Speaking Truth To Green Power

The New Republic has a lengthy piece up which basically looks at what they call The Green Bubble and why it is bursting.

I think this is the money quote.

Nonetheless, it has become an article of faith among many greens that the global poor are happier with less and must be shielded from the horrors of overconsumption and economic development--never mind the realities of infant mortality, treatable disease, short life expectancies, and grinding agrarian poverty. The convenient and ancient view among elites that the poor are actually spiritually rich, and the exaggeration of insignificant gestures like recycling and buying new lightbulbs, are both motivated by the cognitive dissonance created by simultaneously believing that not all seven billion humans on earth can "live like we live" and, consciously or unconsciously, knowing that we are unwilling to give up our high standard of living. This is the split "between what you think and what you do" to which Pollan refers, and it should, perhaps, come as no surprise that so many educated liberals, living at the upper end of a social hierarchy that was becoming ever more stratified, should find the remedies that Pollan and Beavan offer so compelling. But, while planting a backyard garden may help heal the eco-anxieties of affluent greens, it will do little to heal the planet or resolve the larger social contradictions that it purports to address.

Read the whole thing because the rare sight of liberals actually telling the truth about themselves for once is a wonderful and special moment we all should share.

Just What Is Waxman-Markey For?

My husband has an article in The Washington Examiner today about the Waxman-Markey bill today that I think everyone must read.

He starts by asking a question.

As the House of Representatives girds to debate the Waxman-Markey energy and global warming bill, no one seems to be asking the most important question: Just what is it for? Any honest look at the bill would show that it cannot be about reducing global temperatures, so President Obama and Congressional Democrats must be putting so much effort into it for other reasons.

He ends with a plausible answer.

In all, it seems very likely that Waxman-Markey’s “cap and trade” scheme is not about cooling the planet, but about creating a new income stream for government to pay for a completely unrelated and vastly expensive new entitlement.

I urge you to read the whole thing.

What To Do About Climate Change

Because anything Indur M. Goklany writes is about a thousand times more intelligent than any other environmentalist could do.

The man is a one-person think tank. Read and learn.

Bad Spock

Jonah reviews the new Star Trek movie (I call it Star Trek Babies) and for the most part he likes it, except for all the bits with Nimoy's Spock in it.

Oh my!

Vouchers for Cars but Not for Students

The Washington Times has a scathing editorial up. Congress is festuned with idiots.

Granny Is Robbing You.

John Stossel writes a preview article for his TV special on the generational theft that is medicare.

It's terrifying to think that on top of Obama's fiscal mess, we have a tidal wave of debt heading towards us that has been building since 1965 and will crest at $34 Trillon dollars.

For anyone under forty, don't expect anything from the government - you'll be dead by the time you "qualify" for it.

And beware of government-run healthcare - it'll make the medicare tidal wave look like a pond ripple and kill you twice as fast. See here for details!

Moral Relevance is a Crock

Why is it that liberals love to engage in moral relevance?

I imagine it is because moral relevance allows liberals to be both patronizing and elitist under the cover of being "non-judgemental" which is totally horse hooey.

It is completely judgemental to be patronizing and elitist. And let's face it, claiming that a despotic radical authoritarian regime is just the same as a modern industrialized democracy flies in the face of reason, decency, and compassion.

Okay, example. When India came under "imperialist" Britain as a colony, the British governors had no problem stamping out the Indian custom of burning the wife of a dead man alive at her husband's funeral.

There was NO moral relevance issue for the British. They didn't care if it was "custom" or not, those dreadful "imperialists" righted a grievous wrong and I'll bet you any number of rupees that most Indian woman are grateful for the change.

And the argument that because a group is in a developing country then they simply don't know better and therefore must be allowed to "cling" to their custom is patronizing at best, destructive at worst.

All human beings have the capacity to understand their options, to be educated to a more civilized level of existence, to appreciate the finer things of the developed world - like rule-of-law, clean water, indoor plumbing, clear property rights, and cheap energy. By claiming moral relevancy towards any situation, you are basically saying these people can not be judged because they can't ever possibly know better. I'd like to think all humans are better than that.

Claiming moral relevance is intellectually shallow.

These days, liberals have folks so twisted up with this moral relevancy crap that it actually feels brave to stand up and say just because it is that country's custom/tradition/form-of-government doesn't make it right.

When did saying no matter where it happens in the world, slavery is wrong, murder is wrong, genital mutilation is wrong, forced abortion and eugenics is wrong, tribal genocide is wrong? When did all that become okay for liberals because it damn well isn't okay for right thinking conservatives.

From now on, anyone justifying horrific acts and brutal authoritative governance by a moral relevancy claim should be prosecuted as a hate criminal. Turn about is fair play and I'm tired of being called judgemental simply because I want my fellow human beings to have a better way of life.

