Commemorating Confederate History Month Winds Down

Here is a quote from a Secession Commissioner from Mississippi urging the good folks from Virginia to secede from the Union.

Wonder what reasons this Southern Gentleman will use to persuade other Southern Gentlemen?

The steps by which it proposed to effect its purposes, the ultimate extinction of slavery, and the degradation of the Southern people, are too familiar to require more than a passing allusion from me.

Under the false pretence of restoring the government to the original principles of its founders, but in defiance and contempt of those principles, it avowed its purpose to take possession of every department of power, executive, legislative and judicial, to employ them in hostility to our institutions. By a corrupt exercise of the power of appointment to office, they proposed to pervert the judicial power from its true end and purpose, that of defending and preserving the Constitution to be the willing instrument of its purposes of wrong and oppression. In the meantime it proposed to disregard the decisions of that august tribunal, and by the exertion of bare-faced power, to exclude slavery from the public Territory, the common property of all the States, and to abolish the internal slave trade between the States acknowledging the legality of that institution.

It proposed further to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, and in all places within the Territory of the several States, subject under the Constitution to the jurisdiction of Congress, and to refuse hereafter under all circumstances, admission into the Union of any State with a Constitution recognizing the institution of slavery.

Having thus placed the institution of slavery, upon which rests not only the whole wealth of the Southern people, but their very social and political existence, under the condemnation of a government established for the common benefit, it proposed in the future, to encourage immigration into the public Territory, by giving the public land to immigrant settlers, so as, within a brief time, to bring into the Union free States enough to enable it to abolish slavery within the States themselves.

Fulton Anderson during a speech before the Virginia Assembly.

Sounds like he is concerned about Slavery and its expansion into the territories. Maybe Governor Bob can add speeches like this one to the curriculum of book learning in Virginia.

Continuing thanks to Governor Bob for CHM.

This is Good

video

Hard to be a winger these days.

Crazification Factor Alert

It strikes again.

A new poll reveals that 27% of Republicans surveyed think Bartering a Chicken in exchange for Healthcare is a good way for families to lower healthcare costs.

Poll Question of the DAY

As you may know, Sue Lowden has proposed reducing medical costs by having patients barter with their doctor instead of using health insurance. Under Lowden's barter proposal, patients would negotiate directly with doctors, offering services or goods such as painting the doctor's home or giving the doctor a chicken, in exchange for medical treatment.

QUESTION: Do you think Lowden's proposal is a realistic way to bring medical costs down for most families?

Yes No Not Sure
ALL 14 81 5
DEM 5 91 4
REP 27 68 5
IND 7 87 6

Of course 27% represents the number of any given population that is stark raving mad.

Which is exactly the percentage of Republicans surveyed that believes that bartering Chickens for Health Care is a good idea.

Commemorating Confederate History Month Winds Down - WTF is wrong with Georgia?

Answer: The Past is not yet dead.

Headline of the Day:

Sons of Confederate Veterans Group Accuses Church of Flag Theft

Confederate battle flags, placed on the graves of Civil War veterans in the Abilene Baptist Church Cemetery, keep disappearing. Church officials and members, who deem the flags offensive, have been removing them.

Rev. Gregory Drake, pastor of Abilene Baptist Chuch, said members of the church have taken the flags down each year for the past 20 years, in part because groups like the Ku Klux Klan have given a negative connotation to the flag.

He said the cemetery, located at 2046 North Highway 113, is across the street from a school and students can be forced to remove articles of clothing depicting the flag or be sent home.
“They’re [the flags] not offensive to us personally at all ... but we do know it is offensive to certain people,” he said.

The Sons of the Confederate Veterans placed 570 flags on graves throughout the county to celebrate Confederate Heritage Month, said Sam Pyle, chaplain of the group’s local chapter, McDaniel-Curtis Camp 165.

[…]

After several attempts to contact Drake and ask to put a different flag on the graves, Pyle said his group put the First National Flag of the Confederacy, the flag that flew over the capital building, on the graves.
Because the group did not have many of the First National flags, Levans placed a second battle flag on his ancestor’s grave. It was then removed, placed on the ground behind the marker. He again replaced it.

