Why Ayn Rand Trumps Sam Harris on Ethics

by Ari Armstrong | 9:40 pm, January 31, 2011

I submitted a video to the Project Reason video contest.Following is the transcript:What is morality?Where does it come from?What is its justification?In his recent work on ethical theory, “new atheist” Sam Harris argues that morality consists of achie…

ObamaCare Ruled Unconstitutional

by PerlStalker | 7:21 pm, January 31, 2011

ObamaCare has been ruled unconstitutional by Judge Vinson in Florida. This is the big lawsuit by the states, including Colorado, so it’s Big F-ing Deal™. Heritage has a good summary, if you are short on time. Melissa Clouthier has a more detailed…

The Al Gore Cult of Global Warming – and why they don’t like nuclear power.

by David K. Williams, Jr. | 7:07 pm, January 31, 2011

Nuclear power is not acceptable to the Al Gore Cult of Global Warming because it does not require state control of individuals and their energy use. A Facebook user (and where else can one get good political discussions going short of a freshman govern…

1/27 Pt 2 – Chat w/ State Sen. Kent Lambert and debate with liberal Kaleb Brooks

by Jimmy Sengenberger | 6:00 pm, January 31, 2011

In Part Two of the 1/27 SOTU edition of Seng Center, Colorado State Senator Kent Lambert (SD-9) joins host Jimmy Sengenberger for an in-depth chat on the current legislative session.  The duo put particular emphasis on the impact of federal mandat…

Breaking: Health Care Law Ruled Unconstitutional

by elpresidente | 2:15 pm, January 31, 2011

Developing: A federal judge in Florida says the Obama administration’s health overhaul is unconstitutional, siding with 26 states that had sued to block it. U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson on Monday accepted without trial the states’ argument that the new law violates people’s rights by forcing them to buy health insurance by 2014 or face [...]

Don’t Make Parents Choose Between Finding a Better School & Obeying the Law

by Eddie | 11:50 am, January 31, 2011

During last week’s National School Choice Week emerged a sad, dramatic story that made the case for school choice better than many policy papers could. I’m finally getting around to commenting on the case of Ohio’s Kelley Williams-Bolar, who was charged with a felony for falsifying papers to enroll her daughter in a different school [...]

Clear The Bench Colorado wins opening rounds in legal battle over “Know Your Judge” campaign finance law violations

by CTBC Director | 9:12 am, January 31, 2011

As reported in Friday’s Face The State (”Judge clears the way for Clear the Bench“),
plaintiff Clear the Bench Colorado (CTBC) has won some key battles in its effort to prove that a consortium of groups behind the Know Your Judge website constituted a political committee that failed to comply with laws governing spending and electioneering.
Last week, [...]

Monday morning market thoughts

by Rossputin | 8:39 am, January 31, 2011

If there’s anything even slightly surprising about how financial markets in the US are opening this Monday morning, it’s how incredibly dull they are.

Stock index futures are up slightly, indicating an opening between 0.25% and 0.5%  higher. Stock volatility index (VIX) futures are also down.

Gold is down sharply, over $15 at 7:15 AM Mountain Time, with silver down about 12 cents.

Even oil, which had been up more than $1/barrel last night is now trading down about 35 cents, and the US Dollar is giving up some of it’s Friday gains.

In other words, the market believes that the situation in Egypt, including possible disruptions to the Suez Canal through which something like 20% of the world’s oil is transported, will be resolved relatively peacefully.

Although I’m inclined to agree with that assessment, it could be wrong.  Indeed it could be spectacularly wrong.

My take is that this may be an opportunity to buy “gamma” in the stock market and in specific sectors, such as gold stocks, meaning putting on a position that would profit from large or chaotic moves in these markets, but which would lose money if the markets become and remain relatively dull for the next several weeks.

As for the Obama Administration’s response to events in Egypt, I’m of two opinions: On the one hand, their early words, especially those of Secretary of State Clinton (who said on Tuesday that the government of Egypt is stable) and our government’s senior idiot, Joe Biden, who said on Thursday that Hosni Mubarak is not a dictator and that he should not step down.

No doubt this is a very tricky situation for the US foreign policy establishment.  We want to encourage democracy but don’t want to leave a power vacuum for the Muslim Brotherhood to attempt to fill (though I think the power of that group in Egypt is somewhat overstated in most media outlets.)  We also don’t want to abandon our erstwhile ally so aggressively that other would-be allies in the region decide they’d better cozy up to China or Russia or even Iran because we can’t be counted on.

