Harry Reid: Racist

Look, it shouldn't shock most that a mormon dislikes a black man. I've met some wonderful mormons, but they believe that black skin is the mark of Cain and it wasn't until the 1970s that blacks were allowed to join the mormon church.

But his statements on Meet the Press were over the top and simply added more evidence that liberals hate conservative minorities--and their complaint is always that they are NOT QUALIFIED (i.e. STUPID).

First read Ann Coulter's, It's Dr. Rice, Not Dr. Dre.

Then read this piece by a liberal that is beginning to see the pattern here.

Inside Job

The fact that Armstrong Williams reveals that Mfume got the boot from the NAACP from by Julian Bond only makes me like Mfume more. Here's a little of Armstrong's account:

Don’t believe the well scripted press conference where former President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Kweisi Mfume, announced his resignation.

Mfume did not resign from the nation’s oldest and most prestigious civil rights organization. He was kicked out, following a long simmering feuded with NAACP Chairman Julian Bond. The two began feuding after Mfume nominated National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice for his 2003 NAACP Image Award.

Furious that Mfume was reaching out to the Bush administration, Bond responded by nominating “Boondocks" cartoonist Aaron McGruder for his Image Award.

MacGruder had ridiculed Rice in his comic strip and later caller her “murderer” for her role in the war in Iraq.

The rift grew as Mfume continued to reach out to the Republican Party. Mfume realized that by reflexively voting Democrat in every election, the black voting populace has given away most of their political bartering power.

Here's a Traitor

Everyone blasted Ann Coulter for writing a book on treason but never calling anyone a traitor. As a lawyer, she knew that if she did so, she would be sued for libel. But I am free to call anyone I want a traitor because I do not have the means to disrupt someone's livelihood that can be quantified in a dollar value.

Tom Hayden is a traitor. And a great article in today's Front Page Magazine illustrates this perfectly:

Today's anti-war movement models itself on the Vietnam protesters, and the movement's leaders include familiar faces. Tom Hayden has written an article, "How to End the War in Iraq," that outlines how to organize an effort to ensure that the United States is defeated in Iraq. The opening sentence: "The anti-war movement can force the Bush administration to leave Iraq by denying it the funding, troops, and alliances necessary to its strategy for dominance." Hayden next lauds the success of the anti-war movement within the Democratic Party and gives proof of its effectiveness. "The pressure of anti-war voices and the Kerry campaign led Bush to delay the request for a supplemental $75 billion appropriation, the assault on Falluja, and the U.S.-sponsored Iraqi elections until after Nov. 2." In other words, giving the enemy breathing room to regroup, delaying democracy for the Iraqi people, and denying our troops the funding they need are all triumphs for the protesters. But it's not enough. More must be done to make sure that American forces are defeated and forced to withdraw. Why? Because, "Once the election was over, the Bush administration turned Fallujah into a slaughterhouse." Here is enemy propaganda, pure and simple, breathtaking in its utter disregard for the truth about the gangsters who controlled Falluja and videotaped the beheadings of innocent people.

Hayden details his plan for Vietnam-like withdrawal from Iraq. "The first step is to build pressure at congressional district levels to oppose any further funding or additional troops for war. If members of Congress balk at cutting off all assistance and want to propose 'conditions' for further aid, it is a small step toward threatening funding. If only 75 members of Congress go on record against any further funding, that's a step in the right direction towards the exit." To accomplish this, the Democratic Party must be pushed into becoming the anti-war party. "The progressive activists of the party should refuse to contribute any more resources, volunteers, money, etc. to candidates or incumbents who act as collaborators." Note the use of the word "collaborators" -- meaning, of course, those who collaborate with the duly elected government of the United States.

Steroids Redux

One way to tell that the media is liberal and/or that McCain is running for president in 2008 is the following: Steroids in MLB.

The media is awash with stories now about how our nation's children, teens and college students are being inundated with steroid pushers now that McGuire, Bonds and Giambia have admitted to using steroids (or HGH).

But where was the media when Bush mentioned this in his State of the Union in 2004? Almost a year ago, Bush said:

To help children make right choices, they need good examples. Athletics play such an important role in our society, but, unfortunately, some in professional sports are not setting much of an example. The use of performance-enhancing drugs like steroids in baseball, football, and other sports is dangerous, and it sends the wrong message -- that there are shortcuts to accomplishment, and that performance is more important than character. So tonight I call on team owners, union representatives, coaches, and players to take the lead, to send the right signal, to get tough, and to get rid of steroids now. (Applause.)

I remember Nancy Pelosi saying that Bush was crazy for bringing up a subject that was not even a real problem...hmmm, so now that McCain says it--that's news?

Al Franken

Read why David Horowitz is fighting back at charges against Al Franken.

The Future

WOW! Read about the new Terminator style weapons being deployed in Iraq.

This should have China scared shitless.

Where Are the Protestors?

What you see is Washington State's largest polluter, Mt. Saint Helens. So where are the environmental activists? Nature is doing more damage to our air than any factory, logging company or cars in Washington.

I think it's hilarious that people believe that the earth is so fragile that man can destroy it. In fact, that's one of the most arrogant assumptions around. This earth has survived asteroid impacts, fires that burned forests off entire continents, and volcanos that filled the skies with pollution that lasted hundreds of years (Vesuvius). Somehow man is going to destroy the planet. It will never happen. All man can do is make the environment unsuitable for habitation. If we exploded every chemical, biological and nuclear weapon in the world and killed every human being, guess what?

The earth would still be here!

And think about this? What will happen when we find out climate change is a direct result of...The Sun! How are we gonna tackle that one? It just demonstrates that the environmental movement is an anti-capitalist political movement based only on guilt--guilt of success and material wealth.

Of course we should just dump anything in rivers and not be responsible with the environment...but we must realize that environmentalism is not a science; it's politics. I could go further and say it's a secularist/humanist substitute for religion (aka "earth worship") but that's another post all together.

New School Prayer

From a student in Arizona:

Now I sit me down in school
Where praying is against the rule
For this great nation under God
Finds mention of Him very odd.

If Scripture now the class recites,
It violates the Bill of Rights.
And anytime my head I bow
Becomes a Federal matter now.

Our hair can be purple, orange or green,
That's no offense; it's a freedom scene.
The law is specific, the law is precise.
Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice.

For praying in a public hall
Might offend someone with no faith at all.
In silence alone we must meditate,
God's name is prohibited by the state.

We're allowed to cuss and dress like freaks,
And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks.
They've outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible.
To quote the Good Book makes me liable.

We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,
And the 'unwed daddy,' our Senior King.
It's "inappropriate" to teach right from wrong,
We're taught that such "judgments" do not belong.

We can get our condoms and birth controls,
Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles.
But the Ten Commandments are not allowed,
No word of God must reach this crowd.

