BHO, Gun Rights, and why Hill won't quit.

BHO against something legal in 39 states and supported by the Bill of Rights. Unity! Now his position is standard for a Far-left Liberal, but it's more evidence the man is not a moderate, nor a uniter.


Another angle on this.

Knowing everything you now know about Obama — including the fact that he thinks someone should be guilty of a felony if a burglar steals his gun and uses it to shoot someone — what would you guess would be his position? Well, that's exactly what it is. The doctrinaire liberal takes the doctrinaire liberal stance, as he did in 1996, all within the context of the new "nonpartisan" spirit he's bringing to Washington, mind you

"I am not in favor of concealed weapons," Obama said. "I think that creates a potential atmosphere where more innocent people could (get shot during) altercations."

As a commentator pointed out, this dovetails nicely with Obama's resistance to Missile Defense.

"He's also against Ballistic Missile Defense. Again, he doesn't want people to be able to defend themselves. Just negotiate with muggers and missiles, right Obamatron?" -Tony

Here's a little town you'd likely never have heard of.

And as Frank J of the excitable Imao.us notes. States that are Shall Issue conceal carry have crime rates go down when they open up gun rights.

John R. Lott Jr wrote a book on the statistics of this.


Marc Ambinder is no fawning fan of McCain, well neither am I, but lays out the interesting bit of biography at work here.

Private polling shared recently with McCain's strategists shows that, under the right conditions, Americans were ready to embrace McCain as the agent of change they've been waiting for. (Where have I heard that bef……oh…..) The polling, and the developing strategy, hinges on McCain's convincing those Obama-loving independents that McCain is known commodity who embodies change and that Obama's story is just that – a story and his rhetoric is mere words. Obama may run on his biography, but McCain will run as biography; he is who he says he is; you know him; you trust him; and you're comfortable with him. McCain is an open book; Obama is…well, more of a mystery.

There's a deeper, more holistic messaging attempt at work. McCain often likes to say that the country owes him nothing, but McCain owes the country everything. By contrast, McCain advisers believe that Obama's core message is arrogance: America has problems, and only Obama can fix them; he deserves the presidency. (An irony: the incarnation of JFK – Obama – cast as the foil to Kennedy's most famous maxim.)

Heh. It's the naked arrogance and concealment that irks me about Obama. He comes across as a confidence man. He tells you what you want to think and gets his fans worked up and so enamored with him that they don't pay attention to his past and what he's actually done. They believe in him. They may not be able to name anything he's done, but they have faith in what he will do. As I've mentioned before, Obama is growing a cult of personality.

A detailed analysis on how Hillary has a chance to get the popular vote, which would give her a strong argument (See Florida 2000 Gore versus Bush) that she should get the nod as the will of the people in the party.

It may be a long shot, but she has to take it. Consider the three cases here.

1) Hillary keeps in and wins the nomination
2) Hillary keeps in and looses to BHO and drops out after she's "gone down fighting"
3) Hillary bows out now (or some other "early" time) to preserver party unity.

The results make it pretty clear

1) She goes on and runs against McCain and could get to be president
2) She's shown that she can be tough and fight until the end. Goes to the Senate and has the option of trying again at the presidency. If BHO loses she'll get some of the blame, but she can use this as evidence that she would have been the stronger candidate and the Super Delegats were the real ones to screw the party.
3)b She gets labeled as a quitter, and if OBH loses she'll still get the blame. Both for weakening him and for quitting when she was the stronger candidate. This really hurts any future chances for her.


Most Americans do not like people that quit. We like people that risk big, that have confidence. If Hill can pull of Option 1 then she makes a strong case as both the comeback kid and the inevitable candidate and proves all the pundits wrong.

Option 3 is the one that hurts her the most, and since the stay/drop choice only divides between options 1 & 2 and option 3. She has no reason to drop out.

Hillary! cares more about her own ambitions than "party unity". And there's nothing that Howard Dean or BHO can do to get her to quit. There's nothing they can bribe her with (she's running for president and nothing short of that will do), and if they had blackmail that would work against her they would have already used it against her.


So that's why Hillary is staying in. She has a chance of getting the nomination if she does, but has no chance of getting it now, or ever again, if she drops out.




Wright racism versus Anti-Americanism. Which did BHO respond to?

More on BHO being a modern politcal confidance artist

Obama's glamour also accounts for some of his campaign's other stumbles. Plenty of candidates attract supporters who disagree with them on some issues. Obama is unusual, however. He attracts supporters who not only disagree with his stated positions but assume he does too.

...

Where optimists fill in mystery with their hopes, however, pessimists project their fears. The flip side of glamour is horror: the vampire, the con man, the femme fatale, the double agent. These glamorous archetypes remind us of how easy it is to succumb to desire and manipulation. What, ask his opponents, is Obama hiding?
...

