Bookworm Room

Conservatives deal with facts and reach conclusions; liberals have conclusions and sell them as facts.

The local media’s sycophantic coverage of Obama is laughable *UPDATED*

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Even though Obama has been gone from the White House for more than two years, the media’s sycophantic love affair with him continues unabated.

Obama media kiss Barack Obama recently appeared in Oakland, California, to join with basketball star Steph Curry, at a My Brother’s Keeper event. For those who don’t know, My Brother’s Keeper is an organization that the White House started in 2014. The White House described it as an initiative “designed to determine what works to help young people stay on track to reach their full potential.”

Although framed as something to address all young men (who, regardless of color are falling behind women in every metric), it’s apparent that My Brother’s Keeper really is a black outreach organization. Although that sounds illegal to me on discrimination grounds, I’m not going to quibble because it’s long been obvious that young black men struggle. Of course, I suspect that the organization will not offer the best outreach to all young men, regardless of color or location, which is to avoid crime, stay in school, get a job, get married, have children, and stay married. That’s a proven recipe for success.

Anyway, this post isn’t about My Brother’s Keeper. It is, instead, about the laughably sycophantic article The Marin Independent Journal published regarding the Oakland event. I’ll simply quote here all the lines referring to Obama: [Read more…]

The LGBT crowd, driven mad by Trump, supports Iran’s anti-gay laws

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When a gay magazine praises Iran’s treatment of gays and calls Trump a racist for challenging such laws, you’ve reached peak Trump Derangement Syndrome.

Iran's anti-gay lawsIn 2005, Iran hanged Mahmoud Asgari, 16, and Ayaz Marhoni, 18, for engaging in homosexual sex (although the Iranian authorities tried to cover by claiming the boys were rapists).

Just to show that the above was not an aberration, in 2017 Iran again executed someone for being gay, this time Hassan Afshar, 19.

Iran executed these three young men because it follows strict Islamic law which, while affirmatively allowing sheep shtupping (as long as you don’t kill the little gal and eat her after sex, which is really baaaad form), imprisons, tortures, whips, and executes men for homosexual practices.

Just a couple of days ago, the Trump administration, led by Richard Grenell, its wonderful ambassador to Germany, who also happens to be gay, announced a new initiative to end the criminalization of homosexuality throughout the world. Most sane people think doing so is a good thing.

Here’s the $64,000 question, though: Are you sane if you suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome? Don Surber makes a good argument, riffing off a Reddit comment, that you are not.

But if Don doesn’t persuade you, perhaps you’ll believe that TDS does in fact make people insane when you read an article from Out Magazine, one of the best known LGBT publications in America. The author, Mathew Rodriquez, argues that Trump’s effort push for a worldwide end criminalizing homosexuality is racist and that, really, it’s cool to be gay in Iran: [Read more…]

Bookworm Beat 1/11/19 — Jim Acosta border wall meme

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Jim Acosta wants to be the burr under Trump’s saddle, but instead, as these memes show, Jim Acosta is the gift that keeps on giving, at least meme-wise.

Acosta Donald Trump Dear Diary Border Wall

TRUMP: Good job yesterday, I appreciate your sales pitch

ACOSTA: I didn’t see any danger on the border Mr. President.

TRUMP: That’s because we had a wall.

[Read more…]

The Border Wall: thoughts about Trump’s address and the Democrat rebuttals

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On the border wall, a surprisingly uncharismatic Trump showed he loved America and Americans, while Democrats succeeded only in showing they despise Trump.

Border Wall Immigration Trump Pelosi Schumer Ocasio-CortezHaving had some time to think about Trump’s address, as well as the official and unofficial rebuttals, I have a few thoughts, none particularly deep or meaningful. I therefore offer them for what they’re worth:

Trump spoke about the American people. He made it plain that he is working to benefit them, especially those in the front lines of dealing with the harm wrought by people who ought never to have been here in the first place.

Pelosi and Schumer spoke about Trump. Their hatred was manifest and should cause people to wonder whether their working for the good of Americans or simply to import voters, along with attendant drugs and violence.

Ocasio-Cortez spoke about garble-gooble fizwitz aliens blumpf Americans karpoffez deelywhop clum Marx shcniszzsle open borders. It continues to behoove us to take her seriously and to make sure that Americans understand that she represents the up-and-coming generation of young Democrats.

