Columnist.
It's not every day, thank heavens, that Louis Farrakhan, Dennis Kucinich and I agree about anything, so imagine my surprise when we all thought that Obama was a moron for deciding to abide by the U.N.'s wishes in Libya. While it's true that Muammar Gaddafi is a brutal tyrant, that's par for the course in Arab and Muslim nations. In fact, the only thing I've noticed that sets him apart from the norm is that he appears to be a transvestite. So, why the heck are we looking to depose him? For offending the international dress code?
It's true that nobody has asked me how I'd go about getting America's financial house in order, but that's not unusual. After all, I'm not an expert. No "Dr." before my name and no "PhD" after it. That's why nobody ever invites me on TV and asks me to deal with the really important things. Instead, I get stuck with taking out the trash and feeding the dog. Well, we've seen what a great job the experts have been doing. I say it's high time that I got a crack at the major problems facing us, and let Tim Geithner take out the trash and Janet Napolitano feed Duke.
In an article for the NY Post, my friend, historian Ronald Radosh, informed the world that NYU was hosting a six-hour conference devoted to "Academic Freedom in the 1960s." On the face of it, it sounds like the sort of boring event where most of us are relieved not to know any of the participants, thus freeing us of any obligation to attend. But, according to Radosh, all of the speakers are leftists. Among them are historian Ellen Schrecker, who has argued that while many of those accused of spying for the Soviet Union during the Cold War were guilty, "they did not subscribe to traditional forms of patriotism" and because they were acting on behalf of a cause in which they believed, they weren't "betraying their country."
In many ways, it must be very nice being Barack Obama. I'm not even referring to all the rounds of golf, where a 50-foot putt is regarded as a gimme; the basketball games, where the Secret Service makes damn sure nobody blocks him out on his way to the hoop; or even all the paid vacations to exotic locales. I'm referring to all the things he does, knowing full well that the love-sappy Democrats will never get so upset that he need worry about receiving their financial support or their votes in 2012.
Many years ago, I recall seeing Clement Freud on TV and he made a lasting impression. The grandson of Sigmund, he had spent some time in an English mental institution. At the time I saw him, he had decided to run for Parliament. When the interviewer asked him what qualified him to help decide national policy, he said that when he was released from the asylum, he was given a certificate of sanity. He was quite convinced that he was the only politician in the land who had official verification of that fact. Wouldn't it be great if we had some politicians who could make that claim? Instead, we're up to our ears in such mentally challenged dunces as Barbara Boxer, Nancy Pelosi, Anthony Weiner, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Maxine Waters, Sheila Jackson Lee and Charles Schumer. The fact is, when I look at folks like Henry Waxman, John Kerry and Harry Reid, I find it hard to believe they were delivered by storks. A far more likely means of transport would have been vultures.
Whenever I hear people dismissing Fox News as a propaganda machine for conservatives, I know one thing for certain, and that is that they have never watched it. At most, they've flipped past while switching from the Cartoon Network to MSNBC, or have I once again repeated myself? Frankly, there are times I find myself wishing that Fox were a bit more conservative than it is. After all, there's only so much time in a day and I hate wasting any of it listening to the inanities of Lis Wiehl, Alan Colmes, Ellis Henican, Leslie Marshall, Juan Williams, Geraldo Rivera or Columbia Professor Marc Lamont Hill, whose field of expertise is rap and hip-hop music, although you'd never know it when Bill O'Reilly has him pontificating on major issues. When any of those folks are on camera, I feel that Fox's motto should be changed to "Unfair and Unbalanced."
Proof that you don't have to live in New York or Hollywood to be a left-wing knothead was the decision by a Chicago high school to boycott a basketball tournament in Arizona because someone -- the principal perhaps -- opposed Arizona's immigration policy. A policy, as we all know, that is the mirror image of federal law. Then, having shown the world what they think of those racists in Arizona, they went off to play an exhibition game in a country that serves as a role model for freedom-loving people everywhere...China!
Anyone who wonders why I despise those on the left not only for their politics, but their behavior, simply hasn't been paying attention lately. To begin with, we had the union bullies attempting to overturn the results of a democratic election by a show of brute force. And for what? So that public sector unions, which should never have been allowed to exist in the first place, could continue strong-arming gutless politicians into providing them, at taxpayer's expense, with an endless gravy train.
(Editor's Note: Mark Alexander is traveling with his family on spring break this week. Enjoy this week's guest column from Burt Prelutsky.) I am constantly writing myself notes, jotting down the things I hear oozing out of the mouths of politicians. But occasionally when it comes time to use the quotes in an article, I find myself wondering if our elected officials actually spoke those words or if I had been hallucinating.
We've all known kids who only try to straighten out their behavior when they begin to sense that Christmas is right around the corner. It often strikes me that politicians are the same way, only in their case it's elections that start them thinking in terms of being naughty or nice. But some of us, like Santa's little helpers, are always keeping a list and checking it twice. For instance, when Wisconsin's Governor Walker and 18 out of 19 Republicans finally did the right thing, in spite of the presence of thousands of union goons and the absence of 14 Democrats, most sane Americans celebrated the occasion. But for Democrats such as Hawaii's Senator Inouye, it was a cause for concern. He actually complained that Republicans were basing their demands for budgetary cuts on their campaign promises. What's more, Rep. Pelosi said that it was immoral to cut spending. And I'm sure they weren't the only politicians who were shocked and genuinely upset that Republicans such as Walker and the Tea Partiers in the House, who had run and won elections by vowing to stand up to the public sector unions and restore fiscal responsibility to America, meant to keep their word.
