Did that headline grab your attention? Well, it’s not quite true. In today’s world, we would find such a thing to be shocking and offensive. What is true, however, is that female tennis pro Shahar Peer has been refused a visa to enter the United Arab Emirates to play in the Dubai Tennis Championships. The reason for this denial: she is a citizen of Israel!
Bigotry against Jews is accepted almost universally
The irrational bigotry against Jews in general and Israelis in particular that permeates the Arab world rivals the Jim Crow laws that were crushed by the Civil Rights Movement here in the United States. Imagine if a player were unable to attend an event because she was black. How far and wide do you think the uproar would be heard? And that outrage would be justifiable! Here, the world community barely makes a peep because the target of the bigotry is Jewish.
Good for Andy Roddick!
ESPN article on Andy Roddick withdrawal from Dubai
I don’t follow the sport of tennis very closely, but I do know that Andy Roddick is one of the best players in the game. His popularity draws lots of fans to any event where he is a participant. He has chosen to withdraw from the Dubai Tennis Championships and pass up a chance to defend his title in that event. He has done this in protest over the refusal of the UAE to allow his colleague into the country. As far as I know, Roddick is the only player to withdraw from Dubai.
The WTA steps up
To be fair, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has imposed the largest fine in its history ($300,000) on the Dubai Tennis Championships in response to this. The WTA is taking steps to prevent something like this from happening again and will give a large share of the fine to Peer and her doubles partner, Germany’s Anna-Lena Groenefeld, to help compensate for potential lost prize money.
Ok, anyone who knows me knows that I’m a conservative. This post is NOT about political views, but about the way you communicate with the people.
Last night, President Obama went on TV and gave a passionate press conference on the economy. It was very Reaganesque in the way that it was delivered. I would say that after that speech, we are likely to get the economic recovery package passed fairly quickly.
Connecting directly with the American people, like Reagan and Clinton did, is a great way to bypass the media, your pundits, and gain support directly from the American people for your policies. That is EXACTLY was what missing from President Bush. Although I certainly agree more with President Bush’s policies, I found it very frustrating that he did not have more chats with the American people, instead leaving the communication portion to his PR folks. That, in my opinion, is why we are where we are.
President Bush gave some great speeches: The 9/11 speech, the shuttle disaster speech, and the state of the union speeches will be admired over time. However, he did not do it enough.
In the month that President Obama has been in office, he has certainly had his missteps. BUT, if he uses his soap box effectively like he did last night, I think he will be effective at getting the legislation that he wants passed. And although I loathe some of his views, I do admire his ability to communicate directly with the people.
I’m not sure what Harry has in his pipe, but the MORON is now saying that our taxes are voluntary. This clip is actually from an interview with a liberal interviewer.
What are you talking about Harry? How did we end up with such MORONS in power? And they called Bush dumb?
Like that famous comedian says, Harry, here’s your sign!
Most liberals tend to bristle at the use of the word socialism when describing left wing politicians and the public policies they advocate. I will plead guilty to having engaged in that sort of hyperbole myself by tossing out the “S” word merely to evoke a knee jerk response even though I know that its use in that circumstance is not entirely accurate. However, what is happening in our nation’s capital right now is really quite disturbing. Does it not bother everyone to hear the President of the United States talking about imposing a cap on executive salaries at private corporations? Where does the President even get the authority to do such a thing? I’ll admit that I have not read the legislation that authorized the payment of “bail out” money to these corporations. Perhaps Congress gave that authority to the President?
I know the argument: But the taxpayers are footing the bill for these companies so the government should have some oversight. There is a certain logic to the argument. But it is truly scary to allow that kind of control by the government. Putting a cap on salaries has been a dream of left wing extremists for years. And it appeals to those who resent and envy the wealthy and successful. These are the people who feel good when they see someone who has more than them get screwed over. These are the people for whom the class warfare tactics of the Democratic Party work.
The true tragedy that will come out of this economic disaster is the fact that it has given the Democrats the opening they have waited decades to exploit. Slowly but surely they are going to effectively nationalize certain industries. They are doing it with the banking industry and the automotive industry right now. Once the federal government has become your business partner, you have kissed your business goodbye! Think of the movie Goodfellas. When Sonny convinces Paulie to become his partner, the wise guys completely take over and loot the business for all they can take. Like the mafia, you can never get rid of the federal government as your partner. Also like the mafia, no matter how small a stake they have in your business, they will dictate terms and you had better obey – or else!
We already know that Democrats would love to nationalize (you may substitute the word “steal” here) the oil industry. This YouTube clip of California (of course!) Representative Maxine Waters slipping up and accidentally saying what she means is quite telling. The pertinent quote comes 1:10 into the clip; but watch the whole thing because the Shell Oil executive actually makes accurate points and the question that the reporter states was posed to the executive illustrates how lawmakers like her have no concept of how businesses work.
Waters lets the truth slip out
Representative Waters slips and says that they would “socialize” the oil industry. [The correct term is “nationalize”.] Note that as soon as she says the “S” word, she immediately realizes that she let out a badly kept secret: that people like her are truly socialists at heart. It is also interesting to note the reactions of the two people seated to Rep. Waters’ right. They both sit back in their seats and look around with an “Oh, s**t” expression on their faces! The fact that left wing extremists want to implement socialism in America is just like the concept back in the 1980’s that WWF wrestling was scripted. Everyone knew it was true, but if anyone ever asked about it, you would be met with vehement and violent (literally in the case of wrestlers) denial.
Pumping these corporations with federal tax dollars allows the government to effectively nationalize these industries by forcing them to submit to the whims of government appointed bureaucrats who have no idea how to run a successful business. In fact, these bureaucrats’ main interest will not be to make money for the corporations. Rather, their interest will lie with making decisions that will gain political support for the Democrats.
Cap executive pay? Sounds great! Yeah! Stick it to those greedy bastards! Who are they to get paid so much? Of course, the problem will come when these executives leave those companies and go work for companies not yet under the thumb of Washington where they can get paid what their skills are worth. Now you are severely handicapped in trying to replace these executives with qualified people. The best in the industry are not going to apply for a position that pays no more than $500,000. Those people can get positions that pay millions. Therefore, these government run industries will be staffed at the highest levels with executives of inferior talent and experience.
How will the Democrats in power deal with such a competitive disadvantage? Is it hard to imagine outraged Congressmen posing in front of the cameras making an impassioned plea to enact legislation that forces a cap on all executive pay? This would, of course be in the interest of “leveling the playing field”. You can see the dangerous path we are taking here.
What is most frustrating of all in this whole debacle is the fact that the Democrats didn’t even have to work that hard to get their dream come true. This whole mess was started with the enthusiastic support and at the insistence of President George W. Bush! For all of the horrors that the left wing perceives were committed by the former President, the greatest actual harm done by his hand could very well be the push he gave this country down the path to socialism.
Of all the evils of socialism, one of the worst is the fact that it is almost impossible to get rid of it. Once people get addicted to living off of tax dollars, it is as hard a habit as heroin to kick. But unlike the lone heroin addict who can muster the courage on his own and beat the habit, the addiction to socialism requires a majority of the voting public to muster that same strength. It is almost impossible.
President Barack Obama wants to turn this nation into Western Europe. I fear he will succeed in that goal. Even conservative politicians over there don’t even question the propriety of having the government pay for everything. All they try to do is spend a little less. If the Democrats can shift public policy that far to the left in the United States, they will have gone a long way to achieving their ultimate goal. And this great nation will be ruined – possibly with an inoperable cancer.