Author: Donald Douglas

During my first few days of the semester this week I was afforded an unusual opportunity to engage in a discussion on “deliberative democracy,” the theme of my textbook, from Joseph Bessette and John Pitney, American Government and Politics: Deliberation, Democracy, and Citizenship. And as announced by the publisher, a key element of the the […]

At communist Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now!, “Tucson Shooting Survivor: ‘It Looks Like Palin, Beck, Sharron Angle and the Rest Got Their First Target’.” (Via Memeorandum.) PREVIOUSLY: “Harvard’s Jill Lepore Ties Jared Loughner to Tea Party ‘Constitution Worship’.” CROSS-POSTED from AMERICAN POWER. RELATED: At Politico, “Tucson shooting victim blames Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Sharron Angle,” and […]

See, “Harvard’s Jill Lepore Ties Jared Loughner to Tea Party ‘Constitution Worship’.” And breaking developments throughout the evening at American Power. RELATED: At The Other McCain, “How to Talk to a Follower of the Zeitgeist Cult (If You Must).”

At LAT, “Funeral Held for Christina Green, 9-Year-Old Victim of Tucson Shooting“: The U.S. flag that flew atop the World Trade Center is displayed at the service for Christina Taylor Green, who was born on Sept. 11, 2001. ‘I felt I had to be here to pay my respects,’ says a mourner outside the church. […]

Charles Krauthammer responds to Jewish criticisms of Sarah Palin’s use of the term “blood libel.” He mainly laments that Palin gave the speech at all. Sure, it might be a sensitive issue given that Gabrielle Giffords is Jewish, and she’s fighting for her life while the rest of the nation debates allegations of “blood libel”? […]

Sarah Palin’s statement on the Tuscon massacre is at the link: “The Great Communicator: Sarah Palin Calls Out Despicable ‘Blood Libel’.” And the progressive left has been going crazy all day: “Progressives and ‘Blood Libel’.”

This is really amazing. Sheriff Clarence Dupnik doubles down: “Arizona Sheriff Blasts Rush Limbaugh for Spewing ‘Irresponsible’ Vitriol.” (Via Memeorandum.) And at Pat Dollard, “Leftist Tucson Sheriff Tries to Gain Political Profit From Blood of Dead Victims.” Contrast that to the measured reason of Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu: See also, Andrew Klavan, “The Hateful […]

See: “Progressives and the Giffords Shooting.” And at Michelle Malkin’s, “The Progressive “Climate of Hate:” An Illustrated Primer, 2000-2010.”

From Olby: “Violence, or the threat of violence, has no place in our Democracy, and I apologize for and repudiate any act or any thing in my past that may have even inadvertently encouraged violence. Because for whatever else each of us may be, we all are Americans.” Good try, I must say, although the […]

I’m praying for everyone involved. See the full report: “Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords Shot by Gunman at Townhall Event in Tucson – Progressives Blame Sarah Palin ‘Hit List’.” While Firedoglake and other progressive blogs are implicating Sarah Palin in the assault … … diarists at Daily Kos are frantically scrubbing posts announcing that Rep. Giffords was […]

Listen to this discussion with Keith Olbermann and Yale political scientist Akhil Reed Amar. Progressives despise limited government, a concept that never leaves the lips of either of these men. The full entry is here:” Progressives Want to Read Slavery Back Into Constitution.” Additional commentary at American Power.

I mentioned previously that one of the extreme gender feminists suggested on Twitter that the #MooreandMe protest was something akin to a new civil rights movement. No doubt there’s quite a bit of self-congratulations there. And while the gender feminists did gain a lot of attention, the power of Twitter and other media is to […]

At WSJ, “Savings Ordered Up, Spurring First Troop Cuts in Decades; Salvo in Budget War“: In an early salvo in Washington’s battle over the deficit, the White House ordered the Pentagon to rein in its budget, a move that will force a sizable cut in overall troop numbers for the first time in two decades. […]

At London’s Daily Mail, “Girls, Guns and Why Tom Jones and Elvis BOTH Wanted to Beat Up John Lennon.” (Via Dana Loesch.) Read it all. Elvis couldn’t stand Lennon’s antiwar pacifism, and Jones was tempted to kick Lennon’s but himself. Cross-posted from American Power.

At the “natural born” passage, a heckler apparently yelled: “Except Obama, except Obama. Help us Jesus.” See ABC News, “Constitution Reading on House Floor Mired by Yelling, Objections.” (And more at Memeorandum.) Cross-posted from American Power.

I’ve got some additional thoughts on the Assange rape allegations backlash: “The Gender Feminist ‘Rape Card’.” RELATED: “Gender Feminists Throw The Nation’s Greg Mitchell Under the Bus.” Ane more commentary later today at American Power.

