Is The Obama Inauguration The New Woodstock?

Tonight, I watched a documentary called Woodstock: Now and Then which aired on The History Channel. It was directed and produced by documentary filmmaker Barbara Kopple (who is best known for her 1976 documentary Harlan County U.S.A.)

The executive producer was Woodstock organizer Michael Lang. Last month, I saw Lang give a talk about his book The Road to Woodstock. It was during this public appearance where I had the opportunity to ask Lang about Max Yasgur and his comments appeared in my column about Yasgur.

Most of the film was stuff familiar to me (i.e. the musicians, the songs, the organizers, the logistical difficulties, etc.) But there were some nice touches. Attendees were given a chance to talk about their experiences at Woodstock including Nick and Bobbi Ercoline. If their names aren't familiar their images should be. They are the couple who are lock in an embraced covered by a pink blanket on the Woodstock album cover. The Ercolines were married in 1971 and are still together. So there is certainly something to be said for that.

Towards the end of the film there is an attempt to link Woodstock with the inauguration of President Obama. I can't say I'm totally surprised at the linkage. Lang alluded to it briefly during his talk last month although he didn't dwell on it at length. However, he does elaborate further in an interview he did with The History Channel:

I think that when Woodstock came along it was like suddenly this amazing moment of hope, where this tremendously large group of people got together and had this amazingly peaceful experience and became this community that set an example for everybody. It really demonstrated in a practical way that there was a better way for us to live together. I think that's why it was remembered so much. It was this moment of hope in a very dark time. I like to compare it to [President Barack] Obama's inauguration, which came also at a pretty dark time for America and the world. We had gotten to a place where we were kind of headed over a cliff, and we're heading for another four years of that and suddenly—I think this is one of the best qualities that Americans have is to realize something and change the direction to do the right thing. The inauguration felt like another moment of hope in a very desperate time. The spirit of the crowd in the inauguration in 20-degree weather was just a sense of joy and hope that was phenomenal.

This sentiment was echoed in the film by New York Times columnist Gail Collins who, in fact, wrote a column about Obama's inauguration titled, "Woodstock Without The Mud." However, Collins made a point of stating there was an important difference:

The big difference was in the national reaction. The only people who felt unified during Woodstock were those who were there — everybody else was horrified or jealous. But the inauguration left the whole country glued together emotionally, one big American ball of hope.

I don't doubt Obama's inauguration meant something to people especially African-Americans whose grandparents and, in some cases, parents could not vote. But I don't think Obama's inauguration represented "one big American ball of hope" nor do I think "we had gotten to a place where we were headed over a cliff" before the election of Obama magically "saved" us.

That ball of hope certainly isn't there now especially with the Obamacare debacle and continuing economic uncertainty. That doesn't, of course, guarantee he's a one term President. But whether one can properly compare three days of fun and music to four years of Obama remains to be seen. His legacy isn't about getting to the White House. It's about what he does once he's inside. At this point, the jury is still out on him while the verdict came in on Woodstock once the festival had concluded. By the time the 2012 elections come about America might not be in such a festive mood when it comes to President Obama.

DeLay Named to Cast of Dancing With The Stars

I have never watched Dancing With The Stars.

But I did a double take when I saw that former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay had been named to the Season 9 cast for the ABC reality show.

Now, DeLay isn't the first conservative to be included on the show. I recall when Tucker Carlson was part of the DWTS cast back in 2006 but he didn't last too long.

In fact, DeLay isn't the only conservative on this year's cast. Model turned entrepreneur Kathy Ireland was also named to this year's cast. Ireland is a pro-life activist. So I guess they can talk to each other if other cast members are less receptive.

Others members of the DWTS cast include singer Donny Osmond, NFL Hall of Famer Michael Irvin, UFC combatant Chuck Liddell and actress Melissa Joan Hart of Sabrina The Teenage Witch fame.

No Name Change for NDP

The NDP, my old political party, had its convention in Halifax, Nova Scotia this weekend.

Nobody would have particularly cared about that except for the fact that a) two members of President Obama's campaign team (Betsy Myers and Marshall Ganz) addressed the delegates and b) there was a resolution on the floor moving the party change its name.

