This Memorial Day, Let Us Honor the Dead by Winning the War

           As we Americans remember our war dead this Memorial Day, it is an appropriate time to reflect on United States President Barack Obama’s recent comments signaling an end to the War on Terrorism.  His advancement of a strategy to withdraw from the battlefield is premature.

Liberals and isolationists deride the global fight against Islamist terrorists as an “endless war.”  They should direct their complaints to the terrorist enemy, instead of to their victims.  As the long as the enemy remains at war with us, then we will remain at war, whether we choose to acknowledge it or not.  Indeed, militant Muslims have engaged in a fourteen-century-long war against the world under the motto of “submission or death.”  Jihad (holy war), which may include violence, is a core part of Islamic belief.  Both Islamists and Communists are committed to advancing their causes by any means necessary, as the recent Boston Marathon Bombings and the killing of a British soldier in London by jihadis or the slayings in India by the Maoist Naxalites remind us. 

The war may be reduced – as it all but has been – to a minor war, or perhaps even to a temporary lull, but it can never end.  At best, we may be able to deter terrorism by Islamists or Communists as a strategy, but not violent jihad.  We surely will not be able to deter either, however, if we give into such violence by pulling back from the fight because the enemy objects to our policies or methods and kills or maims for the sake of intimidating us into giving into their demands.  The enemy is counting on our preference for peace and life and or weariness over the loss of blood and treasure.  We are still winning the war, but the enemy has a strategy to win by tiring us of the attrition abroad and lulling us into complaisance at home.  We must not fail our duty to preserve life or liberty.

We must recall not only those who gave their lives in service to their country in past struggles for liberty, but especially those martyred in the current war, not only out of gratitude, but, as was said nearly one hundred fifty years ago in a small burial field in Pennsylvania by an earlier American Commander in Chief, with a resolve that these dead “shall not have died in vain.”

Primary Election Day in Pennsylvania

Tuesday, May 21 is Primary Election Day in Pennsylvania.

There are contests across the Commonwealth’s 67 counties for Common Pleas Court and Magisterial District judge, various other important county offices, constables, municipal offices and school boards.  These offices affect people directly in countless ways. 

One’s vote counts for more the smaller the number of fellow voters who are casting ballots.  Some of these primary contests will essentially determine the ultimate outcome of the election, as only one party has candidates on the ballot or it is possible that some candidates could one both party’s nominations in those races that permit cross-filing, namely for judges and school directors.  Regardless, because of the dominant two-party system, nearly all of the candidates who are elected in the General Election were candidates who were nominated in the Primary Election by one of the two major parties.

Many conservatives, or at least those who share many of our conservative beliefs, are on the ballot.  It is critically important to vote for them now.

            My fellow Pennsylvania conservatives, I urge you to find your polling place and make plans to vote.

Cal Thomas Addresses the Berks County GOP

Cal Thomas, one of the most widely syndicated and read columnists in the United States, spoke at the Spring Dinner of the Berks County Republican Committee, in which I was in attendance.

            The conservative columnist noted the cloud of scandal currently overhanging the Obama Administration.  Although Thomas was encouraged that the liberal media was finally holding President Barack Obama accountable, he noted that the problems facing the United States went far beyond the scandals.  Accordingly, the main part of Thomas’ speech was his advice to fellow conservatives on how to turn the direction of the country around by winning more elections, pass more of their policies and improve their country.

            One way was to differentiate better our beliefs on the free market. Thomas provided a simple explanation for the difference between liberals and conservatives on wealth.  Whereas liberals believe that wealth is like a pie and if one has a larger piece, then the rest have a smaller one, he wants to give everyone the recipe to make their own pies.  Thomas, cited Calvin Coolidge, who observed that it is not possible to make the poor wealthier by making the wealthy poorer.  Now, however, government policies subsidize the poor, which only incentivizes them to remain in poverty. 

            The popular columnist and author of his recently-published fourth book feels alienated by a world that is in moral decline, part of which he attributed to liberal indoctrination through the public schools.  Thomas noted that traditional values are based upon common sense, are time-tested and that they work.  He urged conservatives to promote them. 

Thomas encouraged methods to teach people basic skills on obtaining and maintaining employment, for example.  He encouraged conservatives to get minorities to share their success stories.  Successful minorities should be promoted, both as examples, and as candidates for political office.

Indeed, we conservatives should promote virtue and traditional values, both by word and deed.  

Conservative Commentary on the Murder Conviction of Abortionist Kermit Gosnell

           A Philadelphia jury has convicted Abortionist Dr. Kermit Gosnell of murder and other charges because of his shocking practices at his “House of Horrors” abortion clinic in West Philadelphia. 

Even though nine of the twelve jurors were pro-abortion, they convicted Gosnell of three counts of first-degree murder and infanticide in the deaths of three infants that were born alive after botched abortions, as well as numerous counts of violating Pennsylvania’s Abortion Control Act of 1990 that prohibits abortions after 24 weeks gestation and violating its requirement of counseling and a 24-hour waiting period.  He was also convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the case of a woman who died in his care because of his grossly negligent procedures, as it was difficult to prove malice in order to convict him of third-degree murder.  In all, Gosnell was convicted of over 200 counts.  Gosnell struck a plea deal after the verdict to avoid the death penalty and accepting a life sentence.  Several other workers at the clinic had either pleaded guilty to murder or other charges or were also convicted.  Gosnell also faces federal drug charges for various alleged violations in regard to prescription drugs.

Gosnell’s defense claimed the babies were not born alive, but this argument was inconsistent with the fact that he snipped their spines.  The jury concluded that the babies were, in fact, born alive.

Although there were many other babies allegedly killed after having been born alive, at least there was justice rendered for three of the cases that were the most egregious and provable beyond a reasonable doubt.

Pro-abortion Governor Tom Ridge had implemented a policy of not inspecting abortion clinics annually like any other medical facility within Pennsylvania out of concern that following the regulations would make it too financially burdensome for such clinics to operate.  In other words, it was pro-abortion politics that created the Gosnell monster.  Governor Ed Rendell continued the policy.  After the discovery of Gosenell’s “House of Horrors” abortion clinic in 2011, the Republican-led General Assembly passed a bill to required inspections of abortion clinics by the Commonwealth’s Department of Health, which was signed into law by Governor Tom Corbett, a Republican. 

The Gosnell case exposed the fact that many abortion clinics are located in the inner city, particularly in predominately black neighborhoods, such as West Philadelphia.  Abortionists prey on blacks, other minorities and the poor while claiming they are providing them “health-care services.”  The targeting of these groups has been a practice of the lucrative abortion industry since the founding of Planned Parenthood by Margaret Sanger, who was a devotee of the then-popular Social Darwinist belief in eugenics, which prescribed the elimination through abortion, contraception and sterilization of what its proponents regarded as those people who were inferior.  Even those most of his victims were black, Gosnell’s defense nevertheless claimed he was targeted for prosecution by racist prosecutors because he was black.