It's scary here I must confess,
When chaos reigns the school's a mess.
So, Lord, this silent plea I make:
Should I be shot; My soul please take!

Amen

Can You Believe the Nuts on these Folks?

DEEZ NUTS


Alpha Patriot posted a great roundup of all the craziness at the UN. This stuck out:

United Nations anti-torture body has criticised Britain for the "unsatisfactory" conditions in its prisons, including a "substantial number of deaths in custody", urging it to act at once to improve them.

The U.N. Committee Against Torture, reviewing British compliance with an international treaty outlawing inhuman and degrading treatment, also expressed concern at parts of an anti-terrorism law which allows "potentially indefinite detention" of foreigners without trial.

It called on the British government to study "as a matter of urgency" alternatives to the sweeping powers to imprison any foreigner suspected of involvement in international terrorism given by the 2001 Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act.

Read the rest here.

They're So Blue

[I offer this article for Mark Steyn fans from the subscribers only section of NRO. I encourage everyone to spend the measley $20 to subscribe online to NRO here.]

happy warrior
MARK STEYN

I've greatly enjoyed the post-election traumas of the Democratic party. I loved those few days when Nancy Pelosi was ostentatiously dropping a soundbite from "Matthew" into every media appearance. Who is this Matthew guy she's on such chummy terms with? Matthew Meadows, Florida state representative for District 94? Matthew P. Denn, the Democratic candidate in the race for Delaware insurance commissioner?

No, turns out it's Matthew as in the Gospel according to. Big name in Jesusland, to use the new designation. A little too big, indeed, to be cited plausibly as evidence of one's acquaintance with Scripture. Anyone can refer in a vague way to Matthew. Had Mrs. Pelosi managed to rattle off a couple of verses from Philemon or Habakkuk, all over the vast Bush-voting swamp, millions of stump-toothed rednecks would have briefly stopped speaking in tongues as their jaws hit the floor. By the way, it's only two k's in the middle of "Habakkuk" — not like Amerikkka or John Ashkkkroft.

Anyway, after a week of trying to turn the Democratic whine into holy water, the House minority leader decided to chuck the saint-dropping. As the whole Jesusland thing suggests, her base isn't entirely on board with the outreach. And frankly the Democrats never do well when they try to square contemporary liberal pieties with religion. For one thing, they recoil from the very word "religion." Al Gore prefers to say, "Well, in my faith tradition . . ." As a rule, folks with a faith tradition tend not to call it such. At Friday prayers in Mecca, the A-list imams don't say, "Well, in my faith tradition we believe in killing all the infidels."

Second, prominent Democrats seem to have great difficulty getting even the well-known bits right. Christmas, according to Hillary Rodham Clinton in 1999, is when those in that particular faith tradition celebrate "the birth of a homeless child." Or, as Al Gore put it in 1997, "Two thousand years ago, a homeless woman gave birth to a homeless child." For Pete's sake, they weren't homeless — they couldn't get a hotel room. They had to sleep in the stable only because Dad had to schlep halfway across the country to pay his taxes in the town of his birth, which sounds like the kind of cockamamie bureaucratic nightmare only a blue state could cook up. Except that in Massachusetts, it's no doubt illegal to rent out your stable without applying for a Livestock Shelter Change of Use Permit plus a Temporary Maternity Ward for Non-Insured Transients License, so Mary would have been giving birth under a bridge on I-95.

Had a Matthew principle
Michael Kleinfeld/UPI

Since everyone's tossing in post-election generalizations, here's mine. One of the features of the geopolitical landscape revealed by 9/11 was the widening gulf between Americans and Europeans. Some of us (ahem) noted that fact in the columns we wrote that very day. Nonetheless, the Democrats spent the next three years getting more European. That was hardly likely to improve their electoral prospects, though it got them great press across the Atlantic, and continues to do so. The Guardian's Timothy Garton Ash, returning from a tour of the blue states, says Europeans need to modify the famous expression of solidarity of September 12, 2001: "Nous sommes tous amÈricains." "Hands need to be joined across the sea in an old cause: the defence of the Enlightenment," writes Garton Ash. "We are all blue Americans now." That at least has the merit, unlike the phony-baloney Le Monde headline, of being sincere.

But I doubt whether it's terribly helpful to Democrats. American exceptionalism is better understood as the exceptionalism of Americans — the refusal of a (thin but decisive) majority of the citizenry to submit to the definition of "advanced Western democracy" as it's understood by Germans, Belgians, and Scandinavians. By contrast, the Democratic party for the most part believes wholeheartedly, as the Europeans do, in the great secular religion — the state as church. That's why when Al and Hill start talking about their faith tradition it somehow veers off into a lesson on the need for social programs. It's also why Democrats remain wedded to issues that have no resonance even in blue states. The Dems are the party of gun control not because Vermonters or Minnesotans are clamoring for it but because it's part of the transnational conventional wisdom.

I doubt very much whether a Europeanñblue state alliance is the horse you'd bet on to save the Enlightenment. The EU, with its over-regulated economy, unaffordable social-welfare liabilities, and shriveled post-Christian birth rates, is a glimpse into a Democratic future. If you're chit-chatting with blue-staters in your average Ivy League college town, they express disbelief at this prognosis: Why, everything seems so much better ordered and agreeable over there. The electoral prominence of Jean-Marie Le Pen; the murder of Theo van Gogh; the banning of Belgium's major opposition party, the Vlaams Blok — oh, but these are freakish disconnected events, of no wider significance.

I think not. Over the next few years the news from Europe will get worse. We're about to witness the messy implosion of the secular West's last surviving faith, the state church. And, when that happens, what will the Democrats have left?

AIDS: Disease or Political Issue

When I read this paragraph by James Pinkerton at TechCentral Station I grinned from ear to ear. Finally, someone else gets it. I am sure we are not alone, but the politics associated with AIDS often times prohibits doctors and scientists from treating the pandemic.

Part of this is the majority's fault. If the bigots in the US didn't label AIDS as the "gay plague" or "gay cancer" we might have been able to look at it from a pure medial standpoint that would have allowed us to treat the disease and treat its victims with dignity--but also allow us to have removed them from society as we would with any other communicable disease (e.g. if AIDS was airborn).

But now that AIDS is treatable, it has become a tool--a wedge issue--for gays and "sex workers" (aka, whores). They use the charitable nature of people who want to fight the disease (regardless of who has it) and use it to promote political gains (i.e. say that if you are against the spread of AIDS you are against "sex workers" and gays, per se).

Here's a paragraph from this great article:

My visit last July to the XV World AIDS Conference in Bangkok left me with the uneasy feeling that many AIDS activists were more interested, strange as it might sound, in preserving the sexually liberated status quo than they were in stopping the disease. Why? Because the activists approached AIDS through the prism of liberation and politicization, in which the great good was human freedom, and the great "bad" was Puritanism. Oh, and of course, the profit-minded drug companies were bad, too. Human freedom, the activists seemed to think, should be protected in the bedroom, not in the boardroom.

Excellent Population Analysis

From the LA Times? Looks like a lot of papers are sobering up on their analysis and getting past all the "Christian-right" mythologizing and looking at the actual voters. Seriously, this is an excellent article:

The Times analyzed the 100 counties that the Census Bureau identified as the fastest growing between April 2000 and July 2003, the latest date for which figures were available. Stretched across 30 states, these counties grew cumulatively over that period by more than 16%, reaching a total population of 15.9 million.

These are places defined more by aspiration than accumulation, filled more with families starting out than with those that have already reached their earnings peak.

They include Union County, N.C., 25 miles southeast of Charlotte, where poultry farms are being converted into new developments so quickly that nearly one-seventh of the population is employed in construction. In Douglas County, Colo., about 20 miles south of Denver, so many young families have relocated that the budget for the local Little League is estimated at $500,000 a year.

Delaware County, Ohio's fastest-growing area, is absorbing a torrent of families leaving apartments and townhouses in Columbus for big kitchens and their first backyards. New homes are sprouting on land that grew soybeans and wheat not long ago.

New York Times: Born Again

FINALLY! Some REPORTING! I love to read New York Times journalists when they are not trying to elect someone. This is a riviting piece pointed to by Hugh Hewitt. I'll begin with these exceptional photos of these brave heros who we we owe the most to second to our souls' salvation through Christ.



Read the article here.

Truth in Reporting Begins

From GOP & the City we get this (which would've been called the "Kerry Recovery" by the NYTimes and WaPo, but since no one will believe their lies for four more years...):

Economy Does Not Suck (says Newsday)

LI's jobless rate: How low can it go
As unemployment falls to 3.7 percent last month, some experts warn shortage of labor may be ahead

Long Island's Liberal rag, Newsday, admitted today that the economy is not as bad as it had reported during the election cycle. The Long Island unemployment rate fell to 3.7%. The daily's editorial/news stories painted a bleak picture just a few weeks ago. Now the paper reports that the lowest unemployment rate since October 2001 has actually produced "full employment" - which is the point at which the economy is generating enough jobs to accommodate nearly everyone who is looking. Now experts are cautioning that the expanding economy (which was called a recession before November 2nd) is going to create a labor shortage.

In other news, an audit showed that Newsday's circulation is down 98,000 from a year ago. The paper is cutting 100 workers from its newsroom. I wonder how they feel about that low unemployment rate now?

COWBOY!

Kerry: I Would've Broken a Nail

"Because It Is Hard!"

Ray Bradbury reminds us that its time to explore again. We need to amaze this world with our endeavors beyond nation building--we need to parallel Columbus:

In this time when our freeways are frozen in place, space travel suffers the same terrible winter. Years have passed since Apollo 11, with only faint cries for a lunar rediscovery, then Mars and beyond.

How can we thaw this deep-freeze to unlock our vision so that we see the stars once more with the same fever that we knew that fabulous night we took the first Giant Step?

Let's look at the situation 500 years ago.

Columbus, financed by Spain's royalty, sailed for India. King Henry VIII, jealous, paid Giovanni Caboto (John Cabot) to track Columbus. Francis I of France, thus provoked, hired Verrazano to do the same. Of the three, only Verrazano made landfall at what became Kitty Hawk. Incredible! Verrazano sailed west and five centuries on the Wright Brothers soared east to explore space and time.

There was, then, a confluence of kings who sent their ships for spice and gold. Today there is no such desire in our Congress or our president for similar goals.

Excellent justifications continue here.

Unilateralism at Work

I am sure the Brits did all this by themselves and it had nothing to do with shared intelligence from captured al Queda in Afghanistan and Iraq:

Britain's security services thwarted a September 11-style attack on targets including Canary Wharf and Heathrow Airport, according to reports.

The plot is said to have involved pilots being trained to fly into target buildings including London's famous financial centre and the world's busiest airport.

It is one of four or five al-Qaeda planned attacks, since 9/11, that have come to nothing, after the authorities intervened, reports claim.

The disclosure comes as the Government prepares to unveil a series of tough law-and-order Bills in tomorrow's Queen's Speech, setting out the legislative programme for what is expected to be the final session of the current Parliament.

Read the rest here. I wonder how many other terrorist attacks were thwarted that because of intelligence and secrecy we will never know about until 50 years from now watching a documentary on some holographic television on the futuristic equivalent of the History Channel.

Dutch Insight

Taking Europe to task! Thanks to Davids Medienkritik and David Kaspar for this great link:

Europe – Thy Name is Cowardice

Commentary by Mathias Döpfner

A few days ago Henryk M. Broder wrote in Welt am Sonntag, "Europe – your family name is appeasement." It’s a phrase you can’t get out of your head because it’s so terribly true.

Appeasement cost millions of Jews and non-Jews their lives as England and France, allies at the time, negotiated and hesitated too long before they noticed that Hitler had to be fought, not bound to agreements. Appeasement stabilized communism in the Soviet Union and East Germany in that part of Europe where inhuman, suppressive governments were glorified as the ideologically correct alternative to all other possibilities. Appeasement crippled Europe when genocide ran rampant in Kosovo and we Europeans debated and debated until the Americans came in and did our work for us. Rather than protecting democracy in the Middle East, European appeasement, camouflaged behind the fuzzy word "equidistance," now countenances suicide bombings in Israel by fundamentalist Palestinians. Appeasement generates a mentality that allows Europe to ignore 300,000 victims of Saddam’s torture and murder machinery and, motivated by the self-righteousness of the peace-movement, to issue bad grades to George Bush. A particularly grotesque form of appeasement is reacting to the escalating violence by Islamic fundamentalists in Holland and elsewhere by suggesting that we should really have a Muslim holiday in Germany.

What else has to happen before the European public and its political leadership get it? There is a sort of crusade underway, an especially perfidious crusade consisting of systematic attacks by fanatic Muslims, focused on civilians and directed against our free, open Western societies.
It is a conflict that will most likely last longer than the great military conflicts of the last century—a conflict conducted by an enemy that cannot be tamed by tolerance and accommodation but only spurred on by such gestures, which will be mistaken for signs of weakness.

Two recent American presidents had the courage needed for anti-appeasement: Reagan and Bush. Reagan ended the Cold War and Bush, supported only by the social democrat Blair acting on moral conviction, recognized the danger in the Islamic fight against democracy. His place in history will have to be evaluated after a number of years have passed.

