The Snarky Files - Euripides' Views on the Week (June 5)

The statue of Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson at the state park where the Battle of Manassas was fought on July 21, 1861.

The Snarky Files. Snarky means several things. I prefer the definition of "sharply critical." Here's my take on some news stories this past week. No real news here, just snark.

Missiled!
I remember the Cold War. I remember the political tension between the US and the Soviet Union, combined with the constant threat of nuclear holocaust. I remember strong leaders taking strong positions to ensure that the US kept its strong position against possible attack.

After the Cold War, we got a bunch of weenies for presidents, starting with William Jefferson Clinton. Yes, the Cold War was over, yeah rah. Yes, the Soviet Union collapsed, huzzah. No, the US was not safe.

As a case in point are the examples of Iran and North Korea rattling their sabers and talking the big nuclear talk. Every few days a bit of news slips past the mainstream media to make it onto the web. Take this story for instance. The Yonhap News Agency reported North Korea successfully launched another series of short range missiles into the East Sea, along with announcing a second successful nuclear test.

What does this mean for us, all the way over here in the United States? It means that North Korea can now destroy South Korea or Japan. Iran, supposedly, is not far from its ability to destroy Israel.

Should we take these missile tests and announcements seriously? Considering the lack of stern talk from Obama and Secretary of State Clinton, you'd think nuclear proliferation was the natural right of independent states.

When nuclear war breaks out, look to Korea, Iran and Pakistan. And remember the lesson we all knew during the Cold War. Nuclear weapons in the hands of unstable governments make the destruction of the World Trade Center towers look like child's play.

Sex Education
What is it with the rash of teachers having sex with young students? In my last Snarky Files, I reported on three in Arizona. Not a week went by with this story about Melissa Weber, a New York City woman who had sex with a 14 year old.

What part of statutory rape don't these teachers understand?

All I can figure is that these teachers came from public school systems and were taught all about sex education by putting condoms on bananas. Now, as grown ups, they have absolutely no self control, no moral backbone and no compunction to limit their sexual preferences to adults.

We need to rethink sex education in our schools, maybe to exclude "hands-on" training by the teachers.

Speaking of Sex Education
Did you hear about Sergio Garcia from Fairfax High School in Los Angeles? The student body elected him prom queen. This is not of course the first time a boy has been elected prom queen, but this story did catch my attention since gay activists seem to be on the warpath to achieve total agreement, acceptance and support of LGBT lifestyles.

The problem, as I see it, is the overt sexualization of our teens. From sex education in the schools, to sexual images and stories in the media, to hyper-sexed "role models" such as Ashley Tisdale, to idealizing to pedophile teachers who can't control themselves around children, to gays trying to introduce Kindergarten-aged children to sexual issues, to gender confusion, these children don't stand a chance of growing up without incredibly strong forces pushing them into more and more overt sexual behaviors.

For Garcia, the decision seemed natural:

"I will be wearing a suit," Garcia said, "but don't be fooled, deep down inside, I am a queen!" (LA Times)

Garcia didn't have to break gender boundaries all on his own. Of course he had school-assisted counseling to guide him in his life decisions:

[Fairfax] has a Gay-Straight Alliance student group on campus, and Project 10, an on-site support program for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth, was started there in 1984 after a social worker wanted to help a gay student who was being harassed by his peers. The program has since been expanded to encompass the entire Los Angeles Unified School District. (LA Times)

Here's a thought. If Garcia was the prom queen and no girls, as of yet, have been elected as prom king, isn't that just another example of a male-dominated society? Or is the patriarchy all right, as long as a transgendered youth gets to be queen for a day?

Eminems
Speaking of queens, at the MTV movie awards, Sacha Baron Cohen (Bruno) flew above the audience during the middle of the show, sporting angel wings and a bare bottom. Supposedly, a wire broke and dumped him, bottom up, into rap singer Eminem's lap. Eminem left the awards in a rage, sparking a huge controversy over the rapper's tolerance.

Apparently, the whole thing was a setup in order to show controversy and boost ratings. (The Sun) Eminem got a "bum" rap.

It is at times like these that I am proud, deeply proud, yes even smug, that I do not watch television. I do not let my children watch television. I do not pay for cable television. And, if the MTV Movie Awards are any indication, I am not missing a blessed thing by not watching television.

Thank you MTV for giving me yet another reason not to watch TV.

Judgment Day
Anyone who follows the news has heard or read about Obama's nomination for the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor. Politico reported on Sotomayor working the room at a get together with congressional Democrats:

Sotomayor told several Democratic senators, in private meetings in the Capitol, that her comment that a “wise Latina woman” could render a better judgment than a white male judge was part of a much broader speech and that ultimately she was committed to following the rule of law above anything else.

Uh huh. Of course she is.

Here's the question that the mainstream media, liberals and Democrats don't ask (as part of their new "don't ask, don't tell" Obama appointee policy): Is anyone, anyone, really fooled into believing that Obama was not trying to fill a racial quota by naming Sotomayor? Is anyone really fooled into thinking that Democrat statists, like Obama, are not interested in preserving class warfare, racial tension and bigotry?

On the outside, Democrat statists show their "tolerance" faces. Yet inside, they spark and thrive on racial and social class warfare, egging it on and on.

Hope and Change
The economy is getting worse. Unemployment is getting worse. (The Associated Press reported that unemployment shot up to 9.4 percent. That's bascially one in ten people out of work in the US.) The good news is job losses seem to be slowing down.

What is our fearless leader doing to help the people of the US? He's making buddies with authoritarian governments.

China, Iran, Russia and Venezuela form a clique of authoritarian states that use their wealth and influence to undermine global democracy and rule of law, a study by U.S.-funded agencies said on Thursday....

Democracies needed to stand against the authoritarian tide and do more to safeguard and promote democratic institutions, said the report, without spelling out suggested responses.

"As the world's democracies have struggled to find a common approach to the problem, or even to agree that there is a problem, modern authoritarian states have worked diligently to spread their influence," it said. (Reuters UK)

As strange as this may seem, George W. Bush at least took a hard stand against authoritarian governments. Barack Obama? Not so much. See my paragraph above about nuclear threats.