Let’s Help Nancy Pelosi with her Waterboarding Alibi

The Left has suggested that members of George Bush’s administration should be prosecuted for their role in sanctioning the physical coercion (waterboarding) of terrorists to extract information that could be used to prevent mass murders by other terrorists. The idea of prosecuting members of the previous Administration is highly reminiscent of Stalinist purges of previous regimes, royal families (Shakespeare’s Richard III comes to mind) who murdered every rival who might have a claim on the throne, and of course Napoleon’s extermination of Snowball’s followers in Orwell’s Animal Farm. Now, however, the Left has a serious embarrassment in the form of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the question as to what she knew about waterboarding and when she knew it. The following cartoon should help Ms. Pelosi with what was once known as the Four-Step Nuremburg War Crime Alibi.

Now, Ms. Pelosi, repeat the following:

(1) “Es geschah nicht.” (”It didn’t happen.”)
(2) “Ich wusste nicht.” (”I didn’t know.”)
(3) “Ich war nicht dort.” (”I wasn’t there.”)
(4) “Ich folgt nur Auftragen.” (”I only followed orders.”)

Climate Action Partnership Stock Portfolio vs. Dow, S&P

We contended previously that membership in the U.S. Climate Action Partnership does not speak well of a company’s mission or strategy, although there are admittedly good performers on the list. This is because a well-managed corporation does not need government mandates to force businesses and individuals to buy its products (e.g. alternative energy sources, compact fluorescent lamps). As an example, if General Electric was up to the job of engineering cost-effective wind turbines and solar panels, it would probably not be able to make them quickly enough to keep up with demand even without tax credits to encourage their purchase. When Henry Ford engineered an affordable alternative to horses and their solid waste, he did not need government mandates to sell his product either.

As an experiment, we created a hypothetical stock portfolio that assumes the purchase of $1000 worth of each USCAP corporate member’s publicly traded stock on January 2, 2002. (It does not include Duke Energy, DUK, because there appears to have been a stock split of some kind, Shell Oil, which has multiple symbols, or NRG, which was not listed in 2002.) This gave us $18,000 in eighteen stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 10,073.40 and the Standard and Poor 500 closed at 1,154.67 on January 2, 2002. March 9’s closes were 6,547.05 (down 35%) and 676.53 (down 41.4%) respectively. Our hypothetical $18,000 worth of USCAP stock (18 companies) would be worth $10,555.58 (down 41.36%) on March 9. In other words, a portfolio of equally weighted USCAP publicly traded corporations underperformed the Dow, and just about equaled the S&P 500. Had we also purchased $1000 worth of former USCAP members Lehman Brothers and AIG, our $20,000 investment would now be worth about $10,556 or so, i.e. down 47 percent from January 2, 2002.

Americans Wake Up to Obama’s Carbon Emission Scam

We reported previously that the U.S. Climate Action Partnership’s (USCAP’s) members include some of the country’s worst-managed corporations, as demonstrated by their need for government bailouts. These include former USCAP members AIG and Lehman Brothers, as well as government-dependent entities like General Motors and Chrysler. Our position is that companies that need government mandates to force people to buy their products or services contribute nothing to society, and they should not be in business. If General Electric, for example, cannot engineer cost-effective wind turbines and solar panels, and must instead get the government to require businesses and utilities to buy its products, it is a liability to the country and should not be in business. This message comes across clearly in Kimberley Strassel’s “If the Cap Fits,” from the Wall Street Journal.

GE makes all the solar equipment and wind turbines (at $2 million a pop) that utilities would have to buy under a climate regime. GE’s revenue from environmental products long ago passed the $10 billion mark, and it doesn’t take much “ecomagination” to see why Mr. Immelt is leading the pack of climate profiteers.

Americans are fortunately waking up to Barack Obama’s plans to raise prices for consumers and knife the unions and workers who helped elect him by imposing carbon taxes that would enrich special interests (USCAP members) while driving energy-intensive businesses offshore.