“They took it down for Confederate Memorial Day,” he said.

Pyle said several attempts were made to contact Drake about the issue. Drake said he spoke with one man twice and a second man tried to reach him at the church. The church received a letter from the group on Friday and a response letter was mailed today.

Pyle said when he requested the flags be returned, he was told the church no longer had them. Drake “probably threw them away,” he said. “In my words, he stole the flags off the graves.”

Drake said he did not personally take the flags down and were instead taken down by members of the church. He said he did not know what the members did with them.

“If I can find the flags, they’re welcome to have them back,” he said. “We understand that people in the south are proud of their heritage.”

Deacons at the church researched the First National flag and reached a decision on Sunday to allow the Sons of Confederate Veterans to use that flag over the battle flag, known by a blue “X” and 13 white stars denoting the 13 Confederate states.

“We are going to allow them to put up the original confederate flag” two weeks before Confederate Memorial Day on April 26 beginning next year, Drake said. “That flag is not offensive.”
Pyle said his group was willing to compromise.

When the Sons of Confederate Veterans executive council meets this week, they will decide if legal action should be taken. Section 50-3-9 under Georgia law prohibits the desecration of the American flag, the Georgia flag or the Confederate flag. Anyone in violation can be charged with a misdemeanor. [em-mine]

Yep it is illegal to desecrate a confederate flag in Georgia.

Fortunately, for the church, it is not illegal in Tennessee or Alabama to dispose of a confederate flag (as fer as I can reckon). However this is not the case in Florida or South Carolina (as fer as I can reckon).

Advice to church members, roll over the closest state line (Tenn or Ala) to dispose of your unwanted confederate flags.

Here is the approved version of a confederate flag for confederate Memorial Day:

The So-Called National Flag of the Confederacy 1861-1863.

Basically we have 3 broad Stripes with a circle of 13 stars representing the 11 slaveholding states that seceded from the Union plus a star for the slave states of Kentucky and Missouri both of which did not secede. Compare and contrast the national flag with this one:

Current State Flag of Georgia 2010

It looks about almost identical to the National Flag of the Confederacy. Shocking, I know. Who woulda thunk it?

This time the circle of 13 stars allegedly represents Georgia and the other 12 states that formed the United States instead of the slave holding states of Old South, so they say anyway.

Enjoy what is left of CHM.

WINGNUT LOGIC 101

Issue:

Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA) endorses kicking US born children out of the country if their parents were illegal immigrants.

Question:

Where do you deport U.S. Citizens to?

Dilemma:

The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that those "born ... in the United States" are "citizens of the United States" who are not to be deprived “of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law."

Answer:

Damn that Constitution. How about imaginary FEMA internment camps then?

Q.E.D.

Calling Joementum?

Reports have Florida Governor Charlie Crist set to announce that he’s running for the Senate Seat in Florida as an independent.

This should be fun.

The Million Dollar Question is what will Independent Joe Lieberman do? He supposedly has some pull in Florida. Will jump into the mix and make an endorsement?

Right Wing Blogger Michelle Malkin Expresses her Concern for the Environment

"Shaping of the nation's environmental conscience doesn’t happen overnight. Only after years of shaky science, reckless reporting and inane sloganeering have we arrived at the current state of fear and paranoia about the earth’s chances for survival. So unfortunately, it may take twice as many years of sound science, informed reporting and responsible education undo the damage.

The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition, a new grass roots organization may be just the place to start. It was formed in November to monitor the government’s abuse of science and manipulation of public policy.” […]

“Among TASSC’s goals: to inform the general public about the consequences of inappropriate science by focusing attention of current examples of unsound government research used to guide policy decisions; to establish an educational outreach program; and to offer resources to ensure that sound scientific principles are applied.

Former New Mexico Governor Garrey Carruthers, TASSC chairman, says: ‘This group is long over due. We believe that science used to guide public policy decision(s) should be based on sound principle – not on emotions and beliefs considered by some as politically correct.’