More mundanely, the apparent effortlessness of his political career—the grace with which he seems to rise above ordinary politics—makes it harder for him to shrug off the unsavory allies who come with a career in Chicago, from indicted developer Tony Rezko to antigay preacher Rev. James Meeks. They spoil the fantasy.

Heh. All politicians are con-men (remember my comment on which is more likely? that your guy really IS perfect or that you're a rube?). Well, one of the best cons is to make it so that you're against the other con-men.


An article in that darth right wing madhouse known as Salon about how Hillary would be doing if the Democrats used Republican or general election style rules. Also shows how much BHO values the "will of the people". Heh.

"In the final analysis, though, the fights inside the Democratic Party aren't really about either an ideal American democracy or the American democracy that actually exists. According to the Obama campaign, democracy is defined as whatever helps Barack Obama win the Democratic nomination. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with a candidate arguing this way. But everybody should see it for what it is -- not something new or transformative, but one of the oldest ploys in the playbook of American politics."

From Victor Davis Hanson some general notes on events.
Including who's What?

Close your eyes and imagine. You hear one party demand tariffs and an end to free trade. Its supporters talk in terms of racial values and racial separateness, as it leaders calculate the white versus black vote state-by-state. It denounces the idea of protecting a democracy abroad from thugs and terrorists. And it has out-raised its counterpart over 3-1 in cash donations for political campaigning. Its nominating process is Byzantine and ultimately determined by the undemocratic votes of unelected Superdelegates accountable to no one. And this is all deemed "liberal."

Added:

Change! Hope! We won't be taking money from the rich. People power!

We can do it!

He's really different

Military News that was missed

North Korea is falling apart, but the magnitude may shock you.

Interesting report. The "insurgents" have increased the tempo of their attacks despite knowing how much more of a risk they are when they group together with weapons. this shows how desperate the situation is for them, and how much value they place on getting a successful attack in the news. If their attacks can give the perception that Iraq is lost, with the help of willingly helpful or lazy people in the media, then it's worth the losses they take.

Some more progress.


More info on FARC's implosion

Another summary of the Basara, Iraq, Iran situation


General David H. Petraeus' opening remarks

Posting Gap

I haven't had the chance to post in a while.

I should be back on my more regular link dumps and bits of thoughts and such.

Or not. I'll have to see what the quality of some of the stuff I was thinking of linking too.

Daily Links

What's unique about Obama, we now recognize, is that the notion of "talking to your enemies" is not just a diplomatic cliché. He will indeed hear out the obscurantist regimes that plot against U.S. citizens, allies, and interests, just as he sat still while his obscurantist preacher fulminated against "white America." Will he manage to persuade his interlocutors in Tehran and Damascus to modify their behavior in Iraq, Lebanon, the Persian Gulf, Israel, and the Palestinian territories? Of course not. He was incapable of convincing a man he has known for two decades, who married him and baptized his two daughters, that his employer, the government of the United States, did not create HIV to kill African Americans.

More about what's becoming a repeating theme about BHO

Read this article and remember the dangers of doing buisness with China, given how they treat intelectual property.
"This could get interesting, because the Chinese are not trying to sell their illegal copies of Russian equipment on the international market." Typo should be "now trying to sell"


Link to another site of someone reporting from inside Iraq

And Ted Turner... is going a bit isane and out there. Thinks that Global Warming will be one notch below a full on zombie invasion. At least with the eating of human flesh.

More links on the "Global Warming"
From Ace
Some hard data...

Again the model versus reality stuff.
From Australia

From Canada

The last time the sun was this inactive, Earth suffered the Little Ice Age that lasted about five centuries and ended in 1850. Crops failed through killer frosts and drought. Famine, plague and war were widespread. Harbors froze, so did rivers, and trade ceased.

It's way too early to claim the same is about to happen again, but then it's way too early for the hysteria of the global warmers, too.

For all the hype about Global Warming, the mechanisms are not well understood, and the impacts are unknown too. It's dangerous when people are almost... religious "We must atone for our eco-sins to prevent the rapture of an angry Gaia".

It also draws attention away from more established pollutants and methods of reducing environmental damage, but what do you expect from people that honestly believe that Bush pulled the US out of Kyoto (helpful hints: what year was that brought to the US Gov, and did the US ever actually agree to it?)

Overview of training, corruption, and changes in Iraq.

Bad news for India and its Naval Air.

M777 Howitzer Reduce mass, increase mobility.

Some good NATO news.

BHO thinks missile defense is an unproven system that should be cut. He also thinks we should be closer to Europe and work with them more... but what if the Europeans want missile defense?
What'll he do then?


Making the missile defense a NATO alliance program sets a trap for the Democrats, who are on record as wanting to "strengthen our traditional alliances". Unilaterally abrogating the program would put them in a position of going-it-alone and having to explain to the American people what they are doing.

Their opposition to the program has heretofore benefited from not having to explain anything--they simply cut the funding and it all went away. At this point the have a program with notably and very public successes with the NATO allies onboard.

