Democrats and their Sex-Symbol-in-Chief

ABC News reports on Sen. Obama:

The rain pouring down, his jacket off, his white dress-shirt clinging to his body, Barack Obama played to a crowd ....

That does sound more like a romance novel than a news report, doesn't it?

The New York Times wrote a similar sounding report about Al Gore during his 1988 run for the Democratic nomination:

If politics is the art of pleasing different groups of people simultaneously, Senator Albert Gore Jr., Democrat of Tennessee, seems to have chosen the right profession. ....

Mr. Gore is solidly built, dark and indisputably handsome.

In Sept. 2003, the (UK) Independent saw then candidate Sen. John Kerry in the same light:

Construct your identikit Democratic Presidential candidate and you would come up with someone pretty much like John Forbes Kerry. Handsome, tall and intelligent. Jutting jaw and gravitas by the bucketful.

The weird thing about Democrats sexualizing their presidential candidates is that they also see US presidents as father figures.

Missing the story

Robert Stacy McCain summarizes the news coverage of the Palin e-mail theft story and concludes:

It’s an perfect lesson in what’s gone wrong with America’s major media. No potential scoop is so big that it can’t be ignored if it doesn’t conform to the regnant political bias. A Republican with a personal email account? Scandal! A Democrat who hacks a Republican’s personal email account? Ho-hum.

Hat tip: Instapundit.

Unbalanced in Berkeley

Berkeley, California, is famous for its left-liberal politics. It is even a "nuclear free zone." So what is it like shopping in a Berkeley grocery store? The LA Times reports:

As most veteran customers know, it takes a pretty thick skin to successfully navigate the Berkeley Bowl, this strident city's most popular grocery store.

Outside, petitioners seeking signatures for ballot measures have come to blows with opinionated residents. In the tiny parking lot, nicknamed the Berkeley Brawl, frustrated motorists have been known to ram one another's cars. At the checkout, people have thrown punches and unripened avocados at suspected line-cutters.

When one shopper was told she couldn't return a bag of granola, she showily dumped its contents on the floor. Culyon Garrison, who works at the customer-service desk, recently had a loaf of bread thrown at him.

The produce emporium -- one of the nation's most renowned retailers of exotic fruits and vegetables -- creates its own bad behavior. Kamikaze shoppers crash down crowded aisles without eye contact or apology for fender-benders. ....

"There's a sense of entitlement to this town," [Store manager Larry] Evans said. "People think, 'If I want to do it, I'll do it, just try and stop me.' "

A "sense of entitlement"? That certainly explains much that is wrong with liberalism.

Mr. Evans also suggests anger issues, which would be consistent with what is known about Democrat psychology.

For an alternate opinion, see James Taranto who suggests that the cause is dietary.

Strange stereotypes

CNN reports that Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fl) is promoting stereotypes:

Rep. Alcee Hastings told an audience of Jewish Democrats Wednesday that they should be wary of Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin because “anybody toting guns and stripping moose don’t care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks.”

His Democratic audience cheered his bigotry.

Alcee Hastings was a judge until 1989 when he was removed from office after being impeached and convicted on bribery and perjury charges.  With a background in bribery and perjury, it was only natural that he would run for congress where he has served since 1992 and where he has risen to the position of Senior Democratic Whip.

Environmentalism and Narcissism, II

A study at Exeter University found that people who claimed to be environmentalists polluted more than the rest of us, principally because they do more air travel. The (UK) Guardian explains:

Stewart Barr, of Exeter University, who led the research, said: "Green living is largely something of a myth. There is this middle class environmentalism where being green is part of the desired image. But another part of the desired image is to fly off skiing twice a year. And the carbon savings they make by not driving their kids to school will be obliterated by the pollution from their flights."

Some people even said they deserved such flights as a reward for their green efforts, he added.

Yes, the big polluters thought they deserved a "reward" for their pretense of being "green."

Al Gore is exceptionally vocal about his 'environmentalism.' Consistent with the Exeter results, his carbon footprint is exceptionally large too.

PREVIOUSLY, seven examples of celebrity environmental narcissism are here . George Carlin's take on environmentalism is here . More on the strange psychology of environmentalism is here and here .

