Friday, November 20, 2015

Self-righteous Cartoonist

The brouhaha over the Pett political cartoon in the Lexington Herald-Leader of 19 November depicting governor-elect Matt Bevin hiding under his desk for fear his multiracial adopted children were terrorists has elicited much scorn, not because Bevin is off-limits for ridicule but because children of politicians—in good taste—are off limits even for mention unless they rob a bank or something. Pett has probably never drawn Obama's daughters in a cartoon caricaturing/ridiculing their father. If he has, kudos for coarseness/stupidity.

The subject was Bevin's announced plan to refuse more Syrian “refugees” into Kentucky until greater proof of their harmlessness is furnished. Presently, the U.S. has no way to properly vet Syrians or anyone else from the Middle East. A pause of six months concerning acceptance of Iraqi refugees was invoked by Obama's administration a few years ago when al Qaeda operatives who had been active in killing American GIs in Iraq were discovered living and planning in Bowling Green, Ky., hometown of Senator Paul.

Congress is devising a law now to do the same vis-a-vis Syrians but, not surprisingly, Obama has vowed to veto it because, as he says, “This is not who we are.” The Iraqi refugee-applicants were actually in danger of being assassinated because they had helped U.S. troops in Iraq (interpreters, etc.) but they were still excluded for that period. Just plain common sense. Kentucky Governor Beshear has accepted 92 Syrians this year.

There may be a darker side to the Bevin affair. The paper had gone to great lengths in the past couple years or so to bring off the defeat of Senator McConnell in 2014 and Bevin in 2015. A Washington operative of some sort, Sam Youngman, was brought in as a “political writer” perhaps to aid and abet in this. Youngman is now hitting Rand Paul hard.

In an article by Youngman on 28 October, the paper noted that Bevin was determined by the Bluegrass Poll to be five points behind his opponent for the governorship, Attorney General Conway. Six days later, Bevin won by nine points, a landslide. Four of the other six constitutional seats went to republicans, unheard of in Kentucky. A month before the election in November 2014, Lexington TV Station WKYT reported that the Bluegrass Poll had State Secretary Grimes ahead of Senator McConnell by two points, 46-44. McConnell won by 15 points, a 17 point blooper by the Poll.

Or was it? The Bluegrass Poll both times was financed by the Lexington Herald-Leader, Louisville Courier-Journal, Lexington TV-WKYT and Louisville TV- WHAS. The newspapers are mortal enemies of anything republican in a state that is almost totally red now, meaning that their influence over the public is nil. Were the polls rigged?

The C-J belongs to the Gannett chain, while the H-L belongs to McClatchy, both ultra-liberal outfits dedicated to the making of the country into a socialist state, the obvious objective of Obama, as well. They and Obama are the “This is who we are (or not)” gang, mired in self-righteousness and baloney to an extent incomprehensible, elitist and insufferable stuffed shirts mesmerized by their supposed domestic and international clairvoyance and outright “goodness.”

This attempted subversion of the capitalist system that has made this country what it is is part of that darker side, as well. Even citizens of Kentucky, one of the poorer states, can see through this effort, which would result in the oligarchs—movers and shakers in the media-business included—gaining a rich upper hand, as in other socialist/communist countries. The media, however, would be outlawed as soon as it became a nuisance, as in Muslim states, for instance.

In an H-L op-ed on 20 November, Pett made no apologies and indicated he was in Washington for a fundraiser to help overseas cartoonists less fortunate than he. Unbelievably while in Paris, State Secretary Kerry mentioned the 11 Charlie Hebdo cartoonists killed by Muslims, also in Paris last January, sort of declaring that butchery to be more justified than killing the huge numbers on 13 November because there might have been “legitimacy” to it (Mohammad caricatured as Pett might depict him...or not, for reasons of keeping his head in place). He realized the gaffe and so tried to explain it away by using “rationalization,” which made it worse. How dies one rationalize cold-blooded murder?

Amusingly, Obama in his G-20 eloquence in Turkey made a Freudian slip (or not) when he mentioned the U.S. attempting to help the “Shia” when he had to correct himself to say “Syria.” I was listening. Imagine teaming up with Iran and Russia purportedly to annihilate ISIS. He and Kerry (Pett's kind of guys?) are the nation's leaders...egad!

And so it goes.
Jim Clark

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