He’s absolutely right. But for long-time opponents of radical environmentalism, this is not an earth-shattering statement."

[…]

"The coalition needs to convince the general public that ‘saving the earth’ may seem gratifying to the soul, but salvaging the practice of sound science will save us a lot more time, money, and anxiety in the long run.”

Michelle Malkin LA Daily News via desmogblog

I bet you thought she was voicing her concerns about the science behind Global Warming. Malkin is a right winger blogger and like all good right wing bloggers it is important to cast doubt upon the science behind Anthropogenic Global Warming. It is a hoax right? Really Sound Science will disprove the myth if given time so it goes on the right hand side of the dial.

Good Guess but you’d be WRONG. The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition “TASSC” was created in 1993 and was funded by tobacco company Philip Morris to provide ammunition in the tobacco wars of the 1990s. Remember when the Tobacco Company Executives hauled before congress to testify about the known dangers of smoking? I do. I remember they were all clueless about the hazards of caused by cigarette smoke.

It turns out this Malkin quote is from 1994 and she is lending a helping hand to Big Tobacco’s efforts to discredit research linking cigarette smoke to cancer and heart disease. Perhaps she was an unsuspecting stooge - perhaps not. If you read her article and compare it to the TASSC (now archived) website you’ll see that Malkin's Op Ed almost parrots some of their official propaganda (or vice versa). Probably not one of her better moments – but there are so many lowlights aren't there?

Looking back at it, it is hard to believe banning smoking from public places like supermarkets and workplaces was such a bad thing. I know we are better off because of it – though I bet Malkin will stand by her promotion of this Tobacco Industry front group.

But man - shilling for Tobacco Company Researchers, that is low.

Malkin and The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition - As Smooth as a Pack of Pall Malls. Outstanding and Mild, Daddy-o.

Bob Bennett to Be Bounced By Baggers?

Looks that way. Senator Robert Bennett (R-UT) looks like a sure bet to get teabagged at the nomination convention. A new poll of Utah Republican delegates shows Bennett way behind his teabag style challengers:

Mike Lee (R) leads with 37%, followed by Tim Bridgewater at 20% and Bennett in third at just 16%.

Unfortunately for Bennett the selection process in Utah exaggerates the influence of hard right activists like teabaggers. Bennett’s problem isn't that he’s not a right winger, because he is. Rather his problem with the activists, stems from the fact that he, on occasion, tries to make government actually work and in that sense improve the lives of his constituents.

To wingnuts this is heresy. This is so because if the government actually works and makes folks lives better, the people will be less likely to scrap the government that we have and replace it with some loony right wing free market based paradise. When Bob tries to lend a helping hand to the folks back home, with say the Wyden-Bennett Health Bill, he’s slowing or impeding the creation of a wingnutopia on earth. People may actually like the Health Reform if enacted and that's the problem. Supporting reform becomes a definite no-no.

If Bob Bennett loses, the right wing activists get to replace him with either Neo-Hooverite Tim Bridgewater or the Teabag Backed Mike Lee. Either of these two will be seen as more loyal to cause and less likely to cross hard right orthodoxy.

If Bennett were going before the voters via primary, he’d be in better shape. But he is not. He going before the wingnuts and he’s toast.

Number of the Day - 137 Gigatons

One gigaton is one billion tons.

With regard to ice, a gigaton could be represented by a block of ice one kilometer high by one kilometer wide by one kilometer deep. Actually the block of ice would be a little bigger than a 1 km cube because ice is less dense than water. But it is close enough.

If those tricksy scientists are to be believed, Greenland is losing 137 gigatons of ice per year from its ice sheet. That’s a lot of melting going on. But then again, this number is based upon science if you believe in that kinda stuff.

Quote of the Day:

"last week, President Obama gave a speech in New York City about his plan to reform these rules on Wall Street, you know? And one embarrassing moment. When the head of Goldman Sachs was going through security, he was asked to empty his pockets and five Republican senators fell out."

~ Jay Leno

When will it ever stop?

It has got to be tough to be a winger these days.