The case also exposed the fine line between abortion and infanticide, particularly for late-term abortions.  Whereas the same practice a moment before is protected by federal case law as a “fundamental” constitutional right, in the next moment it is murder under state law.  The dilation and extraction method, known as “partial-birth abortion,” which was banned by the federal government under President George W. Bush, particularly blurred the line, as the baby’s body was extracted while leaving the head in the birth canal specifically in order to circumvent the charge of infanticide.  Moreover, some abortion advocates have denied the personhood not only for embryos, fetuses and partially-born babies, but even for children born alive.  They have called for the legalization of infanticide for up to two years after birth. 

The gruesome practices in the Gosnell abortion clinic that were allowed to continue unregulated, the targeting of certain groups for abortion, and the exposure of the barbarism of the practice of all abortions, especially late-term abortions on babies who would be viable outside the womb, underscore that this case is not strictly a matter of a rogue abortionist, but strikes at the core of what abortion really is.

Blog and Personal Notes: 500th Post, Cinfici Is Sworn in as Reading School Director

         
           The last post to this blog was my 500th since it was launched in November of 2008.  Thank you for visiting my blog and making its successful.  Please continue to visit periodically and feel free to post comments.

           I am sorry that I have not posted as frequently lately.  Once again, it is a busy time of the year for local politics, which is one of the reasons I have not posted as frequently of late as I would like.

           On May 8, I was sworn in as Reading School Director.  My term lasts until early December.

           I am pleased that Lepanto, by G.K. Chesterton, edited by Dale Ahlquist, of which I wrote a chapter entitled “The Aftermath,” continues to sell well after ten years.  A link to the book appears on the left-hand column of my blog.

Giulio Andreotti, Rest in Peace

           Seven-time Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti, the most enduring political figure of post-war Italian politics, died at his home in Rome yesterday at the age of 94. 

            Born in Rome in 1919, Andreotti studied law in the Eternal City and joined the Italian Catholic University Federation during the Fascist dictatorship, later becoming the leader of the group that produced several future leaders of the Party of Christian Democracy and premiers of Italy.

           After the war, Andreotti was elected to the Italian provisional parliament in 1946.  He became the assistant to Italy’s first republican leader, Prime Minister Alcide De Gasperi, the founder of the Christian Democratic Party.  Andreotti began serving in high party posts in the Gasperi governments of the Italian Republic, from 1947 to 1954.

            Meanwhile, Andreotti was elected to the newly-formed lower house of the Italian Parliament in 1948, the Chamber of Deputies, serving until 1991, when he was appointed to the upper chamber as a life Senator, an office in which he served until his death.  While in Parliament as a Christian Democrat, he served in numerous Cabinets, beginning in 1954, as Minister of the Interior, Finance, Treasury, Defense and Foreign Affairs, often in more than one stint and under successive governments.  Andreotti was Prime Minister of Italy from 1972-1973, 1976-1979 and 1989-1992, leading seven executives.

           The Christian Democrats, like Andreotti, were centrist, with some right and left-wing elements within their ranks.  The principal accomplishment of the Christian Democracy was, through its formation of various coalition governments in the multi-party Italian parliamentary Republic, to keep both the Fascists and Italian Communist Party out of power.  The latter was for decades supported by the Soviet Union and was the largest Communist Party in the free world.  The takeover of a major Western state by Soviet-backed Communists would have been disastrous for the United States and its Western allies.  The Christian Democrats maintained friendly relations with the U.S. and supported Italian membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

           The Christian Democrats held leadership until 1994, when the party was dissolved, except from 1981-1987, when it was a junior member of successive coalition governments, some of which included Andreotti as a minister.  During their long time in power, Italy’s economy prospered from its post-war ruins into one of the largest in the world.  
     
          As the dominant figure within the Christian Democracy, these accomplishments are partly to the credit of Andreotti.  

European Digest: Iceland, the European Monetary Union, the United Kingdom

Iceland

            Iceland’s main center-right party won the most votes in the Icelandic parliamentary elections, although not nearly enough to govern alone and with a smaller vote total than in the last election when it lost power.  The results nevertheless mean the return to power for the Independence Party that had governed the Scandinavian island state since its independence until four years ago.  As elsewhere in Europe, the debt crisis has created political turmoil in Iceland.

European Monetary Union

            The Cypriot Parliament approved the plan by the European Monetary Union to reduce its debt, which was required in order for Cyprus to receive bailout funds.  Greece is continuing austerity by laying off 15,000 civil servants while France and even the Netherlands are recording budget deficits amidst a poor economy across the Eurozone and much of the rest of Europe.

United Kingdom

            The local elections in England reflected popular sentiment against the two coalition parties, the center-right Conservatives and the far-left Liberal Democrats.  Both parties, especially the latter, lost to the center-left Labour and the euroseceptic United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP).  UKIP’s showing was the strongest, with over 26% of the vote, suggesting it could possibly wins some seats in Parliament.  The results will encourage the Conservatives to push more forcefully for their proposed referendum on whether to remain in the European Union.  The UK belongs to the EU, but not to the European Monetary Union.  The British have been in favor of returning some sovereignty from the EU.  Immigration and welfare were other issues in the elections amidst the weak economy.  The Tories will now be under increased pressure to do more on these issues and to improve the British economy, lest they lose more ground to UKIP.

Cinfici Is Appointed Reading School Director

            I was appointed to the Reading School Board of Directors by a vote of the Board Wednesday night to fill a vacancy on the Board.  My swearing into office is expected in May.  I had been elected a School Director in 2005 and served a four-year term.   

The vacancy was created by the resignation of a Democratic School Director whose candidacy I had supported in 2011 when we ran together on a bipartisan ticket.  The appointment is to fill that vacancy until early December.  In the meantime, a special election will be held simultaneous with the General Election for the remaining two years of the term.  After the Primary Election, each party will meet and decide whether or not to nominate a candidate for School Director according to party rules, as the ballots for the Primary have already been set.  The Reading School District’s boundaries are the same as the City of Reading.

Although I will not be the only Director with at least conservative leanings on the Board, I will be the only Republican.  The appointment of a Republican is not unprecedented, but rare.  I join only a handful of Republicans ever to serve more than one term in citywide office in Reading’s history where Democrats outnumber Republicans 5:1.  Reading has been Democratic since the party’s founding that was inspired by Andrew Jackson. 

In a three-part series of posts from May to June of last year entitled William Cinfici, a Successful Conservative School Director in an Urban District, Parts I-III, http://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2012/05/william-cinfici-successful-conservative.html, http://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2012/05/william-cinfici-successful-conservative_31.html, http://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2012/06/william-cinfici-successful-conservative.html, I had offered advice for other conservative elected officials in urban districts, explained some of my reasons for success and listed my accomplishments.

I am honored and humbled to be appointed.  I am grateful to have the opportunity to serve and am eager to get to work.  The District faces major financial challenges.

Conservative Thoughts on the Boston Marathon Terrorist Attacks and the Battle of Boston

           The bombing of the Boston Marathon by Islamist terrorists was the first successful terrorist bombing in the United States since before the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks and was the act of terrorism that inflicted the most casualties since then.  The Ft. Hood Massacre in 2009, although not an act of terrorism because it targeted a military base, was the act of violent jihad that caused the most fatalities.

