Sunday, January 31, 2010

Hugo Chavez and his thugs

What the liberals and socialist from Amherst to Cambridge choose to ignore: Hugo Chavez and violence against protesters. Joe Kennedy call your office.

Is it time again to boycott Citgo?

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Ron Radosh on Howard Zinn

The "historian" as propagandist. Ron Radosh, speaks truth to the legacy of Howard Zinn.
From Zinn's perspective, history should not be told from the standpoints of generals or presidents, but through that of people who struggle for their rights, who engage in strikes, boycotts, slave rebellions and the like. Its purpose should be to encourage similar behavior today. Indeed, Zinn candidly said that history was not about "understanding the past," but rather, about "changing the future." That statement alone should have disqualified anyone from referring to him as a historian.
Howard Zinn presented a pedestrian view of American history, a view that found popularizers in small minds like Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Ultimately it was insulting to both the profession and the people he championed. The future may need changing but what history has shown is the alternative systems, socialism and communism, no doubt favorites of Zinn, were wisely relegated to the dustbins. The historical illiteracy we face today is part of Zinn's legacy.

More on Zinn here

Friday, January 22, 2010

The meaning of Scott Brown

D.R. Tucker:
There was a collective sigh of relief from the blue-state right on Tuesday night. For years, conservatives and Republicans in overwhelmingly Democratic states had to live their lives in fear and shame, having been convicted without trial on charges of ignorance and intolerance. They suffered in silence, realizing that they could not convince ideologically rigid progressives that they too, believed in equality, fairness and diversity, disagreeing only on the manner through which such goals should be achieved.

Now, in the wake of Brown’s victory, they can finally live in peace and freedom, acknowledging their true selves and affirming their true identities. They can finally march down the street in a parade of patriotic pride.

Brown will forever be a hero to blue-state conservatives. He embodies what conservatism actually is: upbeat, hopeful, forward-thinking, energetic. For too long, progressive activists and Democratic strategists have raised the specter of sulking, snarling, scowling Southern conservatives as a means of scaring people away from conservative and Republican ideas; they will no longer be able to get away with such attacks. Brown has demonstrated that an optimistic person from any part of the country can find merit in the right’s core philosophy.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Monday, January 18, 2010

Cato weighs in on gay marriage

The Moral and Constitutional Case for a Right to Gay Marriage | Robert A. Levy | Cato Institute: Commentary
No compelling reason has been proffered for sanctioning heterosexual but not homosexual marriages. Nor is a ban on gay marriage a close fit for attaining the goals cited by proponents of such bans. If the goal, for example, is to strengthen the institution of marriage, a more effective step might be to bar no-fault divorce and premarital cohabitation. If the goal is to ensure procreation, then infertile and aged couples should be precluded from marriage.

Instead, most states have implemented an irrational and unjust system that provides significant benefits to just-married heterosexuals while denying benefits to a male or female couple who have enjoyed a loving, committed, faithful and mutually reinforcing relationship over several decades. That's not the way it has to be. Government benefits triggered by marriage could just as easily be triggered by other objective criteria, leaving the definition of marriage in the hands of private institutions.

In honor of Dr. King

Required reading: Letter from a Birmingham Jail.

Sunday, January 10, 2010