Tuesday, March 30, 2004
"Oh, Can You Say 'P.C.', by the Dawn's Early Light..."
Flag dispute By Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough THE WASHINGTON TIMES
"U.S. Air Force members in Iraq are furious over a recent order to take down all American flags at Kirkuk air base to avoid offending Iraqis."
""The reason we were given is so we would not offend the Iraqi people," said Air Force Technical Sgt. Samuel D. Arbuckle. "We were told that we are not occupying this country. And apparently we are not in charge. Well, my question is this: If we are not in charge, then who is? Obviously the Iraqi people are not. The Iraqi people do not run any of these bases over here yet, and may not for quite some time.""
..."One soldier responded: "Sir, when we carry the bodies of our fallen men and women to the aircraft for their final flight home, can we still drape the coffins with our flag, or will that still offend the people that we are dying for, so they can be liberated?""
This is the kind of Politically Correct nonsense that ensured the need to go there in the first place.
LET. HER. FLY!
"U.S. Air Force members in Iraq are furious over a recent order to take down all American flags at Kirkuk air base to avoid offending Iraqis."
""The reason we were given is so we would not offend the Iraqi people," said Air Force Technical Sgt. Samuel D. Arbuckle. "We were told that we are not occupying this country. And apparently we are not in charge. Well, my question is this: If we are not in charge, then who is? Obviously the Iraqi people are not. The Iraqi people do not run any of these bases over here yet, and may not for quite some time.""
..."One soldier responded: "Sir, when we carry the bodies of our fallen men and women to the aircraft for their final flight home, can we still drape the coffins with our flag, or will that still offend the people that we are dying for, so they can be liberated?""
This is the kind of Politically Correct nonsense that ensured the need to go there in the first place.
LET. HER. FLY!
Monday, March 29, 2004
Don't give them a minute, Rice
The three branches of government were separated to better protect OUR rights.
Dr. Rice should not testify, just as Richard Clarke wasn't allowed to testify in 1999. If Bush caves on this, there will be no end to it.
Presidential advisors are not confirmed by Congress, and are not subject to testify before Congress, for much the same reason we don't compel wives to testify against husbands. Not to mention that little 'Separation of Powers' thing. That's what keeps a president, any president, from demanding that a Senate staffer report what his boss said in a meeting. Same with a Justice's law clerk.
It is not some small technicality.
Dr. Rice should not testify, just as Richard Clarke wasn't allowed to testify in 1999. If Bush caves on this, there will be no end to it.
Presidential advisors are not confirmed by Congress, and are not subject to testify before Congress, for much the same reason we don't compel wives to testify against husbands. Not to mention that little 'Separation of Powers' thing. That's what keeps a president, any president, from demanding that a Senate staffer report what his boss said in a meeting. Same with a Justice's law clerk.
It is not some small technicality.
Sunday, March 28, 2004
Ignorical Historance
"Not to know what has been transacted in former times is to be always a child. If no use is made of the labors of past ages, the world must remain always in the infancy of knowledge."
-- Cicero
Textbooks flunk test By George Archibald THE WASHINGTON TIMES
"Social studies textbooks used in elementary and secondary schools are mostly a disgrace that, in the name of political correctness and multiculturalism, fail to give students an honest account of American history, say academic historians and education advocates."
..."Historian David McCullough, who won two Pulitzer Prizes for his biographies of Presidents John Adams and Harry Truman, also calls school history and social studies textbooks "deadly dull."
"It is as if they were designed to kill anyone's interest in history," he said in an interview. "A child made to read these books would ask, 'What did I do wrong today that I am being so punished?'"
Further evidence of "something that's eating away at the national memory," Mr. McCullough says, is a survey last year of seniors at 50 top colleges and universities by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni.
"It's astonishing. More than half didn't know George Washington was the commanding general of the Continental Army during the American Revolution who accepted Brig. Gen. Charles Cornwallis' surrender at Yorktown.
"Thirty-six percent thought it was Ulysses S. Grant," commander of the Union Army during the U.S. Civil War. "Six percent said it was Douglas MacArthur," U.S. commander during the Korean War. "Thirty-two percent said Washington. It was a multiple-choice question. They were winging it.