            The bloody bombing, the subsequent killing of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology guard in Cambridge and the terrorists’ shootouts with and attempting bombing of law enforcement officials in Watertown constitute the Battle of Boston in the War on Terrorism.  Note this battle demonstrates, as has occurred in foreign states, that the war is not necessarily fought by the military, but even by civilian police and other law enforcement agencies, or even by ordinary civilians.  Tips by civilians were critically important in this case.  The Boston bombers intended to carry out additional terrorist attacks before they were killed or captured.  The bombings and shootings were acts of violent jihad.

            The bombing was carried out by Chechen-Americans, one of which was a permanent resident and the other a naturalized U.S. citizen.  The movement for independence from Russia for Chechnya, which was brutally suppressed by Russian leader Vladimir Putin in two civil wars in the 1990s, has evolved more into violent jihad, that is to say, it is now more religious than political.  Like Chechnya, the neighboring administrative regions of Dagestan and Ingushetia continue to be plagued by Islamist violence. 

            The terrorists who carried out the Boston Marathon bombing claimed they were upset over the American wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Such political claims are excuses for acts that are unjustifiable.  Targeting innocent civilians for violence is not a rational response to political decisions.  The true motivation for the terrorist attacks was Islamism.  It is only because the United States liberates people instead of imposing Islamism on them that they are upset.  In other words, it is not our invasions that upset Islamists and motivate them to commit violent jihad, including terrorism, but our reasons, which are based upon who we are.  Indeed, the Boston terrorists falsely perceived the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as wars against Islam.  Only Islamists who regard Islamism as true Islam would perceive wars against Islamism and wars against Islam.                                

            Other than for security reasons, it is irrelevant whether the Boston Marathon terrorists were aided by foreign terrorist organizations.  They were clearly inspired by foreign ideas of violent jihad, including terrorism.  Therefore, the Boston bombers made themselves part of global terrorism, regardless of whether these enemies in the War on Terrorism received any advice, training or assistance from foreign terrorists, and regardless of the American citizenship of one of the terrorists.  Like communists who believe in the violent overthrow of other governments and in using any means necessary to further revolution and build socialism, Islamists believe in imposing strict Islamic law by force.  Therefore, they are enemies at war with their country by virtue of their allegiance to those ideas and their commission of any acts in furtherance of those goals.

            The terrorist attacks were successful in causing over 260 casualties, including three fatalities, and in terrorizing many Americans, especially an entire major metropolitan area, forcing the suspension of transportation, the closure of businesses and the sheltering-in place of hundreds of thousands of residents for most of a day during the pursuit of the terrorists, as well as terrorizing many others around the world.  The terrorists, despite one being killed and the other captured, were also successful in drawing attention to their goals.  However, they were unsuccessful in their goal of intimidating the U.S. into giving into their demands.  In short, as is usually the case, the tactic of terrorism was successful, but the strategy was a failure.

The controversy over whether to give the terrorist his Miranda warnings reignites the debate over whether Islamists terrorists are at war with us – and therefore whether we are necessarily at war with them – or if these incidents are criminal matters that are better handled by law enforcement and criminal prosecution.  The mindset of treating Islamist terrorism as a criminal matter was one of the reasons for the lack of a successful counterterrorism strategy in the Clinton Administration.  The Obama Administration seems to have adopted a policy of treating the rest of the world as a battleground in the War on Terrorism, but ignoring the fact that terrorists have been making America a battleground.  Moreover, its focus on al-Qaeda in particular instead of Islamists in general minimizes the threat.  The practical effect of this mindset in this case is to have cut short fruitful interrogation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation prematurely instead of declaring the terrorist an enemy combatant and continuing to interrogate him in order to learn of accomplices, other explosives and weapons, training or inspiration, in addition to details on how the terrorists carried out the attack and their additional plans.  The terrorist still could have been prosecuted in federal civilian court later.  The Administration also similarly cut short the interrogation of the Christmas Day bomber, even though he was not a U.S. citizen.

It has widely been reported that the American experience in the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq in the War on Terrorism was beneficial to the providers of healthcare to the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings, as medicine has developed methods to treat wounds from improvised explosive devices used in the war of the kind used in the terrorist attack in the U.S.  The knowledge gained in prosthetics will also prove to be helpful for the recovery of the civilians who lost limbs.

Update: Italy Forms a New Center-Left-Right Coalition Government

           Enrico Letta has formed a grand coalition that has been approved by Italian President Giorgio Napolitano to take over Italy’s technocratic government of Mario Monti.  

           Letta will be prime minister in a government that includes not only his center-left party, but also several ministers from the center-right People of Freedom Party (PDL) led by former Premier Silvio Berlusconi, as well as a few from the leading centrist party and some of the technocrats from Monti’s executive.  The Italian news agency ANSA reports that the conservative People of Freedom Party Secretary Angelino Alfano will be Vice Premier and Interior Secretary.  The PDL’s coalition partner, the Northern League, will not participate in the government.  The inclusion of the PDL in the new government of the Italian Republic represents a personal political comeback for Berlusconi.

            As I explained in my last post, the parliamentary elections over two months ago produced an inconclusive result as the center-left party won the most votes and a majority of the seats in the lower house, but failed to win a majority in the upper house because of a late surge in popular support for the center-right bloc.  The center-right’s main demand in its eight-point plan for its participation in the grand coalition was the repeal of the hated property tax and refund of the tax paid in 2012.  Berlusconi’s government had repealed the tax, but it was restored by Monti.  Letta shares the PDL’s priority of boosting Italy’s economic growth over continuing austerity measures initiated by Berlusconi and Monti’s governments.  Italy, which is eliminated its budget deficit, remains mired in its longest post-war recession.  Its weak economic growth threatens its ability to reduce its massive debt of well over a trillion dollars that represents 120% of its gross domestic product.  As the third-largest economy in the European Monetary Union, the formation of a government should reassure the financial markets, although there will be little confidence the left-right coalition can endure long beyond the approval its initial program of economic stimulus and electoral reform – if it can even be successful in passing them.

Italian President Napolitano Asks Letta to Form a Government; A Center-Left/Center-Right Coalition to Be Sought

Newly-re-elected Italian President Giorgio Napolitano has asked Enrico Letta to form a new government to succeed technocrat Mario Monti as prime minister.  Letta, 46, of Milan, is the Deputy Secretary of the center-left party.  The center-left bloc of parties had won the most votes in the Italian parliamentary elections and seats in both houses of Parliament, but failed to win a majority in the upper chamber, the Senate, which has led to a hung parliament for two months. 

