While I’ve admired President Bush for many reasons, what I could never understand was the President’s reluctance to answer the many unfounded, over-the-top criticisms and out-and-out attacks that were foisted upon him by the left of this nation.

Paul Kengor addresses this in a must-read piece at the American Thinker. For all of the Bush Administration’s successes, most notably his success via perseverance of his Iraq war policy, President Bush’s “new tone” policy set the stage for the relentless, unanswered barrages of assaults by the leftists of this nation and around the world.

The “feel-good” language espoused by many democrats regarding “getting along” and their supposed pining to end the “politics of personal destruction,” in the end, of course, was so much political puffery. On the other hand, George Bush’s “new tone” was not only a buzzword, but S.O.P. for his administration. As with nearly every aspect of his administration (and what those on the left could never fathom nor abide), Bush actually meant what he said and said what he meant when he proclaimed that he would establish “a new tone” in Washington.

Paul Kengor asserts that Bush’s “new tone” was a spinoff of his adherence to his evangelical Christian roots; specifically with regard to the principle of “turning the other cheek (Luke 6:29).”

While a president’s abiding by principle is certainly to be lauded, the application of this principle to Bush’s leftist detractors during his administration yielded disastrous, and yes, even dangerous results. Turning the other cheek allowed the leftists to set the agenda for debate, and allowed them relatively free rein in their efforts to dangerously damage the morale of this country with carte-blanche levels of seditious rhetoric and out-and-out falsehoods. Bush’s “new tone” allowed the leftist elements of this country to give licentious aid and comfort to America’s enemies during a time when our sons and daughters were in harm’s way, giving our enemies encouragement to climb out of their caves and kill another day. Bush’s “new tone” has made it much easier for democrats and other leftist elements to continue relatively unabated on a roll of propaganda based on contrivances that continues to this day, on every issue from energy to foreign policy.

Unfortunately, the Bush Administration’s failure to utilize the bully pulpit to answer unjust criticism and attacks from detractors has left those of us on the right side of the aisle to do all the heavy lifting; which was all well and good, but not enough.

President Bush has many legislative and policy accomplishments for which to be proud. But public opinion and debate in the arena of ideas are also matters of import.

It is my opinion that President Bush’s “new tone” policy is a virtual handbook of how not to play the game.

In a follow-up to a previous post, I submit for your approval a primer of how to ensure that we remain enslaved to third-world tinhorn dictators, jihadists and other whackos like Ahmadinejad and Chavez:

First, take a means of harvesting our own oil:

U.S. District Judge David Lawson of Detroit ruled Thursday the agency had acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” in 2005 by giving Savoy Energy LP of Traverse City a permit to drill an exploratory well near the Au Sable River’s south branch.

The proposed wellhead would be located in the Huron-Manistee National Forest about three-tenths of a mile from the Mason Tract, a 4,679-acre wilderness area prized by anglers and other outdoor recreationists.

Forest supervisor Leanne Marten said when approving Savoy’s application that the project wouldn’t significantly harm the environment and the company would be required to keep noise to a minimum.

Next, take two enviro-whacko groups whose true aim is to ensure that the United States ends up a third-rate power and a third-world conglomeration of collectives, reduced to living in squalor in thatched roofs, and for good measure bring along a willing accomplice whom they’ve shamed into acquiescing:

Two environmental groups, the Sierra Club and Anglers of the Au Sable, sued the government to halt the drilling. Joining the suit was Tim Mason, whose grandfather, auto executive George Mason, donated the original 1,200 acres to the state upon his death in 1954 and asked that it be maintained as wilderness.

Then, get an activist leftist puke of a judge who sees things the way they do:

But the judge ruled the Forest Service didn’t consider how degrading the area could harm tourism,

Next, find a spotted owl or a caribou. If there are no spotted owls or caribou in the area, find another obscure species of flora or fauna to prop up as a defenseless cute critter who will suffer a woeful existence and/or disappear from the face of the earth if development takes place. Never mind that it won’t be the case. In trying to accomplish such a noble cause as destroying the United States, one must never let the truth get in the way of crippling the U.S. economy. The end, after all, justifies the means

“[The judge]…said the agency did a “woefully inadequate” job of evaluating how the drilling might affect the Kirtland’s warbler, an endangered songbird that nests in the area.”

And that, my friends, is how to ensure that we become a third world, third-rate nation, courtesy of your local friendly environmentalist/socialist whacko.

Shakespeare’s Henry VI was incomplete in his assessment that what was needed in the world was first to “kill all the lawyers.” He would have been more prescient if he included the radical environmentalists in his calculations.

Score one for Life, and one against Margaret Sanger’s Planned Parenthood:

(CNSNews.com) – South Dakota may enforce a law that requires doctors to provide pregnant women with a written statement saying, “the abortion will terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being,” a federal appeals court ruled last Friday.

In Planned Parenthood v. Rounds, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit voted 7-4 to strike down a 2005 preliminary injunction issued by the U.S. District Court for South Dakota.

The injunction had prevented a statute – requiring abortion providers to tell women, in writing, that an abortion would terminate the life of a “living human being” – from taking effect. The decision by the appeals court reversed the injunction and remanded it to the district court for further proceedings consistent with its opinion.

The lawsuit, filed by Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota, required the court to consider whether the definition of human being should include “the unborn human being during the entire embryonic and fetal ages from fertilization to full gestation.”

South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds and Attorney General Larry Long, representing the state, argued against Planned Parenthood in the suit, providing evidence that the embryo or fetus is “whole, separate, unique and living.”

The court’s ruling said, “Planned Parenthood submitted no evidence to oppose that conclusion.”

The court cited a bioethicist’s affidavit, submitted by Planned Parenthood, which stated that “to describe an embryo or fetus scientifically and factually, one would say that a living embryo or fetus in utero is a developing organism of the species Homo Sapiens which may become a self-sustaining member of the species if no organic or environmental evidence interrupts its gestation.”

Dear readers, when faced with the Truth of what an abortion is, the pro-abortion, pro-death lobby has no moral leg to stand on. Unlike a pile of wood, which can become a chair, a table, or part of a home, a developing embryo can only become more and more of what it already is–a human being.

Congratulations to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals for having the cajones to face up to that truth.

“As Mark Twain, that greatest of American satirists and proud son of Missouri, once wrote, Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.” We may hope that our leaders and our government stand up for our ideals, and there are many times in our history when that’s occurred. But when our laws, our leaders or our government are out of alignment with our ideals, then the dissent of ordinary Americans may prove to be one of the truest expression of patriotism.”

-Barack Hussein Obama, in a speech delivered on 30 June, 2008-

So that explains Barack Hussein Obama’s close relationship with one William Ayers, whose patriotic duty (by Obama’s definition) included setting bombs and killing innocent people. Heck, according to Obama’s definition, and by Ayers’ own admission, he just wasn’t patriotic enough.

That also explains Obama’s close relationship with one Rev. “God Damn America!” Wright.

For in Barack Hussein Obama’s world, these men, and others, have demonstrated, according to Obama’s own definition, the “…truest expression of patriotism,” in spades.

An axiom that I have long held is that liberals have no chance of winning a debate in the arena of ideas, unless they are given rein to re-define the terms of that debate.

The heinous practice of killing a baby in what should be the safety of a mother’s womb, heretofore known as abortion, is now known as, “reproductive health.”

The process whereby the government confiscates wealth from productive Americans for redistribution, formerly known as “taxes,” are now known as “contributions” or “investments.”

Today, “the messiah” stated,

“…surely we can agree that no party or political philosophy has a monopoly on patriotism. And surely we can arrive at a definition of patriotism that, however rough and imperfect, captures the best of America’s common spirit.”

If Obama’s sense of ‘patriotism’ embodies his established pattern of associations with “patriotic” individuals, such as Ayers, Wright, Pfleger, and others whom he must consider “…the best of America’s common spirit,” then color me unpatriotic.

Cause I ain’t buying it.

UPDATE, by Mark Noonan: Proving that Democrats are about as dumb as a box of rocks, another Obama surrogate opens mouth and inserts foot:

While Barack Obama was urging supporters not to devalue the military service of rival John McCain, an informal Obama adviser argued Monday that the former POW’s isolation during the Vietnam War has hobbled the Arizona senator’s capacity as a war-time leader.

“Sadly, Sen. McCain was not available during those times, and I say that with all due respect to him,” said informal Obama adviser Rand Beers…

…”So I think,” he continued, “to some extent his national security experience in that regard is sadly limited and I think it is reflected in some of the ways that he thinks about how U.S. forces might be committed to conflicts around the world.”

