Sunday, January 9, 2011

ATTACK IN ARIZONA

Look who else put 'bull's-eye' on Giffords

Leftist blog points finger at Palin, while scrubbing 'dead to me' rant

Posted: January 09, 2011
3:13 pm Eastern

By Drew Zahn
© 2011 WorldNetDaily

Shortly after news broke of the attempted murder of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., the left-leaning blog Daily Kos was swift to scrub its post from a Tucson writerexplaininghow the congresswoman was now "dead to me."

One of the blog's diary writers, identifyinghimselfas BoyBlue, had written a post only two days before the shooting titled "My CongressWOMAN voted against Nancy Pelosi! And is now DEAD to me!"

Partial screenshot of Daily Kos diary post before it was scrubbed

"I am from the Tucson area and live in Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' district," BoyBlue wrote. "Today, just a little while ago, I saw on Andrea Mitchell Reports that Giffords voted against Nancy Pelosi as our minority leader. … Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is dead to me now."

Several news sources and commentators have sought to analyze yesterday's mass shooting in Tucson that left six dead and Giffords in critical condition, while many blogs and columns have blamed the nation's heated political "rhetoric" forinspiringpeople toward violence against theirelectedofficials.

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Sarah Palin in particular has been singled out forcriticismby CBS News, the Guardian and others for publishing a "target map" on her website using images of gun sights to identify the districts of 20 House Democrats up for election in last year's mid-terms, including Giffords.

Daily Kos joined in thecriticism, and the blog's founder, Markos Moulitsas, tweeted early yesterday, "Mission accomplished, Sarah Palin," with a link to Palin's map.

Moulitsas, however, had also posted what he called a "target list" identifying Giffords.In a 2008 Daily Kos post, Moulitsas listed Giffords as one of dozens of representatives with "a bull's-eye on their district" for being a "bad apple" Democrat.

The "dead to me" diary has since been deleted from Daily Kos, while Moulitsas' "target list" is still viewable.

Police have named and apprehended 22-year-old Tucson resident Jared L. Loughner as the perpetrator of yesterday's massacre, making it highly unlikely that "BoyBlue" is also the shooter.

The Daily Kos diary writer identifieshimselfas a "gay" man whose wife left him last year and who suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the face. BoyBlue also appeared on the blog again today, issuingan apologyto "this site, the victims and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords."

"Most of you know by now my diary bemoaning Rep. Giffords' voting against Nancy Pelosi has been taken by the far right to preemptively protect themselves," Boy Blue writes of his now-scrubbed, previous post.

"I made a VERY poor choice of words when I partially titled the diary, 'now dead to me,'" he continues. "Of course I wishednoharm to Gabby."

He continues, "Ifullyapologize to all the victims in this shooting, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, for my poor choice of words in that diary. I fully and respectfully apologize to this blog and to Markoshimselffor the bad publicity amongst the right wing this has caused. … I apologize to the DailyKos membership and readership for being maligned by the far right blogs.

"However, I have to offer a heartfelt 'f--- you' to the right-wing blogs," he writes, "for even mentioning my username here in any connection to that unspeakable and unthinkable horror."

In his "apology" post, BoyBlue twice states that he suspects the shooting is instead best blamed on supporters of Giffords' opponent in the 2010 mid-terms, Republican Jesse Kelly.

"I would betmy housethat it will come out that some disgruntled former Jesse Kelly right-wing supporters did this," BoyBlue writes.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Obama, in blow to closing Guantanamo, signs law

12 votes

By Alister Bull – Fri Jan 7, 10:04 pm ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama, in a setback to hopes for the quick closing of the Guantanamo Bay prison, reluctantly signed a bill on Friday barring suspects held there from being brought to the United States for trial.

Making plain he would fight to repeal language in the law obstructing civilian U.S. trials for Guantanamo terrorism suspects, Obama said he was left with no choice but to sign the defense authorization act for fiscal 2011.

"Despite my strong objection to these provisions, which my administration has consistently opposed, I have signed this act because of the importance of authorizing appropriations for, among other things, our military activities in 2011," Obama said in a statement.

