Wednesday, March 8, 2006

Observations

♣ W. Thomas Smith comments on American manhood and how it relates to sports. This is a very good column, and is recommended reading for all who see this post. Despite attempts by feminists to abolish distinctions between the sexes, this country needs real men, now more than ever.

♣ Hillary Clinton is whining that criticisms of her as "angry" might be based on her gender. Of course, those with keen memories might remember how former Democratic candidate Howard Dean was lampooned as "Angry Howard" throughout his campaign, especially after the "Dean scream".

One problem Mrs. Clinton has (in addition to her radical-Left views) is that, despite an all-out effort to reform her image, she does not have her husband's natural charisma and she is not as cool under pressure as he is. When the heat turns up in 2008, I would not be surprised to see Mrs. Clinton have a Dean-style meltdown on camera.

♣ An observation of free speech: many people misinterpret the First Amendment to guarantee free speech. This is both wrong and dangerous. The First Amendment (as with the rest of the Bill of Rights) is a limitation on government.

However, those rights exist regardless of whether government gives itself the authority to infringe on those rights. That is why the Declaration of Independence states that "we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights..." etc. The First Amendment does not grant the right to free speech, it simply prohibits government from infringing on that right.

♣ The Virginian-Pilot reports that "the defense attorney for a woman accused of shooting herself in the stomach and killing her unborn child says an abortion charge won’t hold up in court." As shocking as this case is, it is makes sense given the depraved state of the law. What is sad is that a woman can legally have her baby cut to pieces in a clinic and few people take a second glance, but a "gruesome" case like this one makes national headlines. And really: is this case any more gruesome than what happens every day in abortion clinics nationwide?

♣ Here's another act of love and tolerance from the religion of peace. When are we going to wake up and realize this is a religious war?

♣ Houston's Major League Soccer team has decided against naming their team "1836" because the nickname rankled some who thought it was inappropriate. No word yet on whether or not the Philadelphia 76ers will be changing their nickname in order to avoid offending the British.

♣ The hosts the AM 1370 Afternoon Edition were discussing the revived steroid allegations against Major League Baseball player Barry Bonds. I'll repeat the question I asked when I called in: if MLB players are using steroids and individual statistics (and win-loss records) are the product of performance-enhancing chemicals rather than the pinnacle of human achievement, what does this say about taxpayer subsidies for professional sports? Should taxpayers be subsidizing corruption with large sums of corporate welfare to millionaires and billionaires?