Someone needs a reality check if this can be compared to the Tea Party.
There is no comparison – NONE. Tea party people don’t crap on police cars. They don’t prod and provoke the police. They don’t leave trash when they go home. And they go home at the end of the day because they have LIVES and jobs.
Tea party people bring lawn chairs and bottled water and signs for the day and then they LEAVE. They don’t stay and make the neighbors lives miserable with drum circles and chants. They don’t stay and harm the economy of the small business people in the area. And when they leave, they leave it cleaner than when they arrived.
Finally, the stupid Mayor is coming to his senses. Be sure and watch the video at this site too:
NEW YORK — Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Friday accused the Wall Street demonstrators of trying to cripple New York City’s economy.
“What they’re trying to do is take the jobs away from people working in this city,” the mayor declared in his harshest criticism of the three-week-old protest that has caught the attention of the nation.
“They’re trying to take away the tax base we have because none of this is good for tourism.”
Although he expressed sympathy for “some of their complaints,” Bloomberg warned that addressing them has to be accomplished “without hurting people and making the problem worse.”
“If the jobs they are trying to get rid of in this city — the people that work in finance, which is a big part of our economy — we’re not going to have any money to pay our municipal employees or clean the blocks or anything else.”
The mayor’s comments came in response to a caller to his WOR Radio show who asked what the city intended to do about the protest headquarters in Zuccotti Park, which is near her apartment and where hundreds of people are camped out.
“What about my rights to use the park?” asked the caller, named Marsha.
“This is a little bit of greenery that we reclaimed after Sept. 11. It’s not usable. There is a general sense of incivility down there. But worst of all are the drums and the shouting. I know they’ve agreed to stop the drumming. Last night they were drumming until 10:45. Someone did a little practice drumming this morning at 7:50.”
“We couldn’t agree more,” replied the mayor.
“We are trying to deal with this in a way that doesn’t make the problem grow and protects everybody’s rights.”
He hinted that the city is hoping the protest peters out on its own.
“I think we let some of this — not play out, isn’t quite the right word, but let them express themselves,” said Bloomberg.
President Barack Obama on Thursday defended the protesters, saying they expressed “the frustrations that the American people feel. People are frustrated and the protesters are giving voice to a more broad-based frustration about how our financial system works.”
The United States is still different [from European states]. In the wake of economic meltdown, the decadent youth of France rioted over the most modest of proposals to increase the retirement age. Elderly “students” in Britain attacked the heir to the throne’s car over footling attempts to constrain bloated, wasteful and pointless “university” costs. Everywhere from Iceland to Bulgaria angry mobs besieged their parliaments demanding the same thing: Why didn’t you the government do more for me? America was the only nation in the developed world where millions of people took to the streets to tell the state: I can do just fine if you control-freak statists would shove your non-stimulating stimulus, your jobless jobs bill and your multitrillion dollar porkathons and just stay the hell out of my life and my pocket.
That’s the America that has a fighting chance – a nation that stands for economic dynamism, not the stagnant “managed capitalism” of France, for the freest, widest, rudest bruiting of ideas, not Canadian-style government regulation of approved opinion: for self-relience and the Second Amendment, not the security state in which Britons are second only to North Koreans in the number of times they’re photographed by government cameras in the course of going about their daily business. But when you hit the expressway to Declinistan there are few exit ramps. That America’s animating principles should require a defense at all is a melancholy reflection on how far we’ve already gone. Live free – or die from a thousand soothing caresses of nanny-state sirens.
Like I said, if you want a happy ending, it’s up to you.
Your call, America.
from After America: Get Ready for Armageddon by Mark Steyn
Last week, on Hannity’s radio show he discussed a recent column by Jeffery Lord/The American Spectator, called American Tipping Point. In it, Lord discusses Malcolm Gladwell’s book Tipping Point and makes comparisons to America’s tipping points at different times in our history and the rise of conservatism and the Tea Party.
