Dick Cheney on Same-Sex Marriage

Here's a couple videos of Dick Cheney. In the first video, the former vice president said "freedom means freedom for all." But he qualifies that by arguing that regulating marriage is properly handled a the state level.

The second video shows Cheney's interview, with his daughter, on Greta Van Susteren "On the Record." Here's the transcript:

VAN SUSTEREN: You bring up sort of the social issues, and of course, today, I couldn't help but notice you were asked the question about -- of gay marriage, and you said that it wasn't -- that you weren't in favor, at least -- as I understand your answer, in favor of federal statute, but it should be state by state by state. Did that mean you're in favor of gay marriage within state by state?

D. CHENEY: Well, if that's what the people of the state want to do, that's fine by me. I mean, I don't, I ...

VAN SUSTEREN: How would you vote on it?

D. CHENEY: I made the announcement at the outset that I believe equal rights means equal rights for everybody and that people ought to be able to enter into any kind of relationship they want, but that the states ought to retain the ability to regulate and determine what's marriage and what the legal status of those unions are. It should not be a federal issue.

VAN SUSTEREN: President Obama is in favor of civil unions, not in favor of gay marriage. Are you saying you're in favor -- if you were, you know, hitting the button in the voting booth, that you would be for your state having gay marriage, or would be you be ...

D. CHENEY: Well, I look at it, obviously, in personal terms. And my daughter, Mary, is in a -- you know, I think a very commendable relationship with somebody she's known for a long time, and I'm strongly supportive of that.

Leftists are giddy. See Huffington Post and Memeorandum.

Tiller's Killing Reignites Abortion Debate?

At the paper's website, the Washington Post's headline reads, "Killing Reignites Abortion Debate."

Clicking the link we find, "Slaying Raises Fears on Both Sides of Abortion Debate."

Either way, the leftist media and the radical netroots are pushing hard to get massive mileage from the George Tiller tragedy. Contrary to the Washington Post, the abortion debate was hot all of last year, when President Obama said he didn't want his daughters "punished" with a baby; when his deathwish record on Born Alive Infanct Protection legislation was circulated widely; and when Pastor Rick Warren asked him "when does life begin?" (and he responded that it's "above my pay grade").

In truth, leftists have turned Tiller's death into a one-way superhighway to baby-killing. Debate? What debate? The memes are all about the "evil" O'Reilly, "forced-childbirth" extremists, and the "vindication" of the DHS report. Indeed, it's apparent now that leftists are using Tiller's killing to argue for RELAXING EXISTING LAWS TO ACHIEVE MORE LATE-TERM ABORTIONS!

Words fail me here. I'll let these images speak instead:

More at Memorandum, and here.

Muslim Terrorist Kills U.S. Military Recruiter: Where's the Outrage?

Well, where's the outrage on the left today? In what looks like an ideologically-driven attack on U.S. military personnel, Abdul Hakim Mujahid Muhammad, a convert to Islam who was "upset with the military," is alleged to have killed one and injured another at a U.S. Army Navy Career Center in Little Rock.

Check USA Today and KATV-TV for the story. Interestingly, the KATV story notes, "the gunman targeted the military but was not believed to be part of a broader scheme."

Well, don't bet Abdul Hakim wasn't part of a "broader scheme." The fact is that the antiwar left has been targeting military recruiting stations for years. Unlike the unhinged leftists in response to the George Tiller murder, conservative bloggers were very measured in their response to the Little Rock shootings. As Say Anything noted this morning:

... we could jump to the conclusion that this man was motivated by a hatred for the military (or something along those lines) and then blame groups like Code Pink and Media Matters and MoveOn.org for fanning anti-military, anti-Iraq war passions for years. We could, much as the left has with people like Bill O’Reilly in the George Tiller murder claim that those groups have blood on their hands.

But we won’t. Because that’s stupid. This murder, whatever the motivation (it’s not clear at this point), was committed by a murderous thug who acted of his own volition. Not because he was compelled to by liberal dissent.

Murder is murder. Let’s mourn the dead, condemn the guilty and move on.

But check Snooper Report as well:

Where's the outrage from the Leftinistra? Where are the condemnations that we on the Right expressed for the murder of Tiller the Baby Killer?

For years this kind of activity from the Leftinistra has been going on and absolutely no condemnation from them has ever been expressed that I know of. Why is that?

So far, I have only read mentions of this incident from the Right.

Well, conservatives were waiting for more information. This Ain't Hell even began with a disclaimer:

Notice how, unlike some bloggers on the Left jumped to conclusions over yesterday’s shooting, I’m not speculating on the motivations of this shooter or his relationship to any other group of recruiter-haters until the facts are in - I caution commenters here to do the same.

Michelle Malkin adds this:

I wonder if the Justice Department will send marshals to beef up protection at recruiting centers — especially given the past targeting of military centers on campuses and elsewhere across the country.

See also, "OUTRAGE!!! Left-Wing Terrorists Target Military Recruiters!!!."