In the meantime, Europe sits back with charismatic self-confidence in the multicultural corner instead of defending liberal society’s values and being an attractive center of power on the same playing field as the true great powers, America and China. On the contrary—we Europeans present ourselves, in contrast to the intolerant, as world champions in tolerance, which even (Germany's Interior Minister) Otto Schily justifiably criticizes. Why? Because we’re so moral? I fear it’s more because we’re so materialistic.

For his policies, Bush risks the fall of the dollar, huge amounts of additional national debt and a massive and persistent burden on the American economy—because everything is at stake.

While the alleged capitalistic robber barons in American know their priorities, we timidly defend our social welfare systems. Stay out of it! It could get expensive. We’d rather discuss the 35-hour workweek or our dental health plan coverage. Or listen to TV pastors preach about "reaching out to murderers." These days, Europe reminds me of an elderly aunt who hides her last pieces of jewelry with shaking hands when she notices a robber has broken into a neighbor’s house. Europe, thy name is cowardice. (emphasis added)

Andrew Sullivan: Only Kerry Supporter that Gets It

Andrew Sullivan was removed from my site several months ago when it became clear that he was using his cock as a divining rod--gay marriage trumped everything else (to the point he actually believed that Kerry would be a fiscal conservative and an adept military hawk). But he seems to be gaining his senses in the way a man does after he shoots his wad:

The new conventional wisdom is that the election results were not so much a triumph for right-wing Christians as a more general endorsement for George W. Bush's clear, reassuring cultural presence in a troubled time. How else to explain the nine million extra votes he racked up this time, when only a third of them came from evangelicals? How else to explain the one in five gay voters who went for Bush despite his determination to rob them of civil rights? Or the big gain in Bush votes in, say, New York City?

Well: here's another cultural explanation. A large part of the pro-Bush vote - especially among blue state residents - was a vote against the left elite and the cultural attitudes it represents in the public imagination. It was a vote not so much for Bush or his often religious policies (or even the war on terror), but against the post 9/11 left, against Michael Moore and political correctness and Susan Sontag and CBS News, among a host of others. I have to say that this was the most appealing thing about George W. Bush for me. If he hadn't so obviously screwed up the Iraq war and endorsed a constitutional amendment against gay rights, I would have succumbed myself.

Thanks to Alpha Patriot.

Those Ingrates!

From a soldier in Fallujah as posted on National Review Online about those DAMNED INGRATES in Iraq:

Rich,

I am also a professor at a military-related institution, and my little brother is an enlisted Marine (a sniper with 1-3) in Fallujah. This weekend he called for the first time since the battle began. He informed us that a large number of the residents of Fallujah, before fleeing the battle, left blankets and bedding for the Marines and Soldiers along with notes thanking the Americans for liberating their city from the terrorists, as well as invitations to the Marines and Soldiers to sleep in their houses. I've yet to see a report in the media of this. Imagine that.

Additionally, he said their spirits are high, but they would certainly appreciate any "care packages" that folks in the States would care to send their way (preferably consisting of non-perishable food items, candy, deodorant, eye-drops, q-tips, toothpaste, toothbrushes, lip balm, hand/feet warmers, black/dark undershirts, underwear & socks, and non-aerosol bug spray)

It would be great if you could pass this message along to anyone interested in helping out.

Why isn't this reported on the front page of the New York Times? Just the shooting of a terrorist, but not the outpouring of the citizens of Fallujah.

See Slide 2

More WMD! Who would have guessed that the Marines would find Sarin gas in Fallujah.

I am just so disgusted with liberals right now...what did they want a big ass sign that said WMD here! A brightly lit grocery store with all kinds of WMD tagged and labeled for us to destroy?

But here again, MORE WMD.

Remember all those studies that showed that us republican red-staters were stupid because we STILL believed Saddam posessed weapons of mass destruction even though the New York Times and the Washington Post told us they were not there? Maybe the Dems lost to people who believe in patience and investigation--not splashy headlines.



A reader at Captain's Quarters points out the warning labels are written in Russian and German. Go to the USA today website referenced above and look at it up close.

No Link!

Our leftist idealogues refuse to admit that Saddam had ties to terrorism, but as the oil-for-food scandal grows, we are learning that the UN was actually an accomplice to laundering money used to sponsor terrorism.

The Report of the 9/11 Commission has been digested, and the news media outlets have seized upon it as confirmation of their view that al-Qaeda is a purely stateless entity that never had "operational links" with rogue states like Iraq. Somehow, goes the thrust of the Report, Osama bin Laden was for years able to finance, train, and supply an international terrorist corporation that had ongoing jihad operations in fifty countries - by himself, on no more than a $30 million personal fortune. Thirty million dollars is the budget of a small school district in Wisconsin, where I live.

But the 9/11 Commission didn't even bother to trace the money trails of terrorist finance that led to the catastrophe three years ago, calling the question "one of little practical significance."

As a criminal litigation attorney, I can say that who pays the bill is centrally important in every criminal conspiracy. American law makes no distinction between the crook who held up the bank, his friend who drove him to the bank, the lookout man, and the genius who paid for the ski masks. They are all "parties to the crime" in legal parlance.

So the central question of our time becomes: Did Saddam Hussein help pay for 9/11, making him legally and morally as guilty as the hijackers themselves? As a lawyer, I think a good case can be made for this in a court of law, a convincing circumstantial case at the bare minimum. Unfortunately, the 9/11 Commission ignored it.

The Commission's report implicitly concedes that money is by its nature fungible. What you save from one funded terror project can now be spent for another terror project - a project that you might not have been able to afford otherwise.

It isn't as if bin Laden didn't need the money. As journalist Richard Miniter pointed out in his book Losing Bin Laden, "the most compelling reason for bin Laden to work with Iraq was money." Al Qaeda officials have repeatedly whined, while under interrogation, that cash was always a problem. Saddam, on the other hand, had over $11 billion to play with, from skimming billions off the lucrative UN "Oil-for-Food" scam operation.

Read this excellent piece here.

The Difference

Someone asked on the radio today what happened to Democrats...they used to want to free the oppressed from dictators and applauded the success of minorities in this country, but they fall silent on people like Powell, Rice, Gonzales, Barreto, Paige, etc. I don't believe that Democrats stopped wanting these things. I believe they want to feed the starving and free the oppressed.

I also believe they want the promotion of highly skilled and successful women and minorities to positions of power in our government. I just believe they don't want Republicans doing it. They don't like Bush nominating Rice, the first black female to hold the position first held by Thomas Jefferson (a slave owner) because it's a Republican doing it and that runs contrary to their mythologizing of Republicans being racist.

The other thing you should notice is how Democrats love to brag about their difficult and poor childhood's. President Bush spoke of Condi's upbringing in a segregated south and her meager family means. When Condi spoke she mentioned none of these things. This demonstrates the difference between Republicans and Democrats.

