Sedition; It’s Not Just For Leftists Anymore

There are things which deserve punishment. There aren’t a whole lot of people who disagree with draconian measures for Genocide and Child Molestation, as an example.

Then there is sedition. Sedition is not a partisan issue; it strikes at the core of patriotism. Sedition lances the heart of rational debate and diminishes even the most valid concerns of the perpetrator’s partisanship.

A couple of days ago, somebody felt that sedition was so brilliant that it should be shared on a Facebook page. Liberal or Conservative, Democrat or Republican, suggesting the violent demise of the President of the United States is wrong. It is an awful act of betrayal against the mechanisms of representative democracy.

When a small component of progressivism spoke about usurping the Bush administration through violence, they were wrong. Likewise, a larger movement of reactionaries is equally wrong in their calls for brutal reaction to whatever policies being debated in Congress.

The hard line of the right wing is best admonished with its own words from earlier this decade. “You lost. Get over it.”

Losing stinks, but this time there is no question over the credibility, or size, of the loss. Barack Obama is the President of the United States. The majorities of the House and the Senate are, at least technically, in Democratic hands. This is not a fluke or squeaker. The Republican Party was handed its posterior in the last two election cycles.

Instead of looking inward, and trying to discover why Republicans and Conservatives were soundly rejected, the tactic has been to coarsen the debate without offering solutions. As of now, affiliation with the Republican Party hovers under a quarter of all voters.

Conservatives really did not need the illusion that harm coming to the President would be something that they could approve of. This is an idea that offends the overwhelming majority of Americans.

A violently-inclined, bigoted component of Conservative discourse is now the face of the Republican Party. This group was courted by Nixon, and rejects the moderation of James Jeffords, Lincoln Chafee, and Arlen Spector. They similarly reject the libertarian postures of John McCain, a genuine Goldwater Conservative.

Vocal paleoconservatism is not serving the long-term interests of a viable Republican Party. When invoking secession and assassination, reasonable people of all political affiliations recognize these ideas for what they are: sedition.

The violent overthrow of a duly elected government is not something to be bandied about lightly. After suggesting assassination, such as the Facebook survey; secession, such as Governor Rick Perry (R-TX); or (more ominously) a military coup d’etat, alluded to by Perry, advocated by Rush Limbaugh (see link), one hopes that the President will finally say enough.

Justified disagreement with a President is not an adequate animus to bring charges. However, there is a very real need to clarify what is free speech and that which may be construed as sedition under United States Law.

There are three components under the 1940 Smith Act, the relevant US law regarding sedition. Short form-advocating or planning the overthrow of the United States Government is illegal, as is participating in an organization which does the same.

Translation-a majority of the right-wing opinion apparatus, particularly Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Lou Dobbs, Fox News, and Premiere Networks have been complicit in empowering groups who wish to overthrow a duly elected President and Congress.

Nothing is very likely to happen unless someone finally gets hurt or killed. Perhaps the opportunity exists for the Secret Service to begin investigating the most visible supporters of inappropriate activity. Rush Limbaugh should have a nice long conversation in front of a judge for sedition. It might be a good opportunity to define where the boundaries lie.

No one who loves the United States Constitution can be enthusiastic about putting ideas on trial in a general sense. Nor can anyone who loves that same Constitution be enthusiastic about those who would attempt to destroy the institutions which it has so eloquently provided for 222 years.

The daily assaults we now witness are not merely upon Barack Obama. They are directed against the presidency itself. President Obama has not committed a crime, but a small plurality feels that it is their right to thwart the will of a majority of American voters through deceit and violence if they deem it necessary.

Arrest Limbaugh. Enjoin him from broadcasting. The American people deserve a clear and distinct definition of what sedition is, because it certainly is not patriotic.

UPDATE:  Think Progress reports that Newsmax has withdrawn an opinion piece where one of their commentators advocates a military coup d'etat against President Obama.  It appears that not everyone reading Newsmax is opposed to the United States.

