even God — is above his humility grade. I further mentioned that in keeping with this self-centeredness, Obama is (like all leftists) someone who denies moral reality.

Ironically, after penning my piece, I became aware of an interview Obama once gave — one quite relevant to the topic at hand. It was conducted in 2004 by Chicago Sun Times religion reporter Cathleen Falsani while Obama was running for the U.S. Senate, and it offers great insight into the nature of Obama’s “faith.” I think you’ll be interested to hear what he had to say.
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Barack Obama: The Man Who Would be God?”

Bill Clinton - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - George W. Bush - GOP - Government - Liberals - President - Republicans - Selwyn Duke

Bill Clinton Helps the Republicans Run against Bush

September 24, 2010 by

-By Selwyn Duke

You’ve probably heard that joke concerning what’s actually happening when Bill Clinton’s lips are moving, but sometimes the truth does manage to negotiate his tongue. And his recent trip to Minnesota to campaign for Democrat gubernatorial candidate Mark Dayton might just be one of these instances — well, sort of.

While speaking at a fund-raising event for Dayton, Clinton played the tired old leftist game of trying to paint his opposition as radical, saying that the Republicans are placing ideology over evidence (as opposed, I guess, to placing ideology over the good of your country). Most interestingly, though, he also invoked the name of that terrible bogeyman, George W. Bush, saying, “A lot of their [the Republicans’] candidates today, they make him look like a liberal.”
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Bill Clinton Helps the Republicans Run against Bush”

Anti-Americanism - Family - Feminism - Selwyn Duke - Society/Culture - Western Civilization

The Envious Feminist

September 10, 2010 by

-By Selwyn Duke

People are emotional beings, often governed more by feelings than reason. And this is never truer than with leftist people.

If you want to understand liberals, know that most of their ideology is simply a pseudo-intellectual justification for what feels right to them. As for these feelings, the one stereotypically associated with the left is compassion, which supposedly manifests itself in mercy, charity, forgiveness and temperance. In reality, though, a feeling that far better characterizes the left is envy.

I’m not the first to observe this. Winston Churchill called socialism “the gospel of envy,” and this Daily Mail piece cites research showing that leftists are in fact consumed by the fault. It is true, and it explains the real motivation behind their redistributionist tendencies: It’s not that they care so much that the poor have less. They simply can’t stand the fact that others have more — than they do, that is. But there is something they do want to share with their fellow man, a thing they have in abundance: misery.
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The Envious Feminist”

Afghanistan - Anti-Americanism - Anti-War - Army - Democrats/Leftists - Government - Islam - Islamofascism - Liberals - Military - Patriotism - Religion - Selwyn Duke - Taliban - Terrorism

Muslim Soldier Refuses Deployment: Won’t be Part of Any War ‘U.S. Army would conceivably participate in’

September 8, 2010 by

-By Selwyn Duke

Twenty-year-old Naser Abdo joined the U.S. Army more than a year ago. Now that it’s time to be sent to Afghanistan, however, he’s having second thoughts. He is refusing deployment, claiming conscientious-objector status.

Has Pfc. Abdo suddenly developed an aversion to all war? Hardly. Here are his reasons, as reported by WSMV Nashville:

…he said he now believes Islamic standards would prohibit his service in the U.S. Army in any war.

According to documents provided to The Associated Press, Abdo cited Islamic scholars and verses from the Quran as reasons for his decision to ask for separation from the Army.

“I realized through further reflection that God did not give legitimacy to the war in Afghanistan, Iraq or any war the U.S. Army would conceivably participate in,” he wrote.

. . . “This is not about proving a point; it’s about maintaining true to my Islamic faith and maintaining true to the American values,” said Abdo.

Now, I would have a bit of a problem with any soldier who, after enlisting in the military, using resources during the course of his training and collecting a salary, suddenly has pangs of conscience when it’s time to do the job for which he voluntarily signed up. But, as Fort Campbell (where Abdo has been assigned) representatives have said, they “recognize that even in our all-volunteer force, a soldier’s moral, ethical and religious beliefs are subject to change over time.” Thus, if Abdo had become an across-the-board pacifist, I might be able to manage a smidgeon of sympathy. (I would, however, still expect him to be required to pay back every cent the army expended during the course of his training.) But a change to a mindset that “would prohibit his service in the U.S. Army in any war” is a different matter altogether. And, although it’s hardly necessary, let’s place this in further perspective.
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Muslim Soldier Refuses Deployment: Won’t be Part of Any War ‘U.S. Army would conceivably participate in’”

