Brutally Honest

I'm baaack!

Yes... I am.

Still a tad jet-lagged, suffering from a surprising bout of insomnia, and slowly rolling through the tasking that accumulates over a two week period when one leaves the country.

And attempting to get over the heartbreak of finding that the country has gone to hell in a handbasket while I was away.

More on that in a moment.

I want to first give a big public thank you to my guest bloggers who stepped in nicely and kept things interesting here while I was away.  I'm most grateful for their contributions and have extended an offer to our newest members of the guest blogging family to continue their postings.  Hats off to each of them for their stepping up.  I am most appreciative.

Europe was surprisingly beautiful in spots, surprisingly dingy in others and not surprisingly inspirational in most areas.  The weather served to be a nuisance, causing the cancellation of our ports of call in Monaco and Venice, the latter a two day event, some of this occurring while Sandy was pummeling the Northeast, activity that lessened somewhat the vociferousness of our complaints.

My hope in the coming days is to post some detail about the trip along with pics I think you'll find interesting.

But let's deal with the major news, at least briefly.

The re-election of Barack Hussein Obama is a surprise to me.  I honestly thought a Romney win was in the bag.  His loss caught a number of us on the right off guard.  I had been confident of Obama's upending for some time.  Regular readers might recall this wager I took on with Robert Agouri of A Work in Progress back in December and so there was no surprise when I found the following in my in-box this past Thursday, an offering from Robert to share with my readers:

In the spirit of bipartisanship, of reaching across the aisle and across the border, Rick and I undertook a bet on your recent Presidential election which my pick fortunately (for me and the world) won.

Thus, our host Rick now owes some charities some dough and here are the 5 I have chosen:

The Terry Fox Foundation (If you've never heard of him, look him up. The greatest Canadian.)
Friends of Veterans Canada (self-explanatory and appropriate, a few days before Remembrance Day)
The Montreal Canadiens Foundation (Rick considers me a "secular humanist" but my religion is actually The Habs)
The Washington Redskins Foundation (Throwing our host a bone)
Daily Bread Food Bank of Toronto (Toronto is my adopted city)

Despite all the tumult and bickering, here is a sincere wish your politicians will set aside their differences and come together to lead your country with courage and vision.

And here's to Rick, we agree on nothing but that doesn't have to mean we can't be friends.

Friends we are and will remain and I join him in his wish for leadership with courage and vision.  

I paid my debts gladly, knowing that our wager will result in a small amount of people benefitting and that is a good thing coming as a result of what I consider a very bad thing, Obama's re-election.

Much has been written and will be written as to reasons for what's taken place but one of the most poignant for me, and dead-on in my view, comes from Dennis Sevakis, and more accurately, from Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s Harvard commencement address of June 8, 1978:

It is almost universally recognized that the West shows all the world a way to successful economic development, even though in the past years it has been strongly disturbed by chaotic inflation. However, many people living in the West are dissatisfied with their own society. They despise it or accuse it of not being up to the level of maturity attained by mankind. A number of such critics turn to socialism, which is a false and dangerous current.

[snip]

But should someone ask me whether I would indicate the West such as it is today as a model to my country, frankly I would have to answer negatively. No, I could not recommend your society in its present state as an ideal for the transformation of ours. Through intense suffering our country has now achieved a spiritual development of such intensity that the Western system in its present state of spiritual exhaustion does not look attractive.

