Selwyn+Duke

Books - Children - Selwyn Duke - Society/Culture - Western Civilization

Culture in the Rye

February 8, 2010 by

-By Selwyn Duke

Many years ago, I was told a story by a woman I knew whose son had been diagnosed with “A.D.D.” She said that she finally had to take from her boy a book a therapist had given him about how an A.D.D. child acts. The problem? Her son was reading it and then imitating the behavior of the child in it!

Then I remember when someone I know well told me about her 13-year-old’s reaction to being confronted about his misbehavior. He said something to the effect of, “Well, mom, you know, I’m at that age.” But how did he know he was at “that age”?

There is also all the anxiety adolescents are supposed to feel over the “changes in their body,” and we’re told about how tough it is to be a teenager. I don’t know, but I remember my teen years well, and I experienced no such thing. I knew I was moving toward manhood and was happy about it. And whenever the topic might have arisen, it was apparent that my friends were happy about it, too. Why wouldn’t we have been? If you think it’s tough becoming bigger, stronger, faster and better each and every day, try the other side of that hill, when you have to trade in the rollerblades for a Rascal scooter.
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Culture in the Rye”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Christianity - Democrats/Leftists - Liberals - Race - Religion - Selwyn Duke - Society/Culture

What is More Troubling than Pat Robertson’s Remarks?

January 20, 2010 by

-By Selwyn Duke

Of all the responses to the devastation in Haiti, the most copy-worthy is televangelist Pat Robertson’s claim that the earthquake was divine retribution. In making his case, he told a story about how Haitian leaders long ago made a pact with Satan, promising to serve him if he would help vanquish their French oppressors. The Devil delivered, said Robertson, but the consequence is that the nation has ever since been cursed, with one disaster befalling it after another. It was reminiscent of when the late Jerry Falwell said — and Robertson agreed — that those who have authored America’s descent into sin were partially responsible for 9/11.

Not surprisingly, the response today is much as it was back then. Robertson has been roundly criticized in media, by the left, right and center. Yet there’s something more troubling than his remarks.

Just for the record, I don’t share Robertson’s theology. While I do believe there can be such a thing as the wrath of God, I also know that God has both ordained will and permissive will. The former, of course, is when God intervenes and makes something happen; miracles, in the typical sense, fall into this category. And many have believed in divine intercession. For instance, Ben Franklin once said, “the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this Truth, that God governs in the Affairs of Men.”
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What is More Troubling than Pat Robertson’s Remarks?”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Budget - Business - Capitalism - Democracy - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Liberals - Science - Selwyn Duke - Socialism - Society/Culture

Understanding the Global-warming Jihadists

December 21, 2009 by

-By Selwyn Duke

“I was born with a chronic anxiety about the weather,” said John Burroughs in 1877. Today, anxiety about the weather is more common than ever, although it’s not inborn but cultivated in schoolrooms, through television sets and by lying, rapacious ex-vice presidents. And I have anxiety about the weather, too — especially when it’s being used to promote a destructive agenda.

This brings us to Climategate, the scandal everyone is talking about and that inspired British journalist James Delingpole to write “it’s [the climate con is] all unravelling now.” I only wish I could be so optimistic. Sure, we have the smoking gun of the hacked emails from the University of East Anglia, which provide evidence that we “deniers” were only denying a lie. And the erstwhile head of its Climatic Research Unit, Phil Jones — a con man with a science degree if ever there were one — had to resign in disgrace. But don’t for a moment confuse a smoking gun with a coup de grace, or being sacrificed for the team with waving the white flag. I say this because I long ago realized something about man’s nature, something that may sound like a gross exaggeration: If a person has a strong enough vested interest in believing 2+2=5, he will surely insist it is so — in the face of all evidence to the contrary. But before I talk about who the real deniers are and what is being denied, let’s discuss the ugly reality reaffirmed by Climategate.
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Understanding the Global-warming Jihadists”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Communism - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Journalism - Liberals - Media Bias - Patriotism - President - Selwyn Duke - Socialism - Society/Culture - Taxes

Do Not Blame Barack

October 7, 2009 by

-By Selwyn Duke

Contrary to what my title indicates, I probably judge Barack Obama more harshly than most reading this page. I don’t think he is just a misguided ideologue or merely a creature of expediency. I believe, practically speaking, that he is an evil man. That is to say, while he is largely ignorant like so many others, he has developed an affinity for evil. He mistakes it for good.