I wonder if Beers thinks that Obama’s experience is “sadly limited” by the fact that he was just a kid during Vietnam? Or that he didn’t serve at all, in any capacity, this great nation he aspires to govern?

Darryl R. Sharratt, father of Haditha Marine Justin Sharratt, has given his take on the Haditha nightmare, the effects it had on Justin, his family, and the other Marines involved in what will undoubtedly be one of the most infamous miscarriages of justice in military history.

Exclusively at Murtha Must Go!!

I, along with Gary Gross, Ed Morrisey, Noel Sheppard, and other bloggers. were asked to participate in a conference call (broadcast live on the Ed Morrisey Show) with U.S. Republican Representatives Michele Bachmann, Dr. Phil Gingry, Tom Price, Eric Cantor, Marsha Blackburn, and Adam Putnam.

Unlike the democrat majority, who are uttering the unbelievable Sierra Club meme that “We can’t drill our way into energy independence,” the Republican contingent in the U.S. House has a comprehensive plan that is designed to drill and otherwise make our way back into $2.00 per gallon gas.

According to our Republican representatives, we have the ability to extract 1.3 trillion barrels of oil from shale reserves; not to mention the millions of barrels of oil that we can extract from ANWR and the Continental Shelf.

They responded to criticisms leveled from the democrat side that if Nancy Pelosi was to bring a bill by July 4th, it still wouldn’t be a fix , since it would take ten years to retrieve the supply.

But they explained there is a significant upward pressure in the prices due to the current market and conditions, with the knowledge that the U.S. won’t pursue its own supplies. An opening of those resources will send a signal that we are going to join oil producing nations, and will send a message to speculators that will result in an immediate decrease on the upward pressure on prices.

(As an aside, by using that same logic, we would have today been enjoying the fruits of ANWR oil, had Bill Clinton not vetoed that legislation back in the mid 1990s.)

We’ve got the technology and the ability to explore in the deep waters off the coast and to do it in an environmentally safe way.

When the point was brought out to the Representatives of the fact that the majority party in congress is beholden to the interests of the extreme environmental lobby, they were nontheless optimistic that the democrats would eventually see the light and serve their larger constituencies.

Gary Gross has more on the call here.

During the conference call, the contingent of U.S. Representatives stated that they were honored to be communicating their policy to bloggers, and stated that bloggers were a driving force in the energy conversation; and that emails and letters come to their office from constituents who had read about the issues on blogs. Michele Bachmann stated that she is grateful to the blogosphere for the continual end-around that they perform around the agenda media in getting the facts out. Congressman Bachmann stated that she hoped to have similar events slated in the near future.

Truth be told, the democrats and the extreme environmentalist lobby are the only things standing in the way of our ability to move past economic stagflation and on toward the promise of true prosperity. The current condition of our economy and our current energy woes are inextricably linked, and blame for our sorry state of affairs can be placed directly at their feet.

We are in the midst of an increasing clamor in our nation over the undue pain caused by high fuel prices, and the extreme environmental lobby and their willing democrat (and RINO) accomplices will need to answer to an increasingly frustrated constituency; either now, or at the ballot box in November.

At what price, saving face?

The Murtha-inspired, media trumped so-called “Haditha Massacre” has had its share of casualties long after the event had transpired. Eight Marines, whose only crime was to follow Rules of Engagement (ROE) and to execute their mission of weeding out terrorist elements in the town of Haditha, have had their reputations and their honor dragged through the mud, not to mention having had the “honor” of treatment that would make Guantanamo detainees look like they’re being put up at the Waldorf Astoria by comparison.

On Tuesday, Military Judge Colonel Steven Folsom, USMC made the right decision when he saw through the undue command influence and dismissed all charges against Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani without prejudice.

Said Richard Thompson, resident and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, who has been defending Chessani,

“This case has turned into the persecution of one of the Marine’s finest combat commanders. LtCol Chessani devoted his life to the Corps and his Nation. He served three tours of duty in Iraq, away from his wife and children in defense of us all. In their attempt ‘to get’ Chessani, prosecutors granted immunity to seventeen Marines, including one they had charged with murder. Still they failed. Sadly, in the process they have destroyed the career of an outstanding officer. Enough is enough.”