The space shuttle program was a mistake

So says Carolyn Porco, the Planetary Scientist with NASA who leads the imaging team of the Cassini mission to Saturn. She is not alone in that assessment: NASA chief Michael Griffin has said the same.

The general public intuitively thinks that, because the shuttle is "reusable," it must be better its predecessors.  As Ms. Porco points out, the shuttle was never able to carry the same payload as the bigger Apollo era rockets.  Part of the cause of this is that making the shuttle "reusable" makes it heavier than it would otherwise have to be and this makes it both more expensive and less capable than non-reusable rockets.

Hat tip: Instapundit.

Liberals projecting their hate onto Palin

James Taranto observes a detailed example of psychological projection among the liberals of Salon.com:

The left-liberal Webzine Salon has become something of a clearinghouse for rage against Alaska's governor. The latest contribution, from one Anne Lamott, actually uses the H word:

I sat outside a 7-Eleven and had a sacramental Dove chocolate bar. Jeez: Here we are again. A man and a woman whose values we loathe and despise--lying, rageful and incompetent, so dangerous to children and old people, to innocent people in every part of the world--are being worshiped, exalted by the media, in a position to take a swing at all that is loveliest about this earth and what's left of our precious freedoms.

When I got home from church, I drank a bunch of water to metabolize the Dove bar and called my Jesuit friend, who I know hates these people, too. I asked, "Don't you think God finds these smug egomaniacs morally repellent? Recoils from their smugness as from hot flame?"

And he said, "Absolutely. They are everything He or She hates in a Christian."

I have been in a better mood ever since, and have decided not to even say this woman's name anymore, because she fills me with such existential doubt, such a sense of impending doom and disbelief, that only the Germans could possibly have words for it.

What's hilarious about this is that, except for the obligatory "or She," Lamott and her unnamed interlocutor fit exactly the stereotype people on the left typically hold of conservatives, and religious conservatives in particular: smug yet insecure, dogmatic and intolerant and filled with hate and rage. Even Lamott's descriptions of Palin more aptly describe Lamott in the act of describing Palin!

PREVIOUSLY, an example of projection hate onto other liberals during the Democratic primaries was discussed here.  Projection by liberal-environmentalists was discussed here.  Projection by the editor of TNR was discussed here.  Rep. Rahm Emanuel projecting was discussed here. A poll showing the nature of liberal hatred was discussed here.

Stanford finds Democrats are racist

A poll conducted for AP-Yahoo by Stanford University, using a controversial web polling technique, concludes:

Deep-seated racial misgivings could cost Barack Obama the White House if the election is close, according to an AP-Yahoo News poll that found one-third of white Democrats harbor negative views toward blacks—many calling them "lazy," "violent" or responsible for their own troubles.

As for Republicans, the AP finds they are motivated more by issues than skin color:

Lots of Republicans harbor prejudices, too, but the survey found they weren't voting against Obama because of his race. Most Republicans wouldn't vote for any Democrat for president—white, black or brown.

SEPARATELY, liberal-activist Sandra Bernhard has suggested that Blacks in Manhatten would 'gang-rape' Sarah Palin. However, because of Ms. Bernhard's peculiar and left-wing sense of humor, it is not clear whether she intended that as a statement of racism or as a policy suggestion.

UPDATE: The "full results" of the AP-Yahoo-Stanford study are here (PDF). John Hinderaker analyzes it and finds that the most important data is missing.

Socialists fighting environmentalists in Canada

On one side are the municipal bus companies.  The left has showered them with monopoly status and government-subsidies.  Politicians love them because what could be a better way of collecting bribes and favors than negotiating a renewal of some company's monopoly rights, not that any our honest politicians would ever actually do that.

On the other side are websites, like PickupPal, which arrange "ride-sharing."  They offer to match you with "pickup pals" who have "friendly faces."  However, what they offer is not exactly the usual left-liberal idea of "sharing": drivers and passengers negotiate fees for service.

Now, the bus companies, with their monopoly status, are suing the ride-sharing websites claiming that those websites are offering, at least under Canadian law, an unlicensed competing service.  In Canada, the Ontario Highway Transportation Board (OHTB) reportedly has shut-down all such "ride-sharing" organizations that have appeared before it.  Currently, PickupPal is the only one left and their hearing is scheduled for October 15, 2008.