Letta had served in the Cabinet of the last center-left government.  His uncle had served as Deputy Secretary of the center-right party in its last government, under Silvio Berlusconi.  The Italian news agency ANSA reports that the younger Letta, who is known for his skills as a mediator, has good relations with the Secretary of the center-right party.  The center-right bloc of parties won the second most votes and seats in the Italian Parliament.  Berlusconi’s successful electoral campaign to deny the center-left a majority in the Senate is about to pay a political dividend: Letta is expected to try to form a grand coalition with Berlusconi’s center-right party to continue fiscal and economic reforms.  He will need his skills as a mediator to convince members of his own party who oppose a coalition with the center-right.  The previous leader of the center-left, who had failed in his effort to form a coalition with the third-place populists, resigned last week after failing to win confirmation for the candidates he backed for president, thereby throwing his party into turmoil.

Italy, which has the third-largest economy in the European Union, but one of the largest debt burdens in the world, has significantly reduced its budget deficit, which has decreased its borrowing costs sharply.  However, its economy is in recession, which casts doubt over its ability to eliminate the deficit and pay its debts.  Italy is regarded by the financial market as a firewall within the European Monetary Union against debt contagion.  The markets hailed the progress in breaking the Italian political deadlock, but fear a grand coalition – if it even can be formed – in fractious Italy might be short-lived.  One of the incoming government’s priorities will be a reform of the Italian Republic’s electoral laws.

Foreign Digest: Venezuela, Italy, Iraq

Venezuelan Presidential Election

            The Acting President of Venezuala was declared the winner of the presidential election.  The Chavist successor of late dictator Hugo Chavez was credited with a slight majority in the official count, which was controlled by the regime – without foreign observers.  The state also controlled nearly all of the media during the campaign while it handed out largesse to the impoverished electorate.  The declaration of victory by the Chavists was thus not surprising.  However, the regime has promised a review of the election.  There have been violent street protests.  The opposition has appealed for calm, to which the people have responded by refraining from violence.

Italian Presidential Appointment

           

            The Italian parliament and the grand electors chose to break with tradition and re-elect President Giorgio Napolitano for another seven-year term.  No president has served more than one term since the formation of the Italian Republic in 1946.  The president is a unitive figure, but several rounds of balloting for a new president this week had instead bitterly divided the parties.  The ex-Communist Napolitano, who had reiterated his intention to serve only one term, is respected by all parties as fair-minded and a patriot who does what is in the best national interest.  The choice was hailed by the major parties on all sides.  The octogenarian’s re-election is the key to ending the current parliamentary deadlock, as his assent is required to form a new coalition or minority government or he to call another round of elections for parliament.

Iraqi Provincial Elections

            Iraq held provincial elections today.  They were the first elections since the withdrawal of American forces.  There was some violence by Islamists, but it did not deter the Iraqi people from voting.

Lady Margaret Thatcher, in Memoriam

           Lady Margaret Thatcher, the greatest peacetime British Prime Minister, champion of free markets and staunch anti-communist, died last week at her residence in London at the age of 87.  She led the United Kingdom from economic decline to prosperity, from military weakness to respectable might and from despair to pride and self-confidence.

Born, Margaret Hilda Roberts, she was the daughter of a grocer from Lincolnshire.  She attained a degree in chemistry and later became a lawyer.

Thatcher was elected to Parliament in 1959 and served until 1992.  She became a member of the Cabinet of Prime Minister Edward Heath as Secretary of Education, from 1970-1974.  The following year, Thatcher was chosen the leader of the Conservative Party in 1975.  She led the Tories to victory in 1979, becoming Prime Minister.  Thatcher served from 1979-1990, the longest serving in modern times, winning three elections, two of which were landslides.  She was made a Baroness in 1992 and became a peer in the House of Lords, serving for a decade.

            As Prime Minister, Thatcher stood up to powerful labor unions, thereby ending the cycle of crippling strikes.  She notably ended the illegal strike by coalminers in 1985.  Thatcher privatized many commercial industries owned by the British government and reduced taxes, including lowering the highest rate from 86% to well under half.  “The problem with socialism is you eventually run out of other people’s money,” she famously observed.  Her free market policies lifted the British economy.  She also maintained British independence of the European Union, which she recognized as a folly, refusing to abandon the pound sterling and join the Monetary Union – a decision that seems increasingly prescient during the current Eurozone crisis.  Many of her policies have endured, despite the continued criticisms from liberals.  Indeed, she transformed British politics by forcing the Labor Party to move from the far left to the center-left, which was the only way it was able to find electoral success by 1997.

            The parallels with the United States and the U.K. at the time were obvious, as Ronald Reagan also faced economic and military weakness upon taking office as President.  Indeed, Thatcher maintained a special relationship with Reagan, her ideological soul mate, and was a staunch ally of the U.S., despite occasional differences.  Like Reagan, she was anti-Communist, which earned her the epithet from the Soviets while she was still a young MP of the “Iron Lady,” a sobriquet she bore with pride.  Accordingly, she was the strongest backer in Europe of Reagan’s successful policy of placing American nuclear missiles there to counter the rising Soviet threat, despite strong criticism from the Left. 

            It was Thatcher who first recognized the possibility of negotiating with the rising Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, which she recommended to Reagan, who trusted her judgment and who concluded fruitful negotiations with Gorbachev after he became General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party.  The extraordinary combination of leadership by Reagan, Blessed Pope John Paul II, the Great, and Thatcher is widely credited with facilitating the fall of Communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe by 1989.

            Thatcher lived up to her reputation as the “Iron Lady” after an Argentine dictatorship seized the British colony of the Falkland Islands in 1982, dispatching an armada to retake the islands.  The Falklands War restored pride to the British people.  She was also tough on terrorism, both by the Irish Republican Party, which led to an assassination attempt by the IRA at a Conservative Party meeting, and Libya.  Thatcher provided support for the American bombing of Libya in 1986.  She opposed the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, sending troops to Saudi Arabia as part of Desert Shield in 1990 before the end of her time in Number 10 Downing Street.

            Baroness Thatcher became a much-sought speaker in both the U.K. and the U.S., where she was admired, authored an autobiography and another book, Statecraft, and established the Thatcher Foundation to promote the free market.

            Lady Thatcher will be given the largest funeral for a former prime minister since Winston Churchill.

            The admiration on the right for Thatcher refutes the childish myth of the Left that conservatives are sexist.  Indeed, she was a heroine of the right and a role model for any female conservative politician. 

Thatcher remains an inspiration to the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom to this day, as well as to conservatives round the world.

            Margaret Thatcher’s legacy is freedom – freedom from Communism, Socialism, terrorism and aggression.  May her policies endure and may she continue to inspire conservatives to champion liberty with confidence.  

Update on the Italian Election

There is still no new government for the Italian Republic since the parliamentary elections in February in which no party gained a majority in both chambers.

The center-left party, despite winning a majority in the lower house of parliament, has been unable to form a government because it was unable to gain a majority in the upper chamber.  It tried to form a coalition with the third-place-finishing populists, but the upstarts’ leader ruled out a compromise with any of the other parties.  A half-hearted attempt by the center-left to form a grand coalition with the center-right, which came in second, also failed.  The centrists have expressed a willingness to form such a coalition, but they came in a distant fourth, thereby winning too few seats to be kingmakers.