Anti-Americanism - Children - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Gay Marriage - Gays - Government - Judges - Law - Liberals - Marriage - Regulation - Selwyn Duke

Lack of Intellectualism is Losing the Marriage Debate

August 18, 2010 by

-By Selwyn Duke

Judge Vaughn Walker’s legal ruling striking down California’s Proposition 8 certainly was no triumph of intellectualism. But while it’s easy to thus dismiss it, what’s usually forgotten is that reasoning such as his flies only in a certain cultural milieu — a milieu that, in part, has been shaped by conservatives. Let’s examine the matter.

Walker’s lack of intellectualism is profound. Among other things, he said that opposition to faux marriage was ultimately based on “moral disapproval.” While this is a rhetorically compelling argument in an age where “morality” has become a dirty word, it is also nonsense. This is not because he is wrong in his understanding of marriage’s more cerebral defenders; it is because he is wrong in his understanding of law. For the fact is that all credible legal proscriptions and prescriptions are a matter of “moral disapproval.” Don’t believe me? I’ll explain.
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Lack of Intellectualism is Losing the Marriage Debate”

Democrats/Leftists - Government - Liberals - Race - Selwyn Duke

Hello, I’m a Racist, Pleased to Meet You

August 2, 2010 by

-By Selwyn Duke

There is such a thing as a conditioned response. Here’s an example: Leftists call conservatives “racists.” Conservatives cower and stutter some defense. Leftists call conservatives “racists” some more. Conservatives cower some more. Question: How do you think you break this pattern?

We’ve seen this again with the recent vitriol spewed by NAACP head Ben Jealous (a fitting last name). Speaking at the NAACP convention in Kansas City, Jealous accused the Tea Party of, take a guess . . . cue the “Jeopardy!” music . . . “racism.” Just as predictably, many conservatives are running around trying to convince everyone that, by gum, they really are swell guys. No, really. I’m not a racist. I don’t beat my wife. I don’t kick my dog. I eat my organic vegetables and drive a Prius.
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Hello, I’m a Racist, Pleased to Meet You”

Barack Obama - Budget - Business - Capitalism - Congress - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Government - House of Representatives - Immigration/Immigrants - Liberals - President - Selwyn Duke - Senate - Taxes

Immigration, Reconsidered

July 23, 2010 by

-By Selwyn Duke

While the Obama administration has chosen the southern side in the Mexican-Arizonan border war, most Americans stand with their countrymen. They are troubled by the strain illegals place on services, the drugs and thugs moving north and blue-collar job prospects moving south. Then there is another factor: the political and cultural one.

It’s well known that, should amnesty be granted to the 12 to 30 million illegals living among us, Barack Obama and his fellow travelers would capture virtually all their votes. Moreover, given the illegals’ allegiance to their homelands and today’s multiculturalist message, it’s clear that, even if they do learn English, “assimilation” won’t be high on their vocabulary list. Thus, amnesty not only would radically transform the political landscape, it would constitute a cultural tsunami. Even pundit Bill O’Reilly recognizes this, saying a couple of years ago (I’m paraphrasing), “If all the illegal aliens are granted amnesty, America will change culturally almost overnight.” But is the focus on illegal migration excessive?

What do I mean? Well, how about this proposal: What if instead of granting amnesty in one fell swoop, we did so incrementally, say, to 20 percent of illegals a year for the next 5 years? That would still have the same ill effects, you say? OK, how about one million illegals a year until the job is done? I can hear it now: “Whoa, Duke, all you’re proposing is to trade a knife through the heart for a death by a thousand cuts. A bad idea implemented more slowly is still a bad idea. And illegal means illegal.” But, wait, if Congress passed an amnesty plan, it wouldn’t be illegal.
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Immigration, Reconsidered”

Constitution - Freedom - Judges - Law - Selwyn Duke - Supreme Court

Why Kagan is Unqualified — and Dangerous

July 12, 2010 by

-By Selwyn Duke

Despite being thoroughly unqualified to occupy the bench, Elena Kagan will most likely be confirmed to the Supreme Court. This is because most of our 100 senators are almost as unqualified to judge a judge as she is to be one. What is the proper criterion to apply? Well, a simple analogy illustrates the point best.

Let’s say you needed to hire a football referee. If he said that he was a “pragmatic” referee, viewed the rulebook as “living” and thus would interpret the rules to suit the “times,” would he be your man?