One still questions how many of those who believe them are.

A Modest Press Conference

“Good afternoon.

“After several weeks of quiet negotiation, Congress, the South Carolina Legislature and I have come to terms on legislation which will formally separate the State of South Carolina from the United States of America.

“The separation will become official at midnight on October first. The state of South Carolina will henceforth be recognized as The Libertarian Republic of South Carolina.

“I have spoken with ad-hoc President Sanford about the steps which will be necessary to make South Carolina’s transition to an independent nation as smooth and transparent as possible.

“The United States of America will continue a partnership with South Carolina in certain defensive capacities, much like we share with many of our allies throughout the world. Similarly, South Carolina will continue to use the United States Dollar as a de facto currency until their new banking system, and currency, the Thurmond, become operational.

“Ad-hoc President Sanford and I have established a program where those residing in other states who wish to relocate to South Carolina will be able to participate in an exchange with South Carolinians who prefer to remain loyal to the United States of America.

“Homeowners and renters in both jurisdictions will be paired with people of similar means to exchange their domiciles in a one-to-one swap. Significant populations in Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, and Texas have expressed their support for plans for South Carolina’s independence and willingness to support the new nation.

“It is the ambition of this administration to assist those wishing to cooperate in South Carolina’s business-centered, privately administered, low tax experiment.

“No doubt exists in my mind that the Government of South Carolina will continue the tradition of Human and Civil Rights established while one of the United States. However, some minority citizens have stated their apprehension about the future of those standards.

“In order to assuage some of those fears, we have taken these extraordinary steps to guarantee that those not comfortable with South Carolina’s experiment will be able to remain under the jurisdiction of the United States.

“Likewise, the most sensitive defensive technologies currently located in South Carolina will be relocated with other Federal assets to other states. Most of the structure will be consolidated within the states of North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.

“South Carolina’s financial system will cease its association with the FDIC, FSLIC, and SEC on January 1, 2010. Accountholders in South Carolina will be expected to have accounts in South Carolina-based institutions by that time.

“Current participants in Social Security, Medicare, and the Veterans Administration systems will be transferred as appropriate to analogous private systems in South Carolina.

“Several members of our corporate community have already exhibited enthusiasm for the prospect of the new South Carolinian nation. While we are saddened to see some of our old friends opt for the new country instead of the United States, we remain bullish on the prospects for opportunities in this great nation.

“To South Carolina, we wish you Godspeed. Although a separation may be painful for us, we thank you for your contribution to the United States, and hope for your continued success as a neighbor and an ally. I will now open the floor for questions. Helen?”

“Helen Thomas, Hearst News Service. Mr. President, was this decision based upon Representative Wilson’s outburst during your address to Congress on September ninth?”

“Not at all. Let me say that after hearing some of our friends speak about some of their concerns about the role of the Federal government during our debates over health care, I was moved by their passion and sincerity.

“I spoke with then-Governor Sanford about developing a mechanism where those who disagreed with our vision of the public sector’s role would have a place to realize their vision of limited government and privately-based solutions. South Carolina was the best possible location- geographically and demographically- to provide such an option for those who felt dissatisfied with the United States under my administration.

“To my conservative friends who felt as if we were not living up to their expectations, they asked for ‘their’ country back. There is now a country which may hew closer to their values. I would call that a positive outcome for both sides of the discussion.”

NO SKIDMARKS! Wandering Gentile Briefs.

CBS’ Guiding Light was extinguished last week after several eternities on the air.

In the case of soap operas, the bad frequently outweighs the good. A toddler on Friday becomes Monday’s relevant troubled teen. Twins, both evil and benevolent, materialize. The ever popular amnesia storylines explain characters which are resurrected. When in need of a ratings boost, have a wedding.


If searching for the ultimate benthic art, the American Soap Opera is as close to the definition as it gets. After a short time, the devices necessary to propel a daytime serial over decades become pathetic.