Now all good right wingers know that Global Warming is Hoax made up by blue helmeted pin heads at the UN, the scientists and the liberals to increase the size of government and control the world. Right? Right.

So what do you do when you see this report indicating that climate change may be in part responsible for increased pollen production that is plaguing large portions of the Nation.

Researchers found that not only is spring coming earlier, making for a longer allergy season, but warmer weather allows hickory and oak, two of the most allergenic tree species, to thrive almost everywhere in the US. Another factor: Some plants, such as ragweed, are actually making more pollen as the environment changes. "As trees that use the wind to pollinate undergo stress from heat or lack of water, they begin to produce more pollen to compensate," explained NWF climate scientist Amanda Staudt. Scientists have already observed this phenomenon in cities, where C02 levels are an average of 30 percent higher than in suburbs and rural areas. "Cities are where we’re seeing increased pollen production," explains Demain.

So far this spring, pollen counts have been through the roof. You don’t have to be a fancy pants scientist or anything like that - if you have allergies you know it’s true.

So just what is the cause for increased pollen this spring? It can’t be global warming because it does not exist. Everybody knows this. So what could the reason for the pollen be? It can’t be those sneaky scientists again, because people are actually suffering from allergies from .... pollen. Maybe it could be the TREES themselves? Is it possible that they have joined the GLOBAL WARMING CONSPIRACY? Or it could be some sort of evolutionary survival mechanism, perhaps.***

Something to think about.

*** ED NOTE: Text deleted because evolution does not exist either. Everyone knows this.

Quote of the Day:

“[B]y Election Day 2010, Obama will have soundly achieved many of his chief campaign promises while running a highly competent, scandal-free government. Not bad for a guy whose opponents (in both parties) for the White House suggested that he was too green in national life to know how to do the job — and whose presidency began in the midst of a worldwide economic crisis that demanded urgent attention and commanded much of his focus.”

~ Mark Halperin, Time

Some folks may forget that the Country was on the verge of free fall when President Obama was elected in November. Ben Bernacke has been on air stating that the economy was on the verge of a second great depression. Remember the late night jokes on the TeeVee like – “Black man gets stuck with hardest job in America,” etc?

The President also has had unified Republican opposition on almost every measure he has proposed. Take the Deficit Reduction Commission proposed by several Republican – once Obama agreed to support this GOP idea, several republican supporters voted against the Commission and their own proposal. Their have been a lot of obstacles place in his path that he's had to contend with.

With this being said, I say so far so good.

Commemorating Confederate History Month Continues

North Carolina Congressman Patrick McHenry is one of the nuttier varieties of Republicans known to haunt the nation’s capital. Recently, McHenry has introduced a bill to replace Ulysses Grant with Ronald Reagan on the 50 dollar bill. "Every generation needs its own heroes," McHenry says.

Besides as McHenry's office points out, both Reagan and Grant are Republicans, so it's not a partisan issue. Riiiight?

Brooks D. Simpson, an Arizona State University history professor who's written extensively about Grant, suspects part of the proposal "is a Southern thing."

Grant has been an anathema to some in the South. As a general, he was dubbed "the Butcher" and won ugly, with sieges, property destruction and staggeringly high casualties on both sides in many of his battles. As president, he forcefully pressed Reconstruction, and his presidency was also marred by corruption.

"There has been a recent revival in interest and a re-evaluation of Grant as president," said Simpson. He said some historians now put the criticisms of Grant in a broader context — other administrations of the era were dogged by corruption; as a general, Grant succeeded where others failed in preserving the Union; and as president, he championed civil rights.

Sean Wilentz, a Princeton University history professor who wrote a book on the Reagan era, wrote in a recent New York Times op-ed piece that while Reagan deserves posterity's honor, taking Grant off the bill "would dishonor the nation's bedrock principles of union, freedom and equality — and damage its historical identity."

Sounds about right.

There was a time when Republican Presidents fought to enforce civil rights laws. As pointed out above, Grant did just that in addition to defeating the Army of Northern Virginia. Grant’s place in history should be secure.