Well, actually there were several resolutions to that effect. Mainly, there was a call to drop the New and be known as the Democratic Party. As much as NDPers love President Obama calling themselves the Democratic Party would be just too American. It would have been, well, gauche.

Whether they call themselves the NDP or any other name it is socialism just the same.

The top new media people on the right, or "Websters"

Ralph Benko, author of "The Websters' Dictionary," a guide to using new media for conservative or populist activism, has created a list of the top people on the right using new media. Currently contains 79 Websters listed in alphabetical order.

AFP's pics from the first day of the Right Online conference

AFP's Tim Phillips

AFP's Erik Telford, the second worst person in the world



Click here for all the pictures

Best new movie out exposing the global warming fraud: Not Evil, Just Wrong

Maybe Professor Gates Could Learn From Bob Dylan

With all the hoopla that surrounded the arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. last month perhaps he could learn something from music legend Bob Dylan.

Only 11 days after Gates arrest, Dylan found himself being questioned by authorities while in Long Branch, New Jersey. Dylan was taking a walk in Long Branch, evidently searching for a house where Bruce Springsteen once lived. When he wandered onto a lawn with a For Sale sign, the occupants became uneasy and contacted the police about an "eccentric looking old man."

You might recall the Sgt. James Crowley of the Cambridge Police Department was chided for failing to recognize the eminent Professor Gates. Well, it seems that Long Branch police officer Kristie Buble didn't recognize the internationally famous musician either. While Dylan identified himself to her he did not have identification to verify her request. So she asked him to step into her police cruiser.

Instead of bellowing "this is what happens to eccentric looking old men in America"; Dylan complied with Officer Buble's request. As Buble herself commented, "He was really nice, though, and he said he understood why I had to verify his identity and why I couldn't let him go." Of course, Dylan knew all along the answer would be blowin' in the wind. Professor Gates, on the other hand, couldn't see that times they are a changin'.

Pics from crashing the Moveon.org Netroots convention party

My friend Ralph Benko wrote a book on how to successfully use the new media for political activism, called The Webster's Dictionary, where he explains Moveon.org's methods. The Moveon gang was appreciative of his book, and he has remained on good terms with them. Ralph likes to point out that even though they're progressives, they're populists, and populists on the left and the right have values in common, even though they disagree on the means. He calls us "mortal frenemies."

While in Pittsburgh for the Right Online conference this weekend, Ralph was invited by Moveon's Ilyse to their party at the Daily Kos Netroots convention. It was held outside in a yard next to the Andy Warhol museum to commemorate a new painting by Shepard Fairey, famous for his "Hope" picture of Obama done in faded red and black coloring and widely parodied by the right. Contrary to what I was expecting, I could detect no odor of marijuana and the party was relatively tame. There were very few older folks, most of the attendees were in their 20's and leaned more "geeky" than "hippy." But the contrast with the RightOnline convention was still there; you could get away with wearing a suit to a party at the RightOnline convention, but probably not to a Netroots party.

Two of Moveon.org's top players - Ilyse Hogue, Campaign Director (right) with Laura Dawn, Cultural Director

Ralph and Ilyse. Ralph actually looked more liberal than most of the attendees.

One of our peeps from Right Online, Elizabeth Terrell, who was handing out flyers outside for a screening of a movie exposing the global warming hype, "Not Evil Just Wrong"

These party attendees politely listen to her spiel

We asked this guy to give a shocked look when he read the flyer she was handing out

Note the upside down elephant on this guy's t-shirt

Doesn't he look suspiciously like Erik Telford, his counterpart on the right, who has been called the 2nd worst person in the world?

His reaction when he found out I was from the Right Online convention

With Shepard Farley. He was a really decent guy, and you have to admit he is talented.

I admit I like his artwork so much I used it on a photo of mine, even before I met him.

Ralph & Shepard

This guy on the left was great, he kept popping into my pictures. Turns out we actually had ONE thing in common, we're both deputy prosecutors. That was about it. He prosecutes gun crimes, which somehow did not surprise me.

Ilyse was the speaker and referenced the fact that this was the better convention in town, not Right Online. Shepard DJ'd for a good part of the night.

