Out and About on a Wednesday Morning

Liberal fascism in Australia – fighting for bigotry against free speech: the New Liberal Order.

MoveOn moves on to lying about the environment (been thin pickings, I guess, since they no longer have a Clinton to defend or a Bush to slander).

China’s military urges selling of US bonds to punish the US. I say, “go ahead, make my day”.

Stocks rallied yesterday on the news that nearly bankrupt parts of the Euro-zone will come to the rescue of the completely bankrupt parts. This is the global financial elite just trying to keep the ball in the air and hoping that the global economy will some how improve before the hot checks hit the bank.

And, now: have at it.

A Persistent Vegetative State Might Not be Vegetative, After All

Ed Morrissey notes:

…The study in Cambridge showed that 17% of patients assumed to have no brain activity beyond involuntary impulses actually show cognitive understanding using an MRI to map brain responses to questions asked by researchers. None of the 17% had brain injury due to hypoxia, the underlying cause of the injury to Terri Schiavo, whose case became a national political crisis a few years ago, but the implications of this study are still horrific…

…The new diagnostic ability that this study suggests could mean that patients once dismissed for years as nonresponsive have actually had an interior life without any ability to recognize it or communicate it to the outside world. It could also mean that previous decisions to suspend care may have been made in error, although entirely in good-faith belief that the person inside had utterly vanished.

This could change all of our perceptions on the victims of tramautic brain damage, as well as offer hope for those who remain trapped but conscious inside unresponsive bodies.

Our point, as pro-lifers, is that given we do not have – and cannot have – 100% knowledge of the interior condition of a human being, it is always better to err on the side of life. This is outside of theology – as a Christian I believe that the soul comes in at the moment of conception and goes out at the moment of physical death; but nobody has to subscribe to this view if they don’t wish to. But even outside of that, we just don’t know.

The Culture of Death is very sure of itself. Most lies are. And, additionally, most lies are very vehement in self defense. We on the pro-life side, being people of faith, are quite capable of admitting doubt. Was Terri Schiavo’s mind (soul, if you will) already departed before they removed the feeding tube? We don’t know. Didn’t know then. Don’t know now.

You could slice and dice her brain post-mortem to your heart’s content and you still won’t get that answer because while we have a good deal of knowledge of how the organ called the brain works, we haven’t the foggiest notion of how mind works. Disbelieve in God if you will – but perhaps that “persistent vegetative” person is actually thinking of things? Still having a life; and a life no one is permitted to take without just cause. Unless and until someone figures out how to measure my thought which put a bit more oregano in to the spaghetti sauce – and tell me where, precisely, it is stored for me to recall days later while writing a blog post – there is just no way anyone can say whether a person who has physical life is aware or not at some level.

Err on the side of mercy. Err on the side of love. Err on the side of life.

UPDATE: And the global Culture of Death suffers a defeat in Costa Rica.

Brightening GOP Prospects for the Northeast

And 2010 marches on:

Republican candidates are showing surprising financial strength in Congressional districts held by Democrats in the Northeast that party leaders have singled out as ripe for what could be critical gains in the November election.

Some of the most competitive races are taking shape in the New York metropolitan region.

In the 19th Congressional District, north of New York, the Republican challenger, Nan Hayworth, an ophthalmologist, has amassed about $519,000, slightly more than the roughly $451,000 that the Democratic incumbent, Representative John J. Hall, has in his campaign coffers…

And on it goes. Of course, money doesn’t equal victory – but after having been outspent by the Democrats in 2008, it is telling that the GOP in the Northeast is getting such traction. Remember, the leftist story line is that unless the GOP goes left, we’ll become a regional party of the South. And yet, as the GOP base has tacked further right and started to drag along the GOP leadership, Republican prospects are rising all over…including in the more liberal areas of the country.

Could it be that the left is wrong?

Could it be that the sun rises in the east?

Anyways…

The battle for November is really not even begun and we can expect Democrats to find yet new depths in the political gutter to try and derail conservatism. We won’t win this in a walkover, boys and girls: if we win, it will only be after a very hard, very long fight with determined political opponents.

But, 2010 is still getting more and more fun, all the time…

Bankruptcy We Can Believe In

Thanks, Barry; thanks, Harry:

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co will close its five-diamond property in Las Vegas this May, after the hotel struggled with a slide in demand and revenue.

“It’s nothing the hotel did. It’s a simple lack of business and a decline in the tourism industry,” said Ritz-Carlton spokeswoman Vivian Deuschl.

The owners of the 348-room property, Village Hospitality LLC, an arm of Deutsche Bank, will stop funding the Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas day-to-day operations on May 2.

It is a very nice place – its out at Lake Las Vegas; a resort developed a few years back set outside Las Vegas. Golfing, boating, shopping, spas – the whole 9 yards available. Now its gone; the jobs are gone…but Barry and Harry say things are getting better.

Can’t tell you how helpful it is for the President to demonize travel to Las Vegas…and how doubly helpful it is to have a Senator who lacks the spine to stand up to him on it.

Best. Billboard. Ever.

Gotta love it.

Internet chatter had led to speculation that it might be an urban myth — nothing more than clever digital trickery spreading via the Web.

But our friend Bob Collins at Minnesota Public Radio assures us he’s seen it with his own eyes:

There is a billboard along I-35 near Wyoming, Minn., with a huge photo of former president George W. Bush and this question: “Miss Me Yet?”

Now, the push is on to find out who paid to have it put up.

Bob says there’s no readily apparent claim of ownership on the billboard, so he’s heading back to the scene to see if he can find out who’s behind the message. He’s also got some local politicos looking into it. He’ll keep us posted.

At first glance, it would seem to be from some person or group who isn’t thrilled by President Barack Obama’s performance so far — unless it’s a more ironic message from those who didn’t think too much of Bush and want to remind voters about him.

I wish I could say it was me.

Obama Policy Towards Iran a Failure

Just re-stating the obvious:

Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has directed enrichment of a portion of that country’s stockpile of uranium to 20 percent. Experts regard this as a significant step forward for Iran’s nuclear weapons program. The reaction of Defense Secretary Robert Gates seems significant:

At a news conference with French Defense Minister Herve Morin, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates praised President Barack Obama’s attempts to engage the Islamic Republic diplomatically and chided Tehran for not reciprocating.

“No U.S. president has reached out more sincerely, and frankly taken more political risk, in an effort to try to create an opening for engagement for Iran,” he said. “All these initiatives have been rejected.”

So Gates was, evidently, praising Obama for pursuing a policy that has been, by the Secretary’s own admission, a complete failure.

One has to feel sorry for Gates having to carry on with such levels of incompetence as we see in the Obama Administration. He’s doing the best he can and I’m grateful he’s there as at least it means we’ve got someone who will look after the troops. But one Gates cannot carry an entire Obama Administration – and while he’s loyal to his boss, it clear that our policy towards Iran has been a failure.

It is time to re-assess our goals and means of attaining them.

Are we really going to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons? If so, then engagement and UN sanctions have to be set aside in favor of much stronger action – blockade backed by a threat of aerial bombardment of power, oil and nuclear sites.

Are we going to live with an Iranian nuclear force? If so, then we’d better start working out theater ballistic missile defense systems with Iraq, the Gulf States and others who will be under the Iranian gun. And then we’d better be prepared for a decades-long stand off punctuated by various flare ups of violence – and, of course, the prospect that the lunatics in Tehran will actually launch a nuclear war.

The one thing we can’t do is continue on as we are – Obama’s policy, as all liberal policies for dealing with rogue regimes, has been an utter failure. A failure, by the way, which everyone with any sense at all predicted. There never was a question that Iran’s government would respond to anything other than a mortal threat to its existence. Everyone knew this and knows this – except, of course, for President Obama and his Administration.

Time to start learning fast, Mr. President.

The Culture of Death and the Global Recession

Profligacy and death go ill together:

Bankers are not the cause of the global economic crisis, according to the president of the Institute for the Works of Religion. Rather, the cause is ordinary people who do not “believe in the future” and have few or no children.

“The true cause of the crisis is the decline in the birth rate,” Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, said in an interview on Vatican Television’s “Octava Dies.”

He noted the Western world’s population growth rate is at 0% — that is, two children per couple — and this, he said, has led to a profound change in the structure of society.

“Instead of stimulating families and society to again believe in the future and have children […] we have stopped having children and have created a situation, a negative economic context decrease,” Gotti Tedeschi observed. “And decrease means greater austerity.”

“With the decline in births,” he explained, “there are fewer young people that productively enter the working world. And there are many more elderly people that leave the system of production and become a cost for the collective.

And, of course, tens of millions of abortions – we’ve lost a great deal because we wanted to be rich without working and loved without family responsibility. I plead guilty, guilty, guilty.

We must return to sanity – to a willingness to do hard, physical work; to commit to one person and raise as many children as God provides; to put off personal gratification in favor of having a gift to leave our children. If we do this, then we will be happy – and prosperous, in to the bargain. If we don’t do this, then we’ll eventually die out.

The choice is ours – decline is never an thing of fate but an act of will.

Republicans Respond to Obama's Invite

Via NRO’s The Corner:

We welcome President Obama’s announcement of forthcoming bipartisan health care talks. In fact, you may remember that last May, Republicans asked President Obama to hold bipartisan discussions on health care in an attempt to find common ground on health care, but he declined and instead chose to work with only Democrats. Since then, the President has given dozens of speeches on health care reform, operating under the premise that the more the American people learn about his plan, the more they will come to like it. Just the opposite has occurred…

…scrapping the House and Senate health care bills would help end the uncertainty they are creating for workers and businesses and thus strengthen our shared commitment to focusing on creating jobs. Assuming the President is sincere about moving forward on health care in a bipartisan way, does that mean he will agree to start over so that we can develop a bill that is truly worthy of the support and confidence of the American people? Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said today that the President is “absolutely not” resetting the legislative process for health care.