The Ethics of Misallocation

(Originally posted by my husband at NRO - The Corner)

Tyler Cowan has a mystifying post over at Marginal Revolution about global warming. He seems to believe that climate skeptics have it in for the developing world. Nothing could be farther from the truth. One of the main reasons I and my colleagues oppose "aggressive action" on global warming is because it misallocates resources so badly that it actively harms the developing world, and locks them in poverty by ruling out their fastest route out of the state. Here, for instance, is Indur Goklany on the subject:

The world can best combat climate change and advance well-being, particularly of the world's most vulnerable populations, by reducing present-day vulnerabilities to climate-sensitive problems that could be exacerbated by climate change rather than through overly aggressive GHG reductions.

(Emphasis added.) The fact is that international development is the best way to combat global warming. Or do we really want to reduce the rest of the world to the level of Haiti and Somalia? I submit that that amounts to "aggression by alarmism."

I note also that Tyler isn't getting an answer to his question about what the Waxman-Markey Bill is actually supposed to acheive in terms of climate. That's because, as Chip Knappenberger has shown, using the U.N.'s own models, it achieves virtually nothing by itself, but at great cost. It represents, therefore, a hostage to fortune, or, should I say, to China.

Our Crumbling Foundation

The always excellent Mr. Blackwell has an opinion up at townhall.com about the crumbling of the family in America. Why is this important?

Mr. Blackwell quotes Mr. Novak in response, "The family is the original department of health, education, and welfare."

If we let families fail, we let our communities fail, we let our children fail, we let our civil society fail. Families are central to all human endeavors and if we don't defend the family, the barbarians will enter the gates.

Amnesty Idiots

You will not see this heart-stopping photo on the front page of the NY Times, nor on the lead story of the major news networks. The protestors at Montebello High School took the American flag off the school's flag pole and hung it upside down while putting up the Mexican flag over it. (*See pictures below*)

It is a shame that these kits have harmed their own cause. Demanding amnesty and then denigrating the flag of the country they live in will not aid them in their goal. It doesn’t matter what country this happens it, it’s just not smart thinking. I can’t imagine the French giving Dutch immigrants amnesty if a bunch of Dutch immigrants pulled a stunt like this with their own flags. It was dumb and insulting.

Here is the snopes.com website address confirming this story. This event originally happened in 2006 but I think its worth remembering as the situation has not changed.

I am Laughing My Butt Off

I think the title of this BBC article says it all...

"Eco-sailors rescued by oil tanker"

BWHAHAHAHA!

Political Marketing Advice

As someone who spent years as an advertising copywriter, hearing these calls for republicans and conservatives to ape liberals is infuriating because it contradicts all human psychology as applied to marketing.

In order to stand out and capture people attention, your company, product, service or - quite frankly - political ideology MUST be differentiated from others.

Why should I bother to listen to Brand X if it is identical to Brand Y?

Republicans, Conservatives, and Libertarians should be spending EVERY SECOND between now and 2010 highlighting their differences with democrats, liberals, and the socialists currently in power.

Failure is not an option or the GOP brand will die. And remember, to paraphrase the great David Ogilvy, the voter is not stupid, she is your wife (or your husband, neighbor, co-worker, etc.).

The point is if conservatives become the same as liberals, then the freedom of choice inherent in a multi-party democracy is eradicated. Americans can choose from any political party (but principally two) they want or they can choose not to vote at all. Republicans heeding the democrats' call to be more like them if they want to "succeed" are only falling prey to a nefarious plan to remove from Americans the choice of different governing styles and policies.

Because if Republicans adopt the same policies as Democrats, then does it even matter who I vote for - America will become a one-party system.

So grow a pair/spine/whatever, Conservatives and trumpet your differences. We are NOT all in this together, the path liberals are advocating leads to socialism and the repression of American liberties we all hold dear.

The Best of Hands

As Glenn Reynolds likes to say, "Our Country is in the best of hands". This article from RealClearPolitics ought to make your spine shiver.

Other Western intelligence services regard the Obama administration with contempt and rising concern, an officer of the DGSE, France's military intelligence agency, told my friend Jack Wheeler (the real life Indiana
Jones) last week.

"All of us in our little community are worried -- us, our friends in Berlin, London, Tel Aviv," the DGSE officer told Jack. "It is not like the barbarians at the gates. It is every barbarian horde in the world being told there are no gates."

Basically the author of this article, Jack Kelly, lays out a compelling argument that the CIA felt betrayed by Bush so they undermined him. Now, the CIA is furious at Obama.

In short, this is not good for Obama or the country.

Protesting For Freedom

And other's are taking heart at the power of speaking up...

