#1
These so called asylum seekers or as i like to call them
'Asylum shoppers',
have been living in Indonesia for some years now and tried sailing a leaky old boat to Australia from Indonesia and were intercepted by Australian customs in Indonesian waters. Then tried to claim that they were asylum seekers.
They have admitted to lying about being asylum seekers, and are now demanding to come to Australia, but we, do not want them.
Asylum is a big issue in Australia and Kevin Rudd, regardless of opinion, should take a harder stance against threats and demands by such people who are not legitimate refugees. The issue of criminals and terrorists possibly being on board such 'asylum boats' should also be considered.
Two major Arizona grocery store chains could soon be facing a worker shortage. Some 20,000 people at Fry's and Safeway could go on strike as early as next Friday. AZ is a right to work State, and the union doesn't let its membership vote, but keeps demanding more and more from Kroger. For its part, Kroger is already advertising for scabs. Several workers I talked to were horribly frustrated at their union. There is a good chance this could snowball into other industries.
#1
This is the United Food & Commercial Workers International Union (AFL-CIO).
The Feds will probably step in to 'help', so the union leadership has little to fear.
Plus, the NLRB is now making decisions with only two board members (both current administration appointees) out of the required five. Guess which way they'll go?
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
11/09/2009 14:10 Comments ||
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#2
My wife's aunt worked for Krogers in Cincinnati back in the day.
Every time the UFCW went on strike, Kroger hired a bunch of strikebreakers. There was no picket line violence--because the strikebreakers were the spouses, children, kid brothers, and first cousins of the UFCW folks on the picket line. All an elaborate joke, it was.
Posted by: Mike ||
11/09/2009 15:28 Comments ||
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Saturday's vote to create a massive government-run health-insurance program is to Nancy Pelosi and her Democrats what the Battle of Gettysburg was to the South.
It will be remembered as the high point of their unswerving efforts to demand government solutions to every big problem.
It was their most daring stab, deepest into enemy territory.
And the creeks will fill with the political blood of the dead who charged blindly into the angry enemy fire.
Long from now, gauzy-eyed liberals will tear up at the memory of those who pressed forward through the mindless carnage despite knowing full well the sure fate staring back at them.
For years, they will reminisce about which way who voted and how they were never the same after that.
And, like Gettysburg and the Confederacy, the vote will mark the beginning of the end for Pelosi and her doomed crew.
It wasn't as if she didn't see it coming.
Pelosi watched last week's elections -- in which her party lost two governorships, even one in Blue Jersey -- and, like all her members, saw that no matter how popular President Obama remains even today, he can't protect anybody in trouble back home.
Unless he's on the ballot with them.
And next year -- when all House members face re-election and Pelosi's majority is put up for a vote -- Obama will not be on the ballot.
That's exactly why Pelosi, sensing that her members were getting rabbity, shoved through her health-care scheme near midnight on the first weekend she could.
Look, she probably told her nervous members, the first part of this bill is just tax hikes on small businesses, and I know you don't have a problem with that.
The real disaster isn't until we get this thing up and running and turn American medicine into the US postal system.
And that, she likely told them, won't be until after next year's elections.
That, along with some torturous arm-twisting, got her just the number of votes she needed.
The question now is whether Democrats in the notoriously cautious Senate will mount a similar suicidal charge up the hopeless hill.
#1
Run them all out. Especially the ones that voted for it, and the Democrats that put Pelosi in power as speaker. All blue dogs must have opposition and be well funded. They can be run out of congress and Pelosi overthrown.
Posted by: Large Ebbaiting1188 ||
11/09/2009 11:07 Comments ||
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#2
The Confederate generals had a lot more character and sense of duty than Pelosi ever had and will have.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/09/2009 12:58 Comments ||
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Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
11/09/2009 15:23 Comments ||
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#4
NEW TV HEALTHCARE AD this AM > premised HOW CAN THE GOVT BE TRUSTED TO RUN AN EFFEC NATIONAL/UNIVERS HEALTHCARE SYS IFF IT HAS ENUFF ANTI-H1N1 FLU SHOTS FOR THE ANTI-US ISLAMIST BURQUA BOYZ HELD AT GITMO, BUT NOT ENUFF FOR PRO-US MAINSTREAM AMERICA???
The GITMO Boyz get their shots right away, whilst the rest of America = Amerika has to line up and hope there are enuff shots available locally, + NOT get sick or worse in the interim.
This past weekend, Americans were treated to two completely different profiles in class. First there was former president George W. Bush. On Friday night, George and Laura Bush traveled by car to Fort Hood to meet with the devastated families of last week's tragedy. They specifically asked the base commander not to alert the press, and spent hours simply doing what they could to comfort the grief-stricken families.
The story was eventually uncovered, as these moments tend to be, but clearly President Bush did not see this as a personal opportunity, nor did he want to upstage the current president. The former president saw his interactions with wounded soldiers and their families as private moments.
Twenty-four hours later, President Obama was not at Fort Hood, but rather on Capitol Hill lobbying a private meeting of Democrats, who must not have known his position on health care. Obama told the lawmakers, according to Democratic congressman Earl Blumenauer in the New York Times: "Does anybody think that the teabag, anti-government people are going to support them if they bring down health care? All it will do is confuse and dispirit [Democratic voters] and it will encourage the extremists."
Let's dissect that statement. First, President Obama incorrectly states that conservatives are "anti-government," which simply is untrue. Conservatives are in favor of the government's performing its duties efficiently and effectively. Conservatives are not in favor of the government's running a new national health-care entitlement that will surely fail. (The House passed a bill that costs $2.4 trillion, raises taxes by $700 billion, and massively expands a bankrupt Medicaid program -- all while the nation's unemployment rate stands above 10 percent.)
More disturbing is President Obama's labeling his opposition as "extremists" and falling just short of using the profane "teabag" epithet that is popular among dismissive liberals. This is simply beneath the office he holds. When tens of thousands of multigenerational families descended onto Capitol Hill last week, they were protesting runaway federal spending and government control. They understood that while reform of our health-care system is necessary, the answer is not to compound the problem while ignoring uninsured Americans. These are not extreme views.
President Obama won a short-lived victory this weekend on health care, but he clearly misread the tea leaves if he believes that conservative Democrats will get more support in their home districts for supporting this disastrous plan. These electoral matters are not helped by the president's demonization of a respectful and vigilant opposition to this government intrusion into their lives.
While President Bush was at Fort Hood consoling the victims of real radical extremism, President Obama was in Washington calling American families who don't support his health-care plan "extremists." A more enlightening profile of the two men could not be found.
-- Rory Cooper is director of strategic communications at the Heritage Foundation.
#4
Obama is a Marxist and a communist just like Stalin. You disagree with his "reforms", you are an extremist and an enemy of the state. I actually wouldn't be very surprised if he tries to round up the leading "dissenters".
#1
Bangladesh has thousands of hectares of low lying land right in the crotch of the Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh gets hammered every time a cyclone wanders into the Bay of Bengal. Taking care of global warming will not help them. An ice age will.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/09/2009 12:39 Comments ||
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#2
Lotta similarities with New Orleans. We just have a different brand of nuts running around killing people.
#3
ION PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > VANISHED PERSIAN ARMY FOUND IN THE DESERT [50,000-strong lost Army of Persian King Cambysses II, as descr by HERODOTUS]???
Clearly former POTUS DUBYA = GLOBAL WARMING caused the CATACLYSMIC SANDSTORM which wiped out Cambysses' Boyz.
Step One:
Hasan, the sole suspect in the massacre of 13 fellow US soldiers in Texas, attended the controversial Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Great Falls, Virginia, in 2001 at the same time as two of the September 11 terrorists, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt. His mother's funeral was held there in May that year.
The preacher at the time was Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born Yemeni scholar who was banned from addressing a meeting in London by video link in August because he is accused of supporting attacks on British troops and backing terrorist organisations.
Hasan's eyes "lit up" when he mentioned his deep respect for al-Awlaki's teachings, according to a fellow Muslim officer at the Fort Hood base in Texas...
Step Two:
Danquah assumed the militarys chain of command knew about Hasans doubts, which had been known for more than a year to classmates in a graduate military medical program. His fellow students complained to the faculty about Hasans "anti-American propaganda," but said a fear of appearing discriminatory against a Muslim student kept officers from filing a formal written complaint.
Step Three:
Thinking AnewSecurity Priorities for the Next Administration
A coherent strategy to address 21st century threats to the United States, one that treats national and homeland security as a seamless whole, has yet to emerge... To help fuel this process, in April 2008 The George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute (HSPI) established the Presidential Transition Task Force, comprised of national and homeland security experts, policymakers and practitioners... The goal was to determine the top strategic priorities to advance the nations security in the coming decade...
Event Participants:
...Amanda Halpern
U.S. House of Representatives
Beth Hampton
Homeland Security Institute
Nidal Hasan
Uniformed Services University School of Medicine
Donald Hawkins
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Eric Heighberger
Homeland Security Council...
That's quite the company for a deranged misfit loner whacko of no broader significance.
I believe it was Derb a few months after 9/11 who said that for this new struggle our watchword was "Better screwed than rude." Major Hasan represents the institutionalization of that attitude. Thirteen people are dead, dozens more will live with their injuries for the rest of their days, and a lot of families have had a great big gaping hole blown out of their lives because of it.
Anwar al-Awlaki and his chums have bet that such a society is too sick to survive. Watch the nothing-to-see-here media driveling on about pre-post-traumatic stress disorder like gibbering lunatics in a padded cell , and then think whether you'd really want to take that bet.
#1
I blew up and enhanced the pic of the Georgetown meeting. Hasan wasn't wallpaper there; he sat in a prominent position in the roundtable affair. He was a FULL participant at an Obama' policy meeting. Georgetown issued a statement saying that he was a "member of the audience." BS. I would love to hear an audiotape of the event, and I believe that a recording devise is visible. Will Georgetown disclose or conceal? What if Hasan promoted withdrawl from Afghanistan?
FP: Robert Spencer, welcome to Frontpage Interview.
What do we now know about the Fort Hood shooting and what conclusions can we make?
Spencer: Jamie, we now know from the testimony of various eyewitnesses that this act was carefully planned. Nidal Malik Hasan some time ago told his landlord he would not be renewing the lease on his apartment.
I thought he prepaid the lease for six months?
He gave away his furniture along with copies of the Qur'an on the morning of the day he committed mass murder. This indicates that he thought he was going to die -- in other words, that he was planning a suicide attack.
It is also, so we are told, common behaviour before being shipped abroad, and thus not indicative on its own.
As he began firing, he shouted "Allahu Akbar."
We also know that he was disciplined for proselytizing for Islam during his stint at the Uniformed Service University of the Health Sciences. Law enforcement officials flagged Internet postings written by a man named "Nidal Hasan" and he was praising suicide attacks, but they couldn't be sure that he was the man who had written them.
Because he was using his neighbor's laptop.
Still, it was in character: one of his colleagues recalled that he had said that Muslims must rise up against the U.S. military, and had spoken approvingly of Sgt. Hasan Akbar, a Muslim soldier in the U.S. military who lobbed a grenade at American troops, killing two, several years ago.
And we know that during a lecture he was supposed to be giving on a medical topic, he instead preached Islam, warning the assembled unbelievers of hellfire in such lurid Koranic terms that some left the hall wondering if he might end up shooting someone someday.
FP: Why does the media and liberal-Left so reflexively deny and ignore these conclusions?
Spencer: They reflexively deny and ignore these conclusions because they are completely sold out to the idea that Muslims, as non-white, non-Christian, non-Westerners, cannot possibly be anything but victims. (The facts that there are white Muslims, and that the jihad doctrine and Islamic supremacism are not racial issues, but constitute an ideological and societal challenge, are completely lost on them. Likewise the non-white victims of the jihad matter nothing to them.) We can see from the avalanche of "backlash" stories in the mainstream media -- even in the absence of any actual backlash -- that it is simply impossible for these people to conceive of a paradigm in which Muslims can perpetrate any kind of evil at all. In the lenses through which they view the world, only white Judeo-Christian Westerners can do anything wrong.
FP: What does this massacre, and the media response, indicate about what is coming down the line for our country?
Spencer: The more we remain in denial about how these things happen, and from what wellsprings they come, the more we will see of attacks like this. Why? Because nothing is being done to prevent them. Instead of the endless stories about backlash that we are seeing, we should be seeing stories about authorities calling the American Muslim community to account. We should be seeing stories about authorities demanding transparent, inspectable programs in American mosques and Islamic schools, teaching against the Islamic doctrines that inspired Nidal Hasan. This is not a religious freedom issue -- these are political doctrines with a lethal edge, as Nidal Hasan illustrated. It is an entirely Constitutional matter of self-protection to move to restrict it.
But that won't happen. Political correctness has the media and government in a stranglehold. That will only ensure that nothing will be done to address this problem at its root, and we will see many more Nidal Hasans.
Posted by: ed ||
11/09/2009 07:16 ||
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Posted by: Oscar ||
11/09/2009 9:06 Comments ||
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#3
And we know that during a lecture he was supposed to be giving on a medical topic, he instead preached Islam, warning the assembled unbelievers of hellfire in such lurid Koranic terms that some left the hall wondering if he might end up shooting someone someday.
Counseling?
Reprimand?
Relief for cause (firing)?
Commander's Inquiry?
Article 15-6 Investigation?
#5
Anyone who reads the content of the Koran, and the Hadiths, must be struck by content that is utterly inconsistent with peaceful behavior with non-believers. I know of no other religion so violent in it's holy books or their subsequent interpretation. For those who think that this is a religion equal to Christianity or Buddhism or Judiasm, please find any parallels to the doctrine of taqiyya and kitman. This is NOT a religion, it is a political movement dressed up as one. Everywhere it has nested, has seen decay, decline and ruin.
#6
We do not need an explanation for what Hasan said, for what he did was evil. If it must be explained, there is evil in this world and Hasan practiced evil.
From last week. Jason Mick (Blog)
When it comes to climate change, just have a little faith!
In an unusual case in the United Kingdom, it has been ruled that climate change beliefs should be afforded the same legal protections as religious freedoms. The bizarre ruling sets a landmark legal precedent and could have broad implications both in Britain and abroad.
The case began when Tim Nicholson, former head of sustainability at property firm Grainger PLC was laid off in July 2008 for his criticism of management on the basis of climate change beliefs. Mr. Nicholson, who renovated his house to be greener and refuses to fly by air, was upset that Rupert Dickinson, the firm's chief executive, had an employee fly to him in Ireland to deliver his Blackberry.
When Mr. Nicholson began to gripe and express his environmental sentiments, he was later dismissed. He took his former employers to court, contending that the same laws that protect religious freedoms protected his philosophical belief about climate change and the environment.
His employers contended that climate change was a scientific, not a religious or philosophical belief, and thus not legally protected. Mr. Nicholson, however, insisted that climate change was a philosophical belief as philosophy deals with matters that are not capable of scientific proof. His lawyer, Shah Qureshi, head of employment law at Bindmans LLP, added that to not grant AGW beliefs the same protections as religion would mean that the more evidence there is to support your views, the less likely it would be for you to enjoy protection against discrimination.
That theory was put to the test in an unusual court case and in the end Mr. Nicholson prevailed. Justice Michael Burton who delivered the ruling, ironically had used the same logic to hand a victory to climate skeptics over advocates of anthropogenic global warming theory seeking to show school children An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore. The court, which Justice Burton served on, ruled that the move was a political, not a scientific work, and was unfit for the classroom.
Mr Nicholson lauded the verdict, stating, I believe man-made climate change is the most important issue of our time and nothing should stand in the way of diverting this catastrophe. This philosophical belief that is based on scientific evidence has now been given the same protection in law as faith-based religious belief. Belief in man-made climate change is not a new religion, it is a philosophical belief that reflects my moral and ethical values and is underlined by the overwhelming scientific evidence."
His employers have vowed to appeal the decision. If it stands, however, it could have major legal affects in Britain and beyond. Affording environmental beliefs the same status as religion opens companies to suits from employees complaining about lack of recycling facilities or offering low-carbon travel. It also prevents employers from dismissing employees from their environmental beliefs, even if they seem radical.
In the U.S., similar protections exist for employment and religion/philosophy. The laws are certainly worded differently, but the British decision could embolden those seeking similar protections in the U.S. At the end of the day, the ruling forces society to be accept and cater to a variety of opinions on climate change and environmentalism, while at the same time making it harder for organizations, particularly government funded ones, to voice views on such topics.
#3
In an unusual case in the United Kingdom, it has been ruled that climate change beliefs should be afforded the same legal protections as religious freedoms hysterical superstitions.
FIFY. Religion has a much longer and better-proven track record than AGW witlessness.
#4
So, where does this decision place all those famous (and semi-famous) atheists who believe in global warming, such as Bill Maher? I mean, it's been granted religious protection now...in Europe, no less...and they think religions are ridiculous, so.....hmmm.....
[Asharq al-Aswat] Iran is poised on the southern border of the Arabian Gulf countries after having swallowed Lebanon to the north through its divine party [Hezbollah] and settled in the veins of the wounded Iraqi state. What is left? Can Saudi Arabia be blamed if it takes the Huthist danger seriously and dealt with it firmly? I believe that Saudi firmness came much later than it should have.
By firmness I do not mean only military effort but I mean something that is much deeper. The literature and "manuals" of Hussein Badr-al-Din al-Huthi, the first commander of the Huthist current, show that it is part of Iran's policy in the region. It has the same slogans, same flavor, and same approach as that of Hezbollah in Lebanon. This means appropriating part of state land, imposing control over this piece of land, creating a specific security and political fence around it, and resorting to popular slogans that titillate the sentiments of the wretched masses. And there is nothing better than attacking the United States -- the mother of all evils -- and Israel and, of course the agents of the United States. Nothing tops mobilizing the masses that are groaning under the burden of poverty and that are weak with ignorance. This is how Hezbollah in Lebanon was first established and this is what the Huthist current is trying to do. The recent clashes in the border region of Jabal Dukhan between the Huthist militias and the Saudi Army mark a tolling alarm bell. The problem should be examined more thoroughly and comprehensively. What can the Huthists do more? Is the Iranian operations room, intelligence services, and the intelligence organs of the Revolutionary Guard that support and manipulate the Huthist band taking the pulse of the situation?
Some people become angry when we talk about Iranian fingers in Yemen. They say that we are repeating the lies of the hostile government in Sanaa, that the Huthist current is a domestic movement, and that the members of this current are the sons of the Yemeni people and that they have just issues with the government. This is a distorted and empty discussion. No one said that the Huthists came from Madagascar and no rational person has said that they justified demands regarding the government in Sanaa. However, this is one thing and manipulating these matters in the interest of a political agitation that is bigger than mere demands is another. In Lebanon, Hezbollah too is originally from Lebanon, its human resources are the sons of Lebanon, and its geographic presence is in Lebanon. However, this is not important in the balance of political interpretation that wants to know who will gain from Hezbollah's activities in the region. Of course, it is Iran. The same thing applies to the Huthist current in Yemen. In fact, it is an amazing cloning process of the Hezbollah model in Lebanon even in the most insignificant things. I saw a video clip on YouTube of Abdul-Malik al-Huthi addressing his masses and repeating the same chants of sacrifice and redemption as he waved his hand, raised and lowered his voice, and kept silent to give the gathering masses the chance for organized, not spontaneous, chanting. This is exactly how Hasan Nasrallah appears as he addresses the masses in Al-Dahiyah al-Junubiyah [Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut] or Al-Nabatiyah.
Saudi Arabia is justified in repulsing Al-Huthist's militias. It should take the matter more firmly and seriously and should use all the necessary force to protect the land and deter aggression. But this is part of the solution. The broader framework of the solution should have the military efforts complementing the political and strategic efforts. All the countries of the Arabian Peninsula -- the Gulf countries and Yemen -- should take the matter seriously and leave petty differences behind them. Iran is targeting Saudi Arabia through Yemen and Saudi Arabia -- in geography, demography, economy, and spiritual and international status -- constitutes the heart of the region and the umbrella of the Arabian Peninsula. No one wants to be in the mood for wars. We have had enough wars that have mutilated us and obstructed our progress, but it seems that the mullahs of Tehran have another opinion.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2009 00:00 ||
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#2
"Huthist current is a domestic movement" > Yokay-y-y, and pray tell what do the HOUTHIS + HITHIS + HETHIS, etal. Der PanzerKamel Gruppes say about the HUTHIS???
[Asharq al-Aswat] Hezbollah issued a statement condemning the decision to suspend the broadcast of Iranian Al-Alam [news] channel on satellite operators Arabsat and Nilesat. In this statement, the [Lebanese] party said "Hezbollah declares its solidarity with the Al-Alam channel and considers this [the channel's suspension] to be a violation of the freedom of speech and opinion, and calls for this issue to be treated immediately in order to ensure the preservation of public freedoms."
Hezbollah talking about freedom reminded me of a funny story that I received once in an e-mail.
A philosopher and an illiterate decided to travel to the desert and spend a day there. They erected their tent, and after a long day decided to go to sleep in the tent. After they both fell asleep, the illiterate woke up, he then woke up his philosopher friend and asked him "Look up and tell me what you see."
The philosopher looked up and said "I see stars, an innumerable number of them."
The illiterate asked him "And what does that mean?"
The philosopher said "This is evidence of the Creator's ability which can be seen here in the magnificence of this star-studded sky, and in fact if you like I can tell you what time it is now, and even what the weather will be like tomorrow."
The philosopher then turned to his illiterate friend and asked "Very well, tell me what you see."
The illiterate answered "I see that our tent has been stolen, idiot!"
This story is applicable to what Hezbollah is saying about the violation of the freedom of speech and opinion, and the necessity of preserving public freedoms. This is because Hezbollah is lecturing us about freedom that it itself is exploiting to serve the goals of establishing sectarian division and in order to threaten the preservation of Arab society. Hezbollah is arguing for freedom today, however the first thing that Hezbollah did following the 7 May Beirut coup -- during which Hezbollah took control of Sunni areas in Beirut -- was to use weaponry to attack the media organizations that opposed Hezbollah, not to mention intimidate Lebanese journalists.
It is strange that Hezbollah announced its support and defense of the Iranian Al-Alam [news] channel on behalf of the freedoms of speech and opinion however we did not hear one word from the group about the newspapers that are being closed down every day in Iran. This is something that has been happening for years, and more than 200 newspapers have been shut down in Iran, not to mention the persecution and imprisonment of journalists in Tehran who -- reflecting the demands of half of Iranian society -- called for reform. This is contrary to the demands of a small group [of Iranian society] or groups who are affiliated to foreign countries, such as Hezbollah. The Al-Alam [news] channel wants to convince us that it is concerned with the Arab world, whilst all that it is doing is supporting the separatists [in our region] and their armed movement against our security and stability.
The Iranian Al-Alam [news] channel incites sectarianism, and is not a television station which follows the principles of professional media. The same applies to the Al-Manar television channel that belongs to Hezbollah. Both of these television stations serve as examples of media organizations that mobilize sectarianism, and this is something contrary to the concept of freedom of speech and opinion. The first condition of this -- freedom -- is responsibility, and this principle is based on the understanding that your freedom ends when it begins to usurp the freedom of others.
Therefore Hezbollah shedding crocodile tears about the suspension of the broadcast of Al-Alam television is similar to the talk of the philosopher under the tent. Those sympathetic to Iran's agents [in our region] are making the same mistake, and are not paying attention to the fact that the tent of stability in our region is at risk because of Iran and its agents.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2009 00:00 ||
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Twenty years ago today, supporters of freedom and human rights cheered and wept for joy as the Berlin Wall was torn down by jubilant young Germans.
To so many, that heady day seemed to herald the emergence of a better world. The spectre of communism had finally been laid to rest. Liberty had triumphed over tyranny.
The end of the Cold War even led some to proclaim that this was 'the end of history' - which was to say that liberal democracy was now the dominant and unchallengeable force in the world.