WND just had a story published today that Chessani rightfully planned to sue Congressman John Murtha over his slanderous pronouncement of the Haditha Marines guilt of murder in cold blood. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if there is more “undue influence” coming from Murtha to pressure prosecutors to make an example out of Chessani. Murtha, after all, is in charge of defense appropriations in the House and is certainly in a position to exert such influence. Given Murtha’s long history of what was, in my opinion, influence peddling in the form of a legion of earmarks and defense contracts, there is in my opinion nothing too low for the King of Pork to resort to save his sorry fat backside from the consequences of his actions.

The military powers that be, along with the politicians that be, know that the Haditha prosecutions will be considered by historians as one of the largest travesties of justice in military history; a time when the interests of politicians and military leaders were put far ahead of the interests of justice itself. Their pitiful attempts to continue to prop up a false set of charges against one of the great military leaders in the Corps as a means of salvaging face serves neither the honor of the military nor the interests of justice.

It is nothing less than reprehensible.

Lots more on the background of this case here, here and here.

Read more on Murtha’s role in this travesty here, here, and here.

Human Events is reporting that the Obama campaign has received $50,000 in “bundled” contributions from Code Pink. While it is not surprising that a subversive organization such as Code Pink would give a campaign contribution to a Presidential candidate who has made it a life practice to freely associate with subversives and other ne’erdowells, what is noteworthy is that Code Pink proclaims itself a 501c3 organization:

(click for full size)

Question: Why is a tax-exempt 501c3 organization raising money for a political candidate, while still being able to maintain its tax-exempt status?

President Bush, thanks for speaking out for sanity.

(CNSNews.com) – “The United States has an opportunity to help increase the supply of oil on the market,” thereby easing gasoline prices for hard-working Americans,” President Bush said on Monday.

He reminded Congress that he has proposed opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the Continental Shelf to domestic oil drilling — something that would “help us through this difficult period.”

You almost had, it, Mr. President. If you had pushed harder on what you proposed earlier in your presidency, we would be nearing the end of this mess in which we find ourselves, or at the very least we’d be seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. But after the usual suspects of enviro-whackos, along with their willing shills in Congress did their normal routine of wailing and gnashing of teeth, instead of holding your ground on the matter, you backed off. Rather than rallying the American people to the need for harvesting our own domestic energy reserves, you instead took a page from the Eisenhower playbook and played golf with regard to the issue. You even went so far as to play right into the envirowhackos hands, simultaneously increasing the credibility of their argument while weakening yours.

And you almost had it today, Mr. President. You almost had it on the nuts.

But then you went and said this:

“We remind our friends and allies overseas that we’re all too dependent on hydrocarbons, and we must work to advance tech that help us become less dependent on hydrocarbons,” Bush said on Monday as he headed out to Europe.

One step forward, three steps back.

Mr. President, now’s not the time to humor the delusional fancies of the crazy uncles in the attic making life a living hell for the rest of the family. You’re damned right we’re
“addicted” to oil; in much the same manner as we’re “addicted” to air and to food. So what? We’ve got plenty of it if our legislators would finally quit kowtowing to the crazy uncles in the enviro-whacko movement and act in the interests of the American people for a change.

Screw the enviro-whackos. When the hell were they ever right? About anything?

We have the technology to harvest our own resources in a way that minimally disrupts the surrounding environment; in many cases augmenting it.

Mr. President, you have a nation that’s bleeding from the ears economically, and you have it within the scope of your office to issue executive orders to stop that bleeding. May I add that, given that we’re in the midst of an economic emergency, and given that our nation’s economic security is at risk, it would not be a misuse of your power under executive authority to do so.

And what greater a presidential legacy to leave your fellow Americans, than to decrease their dependence on foreign oil?

Robert Ferrigno, author of “Prayers for the Assassin” and his latest, “Sins of the Assassin” has an article of what an Obama presidency may look like, in the eyes of Mahamoud Ahmawhackjob. Read the whole thing.

I had a correspondence today with Mr. Ferrigno, in which I compared Obama with the movie, “Being There,” with Peter Sellers playing “Chance,” the cognitively-challenged gardener (Chauncy Gardner), who at the end of the movie is being considered for a run for POTUS.

Mr. Ferrigno responded,

“Leo
you nailed it with the Being There analogy. amazing. the guy truly is a blank screen on which people project their deepest desires. we’re in for some rough water, i’m afraid.
Robert

Is Barack Obama a life imitating art in this case? One would think so.