Political Digest February 8, 2010

I post articles because I think they are of interest. Doing so doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree with every—or any—opinion in the posted article.

Pawnbroker slammed, power broker skates
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/ct-met-kass-0207_2-20100205,0,1863579.column
Bi-partisan corruption in Illinois. We are pulling for Brady. Excerpt: William Cellini is the former longtime boss of the patronage-rich Sangamon County Republican organization. He was indicted on political corruption charges along with former Gov. Rod Blagojevich in the Operation Board Games investigation. What's revealing is this: Cellini was involved in a recent strategy session that led to the Sangamon County GOP's key endorsement for gubernatorial candidate Kirk Dillard. State Sen. Dillard, R-Hinsdale, is still neck-and-neck with state Sen. Bill Brady, R-Bloomington, for the Republican gubernatorial nomination as the remaining votes are counted from last week's election

As Obama preaches bipartisanship, a top adviser slams GOP for anti-terrorism criticism
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/sns-ap-us-airliner-attack,0,7243913.story
Excerpt: An exasperated White House newly committed to preaching partisan peace slammed Republicans for playing politics on national security and making ignorant allegations about the investigation into the Christmas airliner plot. Deputy national security adviser John Brennan complained Sunday that politicians, many of them Republicans, were unfairly criticizing the administration for partisan purposes and second-guessing the case with a "500-mile screwdriver" that reaches from Washington to the scene of the abortive attack in Detroit. "Quite frankly, I'm tiring of politicians using national security issues such as terrorism as a political football," Brennan said. "They are going out there. They're unknowing of the facts. And they're making charges and allegations that are not anchored in reality." Brennan's comments came a day after Obama urged Democrats to work with Republicans, telling those attending the Democratic Party's winter meeting that "we can't solve all of our problems alone." The president offered a similar message to a recent gathering of House Republicans.

Did We Elect a Beta Male As President?
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/10/did_we_elect_a_beta_male_as_pr_1.html
Excerpt: We're all somewhat familiar with the body language dogs display when they greet each other. The dominant alpha male approaches directly, asserting his authority, while the beta male genuflects, crouches, tucks his tail, and may even end up on his back, exposing his neck in acquiescence, making sure the alpha male knows he has no intention of challenging him. With his "we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist" opening to the world's dictators, the President is exhibiting classic beta male behavior, in essence rolling over on his back and exposing his throat to them to make sure they know he has no intention of challenging their authority. Of course, the problem is that he's not simply exposing his throat, he's exposing America's collective throat, sending the message that he's a typical beta male intent on submitting to all the alpha male leaders around the world, and damn the consequences. His response to the discovery of Iran's newest, and heretofore "secret," nuclear facility was, as Daniel Henninger (Wall Street Journal, October 1, 2009) points out, to have our State Department offer to start a direct dialogue with the tyrannical Burmese regime. The Obama administration has also offered conciliatory gestures to the genocidal Sudanese leader Omar Hassan al-Bashir, and it has dispatched none other than John Kerry to meet with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. This, of course, is not to mention his somewhat more visible overtures to the world's alpha male thugs: Obama has consorted jovially with Hugo Chavez and his counterpart Daniel Ortega, he's bowed down to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, he's agreed to halt plans to install a missile defense system in eastern Europe to placate Vladimir Putin, and he's offered the aforementioned hand to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, despite the latter's expressed unwillingness to even agree to acknowledge the truly important issue of Iran's nuclear weapons in our talks, all quintessential beta male behaviors.

Amnesty International is ‘damaged’ by Taliban link
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/afghanistan/article7017810.ece
Could common sense be rearing its ugly head? Excerpt: A SENIOR official at Amnesty International has accused the charity of putting the human rights of Al-Qaeda terror suspects above those of their victims. Gita Sahgal, head of the gender unit at Amnesty’s international secretariat, believes that collaborating with Moazzam Begg, a former British inmate at Guantanamo Bay, “fundamentally damages” the organisation’s reputation. In an email sent to Amnesty’s top bosses, she suggests the charity has mistakenly allied itself with Begg and his “jihadi” group, Cageprisoners, out of fear of being branded racist and Islamophobic.

Update: Muslim chaplain who smuggled box cutters into prison is convicted murderer
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/muslim_chaplain_smuggled_box_cutters_BVF0VWUOLCw0vjjnRzjZRP
Excerpt: A city Department of Correction Muslim chaplain who served 14 years in prison for murder and robbery was arrested today for carrying three utility blades and a pair of scissors into a lower Manhattan jail, authorities said. The chaplain, Zulqarnain Abdu-Shahid, had the utility blades and scissors in his duffel bag when he arrived at the Manhattan Detention Complex in the morning, according to the city Department of Investigation.

Muslim lawyers will "burn alive" anyone who defends murdered 12 year old Christian
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Lahore,-Muslim-lawyers-will-burn-alive-anyone-who-defends-murdered-12-year-old-Christian-17559.html
This is NOT a lawyer joke. Excerpt: Because of the threats posed by the powerful Lahore Bar Association – an umbrella organization of city lawyers - no Christian or Muslim lawyer is ready to take on the defence in the murder of 12 year-old Shazia Bashir, it was reported yesterday by The Pakistani Christian association that deals with legal assistance. The girl, of Christian faith, died on Jan. 23 as a result of violence - even sexual – at the hands of her employer, a wealthy and powerful Muslim lawyer in Lahore. The alleged murderess, Chaudhry Mohammad Naeem, is a former president of the Lahore High Court Bar Association. The girl, just 12 years old, had worked as a maid in the home of Naeem in the last six months. The Center for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) denounces that access to the courtroom where the court hearings were held against the accused was denied, because a group of Muslim lawyers (pictured) 'prevented' entry. The association is fighting - for free - for the rights of the poorest and marginalized groups has been threatened by thousands of lawyers - friends of the murderer - that promise to burn alive anyone who wants to represent the victim in court. "

Fairly Good Civics Test
http://games.toast.net/independence/
I had 29/30, but was lucky on the amendments—never did worry about the numbers. And who cares where a president was born?

Dumb Blonde Story
http://www.cjr.org/the_observatory/dumb_blonde_story.php?page=all&print=true
Gotta love the media. Excerpt: The story quotes Dr. Sell as saying, “We expected blondes to feel more entitled than other young women — this is southern California, the natural habitat of the privileged blonde. What we did not expect to find was how much more warlike they are than their peers on campus.” Here’s the problem: Dr. Sell’s research, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PDF), had nothing to do with blondes. It dealt with attractiveness and anger, and found that women who consider themselves to be more attractive are more prone to anger, among related findings. Dr. Sell told me he has no data that supports any conclusions related to blondness. If you read his research, you’ll see that it makes no references to blondes or hair color. It appears the Sunday Times either grossly misunderstood his findings, or simply did its best to sex up the story. Scientific findings are often perverted by a press interested in simple, clear narratives that either support or debunk popular conception

Gay, Mentally Challenged Biracial Male Cheerleader Claims Discrimination
http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2010/02/gay_mentally_challenged_bi-rac.php
Great headline, not from The Onion.

New Honor for George W
The Obama Administration will be honoring the 43rd President of the United States by naming the gap between the tectonic plates beneath Haiti after him. The area will now officially be referred to as "Bush's Fault."