Daily Archives: April 2, 2017

NewsBusters (blog)

Incurious Media Ignore Liberal Amy Schumer's Toxic Brand NewsBusters (blog) Amy Schumer's exit from the Barbie movie demands the kind of follow up questions reporters should ask. So why won't they? So Hollywood's preeminent ... and more »

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Incurious Media Ignore Liberal Amy Schumer's Toxic Brand - NewsBusters (blog)

Liberals have wonderful intentions. Most of them believe that governmental force is the correct way to deal with social and economic problems. Force being an unhappy word, liberals seldom use it. They refer to laws and regulations. But if you fail to obey a law or regulation, youre punished. In almost every respect, government is force.

Recently, the government of Portland, Maine, decided that begging in the city streets, called panhandling, was a problem. Officials considered giving the panhandlers jobs, like cleaning up the city parks. Lets assume for a moment that such a law was enacted.

The city would exert two kinds of force: First, it requires residents to pay money, called taxation. Secondly, the city requires non-panhandlers to not be hired. Theres no choice about it. Only the people who enacted the law have the choice. Non-panhandlers may of course lobby the city to hire them as well.

Okay, city taxes bring in money. The panhandlers get some of it, and liberals feel good about their intentions. What happens next?

People who did not consider themselves panhandlers but are unemployed go to the streets and start begging. Carrying signs identifying them as genuine panhandlers, they let it be known they want city jobs, too. Panhandlers in other cities hear that Portland is where its at, and the city becomes inundated with panhandlers. Panhandlers who are paid less than what they consider living wages, which is most of them, continue panhandling anyway.

Emboldened by their entitlement as government beneficiaries, their begging becomes aggressive. Prosperous residents cant step outside without being accosted for money. Taxes are raised. Portland is no longer a pleasant place to live. The prosperous move elsewhere, the city deteriorates, and liberals wonder how government can straighten out the mess and still care for the poor panhandlers.

Portlands government would not allow such deterioration, and the law would probably not be enacted in the first place.

But what if the major recipients of governmental largess are unionized government workers? What if their pension plans have been raised to exorbitant levels because unions, supported by federal laws, are wealthy enough to pay substantial campaign gifts to legislators? I give you Detroit, Baltimore and Chicago, all of which have had liberal leaderships for decades and have lost significant populations.

I hazard the following generalizations:

One: The actual, long-term results of big-government policies are opposite to the intended results. Government policies that do not have unintended results are listed below. Despite Americas huge and often harmful government, the nation has thrived because it has done these vital tasks reasonably well:

Protect private property

Enforce contracts

Adjudicate lawsuits

Keep people from directly hurting others by force or fraud (the police power).

Two: Lobbying generally does not cause big government; it results from it.

Three: Heres how money can be transferred from rich to poor without government intrusion: Private organizations solicit money from the prosperous and pay most of it, probably with conditions, to the poor. The results are better than government could accomplish, with far lower costs.

The actual, long-term results of big-government policies are opposite to the intended results.

(Archie M. Richards Jr. of Concord wrote weekly newspaper columns on money matters. Write to him at archier71@gmail.com.)

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My Turn: The lessons of liberal cities - Concord Monitor

After weeks of publicly complaining that Senate Democrats were going easy on Neil Gorsuch, liberal activists are close to securing a successful filibuster of President Donald Trumps Supreme Court pick. But theyre not stopping there.

Activists are now vowing to make Republicans pay a political price if they decide to rip up Senate rules to push Gorsuch through with a simple majority vote. And if Majority Leader Mitch McConnell does kill the Supreme Court filibuster to confirm Gorsuch, liberals say theyll still come out on top having further emboldened a base that wants Democrats to brook no compromise with Trump.

Story Continued Below

Democrats showing they can unify [against Gorsuch] helps energize the grass roots, MoveOn.org Washington director Ben Wikler said in an interview. If Republicans decide to go nuclear, that will further energize the resistance movement. The only bad path here is for Democrats to flee the fight.

Simply getting to this point is a victory for the left, which began the Supreme Court battle frustrated with Senate Democrats and bluntly urging them to "do better" as Gorsuch appeared on track for easy confirmation. But over the past two weeks, as liberals kept nudging Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's caucus to push back harder, Democrats have abandoned their reluctance to commit to a filibuster.

The shift can be largely credited to the aggressive campaign from liberal groups, though a number of Democrats also became inclined to favor a filibuster after they found Gorsuch's answers far too noncommittal during his marathon confirmation hearing.

Most GOP senators have signaled theyre ready to back McConnell on a critical vote to unilaterally change Senate rules. But a handful have remained skeptical enough to fuel speculation among Gorsuch foes that the Kentucky Republican may be short of the votes.

Amid continuing talk of a last-minute deal to preserve the filibuster for Supreme Court picks, liberals are starting to publicly prod Republicans to explain why they would change the Senate rules.

I dont always see eye to eye with these folks, but some of them are expressing caution about changing the norms of the Senate, said Ilyse Hogue, president of the abortion-rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America. So well see. I dont know that they have 51 votes yet but thats on them to prove, not me.

As the Senate drew closer to a possible "nuclear option" scheduled for the end of next week, few Republicans were optimistic about defusing the tension.

The Democrats, they know better, Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) told reporters. But their base, you understand, wont allow them to do the right thing.

Corker referenced liberal protesters gathering outside Schumers Brooklyn apartment earlier this year as a reason that hes making these arguments about [Gorsuch] being extreme. We all know thats not true.

Senate Democrats don't share some liberal activists' skepticism that McConnell will muscle through a rules change that promises to further poison relations in the polarized Senate and which could spark blowback for his party when the GOP next loses the White House.

But Democrats do agree with one strategic move by their base: They're starting to press Republicans to own their decision to end filibusters for Supreme Court nominees, not just talk about it.

Everybodys talking about whether Gorsuch gets confirmed and thats essential and right in front of us, Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said in an interview. But the broader question, in the sweep of history is: What happens to the Senate? And thats in the hands of just a handful of Republicans, not us.

"There are enormous implications of changing the rules of the Senate in order to force an unpopular Supreme Court justice through," adds Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). "I hope Republicans think about the consequences of what theyre thinking about doing."

For the moment, Democrats' progress towards a viable filibuster is attracting outsized attention on Capitol Hill. Politico's count stood at 36 Senate Democrats ready to block Gorsuch after Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri made a pivotal announcement of her opposition on Friday. Sens. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Manchin of West Virginia are the only Democrats in the yes column.

On Monday, left-leaning groups, including Sen. Bernie Sanders' Our Revolution, plan to send a message to Democrats who are considering joining Heitkamp and Manchin. They have organized a petition publicly imploring the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to withhold support from any Democratic senator who backs Gorsuch.

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Once Schumer's caucus gets to 41 confirmed votes to block Gorsuch, the focus will shift to Republicans who remain less than publicly committed to supporting the so-called nuclear option to change the rules including Corker and Sens Susan Collins of Maine and John McCain of Arizona.

Liberal activist groups are pushing as hard as possible to move scrutiny to the GOP whip count, touting a poll they commissioned that shows 69 percent of all voters and even four in 10 Trump backers oppose Republican changes to Senate filibuster rules.

"McConnell has very cunningly kept all the attention off his conference for this whole arc," said one liberal strategist working on the Gorsuch nomination, describing moderate Republicans as "leaning into it, bluffing" on where they stand. "He does an excellent job of giving the impression that getting the votes to change the rules isnt a problem."

McConnell, for his part, is well aware of the pressure Democrats are facing from liberal groups opposed to Gorsuch.

"This isnt about the nominee at all," McConnell said on the floor earlier this week. "Its about a few on the left whose priority is to obstruct this Senate and this president, whenever and wherever they can. Months after the election, theyre still in campaign mode calling for Senate Democrats to obstruct and resist."

But with McConnell's guarantee that Gorsuch will be confirmed by April 7, liberals are warning Republicans of the potential midterm-election ramifications of jamming Gorsuch onto the court.

Hogue, of NARAL, said anti-Gorsuch rallies spearheaded by her group on Saturday would be aimed as much at Republicans as at Democrats.

"Its really important for people to remember that if this judge is confirmed, especially if Republicans change the rules to get Trumps guys in, it wont be theory in 2018," Hogue said. "This guy will have ruled. It will be a Gorsuch court and it most likely will have ruled on some of Trumps agenda."