The best part of the evening came when Ralph approached a guy wearing a hat with donkeys on it who was promoting living on communes. Ralph asked him if the effort involved getting people organized, and the guy said yes. Ralph said that is where we differ, because we're from the Surrealist Party and we promote disorganization. Look where organization has gotten us. Too much power corrupts. The guy took it all in stride and we walked off.

The second best exchange of the night was when a guy walked up to us and said "You're evil." Ralph responded, "Yes I'm evil but your parties are better than those on the right." Think we won him over with flattery.

As nice as everyone was, I decided not to tell them I was the Right Online recipient of the Activist of the Year Award. I also decided it probably wasn't a good idea to dress up as Sarah Palin for the party, as much fun as it was dressing up as her for Halloween.

Burmese Military Junta to Release Yettaw After Meeting with Webb

Those who trumpet U.S. engagement with brutal regimes are undoubtedly singing its merits after the Burmese military junta agreed to release John Yettaw tomorrow following a meeting between General Than Shwe and Virginia Democratic Senator Jim Webb.

Yettaw had recently been sentenced to seven years of hard labor after he swam unto Aung San Suu Kyi's property last May. His unwanted presence, just two weeks before Suu Kyi was due to be released from house arrest, gave the military junta grounds to extend her captivity for another 18 months.

While I am pleased that Yettaw will be returning home I don't think for a minute that he was released either out of the kindness of General Shwe's heart or because Senator Webb is particularly persuasive. General Shwe wasn't going to let go of Yettaw without getting something in return. What exactly the military junta got isn't clear but you can be sure they got something. But whatever that something was it wasn't sufficient to secure Suu Kyi's release.

We here at IC aren't huge fans of the BBC. But the Beeb, nonetheless, does have an analysis of Webb's visit as well as the ongoing political situation there that is worth reading. For instance, I was not aware that as part of the so-called constitutional reforms last year there is a new provision banning those who are or were married to foreigners from seeking public office. It just so happens that Suu Kyi was married to a Briton who has been dead for more than a decade.

I'm sure if Suu Kyi owned a collection of Beatles albums the military junta could see to it that the constitution be amended to include a provision banning those who own a copy of Yellow Submarine from participating in next year's "elections."

Pics of Arizona contingent at RightOnline conference

With TV host Rachel Campos and Timothy Lee (ok, so we're missing Tom Jenney, not sure where he was), we're all one degree of separation from Rachel's bro Pat.

Watch RightOnline conference live today and tomorrow

Click here to watch the live stream. The conference ends at 5:15pm tomorrow.

Krikorian Blasts Woodstock

In light of my article on Max Yasgur, the man upon whose farm the Woodstock Music & Arts Fair took place 40 years ago, I am well aware that I'm in a minority amongst conservatives who think Woodstock was a good thing. Mark Krikorian, who is a regular contributor at National Review Online's The Corner, blasted the aquarian exposition as "four days of drug-addled idiocy."

Krikorian also notes 109 American servicemen died in Vietnam during the proceedings on Max Yasgur's farm and asks, "Can anyone seriously doubt that America would be better off having been governed by those 109 unsung young men than by any 109 attendees of the festival, who, together with the other members of their "Woodstock Generation," have marched through our institutions and left them a shambles?"

This question, of course, assumes that all 500,000 attendees think in precisely the same way. I remember when NBC did a retrospective of Woodstock on its 15th anniversary in 1984 and interviewed several attendees. As I recall nearly all of the attendees said they had voted for Ronald Reagan in 1980 and were planning to vote for him again in that fall's Presidential election.

Former Minnesota Republican Senator Norm Coleman was in attendance. His family had a summer home near Yasgur's farm. Coleman had also worked as a roadie for Alvin Lee's band Ten Years After who played a set at Woodstock. As it happened, Woodstock coincided with Coleman's 20th birthday (which means he turns 60 this weekend) and decided to attend with a friend.

