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Something Wiccan This Way Comes…

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I have to give my blogger-in-crime, Dan, credit for coming up with this headline when I told him what I was doing this weekend. Heh.
PatriotPartner and I headed up to the King of Blue States — Massachusetts — for a wedding of an old high school friend. And in a sense, we were at the spiritual center of Blue-ness… a commune/dance therapy place called “Earthdance.” It was odd that the two gay Republicans were — at the same time — very uncomfortable, yet the most mainstream, amongst these idealistic forest nymphs.
John and I did NOT stay at Earthdance, but rather at one of the nicest bed & breakfasts I have ever been to — The Mountain View B&B. The owners are an awesome lesbian couple with the cutest son. We had a blast with them and I’d encourage anyone visiting Western Massachusetts to stay with them!
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Discovery Channel’s “Greatest American”: PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN

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PatriotPartner and I are watching “Greatest American” live on Discovery Channel. The nominees are Washington, Lincoln, MLK Jr, Reagan and Ben Franklin.
I’ll live-blog the show until the winner is announced.
First observation… I noted that the in-studio audience booed Ronald Reagan, yet the Reagan contingent sounded most enthusiastic about their candidate. Matt Lauer actually gave the “booers”… in the Martin Luther King section, by the way… a verbal smackdown.
9:15 PM — They just announced that by only 1/10 of a vote…. Ben Franklin eeked out President George W. Bush for the 5th top spot in the online and phone voting over the past three weeks. JFK and Clinton… wound up below President GW Bush. Heh.
9:20PM — Every US President since 1933 was named by America to the Top 100…except Gerald Ford. That’s a shame. History will judge him much higher I believe.
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Andrew’s puzzling piece

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Earlier in the week, Eva Young e-mailed the link to Michelangelo Signorile’s post taking issue with Andrew Sullivan’s Advocate column where that blogger formerly known as a conservative seems to extol the virtues of being HIV-positive.
I have to say that I’m not quite sure what to make of the piece, indeed, find myself agreeing (**GASP**) with some of what Signorile has to say, especially when he asks, “what is the purpose of this column“? I read it through a couple of times and also read BoiFromTroy‘s thoughtful post on the topic — as well as some of the comments to Boi’s post and remain perplexed by Andrew’s intentions.
Andrew talks about how long he has survived with HIV, how he feels better, even suggests that he looks better. We all know that thanks to medicines developed in the mid to late 1990s, people with the virus can live normal, healthy lives. Like Andrew, many who follow the regimen don’t get sick. Yet, for some, the drug regimen doesn’t work. Their health continues to decline and many die. As I understand it, doctors have not yet been able to figure out why the regimen works for some, but not for others.
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Against federal funding of broadcast (and other) media

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After Congress regrettably voted to restore funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the umbrella organization for National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), I want to draw your attention to an excellent piece in favor of defunding the CPB and privatizing the National Endowment for Arts as well as the National Endowment for the Humanities. In their piece on Culture Agencies from the Cato Handbook for Congress, David Boaz and Sheldon Richman write:

In a society that constitutionally limits the powers of government and maximizes individual liberty, there is no justification for the forcible transfer of money from taxpayers to artists, scholars, and broadcasters. If the proper role of government is to safeguard the security of the nation’s residents, by what rationale are they made to support exhibits of paintings, symphony orchestras, documentaries, scholarly research, and radio and television programs they might never freely choose to support? The kinds of things financed by federal cultural agencies were produced long before those agencies were created, and they will continue to be produced long after those agencies are privatized or defunded.

As with anything by David Boaz, I highly recommend that you read the whole thing.

Karl Rove and “liberals”

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It is often uncanny how much GP and I agree. Last night, after finishing my post on the reaction to Senator Durbin’s remarks, I scribbled a few notes on topics to blog on today. When I checked the blog this morning as I enjoyed my oatmeal, I was delighted to see that GP had already blogged on two of them, the Kelo decision and the Democratic reaction to Karl Rove’s statement.
When the Senate’s Number Two Democrat compared the actions of U.S. troops to those of the worst tyrannies of the last century, his critics provided numerous examples of the crimes of those thugs and murderers to distinguish them from the alleged abuses at Guantanamo. Now, it is Mr. Rove’s defenders who are providing numerous examples to rebut the critics.
My blog-league provided several. You can also follow the links provided in Instapundit’s post on the topic. (Instapundit has since shown why he’s such a brilliant blogger as he quoted from Bruce’s post in his copious compendium.)
Hillary, Charles Schumer (the other Senator from New York) and other Democrats have raised a ruckus over Rove’s remarks. Yet, in so doing, they show their true colors. As New York Governor George Pataki put it:

I think it is a little hypocritical of Senator Clinton to call on me to repudiate a political figure’s comments when she never asked Senator Durbin to repudiate his comments. Senator Clinton might think about her propensity to allow outrageous statements from the other side that are far beyond political dialogue –insulting every Republican, comparing our soldiers to Nazis or Soviet gulag guards–and never protesting when she serves with them.