"Reagan was a fine president," said Stan Purdy, a Georgetown lawyer and president since 1996 of the U.S. Grant Homestead Association. "But Grant was put there (on the $50 bill) to recognize his position in the history of our country, and his role as president and the winning general of the Civil War. I'm sure there is some other way that President Reagan can be honored."

Seconded. Leave Grant alone. And besides, half of Washington, D.C., has been renamed for Reagan.

Arizona man handcuffed and detained for driving while Brown:

PHOENIX – A Valley man says he was pulled over Wednesday morning and questioned when he arrived at a weigh station for his commercial vehicle along Val Vista and the 202 freeway.

Abdon, who did not want to use his last name, says he provided several key pieces of information but what he provided apparently was not what was needed.

He tells 3TV, “I don't think it's correct, if I have to take my birth certificate with me all the time.”

3TV caught up with Abdon after he was released from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in central Phoenix. He and his wife, Jackie, are still upset about what happened to him.

Jackie tells 3TV, “It's still something awful to be targeted. I can't even imagine what he felt, people watching like he was some type of criminal.”

Abdon was told he did not have enough paperwork on him when he pulled into a weigh station to have his commercial truck checked. He provided his commercial driver’s license and a social security number but ended up handcuffed.

An agent called his wife and she had to leave work to drive home and grab other documents like his birth certificate.

Jackie explains, “I have his social security card as well and mine. He's legit. It's the first time it's ever happened.”

Both were born in the United States and say they are now both infuriated that keeping important documents safely at home is no longer an option.

Source

So just what kind of paperwork should folks visiting Arizona take with them? You never can tell who will be mistaken for a Canadian next.

I can't be sure, but I suspect that is what these Arizona Officials were thinking when they nabbed this guy. Must've thought they had themselves an honest to god actual Canadian.

That being said, my advice is to avoid Arizona altogether for folks who may look, sound or act like they may be from the other side of the border.

Sarah Palin kinda sounds like a Canadian. Ditto Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty. Wonder if either of these two will be detained for not having their paperwork in order next time they are spotted by the authorities in Arizona. Better cancel the next McCain rally Sarah.

Just saying.

Judge for yourself. Is this guy a dead ringer for a Canadian or what?

OK, I'll admit it. Maybe they didn't think he was a Canadian. But seriously, folks are going to have to carry their birth certificate or risk what happened to this guy.

I imagine Arizona is going to start losing out on some tourist trade. If you are planning a convention or trade show, why pick Arizona? If picking, say Phoenix, means that all your guests have to pack their papers or risk being handcuffed and detained, why not look elsewhere - like Vegas? Vegas could use the business these days. Maybe there is a marketing opportunity here.

Wonder if Arizona will have agents staking out spring training baseball games in the future. There are folks from around the world that head to Arizona for spring training. There are spring training games in Florida, too, I hear.

Just saying.

h/t LGF

Commemorating Confederate History Month – The Martyrs of the Race Course

Hats off to Governor Bob McDonnell (R-VA) for this opportunity to reflect back on Confederate History. Here is a little remembered event that happened in Charleston, SC at the close of the Civil War: The first memorial day celebration.

The ceremony was held to honor Union soldiers who died of exposure and malnutrition while held at a prisoner of war camp located on a horse track in Charleston. These soldiers became known as "The Martyrs of the Race Course."

Two miles out from the city is the race course, When General Sherman was approaching Andersonville in order to avoid having their prisoners released by the Union. The rebels sent a detachment of them to Charleston. They were marched through the streets of this city on a day so oppressively warm that some fainted by the way. Many were too weak to reach out their hands for the bread that kind hearted colored women proffered. The race course was appropriated as a prison pen and there on the open field without shelter from the burning heat with scanty provisions and crudest treatment they died day by day until three hundred lay buried in shallow graves scooped out by the survivors. Who can tell what those men suffered as with ghastly faces and tottering limbs they laid one after another in his rude grave questioning hopelessly. Whose turn will come next. When our forces took possession of the city the bodies were all removed to a small enclosure near by. There side by side in close ranks lie the martyrs of the race course. No friends come to weep there for nothing is known of their names or regiments. If any memorandum was kept no doubt it was destroyed to prevent it from falling into our hands. But the long grass covers the unrecorded graves and wild vines creep over the high board paling that keeps the feet of strangers from treading on the sacred dust. Nature does her kindliest and God has their names. Such spots are sadder than battle fields. They speak of a deep and deliberate cruelty that is absolutely fiendish.