One soap had a lead character kidnapped by a gorilla. Another lead character has been married so many times that she now has more last names than a Manhattan telephone directory.


This does not require a mere willing suspension of disbelief. This requires beating disbelief down, handcuffing disbelief, and locking disbelief in the trunk of a Datsun Honeybee.


This skill set translates quite well to Glenn Beck’s audience.


Spanish-language soaps a/k/a telenovelas, much like pregnancy, go away after nine months, and occasionally produce something good like Salma Hayek.





Assemblyman Ivan Marte, ex-chairman of the Rhode Island Republican Hispanic Assembly, has announced that he is leaving the Republican Party.


Attempts to identify another member of the Rhode Island Republican Hispanic Assembly have not been successful.





Michael Moore tells Larry King that Capitalism failed.


Capitalism did not fail.


The mechanisms designed to restrain the consolidation of wealth in the hands of a minute proportion of the population were dismantled or abandoned. This concentration of wealth led to a de facto planned economy which was not responsive to the wants and needs of the market.


A profit-based system for discretionary purchases, with adequate regulation, is still the best guarantor of innovation and grower of employment. Planned economies are the clearest indicators of a lack of effective competition, inflating costs for a consumer base which dwindles.


Democratic allies who did not embrace the same kind of reckless deregulation are now climbing out of a worldwide recession/depression.


When the United States allowed companies to consolidate, just like the Soviets before, the market was filled with noncompetitive quasi-monopolies offering inferior product at inflated prices.


Economic systems do not fail. Utopians seeking an ideological purity force failure upon economic systems.


Laissez-faire ideological purity nearly killed capitalism.


Structured, well-regulated capitalism with extensive competition works just fine.





President Barack Obama has requested that New York Governor David Paterson not stand for re-election in 2010.


Paterson, a 1982 graduate of the Governor William J. Lepetomane School of Political Competence at the State University of New York in Plattsburgh, has suggested that he will stay in the race.





Young America’s Foundation spokesman Jason Mattera supported his Conservative beliefs by suggesting that “…our women are hot,” and cited columnist Michelle Malkin as an example.


If Malkin, 38, is the best they can do, Conservatives are in serious trouble.


While more attractive than the typical Conservative female spokesperson, Mrs. Malkin is not exactly the first person one thinks of when the word “hot” comes to mind.


Avowed Liberal women who would come to mind when thinking “hot” include: Scarlett Johansen, Charlize Theron, Beyonce Knowles, Halle Berry, Rosario Dawson, Eva Longoria, and Jessica Alba.


The total hotness of all Conservative women would leave copious space in Jessica Alba’s navel.


Mmmmmmm. Jessica Alba’s navel…


(TIP OF THE WANDERING GENTILE TOUPEE TO THINK PROGRESS.)

Post Speech Analysis

Barack Obama came off the bench and delivered something meaningful in the clutch. If anything is to be taken from the President’s Wednesday address to Congress, the key fact is that his performance was solid.

It would be convenient for Obama’s critics to decry him as ineffectual or incompetent. It would also be the only argument left, and totally subjective.

Obama came to the podium on top of his game. There was not time to act with deference toward his opponents, or balm the wounded sentiments of his party’s base. The President took his rhetoric to the audience he needed: the political center.

As suggested here on Tuesday, President Obama went into the language which has served him well. He spoke in the vernacular of moderates and conservatives, connecting his ideas to values which had been staked by Conservatives as their sole province.

President Obama was not an ideological Liberal when he spoke. His progressive friends- and they are many- may decry the President’s lack of traditional Liberal expressions. He sounded more like Rush Limbaugh in the tone of his discourse than the wild-eyed Liberal that Limbaugh portrays Obama to be.

That is a high complement. Limbaugh is not a very nice person, but he knows how to connect with an audience.

The speech masterfully connected the issue with themes of Patriotism, Family, Thrift, and Opportunity. The President called statements from his opposition as mendacious when he felt it to be necessary. Gracious acknowledgement was offered to his opponents in the rare instances when he felt they offered something of value to the debate.

