Saturday, October 23, 2004
More MSM Meltdown
Captain's Quarters points us to the Daily Recyler with another Chrissy Matthews style meltdown on MSNBC. It is UNREAL:
Quick Wit and Quicker Feet
Watch as Ann fakes out the pie throwers with moves better than most NFL halfbacks.
The New Tet Offensive
Al-Qaeda adopts Viet Cong's Tet strategy: Don't' fall for it
Peter A. Brown, Orlando Sentinal
October 22, 2004
It is reasonable to assume that someone in the al-Qaeda hierarchy has been reading books other than the Quran.
The last time I checked, the Muslim holy book didn't have a chapter on the Tet offensive.
Nor does it contain a verse on how suicidal violence can play to TV's obsession with pictures and deliver a political message aimed at influencing voters before an election.
Yet someone pulling strings in al-Qaeda central clearly understands those matters, and how they shaped America's Vietnam experience.
Most important, they understand the lesson of Tet -- that a military defeat can be more than worth the cost if its violence produces enough dissatisfaction to damage the enemy's political will.
That's evident in the recent effort by al-Qaeda and its allies to emulate the tactics of anti-U.S. forces in Vietnam that helped push Lyndon B. Johnson into retirement and the subsequent election of a president who wound down the American presence there.
One can only assume they are trying to do the same thing to George W. Bush.
In Vietnam, the enemy took advantage of the the world's first televised war to maximize violence before the Democratic presidential primaries in 1968.
They understood that the casualties inflicted on U.S. troops -- even if far fewer than their own -- and the pictures it provided to the news media made many millions of Americans question the wisdom of fighting a war thousands of miles from home.
The North Vietnamese were willing to suffer a military defeat in hopes of achieving their desired result -- the withdrawal of U.S. troops -- by political means.
Their strategy worked.
Tet marked the turning of U.S. public opinion against the Vietnam War that led to the American withdrawal in 1975.
The analogy between Vietnam and today's conflict in Iraq has been overused this election season.
To opponents of the American effort, Iraq is another case of U.S. forces becoming entangled in a civil war between various domestic factions.
War supporters see the Iraq campaign as an important effort to combat terrorism and create a shining example of democracy in a crucial but unstable part of the globe.
Curiously, little has been made of the al-Qaeda adoption of the Tet strategy.
The increased level of violence in Iraq in the past month is a transparent effort to copy the tactics of Tet, aimed at political, rather than military, victory.
These attacks are actually often suicide bombings as opposed to the Viet Cong efforts against larger forces in1968.
It is more than coincidental that the recent increase in attacks are occurring during the period when Americans, through the presidential election, are deciding the thrust of their policy toward terrorism and the Middle East.
The "Tet offensive," named for the Buddhist holiday during which it occurred, was launched in early 1968, just before the Democratic presidential primaries.
Johnson had been heavily favored for both renomination and election. But the public furor here at home over Vietnam, fed by the Tet attacks and pictures beamed into America's living rooms, led him to withdraw from the race.
The Republicans had been in shambles after their disastrous 1964 nomination of Barry Goldwater, and LBJ's landslide re-election. They entered that campaign as underdogs, but they were fueled by an anti-war sentiment that was probably stronger than that view is today.
Richard Nixon, who won that election, promised a "secret plan" to extricate the United States from Vietnam, not a hugely different approach than John Kerry's often contradictory comments about the war and vague plan about how he would do things differently than Bush.
Be clear about this: Al-Qaeda & Co. are campaigning for votes, just as Bush and Kerry are.
Regardless of what the American people decide, the terrorists want to pressure the next president into withdrawing U.S. forces.
They think the best way to do that is by convincing U.S. voters through suicide attacks that the benefits of remaining in Iraq are not worth the price in men and money.
That being the case, it is important to remember that Tet was a clear military victory for U.S. forces and their Vietnamese allies. If a democratic Iraq is worth pursuing, then bloody pictures should not make it any less so.
Consider the long-term ramifications of your vote. Don't just react emotionally to what you are seeing on your television screen.
Peter A. Brown can be reached at 407-420-5276 or pbrown@orlandosentinel.com
Peter A. Brown, Orlando Sentinal
October 22, 2004
It is reasonable to assume that someone in the al-Qaeda hierarchy has been reading books other than the Quran.
The last time I checked, the Muslim holy book didn't have a chapter on the Tet offensive.
Nor does it contain a verse on how suicidal violence can play to TV's obsession with pictures and deliver a political message aimed at influencing voters before an election.
Yet someone pulling strings in al-Qaeda central clearly understands those matters, and how they shaped America's Vietnam experience.
Most important, they understand the lesson of Tet -- that a military defeat can be more than worth the cost if its violence produces enough dissatisfaction to damage the enemy's political will.
That's evident in the recent effort by al-Qaeda and its allies to emulate the tactics of anti-U.S. forces in Vietnam that helped push Lyndon B. Johnson into retirement and the subsequent election of a president who wound down the American presence there.
