SelwynDuke.com

President Downgrade

By Selwyn Duke

When Barack Obama promised change that would transform America, most never suspected that he would make history by presiding over the nation’s first-ever credit downgrade.  But, well, yes – he can.

And he did.

Of course, the blame cannot be laid entirely at Obama’s feet.  Since Congress controls the purse strings, it allocates the money (the president does have a veto pen, however).  And, if in light of this we can still say that a president “spends,” for two terms Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush, spent like a drunken sailor. 

Yet the reality is that Obama has spent like three drunken sailors and a tipsy cabin boy.  And this isn’t just rhetoric.  According to a Weekly Standard piece featured at the very liberal NPR’s website, deficit spending under Obama is three and one half times what it was under Bush, as he has signed budget increases amounting to a whopping one trillion a year more in deficit spending.   So the reality is that, in a great measure, the president owns our economic woes. 

Up from Mexico Way: A Lawsuit Against U.S. Gun Manufacturers

By Selwyn Duke

In the early days it was Pancho Villa, then it was undocumented Democrats and drug runners, and now we have the latest incursion across our southern border: The Mexican government is poised to file a lawsuit against our domestic firearms manufacturers over U.S.-made guns that are finding their way into Mexico. Writes CBS News:

"Sources say Mexico's frustration with U.S. efforts to stop the flow of weapons has pushed them into this novel approach. The law firm [that has been retained] is looking at charges that may include civil RICO. The contract was signed on November 2, 2010 by a representative of Mexico's Attorney General, at their Washington embassy.

"On November 5, 2010 President Felipe Calderon expressed his frustration to CBS News correspondent Peter Greenberg: 'We seized more than 90,000 weapons.... I am talking like 50,000 assault weapons, AR-15 machine guns, more than 8,000 grenades and almost 10 million bullets. Amazing figures and according to all those cases, the ones we are able to track, most of these are American weapons.'"

Frustration with efforts to stop a cross-border flow....

Wow, we wouldn’t know anything about that.

Read the rest here.

Review of "Trickle Up Poverty"

By Selwyn Duke

As I was listening to Michael Savage’s radio show no more than a year ago, I heard something that might have caused his faithful listeners to scurry for the anti-depressants. (That is, if the host weren’t so steadfast in counseling against their use.) Dejected over his unfair inclusion on a list of individuals banned from travel to Britain, Savage expressed an intention to leave the airwaves in the not-too-distant future. Since then, however, certain events have changed his mind. Not the least of these, I believe, is his desire to fight the good fight against the statist advance under the Obama administration. And the result of this patriotic motivation is his latest book Trickle Up Poverty (TUP).

While TUP is Dr. Savage’s latest book, it is no more the first than radio is his first career. The many-hatted host — who holds a doctorate in epidemiology and nutritional science — actually spent a good part of his life as a botanical Indiana Jones, traveling the South Pacific in search of plants with medicinal qualities. Considered a pioneer in the field, he wrote 17 books on health and herbal medicine and, upon transitioning to nutrition for the mind, wrote numerous best-sellers on politics and social issues.

Read the rest here.

Democrazy: Egypt and the Eternal Constitution

By Selwyn Duke

A little less than a century ago, the West entertained the notion that WWI would be “the war to end all wars.”  Insofar as this was seriousness and not just selling point, it was naiveté.  Obviously, a military solution cannot solve a moral problem – nor can it change man’s nature.  And while we should realize this today, we now fall victim to another flight of fancy.  This is the idea that a political solution can solve a moral problem.

Dangerous United Nations Women’s Treaty Looms on Horizon

By Selwyn Duke

While Americans are thinking about turkey and the TSA (and turkeys in the TSA), as is often the case, the most destructive governmental shenanigans are occurring behind the scenes. On Thursday, November 18, the Senate held hearings on the U.N.’s Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), a treaty that could be used to justify sweeping social engineering across the nation.

While the CEDAW was adopted way back in 1979, the Senate has thus far refused to ratify it. But with the Obama administration at the helm, some lame-duck Democrats in office, the fashionable promise of “eliminating all forms of discrimination” and the fact that virtually all other nations have already ratified the treaty, it may be an easier sell this time around. As always, however, being discriminating as a buyer is a good thing, and what lies beneath CEDAW’s packaging isn’t so attractive.

