The perfect explanation as to why “progressives” vote as they do, and those they vote for are as they are.

It’s one of those dispatches from the world of social science that leave some gloating and some fuming: A pair of researchers have concluded that when it comes to grasping basic economic concepts, liberals and Democrats are significantly less “enlightened” than conservatives and libertarians.

Researchers Daniel Klein and Zeljka Buturovic put forth their analysis in a recent article in Econ Journal Watch, an online scholarly journal, and in a subsequent column Mr. Klein wrote for the Wall Street Journal. Needless to say, it has elicited a less-than-favorable peer review from liberal economists.

Americans describing themselves as conservative, very conservative and libertarian “do reasonably well” when asked about basic economic questions involving supply, demand and the effects of regulation, concluded Mr. Klein, an economics professor at George Mason University, and Ms. Buturovic, an associate researcher with the polling firm Zogby International.

“But the left has trouble squaring economic thinking with their political psychology, morals and aesthetics,” the two write.

The entire story.

From the Heritage Foundation.

Diane Macedo over at FoxNews.com points out that one publishing company–Wilder Publications–has put warning labels on their editions of the United States Constitution. The warning label on “Foundations of Freedom: Common Sense, The Declaration of Independence, The Articles of Confederation, The Federalist Papers, The U.S. Constitution” reads:

“This book is a product of its time and does not reflect the same values as it would if it were written today. Parents might wish to discuss with their children how views on race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity and interpersonal relations have changed since this book was written before allowing them to read this classic work.”

The idea that the Constitution is somehow dated and less relevant today is outrageous. The simple, noble principles enshrined in the Constitution have never been more relevant than they are today.

Heritage’s Matthew Spalding makes this exact case in his book, We Still Hold These Truths, writing:

To this day, so many years after the American Revolution, these principles—proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence and promulgated by the United States Constitution—still define us as a nation and inspire us as a people. They are responsible for a prosperous and just nation unlike any in the world. They are the highest achievements of our tradition, serving not only as a powerful beacon to those throughout the world who strive for freedom and seek to vindicate self-government but also a warning to tyrants and despots everywhere. It is because of these principles, not despite them, that America has achieved its greatness.

Macedo notes that many who have encountered this bizarre warning have already begun to voice their displeasure:

Amazon.com’s customer reviews of Wilder’s copy of the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Articles of Confederation show an overwhelming number of people speaking out against the disclaimer, describing it as “insulting,” “sickening” and “frankly, horrifying.”

Another review for Wilder’s edition of the Federalist Papers calls for an all-out boycott of the publisher, sarcastically pointing out the “dangerous ideas” it’s trying to protect children from: “limited government, checks and balances, constrained judicial review, dual sovereignty of states and federal government, and deliberative democracy.”

As an American, I am totally disgusted with this kind of crap. The idea that this is the kind of thing to which our young are subjected nowadays, it’s no wonder so few of them even know what the Constitution is, let alone what’s in it.

Got some time to post a bit more.

If the allegations against an Army intelligence analyst by the name of Spc. Bradley Manning are indeed true, he needs to be dealt with as a traitor should be dealt with, this in time of war, to boot, without compassion or any form of lenience.

A Soldier who allegedly gave video of an Army helicopter attack to an online whistleblower has been arrested in Kuwait, according to Wired magazine.

Spc. Bradley Manning, an Army intelligence analyst, is reportedly the source of the 2007 video that the website Wikileaks dubbed “Collateral Murder” when it released the video online in early April.

Manning, 22, was arrested about two weeks ago while stationed at Forward Operating Base Hammer, about 40 miles from Baghdad, according to the magazine.

In a statement on Manning’s arrest the Army did not refer to the Apache attack video, but said Manning “was placed in pre-trial confinement for allegedly releasing classified information and is currently confined in Kuwait. The Department of Defense takes the management of classified information very seriously because it affects our national security, the lives of our Soldiers, and our operations abroad.”

I have no brief for any member of the Armed Forces who divulges classified information, or any data related to operational circumstances that has not been cleared for release by the member’s superiors. It gets other people killed.

The whole story.

Traitors, unfortunately, also come in politician form and I can think of a few offhand, whom I won’t name, who go by the initials BHO, NP and HR.

I’ll be spending most of my time this weekend doing some work on my boat, as I may take another of my long cruises south along the Mexican coast really soon, and want to have everything 4.0 when I do it.

