Founding Ideals

Click on image for full size cartoon

Has Andrew Breitbart won? The failure to properly vet the president was a rallying cry of Breitbart shortly before his death. On Saturday the über liberal New York Times promised to vet President Obama this election cycle. The Grey Lady, who in prior award winning journalistic fashion reported glowingly on 1930s progressive icon Joseph Stalin, admitted to not doing it’s job during the last election. From the Times Public Editor:

Color us unimpressed. The Obama campaign still routinely thinks that it plays by different rules than everyone else. Especially when it comes to issues of disclosure, asking others to do that which it would not. From blocking the release of White House visitors list  to delaying Freedom Of Information Act requests from conservative groups, the Obama camp makes a mockery of the “most open and ethical administration in history” promise. That’s without getting into Solyndra, hookers for the Secret Service, Fast and Furious, and lots of Crony Capitalism.

Perhaps the only way to get some answers would be to hack his teleprompter. That’s a better plan then relying on outfits like the New York Times to report fairly on the President.

Update: I changed the title to match the article and cartoon. The original title was a play on how unrelated the calls Romney’s taxes are on anything to do with actual transparency. I was being too clever by half  -AG

The next paragraph is offensive. I will write it, pause, and provide some space to allow you to read, and exit the website without reading another offensive word if you so desire. You have been warned.

In the US, blacks are 6 times more likely to be a victim of homicide than whites. 46% of the people arrested and convicted of murder are black, while blacks only make up about 13% of the US population. 86% of white victims were killed by whites, 94% of black victims were killed by blacks. Blacks make up almost 40% of the prison population.

Do you think I’m a racist for mentioning these facts? Do you think that these statistics should not be discussed? If so please STOP and follow this link –> away from the blog

I’ll wait for you to go…..

Still here? Are you sure you want to stick read the rest of this . . . .

Last chance to leave, just follow the link –> Here

Good – we finally got rid of the people that made those stats possible and an entrenched reality for our country. It is impossible to discuss solutions if we are afraid to admit that a problem exists. More importantly if we are unafraid of the truth, then sacred cows that perpetuate problems can be turned into hamburger instead of being kept alive.

The first stat that I’d like to tackle is the last mentioned in our intro, incarceration. The number of black men that are currently behind bars is a national tragedy. There is a single significant factor that explains the difference between white and black incarceration rates. It’s not education, poverty, geography, or even race. That factor is single parenthood.

Think about that fact for a second. It’s stunning. Unlike race hustling lawyers that will use statistics to prove anyone with deep enough pockets is racist, here is a stat that shows that we aren’t a racist society. A stat that shows that a well understood individual choice has a deep and profound impact. The entire black community pays dearly for a 72% unwed mothers rate.

Children of single mothers are more likely to commit suicide, abuse drugs, fail to finish school, and commit crime. Not all children of single parents have these problems, but statistically the risk is much, much higher. The typical MSM response to these facts is to run a feel good story of the successful single mom or dad. They prefer to ignore the facts or change the conversation when it comes to the darker side of single parenthood. The reason these are feel good stories is that they are stories about people beating the odds. If such stories were common they wouldn’t be worthy of mention. The link between single motherhood and crime is long established.

How do we stop or slow single motherhood in our country? Currently our government gives a bonus to poor unwed mothers that have babies. This is done out of concern for the child and is done with the best intentions, but does it really help in the long run? Would it better to withdraw public assistance if a young women gets pregnant because she decided to have a baby she couldn’t support? Should a bonus be paid if a man marries a women he impregnates instead of punishing him? Do we bring back the “scarlet letter”?

Here is where your humble opinionator does something different than most. I don’t have all the answers to those questions. What I do know is that what we are doing now isn’t working. What we know with absolute certainty is that paying unwed mothers who have children is the same as paying unwed mother TO have children. The charity provided that makes having a child out of wedlock possible, also makes it a more viable financial option. More money merely exacerbates the issue by providing stronger incentives. This is a complex problem with no easy answers. My suggestion is that a little bit of tough love is better than a free handout.

Our President and the left in this country like to look at the world through a prism of race and victimhood. Solutions proposed by adherents of this mentality involve racial and gender quotas, or redistribution of wealth to ‘enforce equality’. Facts, fallout, and long term consequences are rarely examined in detail. The result of this attitude are such outlandish policies as denying Asian students admission because too many were good at math and science. Our education system is now so hostile to men that fewer of them complete college. Statistically, all men would qualify for an affirmative action program if the department of justice applied standards uniformly. The ideology that limits opportunity for asians while reducing the percentage of men that obtain higher education is the same ideology that’s driven the cataclysmic rise in illegitimacy.

The black unemployment rate is a shocking statistic. We’ve spent billions and billions on “stimulus” and “training” and have little to show for it. Regardless of the fact that blacks have disproportionately suffered under Obama’s economic policies, nobody thinks those policies are racist. If we had an honest conversation about that failure, perhaps together we could work on more effective solutions. Isn’t that what a leader is supposed to do?

Actions based on left-wing ideology have, perversely, driven up the ills they were intended to reduce. The kind of thinking that limits opportunities for asians with quotas and has made higher education for men less likely, has also led to the boom in single parenthood. The challenge is to deal with the reality of the causes in ways that may seem harsh, but will ultimately be effective. From stay-at-home moms, to single parents, to root causes of many of society’s ills, an honest conversation is hard.

Hilary Rosen’s indictment of Ann Romney was quickly – and rightfully so – disavowed by the left, and condemned by the right. However, when we look past the outrage and at Rosen’s words, she is quite correct: A quick scan of her and Mitt’s Wikipedia biographies show that they were both born to affluent households. (I should add, much like most of the presidential candidates of recent decades.)

So, what of it? Far from revealing any hitherto unknown fact about the Romneys, Rosen has done us the favor of revealing a bit about herself and her impression of the electorate. Rosen and her ilk expect – no, require us to look at the economically privileged with contempt and jealousy. We are to believe that anything that they have achieved beyond the middle-class status quo is ill-gotten and the result of somehow leeching off the great unwashed. That many of us aspire to the ability to have one parent at home is anathema to the left, whose entire agenda is based upon the idea that Americans can’t rise above without intervention from the state.

Most Americans don’t look at Romneys dismissively, or contemptuously, we look at Romneys as inspiration to achieve our own success.

Unfortunately that worldview is not very convenient for the Rosens and Obamas of the world. If we are too busy trying to lift ourselves by the boot-straps to spend any time resenting those who have made it, we will have little use waiting for Washington DC to distribute our next helping of government largesse. And then, what use will we have for elitists from the Capitol?

A large number of Americans would love to be able to have a stay at home parent. Many of us make sacrifices in other areas to make that ideal a reality. Ironically, with a true unemployment rate of 12%, Obama’s failed economic policies have created a lot more stay at home parents that wished they could find work. That’s an economic reality that the Democrats don’t want to talk about and the real reason behind the attack on Ann Romney.

ABC News Story

President Obama: On all these issues, but particularly missile defense, this, this can be solved but it’s important for him to give me space.

President Medvedev: Yeah, I understand. I understand your message about space. Space for you…

President Obama: This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility.

President Medvedev: I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir.