Quick Takes, May 12, 2011

ITEM: Mr. Obama has now refused to release post-mortem photos of Osama Bin Ladin, worried about how Muslims will react. May I be so bold as to suggest that one of the reasons we continue to have to fight a war for the future of civilization is that our leader from behind, our commander-in-chief from the rear, doesn’t understand that the way to win a war is to make our enemies worried--very, very worried--about what we think about their actions, not the opposite. With such fundamental errors is the future lost. You don’t like what we say or do, Mr. Jihadist? Well, let me introduce you to Mr. Hellfire missile! Perhaps we’ll invite a few of the SEALs over to have a little chat with you!

ITEM: It’s Baaaacckk! Department: From Fox News (here) comes the news of Mr. Obama’s speech in El Paso on May 10. The topic? Immigration reform, of course. Mr. Obama was, as usual, vague, pushing only the failed DREAM Act. Republicans were not impressed. Speaker of the House Boehner (R-Ohio) noted that the Congress has no plans to take up immigration issues and that if Mr. Obama was serious, he should have contacted Mr. Boehner (he hasn’t). Of course, one of Mr. Obama’s main themes was the immediate need for “reform.” Translation: Doing whatever Mr. Obama wants. Sure, why not? I mean, what could go wrong?

ITEM: Also from Fox (here) comes the news that the Texas House has passed a bill that would empower police officers in “sanctuary cities” to question detained suspects about their immigration status whether their bosses like it or not. It is expected to pass the Senate and be signed by Governor Rick Perry. The usual suspects erected the usual racial straw men. Think about it: Being in the country illegally is a violation of the law. Police officers are charged with investigating violations of the law. Hmm. Seems simple enough to me...

ITEM: Have you ever heard of the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard? No? It’s a 3” lizard that lives in Texas and New Mexico. The Center For Biological Diversity wants it placed on the endangered species list. The immediate effect would be to shut down at least 1000 drilling locations in the Permian Basin of Texas, one of America’s most productive oil and natural gas fields. This, gentle readers, is political cover for Mr. Obama who can claim to be all about increasing oil production, but whose bureaucrats throughout the government will do all that they can to obstruct development and production. And should they fail, environmental groups will use the all-too-willing courts to further obstruct. Only a tiny fraction of the species that have existed on this planet are still alive, and virtually all of those became extinct through the processes of--gasp!--nature, long before the dawn of Man. Go here for the story, but take your blood pressure medication first.

ITEM: He WHAT?! Department: From Hot Air (here) we learn that rabid environmentalist Dr. James Hansen, director of NASA’s Goddard Center is behind a lawsuit that is using teenagers as a front to sue the Federal Government for failing to protect the atmosphere. This is no doubt a part of a recent push by such environmental luminaries as self-described Communist Van Jones to give nature “human rights,” so that enviros can sue on nature’s behalf. What’s that? What the hell is a NASA honcho doing playing environmentalist on NASA time? Now now, don’t be so intolerant! His boss, NASA Head Charles Bolden thinks NASA’s main mission is to make Muslims feel good about the scientific accomplishments of long- dead ancestors. Why shouldn’t NASA underlings play environmentalist? What’s that? Who is handling space exploration? Hahahahahahaaaaaaa! You must be a Republican!

ITEM: They WHAT?! Department: From the Guardian (here) we learn of a report by British Secretary of State For The Environment Caroline Spelman that concludes that unless we utterly bankrupt the civilized world to prevent global warming, Wi-fi internet access and other means of communication will be obliterated by global warming. And the Brits used to think that Americans were slightly quaint and daft.

ITEM: Aw! Isn’t that Nice? Department: Our good friends in the war on terror, Pakistan, are now threatening to show the remaining fragments of the helicopter we destroyed in the raid on Bin Laden to their best pals, the Chinese. You know, the superpower of supermen who have to steal their technological advancements from lesser beings? Go here for the story. Remind me again why we’re giving these people billions? Remind me why we owe the farm to china?

ITEM: We Are Own Your Cell Phonz! Department: Your federal government at work, gentle readers. That’s right! In the near future, the Federal government will mandate that all new cell phones come installed with government chips that will enable to the feds to send you “emergency” messages at will. And the best part is that you won’t be able to stop them, particularly “presidential messages,” though they’re not saying just what such “presidential messages” will be. Surely Mr. Obama would never misuse such a system for political purposes? Surely such a thing has never crossed his mind. Go here for the story. Orwell didn’t go nearly far enough.

ITEM: So Mr. Obama won’t release death photos of Osama Bin Laden for all the usual, touchy-feely, we’re better than that reasons? Hmm. Recall, please, how liberals salivated over Abu Graib porn and could not fling that into the far reaches of the Internet fast enough. They didn’t seem to worry about inflaming the perpetually outraged and ready to take offense Muslim world then. One might be tempted to think that our liberal friends actually like to harm America, but won’t lift a finger to demonstrate American capability and superiority. And now we learn from our good friends at Hot Air (here) that Mr. Obama is making the Bin Laden photos available for viewing by our congresspersons. Isn’t that special! Oh well. I’m sure that 7th century homicidal barbarians will entirely change their world view in recognition of Mr. Obama’s cultural sensitivity. Isn’t that what smart diplomacy is all about?