But this morning…

Something we already knew,

to whit:

When asked to compare Nancy Pelosi to previous House speakers, Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) didn’t hold back. In an exclusive interview with HUMAN EVENTS, Pence excoriated her as the “least democratic speaker in the history of the House of Representatives,” arguing that she’s blocked a “free and open debate” in Congress.

Watch The Video.

Moving on, we all know that today’s feminist movement is not about women’s rights or opportunities as it purports to be. The reason they ignore the plight of women in many Muslim countries is because their politics, based on the “progressive” school of politics, demand butt munching Islam from the left side of the aisle.

Feminists are hypocrites who pursue the left wing agenda, and anyone not contributing to that gets short shrift like those Muslim women do.

As for any woman in politics who is not supporting “progressives”:

Former New Yorker editor Tina Brown appeared on Thursday’s Good Morning America to deride the mostly Republican women who won primaries on Tuesday as “wingnuts” and to sneer that they represent a “blow to feminism.”

I’d say it’s only a blow to the far left.

From Caroline Glick:

The first rule of strategy is to keep your opponent busy attending to your agenda so he has no time to advance his own. Unfortunately, Israel’s leaders seem unaware of this rule, while Iran’ rulers triumph in its application.

Over the past few weeks, Israel has devoted itself entirely to the consideration of questions that are at best secondary. Questions like how much additional assistance Israel should provide Hamas-controlled Gaza and how best to fend off or surrender to the international diplomatic lynch mob have dominated Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s and his senior ministers’ agendas. Our political leaders — as well as our military commanders and intelligence agencies — have been so busy thinking about these issues that they have effectively forgotten the one issue that they should have been considering.

Israel’s greatest strategic challenge — preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons — has fallen by the wayside.

Seriously good insight. Here’s the rest.

Another worthwhile and amusing read comes from Wesley Pruden, all about Obama’s search for that “ass” he says he wants to kick.

At least as I see them, and admitting that I wouldn’t have been quite so optimistic as this even six months ago, is improving from a conservative viewpoint, though it will be impossible to avoid the great cost to the next couple of generations of Americans the far left controlled Democrats have wrought.

Not to mention that to be endured by those of us who probably still have two or three decades to go before we hit the exit.

I believe in the American system, and even though it seemed like that system was fading away without a whimper {Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid driving the House and Senate, each with a heavy hand and Barack Obama having brought the famously corrupt Chicago political machine with him to the White House; a triumvirate of anti-Constitutionalism and pure socialism with communist overtones and a quiet war on the morality, the sanctity of life and the sense of sovereignty enjoyed under the law by each and every state in the Union}, economy crippling, government expanding legislation like ObamaCare and Cap & Trade being forced down the gullet of a mostly unwilling population by politicians who see themselves as mandated to tell us what’s good for us whether we agree to it or not, and enforce their will by criminalizing non-compliance, the tide is turning.

I was pleasantly surprised when the Tea Party movement materialized, seeming to spring from the Townhall meeting clashes between angry voters and the very legislators responsible for their ire.

Suddenly, Americans had had enough of the bail-outs, the “stimulus” event that was nothing more than the far left trinity now ruling, with an iron fist in charge of the country blatantly stealing money from the taxpayers while also plunging us deeply into an unprecedented* thirteen trillion dollar national debt.

The American people have realized that those running the government are abusing their respective offices in order to transform our country into something no right thinking American wants it to become, and as Americans do when we are backed into a corner by our own government, we are initiating a correction.

House and Senate incumbents in both parties are getting comeuppances in primaries around the country as the Tea Partyers raise large sums of money from fed up Americans, using the donations to enlighten the voters in various districts as to what the men and women representing them in Washington have been up to and what it’s doing to their nation, to them and, later, to their children and grandchildren. “Alternative” candidates are being pushed to replace incumbents, even by their own parties. Democrats and Republicans alike.

What we’re witnessing is a bloodless revolution, friends, that will only intensify as November draws gradually closer.

No matter how hard the left wing mainstream media fights to convince We, The People that the Tea Partyers are just a bunch of racist neocons making noise, the “tea baggers” are proving them to be the effluent propagandists and liars they are, so far removed from the principled, impartial, truth respecting, responsible journalists who once set a standard that made membership in the Fourth Estate a respectable distinction, that they have become.

And now they’re on the run. The media have become so incredibly farfetched in their attempts to justify the lefties on the Hill and in the White House that they really do look stupid, and the politicians they protect and support aren’t looking much better.

A bunch of D.C. Democrat incumbents who sold out their fellow Americans, including their own constituents, by foisting the healthcare bill on us are, right out of the blue, experiencing the need to “spend more time with their families”.

Translation: They know they’ll be soundly humiliated if they run for reelection and, for their egos’ sake, are returning to the private sector.

The long and the short of it is, patriotic Americans are fighting the good fight to get our country back, and if the constantly growing voter backlash continues, the leftist element that’s taken control will be swept out for years to come, the final battle that which sends Obama packing in January, 2013 and replaces him with a president who maintains American values.

*Unprecedented; A term often used by both the incumbent president and his tame media boot lickers to accent his purportedly “magnificent accomplishments.”

Larry Elder’s column today is a bang-up job well worth sharing.

While in high school, I was standing at a bus stop next to a gas station. A kid tossed a candy wrapper on the station lot. Somebody yelled, “Hey, pick that up.” The kid, with a straight face, defended himself. He said, “I just created a job.” Someone would be hired, he explained, to pick up the trash, and this would be good for the economy.

Don’t laugh. The kid probably works for the Obama administration.

That sounds about right.

Congress is now considering yet another “stimulus” package. But did the administration’s previous one work? Of the $787 billion stimulus package, President Obama said it would “save or create” 3.5 million new jobs. Has it?

The National Association for Business Economics polled 68 private-sector members. Seventy-three percent said the employment at their companies was neither higher nor lower as a result of the stimulus package.

What about the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office? A February 2009 Washington Times article said:

“President Obama’s economic recovery package will actually hurt the economy more in the long run than if he were to do nothing, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday.

“CBO, the official scorekeepers for legislation, said the House and Senate bills will help in the short term but result in so much government debt that within a few years they would crowd out private investment, actually leading to a lower Gross Domestic Product over the next 10 years than if the government had done nothing.”

This, of course, is far beyond the grasp of the “intelligent” people who set policy in this country, namely our politicians.

I do not challenge the intellectual capacities of Obama, Pelosi and company, because I know they are all highly intelligent: The screwing they have been giving the rest of us Americans has been premeditated, its goals to transform our great nation into a second rate socialist has-been.

…Zogby International asked questions about economics of nearly 5,000 people…

Truncating;

“On every question,” wrote Klein, “the left did much worse. On the monopoly question, the portion of progressive/very liberals answering incorrectly (31 percent) was more than twice that of conservatives (13 percent) and more than four times that of libertarians (7 percent). On the question about living standards, the portion of progressive/very liberals answering incorrectly (61 percent) was more than four times that of conservatives (13 percent) and almost three times that of libertarians (21 percent).”

Maybe those with more education performed better? No, the report said. “We work with three levels of schooling: (1) high school or less; (2) some college (but not a degree); (3) a college degree or more. In our data, economic enlightenment is not correlated with going to college.”

The left blames the financial collapse on “greed,” ignoring the role played by government involvement — Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae, the Federal Housing Administration, the Community Reinvestment Act and elsewhere. Leftists point to “insufficient regulation” on Wall Street for reckless behavior, rather than to the players’ assumption that too-big-to-fail would protect them.

Elder is so right. The entire column is here.

If you ever tune in to talk show debates between liberals and conservatives, you’ve seen how the “progressive” always shouts down the conservative whenever he or she attempts to register his or her side of the story.

Likewise, it’s the same when a conservative attempts to give a speech at a university or other forum and a crowd of “progressives” shows up for the sole purpose of shouting the right thinker down so that no one can hear the intended speech.

This is because the left side doesn’t want anyone to hear what the right side has to say, as for “progressives”, freedom of speech is a one way street. They’re afraid, you see, that if the conservatives’ message gets out, those previously undecided will hear the common sense of the imparted speech, and vote/support campaigns based on good information rather than on the bias of left wing media and “progressive” politicians’ propaganda.

Well, Wicked Witch of the West Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi got a sample of the same from members of her own side yesterday, and you have no idea (or maybe you do) as to just how good it makes me feel to see a traitor from the far left receive some of what those pseudo-Americans usually reserve for genuine Americans.

Crowds repeatedly interrupted and heckled House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Tuesday at America’s Future Now conference in what was the latest and most dramatic evidence of simmering, left-wing anger among those attending the three-day liberal gathering.

Conference organizers had hoped Tuesday would be the day to highlight liberal success stories, but the theme running throughout the event — from hallway conversations to ballroom speeches — was frustration with Mrs. Pelosi, Senate Democrats, White House operatives and President Obama himself.

The tone was set early when Mrs. Pelosi’s speech at Washington’s Omni Shoreham hotel ballroom was hijacked by a rowdy coalition of antiwar protesters and advocates for the disabled who were angry over a health care bill they said was inadequate.

