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In the WaPo, Peter Carlson describes his experiences working for the Census.
…One old white guy identified his race as “homo sapien.” He said he learned on Wikipedia that it’s the only true race and we’re all in it together.
I tend to agree, but the census doesn’t. The questionnaire lists 12 races, plus a box labeled “Some other race.” Several choices seem more like nationalities than races — Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean — and this caused some confusion. Some people told me their race was Salvadoran or Iranian.
A Korean immigrant, who kept apologizing for her accent, identified herself and her husband as Korean. When I asked about the race of her children, she said, “Oh, they American.” …
Jeff Jacoby, in the Boston Globe, responds to critics of the Declaration of Independence.
…the lofty ideal of equality enshrined in the Declaration — precisely because it was enshrined in the Declaration — imparted enormous moral authority to the abolitionists’ cause. Those who indict the Founders because their treatment of African slaves didn’t come up to the standard of “all men are created equal’’ should be asked: Would the Declaration of Independence have been improved if those words had been omitted? Would slavery have ended sooner had abolitionists not been able to invoke that “self-evident truth’’?
Inveighing against slavery on Independence Day in 1852, Frederick Douglass famously asked: “What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July?’’ It was a “sham,’’ he answered, “empty and heartless . . . revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy.’’ For after all, he demanded, “Are the great principles . . . embodied in that Declaration of Independence extended to us?’’ That Declaration could have been written without those great principles. But at what cost to Douglass and all who fought against slavery?
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’’ The Founders chose those words not to describe the nation in which they lived, but a better, more just nation; the nation America could become. Their words became the American creed, the taproot of the American dream — as worthy of celebrating today as they were in 1776.
In the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Sherman Frederick says that Senator Harry Reid has to answer for his comments before the Iraqi surge.
…In 2007, Sen. Reid opposed the Iraq “surge” and questioned publicly the integrity of Bush’s general — David Petraeus.
In 2010, Reid supports the Afghanistan “surge” and gushes public praise for Obama’s general — David Petraeus.
Sen. Reid owes the country an explanation. He can start with Nevadans, who must decide in November whether he’s fit to send back to Washington. But in the end, he must stand accountable to the soldiers who won his “lost” war.
Political survival is causing some Dems to rethink sacrificing U. S. citizens for their environmental ideology. Investor’s Business Daily editors tell the story.
The Export-Import Bank wanted to stop the export of U.S. coal-mining equipment to India. But it seems coal isn’t so bad, and green isn’t all that special, when the re-election of a senator is affected.
President Obama journeyed to Wisconsin last Wednesday ostensibly to tout the success of his failed stimulus package(s). On the same day, the Ex-Im Bank announced it was reconsidering a denied loan guarantee affecting a Milwaukee-based company that sought to export coal-mining equipment to India. A coincidence? We think not.
Wisconsin is in play in November and so is the Senate seat held by incumbent Russ Feingold. A recent survey by Public Policy Polling showed Feingold leads challenger Ron Johnson by only two points, 45-43. Feingold, conscious of the president’s negative coattails in Massachusetts, Virginia and New Jersey, made himself scarce during the visit, but Democrats still would like to hold the seat.
Last week, the Ex-Im Bank denied financing for Reliance Power Ltd., an Indian power plant company, for a coal-fired plant and mine, effectively killing the sale of $600 million in equipment by Bucyrus International, based in South Milwaukee. The dead deal meant the potential loss of a thousand U.S. jobs, 300 of them at the Wisconsin plant.
“President Obama has made clear his administration’s commitment to transition away from high-carbon investments and toward a cleaner-energy future,” was the explanation given by Ex-Im Chairman Fred Hochberg. “After careful deliberation, the Ex-Im Bank board voted not to proceed with this project because of the projected adverse economic impact.” …
Toby Harnden reviews the events that led to former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s trial.
…Jarrett was a long-time personal friend of Obama and his wife Michelle and that seemed to be qualification enough for the man about to enter the White House.
Tom Balanoff, president of the Service Employees International Union’s powerful Local 1 branch, took on the role as “emissary” for Jarrett, who initially wanted the Senate seat, and testified that Obama telephoned him personally to speak about it.
Next, Obama’s incoming chief of staff Rahm Emanuel spoke to John Wyma, a lobbyist, who then telephoned Blago’s right-hand man John Harris to communicate that “the president-elect would be very pleased if you appointed Valerie and he would be, uh, thankful and appreciative”.
…The gratitude of a President, however, is no small thing and who knows what favour Blago might have found coming his way in due course had he duly appointed Jarrett. …
Michael Barone discusses Obama’s immigration speech.
…As Immigration Works, a pro-comprehensive immigration bill lobby, put it, “the president is still scolding and blaming Republicans rather than appealing to them in terms that might draw them into a serious effort to compromise on a bill.”
…One result of the failure of the 2006 and 2007 bills has been a push for tougher enforcement at the border and workplace, beginning under George W. Bush and continuing now. Conservatives are wrong to scoff at Obama’s statement that “we have more boots on the ground on the southwest border than at any time in our history.” We do.
He might have added, but didn’t, that an Arizona law requiring employers to use the federal e-Verify system has resulted in a statistically significant decline in the illegal immigrant population in that state, according to the Census Bureau. A similar federal measure might make a comprehensive bill more palatable to many Republicans and some Democrats too. …