[snip]

However, in early democracies, as in American democracy at the time of its birth, all individual human rights were granted because man is God’s creature. That is, freedom was given to the individual conditionally, in the assumption of his constant religious responsibility. Such was the heritage of the preceding thousand years. Two hundred or even fifty years ago, it would have seemed quite impossible, in America, that an individual could be granted boundless freedom simply for the satisfaction of his instincts or whims. Subsequently, however, all such limitations were discarded everywhere in the West; a total liberation occurred from the moral heritage of Christian centuries with their great reserves of mercy and sacrifice. State systems were becoming increasingly and totally materialistic. The West ended up by truly enforcing human rights, sometimes even excessively, but man’s sense of responsibility to God and society grew dimmer and dimmer. In the past decades, the legalistically selfish aspect of Western approach and thinking has reached its final dimension and the world wound up in a harsh spiritual crisis and a political impasse. All the glorified technological achievements of Progress, including the conquest of outer space, do not redeem the Twentieth century’s moral poverty which no one could imagine even as late as in the Nineteenth Century.

I can conclude, to the chagrin of many I'm sure, that moral poverty is to blame for what took place on November 6.  More particularly spiritual poverty.  A poverty born from the abandonment of looking to God for wisdom and guidance and direction.  A poverty that leads to far too many looking to government for their sustenance and needs and that has led to the re-election of Barack Hussein Obama.

We need to pray for this country.  And there's no better a prayer I've found than that offered in this letter to the President by Archbishop Dolan, the President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:

Dear President Obama,

In my capacity as President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, I write to express my congratulations on your re-election as President of the United States.The people of our country have again entrusted you with a great responsibility.The Catholic Bishops of the United States offer our prayers that God will give you strength and wisdom to meet the difficult challenges that face America.

In particular, we pray that you will exercise your office to pursue the common good, especially in care of the most vulnerable among us, including the unborn, the poor, and the immigrant.We will continue to stand in defense of life, marriage, and our first, most cherished liberty, religious freedom.We pray, too, that you will help restore a sense of civility to the public order, so our public conversations may be imbued with respect and charity toward everyone.

May God bless you and Vice President Biden as you prepare for your second term in service to our country and its citizens.

Sincerely yours,

Timothy Cardinal Dolan

Archbishop of New York

President

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Amen.

Tuesday morning flotsam and jetsam Open Thread

(By guest blogger Bookworm)

My brain hasn't yet synthesized all the fascinating data out there, including the wrenching stories of Sandy's devastation. For the time being, I'll just pass interesting links on to you. Please feel free to do the same.

***

The former Commander of the United States Pacific Fleet has written a white-hot article excoriating Obama and his administration, based upon what we know to date about events in Benghazi. Because the White House is withholding information, and because the lap dog media is refusing to seek information (or even to talk about Benghazi), I have no problem with convicting Obama et al on the information currently available. If that crew wants a full and fair trial in the court of public opinion, it had better start releasing reliable information.

***

There's a fascinating story in my local paper today about a grocery store chain called Mi Pueblo. It was founded as a Mom-and-Pop store by a pair of illegal immigrants. It's now a large, legal chain serving the Hispanic community throughout California. It's also a law-abiding chain, in that it uses e-verify to make sure that it's employees aren't illegal immigrants. Here's the interesting part: by abiding with federal law, the store has incurred the wrath, not only of the illegal immigration ground, but of SEIU. Yup, the unions are furious that as store refuses to employ illegals. Think about that: unions used to fight illegals, because they were seen as taking jobs away from legal American workers. Now, unions see the effort to stop illegal immigrants from working as a nefarious plot to weaken the unions. Legal American workers -- those who are native-born or have green cards -- should think long and hard about what the unions what to do for them. At the moment, it looks to me as if the unions aren't out to protect workers, they're out to protect unions.

***

Victor Davis Hanson nails the fantasy-based "reality" that keeps affluent Californian's voting for Democrats. I live surrounded by this mentality:

Did California’s redistributive elite really believe that they could all but shut down new gas and oil production, strangle the timber industry, idle irrigated farmland, divert water to the delta smelt, have 37 million people use a highway system designed for 15 million, allow millions of illegal aliens to enter the state without audit, extend free medical programs to 8 million of the most recent 11 million added to the population, up taxes to among the highest in the nation, and host one-third of the nation’s welfare recipients — and not have the present chaos?