Yet, to be blunt, Obama doesn’t alarm me as much as the average American. To explain why, I’ll present something Roman philosopher and statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero said 2000 years ago when lamenting Julius Caesar’s rise to dictator:

Do not blame Caesar, blame the people of Rome who have so enthusiastically acclaimed and adored him and rejoiced in their loss of freedom and danced in his path and gave him triumphal processions . . . . Blame the people who hail him when he speaks in the Forum of the ‘new, wonderful good society’ which shall now be Rome’s, interpreted to mean ‘more money, more ease, more security, more living fatly at the expense of the industrious.’ Julius was always an ambitious villain, but he is only one man.

Barack Obama is only one man. A bad man, yes, but he is a symptom more than a cause. Without millions of fawning Americans, he would just be a community agitator, vainly preaching Alinsky principles from a soapbox. Of course, he is a symptom that exacerbates the underlying problem, and symptomatic treatment — to ease immediate pain and hardship — is certainly in order. But it is only the worst of physicians who focuses only on symptoms while ignoring the cancer eating away at the patient’s midst.
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Do Not Blame Barack”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Children - Democrats/Leftists - Freedom - Gay Marriage - Marriage - Media Bias - Morals/Sex - President - Selwyn Duke - Society/Culture

Death of the West: Our Sexual Identity Crisis

October 3, 2009 by

-By Selwyn Duke

Perhaps you’ve heard the tragic story of David Reimer. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in 1966, David was the victim of a botched circumcision that left his penis charred beyond surgical repair. His parents Ron and Janet, no doubt beside themselves, were confused about the best way to proceed. Then, one day, they saw a man named Dr. John Money on television.

Money was talking about his theory of “gender neutrality,” which states that “gender identity” is learned rather than innate. The idea was that the sexes were the same except for the superficial physical differences; this implies that if a child were altered so as to superficially resemble the opposite sex and was raised as one of its members, he would be happy with that sexual identity. Hearing this, the Reimers hoped they had found their salvation.

They took their boy to Money, who told them that their son’s penis could not be restored and that he stood a much better chance of living a happy life if “sex-reassignment surgery” (in reality, reassigning sex is about as possible as reassigning species) were performed and he was raised as a girl. The Reimers agreed, and the surgery was performed when the boy, who would be named “Brenda,” was 22 months old.
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Death of the West: Our Sexual Identity Crisis”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Business - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Freedom - Inernet - Journalism - Media Bias - President - Selwyn Duke - Socialism - Society/Culture - Technology - YouTube

YouTube Caught Red-handed Cooking Stats for Obama

September 28, 2009 by

-By Selwyn Duke

News aggregator DrudgeReport.com is currently linking to a YouTube video of a government schoolteacher instructing young students to praise Obama in song. While this is shocking, there is an even bigger story here. Consider this: the video’s “views” counter listed only 363 views as of 1:04 p.m. EST on Sept. 24.

But at the same time it had 2,279 comments.

What’s wrong with this picture?

Obviously, those figures should in the least be reversed. After all, since the number of comments on high-traffic YouTube videos generally represents only one-half of one percent to three percent of the total views, we can estimate that the Obama worship video had in excess of 200,000 hits at the time. But what accounts for this? Is it a technical glitch? I doubt it.

But why would YouTube cook the statistical books?
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YouTube Caught Red-handed Cooking Stats for Obama”

Anti-Americanism - Britain - Democrats/Leftists - Freedom - Journalism - Liberals - Media Bias - Selwyn Duke - Society/Culture

Talk Show Host Michael Savage’s Website Attacked by Hackers

September 17, 2009 by

-By Selwyn Duke

A little while back, talk show host Michael Savage had to endure an attack on his character when the British government associated him with terrorists and other criminals and banned him from traveling to the U.K. But on Saturday, August 22 the attack — or at least an attack — was brought to his own shores when a computer hacker damaged his website by sneaking into its server through a feedback portal, forcing technicians to shut it down for nearly an hour.

The attack came on the heels of sharp criticism leveled at the U.K. by Savage over its release of Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, prompting the host to speculate that the British government might have ordered the hacking effort in retaliation. Drew Zahn writes of Savage’s suspicions at WorldNetDaily.com:

“Why on the day of the worldwide furor over the release of the Lockerbie Bomber by [British Prime Minister] Gordon Brown would Michael Savage’s website be hacked?” the radio host posited. “We cannot say who did this, but would it not be a possibility that the Brits themselves ordered this hack-attack?

“Why?” Savage asked WND. “Because the evidence that they placed me on this list with real murderers and terrorists was a political favor to some Islamic nation can be found in the recently discovered e-mails, hidden until now by the Gordon Brown government. Their own e-mail chain on banning Savage states, ‘There is no evidence of Savage advocating or inciting violence,’ yet, by including Savage on this banned list it would ‘help provide a balance of types of exclusion cases,’ in other words, the list would not only contain radical Muslims but also a white male conservative.”