[ For complete coverage of politics and policy, go to Yahoo! Politics ]

Obama has vowed to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which has drawn international condemnation for the treatment of detainees, but has met stiff resistance at home.

The bill includes sections blocking funding for the transfer of suspects from the Guantanamo prison to the United States. It also restricts the use of funds to ship them to other countries, unless specified conditions are met.

"The prosecution of terrorists in federal court is a powerful tool in our efforts to protect the nation and must be among the options available to us," Obama said. "Any attempt to deprive the executive branch of that tool undermines our nation's counterterrorism efforts."

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said the legislation Obama signed into law showed there was overwhelming bipartisan opposition to bringing Guantanamo detainees to the United States for trial and detention.

"When it comes to terrorism, we should err on the side of protecting the American people," McConnell said in a statement.

The provisions expire on September 30, at the end of the current fiscal year. What happens at that point depends on what Congress decides on defense authorization.

Until then, the law will make it very difficult for the Obama administration to pursue criminal trials for terrorism suspects, including the self-professed mastermind of the September 11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who had been slated to face a trial in New York.

FIGHT FOR REPEAL

"My administration will work with the Congress to seek repeal of these restrictions, will seek to mitigate their effects, and will oppose any attempt to extend or expand them in the future," said Obama, who pledged during his 2008 presidential campaign to close Guantanamo.

There are still 174 detainees at the Guantanamo prison and about three dozen were set for prosecution in either U.S. criminal courts or military commissions. Republicans have demanded the trials be held at Guantanamo.

In a May 2009 speech, Obama said there was a need for "prolonged detention" for some terrorism suspectswho could not be tried but posed a threat to security.

U.S. officials say trials are not possible in some cases because evidence was obtained through torture or is classified.

(Additional reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky; Editing by Peter Cooney)

39 Percent Of NYC Pregnancies Result In Abortion

January 7, 2011 1:04 PM

Print 554

New York Catholic Archbishop Timothy Dolan at a a press conference in New York on Jan. 6, 2011. (AP Photo/Chiaroscuro Foundation, Diane Bondareff)

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) – Archbishop Timothy Dolan is calling for efforts to make abortions in New York City “rare.”

Dolan gathered with other religious leaders on Thursday to draw attention to the city’s high abortion rate. The city health department last month released statistics that showed 39 percent of pregnancies ended with induced termination in 2009.

READ THE REPORT HERE.

“I re-affirm Cardinal John O’Connor’s promise of a quarter-century ago that every woman facing a difficult pregnancy will be provided with free, confidential help of the highest quality from the Archdiocese of New York,” said Archbishop Dolan.

While the numbers have declined in the last decade, the religious leaders said they are still too high.

In 2009, there were 225,667 pregnancies in the City with 126,774 resulting in live births and 87,273 resulting in abortions. In addition to those abortion numbers, there were 11,620 spontaneous terminations.

Forty-six percent of all births in the Bronx result in abortions—the highest among the five boroughs, according to the report.

Blacks had the highest number of abortions with 40,798 with Hispanics having the second highest at 28,364, according to the report.

In response, the Chiaroscuro Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports alternatives to abortion, pledged that it will spend $1 million in 2011 to address the City’s abortion rate—nearly double the national average of 23 percent.

“Like it or not, the legality of abortion is a settled question in New York for the time being,” said Greg Pfundstein, executive director of the Chiaroscuro Foundation. “That doesn’t mean we have to accept the fact that in parts of the city nearly half of all pregnancies end in abortion.”

Dolan said the practice is unlikely to end but that it was important ‘to tell people what is happening’ and help pregnant women come to terms with their choices.

“We are prepared to do everything in our power to help you and your unborn baby to make absolutely certain that you need never feel that you have no choice but an abortion,” Archbishop Dolan said.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the religious leaders also criticized public schools sex education programs that include condom distribution.

(TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

The rate for blacks is 59-60% (sad); hispanics ~40%; whites ~20%; asian ~23%.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

The Weekly Standard - January 2, 2011

Over at NRO, you can read Rich Lowry's engaging year-end column about America, "Yes, the Greatest Country Ever." (see below).