While many people want the US to “say something”, on balance I think our relatively passive approach is the right one.  While we want the people of Egypt to know they have the support of America in a move toward more freedom, we can’t be seen as trying to impact the results of elections.  Too much obvious support for a particular candidate, for example, would leave him open to criticism of being a pawn or patsy of the west.  To be sure, hatred of the US is not nearly as widespread in Egypt as in many other parts of the Arab world, not least because Egypt is the second biggest recipient of US foreign aid (after Israel).  Furthermore, the Egyptian military and the US military have a very good and close relationship, so their military does not foment anti-western sentiment the way the Revolutionary Guard in Iran does.

All in all, I am somewhat optimistic about the outcome in Egypt. Therefore, I think the market’s reaction this morning is basically right but at the same time I don’t think the volatility which appeared on Friday is now going to evaporate and go back to the low volatility levels of recent weeks.

For those of you who are interested in thinking about some of the various paths the events could unfold – and to cast your vote for your forecast – I recommend checking out the very interesting “War Room” page over at Wikistrat.com: http://www.wikistrat.com/war-room/

Also – and I’m not just saying this because it was my radio show – I thought the discussion with Dr. Tom Barnett of Wikistrat which I had last night on Backbone Radio was quite fascinating.  You can listen to it at the Backbone web page here in segments 5 and 6. (The rest of the show was great as well!)

http://rossputin.com/blog/backbone.php/backbone-radio-january-30-2011

Education needs freedom, not phony “investments” in the government school cartel

by Brian T. Schwartz | 5:30 am, January 31, 2011

Beware politicians’ “investment” con. People typically invest their own money for their personal gain.  But politicians “invest” by confiscating taxpayers’ money for their own political gain. The education “investments” in the 2011 State of the Union address take your money … Continue reading →

Revolution in Egypt

by Al Maurer | 10:22 pm, January 30, 2011

It looks like regime change in Egypt–and that could be either good or bad.

1/20 Pt 1 – A Tribute to Ronald Reagan

by Jimmy Sengenberger | 7:00 pm, January 30, 2011

In Part One of the 1/20 edition of Seng Center, host Jimmy Sengenberger presents a complete tribute to former President Ronald Reagan on the 30th anniversary of his inauguration and just a few weeks before the 100th anniversary of his birth.  What…

1/20 Pt 2 – Monologues on Obamacare repeal, CPAC’s GOProud controversy, and gun control follies

by Jimmy Sengenberger | 6:00 pm, January 30, 2011

In Part Two of the 1/20 edition of Seng Center, host Jimmy Sengenberger explains why, symbolic though it may be, the repeal of Obamacare is good news – and why arguments that repeal would add to the debt are absurd.Then, the college radio hosts address…

PERA Is Still Having Issues

by PerlStalker | 5:54 pm, January 30, 2011

A coworker sent me this nice explanation about the trouble facing Colorado’s public pension fund, PERA. In short, PERA is in bad shape. It has been for a while but it hasn’t always been that way.

In 2000, PERA was funded at 105 percent of it’s liabil…

Backbone Radio: Egypt update, Jan 30, 2011

by Rossputin | 11:57 am, January 30, 2011

I’m pleased to let you know that during the 7 PM hour of this evening’s show, we’ll be joined by global strategy expert and best-selling author Dr. Thomas P.M. Barnett to discuss events in Egypt, Tunisia, and Yemen, as well as the possible impact of these events on other nations, including Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Israel.

You can read Dr. Barnett’s remarkable bio HERE and I encourage readers of these pages and listeners to Backbone Radio to visit www.wikistrat.com/war-room for ongoing strategic simulation by geostrategists headed by Dr. Barnett, looking at developments in Egypt. (Wikistrat subscribers get deeper access…)

More details of the “War Room” in THIS press release.

As always, please join me by listening to (and calling in to) this week’s Backbone Radio program from 5 PM to 8 PM on 710 AM KNUS in Denver and 1460 AM KZNT in Colorado Springs.

If you’re not in range of the radio waves, you should be able to listen to the show online by clicking HERE.