"If you don't know what Yorktown was all about, and that Washington was the commander, you don't know ... a lot about American history that you ought to know," Mr. McCullough said."
..."Better yet, Mr. McCullough said, teachers should abandon textbooks altogether and use other books and resources instead to teach history and geography.
Textbooks written to be "politically correct" do not tell the truth about struggle and conflict through the ages in order to avoid offending minorities, ethnic groups, women and other advocates, he said.
"History is a story, cause and effect. And if you're going to teach just segments of history, women's issues, these youngsters have almost no sense of cause and effect," he said.
Mr. McCullough said, "I would do away with the textbooks. ... Get rid of all the state commissions that write the textbooks" because they fail to instill in students a sense of gratitude for the country's leaders over the centuries and what the American people endured and accomplished in order to pass on a legacy of freedom and prosperity.
"I think that to be ignorant or indifferent to history isn't just to be uneducated or stupid. It's to be rude, ungrateful. And ingratitude is an ugly failing in human beings.""
-- Cicero
Textbooks flunk test By George Archibald THE WASHINGTON TIMES
"Social studies textbooks used in elementary and secondary schools are mostly a disgrace that, in the name of political correctness and multiculturalism, fail to give students an honest account of American history, say academic historians and education advocates."
..."Historian David McCullough, who won two Pulitzer Prizes for his biographies of Presidents John Adams and Harry Truman, also calls school history and social studies textbooks "deadly dull."
"It is as if they were designed to kill anyone's interest in history," he said in an interview. "A child made to read these books would ask, 'What did I do wrong today that I am being so punished?'"
Further evidence of "something that's eating away at the national memory," Mr. McCullough says, is a survey last year of seniors at 50 top colleges and universities by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni.
"It's astonishing. More than half didn't know George Washington was the commanding general of the Continental Army during the American Revolution who accepted Brig. Gen. Charles Cornwallis' surrender at Yorktown.
"Thirty-six percent thought it was Ulysses S. Grant," commander of the Union Army during the U.S. Civil War. "Six percent said it was Douglas MacArthur," U.S. commander during the Korean War. "Thirty-two percent said Washington. It was a multiple-choice question. They were winging it.
"If you don't know what Yorktown was all about, and that Washington was the commander, you don't know ... a lot about American history that you ought to know," Mr. McCullough said."
..."Better yet, Mr. McCullough said, teachers should abandon textbooks altogether and use other books and resources instead to teach history and geography.
Textbooks written to be "politically correct" do not tell the truth about struggle and conflict through the ages in order to avoid offending minorities, ethnic groups, women and other advocates, he said.
"History is a story, cause and effect. And if you're going to teach just segments of history, women's issues, these youngsters have almost no sense of cause and effect," he said.
Mr. McCullough said, "I would do away with the textbooks. ... Get rid of all the state commissions that write the textbooks" because they fail to instill in students a sense of gratitude for the country's leaders over the centuries and what the American people endured and accomplished in order to pass on a legacy of freedom and prosperity.
"I think that to be ignorant or indifferent to history isn't just to be uneducated or stupid. It's to be rude, ungrateful. And ingratitude is an ugly failing in human beings.""
One Man's Freedom Fighter
IS ANOTHER MAN'S ROOT CAUSE IS ANOTHER MAN'S CYCLE OF VIOLENCE IS ANOTHER MAN'S BRUTAL AFGHAN WINTER IS ANOTHER MAN'S QUAGMIRE IS ANOTHER MAN'S 'ALL ABOUT THE OIL' IS ANOTHER MAN'S
Richard Clarke:
"In addition to placing more cameras on our subway platforms, maybe we should be asking why the terrorists hate us."
What makes you so sure they hate you, Richard?
Richard Clarke:
"In addition to placing more cameras on our subway platforms, maybe we should be asking why the terrorists hate us."
What makes you so sure they hate you, Richard?
It's Official
Kerry/Chirac in '04!
TIME: "Do you think America's role as the sole superpower is a problem?"