It does send a message.

More links and such

BHO's been running ads saying how he's not in the pocket of lobbyists, big oil and the like. Well turns out that's more... empty hope


I guess Unity doesn't apply to policy.

And here's the Columbia Journalism Review slamming BHO for some recent comments he made about McCain. Odd this story isn't getting more coverage.

And wow... great politician.

From Charles
I think what we're seeing here is someone who’s beginning to feel the pressure. Obama could have given the guy a photo in much less time than it took him to throw this little tantrum in front of CBS’ cameras.

From Glen

An idea for climate control that's more proactive and could have more effect than the "band aid" proposals of carbon reduction.
However as Reynolds points out. The tone of article has some... other aspects. "Sin, penance, and dispensation -- the key elements of a scientifically-based climate policy!"



I liked to Rachel yesterday about a post I didn't fully agree with, and here's another post by her. It is nice to have some dialog and civil discussion about different ideas. Ironic, or is it really, that it comes from the "Right".

As one of the commentators says.

Adrian Says:

Althouse quite regularly makes the same point on her blog. She has about 90% standard liberal opinions, but is critical or at least questioning of the other ten percent (never dismissive, but just doesn't follow the line unthinkingly). Naturally, as a result, liberals DESPISE her, constantly attack and slander her, troll her blog, spread lies about her, and send her nasty hate mail. Yet, even though she disagrees with most of what they believe, conservatives are very nice to her, engage in polite discussion and great commenting, and send her lots of traffic. So, yeah, you're not the only one!

It is the internet. So most comments are garbage Look at youtube and cry. So when you find a site where the comments are good. That's a rare treasure.

Mess o' Links.

Exponentials are of the form y=a*b^x.
Now, Popular Science thinks this has an upper bound.
That's just sad.
So the math behind Moore's law doesn't have a limit on theory.


Wow BHO can really pick 'em.
Look at what his new Pastor is like.

Either Obama agrees with Meeks, and with Wright, or he is bound to them by political expediency. Both are influential in the world of Chicago politics, both provided an inroad to the black community which Barack Obama lacked. For a candidate of hope and change who tries to portray himself as above these sorts of political calculations, it becomes apparent that he's a political opportunist of the highest order.

New politics eh?

Roundup of all the nitwittery of the two battlin' dems.
Hillary wants to nationalize healthcare but she can't even manage it for her campaign...
Rev. James T. Meeks... wow. BHO's got some great judgment. Hope


McCain... again. I'm not fond of him, and crap like this is why. But again I feel he's better than the other two in the race and that's Four-tens.



More reporting from Iraq itself.. Showing how much things have changed

The story in Karmah should be familiar by now. Iraqis said no. We will work with the Americans and drive you out of our country. So many Stateside Americans still wonder aloud why mainstream Muslims refuse to stand up to terrorists, so apparently the story in Karmah – which is hardly unique to Karmah – isn't familiar enough.

Heh. More Eco-scams.


Also here's a bit from Rachel Lucas.
It's a realistic view on teenagers and sex.

In my world, reality is everything. And the reality is what I just said - humans become fertile and interested in sex when they’re young teenagers. This is a simple fact that can’t be debated, changed, or wished away. We have to accept that there is absolutely no possible way to create a different reality unless we manipulate their hormones or sterilize them (which, frankly, I WHOLLY SUPPORT).
Other facts are that teenagers are resistant to adult advice, they do not see the “big picture”, they have a very poor grasp of how what they do right this second will affect them in the future, and the number one motivator in their lives is peer pressure. Put all of that in a pot and stir it up, and you have very young humans who are fertile, horny, shortsighted, and determined to do what makes them feel good right now.

...

It's a lot like the Great McCain Question and the lesser of two evils. You know you're gonna get a liberal jackass for a new president, just like you know kids are going to have sex. All you can do is minimize the damage. Voting for McCain may be distasteful and feel so wrong because it's essentially an endorsement of something you don't want to endorse, but the alternative is something worse. Giving teenagers contraception feels distasteful and wrong, as it is an endorsement of something you don't want to endorse, but the alternative is unwanted pregnancies and abortions, which to me, is worse.

Something interesting to think about.

Fitna & Free Speech

Pat Condell's comments to the rage against Geert Wilder's "Fitna".
Warning: he works a bit Blue here, but it's great at showing the PC mentality and how it's being used by these radicals.
Hat tip LGF.
It's an important film, as the response to it shows it's point perfectly.
"Don't you dare call us violent or we'll kill you."

Also from LGF Fitna itself. Liveleak has put it back up and is doing work that the mainstream media is too afraid to do. They won't even admit that this film exists.

Free speech is important, offensive speech especially so. Restricting out "hateful" speech allows the most cynically abusive of the system determine what is acceptable speech. Though threats of violence and actual killings help too.