Trump did not say a single word about race. Nevertheless, he was instantly attacked for being racist. There is nothing racist about insisting that people who enter the country do so after knocking on the front door and asking for permission, rather than by leaping over the back fence, breaking through the kitchen window and, in some cases, poisoning the food, raping the women and children, and killing a family member or two. This is about behavior, not race.

CBS was so busy “fact checking” Trump that it inadvertently and absolutely proved that he understated the horrific attacks on Latin American women inveigled into making the march to the American border. CBS then did the only thing a modern mainstream media outlet could do, which was to delete its inadvertently pro-Trump, anti-illegal immigration fact-check. [Read more…]

I’ve figured out how to use drones to increase border security

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When I heard Dems promote drones to increase national security on the Southern border, I was confused. Now, though, I understand how those drones will work.

Unmanned DronesWhen Trump shifted his rhetoric from demanding a wall to talking about the need for border security, he forced the Democrats to talk about border security too. For example, a week or so ago, Democrat Sen. Mark Warner spelled out the way Democrats envision handling border security:

Well, I saw the picture and if this wasn’t the President of the United States, if the stakes weren’t so high, if this man had any kind of willingness to stick to his word, you know, it would almost be comical. The fact is, I think you could find the vast majority of Democrats who were willing to increase border security, but let’s use 21st century technology, drones, electronic surveillance, additional border guards. Not 14th century technology, a wall, whether he calls it steel-plated or not, which I’ve not heard a single security expert said would increase border security and we’ve now heard earlier today that these were the views that the President’s current Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney had as well a few years back, saying the wall was an absurd idea. (Emphasis mine.)

At first I was unclear how Warner’s 21st century technology would work. I imagined a camera-equipped drone or a fixed security camera capturing images of illegal aliens crossing the border somewhere near an isolated farmer’s ranch in Arizona. Then, somewhere in an underground room deep below Washington, D.C., an agent manning the monitors spots that incursion and puts in a call to the border guards working in Arizona.

The border patrol agents get in their truck and race to the border to intercept the illegal aliens. However, when they arrive at the border two hours later, they are chagrined to find that the aliens have long since dispersed into the surrounding country side and vanished.

To give a little context to my imaginings, think about England. In Britain, which has more close circuit cameras than any other major country in the world, the benefits from the cameras have been mixed at best. What’s noteworthy is that these cameras are most effective in closed spaces that allow cameras to capture every angle — in other words, they work effectively in circumstances that are the complete opposite of a long border — especially a border where the human element may be hours away from whatever event the cameras (whether drones or mounted on the wall) catch.

And then it occurred to me that I’d been thinking about it all wrong. Of course the drones can be effective. They just have to be utilized properly to catch the criminals in the act and neutralizing them as only airborne technology can: [Read more…]

Bookworm Beat 12/30/18 — the “everything and the kitchen sink” edition

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This Bookworm Beat is a true potpourri of all sorts of things I’ve noted as interesting over the past few days. Even I cannot discern a common thread.

Bookworm Beat Woman Writing American Left's FascismI didn’t anticipate that my weekend would be as busy as it’s proven to be. It’s almost ten on Sunday night, and my to-do list looks as long as it did when I started it. Sigh. Still, it’s been a good weekend, I’ve gotten a lot done, and I have a few things to offer here. Before I begin, you can see I’m trying out a slightly new format. There’s a long back story to the new format. Suffice to say this new format is easier to produce.

On immigration, do as I say, not as I do.

When it comes to hypocrisy, it’s hard to outdo a Leftist. That’s why, while I’m disgusted, I’m not shocked to learn that New York Mayor and open borders advocate Bill de Blasio has built a large privacy fence around Gracie Mansion, the home the city of New York provides for its mayors:

The new fence — constructed just inside an existing red brick wall and a wrought-iron fence ringing the historic property — was actually dubbed a “privacy fence” by de Blasio and first lady Chirlane McCray, sources told The Post.

“So much for being mayor of the people. That brick fence was good enough for Rudy Giuliani and his family, and for Ed Koch and all the mayors before him,” a law enforcement source said.

“They didn’t need a taller fence. That’s the same house where everybody else lived for years.”