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Talk Show Host Michael Savage’s Website Attacked by Hackers”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Democrats/Leftists - Free Speech - Freedom - Liberals - Race - Religion - Selwyn Duke - Society/Culture

The Race Idiots

August 30, 2009 by

-By Selwyn Duke

With relativistic people, there is no such thing as a true axiom, yet you’d never know it listening to our modern mantras. We hear things such as “Our strength lies in our diversity,” “Religion has caused all the wars in history,” and “Everything is a matter of perspective” proclaimed with theological assurance. Of course, the last supposition is contradictory, and embracing it renders moral supposition itself meaningless. Regardless, it’s natural for man to make sense of the world by “profiling” elements of reality.

Many of our assumptions pertain to race, and one is always uttered in the wake of stories such as the recent Henry Louis Gates affair. What happens is that, referring to race, people will reflexively say something akin to the following, “Well, we still have a long way to go.” Even conservatives pay homage to this self-evident provisional “truth,” only, they add a qualifier so it goes something like, “We still have a long way to go, but . . .,” with the caboose being “we’ve made great strides,” “we’ve come a long way” or some variation thereof. It’s obligatory, after all. It’s how you polish up you credentials as a person who “understands the problem.”

It’s also reflective of a hang-up. Oh, this isn’t to say I believe we’ve achieved perfection in racial attitudes, perish the thought. It is to say, however, that seeing a failure to achieve perfection in an area as a characteristic problem is far more of a problem than what ostensibly needs invasive and aggressive remedy. It usually yields a cure worse than the disease.
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The Race Idiots”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Free Speech - Free Trade - Freedom - Health - Journalism - Liberals - Media Bias - President - Race - Selwyn Duke - Society/Culture

All the President’s Bigoted Men

August 22, 2009 by

-By Selwyn Duke

When Barack Obama said that the Henry Louis Gates affair was a teaching moment, he spoke truly. But the key is ensuring that the right things are taught and the right people learn. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to happen.

There is no need to rehash the events of July 16 chapter and verse. We all know about how the Harvard professor flew into a rage of racial accusations and haughty posturing after Sergeant James Crowley appeared at his Cambridge home to investigate a report of a possible break-in. We’ve heard that Gates called Crowley a “racist” and said he was being targeted because “I’m a black man in America.” We know how Barack Obama stirred the pot, saying at a press conference that he didn’t know all the facts but then averring that the police “acted stupidly.” And we also know that it’s a foot-in-mouth moment Obama wishes he could do a Groundhog Day on, and that he fancies a beer a substitute for an apology.

Moreover, the obvious points have already been made. We know that the police were simply following procedure in requesting Gates’ identification and asking that he step outside his home. It has also been mentioned that, far from the police racially profiling the man, he and Obama applied that technique in assuming that the white police officer was bigoted and/or acting stupidly. And, in keeping with last point, some of the boldest commentators even have hinted that bigotry may lie in the hearts of Gates and Obama. Yet no one has thus far dared expose the pretense.
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All the President’s Bigoted Men”

Anti-Americanism - Communism - Conservatives - Democrats/Leftists - Family - Freedom - Gay Marriage - Gays - Health - History - Islam - Islamofascism - Liberals - Morals/Sex - Religion - Republicans - Security/Safety - Socialism - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston - Welfare - Western Civilization

Empty Cradles, Demographic Destiny and the Death of the West

August 21, 2009 by

-By Selwyn Duke

While the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding was good cinema, it was also a big fat Hollywood fiction. With Greece’s fertility rate of 1.36 children per woman — well below the replacement level of 2.1 — “big” is not a modifier demographers would associate with today’s Greek families. In fact, a more accurate film might be called My Big Fat Muslim Wedding.

Worse still, Greece is no anomaly. Long ago the cradle of Western civilization and more recently one of its backwaters, it’s now part of a phalanx of Western demographic failures. In fact, while it may seem counterintuitive to those weaned on the stuff of Malthusian nightmares, the West is facing a population implosion of historic proportions. And the statistics are staggering. As I wrote when reviewing the documentary Demographic Winter last year:

. . . the number of children in the world is already declining . . . . Birthrates are now below replacement level . . . in approximately 70 countries; in Western Europe, the figure is 1.38, and in northern Italy and parts of Spain it is below 1. As a result, Europe’s 65-year-olds now outnumber her 14-year-olds, and one German province had to close 220 schools in 2006. Children were present in 80 percent of U.S. households a century ago; that number is now 32 percent.