Although Coleman did vote against the $1 million in federal funding for the Bethel Woods Museum that now stands on Yasgur's farm he did speak about his attendance at Woodstock a couple of years ago. He spoke of his experience in positive terms. "It was a great gathering of folks — no violence, no strife. But 38 years later, you see it through a somewhat different lens. It was the last of the joyful protests, before the anger set in.” Can you say the Altamont Speedway? The Isle of Wight?

So does Krikorian think Coleman left the Senate in a shambles?

Obama Interviewed by 11-Year-Old Boy

I think it's quite fitting that President Obama should be interviewed by an 11-year-old boy.

After all, the President is accustomed to being treated with kid gloves.

Hillary Compares 2000 Presidential Election to Nigerian Political Corruption

First, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton blows up at a student in the Congo.

Now, she likens the 2000 Presidential election to political corruption in Nigeria. While addressing Nigeria's political problems she said:

Our democracy is still evolving. You know we had some problems in some of our presidential elections. As you may remember, in 2000 our presidential election came down to one state where the brother of one of the men running for president was governor of the state. So we have our problems too.

Is this Hillary's way of contributing to Obama's apology tour? To quote the late Jeanne Kirkpatrick, liberal Democrats love to "blame America first." If the Obama Administration is so concerned about America's image in the world how does it help America when he and his officials consistently put America down? You don't promote something but telling people it's no good.

Or is she deliberately trying to cause headaches for President Obama? As Charles Krauthammer said the other day, "She was supposed to be the president of the United States at this point. She was going to be queen of the world. Instead, Obama bestrides the world. He gives speeches in the great capitals, in Cairo — and she is in the Congo! You'd be upset, also." I'm sure she would have also rather spoken at Normandy than in Nigeria.

Either way, I don't think what occurred in Florida almost nine years ago is analagous to the violence in the Niger Delta. I don't seem to recall foreign hostages being seized during the recount. To compare what happened in the 2000 Presidential election to the political violence in Nigeria would take a willing suspension of disbelief.

Will Bronson Arroyo Retire?

After having cleared waivers, Cincinnati Reds pitcher Bronson Arroyo had a lot of things to say.

Specifically, he commented on his use of supplements. Some of these supplements are not approved by Major League Baseball. "But I haven't failed any tests, so I figured I'm good," said Arroyo. He also admitted to taking androstenedione and amphetamines beginning in 1998 when he was still a minor league pitcher in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization and did not stop taking those substances until 2004 and 2006, respectively.

After it came to light his former Boston Red Sox teammate David Ortiz was evidently on the list of 104 players who tested positive for PEDs, Arroyo opined that he too was probably on the list. But Arroyo made no apologies. As he told USA Today:

I do what I want to do and say what I want to say. But society has made this such a tainted thing. The media has made it where people look at it in such a super-negative light. I've always been honest. I'm not going to stop now.

People can think what they want of me," he says. I don't give a f—-.

Given that Arroyo would pitch while wearing cornrows in his hair it doesn't surprise me that he doesn't give a f---.

I was also struck by the observation Arroyo made about another former Red Sox teammate Manny Ramirez:

I can see where guys like Hank Aaron and some of the old-timers have a beef with it. But as far as looking at Manny Ramirez like he's (serial killer) Ted Bundy, you're out of your mind. At the end of the day, you think anybody really (cares) whether Manny Ramirez's kidneys fail and he dies at 50? You were happy if the Red Sox won 95 games. You'd go home, have a cookout with your family. No big deal.

Well, needless to say, the MLB Commissioner's office wants to chat with Arroyo.

Somehow I don't he cares much. In fact, I think he probably wanted to get it off his chest for quite some time.

Indeed, today Arroyo arguably pitched the best game of his major league career. Arroyo pitched a complete game two-hit shutout against the Washington Nationals to give the Reds a 7-0 victory. It is the third complete game shutout of his decade long big league career.

In addition to playing baseball, Arroyo is an accomplished musician. I wonder if Arroyo is being this candid so as to get out of baseball and into music full time. Despite the supplements, Arroyo's career won loss record is 82-81. I've often thought Arroyo should shelve his music projects until the end of his big league career because that would probably do more to improve his pitching than any supplement he's taking.