Read the rest here.

Is Turkey the Next Big Islamic Threat?

While often hailed as a triumph in Muslim democracy, Turkey may ultimately pose a greater Islamic threat than Hezbollah, Hamas, Syria, and even Iran, says former PLO terrorist Walid Shoebat.

By Selwyn Duke

When we think of terrorism, our minds may go to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and nuclear ambitions, Osama bin Laden or the Taliban. But we wouldn’t think of Turkey, the NATO member considered for full integration into the European Union. Yet this could be a serious mistake.

This is the message of Walid Shoebat, a former PLO terrorist and current Christian convert. In a recent

with WorldNetDaily.com, Shoebat warned, "Turkey is the biggest threat. Turkey is the strongest military power in the region, and it's the second largest army in NATO.” He also says that Ankara is making statements that allude to Turkey’s intentions and that should serve as a red flag.

Read the rest here.

Understanding the Global-warming Jihadists

By Selwyn Duke

"I was born with a chronic anxiety about the weather," said John Burroughs in 1877.  Today, anxiety about the weather is more common than ever, although it’s not inborn but cultivated in schoolrooms, through television sets and by lying, rapacious ex-vice presidents.  And I have anxiety about the weather, too — especially when it’s being used to promote a destructive agenda.

Nice Guys, and Obama, Finish Last

By Selwyn Duke

When it comes to foreign affairs, Barack Obama may be learning that a policy of apologizing profusely, bowing low and carry a small stick doesn’t get you as far as realpolitik. In fact, this victory in personal growth may be the only thing he could possibly take away from his recent trip to Asia, as other victories proved elusive. As Gabor Steingart of Der Spiegel wrote:

In Tokyo, the new center-left government . . . pulled out of its participation in a mission which saw the Japanese navy refueling US warships in the Indian Ocean as part of the Afghanistan campaign. In Beijing, Obama failed to achieve any important concessions whatsoever. There will be no binding commitments from China to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A revaluation of the Chinese currency, which is kept artificially weak, has been postponed. Sanctions against Iran? Not a chance. Nuclear disarmament? Not an issue for the Chinese.

The White House did not even stand up for itself when it came to the question of human rights in China.

. . . Obama's new foreign policy has also been relatively unsuccessful elsewhere, with even friends like Israel leaving him high and dry.

Read the rest here.

Congressman Joins Michael Savage in Fight Against U.K. Government

Talk show host Michael Savage is finally getting some support from the political world in his battle against the British government. But while the intrepid radio star will no doubt prevail, is his case a portent of things to come?   

By Selwyn Duke

After six months on a list of individuals banned from travel to Britain, talk show host Michael Savage finally has an ally in government. Taking up the cudgels for the radio star, Texas congressman John Culberson has written a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging her to pressure the U.K. into rescinding the travel ban.

This story began on May 5, when Britain’s Home Office created a real “What’s wrong with this picture?” scenario, announcing that Savage was lumped in with terrorists, murderers and neo-Nazis on the banned list. And it appears that they did this simply to “balance” out Muslims on the list and avoid accusations of bigotry. As to this, the U.K.’s Daily Mail cited British government documents released under a freedom of information law and wrote:

Read the rest here.

The Blasphemy Resolution Story: A Clarification

By Selwyn Duke

Recently I wrote a piece titled "Obama Pushing Secular UN Anti-Free Speech Resolution," wherein I reported on Barack Obama's support of a Muslim-inspired United Nations anti-blasphemy resolution. In it I cited a liberal professor named Jonathan Turley, who wrote the following:

While attracting surprisingly little attention, the Obama administration supported the effort of largely Muslim nations in the U.N. Human Rights Council to recognize exceptions to free speech for any "negative racial and religious stereotyping." The exception was made as part of a resolution supporting free speech that passed this month, but it is the exception, not the rule that worries civil libertarians.... It is viewed as a transparent bid to appeal to the "Muslim street" and our Arab allies, with the administration seeking greater coexistence through the curtailment of objectionable speech. Though it has no direct enforcement (and is weaker than earlier versions), it is still viewed as a victory for those who sought to juxtapose and balance the rights of speech and religion.