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Liberals taste victory no matter Gorsuch outcome - Politico

Description English: Illustration featuring Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton with ribbon banners that say Republicans and Democrats, along the republican elephant and democrat donkey. Date 29 July 2016 Source Own work Author VectorOpenStock (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Lent 1 April 2017 The Edge of Elfland Hudson, New Hampshire

Dear Readers,

My letter the other day about writing for Patheos Catholic has opened up some interesting lines of dialogue. Im certainly glad to have dispelled some rumors and gotten people paying attention, at least a little bit, to whats going on here at Patheos Catholic. Sadly, it seems that there are still more problems to air out. Chief among them is whether or not Patheos Catholic as a whole is liberal.

One of my favorite comments, which is on my post on the Patheos Catholic Facebook page, is:

No, your [sic] in it (my opinion) for Communism Patheos.You and your communist agenda!Shame on you..Why dont you go live in El Salvador.And disappear for while!

Now, the other commenters who are concerned about the liberalism of Patheos Catholic were not so enthusiastic. But they nevertheless feel there is a strong liberal bias on the channel. One commenter suggests that there are only about 20% of our bloggers who, are traditional conservative Catholics. That same commenter goes on to say, The other 80% are very liberal. Half of the time their columns have nothing to do with Catholicism or religion. These columns are just liberal rants that could be found on any secular leftwing site. He goes even further, suggesting, there is nothing Catholic (capital C) about many of posts. So this, I believe, is a prevailing opinion amongst a certain subset of Catholics concerning Patheos Catholic. They view the channel as 80% (or more) liberal/communist and non-Catholic, maybe even anti-Catholic. As a new Catholic myself, however, I just dont see it.

There are 59 blogs hosted on the Patheos Catholic Channel. If the one commenters estimations are correct, that means 47(.2) of the blogs are liberal and might at times be indistinguishable from an atheist or non-Catholic blog. Leaving only 12 (11.8) who are considered traditional, conservative Catholics. I asked for examples, but since the commenter has stopped reading most Patheos blogs none were forthcoming (though he has graciously offered to show one to me the next time he sees one). Now, I cant claim intimate knowledge with all 59 blogs and their writers at Patheos Catholic. But here are some with whom I am well acquainted:

Two key points about this list before I actually dig into what I think it means: 1. This is not, necessarily, a list of the best blogs on the channel. 2. It is simply a list of the blogs which I have personally read and/or whose authors I know to some extent. Now, what I can definitively say about this list is three things: 1. This list covers just over 42% of the blogs hosted by Patheos Catholic. 2. There is not a blog on this list that I think lacks a Catholic identity or whose content could easily appear on a non- or anti-Catholic blog without warranting any changes. 3. Every single one of these blogs is different. Some of them focus on politics or economics, others on apologetics (whether against atheists or anti-Catholic Christians), still others on what it means to be Catholic. Some are written by and about being Catholic converts while others still are written by cradle Catholics. Some talk about what it means to be gay and Catholic and others like to talk about literature and/or pop culture. Many, including my own, are some alma gam of many of these topics.

So, with my insider knowledge (also known as my ability to read and to have read these blogs) that leads me to believe none of them is anti-Catholic or that their content is essentially aCatholic, what is it that makes readers think the majority of us at Patheos Catholic are liberal? I can honestly only come up with one, maybe two, answersthough I think theyre likely related: Many of the authors who write about politics at Patheos Catholic do not come from a politically conservative point of view. What I think this largely means is that when Patheos Catholic writers do write about politics they dont write enough about abortion or they say things like: abortion isnt the only pro-life concern. Theres probably more to it than this. There are probably some who think Patheos Catholic is liberal because of many of our writers really like Pope Francis. And others dont think that the Latin Mass is the ultimate form of the liturgy (our Byzantine friends certainly find it funny when we Roman Rite Catholics talk about the traditional Latin Mass, as though we forgot the liturgy was first in Greek and Aramaic).