Although Arroyo is 32 and could probably pitch another three to five seasons it would not surprise me if he were to walk away from baseball. Unless Arroyo is prepared for the inevitable ridicule and scorn of the press I think he would rather be known for his rock n' roll than rocking the baseball world to its very foundation by becoming a spokesperson for the new over the counterculture. So I say he hangs up his spikes and picks up his guitar.

NPR Claims Palin "Debunked" on Death Panels

Take a look this piece on NPR's website concerning Sarah Palin's assertion that Obamacare would result in the rationing of health care up to and including "death panels." Their liberal bias shines through as clear as a cloudless sky. The opening sentence stands out in particular:

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin refused to retreat from her debunked claim that a proposed health care overhaul would create "death panels", as the growing furor over end-of-life consultations forced a key group of senators to abandon the idea in their bill.

Refused to retreat from her debunked claim?

While NPR noted the objections of Republican Senators Johnny Isaakson from Georgia and fellow Alaskan Lisa Murkowski they didn't mention that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich agrees with Palin.

Nor did NPR mention that feminist academic and Obama supporter Camille Paglia thought Palin's comments had merit. Paglia described the "death panels" as a "shrewdly timed metaphor."

And if Palin's assessment was wholly without merit then why would the Senate drop the provision from the bill altogether? As Iowa Republican Senator Charles Grassley said the provision "could be misinterpreted and implemented incorrectly." That line of reasoning would tend to validate Palin's concerns rather than debunk them.

If NPR believes Palin's claim has been debunked it should state that position in an editorial not in a straight news item. That kind of reporting gives one the impression that the publicly funded NPR is becoming little more than a propaganda arm of the Obama Administration.

Baseball Excluded From 2016 Summer Olympics

The International Olympic Committee voted to exclude baseball from the 2016 Summer Olympics. However, the 2016 games will feature golf and rugby.

Of course, if the games are held in Chicago, baseball fans still have the Cubs and White Sox from which to choose.

Baseball was a demonstration sport in 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles before becoming a medal sport at the 1998 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. It has been a medal sport in every subsequent Summer Olympics including last year in Beijing.

However, the IOC voted to drop baseball from the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and have now chosen to extend it to 2016.

Baseball is pretty much the only reason I bother to watch the Summer Olympics.

Well, OK, I guess I don't mind the Russian Women's Volleyball Team circa 2004.

Chris Ruddick thinks it's probably just as well. He argues that the exclusion of baseball from Olympic competition will enhance the prestige of the World Baseball Classic and I am inclined to agree.

NY Times Chastises Palin For Not Letting "Death Panel" Comment Die a Natural Death

The New York Times today blasted Sarah Palin for her continued insistence that Obamacare would result in the creation of "death panels":

Former Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, refusing to let her recent remarks about overhauling the health care system die a natural death, said on Thursday that Democratic proposals would indeed lead to “health care rationing,” and that sick, elderly and disabled people would suffer the most under such a system run by “government bureaucrats.”

Yet as Glenn Thrush noted yesterday on Politico.com, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is soliciting donations by repeating the "death panel" comment.

President Obama also commented on Palin's "death panel" comment during the health care town hall meeting in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

So who exactly is refusing to let Palin's comment die a natural death?

Les Paul, 1915-2009. R.I.P.

Guitar legend Les Paul died today after a bout with pneumonia. He was 94.

Just the other day I was on the phone with a friend of mine discussing plans to go to New York next month for my birthday. One of the things I was planning to put on my itinerary was going to see Les Paul play. Despite his advanced age, for the past several years, Paul had a standing gig at the Iridium Jazz Clubin Midtown Manhattan.

Well, it just wasn't meant to be.

Les Paul was the leader of the Les Paul Trio but he is perhaps best known for the work he did with Mary Ford to whom he was married from 1949 to 1964. In the 1950s, Paul and Ford had a string of hits but were best known for the song "Vaya Con Dios." Paul was also responsible for innovations in the studio like eight-track recording and overdubbing.

It is impossible how many guitar players cut their teeth, or more accurately developed callouses on their fingers, playing a Gibson Les Paul. Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Peter Frampton and Robbie Krieger of The Doors have all emplyed various models of the Gibson Les Paul. For that matter, Paul McCartney used a Les Paul Standard during his concert last week at Fenway Park and has played with various Gibson Les Paul models for virtually his entire career.