And now, let us praise (and continue to praise) those extraordinary grassroots civilians who organized yesterday’s rally in Times Square against Radical Islam and those 300-500 people who came and stood in the driving rain to listen to the words of Sikhs, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and Christians, direct and indirect victims of Islamic terrorism, enslavement, and persecution, who came together to stand against a common global enemy.

Read all about this virtually unreported event in Times Square here.

I imagine it would have gotten a lot more press if it had been a dozen half-naked hippies "protesting" Conservatives' right to breath.

PJTV on Knoxville TEA Party

What kills me is that these TEA Party Protests are going on around the country every week it seems, and yet unless you were on the internet, you would NEVER HEAR ABOUT THEM.

Luckily, we have the internet, bloggers, PJTV, and other fighters for freedom.

Can't stop the Signal! Video here.

AND here's a review of a terrific TEA Party Protest in Tuscan. Keep up the good work!

Let The Tax Cheat Talk

But the bottom line here is that Obama demonstrated very poor judgment in using Geithner for this particular attack. I don’t know why he did this.

Larry Kudlow opines on why Tim Geithner is the worst person possible to speak for Obama on the subject of tax evasion.

Standing Up to The Bully-in-Chief

Here's an excerpt...

Last but not least, the President screaming that the hedge funds are looking for an unjustified taxpayer-funded bailout is the big lie writ large. Find me a hedge fund that has been bailed out. Find me a hedge fund, even a failed one, that has asked for one. In fact, it was only because hedge funds have not taken government funds that they could stand up to this bullying. The TARP recipients had no choice but to go along. The hedge funds were singled out only because they are unpopular, not because they behaved any differently from any other ethical manager of other people’s money. The President’s comments here are backwards and libelous. Yet, somehow I don’t think the hedge funds will be following ACORN’s lead and trucking in a bunch of paid professional protestors soon. Hedge funds really need a community organizer.

Now read the whole thing here.

Righteous Kick-Ass Babe

Margaret Thatcher is one of my three heroes (the other two are Helen Keller and Rosa Parks). Tory Diary recaps here exactly why Baroness Thatcher is such a righteous kick-ass babe.

White House Threats Corroborated

Business Insider reports that more than one Chrysler senior creditor has corroborated Thomas Lauria’s allegation that the Obama administration threatened them with public attacks if they didn’t surrender their contractual rights. One of their sources says that the Obama team comprises some of the worst “ends justify the means” people he’s ever encountered (via HA reader Geoff A)

Read the whole thing here and weep for our country.

UN Secretary General = Little League Coach

Ambassador Stages Coup At UN, Issues Long List of Non-Binding Resolutions

The Onion Correctly Targets Media BS in 08 Election

Poll: Bullshit Is Most Important Issue For 2008 Voters

Star Trek Babies - The Movie Review

Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film As 'Fun, Watchable'

Jack Kemp

(Originally posted on NRO - The Corner by my husband)

I have been remiss in posting this, but here is CEI president Fred Smith's remembrance of Jack Kemp. CEI doesn't go in much for recruiting distinguished fellows from the ranks of Congress or administrations, but we made an exception for him.

Obama Pressures Democrats into Energy Tax

(Originally posted on NRO - The Corner by my husband)

The president called Democratic members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee in for a little chat this morning about the "cap-and-trade" energy tax. The so-called moderates on the committee appear to have caved already, getting a couple of tiny concessions on other items in the bill. So it looks like they'll vote the bill out of committee, despite the extra energy costs of $2000 or more it will impose on their constituents. Of course, the Senate doesn't look like it will make any moves on increasing energy prices this year, so the question has to be asked why the president was willing to spend political capital on this. The answer is probably that the cap-and-trade tax is actually a vital part of the president's healthcare plan, in that it will provide the revenues to pay for the plan. So it is important to get that principle established now. The next step comes with the Blue Dogs and other energy-state Democrats. It will be interesting to see how close to the fire the president holds their feet.

Like Freedom and Whisky, Order and Liberty Gang Thegither

(Originally posted by my husband on NRO - The Corner)

I am bemused by the idea that freedom and order are somehow at odds with each other. The whole history of Anglo-American conservative thought is about what we call "ordered liberty." The concept pervades Burke's writings, for instance. Today, I am unaware of many libertarians who despise the Rule of Law, and the idea of them as longing for some lawless state of nature replacing all traditional government is a mere caricature. In some ways, the current calls from certain parties on the Right to reject the central importance of liberty is a reversion to pre-enlightenment days, when liberty was thought of as a Bad Thing because of its role in the fall of Athens and Republican Rome. Those who need a refresher course in what ordered liberty means could do no better than start with John O'Sullivan's Hillsdale College lecture on the subject. If they remain unconvinced, perhaps they should call themselves what they really are — Tories.