Backbone Radio, January 30, 2011

by Rossputin | 9:07 am, January 30, 2011

Audio archives for this show:

Segment 1 – Intro; Scott Gessler
Segment 2 – Bob Schaffer on Leadership Program of the Rockies Annual Retreat; State of the Union; Education
Segment 3 – Kevin Miller, author of “Freedom Nationally, Virtue Locally – or Socialism”
Segment 4 – More with Kevin Miller
Segment 5 – Dr. Thomas Barnett; Wikistrat.com, Egypt
Segment 6 – More with Tom Barnett about uprising in Egypt

Please join me for this Sunday’s edition of Backbone Radio on Newstalk 710 KNUS in Denver and 1460 KZNT in Colorado Springs from 5 PM to 8 PM.

In our first hour, we’ll discuss the State of the Union speech as well as protests across the Arab world, including being joined by former Congressman and current Chairman of the Colorado State Board of Education, Bob Schaffer.

In the second hour of the show, our in-studio guest will be Kevin Miller.  Kevin is the author of the newly-published Freedom Nationally, Virtue Locally—or Socialism (Denali Press). Miller has been engaging on public policy issues in Colorado since 2003 as the presenter/co-founder of Vanguard Roundtable—a public policy forum for politically conservative Christians. Miller is a Fellow at the Centennial Institute, which works to enhance public understanding of issues relating to faith, family, and freedom.

We’ll discuss the future of the conservative movement and the Republican party in the context of “social issues” voters and the debate among leading conservatives about the appropriate level of focus on social issues by politicians.  Exhibit 1: The debate between Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, who suggested a “truce” on social issues, and Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council who suggested no thanks.

During the 7 PM hour of this evening’s show, we’ll be joined by global strategy expert and best-selling author Dr. Thomas P.M. Barnett to discuss events in Egypt, Tunisia, and Yemen, as well as the possible impact of these events on other nations, including Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Israel.

You can read Dr. Barnett’s remarkable bio HERE and I encourage readers of these pages and listeners to Backbone Radio to visit www.wikistrat.com/war-room for ongoing strategic simulation by geostrategists headed by Dr. Barnett, looking at developments in Egypt. (Wikistrat subscribers get deeper access…)

More details of the “War Room” in THIS press release.

Please join me by listening to (and calling in to) this week’s Backbone Radio program from 5 PM to 8 PM on 710 AM KNUS in Denver and 1460 AM KZNT in Colorado Springs.

If you’re not in range of the radio waves, you should be able to listen to the show online by clicking HERE.

I hope you’ll actively participate in the conversation with me: Call the studio at 303 696 1971, e-mail me at ross(at)backboneradio.net, or instant message from my site at http://rossputin.com or through AOL Instant messenger to screen name Rossputin.

Mesa State Employees Want Out of Colorado Personnel System

by PerlStalker | 9:53 pm, January 28, 2011

A bill is in the works to allow Classified Employees at Mesa State College to “opt-out” of Colorado’s Classified system. The Statesman story has a lot of good background information on the Classified Employee system. By way of disclaimer, I should ment…

Hickenlooper Proposes a VAT in Colorado

by PerlStalker | 8:26 pm, January 28, 2011

The Denver Post has a story about Colorado Republicans wanting to repeal the, so called, Amazon Tax now that a judge has ruled it unconstitutional. That’s all well and good but Ari Armstrong pointed out something that I missed before.

Gov. John Hick…

Wrapping Up School Choice Week: Andrew Coulson Touts Tax Credits… and More!

by Eddie | 12:59 pm, January 28, 2011

Aren’t there any child labor laws in effect here? This National School Choice Week phenomenon is great, but the good folks of the Education Policy Center have me blogging overtime. I talked about going on strike, but they just laughed and patted me on the head. How condescending!*
Anyway, rather than write any more, I wanted [...]

Middle East unrest a time of risk and opportunity

by Rossputin | 9:24 am, January 28, 2011

With protests (to put it mildly) from Tunisia to Egypt to Yemen, the Muslim world is in turmoil. Obviously, the outcomes from the point of view of someone (like me) who thinks that Islam is inherently dangerous and anti-human could range from disastrous (creating the next Afghanistan or at least Lebanon) to the tolerable (creating a relatively stable but essentially dictatorial situation, as Egypt has been) to something as close to good as you tend to see in that region (perhaps Jordan.)

[By the way, perhaps the most explicit demonstration I’m aware of regarding why Islam is a cancer on humanity is THIS news story which I can barely read, much less watch any video of.]