Meanwhile, the term of the President, Giorgio Napolitano, whose assent is required for a government to be formed, is coming to an end in mid-May.  He has insisted he will not seek another term, despite the hung parliament.  Instead, Napolitano has appointed ten sages to propose proposals intended to gain a consensus and propose electoral reform, according to ANSA, the Italian news agency, as a way to avoid the dissolution of parliament by his successor – a power he lacks within the last six months of his term – and the calling of a second parliamentary election.

As of the time of this posting, ANSA is reporting a possible planned meeting between the center-left and the center-right to form a grand coalition to break the deadlock, or at least to come to a consensus on a new president.  Stay tuned for updates.

Italy’s political stalemate has taken on global significance because of the continued fiscal crisis of the European Monetary Union.  A new, stable government that could continue to reduce Italy’s debt, but also spur economic growth, would reassure the markets.  

Four-Year Blog Hit Report

There were over 1,230 visits from April 2, 2012 to April 2 of this year, for a grand total of over 5,530 in the four years since StatCounter has been tracking pageviews of my blog.  This total does not include my own visits and only counts as a separate visit those pageviews that are least one hour apart.

Among the most exotic sources of visits to my blog in the last year were Nicaragua and Tanzania.  There have been visits from 106 foreign states, other foreign territories, and all 50 American states and several U.S. territories since 2009.  The most visits from foreign states continue to come from Malaysia and Algeria, whereas visits from American states are more proportionate to the size of the population of the state.  In the last year, the United States Senate, Department of Justice, the Environmental Protection Agency and the 9/11 Memorial were the most interesting sources of visits.  Visitors have landed on over 300 posts and visited more than 75 others, in addition to those who landed on or visited my blog homepage or archive.  The Rise and Fall of Islamic Civilization continues to be the most popular post by far, with well over 1,300 visits.  The second-most popular post, Commentary on the Roman Influence on America Exhibit at the National Constitution Center has attracted over 350 visits.  They are among many posts that continue to be viewed.

As I have noted in other reports, Blogger, the host of my blog, tracks many more pageviews than StatCounter, but the latter’s much greater specificity allows for better analysis.

I am sorry that I have posted less frequently of late, as I have been preoccupied with work, local politics and recently had to be treated at the hospital with illness. 

I was saddened by the death of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.  I plan to post a memorial soon.

Thank you for visiting my blog. 

The Pennsylvania House Passes Liquor Privatization

The Pennsylvania State House of Representatives approved a historic measure this evening to get the Commonwealth out of the business of selling wine and spirits at the same time it is supposed to regulate alcohol – a situation Governor Tom Corbett, who supports privatization, regards as a conflict of interest.  The majority Republican lower chamber of the General Assembly approved the measure to end the state monopoly on the wholesale of alcohol and gradually end the state-owned system of the retail of alcohol that will now move to the Senate, where passage is less certain. 

Pennsylvania has had a socialist system of a state monopoly on the wholesale of alcohol and a system of state-owned liquor retail stores since the repeal of Prohibition eighty years ago, as part of a system of alcohol regulation intended by prohibitionists to be as expensive and inconvenient as possible.  For example, beer is sold by beer distributors, but only by the case, and in taverns, but only in six-packs or individual bottles.  Wine and spirits are sold only in state-owned stores, with the few exceptions of wineries and winery outlets, as well as by the bottle or glass if a restaurant holds a liquor license.  Only a small number of grocery stores that have such a restaurant license and designate a seating area for the consumption of wine and spirits are thereby permitted to sell them.  Because the selection of wine and spirits in state stores is less than in privately-owned stores in other states, the Commonwealth loses much business to illegal cross-border purchases by Pennsylvanians who travel to each of the six neighboring states.  The Keystone State and Utah are the only two States in the American Union with a state-owned system.  The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is the largest purchaser of alcohol in the United States.  It controls which brands are permitted to be sold in the state, as well as the distribution of all alcoholic beverages.

Among the reforms in the House liquor store privatization bill, it gets the Commonwealth completely out of the wholesale alcohol business and gradually out of the retail alcohol business by allowing the sale of the 618 state liquor stores by selling 1,200 licenses to operate the wine and spirit stores by region, unless there are no buyers in a particular region.  Private stores would be opening as “state stores” are sold or closed, under the bill.  Once there are fewer than 100 state stores remaining, the remainder would close.  Without the state monopoly on such stores, there would finally be competition in alcohol retail sales.  Beer distributors, who would get the first opportunity to purchase the stores, as well as state financing to purchase them, would be permitted to sell wine and spirits.  They would also be able to sell six-packs.  Beer would also be permitted to be sold in gasoline stations.  Because beer distributors would be able to sell wine and spirits and there would also be more availability of sales of all three types of alcoholic beverages by those businesses holding a restaurant license under the bill, Pennsylvanians would now legally be able to purchase all of their alcohol in one-stop shops.   Grocery stores which purchase a license to sell wine would be able to sell an unlimited number of bottles of wine per customer, while restaurants with a license to sell bottles of wine would be allowed to sell a limited number per customer.

            Several measures to sell off the state stores were offered last year, but did not gain significant legislative traction, although they did generate much discussion.  Governor Corbett, a Republican, submitted his own plan, which the House offered, amended and approved.  Two previous GOP Governors, Richard Thornburgh and Tom Ridge, had also supported privatizing liquor stores, but encountered strong resistance from the state store workers union.  Under the privatization bill approved by the House, state store workers would be given training and education grants, preference in state civil service jobs and businesses would receive tax credits for hiring them.   Proponents predict that many state store workers would be hiring by the new store owners.  Much of the opposition to this time was also based on the idea that the state stores generate hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue, but proponents argue that the sales of the licenses, would not only generate one-time revenue of hundreds of millions of dollars, but the Commonwealth would continue to receive tax revenue from the sales of alcohol.  They argue that sales would increase as Pennsylvanians would not have to travel to other states to purchase wine and spirits that are currently unavailable in the Keystone State because of the state wholesale monopoly.   Pennsylvania residents could legally purchase alcohol from other states under the bill and bring it home, if they pay a tax.

            See also the Commonwealth Foundation blog, a link to which appears on my blog homepage, which provides useful information on this subject.  It has been a leader in promoting a free market in alcohol sales.

            In conclusion, the historic House bill would end the Commonwealth’s conflict of interest in selling alcohol while regulating it, end its monopoly on alcohol wholesale, allow greater choice in purchasing alcoholic beverages, introduce competition in the retail of alcohol while ending its monopoly on wine and spirit stores, improve convenience for customers and end the loss of revenue to other states, while giving the state a large one-time boost of revenue.  I commend the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for passing the bill and call upon the Senate to approve the legislation.  

Congratulations, Argentina: The Archbishop of Buenos Aires Is Elected Bishop of Rome

       
           The Archbishop of Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, has been elected the Bishop of Rome, the Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church.

