Enemies get jury trial, heroes get court martialed; Don't want govt health care? You must be a slave owner.

1) Harry Reid‘s idiocy: "Instead of joining us on the right side of history, all Republicans have come up with is this slow down, stop everything, let's start over," said Reid. "You think you've heard these same excuses before, you're right. When this country belatedly recognized the wrongs of slavery, there were those who dug in their heels and said, slow down, it's too early. Let's wait. Things aren't bad enough. When women spoke up for the right to speak up, they wanted to vote, some insisted slow down, there will be a better day to do that. The day isn't quite right. When this body was on the verge of guaranteeing equal civil rights to everyone, regardless of the color of their skin, some senators resorted to the same filibuster threats that we hear today. More recently, when chairman Chris Dodd of Connecticut, one of the people who will go down as a chief champion of the bill before us today, said that Americans should be able to take care of their families without fear of losing their jobs, you heard the same old excuses. seven years of fighting and more than one presidential veto, it was slow down, stop everything, start over. History is repeating itself before our eyes. There are now those who don't think it is the right time to reform health care. If not now, when, madam president? But the reality for many that feel that way, it will never, never be a good time to reform health care." See: http://blogs.abcnews.com/george/2009/12/reid-compares-health-reform-bill-with-slavery-suffrage.html Reminder: Sharron Angle, the only real conservative with legislative experience in the race, is running against this liberty-hating leftist. Please go to http://www.sharronangle.com/ and donate to her campaign. 2) Copenhagen Climate Summit: 1,200 Limos & 140 Private Planes The airport in Copenhagen (the city hosting this week’s Climate Summit) is expecting up to 140 extra private jets. The eleven-day conference, including the participants’ travel, will create a total of 41,000 tons of “carbon dioxide equivalent.” The real kicker is that all of the world’s leaders looking to “save the world” have already agreed this conference will not produce any kind of binding deal. There seems to be quite a difference between what our leaders say and what they do. “If our energy secretary has his way we may end up painting our roofs white and have our plasma TVs taken away from us,” Sean added. “It’s ok for us to go back to the horse and buggy days as they travel around in their private planes! It reminds me of the olden days of monarchs and nobles dictating how their servants are to live.” -From a Sean Hannity e-mail newsletter And according to Glenn Beck, the carbon footprint generated at this event is larger than what 60 countries produce in an entire year. 2a) Morning Bell: The Copenhagen Climate Comedy …So how did those Kyoto emissions reduction pledges turnout? According to U.N. data, between 2000 and 2006, the 27 European signatories actually increased their emissions by 0.1%. Canada even saw a 21.3% emissions rise. Meanwhile, the U.S., who was not bound by the treaty since the U.S. Senate voted 95-0 not to subject our economy to costly regulations that China and India were specifically exempted from, actually reduced our emissions by 3% over the same time period. See: http://blog.heritage.org/2009/12/07/morning-bell-the-copenhagen-climate-comedy/ 2b) The Web Discloses Inconvenient Climate Truths The world cannot trust scientists who abuse their power. For anyone who doubts the power of the Internet to shine light on darkness, the news of the month is how digital technology helped uncover a secretive group of scientists who suppressed data, froze others out of the debate, and flouted freedom-of-information laws. Their behavior was brought to light when more than 1,000 emails,and some 3,500 additional files were published online, many of which boasted about how they suppressed hard questions about their data. The emails, released by an apparent whistle-blower who used the name "FOI," were written by scientists at the Climate Research Unit of the University of East Anglia in England. Its scientists are high-profile campaigners for the theory of global warming. …The panel, which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore, now faces the inconvenient truth that it relied on scientists who violated scientific process. In one email, the Climate Research Unit's director, Phil Jones, wrote Michael Mann of Pennsylvania State University, promising to spike studies that cast doubt on the relationship between human activity and global warming. "I can't see either of these papers being in the next IPCC report," he said. He pledged to "keep them out somehow—even if we have to redefine what the peer-review literature is!" In another email exhange, Mr. Mann wrote to Mr. Jones: "This was the danger of always criticizing the skeptics for not publishing in the 'peer-reviewed literature.' Obviously, they found a solution to that—take over a journal! So what do we do about this? I think we have to stop considering 'Climate Research' as a legitimate peer-reviewed journal. Perhaps we should encourage our colleagues in the climate research community to no longer submit to, or cite papers in, this journal." Other emails include one in which Keith Briffa of the Climate Research Unit told Mr. Mann that "I tried hard to balance the needs of the science and the IPCC, which were not always the same," and in which Mr. Jones said he had employed Mr. Mann's "trick" to "hide the decline" in temperatures. A May 2008 email from Mr. Jones with the subject line "IPCC & FOI" asked recipients to "delete any emails you may have had" about data submitted for an IPCC report. The British Freedom of Information Act makes it a crime to delete material subject to an FOI request; such a request had been made earlier that month. ..The emails showed how the global-warming group stifled dissent. They controlled the peer-review process, keeping opposing views unpublished, then cited "peer review" as evidence of their "consensus." One of the dissident scientists, Roger Pielke of the University of Colorado, wrote on his blog that the emails show the "collusion to suppress other scientifically supported views of the climate system, and the human