Seattle Liberals Rediscover the Flag

Ready to lose your appetite (if not your lunch)? Red, white and true blue: City hoists Old Glory.

Barack Obama’s presidential win held a poignant significance for liberal Seattleites: This is their America, too.

Download, print your own flag here

The feeling was evident in jubilant partying in the streets, in quiet moments of reflection and in blossoms of red, white and blue.

With newfound patriotism, Seattleites want to wave the flag, hang it from their homes and stick it on their cars.

“The thing that’s kind of astounding to me is I never ever would have cared to own a flag,” said Rosemary Garner, 42. “This is the first day in my life I actually feel this funny sense of pride about my country. It’s a very foreign feeling, but it’s a good one.”

Of course, when Michelle Obama was criticized for saying she was “proud of my country for the first time,” these same people screamed “racism!” and pointed fingers.

Now, apparently, the whole city of Seattle is echoing her.

Change!

(Hat tip: Kevin and Nancy.)

Boston Globe Op-Ed: ‘I Don’t Support the Troops’

Every once in a while a “progressive” gets tired of maintaining a false front, and comes right out and says what they really feel about the military and about America. Today’s self-unmasking is by Steve Almond, for the Boston Globe: Supporting our troops.

PERHAPS the most insidious byproduct of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has been a reflexive sanctification of the military. To put this in bumper stickerese: Support the Troops.

Well, I have an ugly confession to make: I don’t support the troops – at least not unconditionally. When somebody tells me they serve in the military, my first impulse isn’t to say, “Thank you for your service!” like those insufferable chickenhawks on talk radio.

My first impulse is to say, “I’m sorry to hear that.” Because I am. I’m sorry to know that the person I’m talking to might someday be maimed or killed on the job, or might someday kill someone else. Or refuel a plane that drops bombs on buildings.

I can’t see how anyone who calls himself or herself Christian – or human, for that matter – wouldn’t be sorry.

The fact that we have an army, that we need an army, is inherently tragic. It’s an admission that our species is still ruled by fear and aggression.

(Hat tip:Nancy#LGF)

Zombie: The End of the Tree People

The trees! Somebody save the trees! Oh noes! They’re chopping them down! Berkeley Tree-Sit Finally Ends.

(Hat tip:Chuckles@LGF)

 

Salon in Full-On Smear Mode

The irrelevant online magazine Salon is leading the charge to smear Sarah Palin, with two absolutely disgusting articles today, one by Islamic apologist Juan Cole comparing Palin to “Muslim fundamentalists:” What’s the difference between Palin and Muslim fundamentalists? Lipstick.

Interesting that Cole seems to think this is a negative comparison, when his entire career is based on making excuses for Islamist fanatics.

And another from leftist hack Gary Kamiya, dripping with repellent misogyny: The dominatrix. You would never see such an article about a male candidate.

(Hat tip:Chas@LGF)

Good Work, Leftist Attack Squads!

According to the latest Rasmussen survey, Sarah Palin is now more popular than Barack Obama or John McCain.

A week ago, most Americans had never heard of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Now, following a Vice Presidential acceptance speech viewed live by more than 40 million people, Palin is viewed favorably by 58% of American voters. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 37% hold an unfavorable view of the self-described hockey mom. …

The new data also shows significant increases in the number who say McCain made the right choice and the number who say Palin is ready to be President. Generally, John McCain’s choice of Palin earns slightly better reviews than Barack Obama’s choice of Joe Biden.

Perhaps most stunning is the fact that Palin’s favorable ratings are now a point higher than either man at the top of the Presidential tickets this year. As of Friday morning, Obama and McCain are each viewed favorably by 57% of voters. Biden is viewed favorably by 48%.

(Hat tip:Charles the Closet Obama Supporter)

Zombie: The Denver Games — Opening Ceremony

Although the Democratic National Convention doesn’t start until today, Monday, August 25, the protests against the convention started the day before on Sunday.

The PJM/LGF/zombietime photo team had not yet arrived in Denver, but luckily fellow photojournalist and LGF/zombietime stringer “El Marco” was on hand to record the day’s goings-on.

(For this one report, all the photos are courtesy of El Marco; captions and layout are by zombie.)

Let the games begin!

The day’s theme was “End the Occupations” (yes, that’s occupations with an “s,” since anything the US does counts as an “occupation”). Recreate 68 — the organization formed specifically to protest this convention, using as their guiding principle a desire to recreate the riots outside the notorious Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1968 — were the primary instigators, with various radical, anarchist and left-wing groups joining in. Later in the day was a more loosely organized “Reclaim the Streets” protest (shown here) which basically entailed anarchists confronting the police for the sake of confronting the police.

A banner from the “End the Occupations March.” It is truly astounding that people can openly support Muqtada al-Sadr (depicted on the left of this banner), the hard-line Shi-ite religious leader, especially in light of recent revelations that his “Mehdi Army” operated a torture chamber inside a mosque and routinely executed people. Keep in mind that these are the same kinds of protesters who endlessly whine about Abu Ghraib. If opposing and defeating people like al-Sadr’s torturers counts as “imperialism,” I’ll take imperialism any day.

The march kicked off with a rally in front of the Colorado State Capital, with various left-wing celebrities such as Cindy Sheehan, Ward Churchill and Cynthia McKinney speaking while standing next to this banner, which purports to merely make a case for moral equivalence (bad enough), but which is actually pretty obviously anti-US and pro-Saddam.

Yes, Virginia, there really are communists in this day and age. And most of them seem to have convened in Denver, as this banner from the “End the Occupations” march attests.

Later in the day, the Reclaim the Streets protest arrived at the state capital, where a series of heated but essentially fruitless confrontations between the protesters and the police ensued.

The police did their best to try and keep a lid on the proceedings.

When they needed to rapidly reposition themselves at the protest, they hopped on these specially modified “troop transport” SUVs.

Wait — is this a protest, or a fashion show?

The communists shown in the earlier picture protested against capitalism as a concept. And here we the see the anarchists doing the same. This is in fact their only point of agreement: otherwise, the communists want to institute total state control of society, whereas as the anarchists want, well, anarchy. But hatred of the United States makes strange bedfellows, and for now the natural enemies — communists and anarchists — seem to have set aside their differences and agreed to bring down capitalism together.

Shades of what is likely to happen throughout the week: counter-protesters showed up to voice their opinions as well.

I just love the sign on the right: “Hey Liberals: Can’t get no satisfaction? Try liberating an entire nation from tyranny.” Ouch — that’s gotta sting.

I must say, the messages put forth at this counter-protest were extremely astute, and highlighted the greatest weaknesses in the left-wing protest philosophy.

That’s it for our first report! Thanks to El Marco for capturing some excellent images while we were still en route to Colorado.

The convention itself kicks off today, and the protests are sure to escalate. Stay tuned!

(Hat tip:Zombie)