Justified Right

A Dozen Upside Down Things In 2009

2009-12-22T02:33:31-05:00

2009 is a weird year, where things are upside down - opposite of what they should be or usually are. Here’s a list of events that were inverted or backward this year:

An airline pilot became famous for sailing in the Hudson, not over it.

The IRS was headed by a man who didn’t pay his taxes.

The President, a community organizer, belittled Tea Partiers for…community organizing.

Instead of buying new cars and destroying them, the US government bought a new fleet of destroyed cars.

Carrie Prejean, who said, “I think it’s great that Americans are able to choose” gay marriage, became a rallying point for people opposed to gay marriage.

Wall Street became socialist takers and the Chinese became capitalist lenders.

A man who was arrested got invited to the White House for drinks, and a couple who weren’t invited may be arrested for going.

During a speech to a joint session of Congress, President Obama accused his opposition of lying, and Joe Wilson was sanctioned for calling the President a liar a moment later.

In a failed attempt to become famous, Balloon Boy’s father became famous.

After years of parents and teachers telling kids not to wipe their noses with their sleeves, the US government told kids to sneeze into their sleeves to fight H1N1.

Instead of hitting with a golf club, Tiger Woods may have been hit by one.

A Nobel Peace Prize winner sent 30,000 troops to war.

Year New Happy!

Abortion - The Slippery Slope To Killing More People

2009-12-18T19:59:54-05:00

If you don't think Abortion in general cheapens life and causes people to make excuses for violence, watch this video.

If you still don't think so - if you still don't think innocent life is worth protecting, then don't complain to me when liberals make an excuse for killing you:

Justified Right Quoted In The NY Daily News

2009-12-16T07:48:07-05:00

Along with Newt Gingrich and Tom Friedman!!!

Read it here.

Palin and Shatner - Sure To Be Classic TV!

2009-12-12T08:21:04-05:00

Tommy De Seno

Obama's Jekyll and Hyde Nobel Speech

2009-12-10T14:05:58-05:00

Just prior to President Obama’s arrival in Oslo to accept the Nobel Prize, millions of Norwegians were captivated by an unexplained spiraling halo in the sky. While the president’s most fanatical supporters will herald the light as a messianic celestial event comparable to the star of Bethlehem, his detractors will be equally sure that it is the beginning of the apocalyptic black hole the next three years of Obama’s presidency are sure to bring.

Some scientists are beginning to assure us that the light was generated by a wayward Russian missile -- as if wayward Russian missiles are reassuring.

President Obama did not have time for sky-watching. As a wartime President receiving a Peace Prize, The president had, as Ricky used to say to Lucy, “some ‘splainin' to do.”

He began his speech by admitting his award was not for any achievement toward peace, but his “aspiration” to obtain peace. Upon hearing that, my 12-year-old asked me if he could receive an A on his math test not because he passed it, but because he aspired to pass it.

Having better sense than a Nobel committee member, I told him no.

The Peace Prize winner then launched into a commercial for war, albeit a “just war.” He wavered between a peaceful Dr. Jekyll and a rapacious Mr. Hyde: He called for “international standards” for the use of force but in the same sentence cancelled that out with a “unilateral right” for a country to defend herself.

It has been noted by some that over the last decade the Peace Prize is lately been given to people for “not being George Bush” (see Carter, Gore and El-Baradei). Yet on the issue of war, the Nobel Committee was hoping for “Bush minus” not “Bush squared.”

Obama has proved to be “Bush on steroids” when it comes to war. Since winning the Peace Prize he has not created any peace but he's tripled the amount of troops in Afghanistan that Bush left him with. In his speech today Obama noted that those soldiers will both “kill and be killed.” One has to wonder if Gandhi, mentioned by Obama in his speech (who never won the Peace Prize himself) would disagree about killing being in any way “peaceful.”

Obama then went all in as Mr. Hyde, and adopted “The Bush Doctrine” in his speech. He noted that sometimes “the purpose of military action extends beyond self defense.” The president sees it as moral to protect people from their own governments, even if America is not at risk (as in the Balkans). That thinking creates a moral groundwork to rescue the Iraqis from Saddam Hussein, weapons of mass destruction or no.