The California schools — flooded with students whose first language is not English, staffed by unionized teachers not subject to the consequences of subpar teaching, and plagued with politicized curricula that do not emphasize math, science, and reading and writing comprehension — scarcely rate above those in Mississippi and Alabama.

Did liberals, who wanted unions, a new curriculum, and open borders, believe it was good for the state to have a future generation — that will build our power plants, fly our airliners, teach our children, and take out our tumors — that is at the near-bottom in national test scores?

Do Bay Area greens really believe that they that will have sufficient water if they blow up the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir? Did Barack Obama think that the Keystone pipeline or new gas and oil leases in the Gulf were superfluous, or that we do not need oil to make gasoline, wheat to make flour, or to cut timber to produce wood? Did liberals (and their hand-in-glove employer supporters who wished for cheap labor) think that letting in millions from Central Mexico, most without legality, English, or a high school education (and in some sense at the expense of thousands waiting in line for legal admission with capital, advanced degrees, and technological expertise), was not problematic and that soaring costs in law enforcement, the criminal justice system, the schools, and the health care industries were irrelevant?

***

Reagan famously said "Trust, but verify." In an internet age, one has to say "verify before you trust anything." Case in point? A Halloween costume a young Boston Democrat put together to mock Tea Partiers. It features her grimacing, while holding a misspelled birther sign. Well, it went viral on the internet, not as a spoof, but as a "genuine" picture of a deranged young Alabama Tea Partier. The young woman involved (who did not intend to prank anyone), has learned a valuable lesson about her own political party. Maybe in a few years, she'll be a true Tea Partier -- and a nicer person for it too.

***

Jonah Goldberg scolds the mainstream media for its incredible lack of curiosity about Benghazi. Goldberg doesn't see a conspiracy. He sees liberal group-think that is so all-encompassing that the media people think candidate George Bush's alleged conduct in 1974 is more important than President Barack Obama's conduct in September 2012.

***

While Jonah Goldberg is willing to damn the media with faint praise (stupid, not evil), Thomas Sowell is not so kind about the administration. He thinks that, when it comes to Benghazi, there's a giant con going on. I think he's right. (Is it redundant to say that one thinks that Thomas Sowell has made an intelligent, accurate argument? Doesn't the name Sowell already encompass that description?)

***

Keith Koffler does a great job summing up the way in which Obama has demeaned the presidency. We thought the Clinton presidency already did that but, looking back, that's not quite accurate, Clinton demeaned himself with a variety of scandals, but he managed to stay presidential when he was in the business of politics (rather than the business of shtupping the help). Obama, however, has demeaned the presidency itself, by using sex, obscenities, and insults within the context of politics.

***

Of course, when it comes to demeaning the office of the presidency, Obama is getting a lot of help. Witness this obscenity-laden video that purports to show members of the "Greatest Generation" engaging in vulgar trash-talk against Romney. Those elderly people who honor dignity should be offended by this, even if they're Democrats.

***

This is a lovely article that uses a faux debate to draw a devastating contrast between Barack Obama and Winston Churchill.

***

And here is another devastating contrast: the vast cultural divide between Lena Dunham, who coos that voting for Obama is like losing ones virginity, and Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty, who fought to the death to save others. Sadly, their Commander in Chief came from the Dunham side of the cultural divide, and left them to die alone in a Libyan hellhole. (Incidentally, Tyrone Woods left behind an infant son. If you would like to donate to a fund for that little boy, Power Line recommends this legitimate organization. It's an easy way to donate. I was able to use PayPal, so I put some of the money you guys have so generously sent me towards Baby Boy Woods' education.)

Cross-posted at Bookworm Room

A quick hello from a new guest poster

Rick did me the honor of asking if I could help out at his blog while he is enjoying a much-deserved break.  I was pleased to say yes.  Before I begin, though, I thought it might help if you knew a little bit about me.

