Goodthink Doubleplusgood

Granted 1984 is well behind us now, but in some ways Orwell was right on the mark .... especially when it comes to manipulating language. As some of you may recall, in Orwell's 1984 the government was engaged in a process of reducing the English language to a form that was adequate for communication, but prevented the discussion of deeper issues that may lead to disloyalty to Big Brother. The objective was to avoid "thoughtcrime" - the unpardonable sin of thinking outside of the lines.

In 2005 we have a similar process going on, only instead of calling it "thoughtcrime" the new buzzword is "discrimination". Seems a tavern in Mason, OH committed the unforgivable sin of putting a sign in the window which read: "For Service, Speak English". The Ohio Civil Rights Commission has ruled the sign "discriminatory". Apparently, the First Amendment, private property rights, and the rights of individuals to freely associate with individuals of their choosing are no longer valid. Even more infuriating is the nerve of these petty, race-hustling bureaucrats. According to the story, "... the tavern could be ordered to remove the sign, to pay for advertisements about nondiscrimination, and its staff could be ordered to undergo diversity training or cultural sensitivity training".

And what, exactly, is "diversity training" or "cultural sensitivity training"?? Simple. We used to call it "brainwashing". It's what the commies used to do in Russia or China during the 50's and 60's. It's supposed to be bad. When the reds did it we were appalled at the very notion that a human being could be stripped of their identity and beliefs, and then filled up with a new identity and set of beliefs that they previously would have found abhorrent. But times have changed. Nowadays, the Thought Police are out in force. There are, quite simply, ways of thinking that are for all practical purposes illegal. If you don't subscribe to the politically correct definitions of "diversity" and "sensitivity" you are wrong --- you do not just have a different opinion --- and the armed might of the state will be brought down on you to make you mend your ways.

The antidote to offensive speech is more speech. If a business does something you find offensive, don't patronize that business. Organize a boycott. Protest. Open a competing business and drive the offender under. As long as your actions are non-violent, you are well within your Constitutional rights. But using the power of the state to silence someone or force them into a re-education program is tyranny, regardless of the allegedly noble purpose behind it.

Torquemada's Twin??

Well, well, well ... dear old Shrub has decided that of all the possible candidates for O'Connor's Supreme Court seat, the absolutely best candidate for the job is Harriet Miers. Considering the want ad I placed for a justice before the Roberts nomination, it'll surprise no one to learn that I'm rather underwhelmed by his choice. I'd rather see someone like Janice Rogers Brown get the job, despite the fact that the socialists would probably stonewall that nomination until at least 2020. However, after I read the following quote from James Dobson, president of the christo-fascist group Focus on the Family, I realized just how dangerous old Harriet could possibly be:

"What did Karl Rove say to me that I knew on Monday that I couldn't reveal? Well, it's what we all know now, that Harriet Miers is an evangelical Christian, that she is from a very conservative church, which is almost universally pro-life..."

If two words should ever disqualify someone from sitting on the bench, they should be "evangelical Christian". Why? Because the very essence of being an evangelical Christian is a wholesale rejection of rationality and objectivity in favor of faith. Evangelical Christians, my friends, are the folks who put a white lab coat on creationism and call it "Intelligent Design". Evangelical Christians are the folks who reject the mountains of evidence we have for evolution in favor of the biblical account of creation. Evangelical Christians live to censor and control what you can see and read. Evangelical Christians don't give a damn what happens to a child once it exits the womb, but they'll blow up your clinic to "save" a fetus. These are not reasonable people with a different point of view. These are the American Taliban -- religious zealots whose world view never grew much beyond the Dark Ages -- and they're after the whole ball of wax. They don't want equal time -- they want all the time. They are relentless, they are single-minded, and they are very, very dangerous to liberty. They don't want to share power -- they want to use it to force everyone to live according to the laws of their faith.

And that's what old Shrub asking us to do: accept this woman based upon faith in his judgement and not much else. In other words, we're supposed to believe that one deluded religious fanatic is going to put another deluded religious fanatic on the bench of the highest court in the land, but somehow she'll magically look beyond her brain-numbing religious convictions and impartially judge cases based solely upon the letter and spirit of the Constitution.

Sure ... and Iraq will blossom into a model democracy within the next 2 years .....