~ From a Student Primer from 1866.

These Union Soldiers were not forgotten by all folks in Charleston, however. Some folks wanted to honor them and weep for them.

The newly freed people knew what had happened to these soldiers. They had seen them waste away in deplorable conditions and as the war closed they were determined to honor these soldiers properly.

The "First Decoration Day," as this event came to be recognized in some circles in the North, involved an estimated 10,000 people, most of them black former slaves. During April, twenty-eight black men from one of the local churches built a suitable enclosure for the burial ground at the Race Course. In some ten days' labor, they constructed a fence ten feet high, enclosing the burial ground, and landscaped the graves into neat rows. The wooden fence was whitewashed and an archway was built over the gate to the enclosure.

On the arch, painted in black letters, the workmen inscribed "Martyrs of the Race Course." At 9 o'clock in the morning on May 1 the procession to this special cemetery began as 3,000 black school children (newly enrolled in freedmen's schools) marched around the Race Course, each with an armload of roses and singing "John Brown's Body." The children were followed by 300 black women representing the "Patriotic Association," a group organized to distribute clothing and other goods among the freed people. The women carried baskets of flowers, wreaths, and crosses to the burial ground.

The "Mutual Aid Society," a benevolent association of black men, next marched in cadence around the track and into the cemetery, followed by a procession of white and black citizens. All dropped their spring blossoms on the graves in a scene recorded by a newspaper correspondent: "When all had left, the holy mounds-the tops, the sides, and the spaces between them-were one mass of flowers, not a speck of earth could be seen; and as the breeze wafted the sweet perfumes from them, outside and beyond...there were few eyes among those who knew the meaning of the ceremony that were not dim with tears of joy." While the adults marched around the graves, the children were gathered in a nearby grove, where they sang "America," "We'll Rally Around the Flag," and "The Star-Spangled Banner."

The official dedication ceremony was conducted by the ministers of all the black churches in Charleston. With prayers, the reading of biblical passages, and the singing of spirituals, black Charlestonians gave birth to an American tradition. In so doing, they declared the meaning of the war in the most public way possible-by their labor, their words, their songs, and their solemn parade of roses and lilacs and marching feet-on the old planters' Race Course. One can only guess at which passages of scripture were read at the graveside on this first Memorial Day. But among the burial rites the spirit of Leviticus, chapter 25, was surely there: "For it is the jubilee; it shall be holy unto you... in the year of this jubilee ye shall return every man unto his possession."

After the dedication, the crowds gathered at the Race Course grandstand to hear speeches by Union officers, local black ministers, and abolitionist missionaries, all chaired by James Redpath, the director of freedmen's education in the coastal region. Picnics ensued around the grounds, and in the afternoon, a full brigade of Union infantry, including the 54th Massachusetts and the 35th and 104th United States Colored Troops, marched in double column around the martyrs' graves, and held a drill on the infield of the Race Course. The war was over, and Memorial Day had been founded by African Americans in a ritual of remembrance and consecration. They had created for themselves, and for us, the Independence Day of the Second American Revolution.

"Healing and History: Battlefields and the Problem of Civil War Memory" David Blight See, here too.

To the folks that held the first Memorial Day ceremony honoring these Union Soldiers, the civil was not about states' rights or any of the other reasons Governor Bob McDonnell may believe or have learned during his book learning days including his time at Pat Robertson's Regent University. These folks were from the South and yet they felt a duty not just to give these Union Soldiers a proper burial, but to truly honor them with a day long celebration of freedom and consecration.

The war was about slavery and freedom for these southern folks.

A Good Idea

"President Obama met with Wall Street executives today. He told them to stop fighting this financial reform." But the "Wall Street executives" are "kind of copping an attitude with the President. You know, I got an idea. Forget financial reform. ... Let's put them in prison. Call it prison reform. See how they like it then."