It appeared Obama was just about to praise military men like or Patton or MacArthur, but then he slipped back into Dr. Jekyll mode and honored Dr. King.

That this award can even be given to a man who thus far has created no peace but governs two wars confirms that the Nobel Peace Prize is now nothing more than the “Norwegian People’s Choice Award” and carries the same gravitas as having a Hollywood Star in front of Mann’s Chinese Theater.

DALTON FURY. WHY WE SHOULD HAVE HAD MORE TROOPS IN TORA BORA

2009-12-03T11:56:31-05:00

George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld had a rather human approach to war. The kind of approach that I image those who oppose war would have taken if they were forced to go.

Bush and Rumsfeld tried to use as few troops as possible in Afghanistan and Iraq. The thinking was that the fewer men they used, the fewer Americans who would be killed, the fewer of the enemy who would be killed and the fewer civilians who would accidentally be killed.

A kinder and gentler war.

Unfortunately, war doesn't work that way. Wars are won by overwhelming force (see WWII) and not by being small and surgical (see Vietnam).

While I usually deplore all things CBS, particularly 60 Minutes (in high school I had a social studies teacher and self-described socialist named Russ Leidy who made us watch a tape of 60 Minutes every Monday morning), but I have to give props to this interview with Delta Force Commander Dalton Fury (pseudonym).

This is fascinating:

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Rooting For The White House Party Crashers

2009-12-03T08:19:27-05:00

In the little town where I’m from, Asbury Park NJ, there were no less than 3 men who billed themselves as celebrity party crashers. And they were good at it. People would go to their homes to ogle at the hundreds of photographs of these guys standing with every celebrity imaginable, from New York parties they snuck into.

Did they get their picture with Presidents? Easy peasy. They all had pictures with Presidents. The best “get” I ever heard about was from the master of celebrity party crashers – a cop named Billy Dello. Billy once crashed a birthday party for Dean Martin that was attended by only 12 people, and he sat right at their table and had dinner.

Would these guys be impressed with Tareq and Michaele Salahi, who party crashed the White House state dinner? No they wouldn’t, for this reason: The Salahis got caught. Their party crashing days are over. One of the secrets to being a successful celebrity party crasher is to be a familiar face and nothing more – when they learn your name and background is when the host throws you out.

I’ve watched supposed legal pundit after supposed legal pundit on TV address whether the Salahis should be charged with an offense. I laugh at the experts who say “yes” then watch them struggle to say exactly what the Salahis should be charged with.

No crimes were committed by the Salahis. These people didn’t sneak into the building. They didn’t break a window and jump in. They walked right up to the front door and asked to be let in. Then they were let in. The people in control of the property eventually INVITED them in.

Did they lie at the door about having a previous invitation? Probably, but here’s a newsflash: Lying isn’t a crime unless you do it under oath or you are giving a statement to a criminal investigator, and neither was the case here.

Trespass? Give me a break. They were eventually invited in by the people in control of the property.

If some overzealous prosecutor charges them with anything, I dub that person the dumbest prosecutor on the planet. They only way a prosecutor will get a conviction is to play the “overcharge game” - by telling the Salahis, “You can go to trial on Count 1 and risk 10 years in jail, or plead guilty to Count 2 and pay a $50 fine.” Everybody chooses Count 2.

America loves an underdog, and that’s what these people were when they went to the White House door with no invitation, and they beat the system. Let’s not forget the White House is the people’s house, so I’m not going to get upset that two non-celebrities got to party with the President.

It’s also hysterical to watch political and media mucky mucks be so appalled about mere commoners having eaten at their table, that they would spend the next week discussing whether to arrest them. Royalty much?

I understand the safety implications for the President and the fear of copycats. The fault there lies not with the Salahis - that’s the Secret Service’s problem. Embarrassing the Secret Service or the Administration is not a crime.

The party crashers may have done the Secret Service a favor by making them reassess their procedures. The Administration is promising to keep New Yorkers safe during the upcoming terror trials, but they can’t keep that pretty blonde lady from sneaking into a party?