Anyone who has ever played with a Gibson should play an extra note for Les Paul tonight.

Webb Walks Into a Tangled Web in Burma

Virginia Democratic Senator Jim Webb is planning to visit Burma to meet with the military junta.

I suppose if the Obama Administration is going to have engagement with Iran then why not Burma?

During the Bush Administration, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice deemed the Burmese military junta was considered "an outpost of tyranny." However, current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said the release Aung San Suu Kyi "would open up opportunities at least for my country to expand our relationship with Burma, including investments in Burma."

Burma is like North Korea only without a nuclear weapon. The only way Suu Kyi is going to be released is if the military junta gets money beforehand not after the fact. It would essentially be little more than a ransom and a handsome one at that. Even if Suu Kyi were to be released don't think for a moment that it would stop the military junta from jailing her again. Remember she was released from house arrest in May 2002 only to be re-arrested a year later.

The Times article notes:

Opponents of sanctions point out that decades of isolation and denunciation by the West have brought about no obvious improvement to the lives of ordinary Burmese, and may arguably have deprived them of opportunities for employment and education afforded by foreign investment.

Yet it is worth noting the comments of Burton Levin, who served as U.S. Ambassador to Burma from 1987 to 1990. In fact, Levin was Ambassador when the 1990 general election took place that saw Suu Kyi elected President only for the military junta to nullify the results. In 1995, Levin said, "Foreign investment in most countries acts as a catalyst for change, but the (Burmese) regime is so single-minded that whatever money they obtain from foreign sources, they pour straight into the army."

During the 1990s there was an international boycott of Pepsico because of its ongoing relationship with the Burmese military junta. Pepsico would eventually cease operations there in 1997. It is also worth noting that when Levi Strauss opted to cease operations in Burma it stated "under current circumstances, it is impossible to do business in (Burma) without directly supporting the military government and its pervasive violations of human rights."

So if the U.S. government and by extension U.S. businesses engage Burma today how would anything be different than it was in the 1990s?

Senator Webb, and perhaps the Obama Administration, are walking into a tangled web if they choose to engage Burma's military junta.

Rendell Dismisses Obamacare Opponents as Birthers

During the same show where Chris Matthews accused opponents of Obamacare of being upset because we have a black President, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell dismissed some Obamacare opponents as "birthers."

Governor Rendell, who is normally amongst the more sensible Democrats, said to fellow guest Stephen Moore, "Stephen, let's begin with the fact that many of these people are "birthers." The birthers are absolutely nuts. They won't believe the clear and credible evidence that President Obama was born in Hawaii. Hawaii is part of the United States of America."

That's the sort of talk that gets an incumbent politician defeated at the polls. The worst thing a politician can do is dismiss the sincerity of his opponents no matter how misguided he thinks they might be. Rendell is up for re-election next year.

Rendell also said in reference the protests against Obamacare at the townhalls, "I have never seen ugliness and rage like this in the 32 years that I have been in politics. I have never seen never anything close to it."

Moore reminded Rendell of the "rage against George W. Bush." Rendell didn't comment.

The same could be said for Sarah Palin.

Chris Matthews Channels Janeane Garofalo

Calling someone a racist is about the worst thing you can say about a person.

Calling someone a racist when you know they harbor no such feelings is not only slander but is increasingly becoming the first refuge of scroundrels.

Exhibit A: Chris Matthews.

Geoffery Dickens of News Max has a good piece about what happened on MSNBC's Hardball last night between Matthews and his guest Stephen Moore, the former President of the Club For Growth.

Matthews asserted that some of those who opposed Obamacare "are upset because we have a black president."

To his credit, Moore called Matthews observation "an absurd comment."

Matthews supplied no evidence to back up his claim.

All Matthews really did was to channel Janeane Garofalo. During an appearance with fellow MSNBC colleague Keith Olbermann last April, Garofalo made a similar charge about the Tea Party protests. Garofalo said, "It's about hating a black man in the White House. That is racism straight up."