Chirac: "Any community with only one dominant power is always a dangerous one and provokes reactions. That's why I favor a multipolar world, in which Europe obviously has its place. Anyway, the world will not be unipolar. Over the next 50 years, China will become a global power, and the world won't be the same. So it's time to start organizing. Transatlantic solidarity will remain the basis of the world order, in which Europe has its role to play."
Any community with France as the dominant power is a dangerous one.
France seeks to help put China in space, sell them arms and just interfered in the Taiwanese election.
Time to start organizing, indeed.
TIME: "Do you think America's role as the sole superpower is a problem?"
Chirac: "Any community with only one dominant power is always a dangerous one and provokes reactions. That's why I favor a multipolar world, in which Europe obviously has its place. Anyway, the world will not be unipolar. Over the next 50 years, China will become a global power, and the world won't be the same. So it's time to start organizing. Transatlantic solidarity will remain the basis of the world order, in which Europe has its role to play."
Any community with France as the dominant power is a dangerous one.
France seeks to help put China in space, sell them arms and just interfered in the Taiwanese election.
Time to start organizing, indeed.
Saturday, March 27, 2004
Ends & Odds
The First Man on the Moon backs the Prez's space program.
Neil Armstrong: "Our president has introduced a new initiative with renewed emphasis on the exploration of our solar system and expansion of human frontiers. This proposal has substantial merit and promise."
John Glenn, who's about as cheery as Wilford Brimley without his oat bran, recently dumped all over the idea, but with the Chinese heading to the moon, we may not have much choice. They want nothing more than to position anti-satellite weapons there.
Frank J. interviews John Derbyshire. (He said "thuggery". heh. heh heh.)
Mr. Brokaw now appears on an additional media outlet.
"When guns are insurged, only insurgents will have guns." Claremont looks at the Iraqi Constitution.
Walter Olson's "The Threat from Lawyers is No Joke".
Frontpage interviews Richard Perle & David Frum on their excellent book, "An End to Evil".
The Glory of Blaze: Annika tells the tail.
Melanie Phillips: "While non-Christian nations can indeed subscribe to human rights -- and it is to be hoped that they do -- fundamental human rights (as opposed to the politically correct doctrines being laid down by European institutions) are emphatically not secular. They are based on the precepts originally laid down by Judaism and embellished and developed by Protestantism -- that individual behaviour must be constrained by moral laws, and that all human beings are equal in the image of God. Take this Judeo-Christian God away, and equality disappears too."
Neil Armstrong: "Our president has introduced a new initiative with renewed emphasis on the exploration of our solar system and expansion of human frontiers. This proposal has substantial merit and promise."
John Glenn, who's about as cheery as Wilford Brimley without his oat bran, recently dumped all over the idea, but with the Chinese heading to the moon, we may not have much choice. They want nothing more than to position anti-satellite weapons there.
Frank J. interviews John Derbyshire. (He said "thuggery". heh. heh heh.)
Mr. Brokaw now appears on an additional media outlet.
"When guns are insurged, only insurgents will have guns." Claremont looks at the Iraqi Constitution.
Walter Olson's "The Threat from Lawyers is No Joke".
Frontpage interviews Richard Perle & David Frum on their excellent book, "An End to Evil".
The Glory of Blaze: Annika tells the tail.
Melanie Phillips: "While non-Christian nations can indeed subscribe to human rights -- and it is to be hoped that they do -- fundamental human rights (as opposed to the politically correct doctrines being laid down by European institutions) are emphatically not secular. They are based on the precepts originally laid down by Judaism and embellished and developed by Protestantism -- that individual behaviour must be constrained by moral laws, and that all human beings are equal in the image of God. Take this Judeo-Christian God away, and equality disappears too."
Profiles in Discourage
President Bill speaks
On the first WTC Bombing:
"I would discourage the American people from overreacting to this."
On Osama on a silver platter:
"At the time, 1996, he had committed no crime against America so I did not bring him here because we had no basis on which to hold him, though we knew he wanted to commit crimes against America."
"So I pleaded with the Saudis to take him, 'cause they could have. But they thought it was a hot potato and they didn't and that's how he wound up in Afghanistan."
As has been said,
"After the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, which killed six and injured 1,000, President Clinton promised that those responsible would be hunted down and punished.
After the 1995 bombing in Saudi Arabia, which killed five U.S. military personnel, Clinton promised that those responsible would be hunted down and punished.
After the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia, which killed 19 and injured 200 U.S. military personnel, Clinton promised that those responsible would be hunted down and punished.
After the 1998 bombing of U.S. embassies in Africa, which killed 224 and injured 5,000, Clinton promised that those responsible would be hunted down and punished.
After the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, which killed 17 and injured 39 U.S. sailors, Clinton promised that those responsible would be hunted down and punished."
"Against All Enemies", Mr. Clarke?
Really?
On the first WTC Bombing:
"I would discourage the American people from overreacting to this."
On Osama on a silver platter:
"At the time, 1996, he had committed no crime against America so I did not bring him here because we had no basis on which to hold him, though we knew he wanted to commit crimes against America."
"So I pleaded with the Saudis to take him, 'cause they could have. But they thought it was a hot potato and they didn't and that's how he wound up in Afghanistan."
As has been said,
"After the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, which killed six and injured 1,000, President Clinton promised that those responsible would be hunted down and punished.
After the 1995 bombing in Saudi Arabia, which killed five U.S. military personnel, Clinton promised that those responsible would be hunted down and punished.
After the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia, which killed 19 and injured 200 U.S. military personnel, Clinton promised that those responsible would be hunted down and punished.
After the 1998 bombing of U.S. embassies in Africa, which killed 224 and injured 5,000, Clinton promised that those responsible would be hunted down and punished.
After the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, which killed 17 and injured 39 U.S. sailors, Clinton promised that those responsible would be hunted down and punished."
"Against All Enemies", Mr. Clarke?
Really?
Friday, March 26, 2004
Taking Out the Trash
The able Peter Cuthbertson on the knee-jerk condemnations of Israel's moral right--and obligation--to defend itself from the likes of a Yassin:
"Conservatives are usually somewhat defensive of hypocrisy, noting that in a world of fallible people the only alternative is the deliberate endorsement of wrong acts. But this sort of hypocrisy - a coy modesty about righteous and utterly defensible executions - only serves to foster an immoral climate in which even the worst of mass murdering terrorists are seen as sympathetic, as possessing a right to life. They don't. Terrorists no more have an abstract right to live than bureaucrats have an abstract right to be employed in the civil service. From the moment anyone becomes involved with a terror group and devoted to the murder of a country's citizens to the moment they sever all such links, they have a right to life only in so far as their opponents see advantage in granting it. The killing of terrorists, like the hiring and firing of bureaucrats, is a proper function of the state. We all need to start saying so."
So.
"Conservatives are usually somewhat defensive of hypocrisy, noting that in a world of fallible people the only alternative is the deliberate endorsement of wrong acts. But this sort of hypocrisy - a coy modesty about righteous and utterly defensible executions - only serves to foster an immoral climate in which even the worst of mass murdering terrorists are seen as sympathetic, as possessing a right to life. They don't. Terrorists no more have an abstract right to live than bureaucrats have an abstract right to be employed in the civil service. From the moment anyone becomes involved with a terror group and devoted to the murder of a country's citizens to the moment they sever all such links, they have a right to life only in so far as their opponents see advantage in granting it. The killing of terrorists, like the hiring and firing of bureaucrats, is a proper function of the state. We all need to start saying so."
So.
Thursday, March 25, 2004
Back in the U.S.S.R.
A while back we excerpted Tatiana Menaker's excellent 'Hate America Poetry Class'.
The Stalinist administration at San Francisco State University tried to exile her from campus because she took exception to the pogroms--and I use those words carefully. They backed off after pressure was brought to bear.
Read about it here and here.
More of her top-notch work is found here and here.
An excerpt:
"Immediately before the war in Iraq, I watched two different kinds of professors at SFSU: both of them, naturally, antiwar. