In Major Gaffe, Obama Forgets To Dumb It Down...The Onion
- Political correctness can be dangerous as evidenced throughout history. For example, in 1930's Germany, it was politically correct to condone violence against Jews. In most Communist countries, their citizens were required to tow the "party line."(Hence, the infamous "re-education camps in Cambodia and Vietnam in the 1970's). And we know what the outcome of that philosophy was---it resulted in the murder of millions. The same can be said with Islamists today. For example, Christians throughout the Islamic world are being murdered every day (our media generally neglects to cover that news, because it's politically incorrect according to them).
- So I believe it comes as no surprise when I proclaim those who are politically incorrect are the individuals and groups with courage and guts to go against the "party line."
- I often wonder what the civil rights environment would be today if it wasn't for Martin Luther King, Jr. and many others if they weren't politically incorrect. After all, at one time, segregation was politically correct.
- I often wonder what the old Eastern Europe would look like today if its courageous citizens weren't politically incorrect.
- I wonder if the Ft. Hood massacre could have been avoided if our military and government had not ignored Hassan's political and religious ideology for politically correct reasons.
- I often wonder how many reputations would not have been ruined if it was not for political correctness as evidenced in the Duke Lacrosse cases, the Tawana Brawley hoax and so many other similar cases.
- And I believe we're watching the same phenomena playing out with the debate on climate change and illegal immigration.
"Well, Time To Go Out In Front Of A Bunch Of People And Lie To Them" by Jay Carney via The Onion
- One of the reasons I believe we're seeing Pres. Obama's poll numbers tanking (at this point in time) is simple: Many more Americans are starting to realize and understand they've been played.
- Examples are many, but one in particular stands out. When Obama was campaigning he pandered to a lot of different constituencies. But no where was this more evident than in his overtures to young voters. Obama won their vote by a margin of about 65% to 32% in 2008 and in 2012. He curried favor with young people with ObamaCare and education.
- With ObamaCare, he made it possible for young people to remain on their parents' health plans until age 26. Young folks thought that was cool until they found out there was a cost for that---to their parents. With education, he made loans more easy to access. Unfortunately, that strategy led to the average outstanding debt loan for students to now be about $25,000 (total outstanding student loan debt now exceeds $1 trillion more than all credit card debt combined).
IRS has ruled Obama can write off the first half of his second term as a total loss...Leno
- Several weeks ago I wrote a piece asking the question whether Snowden is a hero or traitor. As a result of recent revelations, I find myself questioning his real motives. The recent revelations include his admission yesterday he took the job as a NSA contractor to specifically get access to classified information and documents. It's also been reported he plans on leaking more classified information. Moreover, take a look at his travel plans. They've included such "freedom" loving nations as Communist China, Russia, Cuba and Ecuador. Who knows where he will eventually end up but I believe he's showed his hand. The bottom line for me is he's also jeopardized our national security. If he took an oath or pledge to protect classified information, then he also violated that oath. In other words, Snowden had access to classified information because he swore not to reveal it and then he did. That's a crime.
- Moreover, there are no guarantees that the release of this information could end up in the hands of terrorist or terrorist nations.
- But, for a moment, let's take a look at the overt hypocrisy coming from the political class.
- Eight years ago, former White House national security advisor under Bill Clinton, Sandy Berger, was busted for intentionally removing and destroying copies of classified documents. He was unauthorized to do so. In fact, he stole this information from the National Archives. He stuck the documents down his pants, in his socks and for all we know, up his ass. What was his punishment? Basically a slap on the wrist. He received some probation, a fine and he was stripped of his national security clearance for a whopping three years.
- More recently, we've witnessed James Clapper, National Intelligence Director, lie to Congress when he was asked: "Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans?" His response to that question? "No sir...Not wittingly." Yet, he has not been held accountable. There have been people held accountable for lesser lies than this bodacious one by Clapper.
- To date, we have not seen anyone held accountable for the excesses of the IRS and DOJ. Even more disturbing, we've not seen anyone held accountable for Benghazi and Fast and Furious.
- Keep in mind, although it appears there might be evidence of illegalities on the part of the IRS snooping, even Snowden's revelations have not shown any illegalities on the part of the NSA---at least not up to this point. In addition, unlike the IRS, there has been no evidence of political type snooping---again, at least not as of today.
- But I continue to remain conflicted as do many other Americans. Yes, Snowden revealed information he should not have revealed. But it was information that showed the government's massive intrusion into our lives (I also agree we knew the government did this sort of thing, but I don't believe we knew it was to such a considerable and vast extent).
- To some degree, he did Americans a service albeit he's going to have to pay a price. But a more serious question remains: will Americans pay a price for his revelations too?
During the summer all scandals will be reruns. That's a programming reminder from the White House...Letterman
In short, the concept of the "Broken Windows" theory suggests that a society that appears to be lawless will breed more lawlessness. One of the best examples of this theory was an experiment done about 40 years ago by a study group at Stanford. They took two vehicles. One was parked in a section of the Bronx, NY (not far from the neighborhood in which I grew up) and another in Palto Alto, CA. Both vehicles were in the same condition. The car left in the Bronx was attacked by vandals in a matter of a few hours. The vehicle in Palto Alto was left untouched for over a week. But the experiment did not end there. When the researchers damaged the car in California themselves (by breaking the windows): shortly thereafter, it too was vandalized. The same phenomena can be seen in neglected neighborhoods.
Several decades later, the theory was put into practice in New York City by then Major Giuliani. The city started rolling out zero tolerance for such crimes graffiti, fare evasion, public intoxication, squeegee window washers (these creeps would approach your car at a light and quickly was your windshield and then demand payment. Unfortunately many drivers who refused to give these guys money ended up in altercations with the squeegee guys some violent) and littering. In other words, by targeting smaller crimes; it was theorized more serious offenses would be curtailed. For New York City, it appears that approached was successful since crime fell significantly during that period.
So how does this theory relate to the nation as a whole? I believe we're seeing our government's neglect in repairing "broken windows" resulting in consequences we are all now witnessing.
For example, the Obama administration's failure (as well as Congress) to first target improving the economy within the first two years of this administration resulted in high unemployment, high poverty rates and a record number of people on food stamps. In addition, about 1 in 2 college graduates have been unable to find meaningful full-time jobs. In other words, I liken the poor economy to broken windows. If those "windows" were repaired earlier instead of focusing on ObamaCare for the first 13 months of the administration, the economy might be in much better shape than it is now.
The same can be said for all the scandals we are currently observing. Instead of opening the "windows" or being more transparent, the Obama administration finds itself trapped within the IRS, DOJ, State Department, Benghazi, Fast and Furious and NSA scandals. In order for these to be repaired, the windows in Washington need to be thrown wide open. But it appears the administration still refuses to do so.
I also contend the president's recent road trip to Europe was a failure because of his many missteps in foreign policy. Even the foreign press referred to Pres. Obama as "just another lame duck." Our current debate on illegal immigration certainly shows the policy is full of broken windows whose repair has been neglected for decades.
These scandals and total incompetence shown by both the Obama administration and Congress have all be self-inflicted. And until we see these political elites embrace accountability in government, we're going to see more broken windows. And we already know what the outcome will be by just revisiting history.
Postscript:
Since this was posted, the IRS scandal has grown wider and the VA scandal broke