Lord says that: Thanks to the Tea Party movement, Conservatism is on the verge of a major victory that dwarfs the technical and actual realities of whatever the details of the resulting deficit deal passed last night. Yes, there is a long, long way to go. But the idea that America doesn’t, in fact, have to be governed for eternity as a debtor nation with a mammoth, out-of-control, ever-expanding government is winning the day. It is tipping the balance with increasing decisiveness against an idea that has become so much a part of conventional wisdom that even some conservatives, startlingly including, inexplicably, the Wall Street Journal, have displayed the wobblies at the thought of confronting the Leviathan. The WSJ’s attacks yesterday against Jim DeMint, Michele Bachmann and Sean Hannity, saying “sooner or later the GOP had to give up the hostage” — follows another editorial in which the paper railed against Tea Party members as “hobbits.” The paper, sounding like cranky British Tories in 1775 Boston rather than the bold, forward-looking paper that championed the much-derided ideas of Ronald Reagan, wildly bought into the liberal notion that the Tea Party from Hobbitville is somehow holding the government hostage, instead of the other way around. In fact Big Government liberalism has spent decades holding and trying to hold the average American hostage to all manner of outrageous tax rates, taxes and regulations on everything from capital gains to sex (in Harry Reid’s Nevada) to soda, SUVs and poker.
Lord chronicles the rise of conservatism from Senator Robert Taft’s strident opposition to FDR’s mega New Deal in the 30’s, through William F. Buckley to the great Ronald Reagan to Mark Levin’s landmark best seller and Tea Party bible, Liberty and Tyranny and how all these little, or sometimes large events, are causing a tipping point in American history. He says that conservatism is spreading almost like a virus: in Gladwell’s vocabulary, “connectors” — “people with a particular and rare set of social gifts” who have the ability to “spread” an idea like an epidemic, a Tipping Point is in the works. Henry Regnery, for example, published and made a star of Buckley, who befriended Reagan who inspired Limbaugh, who was befriended by Buckley and placed on the cover of National Review, with Limbaugh in turn aiding Hannity and Levin and Levin’s book inspiring the Tea Party etc., etc.
Reading Lord, once again gave me hope. And reminded me that in Beck’s words, we are not alone. Most of America is conservative to some degree. Most of Americans want to be or remain at least, middle class and we see that vanishing under Obama’s ideology. Most of America finds communism (call it socialism or European socialism but it’s still a form of communism) to be antithetical to the fundamentals of our beliefs and our founding. And most of America will fight it.
I hope they don’t think for a minute that we will forget being called racists, nazis, homophobes, Hobbits and terrorists. We will not. The real revolution will occur on November 6th, 2012 – bloodless, gunless and in a voting booth. They are being fore warned and to disregard the tipping point signs will be at their own peril.
It’s a must-read by Lord and I hope you will take the time to read it.
Oh my God, Harry Reid really does appear to be losing his mind.
“Republicans don’t want women to have cancer screenings.” Of course Harry, Republicans want to kill everyone, including those women in their own party.
“All those folks that wanted to go on vacation, won’t be able to. Yellowstone will be closed.” You’re right Harry, they can’t afford the GAS!!!!
“There is no federal money used for abortions.” Oh really? And who pays the rent and utilities on those Planned Parenthood clinics? Last I knew it was taxpayers.
And that was just as much as I could stand to watch.
It’s hard to believe that anyone buys his bullshit but obviously he won the last election, so someone in Nevada does. And do Americans understand that he is standing before them and telling them that the dems are holding up this bill because they are worried about cancer screenings? Seriously? Does anyone really believe this?
They are holding up this bill to make the Republicans look like the bad guys. Plain and simple. Schumer has said it. Pelosi has said it and Harry has said it – when he’s been in his right mind. And guess what? It won’t sell and it won’t sell next year. They hold up this bill, that pays our soldiers through the year, they will pay politically for it next year – not the Republicans.
