“When faced with monsters, we have to be monstrous ourselves.” Well, no, but even if it were so, think one step deeper: What happens when the monsters are merely in your mind? When they are ordinary politicians whose views you so strongly reject that you have to elevate them into monsters to explain to yourself why they could hold such mistaken views?
This is the blade by which politics turns to bloodshed.
As any brief perusal of the leftosphere will demonstrate, this is alarmingly the rule rather than the exception. It was easy to dismiss this as lunacy in 2004 — has it gotten any better in the years since?
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Intel has just invented a way to transmit electricity wirelessly via magnetic fields. It doesn’t seem as if this innovation is going to be on the market anytime soon, but the technology certainly is cool.
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Can you name the European dictator that invaded and absorbed territory in the name of allowing all its ethnic peoples to live under one unified state?
You could… you might see parallels:
“Tarzan Kokoity, the province’s Deputy Speaker of parliament, announced that South Ossetia would be absorbed into Russia soon so that its people could live in “one united Russian state” with their ethnic kin in North Ossetia.
The declaration came only three days after Russia defied international criticism and recognised South Ossetia and Georgia’s other separatist region of Abkhazia as independent states. Eduard Kokoity, South Ossetia’s leader, agreed that it would form part of Russia within “several years” during talks with Dmitri Medvedev, the Russian President, in Moscow.
How this violation of Georgian territorial integrity will be met by NATO — or more specifically, the European Union (and France, who brokered the cease fire) — will have far reaching implications for states such as Belarus, Ukraine, or any other nation with a sizeable Russian minority.
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Finally, the Catholic Bishops are starting to get a little tired being told by politicians what Catholics should believe about who is fit to receive the Eucharist. Devenr Archbishop Charles Chaput slams Nancy Pelosi’s henious remarks on Meet the Press :
Chaput and Denver Auxiliary Bishop James D. Conley called Pelosi “a gifted public servant of strong convictions and many professional skills,” in a statement posted on the Denver archdiocese’s Web site.
“Regrettably,” they added, “knowledge of Catholic history and teaching does not seem to be one of them. . . . [Abortion] is always gravely evil, and so are the evasions employed to justify it.”
Where this gets creepy, though, is the persistent focus on Cantor’s faith. We should associate Cantor with Abramoff, the Democrats tell us, because “Both Abramoff and Cantor are Jewish”. Then we get this item that is supposed to make us fear Cantor:
At Fundraiser, Jack Abramoff Named Sandwich After Eric Cantor — Cantor Asked To Switch Sandwiches. “At a January 2003 fundraiser for Cantor, who had just become chief deputy whip, Abramoff unveiled the Eric Cantor sandwich, ‘a tuna-based stacker,’ which, lamentably, was ‘not quite [the] power lunch befitting’ the only Jewish Republican in the House. Hence a request by Cantor … to switch his eponymous sandwich to roast beef on challah, ‘a deli special that exudes Jewish power.'(LINK)
Oooh, that scary Jewish sandwich power! Head for the hills!
In fact, in a webpage that runs just 660 words, the word “Jewish” appears five times, which I suppose in some circles is a really devastating indictment of Cantor.
Creepy is right, and it’s not the first time Democrats have sunk to such depths. But what is more worrisome is this seeming obsession with Jews is becoming oddly mainstream within certain circles of the Democratic Party.
UPDATE x3: In completely unrelated news, Lowell Feld over at Raising Kaine (guess it’s OK to say Raising Kaine now that the Virginia Governor stands a better-than-even-shot at becoming the Democratic VP nominee) condones ratcheting up that vile sort of confrontational-style politics, to the point where Lowell calls conservatives “evil” while asserting this position like some bizarre Russian dictator:
What amazes me is that it’s SOOOOOO hard for political “insiders” to understand this. Let me boil it down for supposedly “brilliant” political insiders – here’s what you should be saying over and over again: “McCain=Bush”; McCain is a hothead; McCain is unstable; McCain is clueless and borderline senile; McCain is a warmonger who thinks you’re all a bunch of whiners in a “mental recession;” McCain does NOT represent change…certainly not for the better; Conservatism is inherently evil. Read Thomas Frank’s latest book, “The Wrecking Crew,” if you are unclear on that concept.