Like Garofalo, Matthews has got to do better than that. Barack Obama is the President of the United States. Criticism, whether fair or not, comes with the territory. People have every right to be concerned about his policy proposals and what they will mean for them, their families and our country. Thus neither President Obama nor his policies are above criticism.

If Obama's apologists are going to insist that every criticism constitutes an act of racism they cheapen the meaning of racism and in the process cheapen themselves. President Obama ought to tell Matthews and his other acolytes to stop with the racism accusations because they will ultimately not help him in the long run.

Ted Kennedy Won't Attend Presidential Medal of Freedom Ceremony

Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy will not be in attendance at the White House to receive his Presidential Medal of Freedom today. The honor will instead by accepted by his eldest child, Kara Kennedy.

When someone is unable to attend a ceremony that is being held in their honor there's usually a very good reason for it. I suspect Ted Kennedy's condition has become worse. The passing of his older sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, yesterday certainly doesn't help matters. I cannot help but think that Ted Kennedy doesn't have a lot of time left.

Mary Robinson to Receive Presidential Medal of Freedom

Mary Robinson, the former President of Ireland who would later become the UN High Commissioner on Refugees, will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House today despite strong criticism from Jewish groups.

Robinson played a central role as the Chairwoman at the notorious Durban Conference in 2001 which became a cesspool of vitriolic anti-Semitism prompting the U.S. and Israel to walk out of the meeting. Yet Robinson is proud of her role as the hostess inside this international house of hatred. In today's New York Daily News, Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center wrote that Robinson "allowed the conference to be hijacked by extremist groups."

Earlier this month, Tevi Troy suggested on The Corner that Robinson had not been properly vetted by the Obama Administration.

If this is the case then the Obama Administration is both ignorant and incompetent. Robinson is not only a public figure but an international one at that. Yet I find it hard to believe that no one at the White House was aware of Robinson's role at Durban given that the Obama Administration was faced with the decision earlier this year whether or not to attend Durban II in Geneva. To their credit they did not attend.

But I cannot help but think the Obama Administration made a point of honoring Robinson as a way to stick it to Israel. Let's face it. Obama is not on the best of terms with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. American-Israeli relations got a whole lot worse once George W. Bush left office. Bestowing this honor upon Robinson won't win Obama friends in Israel.

ADL Condemns Limbaugh But Not Pelosi Over Use of Nazi Imagery

I find it interesting the Anti-Defamation League condemns Rush Limbaugh for utilizing Nazi imagery but will not do the same with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Limbaugh said, "They accuse us of being Nazis, and Obama's got a healthcare logo that's right out of Adolf Hitler's playbook." ADL National Director Abraham Foxman called Limbaugh's remarks "outrageous, offensive and inappropriate."

Now I happen to partially agree with Foxman. For Limbaugh to liken Obamacare to Nazi Germany makes him look irrational and stupid and plays right into Obama's hands.

Yet Foxman and the ADL never acknowledged what prompted Limbaugh to make his comments in the first place however ill advised. Limbaugh was responding to Nancy Pelosi who said of those who showed up at town hall meetings opposing Obamacare, "They're carrying swastikas and symbols like that to a townhall meeting on health care."

Not only did Foxman and the ADL not condemn Pelosi's remarks they seemed to be echoing her sentiments:

In recent days, street protests against President Obama's health care plan have gotten ugly, with some protestors appearing in photographs wearing swastika and SS symbols.

Rubbish. There have been a few people who have signs of the swastika with a slash through it. One might not like such a form of protest but it is hardly the same thing as wearing swastikas and SS symbols or otherwise expressing support for Nazism.

Here in Boston you see some of Lyndon LaRouche's people with posters of President Obama with a Hitler mustache. It's dumb stuff and people here wisely ignore their stupidity.

The bottom line here is I don't have a problem with the ADL taking Limbaugh to task for invoking Nazi imagery. But I do have a problem when the ADL completely ignores Pelosi, the second in line to the White House, for doing the same thing. At best it's a double standard. At worst the ADL reduces itself to nothing more than another liberal interest group that is selective in its admonishments. If the ADL had issued a press release condemning both Pelosi and Limbaugh I would have written in support of it.