Liberal Fascism
GrassTopsUSA Guest Commentary
By Gregg Jackson and Paul Dinger
04-27-07In 1964, California’s liberal Governor Pat Brown didn’t mince words. He described Ronald Reagan as a “right wing extremist.” He suggested his conservative opponents were fascists, “the spasm reaction of hatred.” Then he painted a word picture of what happened in German beer halls 30 years earlier. As it turns out, he may prove to be right.
But oddly, fascism seems to have come to America, riding on a clever Trojan horse – liberalism. The Left is clamping down on free speech just like the communists do when they takeover a country. In their “first 100 days,” the 2007 Democrat Congress and their house organ, the media, are looking eerily puritanical.
The Liberal Censorship Crusade, with its “fairness doctrine,” hate crime laws, character assassinations, career destructions and public floggings suggest that The Inquisition is returning.
The “offing” of Don Imus and the attempted career killing of Ann Coulter, Mel Gibson and other Blasphemers are revealing the true character of American Liberalism. And it isn’t “tolerant” or “compassionate.” Why, it’s almost as “vicious” as Ann Coulter! If I didn’t know better, I’d say liberalism is bringing us the oppression the media warned the “dangerous” John Ashcroft would. But didn’t.
Blackfive has been providing regular updates on DJ Emery and his family. His wife Leslie gave birth this week to Carlee Emery who was six pounds, two ounces and twenty inches long. As Blackfive noted, Carlee was born “D.J. Emery Day” in his hometown of Bellefonte. Here she is,
Blackfive also has details on MOAB. The Mother of All Baby Showers.
Another fabulous post from Michael. Nowhere else will you find this kind of citizen journalism. As we’ve come to expect, the post is filled with great photography as well as great storytelling.
I spoke to Michael last week and he is still with the Brits is Basra. He is a truly independent citizen journalist, and with his style of reporting, his equipment takes a beating. If you would like to support his work, click here.
Clinton Says Her Southern Twang a Virtue
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) - Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday she sees her sometimes Southern accent as a virtue.
“I think America is ready for a multilingual president,” Clinton said during a campaign stop at a charter school in Greenville, S.C.
The New York senator—who said she’s been thinking about critics who’ve suggested that she tried to put on a fake Southern accent in Selma, Ala.—noted that she’s split her life between Arkansas, Illinois and the East Coast.
Mitt Romney had this to say today in Townhall.com about the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance “Reform” bill:
The American people should be able to exercise their First Amendment rights without having to think about hiring a lawyer. But that is the direction in which we are headed. In 2004, the non-profit group Wisconsin Right to Life wanted to run grassroots radio and television ads urging people in the state to contact their Senators (which the ads mentioned by name) and ask them to oppose the ongoing filibusters of President Bush’s judicial nominees. A provision in McCain-Feingold, however, was used to argue that the ads were illegal. Rendering a verdict on what constitutes acceptable political speech is something for voters – not judges – to decide.
Aside from the fact that I believe that Romney carefully and strategically focused on McCain-Feingold in an effort to pick up support from McCain supporters (since Romney is not doing too well in the polls these days), I agree with Romney. He is 100% correct on McCain-Feingold being the biggest violation of core 1st Amendment political speech in our nation’s history.
But let’s face it, when it comes to violating the “rights” of individual citizens, Romney doesn’t really have a stellar track record himself.
He left the Commonwealth of Mass, of which I am a resident tax paying citizen, with a socialist style health-care system (ROMNEYCARE) and Gay Marriage, which he had the authority to stop, but chose not to. Mass is also one of only about 3 states whose residents (individuals and businesses) continue to flee to other more family and business friendly states because of high taxes, got regulations, and a hubristic and tyrannical state government. And Romney did little if anything to ameliorate it.
But the real reason I oppose Romney is that he is going around the country intentionally deceiving voters about who he is and what he believes. As I have said many times, he is a Republican John Kerry.
At least Giuliani is honest about what he believes in his core.(gay marriage, abortion on demand/tax payer funded abortions, gun control)
Romney is the epitome of a slick politician. His lack of integrity and character alone should disqualify him from being president.
It’s one thing to change your “mind” on an issue. But it’s another to change your mind, and then change it again a few years later, and again a few months later, and then again a year later as Romney did on one single issue-abortion- for example.
Being honest about whom you are and what you believe still matters right?
Rep. Geoff Davis (R-KY)
Hat Tip: Ankle Biting Pundits via Red State
Hillary Clinton sat on the board of directors at Wal-Mart from 1986-1992. That’s right, she was part of the evil empire. Hillary is a brilliant woman, or so we are told. Why then is she so clueless about retailing?
Hillary Clinton recently sent off a letter slamming Circuit City for letting go of 3400 employees.
… These decisions are inconsistent with the fundamental compact between your company and its employees. This is the wrong way to deal with the economic pressures of the day — and the wrong way to treat workers who’ve given their all to your company. For several years, the Circuit City told its consumers that “We’re With You.” The steps your company took this week indicate that it is not similarly committed to being with its workers and families.
I ask you to reconsider your company’s actions, and I stand ready to help in any way I can.
Sincerely,
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Of course, her letter did not bother to identify one way in which the company could “deal with the economic pressures of the day” without reducing headcount. The fact that Circuit City is getting its clock cleaned does not matter to Hillary. She’s not going to let the facts get in the way of a Pandering Opportunity.
Look, I’m saddened anytime someone loses a job. I’ve been laid off myself and I know what it feels like. It’s not fun, especially when you have responsibilities to your wife and kids, mortgage, etc. I get that.
The reality is that Circuit City is in trouble. They are getting their clock cleaned by Best Buy and Amazon.com. By every measure, the company is in terrible shape. Here are just a few,
Stock Price History
52-Week Change: -35.63%
Profitability
Profit Margin (ttm): -0.10%
Operating Margin (ttm): 1.08%
Financials
Qtrly Revenue Growth (yoy): 0.60%
Net Income Avl to Common (ttm): -13.69M
Diluted EPS (ttm): -0.07
Everybody running for president, on both sides of the aisle, will pander to one degree or another. Hillary’s pandering, however, is both thoughtless and shameless. In other words, she’s not very good at it. To pander effectively, as her husband did, you must have empathy and a connection with those you are sucking up to. Sidebar: I worked as a volunteer for Paul Tsongas during the NH primary in 1992. I remember like it was yesterday when Tsongas gave Bill the nickname ‘Pander Bear’. I think it was a big reason why he won the primary.
Anyway, back to Hillary, she seems to be pandering out of obligation, because that is what the playbook says to do. This letter is a classic example of bad pandering. She know better, but sent it out anyway. Pandering. Bad pandering at that, but certainly not her worst,
How devastating would success in Iraq be for the Democrats? So much so that they won’t even consider the possibility. What a sad, pathetic state of affairs.
ABC News: Pelosi to skip briefing by General Petraeus
WASHINGTON, Apr. 24, 2007— As the House and Senate prepare to vote this week on the final conference report on the $124 billion troop funding bill — which would also mandate that U.S. combat troops begin withdrawing from Iraq on Oct. 1 at the latest — Gen. David Petraeus is scheduled to come to the Hill tomorrow to brief lawmakers on the progress of the recent troop escalation.
ABC News has learned, however, that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., will not attend the briefing.
“She can’t make the briefing tomorrow,” a Democratic aide told ABC News Tuesday evening. “But she spoke with the general via phone today at some length.”
Must be a botox day. At least Harry Reid will attend. He won’t listen, but he will attend.
CNN’s Dana Bash: Gen.Petraeus is coming to the Hill to report on and make it clear to you that there is progress going on in Iraq and that the surge is working. Will you believe him if he says that?
Harry Reid: No, I don’t believe him because its not happening.
Watch for yourself.
This is even more offensive than his “war is lost” comment from last week. This is an abdication of their duty. These Democrat leaders are unworthy of their position and the mighty responsibility that goes along with it.
Not a single senator, Harry Reid included, voted against Gen. Petraeus when they had the chance. Instead, they sent him unanimously to Iraq to implement his surge plan. Now, they withhold funding and refuse to listen to his reports from the field. Wasn’t it the Democrats who have been saying for years that we need to listen to the generals?
Oh, I see, that was then and this is now. As Greyhawk of The Mudville Gazette reminds us, the Democrats are now General Shopping. That was last year when they were demanding more troops in Iraq. Now they are hyping generals who support their new bumper sticker slogan of “Transition the Mission”. Silly me, sometimes it’s hard to keep track.
I got a bumper sticker for you Harry,
Vote Democrat in 2008l
What is backdating of stock options? Fortune’s Adam Lashinsky explains,
Stock options grant the recipient the right to buy shares at the stated price after a certain period of time has gone by. If the market price is higher than the so-called strike price, the employee makes money. Find a way to lower the price of the grant - by moving back the grant date during a rising market, for example - and the option is worth even more.
…the system of awarding options has gone from an incentive program to an entitlement. Companies that can’t or don’t offer rich options are at a disadvantage to those that do. Executives - with the complicity of their accountants, lawyers, compensation consultants and boards of directors - game the system to ensure not that employees are working for the shareholders, but rather that employees will make extra money in all but the gravest of circumstances. Options were considered so sacrosanct that Silicon Valley bigwigs fought tooth and nail to avoid having them accounted for as a compensation expense.