Democrats want to use their upbringing to convince the public they are one of them. Today, when Senator Reid gave a press conference he spent a tremendous amount of time describing how poor he was as a child. John Edwards always spoke of how his father was a millworker. Bill Clinton is the man from Hope, Arkansas. John Kerry let everyone know he was a war hero in Vietnam.

But we never heard Dick Cheney campaigning that he grew up in very similar circumstances as John Edwards. We will not hear about how Alberto Gonzales, the first Latino Attorney General, grew up in a house with only two bedrooms and that didn't have a phone until he was in his teens. Colin Powell did not begin every speech discussing his family's challenges.

This is why the Democrats do not connect with mainstream America. People don't want people who use their hardships (that everyone faces) as credentials. They want to hear about people's accomplishments--and they don't want the person telling them about their successes always being THAT person (e.g. John Kerry). I think that's something to consider...

Goss Goosing Liberal Pansies

There is a media firestorm about how everyone is resigning at the CIA. I say GOOD! This is the same institution that allowed al Queda to attack us six times and said the WMD in Iraq was a slam dunk.

The CIA is beholden to the Executive Branch! Not Congress or the government employee union. The people that give the CIA their most value are the people in the field and the low level analysts crunching information--not the career seat warmers from liberal colleges (post Vietnam, the guys during the cold war rocked!).

The angrier the people at the CIA become at Porter Goss, you know he's doing a great job (the same barometer I use to determine if Bush's foreign policy is working--it enrages the Euros).

The Next Month of Headlines

At the New York Times will be about this marine that apparently murdered an Iraqi terrorist faking death.

There are many reasons to think the marine was justified to shoot the person just to make sure he's dead and not holding onto a grenade or hiding a gun--how many times have we seen a horror movie and said, "empty the clip in the mother fucker, then get an ax and chop him to bits then burn him so he can't come back to life and kill you later."

But this isn't a horror movie and this is quite serious. If he suspected the terrorist was faking it, then he could have shot him in the foot and if he moved then they could have attacked him and subdued him. I suspect the media is going to spin this out of control: this is the leg of the impeachment screed the democrats are going to use.

I Want Him!

Seems that this soldier is creating quite a buzz by making many women moist between the legs. Rumor has it that NY Post is receiving a deluge of love letters for this guy. One tidbit of information is that he truly is smokin'! He smokes three packs a day.

These are all rumors, but I'll keep you posted...

From Kentucky, Miller is the youngest of three boys, doesn't know what the fuss is all about and played any sport involving a "ball" in HS.

I play sports involving low hanging "balls"...but I digress.

God Speed to this Hero!

Love those Headlines!

Funny, I thought the world was going to end when Bush was re-elected. But it seems like great news is abound!

Stocks up!

Arafat dead!

North Korea wants to "talk"!

Peterson is guilty.

1000 terrorist dead in four days.

Keith Olbermann exposed for the idiot he is.

And that's just one week!

Much thanks to the person that pointed out my bad link to NoKo.

GUILTY!

I would not have voted that way--I just never saw any EVIDENCE! Did I miss something? Let me know in the comment section below.

21st Century Baseball

From Sports Illustrated:

In the craziest play of October, Alex Rodriguez was called out for interference. New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman agreed the umpires were correct to overturn their original ruling.

"They got it completely right, 100 percent," Cashman said this week.

"But you would hate to have a game, or a series or even a season come down to a play where they miss it and instant replay could have helped. So as far as instant replay, I'm in favor of it."

NFL has it, what do you think of baseball having it?

Happy Veterans' Day!

I come from a military family. I want to thank the following for their service:

1. My Grandfather, Korean War and Vietnam (Dad's side)
2. My Grandfather, WWII, Korean War and Vietnam (Mother's side)
3. My Father, Gulf War and Somalia
4. My Cousin, Iraqi Freedom (returning for his second tour in two months)

God bless them for their service!

One more Dead Terrorist!

I hope Arafat receives the same treatment in death he gave to Jews in life.

Liberals: Kill Them All and Start Over

Wow, this is one of the more excellent opinion pieces I've read in a while. Marty Peretz talks, in communist terms, of the leftist elite's desire to rid themselves of the voters and start all over:

The American people have plumb busted the hearts of the country's liberal elites, and the sentiments evoked among these elites are not dolorous but actually quite nasty. So much so that they reminded me of a poem by the communist playwright Bertolt Brecht, sardonic and rare in its anti-communist sensibility. On June 17, 1953, workers in the Russian Zone of East Berlin had risen up against the regime, and one of its top apparatchiks distributed a leaflet,

Stating that the people
Had forfeited the confidence of the government
And could win it back only
By redoubled efforts.

About which Brecht observed,

. . . Would it not be easier
In that case for the government
To dissolve the people
And choose itself another?

It is surely what America's cultural top drawer would like to do themselves.

Read the rest of this powerful piece here.

Rush's Right!

Click here for transcript, audio or video of his speech to the Heritage Foundation; he rocks the house!

Stop Specter's Stonewall

World Net Daily Reports that:

In two newspaper interviews before the election, Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter promised to block pro-life and "extremist" judges appointed by President Bush, apparently contradicting claims he is making now amid fierce opposition to his becoming chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

A third paper, the Philadelphia Inquirer, endorsed the pro-abortion senator largely because of his anticipated position on the panel.

Sen. Arlen Specter at town hall meeting (Photo: Williamsport Sun-Gazette)

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's editorial board published an endorsement Oct. 24, stating it prized Specter's independence.

"The best argument for his staying on is his seniority, which puts him in line to be the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee," the paper said. "In that capacity, he would be in a position to block some of the ideologically extreme federal judges likely to be nominated by President Bush in a second term, some of them for the Supreme Court."

The editorial then stated: "Before the Post-Gazette editorial board, he promised that no extremists would be approved for the bench."

In an Oct. 17 story, the Bucks County Courier Times reported: "Specter said he does use his position on the Senate Judiciary Committee – a panel he will probably begin chairing next year if re-elected – to weed out judges who are extreme. He points to Robert Bork, a Ronald Reagan nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court.

"I not only voted against Bork, I led the charge against him," Specter said.

The Courier Times said, "Specter's distaste for Bork has everything to do with the Midwestern Republican values he was exposed to growing up in Kansas."

In a phone call yesterday to Sean Hannity's radio talk show, Bork described Specter as "particularly deceptive," charging the senator "votes in a very liberal fashion until he gets close to an election. And then he begins to vote in a conservative fashion."

The Inquirer endorsed Specter saying, "Preserving the legality of abortion plays no small part in this decision."

"Sometime in the next four years, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee will very likely find himself in the pivotal role of scrutinizing at least one new Supreme Court nominee," the paper said. "Assuming that Republicans are in charge of the Senate, it would be better to have the chairman's seat filled by Specter, who says Roe v. Wade is 'inviolate' as the law of the land."