Normally, the left would prefer "mass transit" over a private limousine service, such as PickupPal, but, in a piece of brilliant marketing, PickupPal convinced Canadian Environmental Minister Christine Stewart that PickupPal is "eco-friendly" and "CO₂ reducing".  This has turned the tables as, normally, it is the "mass transit" companies that claim the mantle of being "eco-friendly," something that is hard to believe as those smog-belching buses drive by you on a street.  PickupPal's marketing move is all the more impressive considering that, for all Ms. Stewart knows, your "pickup pal" could be driving a dreaded SUV.

This battle over monopolist rights is not limited to Canada.  A French bus company, TSE, "sued several French cleaning women for car pooling and even petitioned the French government to confiscate their cars."  The UK Guardian has more on this.

NSF: Liberals insensitive to human suffering

A NSF-funded study exposed test subjects to disturbing images, such as "a dazed person with a bloody face" or "an open wound with maggots in it" and measured their responses. According to this summary, the researchers found people's responses fell into two groups. The first group, seemingly the conservatives, were found to be more sensitive to pictures of human suffering and responded accordingly:

The first group believes the greatest threat to them and their communities comes from other people; they want to arm themselves and their government to defend against those threats.

The other group, seemingly the liberals, were less sensitive to images of human suffering and are more techno-phobic, seeing threats as coming from inanimate objects:

The latter group sees less threat from people and more technology and inanimate objects such as guns that can kill or harm innocent people. They want policies in place to protect their individual privacy and safety: They oppose the death penalty and favor strong gun control.

The study was conducted by Prof. John Hibbing of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

This week, Sen. Obama released an ad complaining about the closing of a vacuum tube factory: Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) screens are being replaced by LCD and plasma but Obama wants to preserve the CRT factories.  Is this an example of the fear of 'technology' that Prof. Hibbing suggests that liberals have.  Similarly, Sen. Obama was proud of voting to de-fund US soldiers while the soldiers were in the field fighting.  Is this an example of liberal insensitivity to real humans?

Newsbusters finds many examples of the media taking this story and trying to spin it to liberal advantage.

Somebody had a bad childhood

On the op-ed pages of the prestigious New York Times, Maureen Dowd offers this bit of sophisticated analysis of Gov. Sarah Palin:

R. D. Levno, a retired school principal, flew in from Fairbanks. “She’s a child, inexperienced and simplistic,” she said of Sarah. “It’s taking us back to junior high school. She’s one of the popular girls, but one of the mean girls. She is seductive, but she is invented.”

From OpenLeft: Is liberalism narcissism?

Matt Stoller notes:

There are no forums for respected ideological debate within the Democratic Party, ....

Conservatives are fascinated by ideas and, as for example Wm. Buckley and his Firing Line, enjoy debate. By contrast, how often can a liberal cite the philosophers who influenced him? Liberalism seems more focussed on a cult of personality which might be natural for people who regard a presidential candidate not as a politician but as a potential parent. Continuing on from where Stoller left off, Chris Bowers, also at Openleft, asks "Why should anyone respect the netroots.":

The point is that just doing something beneficial to a politician does not mean that politician will end up respecting you. This is especially the case when you are viewed as a bunch of amateurs ....

What we should aim for is self-respect. If you think that self-starting, people-powered, progressive grassroots activism is good in and of itself, then you should both support it and live it.

So there you have it: the motivating factor on the left is not ideas: it is narcissism.

Hat tip: Instapundit, Ann Althouse, and Big Tent Democrat.

SEPARATELY, examples of narcissism in the environmental movement are here.

Creationism on the march in Europe

According to Daminan Thompson at the Telegraph (UK):

Muslim lobbyists are currently pouring millions of pounds into producing bogus "atlases of creation", lavishly decorated with photographs and charts "proving" that every living species was created at the same time.

This material is currently being delivered free of charge to schools all over Europe.

PREVIOUSLY, creationism in Europe was discussed here and here . Creationism is not the only anti-science. Left-wing activists are attacking, verbally and sometimes physically, biologists both because of their methods and their results. Politically-motivated activists have stopped (scroll down to "liberal war on science") some legal research at UC San Diego. Pakistani physics professors say that Islam conflicts with science here. Politicians are threatening scientists whose climate research is politically incorrect.

Do as a spiritual advisor says, not as he does

The New York Post reports:

[F]irebrand pastor Jeremiah Wright has helped destroy a Dallas church worker's marriage - and her job, The Post has learned.

Elizabeth Payne, 37, said she had a steamy sexual affair with the controversial, racially divisive man of the cloth while she was an executive assistant at a church headed by a popular Wright protégé.

When word of the unholy alliance got out, Payne's husband dumped her, and she was canned from the plum job at Friendship-West Baptist Church, she told The Post.

It seems that Rev. Wright is following in the tradition of preachers such as Jimmy Swaggart, Ted Haggard, and many others.

Dems, taxes, and hypocrisy

Rep. Charlie Rangel, chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, seems not to have paid his personal taxes. The AP reports:

Rangel, chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, is already the subject of ethics committee investigations on several fronts, including unreported income and unpaid taxes on his beach house in the Dominican Republic. ....

Among the new discrepancies:

_Rangel's papers over the past 10 years show no reference to the sale of a home he once owned on Colorado Avenue in Washington.

_The details of a property bought in Sunny Isles, Fla., are bewildering at best. The stated value changes significantly from year to year, and even page to page, from $50,000 to $100,000 all the way up to $500,000.

_Some of the entries for investment funds fluctuate strangely, suggesting that the person either didn't have accurate information or didn't fill out the paperwork correctly.

Rangel spent the past week trying to answer questions about his ethics and his finances.

He admitted he owes the Internal Revenue Service about $5,000 in back taxes for unreported income from the rental of his vacation villa, and probably a smaller amount to state and city tax collectors.

RELATED: Former senator Wellstone and senate candidate and failed talk show host Al Franken, both of Minnesota, had problems paying taxes owed. This appears to be part of a pattern in which liberals seem to believe that rules apply only to others. Confirming this pattern are poll results, from Pew, in which 57% of those who describe themselves as "very liberal" think it OK to cheat on taxes.

Media sexism backfires

Hugh Hewitt writes that, at least for the callers to his radio show, the media attacks on Palin are backfiring:

Since the day John McCain selected Palin as his running mate, I have spoken with only women callers to my radio show. For the past week I have limited callers to those who are calling a radio show for the very first time. All the lines have been filled every hour of every day. Caller after caller wants to discuss their affection for Sarah, their willingness to work for her and contribute to the RNC and to share stories of like-minded women in their families and among their friends.

Each new attack on Palin brings increased enthusiasm for her. Take, for example, the astonishing report from by Los Angeles Times reporter Andrew Malcolm that a "senior Canadian doctor is now expressing concerns that such a prominent public role model as the governor of Alaska and potential vice president of the United States completing a down syndrome pregnancy may prompt other women to make the same decision against abortion because of that genetic abnormality. And thereby reduce the number of abortions." This is just one of many brazen attacks on the decisions of Sarah and Todd Palin on how to raise and care for their family. Nothing remotely like it has ever been seen in modern politics, and the disgust level is growing as a result.

That Canadian doctor who wants to abort down syndrome children seems to be part of a liberal trend to re-embrace eugenics.

New Obama ad mocks McCain's war injuries.

For details, see Patterico.

OK, in fairness, Sen. Obama may not have known about Sen. McCain's war injuries and how they prevent him from using a keyboard. On the other hand, Obama has bragged about his executive experience managing his large campaign staff with its 2,500 employees. Shouldn't he have tasked someone to check into it before he issued this ad?

UPDATE: Sen. Obama questions Sen. McCain's patriotism.

Freedom is always worth the price

Returning Iraq war veteran Joe Cook has something to say to the Democrats:

More liberal sexism

What hang-up causes liberals to imagine a female political figure as a dominatrix in some sexual fantasy? The above illustration is from the (very liberal) Salon magazine. Puma Pac sees this as part of a pattern, going back to similar illustrations of Hillary in '93.

For whatever they are worth, Puma Pac has possible explanations for these fantasies: "Some might suggest these folks were a little too close to mamma to grow up to be functional men, if you know what I mean. Still others might suggest it’s an intimacy-issues thing, the result of being cuckolded by empowered, irritated, unsatisfied wives."

Regaining the empire

Leon Aron, of the American Enterprise Institute, writes that Russia's next objective, now that it occupies much of Georgia, will be Ukraine:

Apart from Estonia and Latvia -- where ethnic Russians constitute over a quarter of the population, but where NATO membership raises the risk for the Kremlin -- by far the most likely target is Ukraine. Kiev has repeatedly defied and angered Russia by the domestic politics of democratization, a decidedly pro-Western orientation, and the eagerness of its leadership to join NATO. Nearly one in five Ukraine citizens are ethnically Russian (a total of almost eight million) and live mostly in the country's northeast, adjacent to the Russian border.

Russia might start by annexing Sevastopol, a city of 340,000 on the Black Sea. Alternately:

A potentially bolder (and likely bloodier) scenario might involve a provocation by the Moscow-funded, and perhaps armed, Russian nationalists (or the Russian special forces, spetznaz, posing as irredentists). They could declare Russian sovereignty over a smaller city (Alushta, Evpatoria, Anapa) or a stretch of inland territory. In response, Ukrainian armed forces based in the Crimea outside Sevastopol would likely counterattack. The ensuing bloodshed would provide Moscow with the interventionist excuse of protecting its compatriots -- this time, unlike in South Ossetia, ethnic Russians.

Since Russia is a dictatorship, albeit with nominal 'elections,' and Ukraine is a democracy, one can expect that the Democrats will instinctively side with Russia.

The search for bin Laden

The Washington Post reports:

Frustrated by repeated dead ends in the search for Osama bin Laden, U.S. and Pakistani officials said they are questioning long-held assumptions about their strategy and are shifting tactics to intensify the use of the unmanned but lethal Predator drone spy plane in the mountains of western Pakistan.

The article provides another clue to what the issue could be:

There has been no confirmed trace of bin Laden since he narrowly escaped from the CIA and the U.S. military after the battle near Tora Bora, Afghanistan, in December 2001, according to U.S., Pakistani and European officials.

If that is true (a big if), and since bin Laden's video and audio tapes since Tora Bora were all of the kind that could be faked (see here and here), there is the open possibility bin Laden died in Tora Bora.

Last May, Baitullah Mehsud, a top Taliban commander, said bin Laden was dead.

Sexism update

The Democrats may not have found a way to attack Gov. Palin's politics, but they can point out repeatedly, that she is a woman. For example, today Democratic Congressman Russ Carnahan introduced Sen. Biden at a campaign event with:

“There’s no way you can dress up that record, even with a lot of lipstick,”

The New York Times reports on on a similar jab from Sen. Obama's latest appearance in Lebanon, VA:

“John McCain says he’s about change, too — except for economic policy, health care policy, tax policy, education policy, foreign policy and Karl Rove-style politics,” Mr. Obama told his supporters here. “That’s just calling the same thing something different.”

With a laugh, he added: “You can put lipstick on a pig; it’s still a pig. You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change; it’s still going to stink after eight years.”

It would be reasonable to think that Obama's "lipstick on a pig" comment referred to the Sen. McCain's policies instead of Gov. Palin gender except for two things (1) the crowd reaction to that line is so out-of-proportion strong (horribly clipped youtube video here) that they appear to have recognized it as a reference to Gov. Palin, the 'pit bull with lipstick', and (2) it is followed by the line about "old fish" which, in context, becomes a clear allusion to Sen. McCain's age.

Always trying to avoid the appearance of bias, the headline on the NY Times story did not mention Obama's making a gaffe or even a controversial statement. Instead the story was entitled "Feeling a Challenge, Obama Sharpens His Silver Tongue." By contrast, even the AP understood that the lipstick remark was about Palin, not policies.

PREVIOUSLY, during the primaries, Democrats were well aware that their party was filled with sexism and racism.

RELATED: More debunking of anti-Palin myths and lies here on libraries and here on the bride-to-nowhere.

RELATED: Biden questions Obama's judgement.

Missile defense: does it work?

In 1985, critics declared "Star Wars Is Dangerous and Won't Work." In 2004, the so-called Union of Concerned Scientists was still declaring that the "US Missile Shield Won't Work." Of course, armchair critics suffer no consequences from wrong pronouncements. Contrast them with those who have actual and serious responsibility to evaluate the concept. Even early on in the research, the Soviet military took our missile defense seriously. Gorbachev even credited the star wars program with being the most important reason that the US won the cold war. More recently, evidence that missile defense works come from the military and budger officials of countries that are willing to pay good money for it. The latest is the United Arab Emirates, as Reuters reports:

The Bush administration is planning to sell the United Arab Emirates an advanced U.S. missile defense system valued at up to $7 billion that could be used to defend against Iran, people who have attended briefings on the matter said on Monday.

The Pentagon is set to notify the U.S. Congress of the proposed sale, which would be the first of the so-called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, several people familiar with the matter said.

THAAD is built by Lockheed Martin Corp . Raytheon Co supplies the system's radar.

Health food to die for

Kate Finn, a former gymnast from Rhode Island, developed an obsession with health food. (WARNING: this story does not have a happy ending.) As ABC News reports:

She was so absorbed with cleansing her body of toxins ... that was her lifelong goal," said Erin Finn, Kate's sister.

In the quest for purity, Finn eliminated more and more from her diet. Her appearance deteriorated. "The beautiful, vibrant Kate had really become someone that looked much older. People would stare," Erin Finn said.

Finn wasn't anorexic. Erin Finn said her sister knew she was underweight, but she insisted on eating only foods she considered "pure."

Like Charlotte Anderson, Kate Finn kept a diary documenting her desperate descent. One entry reads, "What do I do to gain weight? I'm afraid, confused."

Finally, Finn agreed to let her family take her to a hospital.

"Our niece went to pick her up," her sister said, "and found her."

But it was too late. She was discovered dead, at age 37.

The story gets stranger: one of her health food gurus, Viktoras Kulvinskas, considers her death to be some kind of new age-type victory:

As Finn's family read through her diary, they learned that she had been listening to several health food gurus. Among the experts: Viktoras Kulvinskas.

Kulvinskas's appearance in Finn's diary doesn't surprise him.

"I'm in the diary of so many people who overcome cancer, asthma and diabetes," he said. "My compassion reaches out to her that she took the path. Well, at least she got detoxified and clean, and moved on into another incarnation."

This story is something to remember the next time that some do-gooder tells you what to do to improve your health or your environment.

PREVIOUSLY, in this series on liberalism gone bad, see herbal medicines to die for, and auto regulations to die for.

Sexism watch

On MSNBC, Rachel Maddow spoke about Sec. Rice's latest diplomatic initiative with the country that the Bush administration has previously convinced to renounce its nuclear weapon program as follows:

But first, the headlines breaking in the administration's 50 running scandals: "Bushed." ... And number one: "Pillow Talk with Terrorists-Gate." Who's holding talks in Libya today? The highest-ranking U.S. official to do so since 1953? That would be Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

For liberals, a diplomatic initiative is reduced to "pillow-talk" when a woman is involved.

MORE: Tammy Bruce, a former president of the Los Angeles chapter of NOW, reviews sexism in the Democratic party's primaries (hat tip: Instapundit):

The rank bullying of the Clinton candidacy during the primary season has the distinction of simply being the first revelation of how misogynistic the party has become. The media led the assault, then the Obama campaign continued it. Trailblazer Geraldine Ferraro, who was the first Democratic vice presidential candidate, was so taken aback by the attacks that she publicly decried nominee Barack Obama as "terribly sexist" and openly criticized party chairman Howard Dean for his remarkable silence on the obvious sexism.

Concerned feminists noted, among other thinly veiled sexist remarks during the campaign, Obama quipping, "I understand that Sen. Clinton, periodically when she's feeling down, launches attacks as a way of trying to boost her appeal," and Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen in a television interview comparing Clinton to a spurned lover-turned-stalker in the film, "Fatal Attraction," noting, "Glenn Close should have stayed in that tub, and Sen. Clinton has had a remarkable career...". These attitudes, and more, define the tenor of the party leadership, and sent a message to the grassroots and media that it was "Bros Before Hoes," to quote a popular Obama-supporter T-shirt.