This applies, by the way, to ALL Democrats running for office this year. It also applies to what our approach to Joe “Benedict Arnold” Lieberman should be. Here’s my message to Harry Reid: pick up the phone right now, call Joe Lieberman, say the following: “F*** YOU, you traitorous SOB, you are OUTTA HERE!” The general message? Democrats do not put up with traitors. We are strong. We are ruthless. We are not going to take any crap. Don’t f*** with us. End of story. Fight or die.
Guess fear really is a foreign policy. Still, one has to wonder where such attacks as these are condoned or merely explained away… because they certainly have been in the past.
UPDATE x4: And before we go running off revising history, let’s review George Washington professor Mark Feldstein’s reaction to the anti-Semitic flyer the Webb campaign tossed around — not against Lieberman (though could it be?) but against one of their very own in a primary no less:
“That doesn’t look so good. There’s no question to me that’s replete with anti-Semitic stereotypes,” said Mark Feldstein, an associate professor of media and public affairs at George Washington University. “I’m not someone who readily cries anti-Semitism, but I think it’s hard to look at this and not see a number of anti-Semitic stereotypes plugged into this ad, from the hook nose to the ‘antichrist’ to the money-grubbing character.
Either it’s nipped in the bud now, or if Kaine becomes the Vice-Presidential nominee in the next few days there will be serious questions to answer about this negative, nasty, and downright senseless style of campaigning.
UPDATE x5: Timothy over at I’m Surrounded by Idiots observes how the Democrats seem to be surrounded by anti-Semites:
Do the Dems think that there was a conspiracy about people of Jewish faith?
That sounds something from The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
Or Hitler.
Indeed.
This is getting hot. I’m starting to get some angry e-mails from people outraged over this memo from the DNC… rightly so.
All speak of the same concerns, and the same confusion. They do not understand why some people disparage them as “illegals” or “criminals.” They do not understand why federal officials are pressing criminal identity theft charges against many of the detained immigrants, who say they did not know they were buying stolen information.
“I wish people could put themselves in our situation for one moment. What would they do if they were poor, if they were in dire need? Wouldn’t they risk coming here as well?” asked Maria Ruiz, whose 5-year-old son was born in this country. “I wish that the hearts of people with hearts of stone, of ice, the people of ICE, could be transformed into good hearts. We came here to work, not to do harm to anyone.”
ICE officials defend the raid, saying the workers arrested were violating immigration laws and committing identity theft.
“They are serious offenses and we will not apologize for enforcing the nation’s laws. If 305 U.S. citizens had committed identity theft and misuse of Social Security numbers, would people expect us to look the other way?” said Tim Counts, an ICE spokesman. “Any disruption, whether to families or communities, should be put at the feet of those who violate the law.”
In tests earlier this month at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, Boeing’s Advanced Tactical Laser — a modified C-130H aircraft — “fired its high-energy chemical laser through its beam control system. The beam control system acquired a ground target and guided the laser beam to the target, as directed by ATL’s battle management system.”
“By firing the laser through the beam control system for the first time, the ATL team has begun to demonstrate the functionality of the entire weapon system integrated aboard the aircraft,” Boeing exec Scott Fancher said, in a statement.
The WIRED article above isn’t too keen on the ray gun (seems as if it will allow us to do nefarious things… like destroy enemy equipment without actually engaging):
For example, they say it can either destroy a vehicle completely, or just damage the tires to immobilize it. The illustration shows a theoretical 26-second engagement in which the beam deftly destroys “32 tires, 11 Antennae, 3 Missile Launchers, 11 EO devices, 4 Mortars, 5 Machine Guns” — while avoiding harming a truckload of refugees and the soldiers guarding them.
Yeah. That’s totally not cool. Disabling tanks without civilian casualties… how absurd.
The New Scientist has all the “how tos” and such. Not only is there a massive cool factor in this, it’s a huge leap in how American’s military can project force and protect lives.
I don’t care what you think of her politics: her staff nailed the website. Reminds me of former Governor Warner’s Senate announcement (and website)… the video is excellent.
The kicker? No where is it self-evident that she is a Democrat.