Cowboy poetry? There’s a political ad dying to be made…
When union leaders negotiate with a politician, they’re negotiating with someone they can hire and fire. Public unions have numbers and money, and politicians need both. And politicians fear strikes because the public hates them. When governors negotiate with unions, it’s not collective bargaining, it’s more like collusion. Someone said last week the taxpayers aren’t at the table. The taxpayers aren’t even in the room.
As for unions looking out for the little guy, that’s not how it’s looking right now. Right now the little guy is the public school pupil whose daily rounds take him from a neglectful family to an indifferent teacher who can’t be removed. The little guy is the beleaguered administrator whose attempts at improvement are thwarted by unions. The little guy is the private-sector worker who doesn’t have a good health-care plan, who barely has a pension, who lacks job security, and who is paying everyone else’s bills. Peggy Noonan/WSJ
And then there’s this:
Last year, for example, the Open Society Foundation, backed by liberal financier George Soros, gave NPR $1.8 million to help support the latter’s plan to hire an additional 100 reporters. When NPR receives million-dollar gifts from Mr. Soros, it is an insult to taxpayers when other organizations, such as MoveOn.org demand that Congress “save NPR and PBS” by guaranteeing “permanent funding and independence from partisan meddling,” as the liberal interest group did last month. It was even more insulting when PBS posted a message on Twitter thanking MoveOn.org—the group that once labeled Gen. David Petraeus as “General Betray Us”—for the help. Senator Jim DeMint/WSJ
It’s becoming fun to watch the taxpayer funded arts, entertainment and ‘news’ entities in this country run scared from what they believe will be the Republican axe come January.
Right on the heels of the firing of Juan Williams and the public demands to cut tax dollars to NPR, several weeks ago PBS cut a segment of Tina Fey’s acceptance speech at the Kennedy Center. (You can watch the entire thing here, but her disparaging comments about Sarah Palin and conservative women starts at around 12 minutes.)
“And, you know, politics aside, the success of Sarah Palin and women like her is good for all women – except, of course –those who will end up, you know, like, paying for their own rape ‘kit ‘n’ stuff,” Fey said. “But for everybody else, it’s a win-win. Unless you’re a gay woman who wants to marry your partner of 20 years – whatever. But for most women, the success of conservative women is good for all of us. Unless you believe in evolution. You know – actually, I take it back. The whole thing’s a disaster.”
As a warning, this is extremely disturbing and graphic, both sexually and violently. I was hesitant to post it. But this is what Christians, the general public and children can see at the National Portrait Gallery:
Bowing to pressure from the Catholic League and fears of cuts in tax funding by the Republicans, the powers at the National Portrait Gallery (part of the Smithsonian Institution) have pulled an “art video” depicting an image of Christ on the cross, covered in ants. William Donohue, president of the Catholic League calls this hate speech (a term I personally hate) that is meant to offend and insult Christians. Congressman John Boehner’s spokesman, Kevin Smith, called this exhibit a “misuse of taxpayer dollars.”
“American families have a right to expect better from recipients of taxpayer funds in a tough economy,” Smith said. “While the amount of money involved may be small, it’s symbolic of the arrogance Washington routinely applies to thousands of spending decisions involving Americans’ hard-earned money.”
In defense of it’s decision to display this homoerotic exhibit, the National Gallery is quick to point out that the $750,000 in funding came from private donations, not taxpayer dollars. But if the gallery itself, which IS funded by taxes and the employees that are also paid with that same money, didn’t exist, neither would this exhibit.
Chris Edwards, director of tax policy studies at the Cato Institute and a former senior economist on the congressional Joint Economic Committee, told CNSNews.com, “If the Smithsonian didn’t have the taxpayer-funded building, they would have no space to present the exhibit, right? In my own view, if someone takes taxpayer money, then I think the taxpayers have every right to question the institutions where the money’s going.” (CNSNews.com)
Keep in mind that this exhibit is open to the public and in fact, the National Gallery had a family weekend this fall, encouraging parents to bring their children and engage in hands on activities after their tour. (As an aside, this does give new meaning to the term “hands on.”)
This is part of what children got to see:
Another piece in the exhibit is a 1994 photograph (from a triptych) entitled “Brotherhood, Crossroads, Etcetera” by Lyle Ashton Harris. The “Hide/Seek” catalog says that Harris created the piece in collaboration with his brother, Thomas Allen Harris.
“In this provocative center image, the brothers exchange a passionate kiss as Thomas presses a gun into Lyle’s chest–conjuring the original biblical story of Cain’s treachery toward his brother, Abel,” states the catalog description (p. 265) of the piece. (also from CNSNews.com)
I’ve taken my kids to countless exhibits and museums over the years. They’ve had the privilege to see Picasso, Michelangelo and Rembrandt, as well as many other great artists. Really, I don’t have a problem with this stuff. I take that back, I do have a problem with this stuff, now that I’ve seen that video. This is more outrageous and disturbing than I first thought.
I do not advocate censorship, except where it pertains to my parental rights. As a parent, I have the right of censorship over what my young kids saw, heard and read. And I chose to pay for what they saw, heard and read.
The distinction here is that I am paying for art that I do not want to pay for: art that I would not want my kids to be exposed to: art that, in the words of Donohue, I find offensive and insulting. And why is it okay to insult Christians? The liberal art cliche would never be exhibiting art that is offensive to Muslims – mainly out of fear of physical harm and not because it’s simply inappropriate, immoral and unacceptable. And why do this during the Christmas season?
I do think that Bill Donohue is on to something here. As much as I hate the term “hate speech” because it smacks of censorship that I think should only be limited to individual choices and not government intervention, this is the way to fight this kind of thing. Again, this is an insulting and offensive exhibit to a great many American taxpayers, including me and this is not where I choose to spend my money.
Tax payer funded institutions like the Smithsonian and NPR, are not in a position to decide what is acceptable and appropriate to the public – the public makes that decision because the public is funding them. If they want the freedom to exhibit whatever they want – pornographic, anti-Christian, whatever – then they should not be funded by the American people. There is plenty of private funding out there that they can secure.
NPR said it’s “imperative” that it receives federal funding in light of a recommended cuts by the leaders of President Obama’s fiscal commission.
“Federal funding has been a central component of public radio stations’ ability to serve audiences across the country,” NPR said in a statement. “It’s imperative for funding to continue to ensure that this essential tool of democracy survives and thrives well into the future.”
If this is so “‘essential” to American democracy, then it should survive in the open market. Why it is that talk shows like Rush, Beck, Hannity and Levin can all sustain themselves without federal aide but AirAmerica went belly up? Could it be that there is virtually no market for liberal radio? Just like newspapers and magazines, radio money comes from selling advertising. If any talk show can’t get ad dollars because no one is listening, that’s not the taxpayers problem. Conservative radio stands or falls on it’s own, so should liberal radio.
Maybe Vivian Schiller should have thought of how “imperative” that funding is to NPR before she had an underling fire Juan Williams and then inferred that he was in need of psychiatric help.
Firing Williams because he was a commentator on Fox News unmasked the hypocrisy of NPR and the desire to restrict free speech when it’s not YOUR speech certainly harmed NPR in the eyes of most Americans. But beyond that, financing public broadcasting is a waste of tax dollars. We can all survive without PBS and NPR.
“Brace yourselves, because the war with Muslims has just begun,” 31-year-old Faisal Shahzad told a federal judge. “Consider me the first droplet of the blood that will follow.”
Stop Sharia in America
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Obamas Wisdom and Terror in the Street
"We can absorb a terrorist attack. We'll do everything we can to prevent it, but even a 9/11, even the biggest attack ever...we absorbed it and we are stronger."
Diary of a Mad Conservative 