From Obama’s end, there was only one minor misstep. His reference to the late Senator Kennedy’s role, and Senator Kennedy’s work across the aisle was justifiable. However, it went about 45 seconds too long.

No one is unaware of the gratitude Barack Obama owes to Ted Kennedy. But that part of the speech was a thudding minor chord in a program which was heavy with Obama’s joyous early hits.

It was like watching a Beatles reunion ditch I Wanna Hold Your Hand for a Yoko Ono song. One understands the outreach to Democrats, but not the method employed.

The Republican opposition was not as fortunate in their display as President Obama.

Representative Joe Wilson (R-SC) managed to start the clock on his 15 minutes of fame by interrupting the President and stating, “you lie.” This will not end well for Representative Wilson. On lists of things which will end a political career, interrupting a speaking President is just behind making a homemade adult featurette with a commode plunger, a wild animal, and Jane Fonda holding the wild animal.

It was not appropriate when Cindy Sheehan tried it on George W. Bush. Sticking an “R” after one’s name does not make it any better.

Just when Republicans didn’t think things could get much worse, Representative Charles Boustany (R-LA) gave the response to the President. It wasn’t just bad; it was the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.

Representative Boustany used his teleprompter ineptly. His script appeared to have been written a year ago by a talk radio host who would be rated fourth in a two station market. One is not entirely certain that he did not mispronounce his own name.

However, there was one silver lining to Representative Boustany’s response to President Obama.

It was the funniest thing seen on CBS since WKRP in Cincinnati went off the air 27 years ago.

REPORT CARD:

President Barack Obama: A-. It was a momentum changer for sure and at least tied the game.

Republican Response: F. Republicans came off like a bunch of crybabies who are not only petty and small, but also weak for their size.

Health care just became a sprint to the finish, a discipline where President Obama excels.

Twilight

A couple of Twilight fans live in the Wandering Gentile household. Twilight has moved in like a particularly destitute and unimaginative relative. What joy.


For the eight or so people who are unaware of Twilight, it is the first novel in a series of vampire-themed romance novels aimed at 13-year-old girls of all ages and genders. Author Stephanie Meyer’s prose does not inspire like Hemingway or humanize like Steinbeck.



The plot developments are awkward. One waits, probably not in vain, for the inevitable appearance of an evil twin, a fatal illness, and weddings at prescribed intervals. At least Dark Shadows, a vampire-themed soap opera from the 1960s, was funny.



But for as much as can be said for what the books get wrong, Stephanie Meyer has gotten something very right. A number of females are bringing books into the house because they love Edward and Bella. Nothing that instills a love of reading can be a bad thing.



Eventually the audience may overlap into better storytellers. But for now, at least the storytellers have a path to people who might have chosen another hour with Randy Jackson calling some evil-haired singer “Dawg.”



As a spoiler-free gift to those who are not fans of Twilight, your Wandering Gentile offers a bit of realism for a few scenes from the book and the movie.



FORKS, WASHINGTON??? What better way to avoid questions about diversity than to set a book in a place that has 110 black people and 13 Latinos? There are more diverse Klan rallies in Georgia. A really cool black vampire, not just the token dude with the dreads in back, could be off the chain.



Maybe somebody could go to Seattle and bring back a Jimi Hendrix-like rockin’ undead. Being that Jimi was from Seattle, that would be pretty cool.



THAT F’COCKTA TRUCK! That’s right, a 1960s pickup is obviously the first choice of vehicle a law-enforcement officer wants his novice-driver teenage daughter tooling around in.



Her mother doesn’t say squat about a vehicle with a great big engine, tiny brakes, sloppy steering and NO SEAT BELTS! Let’s not forget about the physics of a vehicle with a lightly loaded rear end and the perpetual rain in western Washington State.



Don’t forget the reaction of every kid who got a seat belt citation from her dad, either.