As the California Democrat tried to talk about her party’s accomplishments, members of the activist groups Code Pink and ADAPT shouted and challenged Mrs. Pelosi to put down her prepared remarks and respond to their complaints.

Her party’s “accomplishments”, that’s a good one. If the USSR were still in business and she could have reported her party’s “accomplishments” to the Politboro, she would have received the Order of Lenin.

In the “interesting, but true” department, we have this from John Myers:

To the Greens I have six words regarding the catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico: Your President, your policies, your fault.

After all Barack Obama was the progressive Green candidate, a thinker who could steer the course in the 21st Century. Oprah anointed then-Senator Obama as “The Chosen One”. To Oprah and a great majority of Liberals, Obama was the anti-Dubya; a larger than life leader with savior qualities that would lead us to peace and overcome all obstacles.

So far, so bad. America’s endgame for Iraq is in question because of increasing levels of Shiite-Sunni violence. Afghanistan looks more untenable all the time. The recovery is sluggish and healthcare has been rammed down the throats of the American people. Now we face an enormous crisis in the Gulf of Mexico. It’s been almost two months since an explosion sent crude pumping into the Gulf and the Obama administration has shown an astonishing lack of leadership.

David Gergen, a centrist political commentator and advisor to four Presidents, has pointed out a basic lack of leadership from the Obama administration: “Ultimately it is not the responsibility of BP or any other company to protect American interests but the responsibility of the Federal government.”

Heh heh, the only interests our current Capital Hill Democrat majority and White House wonderboy are protecting are their own liberal political interests.

Ahem, sorry, go on…

So here it is, a news flash to Oprah and the Liberals: When it comes to leadership, Barack Obama is a lot more Herbert Hoover than he is Harry Truman, regardless of how many “the buck stops here” speeches Obama chooses to give…

The more unpleasantness we encounter, the more Obama talks about doing such two fisted things as “kickin’ butt”, but while the talk is talked, no walk seems to be getting walked.

The President bristles at criticism that the Gulf crisis is his Katrina. Even in the face of the failure of BP to stem the spill with its top-kill option, Obama was defending the Federal government’s record and promised aggressive action to ensure future drilling is done safely. He has extended a moratorium on new exploration drilling in the Gulf and announced that 33 current projects in the deep water will be suspended along with two permits for exploration wells in the Beaufort Sea off Alaska.

“As we continue our response effort, we’re also moving quickly on steps to ensure that a catastrophe like this never happens again,” he said. “I’ve said before that producing oil here in America is an essential part of our overall energy strategy. But all drilling must be safe.”

Respectfully Mr. President, can we not worry about future leaks until we fix this one? After all, the BP gusher has well surpassed the 1989 Exxon spill in Alaska as the largest ever in the United States. Crude has continued to spew for 52 days after it began with a rig explosion that killed 11 people. Every effort to stop the spill has so far proved unsuccessful.

When I was a boy on the farm we didn’t worry about the horses that might get out; we scurried about to catch the horse that had gotten out. And right now there is a big and nasty animal rolling about the Gulf presenting a clear and present danger to the United States. Meanwhile we are getting the Green lecture—how to stop future oil spills. Which brings me to my second news flash—it is Green policies that got us into this mess in the first place.

That’s a true and familiar tune, isn’t it? For decades now, our largest domestic problems have originated on the left side of the aisle in their efforts to bring us a new, improved America or to fix what either ain’t broke or will, by nature of the American people, eventually be repaired by the forces of the marketplace without “help” from the government.

“An extended moratorium on safely producing our oil and natural gas resources from the Gulf of Mexico would create a moratorium on economic growth and job creation,” said Jack Gerard, chief executive of the American petroleum Institute.

It’s worth noting that the Gulf of Mexico currently produces about 1.6 million barrels of oil per day—an amount larger than the output of Canada’s oil sands. It was expected to grow to 1.9 million barrels by 2025. But the jury is out on this until Obama—”The Chosen One”—chooses leadership over politics and stops this catastrophe.

Here, here!

The entire column.

In the bad old days of my military service, I had occasion to witness the self inflicted deaths of more than one adolescent. Those deaths were death by explosives, those kids self-detonating in order to take the lives of others.

The incidents did not occur in or near the United States or even on the North or South American continents, but in third world countries oceans away.

Even though these children died commiting murder, I felt heartache at people in such an early stage of life dying needlessly. And it was needless, there is little doubt in my mind that they were either compelled to do what they did or persuaded to do so by cowardly adults who preferred to use kids as weapons to crawling out of their holes and fighting like men for the causes they espoused.

When I read about this incident, I was just as depressed.

The teenager died needlessly.

Not because a Border Patrol agent saw fit to shoot him (I was not there, and the circumstances as reported are still apparently a bit muddy), but because the kid was there to begin with.

A U.S. Border Patrol agent fatally shot a 15-year-old Mexican boy after a group trying to illegally enter Texas threw rocks at officers near downtown El Paso, U.S. authorities said Tuesday.

The shooting, which happened Monday evening beneath a railroad bridge linking the two nations, drew sharp criticism from Mexico, where President Felipe Calderon said Tuesday that his goverment “will use all resources available to protect the rights of Mexican migrants.”

The above quoted paragraphs indicate the blame for the incident, investigation results notwithstanding, and tell us exactly who is to blame for the boy’s dying there.

Calderone: the rights of Mexican migrants

People his government should be stopping on their side of the border, except that the corrupt sleazeballs, including Calderone himself, see it as being in their best interests to palm off their poor on the U.S. so they can pocket more of the money they’re not spending looking after their own citizens.

Mexican migrants? How about “criminal aliens?” Felony trespassers upon sovereign U.S. soil?

What rights? These people were crossing our border illegally, they did not belong on this side of the border, therefore they had no rights.

Americans who employ undocumented aliens: illegals sneak across the border because they can get work up here from criminals who, in order to obtain cheap labor, ignore the laws that prohibit them from hiring these people.

“Progressive” U.S. Politicians: These folks are just as criminal as the scumbags that hire illegals, because instead of allowing their law enforcement agencies to apprehend illegals, they provide sanctuary cities and states. They speak out in favor of illegal immigrants, sending them a message that they’re welcome here.

In California, well, just look at L.A. County alone. There’s a corrupt, greasy, anti-American L.A. mayor named Villarago — Villarai — whatever, who champions the cause of illegals and condemns a state like Arizona for protecting itself by enforcing immigration laws. There are boulevards like Olympic in Santa Monica where the city actually puts out porta-cans along the roadsides where the illegals stand around waiting for contractors to pick them up, so the felons will feel more comfortable waiting there.

Isn’t that nice…

Meanwhile, illegal aliens are putting hospitals out of business in California, contributing to the bankruptcy and unemployment and crime, and these “progressives” ignore it all.

The Federal Court System: What happened to Tyson and others when they were caught red-handed with plants overflowing with “undocumented” workers?

Nothing.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement: Where the hell are they?

The President, the Speaker of the House, the Senate Majority Leader, all the Democrats on the Hill, and, of course,

The Mainstream (lefty) Media: For their heartfelt support and encouragement both of illegal immigration and the lack of enforcement thereof.

Naturally, the blame will fall on the Border Patrol agent who pulled the trigger, although in the scheme of things, he is the least responsible, for that boy dying, of any of the above.

This one’s great, between their “controvesial” immigration bill and the more recent clarification bearing their governor’s signature that it is perfectly acceptable to run a business in America (or at least in Arizona) without being required to provide foreign language translators, those folks in Arizona are most definitely letting the more sheep-like states know where real Americans draw the line; and now, we have this:

From CNS News

Thanks to an advertiser who wishes to remain anonymous, cars and trucks on Arizona Highway 260 in East Central Arizona are driving by a billboard advertisement that recently went up, bearing President Obama’s face on a mock U.S. $100,000,000,000,000 (One-Hundred Trillion Dollar) bill.

The billboard’s caption: “But Who Will Pay the Piper?”

Chuck Perrine of Jones Outdoor advertising in Tucson, Ariz., confirmed to CNSNews.com that his company created the 10 ft- by-40 ft. billboard, which he said “went up within the last month.”

Perrine said the sign is located “near Linden (Ariz.),” but said that the advertiser is “not interested” in disclosing any further information about his identity–or his reason for purchasing the ad.

“I’m sorry, I can’t give you any information about the advertiser whatsoever,” Perrine told CNSNews.com Monday. “That’s part of his contract with us.”

The Office of Management and Budget in Obama’s White House estimates that the federal deficit this year will be 10.6 percent of GDP, making fiscal 2010 the first fiscal year since the end of World War II that the federal deficit has reached double digits as a share of GDP.

The billboard, which was rented for an undisclosed sum, will remain up for an undisclosed period of time, Perrine said.

Emphasis above is mine. A photo of the billboard is included in the linked article.

Go, AZ!

Speaking of billboards, the one at this IP is right up my alley, as well.