Before getting to the events on the ground in North Africa and Yemen, it’s worth noting the reaction in US markets: The US dollar is up sharply against the Euro and the British Pound, which is a common occurrence as people flock to the much-maligned “safe haven” of the USD during times of uncertainty.  While a strong dollar normally means weak commodity prices, we’re instead seeing gold up more than $20, or almost 7%, with silver also up more than 2%.

Most importantly, oil is up big, with March (the “front month”) futures up $3.  Of note is the fact that May (the third month) is up about 80 cents less than March, much more than the usual difference between the moves in those months and implying a substantial fear of short-term disruption in oil supplies.  The only way that makes sense is if traders fear – as I do – that the next place for an uprising is in Saudi Arabia.  After 2 1/2 hours of trading, the market is accelerating downwards, with the S&P 500 down more than 1.5%, or 19 points, and the CBOE’s volatility index (VIX) up by more than 3 points, the biggest jump in months, showing increased fear of continued market declines.

In the meantime, despite the Egyptian government shutting down Internet and cell phone services, protests or “organized insurrection” as Mike R. calls it are in full force in Cairo.

The dynamics in that large country are very interesting.  The government’s response has not been as brutal as one might expect, despite the gripping footage coming from Egypt:

It’s interesting to read a comment attributed to someone from President Hosni Mubarak’s ruling party that the government might need to respond with, among other things, “more freedoms.”

On the other hand, it’s frightening to see images of protesters stopping in the street to pray. It gives an indication of one likely outcome of successful protests: the installation of an Islamic or at least more-Islamic-than-now government:

Current reports indicate that the Muslim Brotherhood is influencing the protests: “The early cheers were mostly against Mubarak.  But as the clashes got more intense, the protests took on a more Islamic flavor.  There were more shouts of “Allahu Akbar”…”  Make no mistake, this is VERY bad news and is exactly the opening that Islamists are hoping to exploit.

Prior to these protests, it seemed that Hosni Mubarak’s son, Gamal, was a likely successor.  THIS article by NPR discusses Gamal’s chances and his chief rival as well as the Madame DeFarge-like impact of the wives of of the presidents of Egypt and Tunisia.

Meanwhile, Mohammed ElBaradei, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the group that so spectacularly failed to understand or deal with Iran’s nuclear plans has returned to his home country of Egypt, offering to head a resistance movement.  While some cynicism regarding political opportunism is warranted, at the end of the day this is a guy well-steeped in Western traditions, operations, and values.  A government including or run by him is perhaps the best currently visible outcome, even if no particular outcome is actually probable at this time.  Perhaps not surprisingly THIS al Jazeera article is critical of ElBaradei as an elitist opportunist, but it lays out the issues for and against him within Egypt quite well.

Given the news of the Islamic turn in the tone of the protests, we should probably hope that ElBaradei has success in organizing a pro-democracy movement – and that he does a better job in Egypt than he did at IAEA.

In Yemen, street protesters are calling for the removal of that nation’s president/dictator who has been in power for 32 years. We’ve all heard the stories of Yemen as the base of operations for Al Qaeda in Yemen and the American-born terrorist “imam” (again, a great reason to hope for the extinction of Islam over time) Anwar al-Awliki.  A NY Times story from just a week ago describes Yemen has having sentenced al-Awliki in absentia for murder, but the chances of their bringing him to justice don’t seem much higher than the chances of Pakistan bringing in Osama bin Laden or Ayman al Zawahiri.

If the Yemeni government falls, there is real risk of the nation becoming even more lawless and a petri dish for terrorists.  It’s particularly true in a nation as poor as Yemen, with one news story saying “With one-third of Yemen’s 23 million people living and suffering from chronic hunger and soaring unemployment, and almost half of the population living on less than $2 a day, the population is struggling, according to the United Nations Development Program.”  While it’s nice to think that anti-corruption forces would appeal to the rational mind of the population, rich westerners should not overestimate the amount that the desperately poor spend thinking about politics.  They’re too busy just trying to survive, and probably have religion as a substantial force in their day-to-day lives.  Therefore, it’s more likely that “populist” Islamic forces would have an upper hand than that any push for good government would gain a strong footing.  I hope I’m wrong.