Sources said the increasingly thin-skinned mayor demanded the extension because he was sick of nosy people in Carl Schurz Park peeping in while he hung out in the yard.

And just today, Trump reminded his Twitter followers that Barack and Michelle Obama are big fans of walls too – at least, when the walls are protecting them:

Remembering that humor is a powerful weapon.

It’s always dangerous to underestimate your enemy so humor that makes people cease to take an enemy seriously can backfire badly. However, humor that exposes an enemy’s true face is very powerful.

That’s why I think this video, even though it goes on a bit too long, is a both an expose of and an attack on Islamism. It shows very clearly why Islamism is antithetical to American values:

[Read more…]

Bookworm Beat 12/20/18 — the border wall edition

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I went overboard in this Bookworm Beat, covering the border wall, Syria, Antisemitism, Europe’s fall, science, Michelle and Melania, media bias, and much more.

border wall lawless government DACA Illegal immigrants illegal aliens illegal immigration borderGood walls make good neighbors. Trump did it — he got the House to include $5 billion in the budget bill to build the border wall. I was actually worried that he wouldn’t fulfill a core promise he made both to get elected and to put Chuck and Nancy in their place by saying he’d shut down the government before walking away from the wall.

Yay, Trump! Of course, now I’m worried what the execrable Jeff Flake will do in the Senate.

If you want a reminder about why the Left is fighting the wall with everything it has, despite voting for it some years ago, and strongly criticizing illegal immigration at the same time, Victor Davis Hanson explains: Put simply, a wall destroys the Democrats’ base.

Federal judge opens borders. It’s great that Trump got funding for the border wall. It’s not so great that, just yesterday, Judge Emmet Sullivan, the same guy who erroneously excoriated Lieut. Gen’l Flynn as a “traitor,” decided that America has no borders:

Judge Emmet G. Sullivan — who a day earlier had excoriated former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn — ordered the government to allow migrants with iffy claims to be given a full chance to make their case for asylum.

And he ordered the U.S. to un-deport plaintiffs in the case who already had been ousted under the new policy, saying they deserve to be brought back and allowed to claim asylum.

“Because it is the will of Congress — not the whims of the executive — that determines the standard for expedited removal, the court finds that those policies are unlawful,” Judge Sullivan wrote.

His decision overturns a move by former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who had tried to block asylum claims of migrants who said they faced gang violence or domestic abuse back home.

I am sorry that, for so many people, the world is a terrible place. I know that I’m singularly fortunate that sixty years ago my parents, after waiting patiently for years to get visas, legally immigrated to America allowing me to be a citizen of and grow up in this great country.

I also know that life is unfair and that we don’t make it more fair by destroying ourselves. The Leftists are demanding that we import into America the pathologies that have plagued Latin America for hundreds of years. I’m not willing to be a part of that suicide pact — although I don’t know what I, personally, can do to take away the gun the Left is figuratively placing in America’s mouth, with its finger on the trigger.

On withdrawal from Syria, I’m conflicted. Although I suspect a lot of Americans didn’t even realize we still had around 2,000 troops in Syria, it’s proving to be a hot button issue now that Trump has announced a troop withdrawal. His stated reason is that he promised we’d be in Syria to defeat ISIS and, having defeated ISIS, it’s now time to leave.

I think this was a good decision for a few reasons. First, Trump did what we keep asking our leaders to do, which is to state a clear objective and then, when that objective is achieved, to announce “victory!” and to withdraw. No quagmires for President Trump.

Second, as I noted, I bet a lot of Americans didn’t realize we even had troops in Syria. In other words, this was not a war that the nation supported. It was an “action,” the purpose of which was not obvious to most Americans. I firmly believe that you cannot endlessly demand that a nation send its blood and treasure to foreign shores without being able to articulate why. Without ISIS, no one was articulating a why, so Trump did the right thing by pulling our troops out.

Third, as long as the Western world refuses to tackle the problem of Islam head on, and without an imminent threat from a concerted non-government army such as al Qaeda or ISIS, these far-away battlefields are just band-aids. It makes no sense to send young men to die in Syria or Afghanistan to kill people who our leaders refuse to acknowledge are terribly dangerous. Again, without a clearly articulated purpose, why are our boys and men being sent to die?