So, do many of us write about issues such as the Dakota Access Pipeline, the problems with Donald Trumps presidency, or why we ought to take in refugees? Sure. Is any of this non- or anti-Catholic? No. Is it even liberal? I would again say no. Catholicism defies the political lines of liberal and conservative. For Goodness sake, we have the corporal works of mercy, the preferential treatment of the poor alongside the belief that all life is sacred from conception to natural death. And while you may find the occasional card-carrying communist, youll also find card-carrying capitalists and if my time reading texts such as Rerum novarum has taught me anything, its that the fullness of Catholic Social Thought cannot be found in its entirety in either system.

Ill say this, too. If youre going to claim that were being liberal, then you need to back it up (and to remember that we are not a homogenous whole, as I pointed out in my previous letter). But dont use that we dont agree politically as an excuse to simply write us off as non-Catholics who ought to just be writing for atheist, liberal blogs. Were Catholics. Full stop.

Sincerely, David

Originally posted here:

Is Patheos Catholic Liberal? - Patheos (blog)

A coalition of liberal groups is putting pressure on the Democratic Party not to help centrist Democrats running for reelection next year if they vote for President Trumps Supreme Court nominee, Judge Neil Gorsuch.

Liberal activist leaders plan to deliver a petition Monday to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) urging party leaders not to give campaign funds to any senator who votes for Gorsuch or strikes a deal to advance his nomination.

Democrats can filibuster Gorsuchs nomination if 41 senators vote against ending debate. Republicans have warned they will go nuclear and change the Senate's rules to force through the Gorsuch confirmation if Democrats block a nominee they say is fully qualified for the court.

The activists heading to DSCC headquarters Monday at noon include Claire Sandberg, co-founder of #AllofUs and WeWillReplaceYou.org; Erich Pica, president of Friends of the Earth Action; Kurt Walters, director or of Demand Progress; Shaunna Thomas, co-founder of Ultraviolet Action; and Sabrina Williams of #VoteProChoice.

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Liberal groups press party to abandon Dems who back Gorsuch ... - The Hill

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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau isnt talking about how his close friend Tom Pitfield got the job of managing the Liberal Partys database.

Asked on Thursday in Brampton, Ontario why Pitfields firm, Data Sciences, got the contract over what the party calls its Liberalist database, Trudeau chose to expatiate on how the Liberal Party reaches out to Canadians through a pan-communication strategy that incorporates old and new media.

The Liberal Party of Canada reached out to more Canadians than had ever been reached out to in the past, Trudeau said.

Through a multiple of ways digital, social media, advertising, door-to-door connections we were more effective than any other political party has ever been at gathering people into a movement that engaged them in the political process, that used the cutting-edge tools to build that kind of conversation and dialogue.

CTV News reported Wednesday that Trudeau crony Pitfield will head up the Liberalist database that connects the Liberals with voters.

Pitfield and his wife, Anna Gainey, both carry heavy Liberal Partybonafides.

Gainey is the president of the Liberal Party but says she has recused herself from any business dealings with her husbands company.

Pitfield also works for Liberal causes through Training For Progress, a program that he established in 2015 for the express purpose of training students in the arts of progressive political activism.

Pitfield no longer has an active role on the organizations board according to a Training For Progress spokesman, Meghan Mcachern. But the online curriculum uses the Liberalist program to teach students how to track the names and contact information of supporters and potential converts.

The programs we do are open to volunteers and campaigners of all stripes, from all levels of politics and government and a variety of not-for-profit groups. We also work with a number of different platforms and tools that help connect with Canadians, Mcachern told CTV News.

Pitfield also runs Canada2020, a liberal think-tank that hosts policy conferences featuring Liberal government cabinet ministers.

None of this is lost on Canadas Conservative official opposition.

Canadians will look at this overall and see a common thread here, quite frankly, that the prime ministers friends seem well oiled and taken care of, said Conservative MP Alex Nuttall.

Follow David on Twitter

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Trudeau Crony Hired To Manage Liberal Party 'Liberalist' Database - Daily Caller

The Hindu

Signifier of liberal ethos The Hindu As the sun skewers citizens, inside the Pahadi Shareef Dargah atop a hillock on the outskirts of the city it is cool with the overpowering fragrance of agarbatti, ittar and the smoking lamp wick that has just gone off. At a distance, the sonic boom of ...

Originally posted here:

Signifier of liberal ethos - The Hindu