Right News and Views

In a appalling orgy of death, a gunman opened fire and killed at least 33 people at Virginia Tech yesterday. He is described as an Asian male, about 19 years of age, though no details as to why he rampaged through the campus have been released.

In our free and open society, is there any way to prevent this from happening again? Arm professors? Metal detectors and security guards in every door at every school? Is there any way we can protect our children and students from those who will kill themselves after they have slated their thirst for slaughter?

There is no easy answer. Indeed, there may be no answer at all. For now, as our nation struggles to understand what happened and why, pray for the families and friends of the victims.

Congressmen and women living high at the taxpayer’s expense is unacceptable. We do not send over 30% of what we earn to Washington so lawmakers can stay at five-star hotels, visit the Caribbean, fly on military planes, and take their wives or husbands of extravagant vacations to South America or Europe.

But according to an Examiner article that is exactly what is going on. They claim it is related to business. If so, they don’t need to take their spouses. If you don’t like this waste then tell your congressmen- their contact information can be found here.

With so much information available to us (television, newspapers, magazines, the internet, cable) and our ability to access it nearly anywhere (in our homes, our cars, and anywhere we have cell phone service) we can make informed decisions based on wide variety factual information and various opinions. The left is terrified of this- as the more you know and understand about the world around you then the less likely you are to hold extreme leftist views.

City Journal included this opinion piece from Adam D. Thierer that examines this issue. In what he calls the Media Cornucopia, Thierer explains why and how the left threatens to stifle outlets that do not conform to their views.

The Herald Sun reports that, in trying to help Muslim criminals face Mecca for their prayers, a Dutch police station painted arrows in cells pointing in the opposite direction.

“This is a really gigantic, stupid blunder,” a police spokesman said, adding that “the faulty compass marks have been immediately corrected. It is a mystery for us how this could have possibly happened.”

This is news because people may die over the error.

USA Today reports that prosecutor Mike Nifong, who charged the Duke
University lacrosse players with rape, has apologized.

They may be innocent of the charges but the Duke University lacrosse
players are not heroes. Let’s remember that they did hire strippers and,
while not an illegal action, it is not exactly admirable behavior, either.

Sure, prosecutor Mike Nifong went way out of line and should never work
as an attorney again. But there are no winners in this story. Not the
students, not the prosecutor, and not those who wanted to see the students twitch in the wind whether truly guilty or not (and now we know they are not).

It’s ugly all the way around.

Don Imus’ comments directed at the women’s Rutgers’ basketball team are reprehensible. But they may also be bad news for Democrats. With the loss of Imus’ show liberal politicians will also loose a popular outlet to spread their inane ideas.

According to an article in the LA Times, “Imus gave Democrats a pipeline to a crucial voting block that was perennially hard for them to reach: politically independent white men.” Democrats who have appeared on Imus’ show include Rep. Harold E. Ford, Jr, Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, Sen. John F. Kerry, and Sen. Barack Obama, among others.

African Americas may have unintentionally “shot themselves in the foot” in demanding Imus’ head by eliminating a fellow supporter of Democratic politicians. Imus, of course, lacked the broad appeal and large audiences enjoyed by Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. But any erosion to the Democrats ability to reach a large audience is good news for conservatives.

War protestors outside Walter Reed Hospital, where injured troops are currently recovering from battle injuries, are engaging in gross, bizarre, and tawdry demonstrations to illustrate their ignorance concerning our nation’s current struggle.

As CNSNews.com reports, over the Easter weekend one protestor wore bunny ears, a shirt with a skull and crossbones on it, and hula-hooped in a “creepy” anti-war display. Pro-troop demonstrators were horrified by this silly but disgusting behavior that was fully visible to our wounded soldiers and their visiting family and friends.

It is the height of not only boorishness but contemptible and depraved thoughtlessness to protest the injured soldiers of a war rather than those who make the policy to go to war. But considering the ignorance of those who oppose toppling a monstrous dictator who murdered millions of his own people I guess we should not be surprised. Disgusted, outraged, and revolted- but not surprised.

In his column, America, Iraq, and the question of total war, John Dillin lays out the case that if the war in Iraq is truly worth fighting then we need to fight to win. No pulling our punches, no fighting with one hand tied behind our backs, no half-measures.

And he’s right. Quoting Omar Bradley, Douglas MacArthur, George Patton and using William T. Sherman’s famous march through Georgia as an example, Dillin makes the case that we have to pound our enemies into dust. The rebuilding can come later. Right now, the critical goal is to destroy the enemies will to fight.

President Bush himself has failed to grasp this simple truth. And Democrats, concerning the war and the heightened threat we face if we fail, would not recognize this simple truth if it slapped them across the face. But the failing is not just a political one. Our whole culture, increasingly ignorant of how much effort, sacrifice, and suffering it took to defeat monsters like Hitler, finds it harder and harder to act with resolve. It defies explanation that we rallied to crush the Axis powers during World War II yet shrink from a conflict where the current enemy is nowhere near as powerful as either Germany or Japan. And we, by comparison, are vastly more militarily powerful than any previous nation in history.

As General Sherman once observed, “war is all hell.” That’s why one side tastes defeat the other side tastes victory. And we must taste victory.

I try not to think too much about Rosie O’Donnell. Material of greater consequence, after all, should occupy the majority of ones reflections. Besides, when one does need a break from the serious side of life then one can usually find a real circus where professional clowns stick to doing what they do best. This is unlike The View where the naturally clownish attempt to discuss weighty issues either before or after discussing weight issues. Leave the analysis, in other words, to those best suited to analyze.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, however, is somewhat more on my mind. He is also a clown, to be sure. But not in that sometimes cute but always stupid way Rosie is; rather, Ahmadinejad is clownish in a frightening, dangerous and deranged way.

