Let’s Not Forget Fundamental Principles On Health Care Reform

From the inimitable Austin Russell:

Ignoring the most basic instincts of competitive politics, modern opposition to any particular political issue usually raises a lack of partisan cooperation as an almost natural first line of defense. While such an approach does credit to American parenting, in that it demonstrates a firm belief in fairness, it does little to defend-and much less to advance- any alternative political philosophy.

The latest and greatest example comes from the alleged opposition to federal healthcare reform or, as it should be more appropriately regarded, federal healthcare takeover. The insistence by both House and Senate leaders that forthcoming deliberations be held behind closed doors has led many in opposition to complain of the unfairness of it all. While the adoption of such a secretive process would assuredly preclude transparency, it has, unfortunately, shifted the focus of many to how deliberations should be conducted, rather then whether such deliberations should be conducted at all.

While defenses should be raised through every conceivable and ethical political tact, basic arguments must not be neglected. Those who oppose a federal takeover of healthcare must not abandon the ship of fundamental principles. Transparent or not?fair or not?the federal government has no business meddling with healthcare in the first place. Let us never forget that.

A Brave Man

I feel no shame in admitting I probably wouldn’t have the guts to do what this guy did. Robert Park, all of 28 years old, went into North Korea on Christmas Day with a letter for Kim Jong Il to step down and free all political prisoners. He is an American Christian missionary.

God Bless him, and keep him safe. According to the linked article, published two days ago, he has not been heard from since entering the country.

Get Rid of Napolitano

As is well-known by now, last week there was a suicide bomber attack on a plane from Amsterdam to Detroit. The attack, fortunately, failed, as the explosive device failed to go off. The alleged terrorist is suspected to be connected to at least one terrorist organization. He claimed, initially at least, to be connected to Al Qaeda.

This, obviously, is both good news and bad. First, it’s good in that nobody died, a terrorist was captured and now we know where to concentrate more efforts on the international scale. The bad news is that some people are just plain stupid, including Think Progress’ Matthew Yglesias, who wrote the other day that, “Ultimately, it does no favors to anyone to blow this sort of thing out of proportion. The United States could not, of course, be ?devastated? by anything resembling this scheme. We ought to be clear on that fact. We want to send the message around the world that this sort of vile attempt to slaughter innocent people is not, at the end of the day, anything resembling a serious challenge to American power. It?s attempted murder, it?s wrong, we should try to stop it, but it?s really not much more than that.”

Even worse, however, is the reaction from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. “The system worked,” according to Napolitano. Given that it took a failed attempt plus civilian passengers to subdue the attempted terrorist, I’d say the system failed. Plus, the guy was on a watch list, which is particularly poignant given his father reported him as a potential threat two years ago. (See the video of Napolitano’s inane comments here.)

To quote Jonah Goldberg from The Corner yesterday, “If the White House wants to assure people that it takes the war on terror seriously (a term Robert Gibbs used this morning by the way), they could start by firing this patenly unqualified hack.” Personally, I think “man-caused disasters” are a worse threat than conservatives, Secretary Napolitano. You had better figure that out soon, or your job will be gone. Unfortunately, this will probably not happen until after Americans have died as a result of your incompetence. Yes, as they said on the Real Clear Politics blog, it’s your job to reassure the American public as part of an overall security standpoint. However- and I’ll finish with a quote from the RCP blog- “…she should be smart enough to find a way of doing that without treating the American people like a bunch of morons and dupes.”

This was originally posted at THE LOBBYIST.

Update: According to The Washington Monthly blog, President Obama has been paying close attention to the Al Qaeda threat from Yemen. Kudos to President Obama for doing so.

Update II: The Heritage Foundation’s Morning Bell points out the continued failure by the Obama administration to take the proper steps to protect this country from terrorists, and offers three steps going forward.

Update III: A friend pointed out on Facebook that I misspelled Secretary Napolitano’s name- it is corrected.

Update IIII (last one, I hope): Two links from where I posted this at Race42012 showing Secretary Napolitano backtracking on her statements about the system working well. Too little, too late, I think.

TODAY Video: Napolitano: Prevention system ?failed miserably?
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/34608370#34608370

Security System Failed, Napolitano Acknowledges
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/29/us/29terror.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print