~ Jay Leno

Liberty and Tyranny and Wingnuttery – A Manifesto for the Masses

If you have missed it, the most awesome smack down is in progress over at the Corner.

Long story short, NRO guy Jim Manzi wrote a post dismissing fellow NRO guy, Mark Levin's anti-global warming arguments contained in his manifesto Liberty and Tyranny as nonsense. Manzi went on to state that Levin’s botched representation of global warming cast doubt on the credibility of his other claims presented in his Manifesto. Actually, Manzi stated that Levin's Manifesto was Wingnuttery and an almost perfect example of epistemic closure - Ouch. And yes, the nutters over at the Corner have referred to Levin’s book as a conservative Manifesto.

The other day, I was talking with a guy who said that conservatives have a lot of eggheaded books about philosophy and principles -- and that what they lack right now is a popular manifesto for the current moment. I furrowed my brow thoughtfully, unconvinced but not sure how to respond. A little later, it dawned on me. We do have the book: Liberty & Tyranny, by Mark Levin. [bold-mine]

~ John J. Miller via The National Review Online, the Leading Voice of the Modern Conservative Movement.

I prefer the term Wingnutopian Manifesto myself. Anyway back to the blasphemy against a conservative Manifesto. Manzi's post predictably led to defensive posts by K-Lo and the truly batshit crazy Andy McCarthy charging Manzi with a vile form of incivility (a Pearl Harbor job on Poor Levin to be exact). Of course this dynamic duo did not address Manzi's underlying argument that increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere lead to a greenhouse effect which kinda means things start warming up (maybe a little - maybe a lot).

Well, Mark Levin has just responded to Manzi. This is a serious moment. The conservative manifesto that the ordinary fellow on the street can read and understand has been ridiculed as false. What would have Marx done in this circumstance?

Here’s Mark Levin’s response in part:

Contrary to another of Manzi’s assertions, I make no references to conspiracies in the book, although, thanks to scores of news reports a few months back, we now know that some very notable global-warming authorities did, in fact, destroy raw data and manipulate other data to advance the global-warming argument -- as Manzi might put it if he were intellectually honest, they “colluded across decades and continents to fool gullible” policymakers. Among them is Prof. Phil Jones (who, Manzi will be glad to know, has a doctorate), who had to step down as director of the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit. Jones now claims that there has been no global warming since 1995. What a fickle bunch. Manzi didn’t mention any of this in his post, although he cleverly implies that anyone who isn’t epistemically open to their hoax must be wearing a tin-foil hat and obsessing over the Queen of England and the Trilateral Commission. Very compelling stuff.

[em-mine]

Manzi didn't mention the Jones statement, I presume, because it is not true. It is made up.

One of the anti global warming memes bouncing around the wingnut-O-sphere has been a statement made by Dr. Phil Jones, the director of the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit. Unsurprisingly his statement has been taken out of context by global warming deniers. Wingers use the statement to infer that one of the Top Climate Honchos in the UK said "that there has been no global warming since 1995" (see Levin above).

Problematically, however, Jones did not make this statement. Sly wingers have spun his statement way out of context from an interview he did with the BBC. And in the process of repeating this spin, many either now believe the statement as fact or are deliberately propagating a falsehood for political purposes.

I believe Levin’s use of Professor Jones statement in defense of accusations of Wingnuttery is an example of Wingnuttery in its purest form.

What Jones said was that it is hard to detect warming statistically over the short-term. He did not say that warming had not occurred, but rather the opposite: it is occurring but not at a statistically significant level. Further along in this interview Jones states that he’s 100% confident that warming has occurred and that evidence indicates that most of the warming that has occurred since the 1950s is due to human activity.

What Levin has done is to twist Professor Jones’s words to mean the opposite of what Jones said. This is bad form when one is responding to allegations of WINGNUTTERY. It is also bad form after charging your accuser of cherry picking facts and selective quoting while cherry picking and selectively quoting Professor Jones.

