Disrupting the Narrative of the New Left, its allies in Academia, Hollywood and the Establishment Media, and examining with honesty the goals of cultural Marxism and the dangers of reactionary and abusive political correctness.
THE NARRATIVE AND POLITICAL CORRECTNESS
“Threats to freedom of speech, writing and action, though often trivial in isolation, are cumulative in their effect and, unless checked, lead to a general disrespect for the rights of the citizen.”-George Orwell
Want to know why so many European countries have managed to keep their marginal income tax rates lower than ours while still collecting far more revenue to fund far bigger government than we have? Because they levy value-added taxes (VATs), which are national sales taxes that don't show up on a retail bill but are instead hidden from consumers in intermediate stages.
Both Ted Cruz and Rand Paul have aVAT-like mechanism as part of their tax-reform plans. Both are misguided, to say the least. Even if they were able to get their plans enacted intact in the short run, in the long run what we'd end up with is a new, costly federal sales tax plus a continuing, problematic income tax. In other words, we'd end up like much of Europe...
BREAKING: French minister announces Paris arrest of extremist planning imminent attack on church http://t.co/VdeExEGzIT
— The Associated Press (@AP) April 22, 2015
That's some seriously stupid commentary, even from a fake news show on a comedy channel. https://t.co/eVBwagge1F
— Bob Owens (@bob_owens) April 23, 2015
Clinton's lack of caution might have finally caught up with her. According to an investigative report in the International Business Times, the Foundation accepted millions from a Clinton-linked Colombian oil company. Months later, the secretary of state dropped her objections to a trade deal with Columbia that was supposedly prompted by the nation's alleged disrespect for human rights and abuses of labor activists.
The Hill summarized the expansive and damning report:
The report centers on donations from Frank Giustra and the oil company that he founded, Pacific Rubiales. In a Wall Street Journal story from 2008, Giustra is described as a "friend and traveling companion" of former President Clinton who donated more than $130 million to Clinton's philanthropies. He's also a Clinton Foundation board member and has participated in projects and benefits for the foundation.
When workers at Pacific Rubiales decided to strike in 2011, the Columbian military reportedly used force to stop the strikes and compel them to return to work, IBT reports, citing the Washington office of Latin America, a human rights group. Those accusations of human rights violations were part of the criticism of the United States-Colombia Free Trade Promotion Agreement, which was passed by Congress later that year. Pacific Rubiales has repeatedly denied charges that it infringed on workers' rights.
On the campaign trail in 2008, Hillary Clinton, along with then-Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, opposed the deal as a raw deal for workers, according to IBT. The pair changed their tune after the election and publicly supported the trade agreement. As Secretary of State, Clinton's State Department certified annually that Colombia was "meeting statutory criteria related to human rights."
The IBT casts some doubt on Clinton's claim to have genuinely changed her mind about the extent of the South American nation's human rights abuses. The implication being that a $1 million donation from Giustra to his joint Sustainable Growth Initiative venture with the Clintons helped smooth over any lingering concerns about Bogota's commitment to basic rights.
On Thursday, liberal icon Sen. Elizabeth Warrenadvised her fellow Democrats that it wouldn't be prudent to hand her party's presidential nomination to Clinton too prematurely. Ideally, the Bay State senator and other progressives would like the opportunity to nudge Clinton to the left over the course of the primaries, but her advice would also help Democrats learn if they are nominating a time bomb that could go off well before November of next year.
And this is no idle tu quoque. The great majority of Americans oppose late-term abortion; the vast majority, maybe a unanimous majority at this point, of Democratic leaders support it without restriction. They are, without exaggeration, absolute fanatics on this subject. And proudly so.
Obama feels no differently. Neither does Nancy Pelosi, who's gone as far as to use the word "sacred" when discussing her feelings on this topic. Paul's response should be a stock answer for any GOP candidate who gets a question on a third-rail social issue going forward: We'll weigh in just as soon as Hillary Clinton does.
Want to know what Marco Rubio thinks about abortion exceptions? No problem - just as soon as Hillary tells us when life begins. Want to hear Ted Cruz's take on gay marriage? He'd be happy to provide it - just as soon as Hillary answers a simple question about how many genders she thinks there are. The wedge question should cut both ways this campaign, whether the media likes it or not.
Congrats to Duke,but I was rooting for team who had stars that are actually going to college & not just doing semester tryout for NBA.
— Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) April 7, 2015
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) wrapped up a three-day trade mission to London on Tuesday that was widely seen as an effort to build his stature as a national figure and potential 2016 presidential candidate. But the trip was marred by confused locals, canceled press availabilities, and bad headlines that left the governor's brand battered and bruised.
Business Insider was there to witness some of the journey that liberal operatives and journalists are mocking as a "full-on disaster" and a "trip from hell."
Christie began his visit Sunday by watching a game between the Premier League soccer teams Arsenal and Aston Villa. The New York Times noted many of the Londoners attending the game seemed to have no idea who the governor was.
On Monday, Christie visited the city of Cambridge, where he met with representatives of the life-sciences industry, visited a cemetery for American troops who died in World War II, and toured the laboratory at MedImmune, a company that makes vaccines. The lab visit led to the first major firestorm of Christie's trip...
Not since Mitt Romney has a non-incumbent presidential hopeful taken a foreign trip that's been marked by so much bad press at home
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) February 3, 2015
Chris Christie giving Mitt Romney a run for his money for "worst presidential wanna-be trip abroad of all time"
— Ben Ray (@BenRay) February 3, 2015
No matter what terrorist atrocity was committed against Israel yesterday, the call goes out for a return to the peace process today. For two long decades of terror that has never changed.
Diplomacy is a strange twisted business of lies, deceit and badly mixed drinks served at hotel bars that are a year away from being blown up. The motives are so twisted that everyone often ends up doing the opposite of what they set out to do. But even by the standards of international diplomacy where mixed motives and terrible ideas stew in a solid gold pot for years before they explode, the peace process between Israel and the PLO terrorists is in a horrible class of its own.
The one thing that everyone involved in the process, from the PLO terrorists to the Israelis to the international diplomats who arrive with a Bluetooth in one ear and a talking point in the other, can agree on is that it will never work. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not in a million years.
But that doesn't mean that they're about to stop...
Jim and Greg like that Rand Paul was willing to take his message to Berkeley and that he was well received, cringe as an Arizona reporter alleges that reporters submit their questions to the White House press office before briefings, and address the latest "cool" approach to get young people to sign up for Obamacare.
Whatever you think of Rand Paul, he’s actually doing something that politicians rarely do - talking at length to audiences who don't usually agree with him. And winning over new friends in the process. His recent speech at UC Berkeley, where he apparently got a standing ovation for excoriating runaway government spying on Americans, is only the latest example.
Historically, the Republican Party has been just what the public thinks it is, largely a bunch of risk-averse white men who are totally clueless at public relations, even though they are on the right (correct) side of almost every issue. Meanwhile, the liberal Democrats haven't had a decent rational argument about anything for years, if they ever did. They ream young people, blacks and virtually every other "interest group" that supports them with their policies and they still win most national elections. What a disgraceful group of losers that makes the Republicans. There are literally thousands of chips on the table and they're leaving them all behind.