This story is nothing but fun. The Congressional hearings today (good grief!) over the incident are a waste of my tax money. I think it would be hysterical if the Salahis donned disguises and sneaked in!

Peace Prize Winner to Muster 30,000 Troops

2009-12-02T22:13:42-05:00

It was an oration of ~~tight-rope walking rhetoric~~ straight talk on foreign policy.

President Obama’s ~~inarticulation~~ speech last night made clear that he has no intention of being bullied by ~~the far left wing of his party~~ terrorists. He will deliver ~~75% of~~ General McChrystal’s request for ~~40,000~~ 30,000 troops to fight in Afghanistan.

This is the first time the President has shown real commitment to ~~fighting the war on terror~~ Overseas Contingency Operations.

As a presidential candidate Obama identified Afghanistan as the good ~~talking point~~ war, compared to Iraq, which he labeled a ~~Republican weak point~~ distraction.

In his speech, the President’s justification for fighting in Afhganistan was to ask Americans to recall that on September 11, 2001, nineteen ~~jihadists from the religion of peace~~ men hijacked four airplanes and used them to ~~kill nearly 3,000 people~~ commit “a man-caused disaster.”

In addition to al-Qaeda, President Obama identified another ~~enemy~~ disputant as The Taliban, who he promised to fight ~~until America achieves victory~~ for a maximum of 18 months.

Moving forward, Obama announced a committed to a ~~pander to~~ partner with Pakistan that is built on a foundation of mutual interests, mutual respect, and mutual trust ~~nuclear weapons~~.

Yet in a proclamation of ~~bowing to foreign powers~~ American world leadership, Obama also noted that American’s Afghan war was supported by ~~his daddy~~ the UN Security Council.

The speech showed President Obama is a man who makes decisions with a speed and commitment that rivals President Bush ~~Brett Favre~~.

Guido Goes To College Too, MTV

2009-11-25T14:10:33-05:00

Now comes MTV, in the bigoted footsteps of a show like the Sopranos, with a new show called “Jersey Shore.” It will exploit the worst and most mythological stereotypes about Italians in New Jersey, produced no doubt by people who or neither Italian nor from the Jersey Shore.

One of the last stereotypes our American pop-culture still believes it is OK to exploit is that of the Italian American – if he’s rich he’s a mobster, if he’s poor he’s too stupid to be a mobster, but in a lovable, illiterate, Joey Tribbiano from “Friends” sort of way. In the movies, Guido never goes to college.

Why are stereotypes and wiping them out important? Because a stereotype impedes assimilation.

What is most important to any ethnic group, Italians included, is to assimilate into America – to be thought of as Americans first and our ethnicity second. That being true, each ethnic group has to obliterate old stereotypes. Culturally you can master the language, clothing, education, business and politics, but a stereotype will be the last lock on the door to assimilation if you can’t pick it. There will always be something that says “outsider” about a group with a widely accepted stereotype.

Unfortunately in Pop Culture, it’s Ok to stereotype Italians, because our “identifier” has changed. We are no longer branded with real names like Galileo and Da Vinci; instead we are identified with fake names like Corleone and Soprano.

What caused this shift in identifier for Italian Americans? The movie The Godfather.

In real life, organized crime had many ethnicities: Dutch Shultz, Bugsy Segal and Meyer Lansky were Jews. Dion O’Bannion and Bugs Moran were Irish. Of the Midwest Crime wave including John Dillanger, “Pretty Boy” Floyd, “Baby Face” Nelson, “Ma” Barker, Bonnie & Clyde and “Machine Gun” Kelly, none were Italian. Movies reflected that.

Then came The Godfather. So successful was it that everyone tried to copy the genre. After The Godfather more than 400 feature films have been made where the mobsters are JUST Italian, despite the historical inaccuracy.

Add to that the TV shows and endless parade of advertisements showing Italians as criminals and clods, and suddenly people forget Marconi invented radio telegraph but remember Moltisanti on the Sopranos fenced radios.