American Idols

Check out Dan Neil's piece at today Los Angeles Times, "When Cars Were America's Idols":

1957 Chevrolet Bel Air Convertible

1960 Chevrolet Impala 4-Door Hardtop

If you were to walk up to a typical New York executive in the 1960s -- think Don Draper in AMC's "Mad Men" -- and tell him that General Motors Corp. would be in bankruptcy by 2009, he would have thought you were delusional, or perhaps a Communist. GM was more than just the world's largest and most admired corporation; it was the final vindication of the American Way, the perfected and even divinely inspired example of democratic capitalism that stood opposed to the airless atheism and nullity of the Soviet system.

Or imagine that you were somehow able to drag Nikita Khrushchev from the United Nations podium into the street to confront -- no, behold -- a 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz. Nearly 19 feet long from its Jayne Mansfield-like bumpers to its rocket-like tail lamps, a lyric in steel and mirrored chrome, as bright and beautiful as a ripe plum is sweet, and yet just ever so slightly obscene. Khrushchev would have dropped his shoe.

Surely a company, a country, that could produce such an object would last forever.

Read the full article, here. See the Times' photo gallery, here.

Retro Cars Photo Hat Tip: Libby Spencer.

Israel Day Parade: "Close Guantanamo, Re-Open Auschwitz"

Phyllis Chesler reports on New York's Israel Day Parade, " “Close Gitmo, Re-Open Auschwitz” and Other Brazen Signs at the Israel Day Parade":

The sign about re-opening Auschwitz was held by a perpetually smiling, bearded man. He seemed as smug and happy with himself as did the well-fed, well-groomed members of Neturi Karta who take money from Amadinejad to protest the state of Israel.

My friend and colleague, Fern Sidman, covered the march for me. The photos, below, were taken by her. She reminds me that the March was also a tribute to the 100th anniversary of the city of Tel Aviv ....

Although the protestors were very few in number, (and the police plentiful), some of the protest signs were exceptionally vicious. I suggest that we take such signs seriously. They signify a coarsening of the atmosphere, a more brazen posture that not only means to intimidate but which actually intends to carry out the acts their signs depict.

Yes, racism exists, both among white folk and among peoples of color but Islamist martyrs of all colors do not plan to stop coming our way anytime soon. And, “color” has absolutely nothing to do with terrorism and other death cults. As I’ve written many times: Appeasement will not work. We don’t have enough money to keep bribing the villains. The Pakistani government has finally understood that the Taliban cannot be appeased, that they must be fought house to house, in tunnels, in hand to hand combat, and only by sacrificing many Pakistani soliders’ lives.

Actually, Ms. Sidman has posted at Right Truth, "News Brief: Salute to Israel Day Parade in New York City":

Thousands of supporters of Israel, both young and old gathered today in Manhattan to celebrate Israel's 61st birthday. A sea of blue and white filled fashionable 5th Avenue, as scores of synagogues, Jewish community centers and schools representing New York, New Jersey, Long Island, Connecticut, etc proudly carried thousands of Israeli flags while paying tribute to the eternal Jewish state. Shouts of "Am Yisroel Chai" (the people of Israel live) echoed through the East Side of Manhattan as marchers paid tribute to the 100th anniversary of the city of Tel Aviv ....

Also on hand were a small contingent of anti-Israel protesters whose signs and chants reflected their thinly veiled attempt to promulgate their essential message of rabid Jew hatred. Labeling Israel as an "apartheid state" and calling on the US to end all economic and military aid to the Jewish state, they also called for the total "liberation of Palestine" while excoriating Israelis as "Judeo Nazis". Other anti-Semitic signs conjured up images of the libelous propaganda once espoused by Adolf Hitler during the Nazi era. "Close Guantanamo Bay and Re-Open Auschwitz" read one sign, while another read, "Lock Up Your Kids: Pedophile Rabbis Are Everywhere." Members of the Revolution Muslim web site were on hand as well, carrying a banner that read, "Every Supporter of Israel is an Enemy Combatant".

Related: In case you missed it, check out some of the articles from Commentary's recent symposium, "Israel at Risk: A Commentary Special Report":

* Norman Podhoretz, "How Obama's America Might Threaten Israel."

* Mark Steyn, "Israel Today, the West Tomorrow."

* Jonathan Tobin, "An Ominous Turn in Elite Opinion."

Mitt Romney: Obama "Taking Us Far Too Far to the Left"

Here's Mitt Romney looking good for 2012, on Fox News Sunday: "The American people realize that this administration is taking us far too far to the left; and America is, fundamentally, a center-right nation":

CNN has the story, "Romney: President putting country in jeopardy," via Memeorandum.

Romney speaks quite movingly on the GM bankruptcy as well.

More on that news at the Wall Street Journal, "President Says U.S. a 'Reluctant Shareholder' As GM Seeks Fresh Start Through Chapter 11." See also, "New Era in Autos as GM Set for Bankruptcy."

Postcards from the 2009 MTV Movie Awards

Did you watch it? The 2009 MTV Movie Awards was quite a spectacle. The Los Angeles Times has a slideshow, "Best and Worst: 2009 MTV Movie Awards."

And via Ann Althouse, don't miss the video of Sacha Baron Cohen "dropping in unexpectedly" on Eminem.

MTV Shows

The Times' blurb:

Swooping in as Alter Ego No. 3, aka Bruno, in a pair of faux, oversized Angel wings, Cohen tumbles into the audience when the wire work goes wonky. The not so amused people who got a lap full of Bruno? Eminem and his entourage, who promptly got up and left the auditorium. Another fake feud?