Although pondering demographic malaise conjures up the image of sterile Western swingers, note that this phenomenon is, in a measure, manifesting itself worldwide. Take Eastern Europe, for example. Russia, with its birthrate of 1.4 children per woman, is experiencing a population decrease of 700,000 a year. With an even lower birthrate of 1.22, some Lithuanian officials are concerned about the eventual disappearance of their population. And this is mirrored in other Eastern European nations; Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, the Czech Republic and the rest are all turning in similar numbers.
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Empty Cradles, Demographic Destiny and the Death of the West”

Anti-Americanism - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Free Speech - Journalism - Liberals - Media Bias - Race - Selwyn Duke - Society/Culture

Why I Must Defend Barbara Boxer

August 3, 2009 by

-By Selwyn Duke

We’ve all heard about the little dust-up between Black Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Harry Alford and Democrat senator Barbara Boxer during an Environment & Public Works (EPW) hearing on “green” jobs. Boxer, the chairman of the EPW committee, was trying to refute a report commissioned by Alford’s organization stating that the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security Act — which I’ll call “cap-and-sap” — would actually cause a net reduction in jobs. So, marshalling her arguments, she cited many sources that support cap-and-sap — among them the NAACP and the leader of 100 Black Men of America.

This didn’t sit too well with Mr. Alford. He responded, “Madam Chair, that is condescending to me. I’m the National Black Chamber of Commerce, and you’re trying to put up some other black group to pit against me . . . . All that’s condescending, and I don’t like it. It’s racial.”

In a later interview, Alford was even more pointed in his criticism, saying that his Boxer match was “like being in Mississippi in 1945” and “vile Jim Crow.” He described the essence of the senator’s comments thus, “Colored boy, what are you doing with this sophisticated report?”

Well, Mr. Alford, tell us how you really feel.
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Why I Must Defend Barbara Boxer”

Anti-Americanism - Conservatives - Democrats/Leftists - Europe - Selwyn Duke - Society/Culture

Britannia Ruled by Knaves: Savage Banned to Fill White Man Quota

August 1, 2009 by

-By Selwyn Duke

When I first heard that radio host Michael Savage had been banned from traveling to England along with an assortment of Moslem terrorists and other miscreants, my first thought was that the public relations arm of the politically correct thought police had struck again. It only made sense. Given how Britain is now bedeviled by Islamic jihadists, it had a legitimate reason to keep their most zealous fellows from the nation’s increasingly volatile Moslem masses. Yet the spineless Neville Chamberlain bureaucrats charged with this task — whose credo seems to be “peace through capitulation” — would never want to be seen as singling out Moslems. So they traded a man’s reputation for peace in our time.

Now this analysis has been vindicated with the release, under a Freedom of Information law, of shocking documents showing that the U.K.’s Home Office did in fact ban Savage to “balance” the Moslem personae non gratae. Writes the Daily Mail:
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Britannia Ruled by Knaves: Savage Banned to Fill White Man Quota”

Barack Obama - Democrats/Leftists - Education - President - Selwyn Duke - Society/Culture

Can Obama Spell “Failure”?

July 20, 2009 by

-By Selwyn Duke

There actually was a time when an “e” ended a political career. Or, at least, the misuse of an “e.” I refer to that fateful day in 1992 when Vice President Dan Quayle told a 12-year-old schoolboy that “potato” was spelled with an “e” at its end. While the reality is that a flash card Quayle had been given bore the misspelling, the mistake was seized upon by the media and used to cement the eye-candy-and-air image of the boyishly good-looking vice president. It was a silly way to measure a man, but image is everything in politics.

So now it’s time for the gander’s sauce. If it was justifiable to write off Quayle as a dolt for stumbling over the spud, how should we react to frequent misspellings in press releases issued by the White House? Michael O’Brien at The Hill’s Blog Briefing Room reports on this story, writing, “Misspellings continued to plague the Obama administration on Thursday [9/9], after two more releases containing errors were sent to reporters in the last 24 hours.”

First the White House staff misspelled Obama’s first name, writing it as “Barak.” Then, O’Brien reports, there were two more examples. They are, “Recvoery.gov Version 2.0 $18 Million Contract Awarded” and, referring to U.K. leader Gordon Brown, “The Prime Minister wlecomed the President’s plans for a nuclear security conference in 2010.”
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Can Obama Spell “Failure”?”

Congress - Conservatives - Democrats/Leftists - Education - GOP - Journalism - Liberals - Media Bias - President - Religion - Republicans - Selwyn Duke - Society/Culture

U.S. News and Hot, Sexy Chicks

July 19, 2009 by

-By Selwyn Duke

If you’ve ever seen the movie Idiocracy, the title of this piece may seem familiar. The film is a dystopian comedy about a futuristic America in which complete ignorance is the norm. People are inarticulate to the point where even those of status — politicians, doctors, etc. — mangle the language and use profanity to fill in gaps when expressing themselves. The president is a porn star and ex-professional wrestler who wears a muscle shirt, the society’s number-one rated show features nothing but an endless array of groin shots, and the farmers water their plants with a sports electrolyte drink called “Brawndo: The Thirst Mutilator” and yet can’t figure out why the crops fail to grow. And, to illustrate how people have become consumed with frivolity and sex — and frivolous sex at that — the title of a certain famous news magazine that just recently curtailed its print publication (in reality) has been changed to “Hot Naked Chicks & World Report.”

It’s a silly movie rife with profanity, so I cannot give it a thumbs up, but I’ll tell you what brings it to mind. A couple of weeks ago I was watching Hannity on Fox News, and one segment concerned media attacks on Sarah Palin — in particular, a Vanity Fair hatchet job written by Todd Purdum. Hannity had columnist S.E. Cupp and one of Fox’ anchors, Kimberly Guilfoyle, as guests, and he was making much of what he characterized as Purdum’s sexism in devoting copious ink to Palin’s comely appearance. Guilfoyle chimed in, complaining that Purdum’s implication that Palin only succeeded because of her looks was “insulting and degrading to women.”

Now, while I’m no fan of Purdum, I find Guilfoyle’s commentary insulting and degrading to my intelligence. Let’s face it, to deny that Palin’s looks played a part in her rise to prominence is to ignore the pink elephant with the frilly dress and lipstick in the middle of the room. However, I will add a little perspective. First, I’m not sure Palin’s looks are quite the factor some people think. Second, despite the “Oh, the patriarchy strikes again!” narrative, appearance is a factor with men as well. Remember how Richard Nixon’s five-o’clock shadow sealed his fate in his 1960 debate with John F. Kennedy, the first televised presidential debate in history? Titillating John just trumped Tricky Dick. And could you imagine a short, fat, ugly, bald man capturing the Oval Office? Why, its current occupant is all image, with his decent, youthful looks, resonant voice and rock-star persona. So attractive is he, in fact, that his teleprompter just can’t stand to be apart from him.
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U.S. News and Hot, Sexy Chicks”

Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Family - Race - Security/Safety - Selwyn Duke - Society/Culture

Gang Attacks White Family, Shouts ‘This is a Black World’; Police ‘Aren’t Ready to Call it a Hate Crime’

July 12, 2009 by

-By Selwyn Duke

Many opponents of hate-crime laws have long pointed out that they will never be applied equitably. The laws exist solely to punish members of politically-incorrect groups who commit politically-incorrect crimes. That is to say, they’re not about eliminating hate — they’re about targeting those the left hates.

If ever there was a case that vindicated this thesis, it’s a recent unprovoked attack on a white Ohio family by a mob of black teens. Phil Trexler at Ohio.com reports:

It [the attack] came after a family night of celebrating America and freedom with a fireworks show at Firestone Stadium. [Marty] Marshall, his family and two friends were gathered outside a friend’s home in South Akron.
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Gang Attacks White Family, Shouts ‘This is a Black World’; Police ‘Aren’t Ready to Call it a Hate Crime’”

Anti-Americanism - Liberals - Media Bias - Morals/Sex - Republicans - Selwyn Duke - Society/Culture

Mark Sanford and the Left’s Romper Room Commentary

July 11, 2009 by

-By Selwyn Duke

There is probably nothing that pleases our libertine left more than a social conservative’s fall from grace. Just witness the predictable feeding frenzy that ensued when South Carolina governor Mark Sanford confessed to marital infidelity. Why, so voracious are his critics that a Google search for Sanford’s name in parentheses and the word “hypocrite” yields 20,600 of their pages.

For many reasons, not the least of which was the governor’s condemnation of Bill Clinton’s serial adultery in the 1990s, the left has put him in a glass house the size of the Crystal Cathedral. And, in all fairness, Sanford should be taken to task. We all have a duty to hold our leaders to the highest standards, and I’ll be the first to say that if a politician — regardless of party or passions — cannot uphold sterling moral and ethical standards, he needs to go. Yet would the left join me in this? Would they say, “You know what, you’re right; we can’t subordinate virtue to political expediency”? Not going to happen, not with this childish bunch.
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Mark Sanford and the Left’s Romper Room Commentary”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Journalism - Liberals - Media Bias - Military - President - Selwyn Duke - Socialism - Society/Culture

The Ugly Face behind the Mask of Liberalism

July 6, 2009 by

-By Selwyn Duke

It has been interesting watching the response to the Honduran military’s recent ousting of its nation’s president, Manuel Zelaya. Barack Obama called the action “not legal” and Hillary Clinton said that the arrest of Zelaya should be condemned. Most interesting, perhaps, is that taking this position places them shoulder to shoulder with Fidel Castro, Daniel Ortega and Venezuelan’s roaring mouse, Hugo Chavez, who is threatening military action against Honduras. Now, some would say this is an eclectic group — others would say, not so much — regardless, what has gotten them so upset?

Let’s start with what they say. They are calling the ouster a “coup” and claim that Zelaya is still Honduras’ rightful president. Some of them say we must support democracy. But they have said little, if anything, about the rule of law. And most of what they have said is wrong.
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The Ugly Face behind the Mask of Liberalism”

Abortion - Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Constitution - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Free Speech - Liberals - Religion - Rights - Security/Safety - Selwyn Duke - Society/Culture

Which Side Really Inspires Violence, the Right or Left?

June 26, 2009 by

-By Selwyn Duke

Is the right responsible for inspiring murder, such as that of late-term abortionist George Tiller by Kansas native Scott Roeder? Some certainly seem to think so. For instance, the Friday before last Bill O’Reilly had as a guest on his show Joan Walsh, the editor of leftist news site Salon.com. She appeared because she had criticized O’Reilly for engaging in what she called a “jihad” against Tiller. Her thesis is that O’Reilly and, presumably, the rest of us who are passionately pro-life are culpable Tiller’s death.

Of course, this isn’t a novel idea among the left. If there is any kind of violent incident perpetrated by someone ostensibly a rightist, they blame their political opponents for stoking the fires of hatred. You can just count on it every time, be it an attack on an abortion center, a Timothy McVeigh, or . . . or . . . well, actually, there aren’t really all that many, are there? But don’t bother ideologues with the facts.
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Which Side Really Inspires Violence, the Right or Left?”

Conservatives - Democrats/Leftists - Liberals - Media Bias - Security/Safety - Selwyn Duke - Society/Culture

Stopping Truth at the Border: Banning Michael Savage from Britain

May 11, 2009 by

-By Selwyn Duke

When I awoke Tuesday morning, I ambled over to the computer, as is my wont, and made my usual cyber rounds. I logged on to the Drudge Report and, lo and behold, saw the following headline, “RADIO HOST MICHAEL SAVAGE BANNED FROM UK FOR ‘EXTREME VIEWS’….” “Wow,” I thought, “Britain strikes again.”

The prohibition is the handiwork of England’s Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, who included Savage on a list of 16 unwelcome individuals whom she wanted to “name and shame.” According to Beverley Rouse writing in The Independent, Smith says this is “so others could better understand what sort of behaviour Britain was not prepared to tolerate.”

Yeah, such as telling the Truth, I suppose.
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Stopping Truth at the Border: Banning Michael Savage from Britain”

Anti-Americanism - Conservatives - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Founders - Judges - Liberals - Selwyn Duke - Socialism - Society/Culture - Supreme Court - The Law

Why the Law is Foreign to Ginsberg

May 1, 2009 by

-By Selwyn Duke

There is an old saying, “A man who is capable of deceiving only others is not nearly as dangerous as a man who is capable of deceiving himself.” Truer words were never spoken. When a person lies, he is deceiving others about reality, but at least knows he is engaging in deception. But when someone rationalizes – which is when you lie to yourself – he is truly lost. He then not only bends reality for others as a by-product of bending it for himself, but he can render untruths without having to lie. This is because a lie is when you tell an untruth knowing it’s untrue. It’s much like when the ever-prevaricating George Costanza character on Seinfeld gave his advice for beating a polygraph machine, “just remember . . . it’s not a lie if you believe it.”

I think of this when I hear Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader-Ginsberg tout the use of foreign law by American judges sworn to uphold the Constitution – that would be our constitution. Speaking about this recently at Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law, she said,
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Why the Law is Foreign to Ginsberg”

Barack Obama - Budget - Business - Congress - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Education - Elections - Liberals - Media Bias - President - Selwyn Duke - Society/Culture

Barack Obama: Chairman of the Bored

April 19, 2009 by

-By Selwyn Duke

Perhaps I was wrong about Barack Obama. Maybe his words can bring peace to the world. That is to say, if he keeps talking, he just may put all the world’s peoples to sleep and keep them that way.