If Kurt Cobain, from nearby Aberdeen, had owned this POS, he wouldn’t have lived long enough for the shotgun.



EDWARD! What is he, 108 years old? Why is he still in high school? After a while, wouldn’t he get bored and go looking for cougars or something?



For that matter, wouldn’t somebody at the State Board of Education in Olympia get a bit curious about a 108-year-old high school student? Three words come to mind…MASSIVE IDENTITY FRAUD!



If I’m 108, but I have the body (and presumably the libido) of a 17-year-old, the last thing I want to do is hang out at a high school in flippin’ Podunk!



I want to hang out where there are a lot more hotties. And I could be very inconspicuous in New York or Los Angeles.



Then there’s the whole issue where Edward punches out a minivan which is about to turn Bella into a tortilla.



One imagines a couple of hillbillies.



“Hey, Dwayne! I bet he can’t stop a Camaro!”



Stephen King still has my vote in the Vampire campaign. Shape Change you can believe in!

A Conservative Case For Health Care

Liberals are panicked and Conservatives are boogying on the grave of Health Care reform. Both sides are a bit premature. This is a clutch situation, but the game is still a bit early, and Democrats have not brought out their best players.



This is not as precarious as the situation as the Red Sox found themselves in during the 2004 ALCS against the despised Yankees. President Obama finds himself in a must-win situation nonetheless.



The challenge for President Obama will involve defusing very loud Conservatives who feel that their future well-being will rely upon the status quo. And now Obama is taking flack from Liberals who do not feel that the reforms being offered go far enough.



The Conservatives will not be an easy nut to crack. Obama is dealing with a group which has invested twenty years of trust in an opinion mechanism which is rabidly opposed to his party and the principles which got him elected. Conservatives are loud, frightened, and led by individuals who trust Limbaugh, Hannity and Beck.



There is only one way around this. Bill Clinton knows how. Obama has to lead with his right until the Conservatives walk into his left- hard.



The key to the speech will be adopting a vernacular identical to the right. The idea will be to make his proposals, including a public option, in terms of Faith, Patriotism, and Individual Opportunity. Clinton could have made this happen, and failed in 1993. Barack Obama has made his career on avoiding Bill Clinton’s larger mistakes.



What Obama will have to avoid is any suggestion of partisanship against free enterprise. No doubt exists that the President is a relatively moderate Democrat, but he is now faced with the challenge of reconquering the ten to fifteen percent of the middle who have wavered since his election. This can be achieved through the use of a Conservative lexicon.



Faith is the easiest term to renew. A quote from the Gospel of Matthew would serve nicely to open, preferably something from the Beatitudes or the Parable of the Good Samaritan, if not both.



The idea is not to preach to the saved, but put the religious opposition on notice that the teachings of Jesus Christ are not to be trifled with. There is very little in Christ’s lesson that speaks to raising the lot of the affluent. And it is very hard to envision where Christ would have been in favor of letting decent people die because they aren’t rich enough.



Patriotism is much tougher, but must be faced early in the speech. The core principle is that Americans have found a way to come together and realize public solutions to a common need. From the first public fire brigades to a common defense, this has been an overriding precept since 1776.



This is the first, best sound bite: “A healthy America is a strong America.”



Patriotism is where the existing Medicare and VA systems come into play. It is appropriate to ask why all citizens of the United States should not have the same quality of care offered to seniors and veterans. This is where Obama can offer some red meat to Liberals, in terms friendly to Conservatives.



“Health care is a privilege which no citizen of the United States should be denied based upon his ability to pay,” might be a good way to start.



“For too long, people have profiteered by abusing a system designed to help those in an hour of need. We are not a people who delight in kicking others when they are down. We never have been, nor will we ever be.”



As President Obama moves into the area of individual opportunity, he would be well served by making the case for entrepreneurship. No one knows how many new businesses have not opened because an entrepreneur has not been able to secure health coverage for his family.



