The Conservative Revolution

Al Gore has a multi-year plan to convince Americans to “go green.” And he seems to have deeper pockets than the oil companies. Or, is Big Oil footing the bill?

Tim Carney writes,

on the issue of global warming, a few very well-connected companies are leading the charge for mandatory federal restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions. They plan to get rich off of these restrictions in one way or another, and they’ve convinced other companies to jump on the bandwagon. But I promise you, that not all of these “green” corporations are going to come out in the black from this.

This piece by Jeffrey Birnbaum of The Washington Post is one of the best descriptions of how lobbying works in Washington. It appeared in the Feb. 17th edition of The Washington Post Magazine.

WHEN PEOPLE THINK OF LOBBYING, they generally envision shadowy operatives and their bought-and-paid-for members of Congress sneaking self-interested giveaways into law. That still happens, of course. But lobbying is much more substantive and out in the open than its ugly caricature. Lobbyists primarily woo lawmakers with facts. Making the case is what effective lobbyists do most and best. They spend the rest of their time persuading lawmakers’ constituents to back the same causes, very much in the mode of an electoral campaign. If members of Congress see merit in a position and there is a public outcry in its favor, that’s the way they tend to vote. Lobbying these days has a lot of moving parts and is, at its core, more marketing than arm-twisting or favor-swapping. It features not only the lobbyists themselves but ad executives, public relations experts, pollsters, Web site designers and other consultants.

In order to live up to my reportedly curmudgeonly nature, I have decided to write a series of posts entitled, “Decline of the West.” This series will give me a chance to vent about the things I don’t like about modern Western culture and take some much-needed shots at the people and institutions degrading us further. I’m sure I will offend some of my readers but they are free to disagree in the comments section below each post. Hopefully they will reconsider their deep interest and oftentimes obsession with celebrity stories, gossip and other omens of the decline of the West.

Today’s target: Perez Hilton. Not to be confused with Paris Hilton, that other agent of Western cultural degradation, Perez Hilton is one of the most read bloggers in the country. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am a free market capitalist and if his blog gets millions more hits than mine I won’t complain. But I will complain about the fact that his blog gets way more than other large blogs that actually have quality content. While we Americans are obsessing about Clay Aiken’s fear of getting a beat down or Jared Leto’s haircut, the wealth and leisure that allows us to focus on such trifles is being threatened. Our way of life is under assault from crazy militant Islamists and serious economic troubles that could threaten our superpower status soon.

Hey, I’m not saying that we should never watch ridiculous reality shows, nor read about the latest marriages, divorces, re-marriages and pregnancies that take place in Hollywood. I’m just saying that spending most of the time reading about or discussing this stuff is pathetic. Pay at least some attention to things going on in the world that actually matter. There will still be time for fun things like sports, movies, t.v. shows and US Magazine. I promise.

Perez Hilton not only posts the latest gossip from the surreal world of Hollywood, but he makes juvenile comments on the photos like “freak face” and “diva.” This guy sounds like he was picked on quite a bit as a youngster, and has a hefty axe to grind to make up for it. I hope you feel better, Perez. Thank you for contributing your filth to the decline of the West.

The film below was put together by Dutch politician Geert Wilders. As Radio Netherlands reports,

Dutch politician Geert Wilders has released his anti-Qur’an film, Fitna, on the internet. The website of his Party for Freedom (www.pvv.nl) contains a link to the site where the film, which lasts approximately 16 minutes, can be seen.

Before it begins, viewers are warned that they may see shocking images; these include pictures of the terrorist attacks in New York, Madrid and London. Fitna also contains fragments of interviews with the Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, translations of verses from the Qur’an, newspaper headlines about death threats to Ayaan Hirsi Ali and quotes from sermons delivered by orthodox imams. It also notes that the number of Muslims living in the Netherlands has risen from 54,000 to 944,000 over the last hundred years.

Watch it for yourself here:

This YouTube video has more than 500,000 views so far. It’s got the REAL footage from Hillary Clinton’s trip to Bosnia where she was under attack from sniper fire. Enjoy!

Joe Klein of Time Magazine says Al Gore could be the answer for the Democrats.

And so I’m rather embarrassed to admit that I’m slouching toward, well, a theory: if this race continues to slide downhill, the answer to the Democratic Party’s dilemma may turn out to be Al Gore.

What if they then approached Gore and asked him to be the nominee, for the good of the party—and suggested that he take Obama as his running mate? Of course, Obama would have to be a party to the deal and bring his 1,900 or so delegates along.

I must say this is one of the more outlandish scenarios I’ve heard described for the Democrat nomination this year. Clinton, Gore or Obama.. what’s the difference? All are “progressive” Ivy Leaguers that want to redistribute income from one set of the population to another and save the world from that great bogeyman “global warming.”

Hat tip to The Weekly Standard’s Stephen Hayes.

So how does it feel to be used as a propaganda tool against your own country? McDermott, who was asked that question by CNN’s Jane Arraf when he was still in Baghdad, said it feels fine. “If being used means that we’re highlighting the suffering of Iraqi children, or any children, then, yes, we don’t mind being used.”

The Drudge Report has a prominent link to this story on its website. It would be embarrassing to most folks, but the anti-war left will probably just say that getting Saddam’s propaganda out there was worth every penny.

My good friend Katie O’Malley savages the so-called “peace movement” for its far left, and often violent, tendencies.

We have certainly seen incidents of violence within the misnamed “peace” movement since its inception decades ago. These lovers of dialogue and group hugs have bombed buildings (just ask Obama’s “acquaintance” William Ayers of the Weather Underground), stormed institutions and screamed vile and evil comments to Vietnam Veterans, since they first began their activism. In Ayers memoir, “Fugitive Days”, he goes so far as to write, “I don’t regret setting bombs. I didn’t do enough.” At least he is honest about it.

Katie goes on to list a number of incidents where leftist “peaceniks” visited violence upon those that they disagreed with. I have captured quite a bit of video of such attacks and posted them on YouTube and Google Video over the last few years.

The Politico reports that Senator Obama released his tax information to the public yesterday. One interesting tidbit: Obama gave $27,500 to his radical church.

in 2005, they gave their highest tally to charity in the seven years — $77,000 — including $5,000 to Trinity United Church of Christ.

The Obamas charitable contributions dropped to $60,000 in 2006, with $22,500 going to Trinity and $13,000 to the Congressional Black Caucus. Obama aides say the couple gave $240,000 to charity last year, though Obama has yet to release his 2007 filing.

Obama’s subsidization of a black liberation theology [see Wikipedia] church and his decades of attendance (except on those days when extremist statements were made) should continue to haunt him throughout the general election. When you are running on character and judgment, that is the criteria by which you will be most closely examined. Rightfully so.

Venezuelan communist dictator Hugo Chavez says that anyone would be a better president than George W. Bush, but John McCain is “warlike.”

Perhaps a reason to pull the lever for McCain in November?

Hat tip to Ed Morrissey at Hot Air.

Thank goodness Chavez shared his thoughts with us on McCain. At least now we know how Sean Penn will vote in November.  That open question had bothered me of late.