LOOSELY RELATED: Charles Martin has collected the existing rumors and charges against Sarah Palin here.

Want to know Sarah Palin's Social Security number? Just ask a Democrat.

See here and here.

Obama: back to the future, for a 'change'

As they say, the more things 'change,' the more they stay the same.

Hat tip: Ed Driscoll.

Nostalgia merchandise available here and here. (Caveat: these vendors, while probably great people, are unknown to this blogger.)

'Peace' Protesters turn violent

Busses on their way to the Republican convention in St. Paul were attacked. In one instance, some leftists threw sandbags down from an overpass. If they had managed to hit the windshield, people would likely have died. John Hinderaker describes a separate attack on a bus of Cub Scouts on their way to the convention.

PREVIOUSLY, the subject of peace protesters turning violent was discussed here and here. Liberal confusion on the subject of what 'peace' means was further illustrated here when Reuters described Palestinians carrying rifles and RPG launchers as being peace protesters.

UPDATE: The NY Post has more on peace protesters at the Republican Convention:

The rampaging protesters attacked members of the Connecticut delegation, spraying them with a noxious liquid. One 80-year-old delegate needed medical treatment.

UPDATE II: Still more attacks, including roughing up, spitting, and spraying attendees with toxic substances, are described by GatewayPundit.

Democrats believe in God! Who knew?

And not just any God: Democrats believe in an old testament God who kills in large numbers. This became apparent when Hurricane Gustav appeared to be bearing down on New Orleans. Michael Moore thought that a repeat of Kitrina's death and devastation, which the media used to make Pres. Bush and Republicans look bad, would be a gift from God:

“I was just thinking, this Gustav is proof that there is a God in heaven,” Moore said, laughing. “To have it planned at the same time – that it would actually be on its way to New Orleans for day one of the Republican Convention, up in the Twin Cities – at the top of the Mississippi River.”

Former DNC National Chairman Don Fowler expresses similar thoughts:

Plus they think the hurricane's going to hit (starts laughing) New Orleans about the time they start. The timing, at least it appears now, that it'll be there Monday. That just demonstrates God's on our side

Thus, the God of the Democrats would wreak death and devastation on a predominantly Democratic city for the purpose of helping the Democrats in the next election.

Lefty bloggers have joined Fowler and Moore's theology of death such as in a post entitled "Thank you God: Hurricane Gustav underscores Republican inaction since Katrina".

UPDATE: At the Financial Times, Clive Crook writes:

So the arrival of hurricane Gustav, initially feared to be far more powerful than Katrina, and timed to make landfall at New Orleans during the first day of the Republican party’s convention, led some secular-minded Democrats to question their atheism and acknowledge the power of prayer. [emph. added]

Herbal medicines to die for

Dr. Robert Saper, a Boston University professor of family medicine, became interested in ancient Indian herbal medicines after someone showed up at his emergency room with seizures. As the LA Times reports:

Saper got interested in the supplements in 2003 after a man of Indian origin showed up at a Boston-area emergency room with seizures. The culprit turned out to be lead in the man's ayurvedic medicines. In an initial study published in 2004, Saper bought 70 ayurvedic products imported from India and found that toxic metals were common components.

According to the New Scientist, the levels of heavy metals in some Rasa Shastra medicines are far above the levels that the FDA permits in medicines over which it has regulatory control:

One sample of a preparation called Ekangvir Ras had 26,000 parts per million of lead. This compares with a US legal limit of 2 ppm in pharmaceutically produced calcium tablets for the elderly.

Kush Khanna, who manufactures such ayurvedic medicines, counters by citing World Health Organization rules. As the LA Times writes:

The problem is that there are no unified standards for what is considered safe.

Lead levels allowed by the World Health Organization are 500 times the California limits.

"Based on WHO standards, our products are perfect," Khanna said. "They have not exceeded any limits."

Dr. Saper counters that "Many, many studies are showing that even small levels of lead in the blood can increase the risk of high blood pressure, kidney dysfunction and decreased IQ." Mr. Khanna sells his heavy metal rich potions from the company his father started, Bazaar of India, located in Berkeley, CA.