           I am pleased that after my last post, in which I criticized Argentina for the policies of its leftist government, I now have the unexpected opportunity to congratulate the great South American state.  I praise the Argentines for producing a pastor for their country – and now for the world – who stands for moral truths and who was unafraid to oppose the immoral policies of the last two leftist governments of Nestor Kirchner and his wife, Cristina Fernandez. Cardinal Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, had criticized Argentina’s legalization of abortion and gay marriage and its provision of free artificial contraception.  He has spoken out against abortion and euthanasia, urging the laity to work against these evils and for life, as well as speaking out against gay adoption, which he regards as a form of discrimination against children deprived of parents of both sexes. Cardinal Bergolio recently observed the demagoguery, totalitarianism and corruption of the government of Fernandez, who was an admirer of Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez.  As I mentioned in my post earlier this month, Chavez had been democratically elected, but became authoritarian.

           As Bishop, Bergolio, the son of an Italian immigrant who was a railway worker, had exhibited the virtues of humility by living simply and of charity by emphasizing the need to aid the poor and to reach out and love the marginalized, such as those suffering from A.I.D.S. Like Pope Pius XII, who secretly aided the Jews and others during the Holocaust (See also my post from December of 2009, The Pope’s Declaration of Pius XII’s Heroic Virtue Debunks a Liberal Myth, http://www.williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2009/12/popes-declaration-of-pius-xiis-heroic.html), the Italian-Argentine pastor had quietly aided those in his flock who were persecuted by the right-wing junta.  He has, however, spoken out not only against human rights abuses committed by the dictatorship, but by the leftist guerrillas, as well.  Bishop Bergolio, a philosopher and Jesuit theologian, had opposed Liberation Theology, a form of Marxism prevalent in Latin American in the 1980s that emphasized aid to the poor under the guise of Catholicism.

           Let us pray that the election of Pope Francis, the first Pontifex Maximus (greatest bridge builder) from the Americas and from the Third World, will not only affirm Christians outside of Europe, such as in Latin America, Asia and Africa and continue the spreading of the good news of Christ all over the globe, but lead the developed world away from secularism and back to the roots of its Christian culture.  May God Bless Pope Francis.  Viva il Papa!

Falklanders Vote Overwhelmingly to Remain British

         
           The residents of the British territory of the Falkland Islands have voted overwhelmingly to remain a territory of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.  The vote was nearly unanimous and turnout was high.

           The referendum came amid a flare-up in the long-running dispute between the U.K. and Argentina, which claims the islands off the South American coast and other British-held islands off of Antarctica.  The two fought the Falklands War in 1982 after the Argentine dictatorship invaded the islands, prompting a British liberation under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, a Conservative.  The inhabitants of the islands are mostly British.  The Argentine government has demanded negotiations on the status of the territory, but the U.K. considers the matter resolved, citing the results of the referendum as determinate.  The Falklands have been under British control since 1833.

           The Anglo-Argentine dispute over the Falklands has flared because of the fiscal and economic crisis facing Argentina and its leftist government, which was allied with Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez.  Argentina's socialist policies have caused severe inflation amid concerns about its ability to repay its debt.   I had posted about the flare-up in February of last year, in advance of the 30th anniversary of the war, in Foreign Digest: Cambodia, Haiti, Falkland Islands, Irand and Syria, http://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2012/02/foreign-digest-cambodia-haiti-falkland.html.

           I renew my call for the Argentine government to tone down its rhetoric.  I also urge it to resolve its fiscal crisis and fulfill its financial obligations.

Terrorism-Sponsoring Dictator Hugo Chavez Dies

            Hugo Chavez, the authoritarian President of Venezuela, died today of cancer.  The anti-American leftist strongman had formed alliances with Iran, Syria and China as part of what I have identified as an Axis of Rogues, and had also supported FARC, the Colombian narco-terrorists.

           The Socialist dictator had been elected president of democratic Venezuela in 1998, but Chavez pushed through constitutional amendments that repealed presidential term limits in order to allow him to serve for life.  Re-elected in yet another rigged election last year, Chavez was unable to be sworn in for his third term, however, because of his illness with cancer.

           Chavez had limited press freedom while establishing state control of the media and eliminating the independence of the judiciary.  He employed the state to persecute the loyal opposition through criminal prosecutions and the regime and his supporters even used violence.  Chavez imposed socialism by nationalizing (stealing) key industries.  His demagogic efforts on behalf of the poor – supported by increased oil wealth – resulted in high inflation and power outages.  Chavez remained in power by these efforts, as well as through a cult of personality, the demonization of Venezuelan dissidents and his anti-Americanism.

           Chavez had also tried to unite all Latin Americans first in a leftist alliance against the U.S., and then into one state.  He supported left-wing elected governments throughout Latin America and opposed those that were not leftist.  Accordingly, despite Venezuela's economic distress, it nonetheless continued to provide aid not only to the Colombian terrorists who are in rebellion against the democratic government of Colombia that is an American ally, but to Communist Cuba, another state-sponsor of terrorism.  Chavez was a strong admirer of Soviet-ally Fidel Castro, the dictator who murdered tens of thousands of his countrymen.  Indeed, Venezuela's aid to Cuba propped up the weak Castro regime.  In return, Cuba sent doctors to Venezuela.  The irony is that because Chavez sought health care for his cancer in the Cuban medical system that is hailed by American liberals for its supposed excellence, he did not receive adequate treatment, which he might have had he come to the United States, which he despised.   See also my post from February of 2012, Designate Venezuela a State Sponsor of Terrorism,http://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2012/02/designate-venezuela-state-sponsor-of.html, in which I note the Chavez regime’s support for Islamist and other terrorists. 

           The death of the Venezuelan dictator creates uncertainty, first over who will serve as interim president, whether it be the Vice President, who was Chavez’ hand-picked successor, or the head of the national assembly, and then over the snap elections to be held within 30 days.  In the meantime, Venezuelans are on edge as thugs working for the regime have already committed violence against protesters.  The opposition has an opportunity to rally against the Chavist regime and restore Venezuela to democracy and peaceful relations with the Free World.  Regardless of what happens, at least the Left has lost a charismatic leader and Socialist medicine has been exposed as a failure.  May Venezuela be peaceful and free!           

We Are All “African-Americans”

           The United States Census Bureau, part of the Obama Administration, is eliminating the choice of “Negro” as a race, allowing only “black” or “African-American” in its place.  Negro (pronounced nay-gro) is Spanish or Portuguese for black, from the Latin nero.  Traditionally, Negro refers specifically to the African members of the so-called “Negroid race,” as opposed to those blacks who migrated out of Africa many millennia ago, such as Australian Negroes or the Negrito people of New Guinea.    

Apparently, because Negro was in use during the period of the rise of racism and widespread discrimination, the word has come to be thought of as pejorative through a kind of guilt by association, even though it is simply a foreign word for black, which is how most American blacks refer to themselves. There does not appear to be any thought that those of us of Spanish, Portuguese or Italian (the Italian language comes from Latin) ancestry might find the suggestion offensive itself that a word from our language family is considered inherently offensive.

There are several objections to the term “African-American” to label blacks from Africa who reside in America.  It is imprecise in a number of ways to the point of being confusing, and even meaningless.  