Hillary’s faux outrage confirms a point I had made in a previous post, “It seems that Democrats determine right or wrong in terms of party affiliation.”
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The apology Durbin should have offered

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Blogger Law Jedi doesn’ think that Senator Durbin’s remarks earlier this week showed genuine contrition. As I noted previously, his office didn’t term his remarks an apology, but a “Statement of Regret.” Law Jedi offers an alternate version of what the Senate’s Assistant Democratic Leader “needed to say:”

I made an unbelievably indefensible statement last week, comparing our military to the genocidists of the Twentieth Century. The comparison was completely outrageous and I was completely in the wrong for making it. I apologize to the people of America for saying such an upsetting thing about their servicemen and women. We have a military that is trying to keep us safe, and while I am not happy with that FBI report I read and may not be comfortable with some of the treatment it described, the treatment is simply unpleasant, not illegal and not immoral, and is the kind of thing that intelligent people can debate. I apologize and ask the forgiveness of the American people for my truly wrong mischaracterization of our military.

(Hat tip: Patterico)

Supposed “Conservative” Supreme Court Tramples on Bill of Rights

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PatriotPartner brought this Supreme Court ruling to my attention last night. This case involves a local government seizing private land and handing it over to a developer. So now eminent domain is allowed for seizure by developers for commercial interests?
From the WSJ:

That protection was immensely diminished by yesterday’s 5-4 decision, which effectively erased the requirement that eminent domain be invoked for “public use.” The Court said that the city of New London, Connecticut, was justified in evicting a group of plaintiffs led by homeowner Susette Kelo from their properties to make way for private development including a hotel and a Pfizer Corp. office. The properties to be seized and destroyed include Victorian homes and small businesses that have been in families for generations.

Kelo v. New London – via Associated Press
Pardon me, but I believe that the Fifth Amendment is pretty clear about this:

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Our Founding Fathers felt very strongly about this as they came from European monarchies that stole land from the peasants without regard or notice. They specifically wanted to prevent this which is why it became a topic for one of the First Ten Amendments.

“The small landholders are the most precious part of a state.” — Thomas Jefferson
“The political institutions of America, its various soils and climates, opened a certain resource to the unfortunate and to the enterprising of every country and insured to them the acquisition and free possession of property.” –Thomas Jefferson
Jefferson even warned that “The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground” when talking specifically about the takings of private property.

DowntownLad has an even more insightful posting: The Slaughter-Rights Case.
We definitely need a REAL Conservative Court…. can anyone deny now that Liberals and ConservsInNamesOnly on the Court are looking to create laws, not interpret the Constitution?
-Bruce (GayPatriot) — gaypatriot2004@aol.com

Methinks the Dems Protesteth Too Much

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WELCOME INSTAPUNDIT READERS!!
First of all, Karl Rove is absolutely correct:

Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers…..Let me just put this in fairly simple terms: Al Jazeera now broadcasts the words of Senator Durbin to the Mideast, certainly putting our troops in greater danger. No more needs to be said about the motives of liberals.

The White House response:

The White House defended Rove’s remarks and accused Democrats of engaging in partisan attacks. Rove, said spokesman Scott McClellan, “was talking about the different philosophies and our different approaches when it comes to winning the war on terrorism.”

Can there be any doubt that what he said is true?
Exhibit A: First of all, Rove said “liberals”… not necessarily Democrats. But wow, the Democrats who, in the 2004 Presidential Election couldn’t run fast enough from the word “liberal” now seem to be embracing it wholeheartedly in their “outrage” I also never saw a Democrat refuse to take campaign money from MoveOn.org and their ilk. (Hat tip: JustOneMinute) (Karl Rove Brilliant Trap #1)
Exhibit B: It was in fact liberals/Democrats who said the following: (Hat tip: Captain’s Quarters, HughHewitt)

US Senator Patty Murray (D-WA): “He’s [Osama bin Ladin] been out in these countries for decades, building schools, building roads, building infrastructure, building day-care facilities, building health-care facilities, and the people are extremely grateful. We haven’t done that,” Murray said.
“How would they look at us today if we had been there helping them with some of that rather than just being the people who are going to bomb in Iraq and go to Afghanistan?” (GP Ed. Note: Yes, let’s help the terrorists build Islamists schools, Senator Murray….)

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Reaction to Durbin’s remarks (and apology) shows why Republicans are better than Democrats

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My guess is that, in the wake of Assistant Senate Democratic Leader Dick Durbin’s apology on Tuesday for his remarks comparing the alleged treatment of a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay to that of worst tyrannies of the last century, I expect the controversy to subside. The media will cover this less and less and only a few conservatives will continue to comment on it.
Two-and-a-half years ago, however, when another Senate leader made a similarly offensive comment, the controversy did not subside in the wake of his apology. At the one-hundredth birthday party of then-U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond, then-Senate Republican Leader Trent Lott said that our nation would have avoided “all these problems” had it followed the lead of his state (Mississippi) in voting for Thurmond for president in 1948. That year, the man from the Palmetto State had run as a segregationist on the Dixiecrat ticket. Mr. Lott’s comments thus suggested that desegregation had caused many of “these problems” in the ensuing years.
Eight days after making the remarks, Lott apologized. “A poor choice of words conveyed to some the impression that I embraced the discarded policies of the past. . . . Nothing could be further from the truth, and I apologize to anyone who was offended by my statement.” Later, he said, his words were “terrible” and stated that he rejected segregationist “policies of the past.” Yet, many believed Mr. Lott’s contrition was not enough. The NAACP thought he should resign his leadership position.
And it wasn’t just liberal organizations calling for him to step down. Conservative columnists thought he should relinquish his leadership post as well (here, for example). Richard Land, head of the Southern Baptist Convention’s ethic entity, agreed. A few days later, Oklahoma Senator Don Nickles, the then-second-raking Republican in the Senate, suggested that Lott be ousted as party leader. As the chorus of criticism increased, encouraged in large part by conservative bloggers, pressure on the Mississippi Senator to relinquish his leadership post continued to build and a few days later, he stepped down as the GOP leader in the United States Senate.
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CT Gov to seek re-election

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Just learned (via Polipundit) that a great Republican Governor, Jodi Rell, will seek re-election in Connecticut. This good woman became the first governor to sign into a law a bill recognizing same-sex civil unions without being coerced by the courts. It goes without saying that this blog enthusiastically endorses her re-election and hopes that the good citizens of the Nutmeg State will enjoy her leadership for four more years.

Conservatives fault tabloid-style book on Hillary

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Gotta give my pal Dirty Harry credit for scooping me on this one. Barely twenty-four hours after joining Bridget Johnson on GOP Vixen, he’s proud to be a Republican because Republicans (and conservative pundits) have been among the most savage critics of the recently-released book out trashing Hillary Clinton. As Dirty Harry puts it, “Conservatives don’t like it when it happens to us and we don’t like it when it happens to them. Even when it’s (gasp!) Hillary.”
While many on the left lavished praise on Kitty Kelley for her fall book trashing President Bush, while prominent Democrats flocked to see Michael Moore’s mean-spirited and deceptive propaganda piece, barely a handful of Republicans have praised a Kitty Kelley-type book on the former First Lady. Indeed, so offended am I (a strong critic of Mrs. Clinton) by what I have read about the book, I refuse to dignify it by providing its title (or naming its author) on this blog.
Peggy Noonan notes this morning that the book “has been heavily dumped on by conservatives.” Having read the book, this great columnist who embodies the qualities of the Greek goddess Athena writes that it’s “poorly written, poorly thought, poorly sourced and full of the kind of loaded language that is appropriate to a polemic but not an investigative work, concluding that the book is “too over the top. It seems hard to believe.” (As always with Peggy’s works, I recommend you read the whole thing.)
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Poll shows Americans think Guantanamo detainees treated fairly

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Powerline links a poll that shows more Americans believe that the suspected terrorists held at Gitmo are being treated better than they deserve than those who think prisoners are treated too harshly. According to a Rasmussen survey, 36% of American thought prisoners are being treated better than they deserve while just 20% thought they were treated unfairly. 34% thought they were treated about right.
I think this is because, unlike some Democratic senators and a few bloggers, Americans see the alleged abuses in the context of how well our military treats prisoners, even those caught on the field of battle bearing arms, but not wearing a military uniform, those cretins who frequently target civilians, including those of their own religion.

Are Gays the “new Jews” ?

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I missed this Jonah Goldberg piece at The Corner earlier this week. (Hat tip: RelapsedBlog/Relapsed Catholic)
GAYS=JEWS — The Corner at NRO

Central to the anti-Semitic narrative is the Jews’ longevity as an intact people. There’s no enduring gay tribe, is there? Can you simply swap out the stereotype of Jews as financiers and predators of capital in favor of the stereotype of gays as interior decorators and hair-dressers and have anything similar to anti-Semitism? Is there a gay diaspora? I’ve heard the argument that homosexuality behaves like a religion, does this mean that Yglesias and Sullivan buy into it? Or do they want to claim all the benefits of playing this particularly powerful bigotry card without carrying any of the burdens of the analogy?

I’m anxious to hear your thoughts on this debate….
-Bruce (GayPatriot) – gaypatriot2004@aol.com

My Thoughts on Sully

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I share Dan’s sadness and frustration that Andrew Sullivan has taken on his blog and in his published writings. And I agree with one of our readers that Andrew seems to pick the contrarian position on nearly everything when the convention wisdom view has changed, or is muddied.
That isn’t the Reagan way.
Now, I must add in fairness that Andrew has been good to this blog and has stood with us on the issues of forced outings. For that I thank him.
But I note the utter irony of his Tuesday posting regarding HIV’s decline….

African-Americans are still most at risk. But this is good news in general, which is why you won’t read about it in the New York Times. They prefer to hyper-ventilate over one case, rather than a study based on 1,732,419 servicemembers.

Yet that is precisely what Sullivan and Durbin are doing with their exaggerated comparisons of one incident at Gitmo (holding foreign criminal terrorists with no right under the US Constitution) versus Nazi Germany (systematically murdering millions of civilians in their own nation).
-Bruce (GayPatriot) — gaypatriot2004@aol.com