My blogger name is Bookworm.  I've been blogging at Bookworm Room for eight years now.  I started blogging because I live in a very liberal enclave (Marin County, California), and I needed an outlet for all the conservative thoughts swirling about in my head. It was impossible to have a meaningful political conversation with someone whose idea of debate involved repeating "Bush is evil" as often and as rapidly as possible.

I actually understand those "Bush is evil" people, because I grew up as an unthinking liberal.  Coming as I did from a Bay Area-based, intellectual, Jewish family, and then having attended Berkeley, there was no worldview but the liberal worldview.  Every year, I dutifully filed into the voting booth and left my mark in the little boxes next to the Democrat candidates.

But even then, my politics sat uneasily with my values.  I knew welfare was a good thing, because I was told it was good, but it seemed irrational to give young women a financial incentive to have children, but not to have husbands.  I believed that government was the efficient source of all good things, except I couldn't help noticing that my interactions with government were always painful and inefficient. 

And of course, I knew that NPR was the radio for smart people.  My real problems started after 9/11, when I'd find myself in the car screaming at my radio because an NPR story was (a) illogical; (b) fact-challenged; or (c) anti-Israel.  (Sometimes the stories were all three.) 

Where do you go when NPR fails you?  If you're me, you try something completely unthinkable:  you tune in to Rush Limbaugh.  Rather than being the combination of idiot and monster that I'd been led to expect, Rush was delightful.  He was funny, informed, logical, and all-around enjoyable.  He also discussed subjects for hours, instead of for minutes.  He took challenges from people calling in, rather than offering listeners a hermetically sealed liberal package of information.  From Rush, I went to Dennis Prager; from Dennis Prager, I went to Michael Medved; and from Michael Medved, it was an easy step to Hugh Hewitt.

Next, I discovered the blogs.  Daily Kos?  Stupid and obscene.  PowerLine?  Logical, insightful and funny.  Wonkette?  Stupid and obscene.  Michelle Malkin?  Informed, trenchant, and powerful.  And so it went.  Every day I learned more and backed away from my old ideas.

As with most converts, I was excited about my new intellectual discoveries, and kept emailing articles to my friends.  I eventually realized that this was burdensome for them and that it made the die-hard liberals angry.  Blogging seemed to be (and was) the answer.

I've had a wonderful time writing about politics, social issues, education, parenting, and all manner of things for the last eight years.  I've also been fortunate enough to make wonderful friends in the blogosphere, Rick included.  I'm very much looking forward to sharing my ideas with you over the next few days. 

CitizenScribe, a Brief Introduction

Your esteemed host, Mr. Brutally Honest, has invited me to contribute to the noise level here, and it is with some trepidation that I have accepted.

Some of you may already know me as "Reluctant Scribe" with a couple of guest posts from a while back.   I'm flattered that Mr. Brutally has seen fit to host some of my blatherings.  I'll do what I can to maintain the standard of quality to which you've all become accustomed.

You can also see my occasional attempts at illumination over at Mr. Brutal's friend, The Noisy Room.

I'm relatively new to blogging, but I've been writing in one form or another for a while.  How long?  Well . . . here's a clue; it's my earliest "favorite keyboard."  It's a Hermes 3000.  Swiss.  Nothing finer in its class.

I only wish they made laptops.  That would be so awesome.

If my "civil interests" could be said to have an emphasis, I'd have to say that lies in matters surrounding the Second Amendment.  That, and liberty.  And of course free will and ethics.  Oh, and the Spanish Inquisition.  Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.

 

Spammer Hammer

Readers,

Please be aware that the site is being inundated by spam comments and I'm doing my level best to remove them as they show up however, there may be times when I don't get to them as quickly as I'd like.

Your patience is appreciated.

And a pox on those responsible.

Bastards.

Limbo

I hope to quickly get back to some fresh posting... there's lots that I could put up but just so little time right now what with tending to my bride's needs and doing that which she would usually do around the house (which is quite a ton frankly).

