http://signthedeclaration.blogspot.com/

Jeff Jacoby's Boston Globe article discussing the "torture memo" debate got me thinking.

In any war the normal rules of society are for the most part put aside. In wars people are told to kill other people, something unthinkable, and in fact criminal, in "normal" times.   For the greater good, even a "moral" country has to behave in a manner inconsistent with its values from time to time . The real test of a society's goodness, its morality, comes after the extreme situation has passed, after the war is over. Does a society continue with the "abnormal" behaviors, oppressing those conquered, or does it return to it's principles?

To defeat the horrors of the Third Reich, the Allies fire-bombed Dresden and dropped atomic bombs on Japan, all difficult and even regrettable acts. But after the war, the West, especially the United States, proceded to rebuild and make better the countries it had defeated.

The argument of the American Left is usually that "we can't stoop to the level" of our enemies.  But in this fallen world the question cannot realistically be whether to stoop at all but to what level one can stoop before no longer being able to again stand erect.  In times of danger, those who deign to stoop at all will not live long enough to stand erect, and those who live permanently stooped will still be here - and will be in power. 

Pretending that we must a all times and in all situations be pacifists or fight with one hand tied behind our backs is unrealistic and suicidal.

Following the Obama administration’s release of memos regarding the Bush administration’s use of extreme measures to extract information from terrorists, and Obama’s own hints that he is open to prosecuting the memo’s authors, despite campaign assertions to the contrary, there are those on the right who wonder if Obama realizes that such hearings would expose the complicity of the Democrats currently in power (mentioned in Hugh Hewitt’s conversation with Michael Gerson here ).

My contention is that he does indeed realize this.  Obama and his associates are extremely crafty.  What he has done is throw red meat to the press and to Democrat demagogues, under the guise of the “transparency” he promised, even if it’s only transparency about the previous administration.  All he has to do now is sit back and let the court of public opinion do the work he knows he can’t risk having done in public hearings. 

When the characters have been assassinated, Barack the Merciful will step in and magnanimously refuse to prosecute the “criminals”.  “Move along.  We have more important things to do.  Nothing to see here.”   Yes, nothing but a few ruined reputations and a huge hole in our intelligence service’s ability to do its job of protecting the country.

Perhaps the GOP should call Barack’s bluff and insist on hearings - hearings not just on allegations of torture, but while we’re at it, on Fannie and Freddie, too.  While the Republicans don’t have the votes to combat Obama on legislative matters, public hearings could afford them the opportunity of exposing Democrat hypocrisy, while at the same time tying them up in a distraction.  And if Obama and the Dems refuse the hearings, the GOP can explain to the public exactly why they refuse.

Call their bluff!

Concerning President Obama's attempt to force Chrysler to merge witht the Italian automaker Fiat, has anyone thought of this apt connection?

Main Entry:fi·at 
Pronunciation:\'fe-?t, -?at, -?ät; 'fi-?t, -?at\
Function:noun
Etymology:Latin, let it be done, 3d singular present subjunctive of fieri to become, be done
1 : a command or act of will that creates something without or as if without further effort
2 : an authoritative determination : dictate <a fiat of conscience>
3 : an authoritative or arbitrary order : decree <government by fiat>

" ... Suspend the capital gains tax for a year to incentivize new investment, after which it would be reimposed at 10%. Then get out of the way! Once Wall Street starts ticking up 500 points a day, the rest of the private sector will follow. There's no reason to tell the American people their future is bleak. There's no reason, as the administration is doing, to depress their hopes. There's no reason to insist that recovery can't happen quickly, because it can."  [emphasis mine]  

'WASHINGTON – It popped out casually, a throwaway line as he talked to reporters about finding the right puppy for his young daughters.  But with just three offhanded words in his first news conference as president-elect, Barack Obama reminded everyone how thoroughly different his administration — and inevitably, this country — will be.  "Mutts like me"  '

"Economy: Wal-Mart expects a "blockbuster" holiday season, but with Democrats in full control of the levers of government in Washington, this might be its last."

They're definitely on to something here.  Since the market took a nosedive I've been infected with a "what-the-H___" attitude and have made several purchases that are very out of the ordinary for me.  Now this morning I see an upcoming one-day sale at WalMart with some great prices on laptops.  I've been wanting to one for my mom so we can keep in touch more and share photos and this just may be the chance.

 

I've been assuaging my guilt and justifying the purchases by telling myself I'm helping to "spread the wealth".  But at least I'm doing it voluntarily.  Pretty soon BO will be forcing me to buy computers for someone else's relatives.

Enough of pundits masking their wimpiness in defeat as graciousness (NRO and even on Hugh Hewitt). 

 

That's what got us where we are now.

 

Enough of "my friend across the aisle".  They are not our friends.

 

Enough of gushing over the country's "achievement" in electing a black man.  Electing a bad black man is not un-racsist, it's electing a bad man.

 

Enough of claiming Obama ran a "good" campaign instead of a corrupt and dishonest, and law-breaking one.

 

When the racists Wright and Farakhan, the tyrants Castro and Chavez, the mullahs in Iran, the terrorists in Hamas, their friend Mr. Khalidi, Osama Bin Ladin, and the homegrown killers Bill Ayres and Bernadine Dohrn are all smiling and partying, I for one, am not!

 

As with William Jefferson Clinton, Barrack Hussein Obama is not my President.

 

"I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice.  And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.

 

Why the beauty of the very system we Republicans are pledged to restore and revitalize, the beauty of this Federal system of ours is in its reconciliation of diversity with unity.  We must not see malice in honest differences of opinion, and no matter how great, so long as they are not inconsistent with the pledges we have given to each other in and through our Constitution." 

Barry Goldwater, 1964