Tunisia has perhaps the best chance of a decent outcome, having been a less Islamic nation for many years.  The protests, which reportedly started when a would-be street vendor lit himself on fire after being denied a permit to sell vegetables, have resulted in nearly 100 deaths, according to recent reports.  This discussion by a Tunisian writer frames the situation well, and begs the critical question for all the current protests as well as potential future protests which much have leaders across the Arab world – not least in Saudi Arabia – scared to death:

Are these truly – as they appear to be at first glance – popular uprisings against corruption and in search of freedom and democracy? Or are the protesters witting or unwitting tools of Islamists who want to turn more of the Middle East into safe havens for their hateful and anti-human views?

Only time will tell, but perhaps sooner than many people think.  Until the meantime, we’re witnessing events which, unlike many world happenings, are utterly outside any possible control or even substantial influence by the US or the western world.  We’re watching history in the making and watching time when many in the Arab world must make a decision which will impact the direction of their nations for generations to come.  Will they support relative freedom – leading to relative prosperity, or will they be co-opted by forces of primitive backwardness and tyranny in the name of religion?

Perhaps above all, even though it’s not in the news yet, the world should keep its eye on the streets of Riyadh.  If an insurrection contagion spreads to the world’s largest oil supplier, the economic and market impacts, in addition to the geopolitical ramifications for Iran and Iraq, could be extremely damaging.

Double Dose of Your Devil’s Advocate

by Jon Caldara | 8:12 am, January 28, 2011

Get ready for a double dose of Devil’s Advocate this week. It’s the same half-hour of public affairs excellence, just in two different segments. First, I am joined by Colorado’s assistant house majority leader, Representative Mark Waller, for the new leadership’s perspective on the 2011 legislative session, then I go one-on-one with the [...]

Sarah Palin’s appropriate acronym for Obama’s speech

by Rossputin | 6:22 am, January 28, 2011

H/T Mike R.

Readers of these pages know that I’m not the world’s biggest Sarah Palin fan (though I am very glad she’s out there doing what she’s doing; I just don’t want her to run for president.)

But she earned a few extra points in my book with this hilarious and accurate depiction of Barack Obama’s “Winning the Future” rhetoric in his SOTU speech:

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/01/palin-changes-obamas-winning-the-future-phrase-/1

Mandates For Thee, But Not For Me

by Joshua Sharf | 5:08 pm, January 27, 2011

Going over the latest list of HHS waivers to the new health care requirements, I notice both the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts.  For those of you who listen to NPR even occasionally, these should be familiar names. That’s right.  Two of the largest underwriters of the largest cheerleader for this [...]

CDOT Transparency Bill Clears House Transportation Committee Unanimously

by Michael | 4:57 pm, January 27, 2011

Rep. B.J. Nikkel (R-HD 49) earned another win for transparency when HB 1002, a bill that COST profiled two weeks ago, received unanimous bipartisan support in clearing the House Transportation Committee on Wednesday on an impressive 12-0 vote.
A recap of what the transparency bill requires of the Colorado Department of Transportation:
This bill requires the Colorado [...]

Citizens’ Budget Facts Part Deux

by Jon Caldara | 3:10 pm, January 27, 2011

These little nuggets are taken from our massive Citizens’ Budget project, headed up by Fiscal Policy Center director Penn Pfiffner.
1. Further reform of PERA must be one the highest priorities of this General Assembly. Although PERA boasts assets with market value of $32.9 billion, its total liabilities were nearly twice that amount – $56.3 [...]

Court Suspends ‘Amazon Tax’ For Now

by Ari Armstrong | 2:28 pm, January 27, 2011

I haven’t seen this break on the big media sites yet, so I’ll reproduce a media release I just received as-is. I have not had time to check out the claims or the decision. For background, see my post from last year.Majority Leader Stephens Praises Amaz…

Finding It Very Hard to Get Excited about “Collaborpalooza” Coming Soon to Denver

by Eddie | 1:31 pm, January 27, 2011

I’ve got to hand it to Mike Antonucci for coming up with such a great name for an education event as Collaborpalooza (try saying it five times fast). Sounds like some sort of rock & roll festival.
But according to the U.S. Department of Education that’s putting it on, the actual name of the event is [...]

State of the Union

by Al Maurer | 11:02 am, January 27, 2011

There isn’t much to say about the state of the union speech that hasn’t already been said by a trillion pundits.  (NOTE: “trillion” is the new billion.) It is a bit surprising that the New Obama–you know, the One who’s been tacking to the center–didn’t really say anything new or different. Sure, “spending” is now [...]