Who is responsible for granting stock options?
The Board of Directors. The backdating scandal brought with it calls for reform and an end to insider, absentee boards.
Among the most high profile company’s implicated in this scandal was Apple Computer. When things at Apple are going great, all the credit goes to Steve Jobs, the co-founder who came back and rescued the company with the iMac and iPod. When Apple gets implicated in the backdating scandal, suddenly they aren’t sure who really runs the company. Could the great Steve Jobs be implicated himself? Do you know what that could mean for the stock price?
Apple did what everyone caught with their hand in the cookie jar does, they appointed a blue ribbon panel to investigate.
New York Times
Apple Panel On Options Backs Chief
December 30, 2006
…a special committee of its (Apple’s) board had found that its chief executive, Steven P. Jobs, was not responsible for improper dating of stock options at the company.
Not only was Jobs not responsible, the special committee had, “complete confidence in Steve Jobs and the senior management team.”
What did Apple admit to in this report?
The disclosure yesterday by Apple in filings with the SEC said that 6,428 grants of options at Apple on 42 dates between 1997 and 2002 were improperly dated, resulting in charges to earnings for those years. Apple restated its financial results between 1998 and 2006 to recognize a new after-tax, noncash expense of $84 million in connection with the improperly dated options.
Many well regarded subject matter experts came to a different conclusion,
Lynn E. Turner, a former chief accountant at the Securities and Exchange Commission, ”It appears as if Jobs is playing the role of a monkey: See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. If he truly were fulfilling his role as C.E.O., it is highly questionable as to why he didn’t know about such poor management and oversight of the option granting process.”
Rob Enderle, principal analyst at Enderle Group, a high-tech research firm, “If Steve Jobs were anything other than what he is, he’d already be gone. There was a crime committed . . . it looks like Steve Jobs was kind of the ringleader.’”
This Apple appointed committee was led by none other than Al Gore. Having an insider like Gore, or any board member for that matter, as part of this investigation is a joke, kind of like having Jamie Gorelick on the 9/11 Commission.
The wrongdoing admitted to by Apple in this report does not square with the notion that Steve Jobs was not directly involved. The Gore report threw two other Apple executives under the bus. It was entirely their fault.
Why do I bring all this up? Because today, one of the scapegoats, former CFO Fred Anderson, settled with the SEC. Anderson issued a remarkable statement that placed the blame squarely on Steve Jobs.
Fred was told by Steve Jobs in late January 2001 that Mr. Jobs had the agreement of the Board of Directors for the Executive Team grant on January 2, 2001. At the time Mr. Jobs provided Fred this assurance, Fred cautioned Mr. Jobs that the Executive Team grant would have to be priced based on the date of the actual Board agreement or there could be an accounting charge. He further advised Mr. Jobs that the Board would have to confirm its prior approval in a legally satisfactory method. He was told by Mr. Jobs that the Board had given its prior approval and the Board would verify it. Fred relied on these statements by Mr. Jobs and from them concluded the grant was being properly handled.
Did Al Gore help cover up for a corporate fat cat who was ripping off shareholders? Was he part of the problem in corporate board rooms? How does this square with his boilerplate speech about shameless corporate corruption? Or his role as Chairmen of Generation Investment Management, a company that is “Dedicated to thought leadership on sustainability and capital markets”?
My chad isn’t hanging, I vote YES.
Oh, one more thing. Steve Jobs other company, Pixar, the animation studio, they are also implicated in the backdating scandal. No need for Jobs to worry, a Disney (Pixar’s parent company) “special committee” has cleared him of any wrongdoing. A mere coincidence I’m sure.
Charles Krauthammer of the Patriot Post has this interesting insight into the Virginia Tech Tragedy:
“Fifty years ago [Cho Seung-Hui] probably would have ended up, more likely, in a state mental hospital, than in a state university. But from the pictures we’ve seen, the kind of iconic photograph of the way he was methodical in everything he did, the one thing you can say psychiatrically speaking, is he was not as schizophrenic—that we colloquially think of as delusional or hallucinating. This is a man who planned it out. This was very methodical—schizophrenics are quite disorganized. He wasn’t. He was too organized. What you can say, just—not as a psychiatrist, but as somebody who’s lived through the past seven or eight years, is that if you look at that picture, it draws its inspiration from the manifestos, the iconic photographs of the Islamic suicide bombers over the last half-decade in Palestine, in Iraq, and elsewhere. That’s what they end up leaving behind…”
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