The day after Rich's column appeared, on January 1, President Obama asserted in his weekly address that "we've had the good fortune to grow up in the greatest nation on Earth." Then, in case anyone missed it, Obama repeated eight sentences later that he's confident we can "do what it takes to make sure America remains in the 21st century what it was the 20th: the greatest country in the world."

And sources now tell us that Lowry's been called to the White House this week for a secret meeting.

Meanwhile, we look forward to denunciations from the usual enlightened quarters of this vulgar expression of American chauvinism and boastful claim of American exceptionalism by an American president.

National Review

DECEMBER 31, 2010 12:00 A.M.

Yes, the Greatest Country Ever
Our greatness is simply a fact.

When the likes of Marco Rubio, the new Republican senator from Florida, say this is the greatest country ever, sophisticated opinion-makers cluck and roll their eyes. What a noxious tea-party nostrum. How chauvinistic. What hubris.

Yet, what other countries deserve this designation? For the sake of convenience, start at 1648, when the Peace of Westphalia ratified the modern system of nation-states. And grade on power, prosperity and goodness.

Is Spain the greatest ever? It had a nice run a couple of hundred years ago based on plundering the New World of its gold and silver. By 1800, it was one of the poorest countries in Europe. Today, it teeters on bankruptcy.

Is France? Its model of centralizing monarchy in the 17th century was extremely influential, and admirable — if you like elaborate court ritual, religious persecution and expansionistic wars. It gave the world the template for modern ideological madness in the French Revolution and for the modern tyrant in Napoleon. After the debacle of World War II, it recovered to a power of middling rank. If there’s no doubting the greatness of the French, their history comes with the implicit admonition: “Do not try this at home.”

Germany? In the 18th and 19th centuries, it was a cultural jewel. And one of the most talented statesmen ever, Bismarck, forged a nation that became an industrial behemoth. It also had an illiberal heart. Germany today is an anchor of democratic Europe, but with a hellish black mark against it that will last for all time.

Russia? By the beginning of the 20th century, a decrepit autocracy sat atop a mass of misery. Then, things went south. The communists murdered and enslaved many millions across seven decades. Russia remains an important, if vastly diminished, power, governed by a prickly, grasping kleptocracy.

Britain? Getting warmer. It invented the rights that are the bedrock of liberal democracy. More than most European powers, it lived by Adam Smith’s formula for prosperity: “peace, easy taxes, and a tolerable administration of justice.” From a tiny island, it came to govern an enormous extent of the globe in a relatively benign colonialism. It was a bulwark against the dictatorships of the Continent, from Napoleon, to the Kaiser, to Hitler. And it spawned the countries that have made the English-speaking world a synonym for good governance and liberty: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and America.

Which brings us to the U.S. We had the advantage of jumping off from the achievement of the British. We founded our nation upon self-evident truths about the rights of man, even if our conduct hasn’t always matched them. We pushed aside Spain and Mexico in muscling across the continent, but brought order and liberty in our wake. Our treatment of the Indians was appalling, but par for the course in the context of the time. It took centuries of mistreatment of blacks before we finally heeded our own ideals.

The positive side of the ledger, though, is immense: We got constitutional government to work on a scale no one had thought possible; made ourselves a haven of liberty for the world’s peoples; and created a fluid, open society. We amassed unbelievable wealth, and spread it widely. Internationally, we wielded our overwhelming military and industrial power as a benevolent hegemon. We led the coalitions against the ideological empires of the 20th century and protected the global commons. We remain the world’s sole superpower, looked to by most of the world as a leader distinctly better than any of the alternatives.

Our greatness is simply a fact. Only the churlish or malevolent can deny it, or even get irked at its assertion. When a Marco Rubio talks of the greatness of America, it’s not bumptious self-congratulation. Our greatness comes with the responsibility to preserve our traditional dynamism and status as a robust middle-class society. To paraphrase the Benjamin Franklin of lore, we have the greatest country ever — if we can keep it.

Keeping it straight in the 21st Century