A question that I have yet been able to answer is whether liberals are even aware of their double standard. For instance, when they complain about America's occasional alliances with despots, does it ever trouble them when some of their own embrace -- sometimes literally -- a dictator? For instance, over the past decade, we've had Sean Penn defending Saddam Hussein; Oliver Stone, Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Michael Moore and several members of the Black Congressional Caucus, singing the praises of Fidel Castro; and Danny Glover and Harry Belafonte all but dancing cheek to jowl with Hugo Chavez.
One of the many things that confounds me about liberals is how united they are in their opinions and in recognizing the perfection of their various heroes. I find such unity of thought mind-boggling, and more than a little scary. On occasion, even though I'm a proud conservative -- and at times because I am a proud conservative -- I have taken such people as George W. Bush, Karl Rove, Ann Coulter, John McCain, Bill O'Reilly, Newt Gingrich, Dick Morris, Sean Hannity and even my friend Michael Medved, to task for one thing or another. But when have you ever heard the likes of Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, Frank Rich, Rachel Maddow, Leslie Marshall, Ellis Henican, Paul Krugman or Maureen Dowd, utter or write a single critical word about the Obamas, the Clintons, John Kerry, Al Gore, Jerry Brown, Harry Reid, Charles Schumer, Maxine Waters, Pat Leahy, Rahm Emanuel, Anthony Weiner or even that easiest and most obvious of targets, the Wicked Witch of the West, herself, Nancy Pelosi?
On college campuses all over America, the 1st Amendment is trashed on a regular basis. Even when the courts weigh in, declaring that speech codes are unconstitutional, college administrators, professors and even students, find a way to curb free speech. At least free speech that expresses conservative sentiments. At the same time, those very same groups either remain silent or encourage Muslims and left-wingers who regularly shout down conservatives and Israeli diplomats who have been invited to be guest speakers.
As I watched all those Wisconsin teachers proudly carrying on like louts and buffoons in Madison, I found myself wondering how they could ever again chastise their students for misbehaving in class. I also found it amazing that they could insist with a straight face that demonstrating for fat salaries and even fatter pensions translated into fighting for the kids. On the other hand, inasmuch as only about a third of Wisconsin's eighth graders have 8th grade reading proficiency, as revealed by standardized test scores, it probably doesn't make much difference if these teachers ever make it back to the classroom.
There are times when I find myself thinking that all of America's loons are to be found lurking on the far left, but then something like the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) takes place and I have to rethink my position. Never having attended one of those events, I have no idea how they're arranged. But one thing I do know is that any gathering that results in a straw vote victory for Ron Paul should send shivers down the back of most conservatives.
A while back, I confessed that I had grown tired of people -- including some conservatives -- who demeaned those of us who wished that Barack Obama would be compelled to cough up his birth certificate and his college application. It just strikes me as very suspicious that the fellow hanging out in the Oval Office is so determined to keep those items under wraps. It's not that I am dying to see Joe Biden take his place; I would much prefer to see Obama suffer a shellacking in 2012, but I see no reason that he should be allowed to get away with stuff that no other president would even consider attempting.
Unfortunately, the best thing you can usually say about Republican politicians is that the Democrats are worse. For instance, it's easy to fault those on the left for ObamaCare, but why is it that those on the right side of the aisle never bothered making it possible to shop for health insurance in other states or cleared the way for a worker to take his health insurance to a new job? Instead, as usual, the Republicans merely reacted once Obama and his cronies cooked up their vile stew, consisting of rat tails, bat wings and eye of newt.
When you live about 3,000 miles west of the Potomac, it's impossible not to feel as if you're watching the antics of people who should be wearing big floppy shoes and big red noses on the job. The upside is that 20 of them could use a single jalopy in order to carpool to work. For instance, leading up to Mubarak's departure, we kept hearing members of the administration refer to the Muslim Brotherhood in terms more appropriate to the Brownies and the Girl Scouts. It was almost comical to hear Joe Biden and James Clapper speak so much nicer about this gang of Islamic terrorists than anyone in the Obama administration had ever spoken about the members of the Tea Party. They even called the Brotherhood "secular and non-violent," two things they have never once said about Sarah Palin.
It's probably no surprise that nearly all of my Jewish friends and relatives long ago washed their hands of me. They simply couldn't fathom how I, who grew up as most of them did, in the home of Russian-Jewish immigrants, could have turned out to be a conservative. Some of them are still so angry about it that I'm convinced that they would reverse the circumcision if they could. For my part, I find it equally mystifying that people who were lucky enough to have been born in America can be as ungrateful as they are. Whether it's Spike Lee claiming we're the most violent nation in the history of the world, Barack Obama insisting that there's nothing exceptional about America or some Muslim tinhorn like Mahmud Ahmadinejad calling us the Great Satan, these ingrates are prepared to give them a heart-felt "Amen!"
