DeVine Law ends two week writing Sabbatical with return to Georgia after three years in the Carolinas

The prospects for the U.S. economy and deterrence of America’s foreign enemies look no greater from atop the Stone Mountain of Georgia than they did from Charlotte’s Hornet Nest. But the death of the public health insurance option in Washington is visible from Peachtree Plaza and the sound of a real Blue Dawg Democrat taking on Speaker Pelosi is audible from Turner Field.

During these past two weeks of attentiveness to packing, lifting and litigating, we noted the following dawns announced by other roosters. Now we break our silence.

1) ExpostfactObamalism reared its ugly head again with the announcement by Attorney General Eric Holder of the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate CIA interrogations of suspected terrorists after the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Was it a coincidence that this announcement was made just as the scrutiny of ObamaCare seemed to put it on life support? We are also told that President Obama really wants to look forward and that the obviously rushed, vague and unthought out new FBI interrogation unit proves that the move is only to “appease his left base.”

This reminds of the times when the press would accuse President George W. Bush of advocating policies to appease his “religious right base.” But Dubya was a member of that base, and he favored the policies he advocated. President Obama is the leader of his far left base. His foreign apology tours echo the Hate America sermons he listened to from Rev. Jeremiah Wright. And his move against the CIA and those that kept America safe after 911 are quite consistent with his own words and actions as a State Senator, U.S. Senator and Presidential candidate after 911.

The President’s actions this past week (and in releasing admittedly dangerous Gitmo terrorists in weeks past) have made America much less safe as they have paralyzed the CIA and emboldened our enemies.

President Obama’s actions against the CIA and Justice Department lawyers smack of those of Third World dictators in post-coup recriminations. It is of a piece with the Democratic Party’s criminalization of politics and also remind of Obama’s Rahm Emmanuel Chicago Way “pitchfork” lawlessness.

Hugh Hewitt has recently insisted that there be no comparisons of ObamaCare to the health care takeover under the National Socialist’s (NAZIS) in Germany (despite 40 years of slander against the GOP as fascists by liberals and that the tactics of Obama are more like that of “McCarthyism.” This despite that fact that Sen. Joe McCarthy’s sins have been overblown and his name attached to an era that would more accurately be named for the discrediting of the Adlai Stevenson egg heads that lost Eastern Europe and China, but I digress.

The fact is that the federal government was infiltrated by paid Soviet spies and that McCarthy exposed many.

No, Hugh Hewitt, Obama is more like Al Capone than Joe McCarthy.

2) There is a ceiling on the market rebound and economic recovery

Brian Wesbury and other optimists are wrong. Robert Reich is right. The worst of the recession is not behind us. Too much wealth was taken out of consumers’ hands with the fall in housing prices and with high unemployment. The recent “stabilization” of the market and GDP is solely due to trillions  in loose Fed money and housing profit taking sales.

But the fact is that we got a very small bang for the Fed Big Bucks that are even now being restrained for fear of inflation. The Stimulus, as designed was only government growthulus, and is crowding out private investment as ObamaDem high business and investor tax and regulation policies since 2007 and the massive debt driven by their budgets have investors on strike.

Unlike 1981-2, there are zero policies in place to spur small business formation and Big Business is content to cost cut labor for profit while in bed with Obama to maintain market share. Moreover, ObamaDem policies have continued to artificially prop up housing prices thus preventing the needed “bottoming out” of the housing market that is necessary for an eventual stabilization and sustained comeback.

We are looking at a double-dip recession with any recovery being jobless and otherwise unworthy of the name “recovery.”

3) We have found the real Blue Dog Democrat in Northern Alabama. Parker Griffith has announced that he would not vote for Speaker Pelosi again. I can think of no other time that a member of Congress made such a declaration, as it is tantamount to quitting the party. After all, the definition of party membership is the vote for Speaker, hence my impatience with any conservative that would even consider being a democrat since by voting for Speaker one empowers the left.

Bravo for Rep. Griffith. He also announced his opposition to the public option and co-ops and his support for interstate competition for health insurance. Sounds like my kind of conservative no matter what party label he wears.

4) MSNBC’s Morning Joe Scarborough suggested that Sarah Palin needed to “read more books” so upset was the network’s token “conservative” at her “death panel” attack against ObamaCare. Maybe Joe needs to read the bills Congress writes. Palin nailed the Achilles heel of the House bill in a politically brilliant way just before the revelation about the “Death Book” that Obama’s Veteran’s Administration revived.

Joe looks silly jumping on the Palin is a dolt canard, but so does Charles Krauthammer who also regularly joins in the Palin needs to “bone up” on issues bandwagon.

Poppycock!

Krauthammer recently wrote a column that denounces Palin on “death panels” in the first few paragraphs and then affirms the construction in the bulk of the column.

Charles and Joe are more concerned with being liked by the DC cocktail circuit than the whole truth at times. maybe they need to bone up on character and the availability of cocktails outside Georgetown and read more books on travel in flyover country.

Palin seems to have gotten most all issues right with the education she received in Idaho and Alaska via matriculation and life. I think before Palin needs to “bone up” and read more books, maybe all the liberals, democrats and beltway Republicans should catch up to her.

5) The passing of Ted Kennedy

I did not agree with the Senior Senator from Massachusetts on much of anything even when I was a Democrat and he challenged President Carter for the right to lose to Ronald Reagan in 1980.

Whether it was his creation and later denunciation of HMOs; destructive revisions of immigration law in the late 60s that set the stage for the anchor baby and extended family policies divorced from our national interests; abandonment of the Hmong and South Vietnamese in 1975; and slanders against Judges Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas in the 80s and 90s, DeVine Law opposed him. Moreover, his then secret communications with Gorbachev’s KGB in the 1980s opposing President Reagan’s policies for missile defense were borderline treasonous.

I admire Ted Kennedy’s older brothers. I consider myself to be, essentially a JFK Democrat in my 2000-shod clothes of a conservative Republican. RFK took on the Mob, a corrupt FBI and was justified in opposing LBJ’s handling of the Vietnam War. And so I can sympathize with a younger brother trying to follow in those footsteps.

Ted Kennedy obviously believed in his liberal principles and believed he was doing the right thing, no matter how history has shown how misguided many of his policies to be. I do salute him for his support of President Bush on NCLB and Medicare Rx Drug policy.

Despite the problems with federal government involvement in such a basic state function, it is better that accountability strings be attached to the money. And I would argue that a modern Medicare program should cover modern medicine, and that the market policies of the Rx plan have kept costs lower than expected, which is rather unique for a government program.

I am one that pines for the days of the citizen legislator and not for the career legislative careers that too often out an emphasis on “doing something”, i.e. passing laws in response to most any event so as to win reelection for supposedly solving the problems exposed by events.

But there can be no doubt that Ted Kennedy is a giant in the history of Congress with his record of actually passing legislation. He showed real skill in this area that does set him apart from his brothers in a unique way. Dick Morris and Bill O’Reilly engaged in a very enlightened and complete review of Kennedy’s career this past week that is summarized here.

We also are hopeful that Kennedy’s friend Orrin Hatch (R-UT) is right about Teddy’s renewal of his faith some years ago and wish him and his family Godspeed.

Mike DeVine’s Charlotte Observer, Examiner.com and Minority Report columns

“One man with courage makes a majority.” – Andrew Jackson

Originally published @ Examiner.com, where all verification links may be accessed.