Fourth, outside of Israel, which is a beacon of light, freedom, and innovation in a backwards, benighted region, I think the whole of the Middle East can go to Hell. I want them to leave us alone and I want them to leave Israel alone, but otherwise I don’t think we should be doing business there. Trump, by unleashing America’s energy sector, has cut the tie that bound us — namely, oil dependency.

Fifth, to the extent Iran is a threat, let the Sunni nations fight it. We can provide support for those nations (weapons, advice, etc.), but they should be their own front line. Making them the front line also forces them to make nice with Israel, because, as the Muslims say, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

For more on all these points, I suggest reading this post from Daniel Greenfield. [Read more…]

Bookworm Beat 12/17/18 — the “world is fascinating” edition

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After a manic weekend, I got the chance to put my all into this Bookworm Beat, which covers politics, homelessness, immigration, antisemitism, and more.

Bookworm Beat Woman Writing American Left's FascismOh, my gosh, but do I have a lot to share with you — and tonight I’ve got the time to do so. Go get a nice cup of tea or coffee, and maybe a few cookies or a little ice cream, find a comfortable chair, and let’s get going.

I should warn you before you begin that these snippets aren’t in any particular order. I’m writing them down in the order in which I first read them. It’s a little chaotic, but consider it a challenging brain teaser.

Trump is not a show-boater about his patriotism. Saturday was “Wreaths Across America” day, a day on which volunteers descended on military cemeteries all over America to decorate veterans’ graves with wreaths. Without fanfare, Trump showed up at Arlington National Cemetery to honor the fallen. I’ll leave you with a few photos of this present and a past president:

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By the way, I know that Obama sometimes carried his own umbrella and that gateways can be tough. Still, there was something about Obama and umbrellas…. [Read more…]

Bookworm Beat 12/12/18 — the Trump border reality show edition

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Trump turned the debate over funding a Southern border wall into a brilliant reality show, with Pelosi and Schumer as his hapless foils . . . and much more.

lawless government DACA Illegal immigrants illegal aliens illegal immigration border Funny day today, with a lot of people who are important to me needing me. That’s not to say that they are needy people. It’s just that, I found myself spending several hours on the phone with people who were looking to me for specific things, practical or emotional, that they felt only I could provide.

Overall, it was flattering, and I neither regret nor resent the time spent, but it was also a bit tiring and definitely time-consuming. I’ll try to pack as much as I can into this Bookworm Beat, but no promises.

The Trump border reality show. The consensus from conservatives and savvy Leftists seems to be that, when Trump insisted on televising his meeting with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer regarding border wall funding, he was the winner and undisputed champion. My friend Thomas Lifson (one of the smartest people I know) started his post about Trump’s three traps thusly:

President Trump clearly shocked House speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer yesterday with his televising of the Oval Office sit-down over his demand for $5 billion in funding for border security, including funding of critical mileage for his border wall. Knowing well that Pelosi had already vowed publicly that “transparency and openness” would characterize the Democrat-run House starting next month, her plaintive request to speak in private scored points for Trump and revealed her hypocrisy before any substance at all was considered.

John Nolte was also impressed by Trump’s dominance:

The point is that the very first thing Schumer said during this meeting, the key message he wanted to send, is that Trump is weak on the border and lying about it.

Think about that

No seriously, think about that.

I’ll wait.

As the 17-minute made-for-TV spectacle progressed, Trump boldly pledged to shut down part of the government — the part we can all live without that should be closed permanently anyway — if he does not receive adequate border security funding. Meaning, he would not sign on to continue funding the government.

All of this was a calculated set up on Trump’s part, and a successful one.

Pelosi had no idea she was being set up, which is why, like a prim schoolmarm always caught off guard, she chose to lecture Trump about the legislative process.

Schumer, though, is nobody’s stupe, and knew exactly what Trump was up to.

This is what Trump knows… Between now and Election Day 2020, there will be an organized effort to separate Trump from his base, and the best way to do that is to make Trump look weak on border security, and the best way to do that is for leftists to continue to organize and fund illegal immigration, especially through these caravans.

Trump can see the future and he knows it is going to be plagued with an orchestrated and well-funded campaign to create border chaos, to make him look feckless.

But what he did yesterday was flip the script.

Katie Pavlich was another who was impressed: [Read more…]