In Specter's book "Passion for Truth," points out Human Events Online, he explained why he resisted Bork's nomination, which eventually was rejected by the Senate.

"The Constitution has turned out to be much more dynamic than [Bork believes]: a living, growing document, responsive to the needs of the nation," wrote Specter. "Bork's narrow approach is dangerous for constitutional government."

Specter's Washington office did not respond by press time to WND's request for comment.

Recently re-elected to a fifth term with the crucial aid of President Bush, Specter is in line to become judiciary chairman in January when Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah steps down due to term-limit rules.

The current controversy began when the Associated Press quoted Specter saying last Wednesday, "When you talk about judges who would change the right of a woman to choose, overturn Roe vs. Wade, I think that is unlikely. The president is well aware of what happened, when a number of his nominees were sent up, with the filibuster. ... And I would expect the president to be mindful of the considerations which I am mentioning."

After an outburst of outrage from conservative groups, Specter issued a statement Thursday insisting he did not send a warning to Bush.

"I did not warn the president about anything and was very respectful of his constitutional authority on the appointment of federal judges," Specter said.

"As the record shows, I have supported every one of President Bush's nominees in the Judiciary Committee and on the Senate floor. I have never and would never apply any litmus test on the abortion issue and, as the record shows, I have voted to confirm Chief Justice Rehnquist, Justice O'Connor, and Justice Kennedy and led the fight to confirm Justice Thomas."

A website named NotSpecter.com emerged last week to help rally the opposition, which includes prominent evangelical Christian groups such as Focus on the Family, Family Research Council and Concern Women for America.

The ABC News weblog The Note reports conservatives against Specter are telephoning Republican leadership offices, including Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, and members of the judiciary committeeat a rate of about two to three per minute.

According to rules established by the majority party, the committee chairman will be chosen by a secret-ballot vote of the Republican members of the panel. The nod traditionally goes to the senior member, but the rules specify any member can be selected. The entire conference must then approve the committee's pick by another secret ballot, although rejection is rare.

Specter, who says he joined the GOP in his first election race in 1965 because it offered more support than the Democrats, has a lifetime rating of 43 out of 100 from the American Conservative Union. By comparison, his Pennsylvania Republican colleague Sen. Rick Santorum has a rating of 87.

But Santorum has come to Specter's defense, while seeking assurance he will abide by the president's wishes.

But in its Oct. 17 story, the Bucks County paper reported Specter, responding to charges he had veered "far to the right," said he has never abandoned his position as a "centrist."

Specter then explained how the substantial help he received from Bush and Santorum in the primary, which he won by just 1 percent, related to his stances on issues.

"I was appreciative of the help of the president and Sen. Santorum. No doubt their help was a key factor in my success," he said. "In key matters I have never deviated. People think because I had so much help from the president and Rick that I deviated and I haven't."

Monday, Santorum predicted the controversy would pass, calling it a result of "Arlen being Arlen," the Post-Gazette reported.

"I would say it was probably not the best time for him to have made those remarks," Santorum said. "But I think he quickly clarified those remarks."

Santorum said Specter "told the president directly that he would get his nominees."

Scan Sex

Drudge links to a CNN article about the new X-Ray software at Heathrow...where do I sign up to be a screener?

Evans and Ashcroft Resign

Who's in? I believe Guliani has Ashcroft's position, but who for Evans?

Howard Dean Seeks to Lead DNC

From Drudge we learn:

Former presidential candidate Howard Dean is considering a bid to become chairman of the national Democratic Party.

Steve Grossman, himself a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said Dean had told him he was thinking about it.

Dean was traveling today in New York and unavailable for comment. His spokeswoman, Laura Gross, said ``it was far too early to be speculating on that.''

The 240 members of the Democratic National Convention will elect a new chair early next year. Several names are already being mentioned, including former Clinton aide Harold Ickes; Donna Brazile, who ran Al Gore's presidential campaign, and Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack.

Dean has been outspoken since the beginning of his presidential bid in saying that the Democratic Party must establish a separate and unique identity from Republicans.

The next chairman will replace Terry McAuliffe, whose term is ending.

Republicanism's Big Tent

An excellent opinion piece in the WaPo:

A Coalition of Conviction
By Kate O'Beirne

Republicans were mocked when popular social liberals Rudy Giuliani and Arnold Schwarzenegger were showcased to make their party's case on national security and economic opportunity at the national convention in New York. What Democrats saw on the podium were dissident Republican politicians with enlightened views on abortion and gay marriage who had been enlisted in order to deceive voters; what we were all actually looking at was the makings of a successful majority party.

The moderate Republicans who spoke at the convention are at home in their conservative, pro-life party and represent countless others who share their views on such issues as foreign policy, tax rates or tort reform. Political parties are coalitions, and elections are won when a self-confident party can remain faithful to its core principles while appealing to voters with different priorities. President Bush's success exemplifies that approach: He is unapologetically opposed to abortion but passes no judgment on those who disagree with him and encourages them to find common cause with him elsewhere. Last year, Sen. John Kerry was calling pro-lifers "the forces of intolerance."

The election was won because neither Bush nor his party pretended to be something they're not. George Bush was the Real Deal running against the Great Pretender.

Blood Red

REVENGE OF THE SITH

I just shot my wad. Check out the trailer here.

Thanks, Dan, for the updated link!

Bubba: Why Bush Won

As a Rhodes Scholar, I never said he was stupid; I just thought he was more of a used car salesman than a president...but he has an excellent analysis of why Bush won and why he's not being a bigot like the rest of the Dims and blaming it on all those fags.

Eat Cookies for Soldiers!

click picture to support

From DC Military:

Military series cookies debut at 35th anniversary celebration of the NMFA

How do you show your appreciation to the men and women of the Armed Forces for their sacrifice and service? If you are Cliff Smith of San Diego, California, you say it with cookies!

The Cookie Club of America debuted Stampers cookies at the National Military Family Association's (NMFA) 35th Anniversary Dinner and Auction, Saturday May 1, 2004 at the Capital Hilton Hotel in Washington, DC. More than 350 distinguished guests, including senior leadership of the Department of Defense and the Services, Congressional staffs, representatives of the American Logistics Association, DoD contractors, and 30 NMFA volunteer Representatives from all over the world, were on hand to help celebrate NMFA's 35 years of service to military families. Each guest received a box of cookies to take home, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Richard B. Myers. Mr. Smith had the opportunity to meet with General Myers and personally present him with a box.

Cliff Smith developed the concept of Stampers as his own unique way of showing his support and appreciation for the men and women of America's Armed Forces. Cliff, whose family has a long history of military service, combined his patriotism with his entrepreneurial spirit and obtained special authorization from each branch of the United States military services to emboss the emblems of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and the Army and Air National Guard on the cookies. Mr. Smith is producing them through his new company, Cookie Club of America (CCA).

Kofi: Leave Already!

Alpha Patriot has a great post about Falluja and why Kofi Annan needs to just shut the fuck up.

He analyzes, using maps, the actual area--in relation to the whole nation--that is under seige. It's pretty amazing when you look at it. How is it the media seems to think the WHOLE nation is a disaster?

Also, Drudge has an amazingly inspiring piece about the faith of our brave heros that are going into Fallujah to rid it of terrorists and murderers for the safety of people they don't even know. Truly inspiring:

One spoke of their Old Testament hero, a shepherd who would become Israel's king, battling the Philistines some 3,000 years ago.

"Thus David prevailed over the Philistines," the marine said, reading from scripture, and the marines shouted back "Hoorah, King David," using their signature grunt of approval.

The marines drew parallels from the verse with their present situation, where they perceive themselves as warriors fighting barbaric men opposed to all that is good in the world.

"Victory belongs to the Lord," another young marine read.

Their chaplain, named Horne, told the worshippers they were stationed outside Fallujah to bring the Iraqis "freedom from oppression, rape, torture and murder ... We ask you God to bless us in that effort."

The marines then lined up and their chaplain blessed them with holy oil to protect them.

"God's people would be annointed with oil," the chaplain said, as he lightly dabbed oil on the marines' foreheads.

The crowd then followed him outside their small auditorium for a baptism of about a half-dozen marines who had just found Christ.

The young men lined up and at least three of them stripped down to their shorts.

The three laid down in a rubber dinghy filled with water and the chaplain's assistant, Navy corpsman Richard Vaughn, plunged their heads beneath the surface.

Smiling, Vaughn baptised them "in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit."

Dripping wet, Corporal Keith Arguelles beamed after his baptism.

"I just wanted to make sure I did this before I headed into the fight," he said on the military base not far from the city of Fallujah.

Amen. Please pray for our brave soldiers!

Annan, of course, wants us to leave these terrorist murderers alone.

The Next Richard Clarke

Bush is re-elected and there are books to be written about how he is the devil. CNN reports that we have our first contender for the second administration in the vain of Paul O'Neill and Richard Clarke: Cofer Black.

President Bush's point man for international counterterrorism policy has quit, the first resignation by a senior official to be made public since Bush's reelection, a U.S. official said on Friday.

Cofer Black, the State Department's coordinator for counterterrorism for the last two years, told his bosses of his decision well before the election, which Bush won campaigning as a strong leader in the war on terror.

"He informed the State Department a few weeks ago that the transition period after the election would be the right time for him to explore new professional opportunities."

The new professional opportunity is a Simon & Schuster book deal with a 60 minutes interview and a possible spot testifying at the planned Bush impeachment.

337,000 New Jobs!

In 2001, the congress and the president acted giving target cuts to the middle class through tax rebates, repealing the marriage penalty and doubling the child credit. But job growth was stagnant.

In 2003, the "tax cuts for the rich" passed and since then we have had an average job creation of 200,000 a month.

Hmmmm. 337,000 new payroll jobs.

The jobs keep rolling in! Funny how the dow is shooting up and gas prices are at a two month low. Everyone on the left loves conspiracies (Halliburton, et al), but consider this: Could Soros have been hedging oil futures and the election market to make it look bleak for Bush?

A second term will allow Bush to savor the fruits of his labor. Iraq will be a victory and our troops will come home. The economy is going to soar. We will be able to reform social security (which affects me), tort reform (which affects our nations caregivers), and an energy policy that will create so many jobs and give us our own oil supply out of Alaska and ethanol from our nations great farmers.

Hey ya!

GOD BLESS THE USA!

Terrorists everywhere in the world are running scared now. The American people have spoken and George W. Bush wins four more years!

Michael Moore, George Soros, Al Gore, Jaques Chirac and Kofi Annan can kiss my black ass!

Bay of Pigs

Captain's Quarters has a great round-up of Kerry's latest accusation: Iraq is like the Bay of Pigs.

Why would a person who wants to be JFK II talk about Kennedy's BIGGEST FAILURE? Moreover, how does he think this will affect the Cuban vote by reminding them why they freakin' HATE Democrats to begin with?

This man cannot even run a campaign--how can we trust him to run this country???

New York Times Trashes Bloggers

Check out Alpha Patriot's disection of the latest Times screed.

1984

My friend Kitty was cited on the major blog Polipundit for her posting on how this election is NO DIFFERENT THAN 1984. The invective is the same...

Viva Reagan and Bush!

Black People Are NOT Idiots!

Check out GOP & the City; Da Man has a great post demonstrating that if a 6 year old can operate a voting machine that the NAACP and democrats cry of disenfrachisement is bullshit.

Why Is She Smiling?

Head over to Crush Kerry for his insider tip on why Hillary does NOT want Kerry elected (throwing the "Justice Clinton" theory out the window).

Softer Voices

I can only assume the title of this 527 is asking us to continue the Teddy Roosevelt policies of the Bush administration. They have an excellent ad; check it out here.

Donate generously!

Arafat Dying

I wish he died as he commanded other's to die, blowing himself up for greater Palestine...but however he dies it's still a good day for Israel and Palestine. Check out the ongoing coverage at the Command Post.

UPDATE: Michelle Malkin has an excellent round-up including the sob story the AP is preparing ready to laud Arafat as a hero instead of the murderous terrorist he is.

Usama Sighting Near China!

Captain's Quarters has an exlusive regarding an FBI investigation into sightings of Usama in the Pakistan region bordering China and India.

Kennedy Skank

Alpha Patriot has choice words for the latest Kennedy to give us her precious 2 cents.

Child Labor

Check out the Boots & Sabers' post analyzing the use of school children to do voter registration for the teachers' union and John Kerry.

Voting in Florida!

Click on the picture to watch the wonderful video clip!

Stop and Think!

Thomas Sowell wants voters to stop and think!

While many people are urging us to vote -- regardless of for whom, for what, or for what reason -- there are very few urging us to do what is far more important: Stop and think!

Voting is not a matter of personal expression but a serious responsibility for choosing what course this country will take in the years -- and decades -- ahead.

Seldom have two Presidential candidates presented more starkly contrasting visions of what course to take, both internationally and domestically. But this election is not about John Kerry or George Bush or even about the next four years.

It is about a country at a crossroads and closely divided as to which road to take -- roads from which there may be no turning back for many years. We are talking about our future and the future of our children and grandchildren.

If you don't have the time or the inclination to give that the serious attention it deserves, then it is irresponsible to vote on the basis of watching a couple of men exhibiting their debating skills or watching TV anchor men spin the news to suit their politics -- or watching the shouting matches between spinmeisters on what are charitably called "discussion" programs.