This American Thinker column offers an interesting comparison of the two, focusing on holocaust denial and the theory that the US government planned (or was at least complacent in) 9/11; two colossally ignorant viewpoints.

San Francisco’s African American population is on the decline and has been for the last 20 years, according to an article by Leslie Fulbright in the San Francisco Chronicle. Using taxpayer dollars, the mayor’s office is assembling a task force consider ways to not only keep the remaining African American population but attempt to encourage its increase.

I would assume this population decline is because people want to move away from San Francisco. If I lived there, I certainly would. They should be congratulated, not held back. So why spend taxpayer dollars in an effort to keep people from making personal choices that better their lives?

It does not matter what color your skin is- if you care about your children, family values, and good old-fashioned common sense why wouldn’t you move away from San Francisco? Remember, this is the city that banned JROTC from its schools because the school board is more pro-homosexual agenda then it is pro-student achievement. This is the city that is a center of radical liberal activism. This is the city where protestors sometimes violently shut down college job fairs that include military recruiters. This is the “if it feels good, do it” city. This is a city that is, in short, messed up.

That the African American population is in decline is not a problem- rather, we should applaud the achievement of anyone, African American or otherwise, who escapes from the morally bankrupt, ethically barren, and hopelessly leftist abyss that is San Francisco.

In A dangerous detour John McWhorter presents an excellent commentary on the current Imus tizzy. He correctly points out that some African Americans focus on what can’t be solved at the expense of working towards remedying “big, chronic problems” that can be solved. True, Imus’ comments were out of line. But I’m far less concerned about what a radio shock jock says than I am about the truly serious issues that face so many American communities of any color or creed.

In an article by Mure Dickie, The Financial Times reports that China seeks to implement a “real name verification system” for internet users.

Part of the dictatorial rulers of China’s concern is internet addiction by gamers but their main concern is invading the privacy of their people and insuring that no negative comments directed against the government goes unpunished.

By destroying online anonymity China hopes to “purify” the internet of socially and politically suspect activity, Dickie claims. Online bloggers, for example, will be unable to engage in what the authoritarian Chinese government calls “irresponsible” commentary.

Hu Qiheng of the China Internet Association, as reported by state-controlled media, insured the privacy of Bloggers’ real names “as long as they do no harm to the public interest.”

Is the public interest harmed by revealing how dictatorial communists in Beijing spy on their citizens and oppose some of the most basic human liberties? Is the public interest harmed by showing support for what many people in Taiwan want? Is the public interest harmed by calling for freedom for Tibet? It is all these and more. Indeed, the public interest can be harmed by anything the control-obsessed Chinese government says is harmful.

CNN reports that Senator John McCain, R-AZ, revealed after his recent trip to Iraq that he believes we will eventually succeed in our mission. In talking with General David Petraeus and other servicemen and women, McCain said they have convinced him “we are making some progress but that it will be long and difficult.”

McCain also noted that the media is falling down on the job by failing to report the progress in Iraq. In their war against the war, the media leans towards negative stories as opposed to the good news. Granted, this is how all news works- if it bleeds, it leads, as the old newspaper saying goes.

But war is a different and serious situation that requires both the honesty and the thoughtful deliberation of journalists. The media has the power reveal information harmful to our effort. It also has the power, by favoring roadside bomb stories over Iraqi progress reports, to falsely create a sense of inevitable defeat. Such is not the case in Iraq. Unfortunately, the leftist media isn’t too concerned with accurate reporting when the truth is favorable to a cause they oppose.

According to an article by Bill Sammon in the Examiner, the White House claims the economic growth during much of the Bush administration is stronger than the one that occurred on Clinton’s watch.

While both have their successes and failures, Sammon concludes that it is actually Ronald Reagan that we have to thank for our prosperity.

Sammon includes a quote from Economist Larry Kudlow:

“Since the early Reagan years, we have had 25 years of virtually uninterrupted prosperity.” “Because of the Reagan reforms - the deregulation, the lower taxes, the disinflation - we have transformed the economy from a top-down, government-run operation into a free market, capitalist economy with durability and resilience.”
In all, Kudlow credits Reagan’s economic reforms for the growth in Gross Domestic Product for a whopping 93 of the last 98 quarters.

One of many examples where the Gipper won one for us.

Figures included in the article comparing Bush with Clinton:

From the Bush camp:

Real wages rose 1.8 percent over the 12 months through February. This is substantially faster than the average rate of wage growth in the late 1990s.

Since the first quarter of 2001, productivity growth has averaged 2.8 percent. This is well above average productivity growth during the Clinton years.

From the Clinton camp:

Under Clinton, the economy created 3.5 times more jobs after 74
months than it did over the same period of time under Bush.

During the Bush years, the number of Americans below the poverty line has increased by 5.37 million, while under Clinton the number fell by 7.68 million

According to an MSNBC report, Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich called on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to consider resigning as over the non-scandal of firing eight federal prosecutors who serve at the president’s pleasure.

“I think the country, in fact, would be much better served to have a new team at the Justice Department, across the board,” Gingrich said. “I cannot imagine how he is going to be effective for the rest of this administration. … They’re going to be involved in endless hearings.”

Seeking to harm or embarrass President Bush at any and all costs, Democrats have instigated a witch hunt on Capitol Hill. Senator Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who seized upon Gingrich’s remarks, said the former speaker’s comments point to building bipartisan support for a new attorney general.

“This is another important voice who believes that the attorney general should step down for the good of the country and the good of the department,” Schumer said in a statement. “We hope both the attorney general and the president heed Speaker Gingrich’s message.”

Schumer made no protest when President Bill Clinton fired every single one of the 93 federal prosecutors while he was president.

Another Democratic partisan ax job in progress.