Spare Us the ‘Sputnik Moment’

by Ari Armstrong | 10:56 am, January 27, 2011

Am I the only one creeped out by Obama’s loving references to Mother Russia? He can’t get enough of his “czars,” and now we are supposed to be inspired to greatness in a “Sputnik moment.”Yes, even the socialist Soviet Union could produce a functional s…

Yawn. Deficit to Hit $1.5 Trillion

by PerlStalker | 8:30 am, January 27, 2011

From the Not-exactly-news Department, the Federal deficit is forecast to hit a record $1.5 trillion this year. That number is only slightly higher than the $1.47 trillion deficit reported by the Washington Post six months ago.

If that number holds up…

Mike R: On the Significance of Music

by Rossputin | 6:40 am, January 27, 2011

Thanks to Mike R for these thoughts…

This past week The President threw yet another extravagant party at the White House, this time it was a full State Dinner for President Hu of China. It is one thing to host the President of China and quite another to honor him with a State Dinner typically reserved for allies or vanquished foes who are being welcomed into the world of the free.

The Reagans did this with Soviet Premier Gorbachev in 1987 after the signing of the treaty in Reykjavik eliminating intermediate range ballistic missiles; two years later the Berlin wall would fall.

At that dinner there was a slightly emotional moment near the end of the evening when perhaps the history of the moment caught up with everyone and Mrs. Gorbachev speaking somewhat freely lamented that the orchestra couldn’t play some Tchaikovsky. While she could not be quite so accommodated on the spur of the moment (The dinner itself had been hastily planned in less than five weeks to mark the occasion) the pianist for the evening, Van Cliburn, sat down and offered a rendition of a very stirring and famous Russian folk song ‘Moscow Nights’ or ‘Midnight in Moscow’ which was originally written as ‘Leningrad Nights’ and changed at the request of The Ministry Of Culture to reflect a more Russian less revolutionary sensibility. The Soviet delegation sang along and the Gorbachevs famously ended up staying later to the party than intended.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=In8DaeDs9KA&]

 

Or if you prefer a popularized version here are The Ventures [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0K-TKjvYy0w].

 

“My Motherland”

At the most recent extravagance hosted by the Obama White House, many months in the planning, a young Chinese pianist known as Lang Lang was invited to perform. There is little doubt that his program was scrutinized and approved by at least some in the White House protocol office. While many may regard such things as perfunctory and even somewhat silly in the modern age, among those who understand the dynamics of international relations, they most certainly are not.  Nuance is everything and unintended cultural insult or unwarranted exhalation at such events are and should be carefully avoided with close attention to detail.

During the evening of performance Lang Lang played a piece of music known as “My Motherland” which was composed in Maoist China to accompany an anti-American and anti-Western propaganda film known as “Battle on Shangganling Mountain” written at the height of the Korean War.

Lang Lang claims a kind of ignorance in selecting the piece suggesting only that he enjoys the melody and plays it often at other performances. This may indeed be true from his standpoint owing to his age and distance in time from the events that went into the song and film’s creation however the irony (and loss of face for the US) would definitively not be lost on visiting Chinese dignitaries or their counterparts back in China, Taiwan and the Koreas. At first glance the lyrics to the song may seem somewhat innocuous especially to the uneducated but put in the context of the film’s imagery and intent at the time the significance is unmistakable particularly to the Chinese officials enjoying the performance on American soil at a dinner in their honor hosted by the president.

Please read, watch and listen to the clip from the film here for a clearer understanding:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Motherland

I will allow some benefit of the doubt over the grave and embarrassing error and chalk it up to yet another moment of extreme ignorance on the part of the Obama White House and their staff but the pattern is one which should not escape scrutiny and criticism. From ushering the Dalai Lama out the back door past the trash without as much as a photo-op, obsequious bowing before both foreign dignitaries and Asian American politicians, Mao Tse Tung Christmas ornaments on the White House Christmas tree, to ignorant self centered/referential statements about and to this year’s Chinese dissident Nobel Peace Prize recipient, this White House has continued humiliate itself and the nation through ignorant missteps and a demonstrated disdain for national pride.

Indeed one may wonder what absurd faux pas may come next from this White House, perhaps confusing “Horst Wessel Leid” with the “The Watch on the Rhine” at a dinner for Chancellor Merkel…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltiUj96fZ8o

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