Obama's 'Bridge to Nowhere'

Modern Liberalism's 'Moral Laziness' Exposed


The lodge and cabins at Lewis Mountain were designed by Marcellus Wright, who also designed the Big Meadows Lodge. Lewis Mountain was created as a separate lodging area for African-American guests in the 1940's. A decade later segragation would be abolished in the National Park although it would continue in the state of Virginia well into the 1960's.

SWAC Girl sent out the news that we had been challenged. A left-leaning blogger down in Richmond wanted to know if a certain beer made in Nelson County [which had just won a major taste competition] was any good. Not wanting to drive the two hours from Richmond to see for himself, he laid down the challenge for Conservative bloggers close to the brewery to go and "tell him if it was worth his while to go there himself."

We all politely declined. I opined that since 'Politics is Genetic' [click to read], his taste buds and mine were likely quite different. We were all inclined to put the matter to rest.

But a bigger question seemed to gnaw at the back of my consciousness... why does modern liberalism seem so adverse to the hard work of good old-fashioned research? I thought that was what 'higher education' was supposed to instill in you. Yet more often than not, serious scholarly works appear that simply pull out a tired old template and fill in the blanks. The Latest Obama Biography from David Remnick [click to read] does just that. Placing the 'Anointed One' squarely at the other side of Pettus Bridge as the fulfillment of the Civil Rights Movement.

The problem is this. The writer only wants to wade in deep enough to make Obama the tragic hero of America's racial drama. A drama that in modern liberal legend only has two chapters: Roots and the KennedyAdministration. It is left to Rush Limbaugh [who didn't go to college] and Glenn Beck to point out the great thought that took place at the time of our nation's beginnings: The wording of the Declaration of Independence changes the wording of earlier such declarations from 'property' to 'pursuit of happiness' precisely for the purpose of excluding slaveholding from the list of Divinely endowed rights. Also ignored are the civil-rights initiatives of the pre-Kennedy era. While Robert Byrd was wearing white robes and going to Klan rallys it was largely Republicans who were dismantling American Apartheid.

America's racial history is far from simple, but to those who would pull out the template, consider a few facts from modern history. The Left still bases much of its 'call to action' on the template that America is a 'racist' nation. That racism exists today is true, but you don't see it at tea parties. The American Right holds as its heroes men like Alan Keyes and packs out venues to hear him speak for Pregnancy Help Centers. Walter Williams, Thomas Sowell and Larry Elder are lauded for their intellectual contributions to the movement.

It is the Right, largely, that supports initiatives like the DC 'Opportunity Scholarships' [1.] that give disadvantaged children access to school choice. The Left is deeply committed to the 'one size fits all' public school that unfortunately limit educational opportunities for too many minority children.

It is the Right that sees opportunity for all in the American experiment. The Left seems bound to the notion that America creates a permenant underclass based on minority status. Thus we must create ever expanding government programs to redistribute the wealth.

It is the Right that sees innovation and freedom as the engine that produces new streams of prosperity. The Left sees a finite pool of resources and feels compelled to assert itself as the distributor of them. The Right senses that the best of human innovation is yet to be seen.

It is the Right that sees humanity for what it is and deals with sin. It is in free societies that history is allowed to point out the errors and outright atrocities. Massive Resistance, Lynchings, Jim Crow Laws and other dark chapters of our history are rightly remembered. The Left sees mankind as basically good but the institutions have not been perfected yet. To study the history of the movement though, the deaths of millions unter Stalin and other leaders is the price that must be paid. With no notion of sin, the carnage may actually be greater. Denial of one's Own Depravity [click to read] is a dangerous thing indeed.

History suggests that there is a better way. Our own history tells us of Ruby Beck [click to read] who, with her sister Lizzie, built a dream. During the height of segregation and Massive Resistance Ms. Beck convinced Alexandria bankers Burke and Herbert to loan her money to build a restaurant in Culpeper. She did it and was later honored as Virginia's 'Businesswoman of the Year.' Every school child in Virginia needs to know her story.


The Boxwood House in Culpeper, Virginia.

A Point of Contrast: George W. Bush's New Book

George W. Bush's Decision Points [click to read] should be interesting. Andrew Breitbart reports that is not your typical memoir but 'an account of key decisions' in his life. ht/SWAC Girl

Church of Gore, Statement of Faith

Dr. Walter Williams Takes on the True Believers


Temperatures are not proving anthropogenic global warming but that does not mean anything to the 'faithful.'

Global Warming is a Religion [click to read].

"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed —and hence clamorous to be led to safety — by menacing it with anendless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." -- Henry Louis Mencken (1880-1956)

I'm not a big fan of H. L. Mencken, who pretty much had the same opinion of all religion, but in this case the quote fits.


Three weeks after Virginia mountains received over twenty inches of snow the Blue Ridge Parkway is still closed.

How Laws Have Replaced Civility

Wisdom from Walter Williams

Walter Williams Writes [click to read] on this important topic:

"A civilized society's first line of defense is not the law, police and courts but customs, traditions and moral values. Behavioral norms, mostly transmitted by example, word of mouth and religious teachings, represent a body of wisdom distilled over the ages through experience and trial and error. They include important thou-shalt-nots such as shalt not murder, shalt not steal, shalt not lie and cheat, but they also include all those courtesies one might call ladylike and gentlemanly conduct. The failure to fully transmit values and traditions to subsequent generations represents one of the failings of the so-called greatest generation."

Reality Check

Walter Williams Looks at the Big Picture

I make a habit of not watching the nightly news. I do read a number of sources so I am not uninformed as a result of this habit. I just sleep better.

While the media pundits are panic stricken at the thought that Governor Palin, mother of five, could be 'one heartbeat' away from the presidency [don't worry America, she'll do fine, really], the truth is so much of this idioocy is tolerated because we ARE doing pretty well overall.

This Piece by Walter Williams in Jewish World Review makes a good point that we are basically in pretty good shape but politicians need to create a need for their services as rescuers. That's not to say the problems aren't real, but why wasn't Fanny/Freddy a big deal when regulatory legislation was suggested in 2005?

The truth is it will become another great burden on our treasury but in all likelihood it won't kill us. People will be able to make political hay out of it and use it as an excuse for expanding the role of government in our lives perhaps, but as long as the American economy continues to grow it does not threaten our very existence... yet.

There is a great debate over our Nation's course that must be brought into bright light. Some would have us surrender much of our needed functions, such as health care, to a more socialistic model. That's the way it's done in Canada. There is plenty of evidence that a free market does a better job, but much of the needed discussion is obuscated by all the noise that passes for news.

More on Dr. Walter Williams

Update: Newt Gingrich Weighs In