One can only assume they are trying to do the same thing to George W. Bush.
In Vietnam, the enemy took advantage of the the world's first televised war to maximize violence before the Democratic presidential primaries in 1968.
They understood that the casualties inflicted on U.S. troops -- even if far fewer than their own -- and the pictures it provided to the news media made many millions of Americans question the wisdom of fighting a war thousands of miles from home.
The North Vietnamese were willing to suffer a military defeat in hopes of achieving their desired result -- the withdrawal of U.S. troops -- by political means.
Their strategy worked.
Tet marked the turning of U.S. public opinion against the Vietnam War that led to the American withdrawal in 1975.
The analogy between Vietnam and today's conflict in Iraq has been overused this election season.
To opponents of the American effort, Iraq is another case of U.S. forces becoming entangled in a civil war between various domestic factions.
War supporters see the Iraq campaign as an important effort to combat terrorism and create a shining example of democracy in a crucial but unstable part of the globe.
Curiously, little has been made of the al-Qaeda adoption of the Tet strategy.
The increased level of violence in Iraq in the past month is a transparent effort to copy the tactics of Tet, aimed at political, rather than military, victory.
These attacks are actually often suicide bombings as opposed to the Viet Cong efforts against larger forces in1968.
It is more than coincidental that the recent increase in attacks are occurring during the period when Americans, through the presidential election, are deciding the thrust of their policy toward terrorism and the Middle East.
The "Tet offensive," named for the Buddhist holiday during which it occurred, was launched in early 1968, just before the Democratic presidential primaries.
Johnson had been heavily favored for both renomination and election. But the public furor here at home over Vietnam, fed by the Tet attacks and pictures beamed into America's living rooms, led him to withdraw from the race.
The Republicans had been in shambles after their disastrous 1964 nomination of Barry Goldwater, and LBJ's landslide re-election. They entered that campaign as underdogs, but they were fueled by an anti-war sentiment that was probably stronger than that view is today.
Richard Nixon, who won that election, promised a "secret plan" to extricate the United States from Vietnam, not a hugely different approach than John Kerry's often contradictory comments about the war and vague plan about how he would do things differently than Bush.
Be clear about this: Al-Qaeda & Co. are campaigning for votes, just as Bush and Kerry are.
Regardless of what the American people decide, the terrorists want to pressure the next president into withdrawing U.S. forces.
They think the best way to do that is by convincing U.S. voters through suicide attacks that the benefits of remaining in Iraq are not worth the price in men and money.
That being the case, it is important to remember that Tet was a clear military victory for U.S. forces and their Vietnamese allies. If a democratic Iraq is worth pursuing, then bloody pictures should not make it any less so.
Consider the long-term ramifications of your vote. Don't just react emotionally to what you are seeing on your television screen.
Peter A. Brown can be reached at 407-420-5276 or pbrown@orlandosentinel.com
Friday, October 22, 2004
Let Him Boldly Go!
William Shatner wants to go to space. I think this nation owes that to him. Anyone out there that knows how to set up contributions should do so for this man.
Call me crazy, but through the duldrums of a stagnant NASA, even crusty Star Trek episodes inspire people.
Help him go!
Team America: Interview with Matt Stone
Alpha Patriot points us to Matt Stone's interview at NPR. It is good; South Park Republicans should take a listen here.
US Knows the Rock Usama Is Hiding Under
Speaking at one of my (Pomona) sister colleges (Pitzer, the hippie college)...
Former Navy Secretary and 9-11 commissioner John Lehman says the U.S. knows where al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden is hiding but can't reach him because he is in a region of Pakistan controlled by Islamic extremists opposed to President Pervez Musharraf.Read more here.
He said the terrorist leader is in South Waziristan in the Baluchistan Mountains of Pakistan's Baluchistan region.
"There is an American presence in the area, but we can't just send in troops," Lehman told the Sun. "If we did, we could have another Vietnam, and the United States cannot afford that right now."
Thursday, October 21, 2004
Whales Cannot Sue Military/Bush
Every conservative out there should watch Penn & Teller's bullshit religiously. They had an episode disparaging PeTA saying, "if animals have rights, will we jail all the lions who eat dear." It sounded ridiculous until today, when the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals HEARD A CASE (!) where someone sued the military on behalf of whales and dolphins for damage caused by Navy sonar.
I remember dealing with a dolphin lover in high school; she was all for going against tuna fisherman because of the dolphins they killed. I asked her, "what about the Tuna?"
It's always about beautiful animals...
I remember dealing with a dolphin lover in high school; she was all for going against tuna fisherman because of the dolphins they killed. I asked her, "what about the Tuna?"
It's always about beautiful animals...
I'm the King of the World
For all you End Times conspiracy theorists out there, you should dig deep into this:
Copyright 2004 by United Press International.
