Torture, real and imagined via Right Wing News Paul Begala wrote an article at HuffPo contending that, following WWII, Americans executed Japanese as war criminals for water-boarding. While I’m certainly willing to concede that water-based tortures numbered amongst the myriad tortures the Japanese used against POWs, it is absolutely ridiculous to believe that these Japanese soldiers were executed because of the water tortures. In the grand scheme of things, that was nothing. One of the Anchoress’ readers forwarded to her a letter someone wrote (maybe as a comment to Begala’s own article) pointing out that actual historical documents put the lie to Begala’s claims … READ THE REST HERE.

Stifling traditional religious tenants and substituting some sort of mythological moral high ground is typical liberal practice. It helps them feel better about themselves … AND provides a convenient pulpit from which to pound their fists in hypocritical rage against the “headline of the day.” The “news cycle” seems to control the outbreak of this mysterious hysteria … taking their cue from old time evangelists, they wander the streets in search of every opportunity to thump America’s poor souls with their own moral manifesto. Chief Apologist Paul Begala is one of the more accomplished Pecksniffians — a modern day Mr. Pecksniff, the canting character in Dickens’ “Martin Chuzzlewit.” This mail-order liberal pulpiteer is an accomplished political Pharisee and nevers misses an opportunity to rouse the “faithful” with a flaming sermon of indignation about anything to the Right of Begala. From his “I hate the Baby Boomers” in 2000 to this recent rant on torture at the Huffington Post, Begala never fails to disappoint his congregation (even if they don’t understand what in the world he’s talking about). In the end, his little “sermonette” is a factual misrepresentation … but let’s not let the facts get in the way of a good tirade on moralism. UPDATE: Back when torture was cool: The Clinton Doctrine

Shut Up and Pay Your Taxes, Traitor, Implies Paul Begala By Matthew Vadum | American Spectator Clintonista Paul Begala says all you unpatriotic, wimpy, whiney Americans out there should just shut up and pay your taxes. “Why are they out there whining with this Tea Party thing? Just a bunch of wimpy, whiney, weasels who don’t love their country and don’t want to support – there are guys at Walter Reed who gave their legs for my country, and they’re whining because they have to write a check?” the political consultant who worked in Bill Clinton’s White House told Don Imus.

via Red Sounding blog

LINK: Can Charity be Compelled? Yesterday’s Tea Party got me thinking about the responsibility our elected officials have to those who’ve put them in office. Among the many causes represented at the Tea Parties, the most ubiquitous was that our government is failing in its obligations to the U.S. Constitution and their constituents. My major beef with the current situation is the attitude of members of Congress towards the very people who put them there. There’s a sense of entitlement and superiority that’s wholly unbecoming persons calling themselves “public servants.” Yesterday, I watched Paul Begala sneer down his nose at the people attending the Tea Parties. I read his CNN commentary about the Tea Parties, and was struck by the ignorance he demonstrated about American history, and his distorted sense of patriotism. To Begala, patriotism is paying taxes, and then remaining silent when our elected officials vote “yes” on a 1,000-page, $878 billion piece of legislation, without having read the thing!

Anyone have an extra pitchfork?

The stunning brilliance economic ignorance of Paul Begala

Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina took umbrage at my writing that his approach to the economic crisis is to do nothing. I’ll deal with his “ideas” in a moment, but first let me make a modest proposal: If Republican politicians are so deeply opposed to President Obama’s economic recovery plan, they should refuse to take the money. After all, if you think all that federal spending is damaging, there are easy ways to reduce it: Don’t take federal money.

A first impression might move you to think that Begala’s got a point … if Sanford were REALLY attached to his principles, he might even consider such a recommendation. But wait just a minute – the big mistake in this whole line of reasoning is about to explode in Begala’s liberal face:

If cutting taxes for the rich and for big corporations and promoting foreign trade alone could energize the economy, we wouldn’t be in this mess. But maybe Gov. Sanford is right. Let’s keep our federal money — give it to states where the governors will actually put it to good use. We’ll let Gov. Sanford try his plan, we’ll try President Obama’s plan. Something tells me Gov. Sanford won’t take that gamble. Because for all his rhetoric about hating federal spending, he can’t wait to get his hands on our money.

HE SAID IT THREE TIMES! I guess I don’t have to explain anything beyond the fact that liberals have a severe mental disorder when it comes to money … they don’t have any earthly idea WHERE THAT MONEY COMES FROM. My friends, the government doesn’t EARN money in the sense that you and I make money — they TAKE MONEY, OUR MONEY and to explain it for those who live in Rio Vista (I know Rio Vista), the government uses it for stuff. And now they’re going to BORROW MONEY for all kinds of crap that most of us don’t need and have us pay it back over the next gazillion years. You can figure out the rest of my thinking from here … it’s too depressing to continue writing.