NRO's The Corner: Obamacare ‘like a house on fire’ with more flammable parts yet to come

whadda maroon

by JAY NORDLINGER

February 22, 2015 10:21 PM

1) The host can’t stop stoking racial grievance. Great — exactly what America needs. 2) The idea that women don’t have equal rights in this country is a lie — a lie that, year after year, does harm. 3) Harry Belafonte is the opposite of a humanitarian: the loyal supporter of one of the most brutal dictatorships of our times, the Castro regime in Cuba, which has imprisoned, tortured, and killed thousands of innocent people.

sounds more like a list of demands

most otm corner comment ever, amid the homophobic campfire circle on a thread about the Atlanta fire chief

I have a lot of gay friends, every single one of them says they knew by 9 years old that they were gay. My guess is that most of them (gay people). Would say something similar. Are you going to tell me that's a choice? Or do you think maybe it's genetic? I don't think this guy should have been fired but can we stop with this fiction that people are really choosing this. Are there some people who might experiment or be unsure? Of course but for the vast majority this is who they are and apologies to lady gags but they were born that way. I wish you guys would stop acting like gay people are doing something wrong. It almost seems like you think they are gay to piss you off

there's also a sliver of a good idea in J-Goldberg's post about blacks and Hollywood but it's buried in balderdash.

by Deroy Murdock March 3, 2015 10:37 AM

As Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint session of Congress today, controversy continues to rage over whether House speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) should have invited him without consulting Obama. As it happens, Boehner did alert the White House an hour before the speech was announced. Whether or not that counts as consultation is an open question. It’s worth noting though that Congress is a separate and co-equal branch of government. If Congress wants to hear someone speak, it does not have to get permission first from Obama or anyone else in the White House. At some point in the near future, Congress, or at least the Senate, may have to approve or reject whatever deal Obama makes with Iran. America’s duly-elected legislators have every right and power to summon whomever they wish to give them information and perspectives to help them make decisions on any such agreement, as well as broader American policy on the Middle East. Bibi accepted an invitation extended to him by Boehner. Bibi was under no obligation to check and see if Obama “approved” of Congress’ invitation. Bibi is the most blameless character in this story.

If the prime minister were trying to weedle his way onto the House podium without permission, I would be all for keeping him from speaking, or at least for legislators boycotting his appearance. But as it happens, Bibi was asked to address both houses of Congress. And both houses of Congress he should and shall address. Members of both parties and both chambers should listen to his outlook and then meditate on and debate the merits of his message. This is how democracies operate. If Obama can’t handle that, he can ask to address a joint session of Congress and offer his own views on how to handle Iran and the rest of the blazing inferno that we affectionately call the Middle East. If the president does not appreciate the fact that Boehner did not consult him before making a decision, perhaps he now knows how Congress feels about his relentless rule by decree. Obama did not consult Congress before issuing his executive orders on amnesty, nor on the numerous unilateral changes he made to Obamacare. As he himself is fond of saying, he’s “gone around Congress” numerous times, as a matter of course. Indeed, Obama plans to structure his intended atomic agreement with Iran in such a way that Congress cannot approve or reject it, either.

As he has so many times before, the president hopes to issue an Iran deal like a pronouncement from the throne. So, before the administration continues its tantrum over not being consulted, it should consider consulting Congress when it wants new laws written or old laws revised. This is how we do things in America. Obama should leave the decrees to his friends in Tehran.

It’s worth noting though that Congress is a separate and co-equal branch of government.

i think this is right, it's been kinda weird seeing the big critics of executive power (to the detriment of the other branches of government) defending its exclusivity in this case. (nb i understand foreign affairs, or at the very least inviting foreign leaders maybe be different but still it's a weird argument to lean on that this is insulting to the executive.)

Limbaugh Says Obama Treats Netanyahu 'Like A White Policeman From Ferguson' 42 minutes ago

still it's a weird argument to lean on that this is insulting to the executive

how is this weird. it's insulting to the executive.

Bc the executive should have less power not possibly made up new powers

i mean, that's the whole point of it, to be insulting to the executive

The fact that the State Dept. was not consulted or even notified until the invitation had been accepted can't be construed as anything but an insult to the executive. The Congress may be a separate and equal branch, but it is all supposed to be the same government and its parts should be expected to work together.

it's a bit of a tempest in a teapot the whole thing

it's a bit of a tempest in a teapot the whole thing

Agreed. By the logic of "insult" here, one could argue Obama has a few times "insulted" Congress as well.

One of the more boring, to me, discussions in politics is whether and how members of one party have "insulted" a POTUS of the other party. IMO that just tends to be a rhetorical distraction from the issues.

Edit to: One of the more boring, to me, discussions in politics is whether and how members (or POTUS) of one party have "insulted" members (or POTUS) of the other party.

I hadn't read one of these classic posts in a while.

has there been a horror movie yet about war memorial statues coming to live and hoisting children on their shoulders?

National Treasure?

I don't even get what he's saying. He comes down on the finger-wagging side, so that means he doesn't think kids should climb on the statue? But the dead embronzed nurse would actually WANT the kid to climb on her so...?

