From the PJ Tatler:

[The following arrived unsolicited in The Tatler mailbox. We have no way of substantiating it immediately, but apparently something did go on at the Bill Nelson fundraiser in Florida.]

An incident at a Florida Democratic political fundraiser this week should be front page news in every paper in the country, and the lead story on TV newscasts, but it has been virtually buried…. until now

Here are the details.

On Wednesday morning, Vice President Joe Biden attended a fundraiser for Democratic Senator Bill Nelson…

The Orlando Sentinel assigned longtime reporter Scott Powers to cover the event. But when he arrived, Biden staffers decided they didn’t want him mingling with the 150 guests who had forked over $500 to meet Biden, so they locked him in a closet! A member of the Biden advance team even stood guard outside the door to prevent Powers from escaping…

Drudge has it, too. We’ll have to see how much corroboration there is for this, but it does appear, as Tatler noted, that something happened…and something clearly designed to prevent a reporter from finding out what was going on.

We’ve seen all sorts of bullying of the press by the Obama Administration – most of it taken lying down by the MSM because they are, after all, loyal lapdogs of their liberal masters, when push comes to shove. But I do wonder how long they can keep it up – taking abuse from those you love can, at times, lead to quite an explosion.

Interesting book review in the Wall Street Journal:

Joseph Lelyveld has written a generally admiring book about Mohandas Gandhi, the man credited with leading India to independence from Britain in 1947. Yet “Great Soul” also obligingly gives readers more than enough information to discern that he was a sexual weirdo, a political incompetent and a fanatical faddist—one who was often downright cruel to those around him. Gandhi was therefore the archetypal 20th-century progressive intellectual, professing his love for mankind as a concept while actually despising people as individuals…

Which pretty much anyone could see if they for a moment left off the propaganda about Gandhi. After all, if the independence of India was secured by non-violent protest, then why did the Indians immediately set upon each other when independence was secured? Millions of people were murdered as the Indians woke to the fact that the British would no longer be in charge and the horrible notion of coming under Moslem rule (for Hindus) or Hindu rule (for Moslems) became a reality.

What really happened is that the effects of the two World Wars utterly exhausted Britain’s ability and inclination to hold on. By 1947, it was just a matter of getting out as gracefully as possible…and power was handed off to the most vocal group of British-educated lawyers in both the Moslem and Hindu communities. No thought was given to what the people, themselves, might have wanted…but a clue to that is found in the effort 10 years later of the Indian government to determine how the common folk felt about the end of British rule. The effort was abandoned when it was found that most of them never knew that British rule had started. Very light was the touch of the British imperialist in India…who mostly ruled through locally-staffed agencies and governments.

It is good that myths be brought down to earth. Gandhi, for good or ill, is a figure of genuine historical importance, but we shouldn’t be walking around in awe of the man. He was, after all, just a man and we should just learn what he said and did – all of it, good and bad – and then make our own judgments about it. This book seems a first step in that direction.

This took a lot of courage and complete faith in Our Lord – from The Catholic Spirit:

…In mid February, Tim (Roach), got a call from his local union with the news every laid off worker longs to hear — a job offer.

It couldn’t have come at a better time. Tim’s unemployment benefits were about to run out. He could hardly believe what the voice on the other end was presenting to him — an offer to be a job foreman for at least 11 months, with a salary of $65,000 to $70,000 a year.

Perfect, Tim thought. Then came the bad news — he would be working on construction of a new Planned Parent­hood Clinic in St. Paul on University Avenue. The highest of highs became the lowest of lows as he quickly turned down the offer…

…Shortly after making his decision, Tim’s story was sent out via e-mail. It landed on the computer of Father Erik Lundgren, associate pastor of Divine Mercy, who parlayed it into one of his homilies. In the Gospel reading for that Sunday, Jesus tells his disciples that they can’t serve both God and money.

”I just thought it was an inspiring example to everyone in our parish, in the zeal that’s necessary for us Catholics to take into the pro-life debate, the pro-life struggle,” Father Lundgren said. “It’s inspiring to me as a priest. Here at Divine Mercy, the words, ‘Jesus, I trust in you’ are written on our baptismal font, and that’s what it’s all about.”…

Indeed, it is. And rare is this sort of courage in today’s world. And it will be rewarded, of that you can be certain.

In a dark and ruined world, a ray of light shines forth. Just a small thing – a man with a family makes a decision. Happens a million times. But what a choice – my prayers will be with Mr. Roach and his family. I hope that someone offers him a job – and I hope all of us show 1/10th the courage when faced with similar decisions.

HAT TIP: The American Catholic

Well, at least he’s being clear about it – and, also, bringing the whole concept of legalized abortion to its logical conclusion. From Life News:

…Lautenberg appeared with about 100 supporters who wore pink shirts and stood in front of a pink-colored bus Planned Parenthood has been driving around the country in order to build up support for receiving tens of millions in taxpayer dollars to support what is the biggest abortion business in the country.