However, the 9/11 attacks on America tragically proved this to be absurdly over-optimistic. The eruption of radical Islamism revealed that, while the West may have been rid of one enemy in the Soviet Union, another deadly foe had risen to take its place. So much is, sadly, all too evident.
But what is perhaps less obvious is that communism did not just vanish in a puff of historical smoke. The Soviet Union was defeated and fell apart, for sure. But the communist ideology that fuelled it did not so much disintegrate as reconstitute itself into another, even more deadly form as the active enemy of western freedom.
Soviet Communism was a belief system whose goal was to overturn the structures of society through the control of economic and political life. This mutated into a post-communist ideology of the Left, whose no-less ambitious aim was to overturn western society through a subversive transformation of its culture.
To grasp the extent to which this has in fact taken place, we have to go back in time to well before the moment the Berlin Wall fell. The collapse of communism was actually a slow-burning process. Its moral and political bankruptcy became obvious decades before that glorious Berlin day in November 1989.
For many communist fellow travellers, the scales fell from their eyes when the Hungarian uprising was crushed in 1956. Others, over the years, lost faith not just in communism but in its less radical sister, socialism, as their core tenet of 'equality' proved itself in a myriad different ways to be the enemy of freedom and justice, with market forces appearing to carry the torch of liberty instead.
But as communism slowly crumbled, those on the far-Left who remained hostile towards western civilisation found another way to realise their goal of bringing it down.
This was what might be called 'cultural Marxism'. It was based on the understanding that what holds a society together are the pillars of its culture: the structures and institutions of education, family, law, media and religion. Transform the principles that these embody and you can thus destroy the society they have shaped.
This key insight was developed in particular by an Italian Marxist philosopher called Antonio Gramsci. His thinking was taken up by Sixties radicals - who are, of course, the generation that holds power in the West today.
Gramsci understood that the working class would never rise up to seize the levers of 'production, distribution and exchange' as communism had prophesied. Economics was not the path to revolution.
He believed instead that society could be overthrown if the values underpinning it could be turned into their antithesis: if its core principles were replaced by those of groups who were considered to be outsiders or who actively transgressed the moral codes of that society.
So he advocated a 'long march through the institutions' to capture the citadels of the culture and turn them into a collective fifth column, undermining from within and turning all the core values of society upside-down and inside-out.
This strategy has been carried out to the letter.
The nuclear family has been widely shattered. Illegitimacy was transformed from a stigma into a 'right'. The tragic disadvantage of fatherlessness was redefined as a neutrally-viewed 'lifestyle choice'.
Education was wrecked, with its core tenet of transmitting a culture to successive generations replaced by the idea that what children already knew was of superior value to anything the adult world might foist upon them.
The outcome of this 'child-centred' approach has been widespread illiteracy and ignorance and an eroded capacity for independent thought.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
A Marxist professor of mine in graduate school rejoiced when Communism fell in the U.S.S.R. She claimeda burden had beeen lifted and that a true Marxism would emerge. How right she was.
#2
ION NEWSMAX > DE BORCHGRAVE - AFGHAN STABILITY WON"T END/QUELL TERROR THREAT FROM RADICAL ISLAM [nor stop AQ = OSAMA, etal. from planning or launching new 9-11's or worse agz the USA]. AQ's agenda has realistically steadily evol beyond any need for AFPAK.
#3
But what is perhaps less obvious is that communism did not just vanish in a puff of historical smoke.
That's because its all about timing. McCarthy was a grandstanding pol using the commies for show and political gain, but no different than the later Robert Kennedy and the Mob show. The difference was that there were communists and their sympathizers in academia and the media who could 'pay back' for the effort by making any further hunts for the reds a social no-no. The fall of the wall and the Soviet Union should have started the examination of all the apologists and supporters in the culture, to tag them with the dark side of their cult in a manner they had used for fifty years to tar America for its slips and shortcomings. It should have been loud, public and just as unforgiving.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Twenty years ago today, supporters of freedom and human rights cheered and wept for joy as the Berlin Wall was torn down by jubilant young Germans. 