ITEM: Transparency for Me But not for Thee Department: Another milestone from the most transparent administration in history is served up by Hot Air (here). Yes, Mr. Obama is about to sign an executive order that would force any company doing business with the government to fully disclose all political donations for the past two years, including contributions of individual officers of those companies. Even for a man whose first inclination seems to be to make ethically corrupt power grabs whenever the temperature changes, this is absolutely amazing. It is hard to imagine a more blatant attempt at political intimidation and dim-witted thuggery. Read the story, but lock up the dog. You’ll want to kick something. For the Analogy-Challenged: NO, I am not actually advocating dog-kicking. Kicking the nether regions of certain politicians, absolutely (figuratively, of course. No need for the Secret Service to call. Got that guys? Guys?) but doggies? Never! We love doggies here at CY. And kitties too.

ITEM: Airplane Rugby! From the delightful Michelle Malkin (here) comes the story of a Yemeni Muslim who charged the cockpit door of American Airlines Flight 1561 and began pounding on the door while yelling “Allahu Akbar!” That’s “God is great” in Arabic, and just happens to be what Jihadist bombers and assorted other killers routinely scream just before they slaughter innocents. Reactionary and anti-Muslim passengers and cabin crew, obviously misinterpreting his peaceful outreach to the flight crew quickly leapt upon and subdued him. DHS Chief Janet Napolitano has not commented, but if she had, I’m sure she’d observe that the system worked perfectly, you know, just like when the underwear bomber came within a few molecules of blowing a plane out of the sky? We’re in the very best of hands, but only when we rely on each other instead of waiting for witless, clueless bureaucrats to protect us.

ITEM: Campus Carry Department: Visit the Atlantic (here) for insight into the throbbing recesses of the anti-gun brain. More and more states are considering concealed carry bills for college campuses. Good on them. With the Bin Laden removal, Jihadists will be more likely to attack larger numbers of smaller, less spectacular, softer targets, like schools, and not just colleges. Capable, responsible adults are capable responsible adults on or off school property. Self- righteous anti-gunners are--to killers--easy targets, on or off school property. Asking and answering this simple question might provide a bit of clarity: An armed killer is on his way down the hallway to your child’s classroom. Do you want their teacher to be unarmed and unable to protect your child? If you honestly, truly believe your child would be better off at the mercy of a madman, I’d like a copy of video of you explaining to your child why you find subjecting them to the mercy of a homicidal madman is a good idea. Hey, live your convictions, right?

ITEM: I knew Mr. Obama was factually challenged and basically clueless about, well, just about everything, but this one takes the cake. In a May 9 speech in El Paso, Mr. Obama claimed that the border fence on our southern border was “basically complete.” Hmm. Under his administration we’ve completed a haphazard, non-standard, ineffective 670 miles out of 2000 miles. I guess that qualifies as “nearly complete,” doesn’t it? He also asked the audience if he needed to build a moat at the border to make Republicans happy. Apparently he has not heard of the Rio Grande, which has, for its entire history, been a large ditch with water in it. Visit Katie Pavlich at Townhall (here) for more.

ITEM: Well, Duh! Department: Sears, the fourth largest business in the Chicago area is courting several states in anticipation of fleeing that particular version of a people’s paradise. Illinois officials have taken some torpid notice, but it now appears likely that a major producer of the tax revenues so beloved by liberals will soon be relocating. Go here for the story. This notice follows on the heels of a recent trip to Texas by California officials to try to figure out why business are fleeing the Golden state like passengers on a sinking cruise liner. Could it be—just maybe—that socialism doesn’t work? Nah!

ITEM: John Hinderaker at Powerline (here) conducts a fine takedown of the whining of Osama Bin Laden’s male children who are upset at the mean treatment afforded dear old dad. In a just, rational world, the President of the United States would be pointing out that such people are fortunate indeed that we don’t immediately wipe them and all like them from the face of the planet. In a just, rational world. For now, rational people will have to explain, very patiently to small, liberal and Jihadist minds, why Bin Laden is not a sympathetic figure and why most Americans are disappointed that he was treated so nicely.

ITEM: At Pajamas Media, Barry Rubin (here) reports on Amr Moussa, who will almost certainly be Egypt’s next president. Moussa is certain that the Parliament, which will write Egypt’s constitution and laws, will be dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood and worse. Worse? Worse indeed. Alarming, but not surprising, is his recitation of Hillary Clinton’s lack of rational thinking in correctly categorizing the MB and its allies. As a public service, CY offers the following:

Dear Secretary of State Clinton:

The Muslim Brotherhood and all of its allies are fanatical Muslims. Islam is fundamentally incompatible with Democracy and with Christianity, Judiasim--come to think of it, Muslims routinely kill each other too. Each and every one of the people you seem unable to understand would be more than delighted to kill you because you are American, you have a high position in our government, and you are female. Each and every one of them wants to destroy America (and Israel, of course) and they won’t be mollified by your moral confusion and Muslim outreach. Got that?