Also, has this guy really never frolicked in a graveyard? I feel like people constantly frolic in graveyards.

Graveyards were meant to be frolicked in; people useta have picnics in them alla time

uh

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/416078/sick-and-twisted-culture-jay-nordlinger

And I believe I got a whiff — just a tiny whiff — of Nuremberg in Avery Fisher Hall tonight.

i have that cologne

it has nothing of the aroma or piquancy of my good friend Rush.

ie flopsweat and cheesypuffs

Obviously, John Adams knows nothing about Rush Limbaugh. It’s a good bet he has never listened to Rush’s show or read an article by him. The same must be true of the audience members who applauded.

They never him.

And this dude is one of their smarter writers.

One of the reasons Netflix’s House of Cards is so popular is that Francis Underwood, the fictional president played by Kevin Spacey, makes for a juicy villain, one utterly drenched in his own cynicism. But most people know the show is a fantasy. “No one can possibly be that amoral and rise to the highest levels of government,” one of my Michigan relatives told me. “Thank goodness.” But Harry Reid, who announced his retirement from politics last Friday, sure comes close.

Obviously, John Adams knows nothing about Rush Limbaugh.

well, obviously.

imagine his distress.

munich iirc

classic post coming:

What a miserable week. Most miserable? That at a time when Christians are dying for the freedom to love God completely, we’re rolling back rights under a tyrannical abuse of the word tolerance. Miserable that many reasonable people have no idea what’s actually going on there. Miserable that reasonable people think this is about bigotry. Also miserable: the targeting of Memories Pizza.

2. This poll, from just before all hell broke loose in Indiana, deserves more attention: Fifty-four percent of respondents to a Marist Poll survey, commissioned by Catholic News Agency, support or strongly support First Amendment religious liberty protections or exemptions for faith-based organizations and individuals, “even when it conflicts with government law.” About 65 percent of Marist Poll respondents opposed or strongly opposed penalties or fines for individuals who refuse to provide wedding-related services to same-sex couples “even if their refusal is based on their religious beliefs.” Only 31 percent supported or strongly supported such penalties. The results of the poll were released in mid-March. In the days that followed, religious liberty became a heated issue, particularly surrounding the March 26 signing of the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The state’s governor, Mike Pence, said that despite media hype, the law is not based on anti-gay discrimination, but on a 20-year legal precedent of protecting the rights of religious individuals and charitable organizations.

3. Ed Meese and Ryan Anderson.

which particular christians are dying for the freedom to love god completely?

3. Ed Meese and Ryan Anderson.

which particular christians are dying for the freedom to love god completely?

I think it's the Jehovah's Witness who wasn't allowed to use Medicaid to get a bloodless liver transfusion in another state. But I didn't know NRO thought Jehovah's Witnesses were Christians.

3. Ed Meese and Ryan Anderson.

DON: Well, yeah.

Do you guys think this strategy will be attempted at the federal level? Giving national corporations the religious right to ignore gov't laws sounds like a bad idea.

Nah.

only for arts & crafts stores

and wherever K-Lo does her Bible shopping.

The targeting of Memories Pizza. Memories of the targeting pizza. Pizza targeting memories.

Misty target-covered memories of the pizzas we were

and this from one of the more reasonable people:

We who are appalled by the perverse reaction to the Indiana law are not exactly defending the free exercise right; we are in a sense opposing a violation of the prohibition on religious establishment. The point is not that running a flower shop is a way of practicing one’s religion. The point is that, if reasonably possible, people should not be compelled as the price of entry to the public square to honor as true what their understanding of their religious obligations compels them to judge false.

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/416421/church-left-yuval-levi

The point is that, if reasonably possible, people should not be compelled as the price of entry to the public square to honor as true what their understanding of their religious obligations compels them to judge false.

this sentence

which particular christians are dying for the freedom to love god completely?

― mookieproof, Thursday, April 2, 2015 8:53 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

p sure he means in egypt, syria and iraq

Jonah has written about the jokes Obama told last night. I’d like to add a word.

Commenting on his relationship with Joe Biden, he said, “We’ve gotten so close that some places in Indiana won’t serve us pizza anymore.”

I realize it’s just a joke. A joke told on a jokey evening. It’s a good joke, too. Funny. “Lighten up,” right?

But still: That pizzeria, Memories, did not refuse to serve gays. They’re happy to serve gays. The owner and his daughter said they would not cater a gay wedding (not that a pizzeria has ever been asked to cater a wedding, to my knowledge). Does it matter? Yeah, a little, even on a jokey evening. (Sounds like the title of a Frost poem, almost.)\

lots of pizza for thought there

guess who

nerdlinger

so the Kraut wrote a column calling for the release of captive whales. Mona Charen responds:

I admire Charles Krauthammer extravagantly (doesn’t everyone?) and agree that keeping Orcas confined for our entertainment is probably cruel. But he asks a question that has a much more obvious answer. It’s simple: abortion. Here’s my take on that subject today.

abort the whales