We know from the example of other developed countries which are already growing economically. America has always done well when Americans have had the room to take reasonable risks and use a deep well of ideas. Removing a difficult obstacle to developing business is good for the economy.



And, oh yes, President Obama should remind Congress how much health care we get while paying half again as much as any other industrialized country.



That might get a lot of people to reconsider the value of public medicine.

I Got Your Compromise...RIGHT HERE!

Just a word for those who feel that President Obama is about to tank on Health Care reform: chill.

Things look pretty rough right now. Obama is catching grief from Town Hall screamers and the louder voices in the Republican Party. His Democrats are running about in spectacular disarray. Much of the press is assured that any bill that comes out of Congress is not going to make anyone happy.

We have seen this movie before. Barack Obama has played this role so frequently that there is no drama. He did not become President by gambling. Obama became President because he is a very astute tactician.

Last year, when Obama was caught in a rasslin’ Cage Match with Hillary Clinton, there was the distinct belief that he might lose. What happened? He won, and got Mrs. Clinton to throw down the deal-breaking arguments when they were not in a position to harm him.

The Palin nomination for Vice President was supposed to be a game-changer which was going to invigorate the Conservative base of the Republican Party. Briefly, in early September, John McCain pulled ahead in the polls.

The economy tanking did not hurt Obama’s campaign at all, but Mrs. Palin was already on radar. She had already popped up on Limbaugh. His campaign had a scouting organization which would put the Dallas Cowboys to shame. A plan was in place.

And now Republicans would have us believe that Barack Obama and his organization have caught a massive case of lazy compounded with a latent onset of stupid?

More likely is that Obama has taken a big gulp of rompin’ stompin’ pick ‘-em-up-by-the-ears LBJ. He will not share Lyndon Johnson’s rough-hewn Texas populism, but the deals will come straight out of the Johnson playbook. A few are already in place, and have been since the early summer.

The quiet is designed to bring the unhinged on the right out. The unhinged are rather untelegenic. There is a distinctly scripted quality to their rhetoric. And, oh yeah, they also happen to be as obnoxious as hell.

Nothing sold Civil Rights to a majority of the Senate in 1965 like the loudmouths in Mississippi and Bull Connor’s dogs, either. Images of violence, whether real or implied, do not portend well for the side upon which they are found. By the time the President speaks to Congress on 9 September, death panels will not abide in the memories of most Americans,

Every hateful image will come to haunt Republicans like the spirit of Nixon’s Southern Strategy. There will be nothing left of the party of Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan but a few decrepit southerners who may have lived slightly better when blacks, Latinos, and women “knew their place.”

Obama’s first tack will be a nice little conversation with Senator Baucus (D-MT) to bring him back to Faith. There are several things he can do to make Mr. Baucus’ life quite uncomfortable. Obama can drop them on Kent Conrad in next-door North Dakota, too. This moves a bill to the floor with a public option in place.

Once President Obama is done with the reluctant committee, he can sic Rahm Emanuel on the Blue Dogs. If Mr. Emanuel is allowed latitude to persuade, one has little doubt that his fellows from the Blue Dog caucus will leave less than convinced…or uninjured. Emanuel is a relatively conservative Democrat, but he is also compelled by his service at the pleasure of the President.

Meanwhile, an excess of vitriol within the Republican Party will cause their remaining popularity to implode. It is possible that one or both of the distinguished ladies from Maine may cross the aisle to join the Democrats. There are a few more Republicans in the House who live in competitive districts and could find political advantage in alliance with the President.

The final result will be a reform bill which will contain a tiered public-private system which likely resembles the French model. Passage will come under the budget reconciliation process, with 54-58 votes in favor. And President Obama’s antagonists in the Legislative Branch will have a great deal of explaining to do no matter what.

This might be fun.

UPDATE: As your Wandering Gentile was writing, CNN broke news that President Obama and Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) were in talks to develop a compromise bill. This bill would include a trigger for the Public Option if private insurers fail to reach certain cost-cutting and coverage goals by a predetermined date.

Face saved.