The first is that not all Africans are black.  Aside from colonists from Europe and Asia, some indigenous Africans are Asian.  Many North Africans are Semitic while Madagascans are mostly Malayan-Polynesian.  For example, Egyptian-Americans are “African-American” because Egypt is an African state, but most are not black.  Additionally, not all African blacks come directly from Africa, such as some South Asians and those mentioned above from Australia and New Guinea who thousands of years ago all left Africa.   

            The main objection to the term “African-American” for Africans who are black is that it is applicable to all human beings.  According to biologists who traced the mitochondrial DNA all major ethnic groups, all modern humans are descended from an East African woman.  Thus, all humans are genetic Africans.  Therefore, all Americans – not only those who are black from Africa or elsewhere – are “African-Americans.”

            The word black or perhaps the terms black African or African black are better than “African-American” to refer more specifically to blacks from Africa and not to members of the Negroid race from elsewhere.  Black African or African black would differentiate better than black between members of the Negroid race and the “untouchable” dark-skinned caste of India, who are Asian.  

           The Census bureau has yielded to political correctness in eliminating “Negro” and allowing “African-American” as choices.  Moreover, scientists also tell us that although there are some minor physical differences between some ethnic groups that are generally because of physical adaptations to their environments, there really is no such thing as race among human beings.  There is only the human race – a species, homo sapiens, with origins in East Africa thousands of years ago.  

Conservative Analysis of the Elections in Italy and Cyprus

Center-Right and Center-Left Each Win Chambers in the Italian Parliamentary Elections

            None of the four major blocs of parties came close to winning a majority of the popular vote in the Italian parliamentary elections, in either the Senate or the lower Chamber of Deputies.   In the lower house, the center-left bloc edged the surprisingly-strong center-right bloc by four tenths of one percent in unofficial returns – enough to win a majority of seats because the winner of the most votes receives a bonus allocation of seats.  The center-right is questioning the validity of the results.

However, no bloc gained a majority in the Senate.  Although the center-left won nearly one per cent more popular votes for the upper chamber, the center-right bloc will have the largest share of seats.  The center-right succeeded in its goal of denying a working majority to the center-left, meaning Italy will have the unusual situation for a parliamentary state of a divided government, and force either a grand coalition or a second parliamentary election.  

            Interestingly, only one of the four major candidates was a candidate for both parliament and prime minister, the centre-left candidate.  Prime Minister Mario Monti, who was appointed life senator and then premier, is not a candidate for parliament but would have headed another government if the centrist party he leads would have won.  Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, the centre-right candidate, is not his party’s candidate for premier; the party’s secretary would be prime minister.  The leader of a populist movement that won many seats in both chambers was also not a candidate for prime minister.

            Debt was the main issue in the election campaign.  Monti has implemented austerity, continuing Berlusconi’s efforts in cutting spending to eliminate the deficit and reduce debt, but, unlike his predecessor, he has raised taxes.  The center-right campaigned on repealing the hated tax increase.  The center-left has promised to continue Monti’s austerity program, but one of its coalition partners, an anti-austerity far-left party, and the Prime Minister, have ruled out a coalition together.  Regardless, the two blocs lack enough combined seats in the Senate for a majority.  Italy’s budget is projected to be balanced by next year, but its economy is in recession because of the tax increases.   

Because of the lack of a decisive winner of the parliamentary elections, a coalition government is likely.  The uncertainty will continue in the meantime as it remains unclear what coalition of blocs of parties could possibly produce a working majority.  A minority government would soon necessitate another parliamentary election.  An apparently elusive grand coalition of the center-left and center-right would avoid a second vote, but would result in an unstable government that would also require parliamentary elections within several months.

As I have posted previously, Italy has one of the largest economies in the world, but has amassed a one of the largest debts in the world.  Its fiscal soundness is of critical importance to the European Monetary Union and the single currency project, as well as to global economic health.  Investors are disappointed the elections have not produced a clear winner. 

A Conservative Wins the Cypriot Presidential Elections

The conservative candidate won the presidential elections in Cyprus.  The campaign was dominated by fiscal matters, instead of the usual subject of the partition of the island republic between Turks in the north, which is occupied by Turkey, and Greeks in the south.  Cyprus is struggling with a severe debt crisis.  The conservative president is expected to cut spending to reduce the debt, along the lines of the austerity programs implemented in Europe.

Two Years of Reform and Restoration of Fiscal Responsibility for Pennsylvania under Corbett

             When Tom Corbett, a Republican, took office as Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania two years ago, the state faced a budget deficit of over $4 billion in the midst of a severe recession.  He promised to eliminate the deficit without raising taxes.  Corbett kept his promise.

            Working with the Republican legislature, Governor Corbett balanced Pennsylvania’s budget – without raising taxes.  They even managed something rare in recent state history: they approved these budgets on time.  In fact, the Governor and General Assembly have approved on-time balanced budgets, while cutting taxes, two years in a row.  Although the state is still suffering through the recession, along with nearly all of the other 49 States in the Union, and unemployment remains high, Pennsylvania has enjoyed the fastest job creation of any state.

The so-called education spending cuts for which Corbett is criticized were not significant cuts, but the expiration of the Obama stimulus that Governor Rendell had put on education to free up the rest of the general fund money to spend; I know from serving as an elected school director at the time that school districts were warned in advance of the temporary nature of the stimulus money, but most incorrectly expected the restoration of the money anyway and spent accordingly.  I also know that school districts could afford to cut waste, fraud and abuse and prioritize their spending.

Corbett has compiled an impressive litany of significant accomplishments in his first two years as Governor: Reforming welfare reform by cracking down on fraud and by counting assets in determining eligibility, reducing business taxes, including the elimination of Pennsylvania’s onerous estate tax on family farms, reforming unemployment compensation, enacting small business regulatory reform, approving environmentally-responsible natural gas extraction regulation and assessing a principled impact fee without imposing a gas-extraction tax on top of the high taxes Pennsylvania businesses already pay, increasing significantly the number of state troopers, implementing major prison reform, banning bath salts and texting while driving, expanding the Castle Doctrine, enacting a voter identification requirement and approving tort reform.  He has opted out of the state health insurance exchanges that are part of President Barack Obama’s federalization of health insurance, thereby sparing businesses from the employer mandate to purchase health insurance, as well as the expensive Medicaid expansion under that plan.  In addition, Corbett exhibited strong leadership during the floods from Hurricane Irene and Superstorm Sandy.

            Much work remains to be completed over the next two years, however.  Corbett has sued the NCAA to keep the fines it imposed on Pennsylvania State University in the Commonwealth.  He has proposed the privatization of both the state lottery to ensure the dwindling program provides a sufficient amount of the funds promised for senior citizen programs, and the state-owned wine and spirit stores, which the Governor regards as a conflict of interest because the same state agency that owns the shops also is responsible for the regulation of alcohol – an arcane regulation regime that deprives Pennsylvanians of as much selection as citizens in neighboring states, at that.  Corbett has also proposed pension reform for state employees, such as replacing the Commonwealth’s defined benefit program with a defined contribution program, in order to close a funding gap of tens of billions of dollars, as well as a major improvement in the Keystone State’s infamously-poor roads and bridges.  