I appreciate your patience and loyalty.

Things I hope will get back to normal here and sooner rather than later.

If you'd like, use this post as fodder for bringing things up in the comments and talk amongst yourselves.

Thanks.

When should you not mind being flipped off?

When Glenn Reynolds is flippin' an Instabirdie:

No road rage after that flip. Just gratitude.

Thanks again Glenn.

About Brutally Honest updated

I'm updated my about page... in case anyone's wondering and is interested.

Last night's debate, the 999 tax plan and other flights of fancy

By Locutisprime

On the surface, Herman Cain's 999 tax plan sounds fresh and seems like something that should be given a closer look and due consideration by the voters. In my opinion, it probably would be better for everyone if we were to go to this plan or the more extensive plan called the Fair Tax plan but the chances of that happening are somewhere equal to a snowball's chance in hell.

The simple fact of the matter is this, aside from the politicians in Washington who stand to lose power, control and influence over the masses should they allow a quantum shift in taxation, these same politicians will never allow their arbitrary and capricious tax code to be tinkered with, much less eliminated and replaced by anything even remotely associated with real balance and fairness.

Combine those facts with the fact that several million accountants, tax attorneys and tax preparation businesses will never stand still for a quantum shift in tax policy and you have all the necessary reasoning for any politician to oppose such a plan. The cacophony of lobbyists voices alone that will rise in opposition against Herman Cain's proposal begins to grow exponentially at the mere hint of any serious consideration of any alternative tax plan. Therefore, 999 simply isn't going to happen in this lifetime. Absent a complete collapse of our society and a complete restructuring of our government and its laws, don't look for our tax code to change anytime soon if ever.

Meanwhile, Herman Cain has stepped into another mine field of controversy with his recent commentaries concerning immigration and his electrified fence proposal. A good idea presented poorly in my observation. And now comes Obama bearing down and taking aim at Cain's 999 proposal, which means that Cain is recognized as an alternative black man at the least and a potential threat to this White House.

The media laps up the results of these self initiated dramas and they go right back to their journalist boiler rooms to cook up more logic bombs and more ploys to draw in the easily duped candidates and their target audience. The masses with thirty second or less attention spans are their primary targets. The media continues to play scrappy dog with the GOP for the entertainment ratings and all save one (Newt Gingrich) in the GOP fail to recognize their game. Gingrich knows better than most that the media coverage of politics has absolutely nothing to do with either truth or substance, it all orbits around ratings and angst and drama and what the media can do to act as controllers and spoilers of the debate.

My review of last night's debate, tells me that it appears that Mitt Romney is attempting to apply the 'coup de gras' to the person he considers his only real adversary presently, Rick Perry. It may be perhaps a bit early in the contest, but none the less, Romney senses blood in the water as it concerns Perry and he very well may have scored his Reagan moment against Perry last night with his quip about Perry having and a rough couple of debates lately and Perry being understandably testy as a result.

That moment immediately struck me as the Reagan: "Well there you go again" moment of thirty years ago with Walter Mondale.

As it concerns Herman Cain, Romney knows that Cain (compliments of media spin) is in self destruct mode right now, as he knows that the media are pursuing Cain for him; therefore, Romney isn't focusing on Herman Cain right now. Romney recognizes that the next real challenge to his candidacy is the dark horse Gingrich who is coming up fast on the outside. We are not even at the half way mark of the race or at the first primary yet, so there is plenty of room to move up and down in the polls. None the less, those with staying power and the ability to stay on message and deflect and side step the media traps will be the ones to prevail to the final leg of the nomination process in my opinion.

Right now it is my belief that the race is coming down to Romney and Gingrich as we go into the holidays and the first primaries. And by middle of March we will know who the people have chosen.

Blog of the day at Legal Insurrection

Nice surprise that has resulted in some traffic coming our way today via Professor Jacobson, who goes on the blogroll as a result: