LIBELOUS ATTACKS (Letter to Independent Coast Observer)

The recent shooting in Tucson was a tragedy for the nation, but most especially for the 20 victims and their families. When the facts emerged, one did not have to be a lawyer to reach the conclusion that the sole cause of the shooting was the demons inside the head of a deranged young man. 

In spite of facts, logic, rational thought, and those other aspects of fairness valued in our laws and our culture, many left wingers perpetrated the libel that the shooting was a direct result of conservative opposition to the Democrat agenda. All conservatives were blamed, but high-profile conservatives and organizations such as Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, the Tea Party, and Fox News, received the most attention. Ample evidence of “over-the-top” past rhetoric and hate speech by Democrats was conveniently ignored. 

The progressive attack machine was aided and abetted by many mainstream media outlets. In times of great stress the emotions of fear and anger often hold the day. We look to our national media to sort out the facts, not fan the emotional fires, and we look to our leaders to tamp down these fires with accurate information and calm deliberation. To President Obama’s credit he finally started that process Tuesday by stating that political discourse “did not” cause the shooting. Unfortunately, the President’s statement was a full four days after the raging fires of left wing McCarthyism had burned all sense of fairness out of the air. Also, the President’s statement that we should not “use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on each other” misses the mark. Certain progressives (even in our local community) shamelessly used the tragedy to beat down conservative voices and mute any opposition to the progressive agenda. Conservatives have every right to defend themselves, and to continue to oppose polices with which they disagree.

LET'S ROLL! (Letter to Independent Coast Observer)

Hope and Change are in the air as the new Congress roars into the Capitol next week on the wings of a conservative mid-term electoral revolution. On Nov 2, the American people said “Enough!” to the Leftist expansion of government, excessive regulations, and out-of-control spending. In only two years, the national debt has swelled from $10 trillion to almost $14 trillion; the OMB estimates that it will reach $26 trillion by 2020. This spending trend is unsustainable and the voters have made it clear that they want it stopped.

The problem is the Democrat Party’s addiction to expanded government programs like ObamaCare; Democrats argue that such programs will bring down costs. Not true. Instead, moving 17% of the U.S. economy from individual choice to government management and direction will substantially increase costs for medical services and undermine the integrity of the system. Last Tuesday HHS Secretary Sebelius issued a 136-page rule providing price controls for health insurance. Unless stopped, this will be the first of many such rules effectively taking health care decisions out of the hands of individuals and their doctors. It is the sure path to rationing of health care and the slow decline of innovation and high quality health care that the free market system has brought to our citizens.

The new Congress with its increase of 6 Republicans in the Senate and 63 in the House will have very different thinking on ObamaCare and other big-spending programs that Democrats have foisted on the American people. As stated in the Wall Street Journal, “The single most important result of the November 2 election is the marginalization of the House Democratic left . . . Paul Ryan has replaced Barney Frank as the most prominent House spokesman on economics.” (WSJ, Pete Du Pont, December 27, 2010.)

Let’s Roll!

Jim Littlejohn

ALTERNATIVE VIEWS (Letter to Independent Coast Observer)

Last week the Editor cited several benefits of newspapers; e.g., a tangible product, (usually) carefully edited, and so on. He opined that newspapers are a unique medium and implied that they are not irrelevant in this modern era. But the fact is that most newspapers and old-line TV networks have become irrelevant to half our citizens whose views on issues of the day are either ignored or given short shrift. Inaccurate and/or selective reporting is not a new problem. For example, I read (on the internet) that New York Times reporter, Walter Duranty, won a Pulitzer Prize in the 1930s with his glowing reports of Soviet Communism at a time when millions of Russians were literally being starved to death.

This “managed news” problem continues today. Just last week the Washington Post failed to mention that support for ObamaCare has now dropped to only 43%, even though this key data came from its own poll! But surely, I thought, such media practices have little bearing on our local ICO. Then I turned the page and began to read an 800 word opinion column by Thomas D. Elias that could easily have been mistaken as a press release for Jerry Brown. Elias wrote approvingly about how Brown possesses an “English-language” vocabulary that included such words like “ephemeral”, “acrimonious”, and “coherent.” (He left out “whore.”) Then the writer gushed forth columns of praise about Brown’s virtues such as “he seems ready to accede to whatever the public wants” and he “does not sound eager to shove anything down anyone’s throat.”

Conservatives read tripe like this and shake our heads. We who see the world differently MUST go to the internet and elsewhere (Fox News!) for alternative points of view. We vote with our keyboard and our TV remote. Hooray for diversity!

Jim Littlejohn