role within it, is a systemic problem with the climate assessment process." See: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703499404574564291187747578.html 3) Meanwhile, back at home, the leftists just keep on pushing, regardless of facts: EPA says greenhouse gases endanger human health WASHINGTON – The Environmental Protection Agency took a major step Monday toward regulating greenhouses gases, concluding that climate changing pollution threatens the public health and the environment. The announcement came as the Obama administration looked to boost its arguments at an international climate conference that the United States is aggressively taking actions to combat global warming, even though Congress has yet to act on climate legislation. The conference opened Monday in Copenhagen. The EPA said that the scientific evidence surrounding climate change clearly shows that greenhouse gases "threaten the public health and welfare of the American people" and that the pollutants — mainly carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels — should be regulated under the Clean Air Act. Hmmm. Carbon dioxide. I guess plants are polluting the planet then, too, just by photosynthesizing. (You remember from science class: they take in oxygen and give off carbon dioxide). But I digress. …Under a Supreme Court ruling, the so-called endangerment finding is needed before the EPA can regulate carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases released from automobiles, power plants, and factories under the federal Clean Air Act. The EPA signaled last April that it was inclined to view heat-trapping pollution as a threat to public health and welfare and began to take public comments under a formal rulemaking. The action marked a reversal from the Bush administration, which had refused before leaving office to issue the finding, despite a conclusion by EPA scientists that it was warranted. Business groups have strongly argued against tackling global warming through the Clean Air Act, saying it is less flexible and more costly than the cap-and-trade bill being considered before Congress. On Monday, some of those groups questioned the timing of the EPA's announcement, calling it political. See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091207/ap_on_go_ot/us_epa_climate The price could be steep for both industry and consumers. The EPA finding clears the way for rules that eventually could force the sale of more fuel-efficient vehicles and require plants to install costly new equipment — at a cost of billions or even many tens of billions of dollars — or shift to other forms of energy. …"It will choke off growth by adding new mandates to virtually every major construction and renovation project," declared Thomas Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which in recent months has been particularly critical of the EPA's attempt to address climate change. See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091208/ap_on_bi_ge/climate_epa 4) Don’t Court Martial the SEAL Three December 7th is usually a day we remember the brave men who died at Pearl Harbor. Many of them died fighting, responding instantly to the cowardly Japanese attack that came without warning. This is a day to honor bravery, resolve and sacrifice. But this December 7th is different. Today…two Navy SEALs are being arraigned on charges they abused an Iraqi terrorist after they captured him three months ago. A third will be arraigned at a later date and their courts martial could occur next month. As Rowan Scarborough reported two weeks ago, the three SEALs -- Julio Huertas, Jonathan Keefe and Matthew McCabe -- were part of a platoon from SEAL Team 10 that captured one of the most-wanted terrorists in Iraq, Ahmed Hashim Abed, in a nighttime raid on or about September 1. Abed is believed to be the man behind the barbaric March 2004 ambush of Blackwater security guards in which four were murdered, their bodies mutilated and then hung from a bridge in Tallulah (emphasis mine). So, instead of celebrating them as the heroes they are, we court martial. Our enemies get a jury trial, and our warrior heroes get court martialed. What the heck? The facts of the case are a bit muddy. According to a source close to the case who requested anonymity the SEALs captured Abed and transported him to a place where they surrendered him to Iraqi custody. He made no complaint of abuse before being turned over to the Iraqis. At some point after that, the SEALs reclaimed Abed who -- though still technically in Iraqi custody -- was taken back for further questioning, complaining of mistreatment. There was some blood on his clothing but it’s not clear when it appeared. There is every reason to believe the SEALs are innocent. Chapter 18 of the Al Qaeda training manual released by the US Justice Department says that members must complain of torture and mistreatment inflicted on them. American investigators became involved and, from that point, it’s apparent that lawyers were making decisions, and the commander at the top of the local food chain -- MGen. Charles T. Cleveland -- at first misunderstood his options and then pushed the matter far beyond the point at which it should have ended. …You have to understand their rejection of Article 15 punishment. These three -- like most SEALs -- are the ultimate in elite warriors. They have worked enormously hard to earn SEAL status and are proud to risk their lives in the service of our nation. My source told me that their ambition is to compete for spots on the most elite of the SEAL teams (the one that has a name, not a number, and whose members call themselves “the Jedi.” Which isn’t much of an exaggeration). They don’t think they did anything wrong and turned down the Article 15 because if they accepted it, their ambition to continue to serve their country -- at an even higher level -- would be quashed. …Putting these SEALs through a court martial for an offense that deserves -- at worst -- a good chewing out and a sentence to do a few hundred pushups will send a devastating message throughout all the special forces. To intervene now, and stop this court martial from proceeding, will send the right message, one of real leadership. Anyone in the chain of command above Cleveland could perform that duty. Even President Obama. See: http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=34710