When it comes to Global Warming, Mark Levin is either un-informed, willfully ignorant or guilty of VILE WINGUTTERY as charged by Manzi. Remember's Manzi's point is that if Levin can't be trusted by be an honest voice on Global Warming, he really can't be trusted at all. Case closed - score it for Manzi.

As a side note, I guess it is too bad for the poor fellow on the street who does not want an eggheaded book about philosophy and principles but just wants a popular manifesto for the current moment. Looks like Liberty and Tyranny ain't it man.

Here is the transcript of the interview with snippets post below the jump. Read it for yourself. The Jones statement is taken from question B, the first question posted below.

The Jones Myth is debunked at Skeptical Science, as well.

Read more »

Doing their part to win race to the Bottom?

CREW’s unranked list of the 11 worst governors:

• Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS);
• Gov. Donald Carcieri (R-RI);
• Gov. Jim Gibbons (R-NV);
• Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA);
• Gov. David Paterson (D-NY);
• Gov. Sonny Perdue (R-GA);
• Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX);
• Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM);
• Gov. Mike Rounds (R-SD);
• Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC); and
• Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA).

CREW’s report also includes the Worst Governors Index, a Harper’s Index-style compendium of statistics from the report. Highlights include Gov. Perdue’s $2,400 private plane ride to a NASCAR race 30 miles away, Gov. Gibbons’ 867 state-billed text messages sent to his "alleged" mistress.

Looks like the Kenneth from 30 Rock guy, the Argentine mistress guy, the secessionist guy, and the Boss Hogg guy made it on to the list. Correct me if I am wrong, but all four of these guys have been talked about as a GOP candidate for president. This ain’t a good sign.

Here is another way to look at it. Maybe Sarah Palin is crazy like a fox. She abandoned ship deserting her post before she could have been added to the list.

Confederate History Month Continues

Question of the Day:

Why should an African-American vote Republican?

Answer:

"You really don't have a reason to, to be honest -- we haven't done a very good job of really giving you one. True? True," […]

"We have lost sight of the historic, integral link between the party and African-Americans….This party was co-founded by blacks, among them Frederick Douglass. The Republican Party had a hand in forming the NAACP, and yet we have mistreated that relationship. People don't walk away from parties, their parties walk away from them….

For the last 40-plus years we had a 'Southern Strategy' that alienated many minority voters by focusing on the white male vote in the South. Well, guess what happened in 1992, folks, 'Bubba' went back home to the Democratic Party and voted for Bill Clinton."

GOP Grand Commissar Michael Steele

In 1868, Ulysses Grant became the person to be elected president while losing a majority of the white vote. Freedmen put him over the top and elected other republicans to office in the south for several years after the civil war. African Americans were a loyal voting block for the GOP for some time. However as Steele points out, this situation has reversed.

The current Republican coalition has seen better days. In the last 4 decades the GOP has been electorally successful after implementing the Southern Strategy and target marketing the Party to white voters in the South. This had benefits in re-aligning the South and its electoral votes to the GOP away from the historical alignment with the Democratic Party. But this Strategy also had drawbacks because the GOP had to write off the black vote. Basically this meant the GOP needed about two thirds or so of the white vote to win an election on average nationwide. However as the civil rights era recedes from memory, resentment over the issue of Race brings declining returns at the ballot box. In recent years, coded race based marketing efforts from the Southern Strategy have faded in favor of marketing efforts targeted toward religious Fundamentalists. This addition of white Protestant fundamentalists to the GOP coalition kept the Party’s percentage of the white vote from falling too far and kept the GOP rolling until recently.

But demographics tell us that the GOP cannot count on white super majorities forever. Racially coded messaging and playing funky the fundamentalists can only go so far before scaring the be-jeesus out of other white voters needed to make up the white super majority.

Unfortunately for Commissar Steele, his party must rely on vile Teabaggery for the near term. And the more the GOP identifies with confederate flag waving Teabaggers, the less likely it will be able to broaden its appeal to black folks as well as other demographics.

So Commissar Steele is correct. The GOP was historically co-founded by black folks and today the GOP does not give African American any reason to vote GOP.