Tag Archives: ethics

Free Speech

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…the way the Left sees it. And too many Republican Presidential candidates are misunderstanding the situation.

Recall last week: Republican Party Presidential candidate Donald Trump was forced to cancel a rally in Chicago because “protestors” were out in force intending to prevent the rally from occurring.  They then bragged loudly about their success.

Over the weekend, at rallies in Missouri, Ohio, and again in Illinois, “protestors” again attempted to prevent Trump rallies from proceeding, charging him on the stage at rallies they couldn’t block.

These are not protestors exercising their own free speech rights; these persons are actively, cynically, dishonestly trying to prevent others from exercising their free speech rights.  These Leftists see freedom to speak as freedom only to speak what the Left approves.  These Leftists see listeners’ free speech not as their own choice, but only the choice to hear what the Left will permit them to hear.

We expect this sort of understanding out of the Progressive-Democrat Party Presidential candidates:

The ugly, divisive rhetoric we are hearing from Donald Trump and the encouragement of violence and aggression is wrong, and it’s dangerous.  …  That’s not leadership.  That’s political arson.

The Left’s encouragement of violence and aggression is, indeed, wrong, and it’s dangerous.  When will Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders condemn the Left’s assault on free speech, when will Clinton and Sanders condemn the violence their “protestors” threaten Republican rallies with?

It’s especially disappointing, though, to hear Republican Party candidates choose to attack a fellow Republican for being attacked by this assault on speech, carefully not saying a word about the real assault, the one on Americans’ First Amendment right.  John Kasich, Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz should know better.

Update: corrected a dumb___ typo.

Missile Violation?

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Iran has begun launching ballistic missiles as part of their intermediate-range and intercontinental-range ballistic missile development program.  The motorboat skipper who sits in the Secretary of State’s chair insists that these launches, while “inconsistent” with UN requirements, are not actually violations of the recently concluded nuclear weapons deal.

Here’s what that Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action actually says (the document can be seen here and here).

The E3/EU+3 and Iran commit to implement this JCPOA in good faith…and to refrain from any action inconsistent with the letter, spirit and intent of this JCPOA that would undermine its successful implementation.

It’s certainly true, though, that the letter of the agreement does not proscribe ballistic missile development efforts, but such a program plainly is “inconsistent” with JCPOA requirements, central as missiles are for delivery of nuclear warheads.  Such developments, then, are clear violations of the “intent” not to “undermine” the agreement.

As backdrop to these missile test launches, the JCPOA also says this:

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will be requested to monitor and verify the voluntary nuclear-related measures as detailed in this JCPOA.

Iran has refused to allow the IAEA to conduct inspections on the military bases that house parts of Iran’s nuclear weapons development program, and it has refused to allow the IAEA to inspect the nuclear reactor at the heart of its program.

And this, buried at the bottom of the first link’s article:

Iranian Revolutionary Guards senior commander was quoted as saying last week that its latest round of missiles were being designed to hit Israel.

Hmm….

Is the Democratic Party

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…above the law, or do they just think they are?

Seven congressional Democrats, including the ranking members of the Senate and House intelligence committees, have written to the State Department and Intelligence Community watchdogs demanding that their investigations of Hillary Clinton’s private email be “impartial, independent and diligent.”

From their letter, signed by, among the five, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D, CA) and Congressman Adam Schiff (D, CA):

Based on public reports and communications from your offices to Congress, we have serious questions about how this review is being conducted….  Already, this review has been too politicized. We are relying on you as independent inspectors general to perform your duties dispassionately and comprehensively[.]

And

Classification determinations are complex, subjective, often in dispute between different agencies, and are not normally within the purview of Inspectors General[.]

Because one of their own and her staff are being investigated for their complicity in mishandling classified information.  Can’t have that.  Never mind that the IGs agree that classification determinations aren’t within their purview.

The Intelligence Community Inspector General has not determined whether the Clinton emails contained classified information,” the source said.  “Recent sworn declarations from the CIA said the emails contained classified information when they hit Clinton’s server.  The ICIG was passing on the CIA’s findings, and was not the decision maker.  This is also true with the NGA (national geospatial) and other agencies.

The Democrats in Congress know this, of course, hence my question.

There’s lots more in the linked article; RTWT.

The Left’s Iron Curtain

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…is getting a bit taller. I wrote earlier about the Democratic-Progressive Party’s wish to erect an Iron Curtain to keep American companies from leaving for more economically (read: tax) sound environments. Now, Democratic-Progressive Party Presidential candidate and proud Progressive Hillary Clinton is enlarging her Iron curtain. Clinton now is proposing this:

Companies that move jobs and production out of the US would lose previous years’ tax breaks under a proposal Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton released Friday during a speech in Detroit.

The US would seek to “claw back” previous tax incentives for research and development and for domestic manufacturing associated with facilities or jobs that move abroad.

On top of that,

The Clinton campaign didn’t have an estimate of how much money its tax plan would generate for the government.

Of course not. The purpose isn’t to recover monies foregone as incentives to do this or that, it’s strictly to imprison private enterprises within the US, Soviet-style—because private enterprises aren’t jobs factories, rather they are, according to this candidate, jobs welfare programs.

Remember this in the fall.

Upsetting Someone

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I seem to be, anyway. Some of you may have noticed that I take a dim view of the People’s Republic of China’s aggression and acquisitiveness in the East and South China Seas.

So, apparently, do the folks of the PRC government take a dim view of my dim view. For the last several days, this blog has been getting hit by spam comments from a series of IP addresses owned by Chinanet, which is headquartered in Jiangsu Province in the PRC.

Hmm….