Repudiate Obama’s Carbon Regulation Plans to Start Economic Recovery

Banking problems and “toxic assets” are major contributors to the ongoing decline in the stock market, but it is quite likely that investors took them into account last year. The 800 pound gorilla in the living room that nobody seems to want to talk about consists of Barack Obama’s agenda (per his State of the Union Address) to impose taxes on all fossil fuels, or require users of fossil fuels to buy carbon offset credits from the modern counterparts of medieval indulgence peddlers.

As long as this agenda continues to menace the United States, investors are rightly reluctant to invest in American manufacturing, transportation, and other energy-intensive sectors. If, however, enough Senators (including Democrats from coal-producing and manufacturing states) pledged to vote against and filibuster Obama’s cap-and-trade agenda, it would restore investor confidence, break the downward momentum of the stock market, and set the stage for an economic recovery.

Muslim Immigrant Charged with Beheading Wife in New York

You can take the ape out of the jungle, but you can’t take the jungle out of the ape.
Television Executive Accused of Beheading Wife Remains Jailed

A Muslim-American television executive who allegedly beheaded his wife days after she filed for divorce remains jailed without bail following a court appearance in western New York.

…Following multiple episodes of domestic violence, Aasiya Hassan filed for divorce on Feb. 6 and obtained an order of protection that barred her husband from their home, according to attorney Elizabeth DiPirro, whose law firm, Hogan Willig, represented Aasiya Hassan in the divorce proceeding.

Militant “Islam:” the religion of domestic violence and (allegedly) beheading.

Another Obama lottery with a predetermined winner

We will say up front that Obama’s actions subsequent to his election have been far less radical than we would have predicted (given the content of Dreams From My Father and Obama’s membership in a racist church). If, despite the very poor first impression he gave us during the campaign, he does a good job, we will acknowledge that he has exceeded our expectations.

Obama must realize in turn, however, that fundraising through rigged online lotteries (this one is legal because it provides a way to enter without making a donation) undermines his credibility and reinforces negative expectations. This is not, incidentally, the first time this has happened.

Blagojevich Allegedly Tries to Sell Obama’s Senate Seat; Robert Byrd & Co. Would Have Sold Obama

“Unko bachana kaun chahega?” India’s Excellent Response to Terrorists:

“Who will want to save them?” i.e. “Who wants to capture any alive?”
Mumbai: Doctors Shocked At Hostages Torture reports that the Islamic supremacist perpetrators of the Mumbai massacre tortured many of their hostages before murdering them. The article also says, however, that the Indians may have used what Kumbaya-singing Westerners might call “excessive violence” on the terrorists. The Islamic supremacists’ faces were “beyond recognition” and “One of the terrorists was shot through either eye.”

In other words, the terrorists got exactly what they deserved, and what the United States and Israel ought to give the perpetrators of 9/11 and Ma’alot respectively on a routine basis. The French use the term “pour encourager les autres”–literally “to encourage the others,” but more generally “as an example to others.” We stated more than 25 years ago that first aid for wounded terrorists should be limited to the cost of a single pistol cartridge.

Let the Grinch Have the Christmas Shopping Season

Retailers predict the economic equivalent of coal in their Christmas stockings. Who cares? As stated by Dr. Seuss’ Grinch, Christmas does not come from a store, and we encourage our readers to let the Grinch have Black Friday and the whole holiday shopping season. Young children can be taught the virtue of delayed gratification with the explanation that Santa Claus can bring them more if they wait until after Christmas. This is, of course, because the same amount of money can buy far more after Christmas.

Twenty or thirty years ago, there would have indeed been reason to care about holiday sales figures. The purchase of American-made goods would have enriched American workers and their employers, which would have in turn stimulated the American economy. The purchase of Chinese-made trash–and “trash” describes numerous personal experiences with it plus the well-known cases of poisoned pet food, contaminated heparin, and dangerous toys–stimulates China’s economy while it rewards importers for shipping American jobs offshore.

Got Melamine?

China sells melamine-contaminated products.

Got Melamine?