            Governor Tom Corbett has repaired the foundation for Pennsylvania’s fiscal and economic health.  Together with the General Assembly, this reform Governor will continue to restore Pennsylvania to its leadership position in the Union.

War on Terrorism Update: The Liberation of Northern Mali

           In a significant victory in the War on Terrorism, French forces have retaken all three provincial capitals in northern Mali, including Timbuktu and Gao, from Islamist rebels who usually offered little resistance.  

           Several neighboring African states have also contributed a force sufficient to help the Malian army hold the liberated towns against the expected attempt by the al-Qaeda-affiliates who have faded into the sand dunes of the Sahara to return.  The United States has provided increased logistical and intelligence support while other European states have brought additional assets.  Northern Mali is no longer the safe haven for Islamists it was and is no longer a de facto Islamist state.  As the Islamists have withdrawn, anecdotes of Taliban-style oppression at the hands of al-Qaeda have emerged from the now-liberated northern Malians.  The Islamists also desecrated some sites of religious and historical significance, as well as burnt some important medieval texts in Timbuktu.  Meanwhile, the Tuareg rebels, who had forged an alliance with the Islamists before splitting with them in advance of the French, have also fled into the desert. 

            The Malians and their African and Western allies must remain vigilant against al-Qaeda and other Islamists and should seek and destroy the remaining enemy cells to eliminate the threat completely.  

States Should Declare February 22 the Holiday of George Washington’s Birthday

            All of the American States should declare February 22, or at least the closet Monday to it, a state holiday of “George Washington’s Birthday” or “Washington’s Birthday.”

            I have posted nearly every year about how the federal holiday of “Presidents’ Day” diminishes the significance of the holiday that was intended to honor George Washington above anyone else as the Father of Our Country for all of his accomplishments before, during and after his presidency.  See my posts from February of 2009 and 2010, respectively, Presidents’ Day vs. Washington’s Birthday, http://www.williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2009/02/presidents-day-vs-washingtons-birthday.html and February of 2010, Eliminate the Presidents’ Day Holiday,

http://www.williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2010/02/eliminate-presidents-day-holiday.html and from March of 2012, Rep. Frank Wolfe Proposes to Restore February 22 as a Federal Holiday for Washington’s Birthday,

http://williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2012/03/rep-frank-wolfe-proposed-to-restore.html.

The meaning of the holiday has been diluted in two ways: its scheduling on dates other than on his birthday and the removal of Washington’s name from the holiday in common parlance and its association with others (i.e. all of the Presidents).  Several federal holidays are observed on the Mondays closest to the dates they are intended to honor, but because of the proximity of Abraham Lincoln’s February 16 birthday, Washington’s Birthday was moved to the third Monday of the month.  Thus, the holiday never falls on Washington’s February 22 birthday, as it would occasionally even if it were celebrated on the nearest Monday.  Indeed, even though the federal holiday is still officially called “Washington’s Birthday,” because of its placement between the birthdays of Washington and Lincoln, it has popularly come to be called Presidents’ Day, and not even “Washington and Lincoln’s Birthdays.”  More than 20 States have officially renamed their corresponding state holidays as “Presidents’ Day” or “President’s Day.”  The day has therefore become the holiday for the cult of the presidency instead of fulfilling its original purpose of honoring a great man.  See my post from February of 2009, George Washington the Great, http://www.williamcinfici.blogspot.com/2009/02/george-washington-great.html.

In addition to the States that do not include Washington’s name in their public holidays, several other States include other individuals in the name of the holiday, such as Lincoln, or the Presidents in general.  Usually, these holidays are observed on the same date as the federal holiday; no state observes February 22 as a public holiday.  The state holidays that honor George Washington specifically, even if including others, are less diluting than “Presidents’ Day.”  However, all of the current state holidays nonetheless add to the dilution of the significance of the holiday because, like the federal holiday, they never fall on Washington’s February 22 birthday.   

I call upon all 50 of the States in the Union to restore the rightful meaning of the public holiday intended to honor George Washington by declaring February 22 or the closest Monday to it a state holiday named for him alone.

Federal Appeals Court Declares Obama Violated the Constitution by Usurping the Senate

A federal appeals court ruled that United States President Barack Obama abused his power by usurping the Senate’s Advice and Consent power, thereby violating the Constitution.  A three-judge panel of the Federal Appeals Court for the District of Columbia circuit ruled unanimously that Obama’s “recess” appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) were unconstitutional.

Obama had appointed two members of the NLRB during a time when the Senate was in session.  Under the Constitution, appointments must be confirmed with the advice and consent of at least two thirds of the upper chamber of Congress (Article II, Section 2).  Presidents have constitutional authority to make temporary appointments during “the Recess” of the Senate (Article II, Section 3).  Presidents have made appointments between congressional sessions, but in recent decades they have increasingly made the appointments when Congress has recessed for summer or holiday breaks during sessions.  The Senate had not objected to such appointments.

Obama took an even further step, however, by making the appointments when the Senate was in “pro forma” session, when it gavels to order every few days and conducts little or no business with only a few members present.  The Senate took the step by unanimous consent of not recessing specifically in order to prevent Obama from making the appointments to the NLRB to which it objected.  In addition to the NLRB members, the President also made a recess appointment to a newly-created consumer relations body to which the Senate objected, arguing that the Senate was essentially in recess.

The Federal Appeals Court panel examined the plain meaning of the phrase “the Recess,” noting the difference between inter-session breaks, as opposed to those between sessions, that is to say, between “recesses” and “the Recess.”  In short, the case came down to the meaning of the article the, with the appellate court observing the specificity intended by the inclusion of the word.  The Court made the point in its opinion that Obama’s wide interpretation of the recess appointment power would allow presidents to make appointments every time the Senate left for the weekend or even when it broke for lunch, which would render its Advice and Consent power meaningless.  In its opinion, it cited the purpose of the recess appointment power as intended and expressed by the Framers and its interpretation in the early legislative history of the Republic in support of the Court’s interpretation of the plain meaning of the Constitution.  Moreover, because Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution gives each house of Congress the prerogative to determine its own rules, the Court found the President lacks the authority to determine whether or not the Senate was in recess under its rules.  The Senate had made it clear by its pro-forma sessions that it was not in recess, regardless of the interpretation of the Chief Executive.

The ruling means that the NLRB lacked a quorum of valid members, thereby invalidating its rulings since Obama made the unconstitutional appointments a year ago.  The members were notoriously anti-business.   The legitimacy of the actions of the consumer relations board have also been called into question.

The Obama Administration intends to appeal the case to the Supreme Court.  If the appellate court ruling stands, it would be the second time so far that the President, a former constitutional law professor, has been ruled to have acted unconstitutionally in his first term.  The first was in Obama’s signing of the act to federalize of health insurance, which violated the Constitution by attempting to coerce the States to expand the federal welfare entitlement program, Medicaid.