“Planned Parenthood is under attack by Tea Party Republicans who have put their extremist ideology above women’s health,” Lautenberg said while pro-life advocates who counterprotested shouted, “Shame on you, Lautenberg.”

The pro-abortion New Jersey senator fired back: “These people (referring to the pro-life advocates) don’t deserve the freedoms in the Constitution.”…

If you want, you can let Lautenberg know how you feel about this right here. Remember, keep it clean and respectful…even Lautenberg deserves the freedoms enshrined in our Constitution. We’re not like they are.

This is just the way it is. If you start by thinking that the right to live only applies some of the time, then you’re bound to eventually figure that all human rights are contingent upon the usefulness of the person to yourself. Pro-life people are of no more use to someone like Lautenberg than an unborn child is…and as he’s already denied the rights of the unborn child, while not deny the rights of the pro-lifers? Makes sense…liberal sense, at any rate.

From the Washington Times:

Some lawmakers and market analysts are expressing rising concerns that a demand for capital by earthquake-ravaged Japan could lead it to sell off some of its huge holdings of U.S.-issued debt, leaving the federal government in an even tighter financial pinch.

Others say a major debt sell-off by Tokyo is unlikely, but noted that the mere fact that questions are being raised speaks volumes about the risks involved in relying so heavily on foreign investors to fund U.S. debt…

I don’t foresee a big sell off of US debt by the Japanese – after all, the debt they hold is generating revenue for them while a sudden, large liquidation of US debt would cause all sorts of financial problems which would gravely impact the global financial system, thus harming Japan (the thing about our debt is that it only makes it seem like our bond holders have us over a barrel…really, its quite the other way ’round: they can’t afford anything bad to happen to us…we really are “too big to fail”). The more realistic worry is that Japan simply won’t buy as much of our debt as they normally do – and this would be natural: having a high bill to pay for reconstruction, the Japanese will just spend their money rather than “save” it by purchasing US bonds. This, though, will greatly lower demand for our bonds and that would force us to pay higher interest to sell them, thus putting a definite crimp in our already strained finances.

It must be remember that the entire financial system of the world is insolvent. The entire thing is underpinned by debt which simply cannot be repaid. My earlier piece about Portugal’s problem just starkly illustrates it – how are 10 million people to repay $99 billion in debt while also finding the wherewithal to cover all their other expenses? It just isn’t possible. Greece, Ireland, Italy and Spain are all in the same boat…with the UK and France right behind them. Right now, with our debt still slightly less than our GDP we can barely manage it…but add another 5 or 10 trillion dollars to the load and we will not be able to do it. Some calculations already have it that the total debt – including the unfunded mandates of SS and Medicare – exceed all the dollar-denominated wealth in the world. Be that as it may, there comes a time when you have far too much debt to discharge. You go bankrupt, as it were – unless you pull back in time. Given the trouble we’re having in passing a mere $60 billion in cuts, we’re not at all pulling back.

The fact that an earthquake in Japan has awakened such existential concerns about the ability of the United States to finance itself tells the tale: financially, we are doomed if we keep going as we are. I’ve lived 46 years and have witnessed all manner of natural disaster hit the world. This is the first time I’ve seen one come close to knocking the whole world in to a Depression – and it is easy to see how just one more might do it. We must change, and we must change right away. We’ve only got a few years left before complete disaster.

Here’s an illustration:

California is a State with 37 million people living in it. California has a “gross domestic product” of approximately $1.85 trillion. Right now, California is in acute economic crisis as the government tries to bridge a $26 billion budget deficit – in short, if we were to bail out California, it would cost us $26 billion dollars.

Portugal is a nation with 10.6 million people living it it – somewhat less than one third of California’s population. Portugal’s GDP is about $235 billion, a figure equal to around 13% of California’s GDP. Portugal is also involved in an acute economic crisis…but their shortfall is about $99 billion.

This is just one small nation in the Eurozone – not all that important an economic player by any stretch of the imagination and just to keep it afloat will cost Europe $99 billion. And that is just to keep the wolf from the door – the money will still have to be paid back by Portugal some how. And the problems of Spain and Italy dwarf those of Portugal by many times over.

The European Union and the European central bank say they can keep all this going…that they’ve got the plan to fix it all. So, no worries.

Exit question: do you believe them?

Its good to be friends with The One – from The New York Times:

General Electric, the nation’s largest corporation, had a very good year in 2010.

The company reported worldwide profits of $14.2 billion, and said $5.1 billion of the total came from its operations in the United States.

Its American tax bill? None. In fact, G.E. claimed a tax benefit of $3.2 billion…

How is this done? Because GE is such a gigantic corporation, they can afford the army of lawyers, tax experts and lobbyists which allow them to dodge America’s high corporate tax rate. By massaging the government with money and perks, GE has managed to screw the American people, rake in vast profits on overseas enterprises and not pay any taxes. Meanwhile, small and mid-sized firms – which make all or most of their profits in the United States – lack these resources and so are forced to bear the burden, thus limiting the ability of the domestic economy to grow and provide jobs. GE’s success is the product of the union of Big Corporation with Big Government…and GE’s boss – Immelt – becoming a top Obama economic adviser just demonstrates what has really been going on.

So it has been for about 100 years now – even back in the days of the trust-busting Theodore Roosevelt, laws, taxes and regulations were being written by Big Government types (and the “Progressives” of the early 20th century were in favor of Big Government, just as today’s progressives are) in order to favor Big Corporation. By increasing the regulatory and tax cost of doing business in the United States we have progressively (and that is a very apt word here) made it harder and harder for regular folks to engage in business. We’ve essentially frozen out the man with an idea and a dream and made the world safe for the guy with a business degree and solid, political connections.

In order to really fix what is wrong with America the “Bigs” have to go – both Big Government and Big Corporation. Though the emphasis must remain on curbing government – which will, in and of itself, lower the ability of Big Corporation to twist things around – we must give time and thought to how we ensure a level playing field in a genuinely free market. Tax rates must be reviewed to determine if they are really for revenue, or just for harming competitors; regulations must be reviewed to determine if they really meet a public need, or if they are just part of an inside deal to favor some group. All persons must be able to enter the market place in the time and manner of their choosing without having an onerous burden of taxes and regulations placed upon them. With all due heed to healthy, safety and reasonable environmental concerns, the path to a start-up should be wide and open.

From the Des Moines Register:

Foes of illegal immigration are up in arms over plans for a weekend disaster exercise in western Iowa with a fictitious scenario in which young white supremacists shoot dozens of people amid rising tensions involving racial minorities and illegal immigrants.

The exercise is planned for Saturday at Treynor High School in Pottawattamie County and will involve more than 300 people, confirmed Doug Reed, the lead exercise planner for the county’s emergency management agency. Some 30 to 40 “victims” will be transported to area hospitals. He said a terrorism scenario is required by federal officials for the exercise to be eligible for funding…

Why not have a exercise where Islamists attack? Because to do so would be both relevant and true – and liberalism cannot do that. And for two reasons:

1. Islamist front groups in the United States would have a fit, and a host of lawyers and pressure groups would immediately start demonstrations and file lawsuits, thus spiking the drill and jeopardizing the federal swag.

2. For liberals the threat is always from white, male Christians who own guns. It doesn’t matter what else is going on – we are always on the verge of going on a murderous rampage as our inherent racism and violence bubbles to the surface. To liberals, the Islamists – even if they are really a threat – pale in comparison to what white, male Christians are always just about to do. Gotta be prepared for the day when the TEA Party activists take the mask off and just start killing everyone.

In itself, this drill is just asinine. It should be opposed, of course, and it is to be hoped that the publicity now surrounding it will kill it, or at least make everyone more wary of doing a repeat. But as an illustration of what we’re up against, this is invaluable. This is how we’re viewed – the left hates us with a white-hot passion and simply cannot let it go. This is why their nastiness comes so swiftly to the surface…they have so endlessly talked themselves in to really believing that we’re all racists and fascists that they don’t even live in reality.

Remember this as we go in to political battle with the left – they will not quit and they will never, ever accord us respect. All they do is designed to defeat us, even if part of the plan becomes a tactical retreat. Unless we completely uproot them from power and influence they will eventually completely uproot us.

I’m a Christian – specifically, of course, a Catholic Christian. As such I hold that homosexual acts are inherently disordered and can never be considered licit. But here’s the difference – I and the rest of my Christian brothers and sisters will not deny the right of homosexuals to live as they please. We are free – and that means free to do wrong things. As G. K. Chesterton put it:

The free man owns himself. He can damage himself with either eating or drinking; he can ruin himself with gambling. If he does he is certainly a damn fool, and he might possibly be a damned soul; but if he may not, he is not a free man any more than a dog.

The gay man owns himself – if he chooses to engage in behavior which puts at risk both his health and his immortal soul, then that is his choice…his decision. He will bear all the consequences of his decisions before God. The problem with Islam is that in their search for virtue, all they’ve done is create a society of dogs – whipped dogs who don’t dare stir from the kennels. The problem here in the West is similar – our whipped dogs are the liberals, who have so shackled themselves to a series of lies (in this case, most notably, the insane, politically correct concept that no society is better than any other) that they, also, don’t dare stir…and so we have Islamists demanding that everyone be put in to a moral straight jacket, while liberals refuse to call them on it because to do so is to assert – correctly – that our society is better.

Those of us who are neither Islamist nor liberal are the only people who can set things right – who can both instruct liberals in the truth of our society as well as instruct the Islamists that you can be morally good without resort to a whip. Our problem is that we are caught between two fires – we must both defend morality against western liberalism while also defending liberty against Islamist tyrants. A difficult task, to be sure, and we cannot tell if we’ll be able to do it.