This became evident during Obama’s recent European trip. Despite the fact that Obama shares the Old World’s socialist vision – and contrary to the image lent by the media’s inundation of us with footage of fawning European crowds –some of that continent’s denizens find him more sandman than savior.
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Barack Obama: Chairman of the Bored”

Abortion - Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Family - Liberals - Media Bias - Morals/Sex - President - Religion - Selwyn Duke - Society/Culture

Notre Dame’s Betrayal of Faith

April 14, 2009 by

-By Selwyn Duke

When John the Baptist said to King Herod, “It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother’s wife,” the price he paid was his head on a platter. He had spoken Absolute Truth to power in a time when power was absolute. It was the bravest of acts, the kind only undertaken by those very rare men for all seasons.

Lying in stark contrast to this is catholic (note the small “c”) Notre Dame University’s genuflection before Barack Obama, a man embodying the very antithesis of Catholic teaching. As most are aware, the university extended an invitation to Obama to deliver a commencement address and, to make matters worse, will bestow upon him an honorary doctorate.
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Notre Dame’s Betrayal of Faith”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Budget - Business - Communism - Congress - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Jobs - Liberals - Media Bias - President - Selwyn Duke - Socialism - Society/Culture - Taxes

It’s Time for a Greed Czar

March 29, 2009 by

-By Selwyn Duke

With the recent passage of the “TARP bonus” bill, it’s obvious that our politicians are finally serious about tackling the problem of greed. It’s about time, too. We’ve long had “hate crime” laws, so one had to wonder when the next deadly sin would make it on the legislative agenda.

This bill targets people at certain companies – most visibly the much-maligned AIG – taxing any bonus pay pushing one’s income over the $250,000 threshold to the tune of 90 percent. Yet the popular conception of the legislation sells our enlightened overlords short, as their vision entails far more than bringing a handful of rapacious Gordon Geckos to heel. Henry Blodget explains writing at Yahoo! Finance:
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It’s Time for a Greed Czar”

1st Amendment - 2nd Amendment - Congress - Conservatives - Democrats/Leftists - Liberals - Media Bias - Religion - Republicans - Selwyn Duke - Society/Culture

How to Use Your Children to Annoy a Liberal

March 27, 2009 by

-By Selwyn Duke

Since liberals place a premium on tolerance, the loving and charitable thing to do is help them develop it. Note here that, unbeknownst to many, tolerance involves enduring something considered to be a negative. We don’t tolerate a fine meal or a nice car, for instance; we relish such things. But we might have to tolerate bad weather, a cold or Nancy Pelosi. Now, since liberals actually perceive a great many positive things to be negative, placing them in situations wherein they may cultivate tolerance is not difficult.

One under-appreciated vehicle through which to do this is your children. You can use your kids to annoy liberals, but I don’t mean in the way liberals annoy other people with theirs. Liberals, by not civilizing their children, breed brats who bounce balls in supermarkets, play hide-and-go-seek in restaurants, keep the makers of psychotropic medication in business and sometimes chant “Yes, we can!” No, the techniques in question here are far different.
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How to Use Your Children to Annoy a Liberal”

Congress - Elections - GOP - Media Bias - Republicans - Selwyn Duke - Society/Culture - Taxes

We Need Something Stronger than Steele

March 22, 2009 by

-By Selwyn Duke

RNC Chairman Michael Steele is inside the box and inside the beltway all the way

Most of us place politicians down at the level of used-car salesmen, personal injury lawyers and Hollywood actors. In fact, they’re much like actors, only, their acting is generally a bit better. But we tend to miss the point about our leaders. The problem with politicians is that they’re trying to please us.
Mind you, I don’t mean they’re trying to please those of us who read and render commentary. They don’t have to worry about us fringe types – we don’t really command many votes. We’re like a pesky fly they can’t quite swat (although they’re trying to with measures such as the Fairness Doctrine). My point is that if they were trying to please God, they would be godly men. But as the great Alan Keyes has proven, that doesn’t tend to win elections. So the successful ones try to please the masses, but this doesn’t make them massive men. It makes them minor men.
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We Need Something Stronger than Steele”

2nd Amendment - Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Liberals - Media Bias - Security/Safety - Selwyn Duke - Socialism - Society/Culture

Obama Gunning for the Second Amendment

March 21, 2009 by

-By Selwyn Duke

This will seem like a strange way to open a piece of commentary, but the gun owners who voted for Barack Obama believing he respected Second Amendment rights remind me of the bumbling Inspector Clouseau. Specifically, I think of the scene from “The Return of the Pink Panther” in which Clouseau was getting a real dressing down from his superior, Chief Inspector Dreyfus. The issue was that Clouseau had naively stood by talking to a “blind” organ grinder outside a bank while the institution was being robbed. After Dreyfus pointed out that the organ grinder was the lookout for the thieves and Clouseau said that such a thing was impossible because the beggar was blind, Dreyfus asked how Clouseau knew this. Clouseau replied, “He told me so.”