Since it’s the job of the rule makers to craft the rules and the referee’s role is only to determine if they’ve been broken, I think you’d be aghast. It would be obvious you were dealing with someone who didn’t know what his job was or was unwilling to perform it. And you certainly wouldn’t want to hire a referee who was giving himself the latitude to say, “This fellow here violated a rule, but since I don’t like that rule, I’m going to let his action stand” or “That guy over there has gone by the book, but I don’t like something he did, so I’ll penalize him anyway.”

A judge’s job is analogous to a referee’s. It is the legislature’s (rule makers’) place to make the rules, and the judge’s only role is to determine if they’ve been broken. How he feels about a given law is irrelevant. He is but a gatekeeper.
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Why Kagan is Unqualified — and Dangerous”

Barack Obama - Democrats/Leftists - Government - President - Selwyn Duke

Barack Obama’s Attention Deficit Disorder

July 8, 2010 by

-By Selwyn Duke

While I’m no fan of the Attention Deficit Disorder diagnosis, I think it may be applicable to Barack Obama. After all, the man seems to suffer from a case of it that mainlining Ritalin wouldn’t remedy.

Just consider Obama’s relationship with Jeremiah Wright. Despite calling the prejudiced preacher a friend, mentor and uncle, despite sitting in Wrong’s church for 20 years, despite being married and having his daughters baptized by him, Obama says he was completely unaware of the bigot’s anti-American, anti-white, anti-Jewish, anti-Western and anti-Christian views. And, just so we can appreciate the severity of Obama’s affliction, Wrong has quite conveniently provided a reminder of what those unforgettable views are. The scene was a five-day seminar at the Chicago Theological Seminary where, for a mere $1000 if taken for college credit and $300 if not, you could be enlightened by Wrong on matters of race, brotherhood and Zionism and kibitz with him during lunch breaks. Reporting on the wisdom he imparted, the New York Post wrote:

“You are not now, nor have you ever been, nor will you ever be a brother to white folk,” he [Wrong] said. “And if you do not realize that, you are in serious trouble.”

He cited the writings of Bill Jones — author of the book “Is God a White Racist?” — as proof that white people cannot be trusted. “Bill said, ‘They just killed four of their own at Kent State. They’ll step on you like a cockroach and keep on movin’, cause you not a brother to them.’ ”

Wright referred to Italians as “Mamma Luigi” and “pizzeria.” He said the educational system in America is designed by whites to miseducate blacks “not by benign neglect but by malignant intent.”

Wrong also said, “We probably have more African-Americans who’ve been brainwashed than we have South Africans who’ve been brainwashed” and “All your commentaries are written by oppressors.”
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Barack Obama’s Attention Deficit Disorder”

Barack Obama - Budget - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Government - Liberals - President - Selwyn Duke - Taxes

Would You Rather Have Obama Golf or Govern?

July 6, 2010 by

-By Selwyn Duke

After seeing Barack Obama’s golf swing, I’m confronted with the staggering possibility that he might actually be better at governing than golfing. And this is despite the fact that he seems to devote more time to the latter, an impression that has won him much bad publicity.

Given that George W. Bush was hammered for spending less time on the links (proportionately), it’s not surprising that conservatives would consider turnabout fair play. As for Main Street, since golf is a Wall Street game, time spent golfing never plays well among the folks who cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like themselves (like golfers, I suppose). Yet I must part company with most on the right. I want Obama (PBUH) to play as much golf as possible even if we taxpayers must pay his greens fees.
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Would You Rather Have Obama Golf or Govern?”

Inernet - Net Neutrality - Selwyn Duke - Technology - Western Civilization

Online Society, Offline Civilization: How the Internet is Ushering in the End of the Age

July 2, 2010 by

-By Selwyn Duke

When people discuss the overall effects of the Internet, they will weigh the good and the bad. On one side, they may mention how the Web, along with talk radio, has broken the stranglehold over public opinion the mainstream media once enjoyed; on the other, they may cite the pernicious effects of pornography, cyber-bullying or the loss of privacy. Whatever the analysis and verdict, though, it never truly captures how tangled a Web we have woven. This is because seldom recognized is a simple and profound fact: The Internet is one of the most powerful forces ever unleashed by mankind.

The (Mis-)Information Bomb

We have numerous sayings alluding to the power of ideas, such as “Knowledge is power,” “The pen is mightier than the sword” and “A lie can get halfway around the world before the truth can get its boots on.” And with modern forms of communication, such as radio and television — and now the Internet — ideas can be transmitted at a rate unfathomable for most of man’s existence.
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Online Society, Offline Civilization: How the Internet is Ushering in the End of the Age”

Anti-Americanism - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Government - Law - Massachusetts - Selwyn Duke

Goodbye to One Man, One Vote

June 22, 2010 by

-By Selwyn Duke

If you thought that “one man, one vote” reflected the full flowering of representative democracy, think again. In the village of Port Chester, N.Y., just a few towns north of my locality in Westchester County, there is a new system. It’s “one man, six votes” — brought to us courtesy of the U.S. Department of Injustice and a lunkhead of a federal judge named Stephen Robinson.

Here’s the story: In 2006, the Injustice Department alleged that Port Chester’s election system was “unfair.” The problem? While the village is almost half Hispanic, no Hispanic had ever been elected as a trustee.

Now, how this hapless village got on the feds’ radar screen, I have no idea. Were Hispanics intimidated into avoiding the polls? Were there literacy tests? Poll taxes? No, this story will not inspire a movie by the name of Port Chester Burning. Instead, it seems the problem Uncle Scam had was that the town’s slim white majority — which turns out to vote in greater numbers than their Latino neighbors (Hispanics also account for only about 20 percent of Port Chester’s voting-age population) — along with whatever Hispanics join them, have thus far chosen to elect only white candidates. That pesky majority rule can be a real bummer, can’t it?
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Goodbye to One Man, One Vote”

Arizona - Civil Rights - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Government - Immigration/Immigrants - Law - Race - Selwyn Duke

Why Arizona Should ‘Racially Profile’

May 25, 2010 by

-By Selwyn Duke

When the Times Square bombing suspect was first reported to be a “white male,” I shook my head. I knew that, despite Mayor Bloomberg’s asinine musings about how the perpetrator was probably “homegrown” and perhaps someone upset about the healthcare bill, this was nonsense. “It’s about as likely as a story about Bill Clinton becoming a monk,” I thought.

Of course, this was no great insight. Given that 99 percent of the terrorists bedeviling us today are non-white Muslims, it was just common sense — otherwise known as profiling.

The critics of Arizona’s new immigration law complain that it will lead to “racial profiling.” In response, the law’s defenders point out that the legislation specifically forbids the practice.

Both groups are wrong.
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Why Arizona Should ‘Racially Profile’”

Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Government - Immigration/Immigrants - Media Bias - Mexico - Selwyn Duke

Cinco to Midnight: The Great Mexican End Game

May 22, 2010 by

-By Selwyn Duke

Recently, columnist Charles Krauthammer expressed support for amnesty for illegals, while Newt Gingrich advocated a path to what he called “legality.” The two men stipulated that border control must come first, but, still, what makes these two conservatives such weak sisters on this issue? Perhaps part of the answer was provided by Dick Morris, who said that immigration is a losing issue for Republicans.

Morris is no pillar of principle, but he knows political trends. What’s his reasoning? Over the short term, a hard-line immigration stance benefits many politicians; as for the long term, however, there’s something called demographic change.
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Cinco to Midnight: The Great Mexican End Game”

Children - Family - Gays - Selwyn Duke

Are the Church Abuse Cases Problems of Homosexuality?

April 22, 2010 by

-By Selwyn Duke

Contradiction is no stranger to the mainstream media, and it is on full display in their treatment of Catholic-priest sexual abuse story. Normally, the media take pains to point out that transgressors should not be used to typify the group with which they’re associated. For instance, when terrorism is covered, we’re told that the jihadists of the world constitute just a small group of “extremists” and do not represent Islam. That is, when the media can’t manage to identify such people only as “youths” and must actually address the issue in the first place. Yet, with the Church matter, they have no problem blaming the Church as a whole, tarnishing the reputations of the institution, Catholics in general and all priests through gratuitous, slanted coverage.

But there is one group in this story that not only isn’t painted with a broad brush, it’s whited out: homosexuals. Claim that the abuse was homosexual in nature and you’ll hear accusations of intolerance, bigotry and backwardness. “Don’t be ignorant,” say the apologists, “Haven’t you heard about psychology and the ‘determination’ that homosexuality and pedophilia are completely different things?” Well, I will ask if they’ve heard about word definitions.
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Are the Church Abuse Cases Problems of Homosexuality?”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Government - President - Selwyn Duke - Socialism - Taxes

The States Must Rise Again: The Only Way to Combat Obama’s Socialist Agenda

April 11, 2010 by

-By Selwyn Duke

With the passage of ObamaCare coming on the heels of government takeover of industries and taxpayer-funded bailouts of the irresponsible, many are wondering how we can turn the socialist tide. They see Uncle Sam expanding, their rights and economic prospects shrinking and their voices ignored. For these people, November cannot come soon enough.

But November is not the ultimate solution. In the political universe, seven months is an eternity, and we cannot know precisely how public sentiment will evolve. Besides, the chances of Republicans retaking both Houses are slim and, even if they do, there’s no guarantee they’ll rise to the occasion. Some will be Scott Brown types — not the sort to give us tradition we can believe in.

A better solution lies on the local and state levels. Fifteen states are currently suing the federal government over ObamaCare, and then there is the Tenth Amendment Movement, involving at least 35 states that are asserting their sovereignty over powers granted them by that amendment. These are good starts, but…
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The States Must Rise Again: The Only Way to Combat Obama’s Socialist Agenda”

Children - Christianity - Religion - Selwyn Duke - Western Civilization

The Scandal Driving the Church Sex Scandal

April 7, 2010 by

-By Selwyn Duke

We’ve all heard the story. Hundreds of young sexual-abuse victims long afraid to come forward for fear of embarrassment and scorn, abusers escaping prosecution and quietly moving to different jurisdictions, authorities covering up the crimes to avoid scandal and litigation. It’s a saga of grave, grave sin.

Of course, you would assume I’m talking about the Catholic Church sexual-abuse scandal.

And you would be wrong.

I’m describing the situation in America’s schools, something that, although mirroring the problems dogging the Church, is strangely ignored.

Let’s examine the similarities using statistics from the United States. According to the John Jay Report, 10,667 people made allegations of child sexual abuse (not all were substantiated) committed by priests between 1950 and 2002; according to an AP investigation, at least 1,801 educators committed sexual misconduct involving minors between 2001 and 2005. So the per annum tally is:

Number of people making allegations against priests — 205
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The Scandal Driving the Church Sex Scandal”

Abraham Lincoln - Barack Obama - Budget - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Government - Health - Liberals - President - Selwyn Duke - Socialism - Taxes - Western Civilization

Our Problem is a Lack of Health Care — the Moral Variety

March 30, 2010 by

-By Selwyn Duke

There was, of course, nothing unpredictable about Sunday’s health-care vote. It was fairly obvious that the Chicago mobsters would, using the Escobarian silver-or-lead tactic, scare up the votes needed to pass Obama’s baby. It was plain that “pro-life” Democrats such as Bart Stupak would, after the requisite posturing, find the rationalization they needed to cast aside a position that was never really a principle. That it came in the form of an executive order with the credibility of the Hitler-Stalin Pact is of little consequence. It was also predictable that the Monday after would bring talk about the extinguishment of liberty and the republic, and heads hanging so low that good Americans could look up and see their shoelaces.

Yet there is a somewhat larger view a person can take here. It is one that distinguishes between symptoms — even very severe ones — and the underlying disease.

Some have asked a very predictable question: “Where were you the day the republic died?” But there is a better one: Where were you when you first knew our republic was dying? As for me, I can’t tell you exactly where, only when. I believe it was the early 1980s. And I was still a teenager.
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Our Problem is a Lack of Health Care — the Moral Variety”

Entertainment - History - Movies - Selwyn Duke - WWII

And That’s All He Has to Say about That: Tom Hanks and Twisted History

March 23, 2010 by

-By Selwyn Duke

Stupid is as Hollywood does . . . and does and does and does. And the latest example is Forrest Hanks, who has just managed to graduate — in the Tinseltown U. way of thinking — from moron to imbecile.

During a recent interview with Time magazine, Forrest (a.k.a. Tom Hanks) was discussing his new HBO WWII series The Pacific and, boy, did he ever deliver some gems. What was the gist of it?

We Americans were out to kill the Japanese because, well, you know, we’re just so irredeemably “racist.”
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And That’s All He Has to Say about That: Tom Hanks and Twisted History”

Christianity - Education - Family - History - Religion - Selwyn Duke - Society/Culture - Western Civilization

Why Many American Christians Really are Un-Christian

March 7, 2010 by

-By Selwyn Duke

In this age of media insolvency and newsroom job cuts, I sometimes think that restaurant reviewers are doubling as religion writers. After all, both today seem to treat their subjects as matters of taste. In fact, I expect to soon open a modern newspaper’s religion page and read something akin to the following:

The steeple was sufficiently impressive, although there were obvious stress cracks in the paint. As I entered the church, I was greeted by an all too obsequious usher whose fawning attempts to please were rendered quite unwelcome by his dollar-store shoes, mismatched tie and sport coat, and noticeable dandruff. I was secondly accosted by the aroma of incense, which, although vaguely reminiscent of a potpourri, was overpowering and gratuitous. I entered a pew and found it had been finished with a dark stain wholly ill-suited to the pine of which it was constructed. My kneeler rotated easily on its hinges but emitted a perceptible squeak, and, more egregiously, its cushioning would probably be found wanting by someone suffering from patella tendonitis or another debilitating physical condition. Certainly, if your spirit is willing but your flesh weak, this may not be the church for you . . . .

What brings this to mind is an article I stumbled across today about Tiger Woods, his Buddhism and his reaction to Brit Hume’s January recommendation that the golfer explore Christianity to remedy his woes. It was penned by David Gibson, a “religion” writer who says that he is, as I am, a convert to Catholicism. If I seem suspicious of his Catholicity — of, in fact, his religiosity — it’s because I am. His biography states, “Gibson won the Templeton Religion Reporter of the Year Award, the top honor for journalists covering religion in the secular press. In November he will receive the top prize for opinion writing from the American Academy of Religion,” and both are quite fitting. His writing seems more secular than religious and reduces Truth to opinion.
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Why Many American Christians Really are Un-Christian”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Energy - Environment - Free Trade - Government - Liberals - Media Bias - Science - Selwyn Duke - Taxes

Time to Turn Up the Heat on the Warmists

February 26, 2010 by

-By Selwyn Duke

At one time some would call them “deniers.” The more generous called them “skeptics.” But now, increasingly, it appears that they can be called something else: sane. Yes, the climate has certainly changed.

Even in the mainstream media, the less liberal organs are waking up. There is now a never-ending barrage of articles on the climate scam, with The Washington Times, The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post firing some recent salvos. And these inconvenient truths are just adding to a case against the Climateers that has become dizzying.

Really, those issuing Chicken Little warnings had a tough sell from the get-go. We’re told that our world has seen at least five major ice ages, but, then again, I’ve also heard four. It has experienced numerous minor ones, although I’m not sure anyone knows precisely how many. In fact, we hear that the pattern is to have 100,000-year glacial periods followed by 12,000-year interglacials, with1500-year cycles of warming and cooling embedded within them. We’re told that during part of the Cryogenian Period — otherwise known as “Snowball Earth” — the world was completely blanketed with snow and ice and that during another period, glaciers were almost or completely gone. Furthermore, we’re informed that during the latter there was still, believe it or not, dry land and creatures to tread upon it.
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Time to Turn Up the Heat on the Warmists”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Liberals - Media Bias - Nevada - Selwyn Duke - TV News

Is ‘Journalist’ Another Job Americans Won’t Do?

February 25, 2010 by

-By Selwyn Duke

Whenever criticizing grammar and punctuation, you run the risk of being labeled punctilious. Worse still, since even many good writers involved in Internet journalism disgorge the odd typo, there’s the chance you will come to be regarded as an expert on the glass-house real estate market. Yet there’s no doubt that the much lamented decline in journalism is about style as well as substance. And, just occasionally, you encounter an example of it that demands some attention.

Such is a Channel 13 Action News (ABC) article titled “Las Vegas Mayor Goodman rejects Obama invitation,” a piece that is, you might say, plagiarism proof. It brings to mind that oft-heard journalistic advice that, put loosely, instructs one to write at an eighth-grade level. Only, I didn’t know it referred to the eighth grade in Mexico — when writing in English. That is to say, it’s obvious the piece was not penned by a native English speaker.

The article is so bad that it’s impossible to print all the errors contained therein without running afoul of Fair Use Doctrine. So, since I don’t write for The New York Times and my name isn’t Zachary Kouwe or Jayson Blair, I’ll just say that I counted nine major mistakes (and I’m omitting much) in the 333-word piece and will present the most glaring examples. I won’t provide corrections, however, as these excerpts speak for themselves. And if a reader can’t hear what they say, I suggest that he has a future at ABC News.
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Is ‘Journalist’ Another Job Americans Won’t Do?”