Filed under: Freedom, History, National Security | Tags: The Gathering Storm, Unteachability of Mankind, Winston Churchill
One of the first acts of Barack Obama when he moved into the White House, was to order the bust of Winston Churchill, on loan from the British Government, packed up and sent back to England.
Winston Churchill: Speech to the House of Commons, May 2, 1935.
It is possible that the dangers into which we are steadily advancing would never have arisen…[but] when the situation was manageable it was neglected, and now that it is thoroughly out of hand we apply too late the remedies which might have effected a cure.
Churchill provided his own answer:
There is nothing new to the story. It is as old as [Rome]. It falls into that long, dismal catalogue of the fruitlessness of experience and the confirmed unteachability of mankind. Want of foresight, unwillingness to act when action would be simple and effective, lack of clear thinking, confusion of counsel until the emergency comes, until self-preservation strikes its jarring gong — these are features which constitute the endless repetition of history.
Filed under: Foreign Policy, History, Islam, Israel | Tags: Iran, Meaningful Engagement, Serious Discussion
Dore Gold, former Israeli Ambassador to the United States:
The U.S. and Iran speak very different diplomatic languages that cannot be bridged by a dictionary alone. In the West, candor is central to confidence-building; for the diplomats of the Islamic Republic, deception is a way of life.
The whole brief article is worth your time, but these two sentences caught my eye.
Filed under: Domestic Policy, Economy, Health Care, Taxes | Tags: Another Campaign Speech, AstroTurfing, Doctors for Obama
President Obama summoned invited 150 doctors to the White House rose garden so that he could give them his 34th speech about health care reform. They represented all 50 states, we were told, and they were members of all sorts of different medical organizations, mostly Doctors for Obama now renamed Doctors for America.
They were asked to bring their white lab coats for the photo-op, but many simply came in suits. (Not all doctors wear lab coats). But the White House had purchased a quantity of lab coats so there would be enough for everyone. Important for the Photo-op.
President Obama gave much the same speech he has given the previous 33 times. And it was just as inaccurate. He said that the doctors have seen what happens when their patients can’t get the care they need because some insurance company has decided to drop their coverage or water it down.
President Obama is an attorney. He knows that a health insurance policy is a legal contract between the insurance company and the patient. Insurance companies cannot drop someone because they get sick. That’s what health care policies are for, taking care of people who get sick. If the patient has lied or failed to disclose pre-existing conditions, that can void the contract. The attempt to demonize insurance companies so that the ignorant will prefer a government option is transparent.
The two cases that Mr. Obama has used in previous speeches were not exactly as he represented them. In both cases, it seemed that the patients had failed to disclose serious pre-existing conditions, not acne, as Mr. Obama claimed. In both cases, it was straightened out fairly quickly, and the bills were paid.
Mr. Obama said that insurance companies “will no longer be able to place some arbitrary cap on how much coverage you can receive in a given year or a given lifetime. We will place a limit on how much you can be charged for out-of-pocket expenses. And insurance companies will be required to cover, at no extra charge, routine checkups and preventive care.
So there will be no limit on how much care you can have, an absolute limit on how much it will cost you, and insurance companies will be required to cover everything at no cost. We will have fewer doctors, they will have to see more patients, they will be told what treatments they are required to give to any specific patient by a bunch of Washington bureaucrats (friends of the administration), but it will be way more rewarding for doctors (just not financially). Health Care will cost less, so much less that it will solve the financial crisis, not cost one extra dime, serve 30 million more people, and everyone will be healthier. If this makes sense to you, you need some remedial math. And the administration assumes that the American people are completely stupid.
This is a classic case of “AstroTurfing” that over-used new word devised to describe artificial grassroots. A survey last fall of 270,000 primary care physicians by the Physicians’ Foundation found that if health care reform passes, 30% expect to see fewer patients, 13% will find something that does not involve patient care and 11% plan to retire altogether.
You would think that an expert public relations man like David Axlerod would recognize that this gathering of lab-coated Obama supporters would look like a bizarre costume party.
Straight talk, transparency, real debate and some honesty would be most welcome.
(ht: Gateway Pundit)
American Elephants 