If the starting point for this meeting is the job-killing bills the American people have already soundly rejected, Republicans would rightly be reluctant to participate. Assuming the President is sincere about moving forward in a bipartisan way, does that mean he has taken off the table the idea of relying solely on Democratic votes and jamming through health care reform by way of reconciliation? As the President has noted recently, Democrats continue to hold large majorities in the House and Senate, which means they can attempt to pass a health care bill at any time through the reconciliation process.

Eliminating the possibility of reconciliation would represent an important show of good faith to Republicans and the American people.If the President intends to present any kind of legislative proposal at this discussion, will he make it available to members of Congress and the American people at least 72 hours beforehand? Our ability to move forward in a bipartisan way through this discussion rests on openness and transparency. Will the President include in this discussion congressional Democrats who have opposed the House and Senate health care bills? This bipartisan discussion should reflect the bipartisan opposition to both the House bill and the kickbacks and sweetheart deals in the Senate bill. Will the President be inviting officials and lawmakers from the states to participate in this discussion?…

…We look forward to receiving your answers and continuing to discuss ways we can move forward in a bipartisan manner to address the challenges facing the American people.

That certainly isn’t pulling any punches. Obama hopes to either co-opt a few Republicans to vote for a stripped down version of ObamaCare, or set the GOP as the “do nothing” party preventing work from getting done. The House GOP, at least, has seen right through this gambit and answered right back – if Obama and the Democrats are in any way sincere and honest, then we can move forward with the required assurances.

Given that Democrats would have to reach for a dictionary to figure out what “sincere” and “honest” mean, there’s not much hope of progress here. Even with 41 Senate GOP votes, Democrats still entirely control this – they can do as they please. If they want us along, they’ll have to divvy up the pie and ensure there are genuine free market and pro-life elements to whatever health care reform emerges. They don’t have to do this – they can muscle it through on their own – but if they want to cross the aisle, then there are requirements.

“Bi-partisan” no longer means “Republicans go along with the Democrats” – it means 50/50 give and take. And Democrats from Obama on down can take it or leave it.

John Murtha Dead at Age 77

Pretty much everything I have to say about the matter is here.

UPDATE, by Mark Noonan: A competitive special election loom to replace Murtha.

The Left Still Doesn't Understand Sarah Palin

Or, indeed, much of anything happening these days in politics – Roger Kimball writes:

…The hatred and contempt lavished upon Sarah Plain, from certain conservatives as well as from the Left, presents a dispiriting and, to me, hard-to-fathom spectacle. That is, I understand that the Left would regard her as a political threat and would therefore dislike her. But why the contempt? And why the contempt (and hatred) from the Right? I have several times explained why I admire Sarah Palin. Please note that I did not say I want her to run for the Presidency. But what (a locution that comes up often among her admirers) a breath of fresh air she is! Here you have a woman from a working-class background who, by dint of her own energy and ambition, becomes Governor of her state—a good Governor, too, by all account not tainted by The New York Times. She espouses good conservative principles: self-reliance, fiscal responsibility, a strong national defense. And, on top of all that, she is a courageous and loving mother to a passel of children.

What’s not to like? That she chose to keep and love a Down Syndrome child? That sets the teeth of many on edge, I know, though they are loathe to come right out and admit it. Granted: She’s not a lawyer. She’s not from the Ivy League. She’s not part of the Washington Establishment. Heavy liabilities, what? I acknowledge that her performance in front of Katie Couric and other barracuda-like interviewers was poor, embarrassing even. But put that and all the other charges in the scale on one side, then put her virtues on the other: which side wins out?…

Of course, to the left as a whole – and elitists conservatives, as well – it is the very fact that Palin lacks either a degree in law or journalism which is a flaw. Additional flaw: having more than one or two designer children. Really bad flaw: being married to a regular guy whom every other regular guy in the US wouldn’t mind going fishing/hunting with while not being willing to go within a country mile of, say, Al Gore (if she does become the GOP Presidential nominee there will be fierce competition among outsdoorsy GOPers for the VP slot…fishing trip to the Alaskan outback with Mr. Palin via Air Force One, anyone?). Final flaw: she doesn’t care what the left and sundry elites think of her.

Anyways, they won’t understand her. They are incapable of such comprehension because to understand Sarah Palin – and her appeal – is to understand the United States out side of the elite enclaves. It’ll be very fun to watch how this pans out over the next two years.