We are soon to see the wages of fecklessness and dithering. Mr. Obama is a rank neophyte and far less informed and capable than his acolytes claim. The price, for all of us and for the world, will be high.

ITEM: One of the primary objections to the ObamaCare individual mandate—the requirement that all Americans buy government mandated and approved insurance policies—is that such a mandate, in effect, regulates inactivity. In simple terms, if I choose not to buy insurance, I am engaging--at most--only in thought. The government has no power to regulate thought, which is essentially inactivity. If, on the other hand, I actually enter into the process of buying insurance, then I am engaging in activity, and the government may have a more plausible claim to the power to regulate that activity. Easy to understand, right? Not so much for a three judge panel of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals which is hearing that very case. Go here for a rational article about why you are right and the judges are wrong.

ITEM: Have you wondered why California is self-combusting? Why hundreds of thousands of people and businesses by the score are fleeing that conflagration of regulation, taxation, nanny-statism and liberal lunacy? Wonder no more. Go here for a concise explanation of the horrendous and likely irreparable problems of a state that will, in the very near future, be demanding a federal bailout, a bailout Mr. Obama will move heaven and Earth to give them.

And in a related story, go here to discover the weighty issue the California Legislature is now pondering: mandating whether the sheets used on hotel beds throughout the state must be flat or fitted. And these people wonder why California is in such trouble. The legislators involved couldn’t say “this isn’t the state’s business?” I could easily add many more examples of similar idiocy, but at CY, we look out for your mental health and voluntarily impose a weekly outrage limit. Consider, gentle readers, that this is the mindset that now occupies the Executive Branch.

ITEM: Louis Renault Award of the Week: From Hot Air (here) comes the news that the General Accounting Office (GAO) is accusing the Obama Administration of ignoring science and playing environmental politics in shutting down the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Depository in Nevada last year. Even if the process to begin a new depository elsewhere was begun today, it would cost untold billions and take a minimum of 20 years to navigate the red tape. I don’t know about you, but I was shocked, shocked! at the notion that Mr. Obama would not put science back in its rightful place in government. Surely this cannot be true! Yeah, it is--and don’t call me Shirley.

ITEM: First Lady Michelle Obama has invited Rapper “Common” to the White House for a “poetry event,” sparking a bit of controversy (here). Common, it seems, is a good pal of the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, of “God Damn America,” and thrown under the Obama bus after Mr. Obama said he could not more abandon him than his own white grandmother. Kerthump! Oh yes, and his raps celebrate killers and radicals, and denigrate women, you know, the usual. I’m inclined to cut the White House some slack on this one. After all, considering the Socialists, Communists, racists, corruptocrats and other flora and fauna that inhabit the White House on a daily basis, this guy is a neophyte at best.

ITEM: Louis Renault Award, Housing Industry Division: I was shocked, shocked! to learn from Hot Air (here) that the homebuyer tax credits thrown wildly about to compound the problems the Democrats created by forcing banks to issue home loans to people who couldn’t afford them have actually been an enormous failure, not only to the homebuyers, but to the taxpayers. Who’da thunk it? Actually, just about anyone who knows anything about economics and/or real estate.

ITEM: You are, I’m sure, up to speed on the NLRB/Boeing case wherein Boeing has already spent billions to open a new plant for its advanced 787 Dreamliner in South Carolina, and the NLRB, dominated by union minions, has filed a complaint against Boeing to prevent the opening of the plant in the non-union state. Go here to read Jennifer Rubin’s informative article in The Washington Post. This is an important issue that provides a small peek into America’s future if Mr. Obama gets a second term. It’s not pretty. If the Republican’s don’t exploit this for 2012, they’re well, Republicans.

ITEM: In a past edition of QTs, we reported on the frisking of a six-year-old by alert and professional child molesters employed by the TSA. Go here for additional photographs of another frisk of another 6-year-old, an 8-year-old and of the diaper--I am not making this up--of a toddler. The TSA is, of course, defending these blue-suited pederasts. It is also most annoying that the story does not appear in American media, but in the Daily Mail of England. I'm more security minded than most and can usually suggest why security personnel might have done a given thing that seems, to the uninitiated, outrageous. Here, I'm drawing a blank. Look at the photos and tell me if you can do any better. If the Republicans don’t make an issue of this for 2012, they’re doubly Republicans.

ITEM: Go here to Commentary for a great--but lengthy--article by George Russell that outlines the cases of several domestic terrorists, pals of William Ayers, good friend and political crony of Barack Obama. Russell explores several inexplicable Clinton pardons and provides an interesting look into one of the more despicable undercurrents of the Left. This, gentle readers, is one of the fetid pools in which Mr. Obama learned his political craft.

ITEM: I knew it! If the Republicans took back the House, all manner of chaos would erupt: Global warming going berserk, people coming to expect affordable gasoline and food, terrorist heros being captured and killed, but this, this is just too much. Yes, the Michigan cops have arrested Batman! Go here for the shocking story and a sweat-stained bat-costume. Holy Five-Day Deodorant-Pads, Batman!

And with that, I must, once again, thank you for dropping by and urge you to come back next week, same bat-time, same bat-channel!