Delusions Of The Left

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credit: dailymail

credit: dailymail

Politico has a well-deserved reputation as a Democrat house organ and reliable apologist for Leftist thought and politicians. One of the primary principles of Leftist thought, as I’ve often written, is that no Leftist policy or idea can possibly be wrong. If a progressive policy appears to be wrong, or has obviously failed, that’s just a lack of proper communication. The right “messaging” will set everything aright. The right messaging will inevitably tell us that not enough time has passed to allow the wonders and benefits of the policy to come to full flower. If that won’t fly, the problem is that the policy wasn’t sufficiently progressive. Just let us do what we really want to do—none of this democratic republic compromise silliness–and everything will be great! And if the damned, ungrateful public won’t buy that, the problem is not enough money was spent. Toss another trillion or so at the policy, and it will really take off! And of course, there is always one great impediment to the success of any progressive policy: conservatives continue to exist. Yes, the Constitution and the law are always niggling obstacles, but if one accepts that one’s ideas can never truly be wrong, it’s impossible to ever admit failure, or to correct it. But one can always message the hell out of it.

A recent example is the New York Times piece on Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes, a man with no qualifications whatever for his position, save the ability and willingness to construct leftist narrative–lies–and to enlist willing journalists to help sell them. The article focused on his abject and continuous lies in selling the Iran deal, that actually isn’t a deal at all. Nothing was signed, the Iranians reject the American version of the deal, and they’ve been cheating for year anyway and continue to do so. But that’s not the subject of this article.

A perfect example of leftist messaging is a long article—The Selling Of Obama—the inside story of how a great communicator lost the narrative—by Michael Grunwald. I’ve seldom seen a more ironic example of Leftist self-delusion, beginning with the title. Barack Obama is not a great communicator or public speaker.  He is, at best, a mediocre, hectoring speaker, and without a teleprompter, frequently helpless and hapless.

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Hunka Hunka Burnin’ Solar Plant–Whoo!

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credit: inhabitat.com

credit: inhabitat.com

Ready for a bit of sun-shiney, uplifting, warm and cuddly renewable power history, gentle readers? I first wrote about the “troubled” Ivanpah solar plant in the Mojave desert in December of 2011 in The Brave New World Of Dr. Chu, Reprised. 

But wait a minute, the Obama Administration isn’t authorizing any nuclear plants, they’re destroying the coal industry (Mr. Obama and Mr. Chu are on record hoping to do just that), which is the industry that powers most of our electric generating plants, and even solar and wind projects are being delayed by federal bureaucrats and failing that, shut down by environmentalist lawsuits. Hydro-electric facilities, as the British would say, are right out. Even a substantial solar project in the Mojave Desert has been stymied by environmentalists. Something about the project potentially annoying various local reptiles, I believe. But even if it is eventually constructed, it will produce only a tiny amount of electricity, and only when the sun shines. Our electric grid and power generating capability is aging and we’re not building any new plants.

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Watcher’s Council Results For 05-20-16

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This week, my friend and colleague Bookworm has prevailed, which once again demonstrates my good taste (I voted for her article).  It is surely worth your time.

The Council has spoken, the votes have been cast, and the results are in for this week’s Watcher’s Council match up.

“Boys will be boys and girls will be men/It’s a mixed up hung up shook up world…” – Ray Davies’ lyrics to The Kinks ‘Lola’

“They can’t do that. It’s the one thing they can’t do. They can make you say anything – anything – but they can’t make you believe it.

They can’t get inside you.” – Julia, to Winston Smith in George Orwell’s ‘1984’

“Liberty means refusing to allow some men to use the state to compel other men to serve their interests or opinion.” – Auberon Herbert

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This week’s winning essay,Bookworm Room’s Sex and State Power — What’s Behind Obama’s Transgender Push is pretty much exactly what it sounds like – Bookworm’s exploration of exactly what’s behind President Obama’s threatening new diktat to America’s schools and other public facilities to normalize the use of women’s bathrooms and locker rooms by transgender males whom claim they feel ‘female’ – or else. Here’s a slice:

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The Freddie Gray Case, Update 34.4: The Nero Case Goes To The Judge

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Judge Barry Williams

Judge Barry Williams

The defense has rested, and both sides have delivered their closing arguments. Judge Barry Williams will render his verdict on Monday–05-23-16–morning. This article will first summarize the Defense testimony, closing statements, and finally, explain the potential consequences of a guilty verdict for law enforcement and public safety in Baltimore and around the country. The information in this article comes from articles by The Baltimore Sun (here, here, here, here and here).