All rights reserved.
Analysis: Clinton eyes U.N. post
By ROLAND FLAMINI, UPI Chief International Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- Former U.S. President Bill Clinton has set his sights on becoming U.N. secretary-general. A Clinton insider and a senior U.N. source have told United Press International the 56-year-old former president would like to be named leader of the world body when Kofi Annan's term ends early in 2006.
"He definitely wants to do it," the Clinton insider said this week.
A Clinton candidacy is likely to receive overwhelming support from U.N. member states, particularly the Third World. Diplomats in Washington say Clinton would galvanize the United Nations and give an enormous boost to its prestige. But the former president's hopes hang on a crucial question that will not be addressed until after the presidential elections: can he get the support of the U.S. government -- a prerequisite for nomination?
The political wisdom is that a second George W. Bush presidency would cut him off at the pass. The notion of Clinton looming large in the international arena from "the glass tower" in New York would be intolerable to the Bush White House. If Democratic candidate, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., wins on Nov. 2 the prospect of Clinton as secretary-general won't exactly be welcome either, but Kerry would find it much harder -- if not impossible -- to go against it.
After a Middle East U.N. Secretary General (Boutros Boutros Ghali) and an African (Kofi Annan) it is generally considered Asia's turn to fill the post, U.N. experts say. No announcement has been made, but behind the scenes China is already pushing the candidacy of Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai, who also seems to have U.S. support. If Clinton does emerge as a candidate, however, China would most likely shift its support, the experts say.
No American has ever been U.N. secretary-general, but the United States is both host country to the United Nations and the major contributor to its budget. A hostile U.S. Congress held up its dues for years -- until the Clinton administration negotiated a payment plan for Washington's arrears. Clinton also revived U.S. membership of UNESCO though the Americans did not actually move back into their offices at the Paris-based scientific and cultural U.N. agency until after the start of the Bush presidency.
President Reagan had taken the United States out of UNESCO in protest against alleged corruption by former top agency officials.
Clinton is currently recovering from the heart bypass surgery he had to undergo last month, and this has kept him away from the Kerry campaign after a few initial support appearances. The former president has told friends and Kerry staffers he plans to resume campaigning for Kerry, but on a limited scale because his recovery has been gradual. He has talked of his interest in taking over at the United Nations since the publication of his commercially successful autobiography, which he recently said had sold 1.9 million copies. Writing the book kept him busy after leaving office in 2000, but he is now ready to channel his considerable political skills and energy into another role in public life.
There had been rumors that he would run the Third Way organization, the world Social Democratic movement he had talked of launching together with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. But the political alliance had come unstuck and the idea ran out of steam partly because Blair and Schroeder found themselves on opposite sides in the Bush-led Iraq war.
Putting Clinton in charge of the United Nations would be a real test of international intentions, observers say.
"Critics of the U.N. complain that it's an organization without the muscle and will to put its decisions into effect," the U.N. source observed. "There's a good chance that Clinton could significantly change that situation, and then we'll see if the critics mean what they say."
Copyright 2004 by United Press International.
All rights reserved.
School Says Halloween Disrespectful to Witches
Imagine the uproar if some Christian said Halloween was disrespectful? Read more here.
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
Constitutional Introspection
Owen has, I believe, posted one of his best posts discussion the genius of our constitution. I believe God worked through these men to stake his only other claim on earth other than Israel to fulfill his convenant with the Jews and his promises of Revelation.
That's my personal opinion. Owen takes a more secular approach here.
That's my personal opinion. Owen takes a more secular approach here.
Monday, October 18, 2004
Kerry Promised Lie #1
Reimportation of Canadian Drugs:
More than 30 Canadian internet pharmacies have decided not to accept bulk orders of prescription drugs from US states and municipalities. The move delivers a potentially serious setback to US politicians - most notably Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry - campaigning to give Americans easier access to cheap drugs from Canada.
More from Financial Times.
More than 30 Canadian internet pharmacies have decided not to accept bulk orders of prescription drugs from US states and municipalities. The move delivers a potentially serious setback to US politicians - most notably Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry - campaigning to give Americans easier access to cheap drugs from Canada.
More from Financial Times.
Pounding Pavement for the President!
What a great time I had working to get our president re-elected. I enjoyed meeting fellow supporters and was glad Bethany got to experience her first act of civic duty! Here are some pictures:
Sunday, October 17, 2004
DBS News!
With Ann Coulter's help, I tell you how to argue with a liberal in the next two weeks!
Kitty over at Kitty Litter discusses Operation Gratitude.
Wild Bill brings us the voice from the heartland at Passionate America.
Pat over at Kerry Haters runs anchor this week blasting liberals.
Kitty over at Kitty Litter discusses Operation Gratitude.
Wild Bill brings us the voice from the heartland at Passionate America.
Pat over at Kerry Haters runs anchor this week blasting liberals.
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