Quite frankly, this wasn’t nearly as stupid as believing that a member of Chicago’s socialist New Party, who was weaned in a black power church, was a gun caesar and not a gun seizer. And now Obama is in fact striking a blow against the Second Amendment. He isn’t doing anything obvious such as advocating a ban on semi-automatic rifles, however (not yet); rather, in typical Saul Alinsky “Rules for Radicals” style, he is attacking where his adversaries least expect.
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Obama Gunning for the Second Amendment”

Barack Obama - Democrats/Leftists - Liberals - President - Selwyn Duke - Society/Culture

Obama: “I Am Not an Animal!”

March 15, 2009 by

-By Selwyn Duke

Actually, Obama said, in so many words, “I am not a socialist!” in a delayed-reaction response to a question from a New York Times reporter. That is to say, his initial answer was a very pithy “no,” but then he felt compelled to call the interviewer back and give the scribe a piece of his mind (how much, we don’t know. But rumor has it that it was sufficient to lower Obama from socialist to communist status). And here is what he said:

It was hard for me to believe that you were entirely serious about that socialist question . . . . I did think it might be useful to point out that it wasn’t under me that we started buying a bunch of shares of banks. It wasn’t on my watch. And it wasn’t on my watch that we passed a massive new entitlement -– the prescription drug plan — without a source of funding. And so I think it’s important just to note when you start hearing folks throw these words around that we’ve actually been operating in a way that has been entirely consistent with free-market principles and that some of the same folks who are throwing the word “socialist” around can’t say the same.

Ah, methinks he doth protest too much. Could this be, calling a reporter back to set the record crooked?

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Obama: “I Am Not an Animal!””

00Publius Contributor - Barack Obama - Democrats/Leftists - Liberals - Media Bias - News - President - Race - Selwyn Duke - Society/Culture

In Defense of the White Man

March 2, 2009 by

-By Selwyn Duke

While many believe that prejudice has diminished over time, it’s not really true. Prejudice is much like the wind: Its direction changes, and the sheltered and well-situated may not sense it, but it’s always blowing on some people somewhere. Put literally, every age has its fashionable biases – and unfashionable people.

This was obvious during the presidential inauguration benediction, given by the Reverend Joseph Lowery. While making a supplication to the Lord, he made the following anachronistic plea:
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In Defense of the White Man”

00Publius Contributor - Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Democrats/Leftists - Liberals - Media Bias - News - Patriotism - President - Socialism - Society/Culture - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Yes, Rush, I hope Obama Fails, too

February 7, 2009 by

-By Selwyn Duke

Ever since President Obama (PBUH) dropped Rush Limbaugh’s name recently, the talk-show host has figured prominently in the news. And now he is being attacked by the mainstream press – and truly odious entities such as MoveOn.borg – for saying that he wants Obama (PBUH) to fail. It is being portrayed as an un-American sentiment by those great patriots on the left.

I actually agree with Limbaugh wholeheartedly. I also want Obama (PBUH) to fail – abjectly, miserably, completely – and visibly. I may even pray for it.

Anyone on the left who takes issue with this is either ignorant or a liar – and probably a hypocrite as well. I will explain.
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00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Media Bias - News - Selwyn Duke - Society/Culture

The Artificial Reality of the Matrix Media

January 19, 2009 by

By Selwyn Duke

A common defense of error today is to say, with due indignation, “I have a right to my opinion!” Legally this is true, given that our First Amendment is extant. But as G.K. Chesterton once said, “Having the right to do something is not at all the same as being right in doing it.” There is no moral right to an immoral opinion – nor to one bred of emotionalism unconstrained by reason – nor to a deceitful one.

More than ever, Americans are realizing that this isn’t a sentiment to which the mainstream media subscribes. In fact, with how it shamelessly carried water for Barack Obama during the election, 2008 has been dubbed “the year journalism died” (Sean Hannity is fond of this label). Yet, while such pronouncements make for compelling commentary, nothing could be further from the truth.

The reality is that journalism is alive and well – outside the mainstream media. As for the latter’s journalism, by the third millennium it was not only dead, not only laid to rest, but fossilized and buried under the stratum containing the hula hoop and pet rock. And it would take a Jurassic Park-like effort to reconstitute its DNA and resurrect the ancient beast. Thus, a more accurate statement about 2008 is: It was the year that many more illusions about the validity of mainstream journalism died. Let us now take a look at a media that has made malpractice an art.
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