If there are issues you care about, there are records of how John Kerry voted on those issues in the Senate and what George W. Bush did on those issues as President and as Governor of Texas before that. Never mind how they talk now. Look at what they did when it was time to put up or shut up.

________________________

The reason that there was a Vietnam war in the first place is that France would not grant Vietnam independence after World War II, as other European colonial powers granted independence to their colonies in Asia and Africa.

This gave the Vietnamese Communists a chance to pose as freedom fighters and fool people inside and outside Vietnam -- including John Kerry, who referred to Communist dictator Ho Chi Minh as the George Washington of his country.

Only after being decisively beaten in what was then called French Indo-China did France pull out, leaving it up to the United States to try to defend those Vietnamese who wanted to be both independent and not living under a Communist dictatorship.

John Kerry dismissed "the mystical war against communism" in his 1971 book The New Soldier, where he also said, "we cannot fight communism all over the world." He added: "I think we should have learned that lesson by now."

Ronald Reagan didn't learn that lesson. He did fight communism all over the world -- and he won, no thanks to John Kerry, who repeatedly voted in the Senate to weaken our military.

As for the war in Vietnam, Kerry's 1971 book said, "we are more guilty than any other body of violations of those Geneva Conventions." Any other body would include the Vietnamese Communists, to whom deliberately murdering civilians, torturing and raping were all in a day's work.

More than a century ago, John Stuart Mill warned about people who "take part with any government, however unworthy, which can make out the merest semblance of a case of injustice against our own country." But Mill probably never dreamed that such a person would somebody be a candidate for President of the United States.

Stop and think what it would mean to have such an irresponsible man as President before you go into the voting booth on November 2.

The Supreme Court

The composition of the Supreme Court should be one of the top three issues of any voters. Today's news about Rehnquist brings that front and center. Read some excellent articles here, here and here.

DBS News!

Only two weeks until the election! Please listen to the great posts for DBS News this week:

Wild Bill from Passionate America kicks things off with his Okie take on take on the state of things.

Kitty from Kitty Litter gives us every reason to feel confident that Bush will win this election!

I do a once over on Terroreza Heinz Kerry:

Pat from Kerry Haters runs anchor with his best piece yet!

Ashley's Story

Grab your hankie and click on the picture:

Castro Cliffdiving

Da Man has the best little stobed pic of Castro's fall.



Shame he didn't die.

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

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.

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."

Read more here.

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'm the King of the World

For all you End Times conspiracy theorists out there, you should dig deep into this:

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.

Mug Shot Contest!

Look, I am ugly and not photogenic--but does the picture still look creepy?

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.

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.

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:

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.

Alpha Patriot Senate Round-up

Head over to Alpha Patriot's website where he does an outstanding job of analyzing the contested senate seats this election.

Wictory Wednesday

Support Republican Senators to stop obstructionist policies in the US Senate. Donate to Coburn for OK Senate!

Donate!

Poor Ghost...

He has now resumed to bringing up lame people like O'Neill whom Bush fired because he had a bad policy. He cites some 170 economists that toot Kerry's horn (is Paul Krugman REALLY an economist?). But unfortunately, economists agree with Bush 2 to 1.

368 Economists Against Kerrynomics
The challenger’s policies would bring “a lower standard of living for the American people.”

By J. Edward Carter & Cesar V. Conda

Leading economists have a message for America: “John Kerry favors economic policies that, if implemented, would lead to bigger and more intrusive government and a lower standard of living for the American people.”

That was the conclusion released in a statement Wednesday by 368 economists, including six Nobel laureates: Gary Becker, James Buchanan, Milton Friedman, Robert Lucas, Robert Mundell, and — the winner of this year’s Nobel Prize in Economics — Edward C. Prescott. The economists warned that Sen. Kerry’s policies “would, over time, inhibit capital formation, depress productivity growth, and make the United States less competitive internationally. The end result would be lower U.S. employment and real wage growth.”

Also, the person who JUST WON THE NOBEL PRIZE in ECONOMICS said Bush didn't cut taxes ENOUGH.

Dance with that, Ghost :-)

Support Our Troops

The Washington Post reports:

By an astonishing 72 to 17 percent margin, the active-duty military personnel who took the survey favored Bush over Kerry (Guard and Reserve respondents favored Bush, 73 to 18 percent). Frankly, the margin greatly exceeds anything that I or any other analyst had expected.

The best way to support our troops is to support their vote. 72% of the people who will face war and fight for our lives support Bush. Why won't you?

Again, thanks Alpha Patriot.

Blix: Pre-war Intelligence Was UNDERSTATED

The Scotsman reports:

Former UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix believed the Government’s controversial Iraq weapons dossier actually understated the case against Saddam Hussein, according to documents released today by the Foreign Office.

The papers released by the FO show that British officials at the United Nations in New York showed a draft of the dossier to Dr Blix in September 2002, two weeks before the final version was published.

A note from one official, Adam Bye, said that Dr Blix had liked the section on chemical, biological and nuclear weapons as he believed that it did not exaggerate the facts.

What more needs to be said to prove that Bush misled NO ONE!

Thanks, Alpha Patriot.

5000!

I broke the 5000 individual views mark this week! Yeah!

I Hate to Admit It, But I Agree

Kenyan ecologist Wangari Maathai, the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, today reiterated her claim that the AIDS virus was a deliberately created biological agent.

"Some say that AIDS came from the monkeys, and I doubt that because we have been living with monkeys (since) time immemorial, others say it was a curse from God, but I say it cannot be that.

"Us black people are dying more than any other people in this planet," Ms Maathai told a press conference in Nairobi a day after winning the prize for her work in human rights and reversing deforestation across Africa.

"It's true that there are some people who create agents to wipe out other people. If there were no such people, we could have not have invaded Iraq," she said.

"We invaded Iraq because we believed that Saddam Hussein had made, or was in the process of creating agents of biological warfare," said Ms Maathai.

"In fact it (the HIV virus) is created by a scientist for biological warfare," she added.

Read more here.

UPDATE: Apologies to the wonderful Kitty; she posted a question I accidentally deleted. She asks if I believe that AIDS was created to kill blacks. I reponded to her in the comments. SORRY KITTY!

DBS News!

We have all-star commentary again this week!

Check out Wild Bill at Passionate America.

Here's my take on the importance of this election:

Pat asks Kerry to assume the position at Kerry Haters.

Kitty runs anchor this week with a GREAT post at Kitty Litter.

Kerry Spot Live from Pomona!

The Kerry Spot live blogged the debate from my college! Oh, how I wish I could have been there! I see myself sitting in the Smith Campus Center taking tequila shots every time Kerry says, "I have a plan!"

Smith Campus Center

Then I would stumble across campus to some great party at the Wash...aaahhhh those were the days!