Sgt. Robert Himes: Himes instructed Nero in bike patrol procedures at the Academy. He testified it’s hard for bike officers to use their radios when riding; they often have to move themselves, their bikes, and the people they stop, and they’re responsible for their bikes and the contents. He also said officers aren’t trained on putting people in police vans, and he never seat belted people in vans.

Analysis: Himes supported Nero’s clearly secondary role in the arrest of Gray. He’s also helping establish that putting an arrestee in a van is a common, daily occurrence governed by common sense, not formal procedure. Very few, if any, BPD officers use seat belts on prisoners in vans, which is common around the nation regardless of any written policy.

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Cultural Relativity?

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credit: plus.google.com

credit: plus.google.com

Progressives often castigate anyone daring to demonstrate patriotism. By patriotism, I mean the sentiment that America is the best—by any rational measure—nation on Earth, and the equally valuable willingness to fight to defend her. To such people, Americans are nothing special. Who are we, after all, to suggest that American culture is any better than any other culture. Aren’t all cultures and belief systems equally worthy? Not this one, via Fox news: 

Islamic State militants reportedly shot and killed a 7-year-old Syrian boy reportedly in front of his sobbing parents, all because he let a few curse words slip out of his mouth.

The execution took place Thursday [05-05-16] in the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa, ARA News reported, citing rights activists and witnesses.

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Zero Tolerance–Unlimited Pot Connection?

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Screen Shot 2016-05-18 at 8.14.14It would appear that the public school zero tolerance fad has not quite been replaced with something equally moronic. I speak of the anti-gun fervor so prominent among educators. Why is it moronic? In January of 2013 in The Sublime And The Idiotic, I wrote of a five year old girl suspended from school because she told a little friend she wanted to “shoot them both”—with a pink “Hello Kitty” bubble gun, a gun she left at home. That’s right. A little girl was suspended from school for “terroristic threats,” with a bubble blower, a bubble blower she left at home.

I hadn’t seen much of that sort of thing in the last year or two, but unfortunately, stupidity dies hard. The most recent example is in Colorado. Perhaps all the pot smoking has something to do with it. The Denver Channel.com reports: 

A 5-year-old Brighton girl has been suspended for a day after bringing a clear plastic bubble gun onto school grounds.

The child is a kindergarten student at Southeast Elementary in Brighton, part of Adams County School District 27J.

The mother, who requested her identity be concealed due to privacy concerns, said she didn’t know her daughter had put the toy into her backpack Monday morning.

‘I apologized right away and said that I am so sorry she did that,’ said the girl’s mother. ‘I appreciate that they’re trying to keep our kids safe, I really do. But there needs to be some common sense. It blows bubbles.

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For My Students: Love Always Wins

credit: bostononlyricopera.blogspot.com

credit: bostononlyricopera.blogspot.com

The end of the school year is a bittersweet time for teachers. It’s satisfying to bring to an end a year of hard work. That engenders a feeling of accomplishment, of completion. But it’s always sad, because very soon, our classes will meet for the final time. Each class with its unique personality, comprised of the unique personalities of each of you, will die, never to be reborn.

That understanding always leaves me with a sense of loss. Soon, I’ll rise in the morning and realize I can no longer look forward to seeing each of you every day. It’s like losing an old, trusted, beloved friend, many times over.

Does this surprise you? You didn’t know I felt that way about you? I do, and so do all dedicated teachers.

Teaching is not about the money. It’s about being a part of something bigger than oneself, something with the potential to change lives, to build a better future. It’s about giving of yourself that others might become more than they are, that they might build bigger, better, more wrinkly brains.

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