This stereotype is still “OK” in Hollywood. No other ethnicity suffers from their hurtful stereotype being politically correct. Imagine an HBO series today about a Step ‘n Fetchit Black family, a drunken Irish family, cheap Jews or dumb Poles. Those wrong stereotypes haven’t been wiped out, but they are universally reviled and controlled by making a pariah of anyone who uses them. Yet portraying Italians as murderous, awful, immoral criminals will get you an Emmy. MTV is counting on that bigotry for their new show.

I’m not saying other ethnicities don’t take it on the chin – they do. But when we catch someone being insensitive to Blacks, Jews, Gays, etc., we make them pay for it.

Don Imus got punished heavily for his “nappy headed hos” joke. Here’s something no one considered:

At that year’s Academy Awards, the song that won was called, “It’s Hard Out Here For A Pimp.” The song uses the word “Hos” 4 times, “Bitches” 8 times and the word “Niggaz” too.

America awarded that song an Oscar. Not one girl’s basketball team complained about it.

Since we are giving lyrics of such “creative genius” as “Bitches, Hos & Niggaz” the Academy Award, the highest accolades we give in American Popular Culture, are we really going to pretend to be surprised when a 60 year old man says it on the radio, or worse yet, a 6^th grader on a school bus?

His own remarks were not Don Imus’ fault – they were our fault for lavishing praise on that song.

Will stereotypes like we will see in “Jersey Shore” really hurt Italians? Is it just “fun” (you know, like white people used to think Step n Fetchit was fun)? It’s not our stars like Scalia and Giuliani who are at risk; it’s ordinary Italians who have to use the Court system who will get hurt by the stereotype.

Twenty years ago when I was in law school, three students were in the booth next to me at a campus restaurant. One said, “In criminal law we’re studying a case where all the defendants had these looooong Italian names…they were sooooo guilty!” I wonder where that student is today – a judge? A prosecutor bringing charges against Italians because their long names make them soooooo guilty?

There was a criminal indictment in New Jersey a few years back where several Italians were arrested, and they all had nicknames in “quotes” between their first and last names. The problem? The Defendants didn’t really have those nicknames. The prosecution invented them and put them in the indictment, in an attempt to sway the jury who likely believe, as that law student from 20 years ago did, that Italian = guilty.

Press reporters won’t help the Italian American in Court either, with newspapers insisting that all Italians must have a middle name in quotes. Locally where I live there was a trial involving a man the Press called James “Jimmy” (last name). Is “Jimmy” such an unusual aberration of the name James that it requires quotation marks, or are the marks just a media signal to the jurors that the defendant must be guilty because he’s “mobbed up?”

That the characters on MTV’s “Jersey Shore” are Italian themselves, as were many actors on the Sopranos, only highlights the depth of the problem. Hollywood has so engrained in the minds of America that there is a sexiness to the murderous, killing gangster or the dumb lovable “Guido” that it’s easy to recruit such useful idiots from our own ranks. That the actors are Italian doesn’t make it OK – it makes it worse.

Let’s just hope the show doesn’t win an Emmy, further solidifying the bigoted Italian stereotype into American Pop Culture.

The Church's Association With Kennedy, Or Not

2009-11-23T12:52:44-05:00

Ask the average person what their First Amendment rights are, and they are quick to list Speech, Religion, Press, Assembly and Petition the Government. Those are specifically expressed in the language of the First Amendment.

The Supreme Court has held that within the right to Assemble is another right, equally as important as the other First Amendment Rights: The “Right to Associate.”

The cases in which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Freedom to Associate was in NAACP vs Alabama (the state could not subpoena the group’s list of members) and The Boy Scouts of America v Dale (the Boy Scouts do not have to admit Gay and Lesbian members).

The right to Associate exists because it is understood that political progress and even enjoyment of life can be tied to a person’s association. To split like-minded people apart is to divide their power (divide and conquer).

This is the proper background to view Bishop Thomas Tobin’s decision to not let Congressman Patrick Kennedy receive communion because of the Democratic lawmaker's support for abortion rights.

Kennedy does not share the belief system of the Catholic Church on either the moral front or the political front. Why Kennedy would want to belong to a religion he disagrees with is a mystery anyway.

The Church not only has the right to suspend Kennedy form communion (a form of minor excommunication), they could have, and should have, gone further and ex-communicated him completely.