An interesting piece at LAT, “‘Tea Party’ Activists Keep Watch on Congress’ New Class.” With a GOP majority now in the House, the role of the tea party in politics and policy will change. The Times‘ piece points out the polarizing tendency between purity and pragmatism, and considering the longstanding insight that Members of Congress […]

You know this whole radical progressive schism over the Assange rape allegations has gotten out of control when one of the world’s leading revolutionary parties is pushing back against the feminist left’s charges against the WikiLeaks frontman. See the Socialist Equality Party’s, “The Nation Joins the Campaign Against Julian Assange.” And I’ve written a full-blown […]

At New York Times, “Floods Kill Woman in Australia.” A full report from PA Pundits International: “Queensland Australia Flood Disaster Central — Rockhampton.” And from The Australian, “Military sends supplies to Rockhampton.” Also, an editorial at the paper, “Resilience in facing catastrophe“: Australia must plan and build for extremes of climate FOR many city dwellers […]

Weasel Zippers has the report from WaPo (via Memeorandum): The Republican congressman who is taking over responsibility for congressional oversight called President Obama’s administration “one of the most corrupt administrations” on Sunday and predicted that the investigations he is planning over the next two years could result in about $200 billion in savings for U.S. […]

Jazz Shaw has the story at The Green Room. Also, a useful roundup from CBS News, “How WikiLeaks Enlightened Us in 2010.” And here’s communist Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now! year-end review, “Julian Assange on WikiLeaks, War and Resisting Government Crackdown” (transcribed at the link): PREVIOUSLY: “WikiLeaks – News Story of the Year.” Plus, “Progressives and […]

Just sharing something I found when writing my earlier post, “Sady Doyle Cheers Penis Amputation in Sweden!” Here’s a 1994 flashback from the New York Times, “Mrs. Bobbitt is Symbol of Feminist Resistance“: To the Editor: Like most of the American mass media, you have framed the Lorena L. Bobbitt affair as an issue of […]

Hey, now that’s some change! At Daily Caller: Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, estimates that there will be 1.8 million foreclosed homes in the United States this year, and that the numbers will be even higher in 2011. Moody’s estimates that foreclosures should peak next year at 2.1 million, Zandi said. A spike […]

Read Nick Gillespie’s essay, “The #1 Game-Changer of 2010: Wikileaks By a Landslide.” The key point is that unlike the umpteen other purported “game-changing” news stories, WikiLeaks is genuinely new. And Gillespie argues the frequently heard point that WikiLeaks’ impact goes far beyond one individual, such as Julian Assange. Beside that though is to what […]

See, “Progressives and the Julian Assange Rape Allegations.” Via American Power. RELATED: At The Other McCain, “Julian Assange, Libertarian ‘Reactionary’?” PLUS: At WSJ, “Why WikiLeaks Is Unlike the Pentagon Papers.” Also, at CNN, “Jessica Yellin’s response to last night’s Assange discussion,” and Wired, “Putting the Record Straight on the Lamo-Manning Chat Logs” (via Memeorandum).

From the letters to the editor at Los Angeles Times (in response to this article): Palestinian- Israeli impasse Re “Let’s get tough with Israel,” Opinion, Dec. 22 Yousef Munayyer is dead wrong. It’s time to get tough with Arab terrorists, not with the only democracy in the Middle East. He reiterates the myth of Palestinian […]

At Telegraph UK, “Christmas bomb plot: nine men remanded over plan to ‘blow up Big Ben and Westminster Abbey’.” And LAT, “Nine terrorism suspects appear in London court“: Reporting from London – Nine men accused of terrorism and conspiracy to blow up high-profile targets that reportedly included the U.S. Embassy and the London Stock Exchange […]

The full essay is here: “Amanda Marcotte, Digby, and TBogg Nominated for ‘Moore Award’ at Daily Dish.” And see The Other McCain: “Glenn Reynolds ‘Nuke the Norks’ Only 5th Place in Sully’s ‘Malkin Awards’ Finals?” Updates throughout the day at American Power.

An update to “Progressives Cheer Mark Madoff Suicide as ‘Revolutionary Justice’ .” Turns out that the DownWithTyranny! progressives are invoking revolutionary appeals again. A ten-point roster of GOP quotes on the unemployed and public benefits actually ends with Marie Antoinette’s famous line, “Let them eat cake.” And then the progressive response: Now we know that […]

At least The Guardian titled the essay for what it is, “A Shameful Thought for the Day.” Dawkins slams the Vatican’s “obscene indulgences” and then goes after original sin, a foundation of Christian faith: We’ve already had what little apology we are going to get (none in most cases) for the raped children, the Aids-sufferers […]