Monthly Archives: January 2009

Updated: Why Support IlanaMercer.com Through This Winter Of Our Discontent

America, Barely A Blog, English, Ilana Mercer, IlanaMercer.com, Israel, Justice, Media

On the front page of ilanamercer.com, under the heading “Contribute,” linked to the words, “here’s why,” is an essay detailing the reasons to support the site and its proprietor. The essay, “WHY SUPPORT ILANAMERCER.COM,” has been updated with the following compelling inducements:

THE WINTER OF OUR DISCONTENT (January 31, 2009): The economy is not the only object of cooling; the weather appears to be freezing over too. This is why the gabbling, hot-and-bothered Al Gore has substituted “global warming” with the more versatile “climate change.”

Here at the Weather Underground (and @ilanamercer.com), I’ve encapsulated the Gorian illogic thus:

“Evidence that contradicts the global warming theory, climate Chicken Littles enlist as evidence for the correctness of their theory; every permutation in weather patterns—warm or cold—is said to be a consequence of that warming or proof of it.”

As Karl Popper reminded us, “A theory which is not refutable by any conceivable event is,” of course, “non-scientific.” What eco-idiots have done is to immunize the theory of global warming against the dangers of scientific refutation.

LET THE SUNSHINE IN. Readers of Barely A Blog were, moreover, introduced, before most in the mainstream, to the concept of “sunspot activity.” In March of 2007, I published an article written exclusively for BAB by N. Baldwin, Jr. It was based on our friend’s book, “Global Warming: CO2, SunSpots, or Politics?

The decrease in sunspot activity—the sun having entered what appears to be a period of solar inactivity, resulting in all likelihood in global cooling—was reported a year and a half later by “Space Daily.” Fully two years after our report, sunspots, solar flares and solar eruptions have entered the overheated debate about the climate.

Having failed their readers time-and-again, the establishment media is struggling to survive. Good. Why support a source of propaganda that blows hot air about global warming and is cool to the market economy, the source of our splendid standard of living? Why contribute to the success of major media that have failed miserably and consistently to predict the outcomes of unjust wars, or warn ahead-of-time of the economic havoc wreaked by profligate administrations and their printing press?

The role of the contrarian who cleaves to the natural laws of economics and justice is even more crucial in times of crisis. To get by, such commentators rely on discerning patrons.

You, the reader, are my mainstay. I know you value the ability to come to a place in cyberspace where you’re heard, challenged, entertained—even regaled—and (gently) guided. But understand: This is hard work. It cannot be done without your assistance.

I appreciate your generosity.

ILANA

Does He Cry? Is There A Twinkle In His Eye?

Barack Obama, Bush, Democrats, Economy, Political Economy, Republicans, Socialism

That’s the substance of press conferences with BHO’s press pimp. And: Where will He watch the Super Bowl? Who’s invited to His White House Super Bowl Bash? How late does He work? What’s He reading?

Seriously, when Obama screws you over, it just feels right. He has that certain je ne sais quoi.

Indeed, Obama governing means that at last a “moral” man is in charge of deficit and bankruptcy-based spending. We’re safe; someone good has assumed control of the printing press. And what a relief that is. You just know that Obama spending the country into oblivion is vastly different from the Republicans doing the same.

As proof, under Obama’s tutelage, the elites have already formed a new task force to minister to middle-class Americans. It’ll be chaired by Vice President Joe Biden (a millionaire whose charitable giving is a fraction of the much-maligned, middle-class, Palin family). Right there is an example of the new goodness at work, to say nothing of a classic government make-work scheme.

So far, Obama and the Obama Nation demonstrate that their understanding of government’s role is of a piece. And, frankly, not much different to that of the Republicans, who agree with the principle of stimulating in public, but prefer that it not be as vigorous as Obama likes to stimulate.

Only a few weeks back, the Republicans voted for the outgoing thug’s bailout bonanza. Of course, in highly discerning Republican minds–the kind of Ben-Stein discerning–there is a difference between stimulating the financial sector and lavishing stuff on any and all à la Obama. To those of us who want to return the debate to the proper, constitutional role of government, there isn’t.

One thing is manifestly clear: If the Republicans were in power, they’d be doing pretty much what Obama is doing.

Based on the Republican Party’s unimpeachable record as an engine of government growth over the decades, it is quite clear that any show of principles by the Republicans is politically expedient and certainly fleeting.

Come to think of it, in the Republican opposition to the “stimulus” I have yet to discern an abiding principle, except one that reiterates my characterization of them here:

“How much to hand-out; who to hand it to; which hand-out makes the best use of taxpayer money; do the Big Three submit a business plan with their bailout requisitions, or not—that’s the depth of the ‘philosophical’ to-be-or-not-to-be among Republikeynsians.”

For example, Susan Collins, a Republican,

said she wants to work “with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to come up with a final stimulus package that will indeed jump-start our economy.” But she worries that not all of the proposed spending — an aide points to a proposal for research on pandemic flu — is appropriate for the stimulus package. “We need to try and achieve the right balance, the right size, and the right mix of tax relief and spending proposals,” Sen. Collins said. “I am not at all certain that we have achieved these goals in this bill.”

It is not that the opposing Republicans don’t approve of the Keynesian model being followed by Obama (and Bush before him); they do. But they’d prefer to find spending programs that are in line with their “values”: faith based initiatives, rather than planned parenting. Again, I don’t detect any fundamental shift in principles among the party that cheered Bush’s bailouts and his stimulus. Correct me of I’m wrong.

Incidentally, even for a commie Keynesian like our Kenyan, this path is not beyond reproach. The Economist makes the following point:

“Mr Bush and the Republicans in Congress repeatedly gave voters goodies without paying for them: tax cuts without tax reform, subsidised prescription drugs without Medicare reform, and so on. Mr Obama must not make the same mistake. His stimulus plans may include cherished giveaways such as tax credits for low-paid workers, expanded unemployment insurance benefits, and investments in alternative energy. [NOT] All have their merits; all will also increase the hole in the books. Despite some earnest waffle about addressing the long-term fiscal challenge, Mr Obama has been short on specifics.”

Update II: What Do You Know? We Are Not All Keynesians

Ann Coulter, Barack Obama, Economy, Inflation, Iraq, Israel, Media, Republicans, Socialism, Taxation, War

The Royal “We” is unwarranted; and it’s not only me. The following statement was signed by more than 200 academic economists, and posted by the Cato Institute. The Wall Street Journal buried the statement among a list of economists touting the stimulus package–and the “principle” of printing and borrowing the country out of a depression:

“Notwithstanding reports that all economists are now Keynesians and that we all support a big increase in the burden of government, we the undersigned do not believe that more government spending is a way to improve economic performance. More government spending by Hoover and Roosevelt did not pull the United States economy out of the Great Depression in the 1930s. More government spending did not solve Japan’s ‘lost decade’ in the 1990s. As such, it is a triumph of hope over experience to believe that more government spending will help the U.S. today. To improve the economy, policymakers should focus on reforms that remove impediments to work, saving, investment and production. Lower tax rates and a reduction in the burden of government are the best ways of using fiscal policy to boost growth.”

Update I (Jan 30): I always give credit where it’s due. Michelle Malkin is the only conservative writer that I know of who’s consistently protested the bailouts and assorted ‘stimuli’—not only the porky parts. And not because she is familiar with the Austrian Business Cycle Theory (ABCT), but because she is a true fiscal conservative. Good enough:

Stimulus Slush Fund for Housing Entitlement Thugs

The UAW’s Money-Squandering Corruptocracy

The Paulson Putsch: Time For A Fiscal-Conservative Counterinsurgency

Update II (Jan 31): Malkin’s moniker for her party: The Bend Over Republicans (BOR).

Malkin has incurred my libertarian wrath, expressed in “Internment Chic.” However, she deserves the credit Ann Coulter undeservedly gets.

The Canadian conservative writer Kevin Grace captured the core of Coulter’s “craft”:

“The secret to becoming a successful right-wing columnist is to echo the mob while complimenting yourself on your daring. That’s all there is to Ann Coulter’s craft, the rest is exploitation of the sexual masochism of the American male—he just can’t get enough of the kitten with claws.”

Or, as I’ve put it, “The secret to success is to keep the masses euphoric, moronic, and pheromonic.”

Coulter is an attractive GOP cheerleader, who has never opposed The Party in any meaningful way. When matters get heated, she further escapes into her formulaic, “Liberals This; Liberals That.” A recipe that works well for her.

Muslim Fit Over 'Fitna'

Europe, Free Speech, Islam, Jihad, The West

The excerpt is from my new WND column, “Muslim Fit Over ‘Fitna’“:

“Those who’ve been following the latest installment in the saga know that [Geert] Wilders released a film: ‘Fitna.’ ‘Fitna’ is unremarkable: it’s your basic primer to Islam.

The Koran commands the faithful to kill the kafir. Wilders excerpts these Koranic commandments, and shows Muslim believers articulating and acting on them.

Wilders could have easily been neutralized had Muslims across the West, and their puppy-dog proxies, allowed the screening of “Fitna,” and adopted a Western, live-and-let-live stance toward this tradition of benign protest. …”

Read the complete column, “Muslim Fit Over ‘Fitna.‘”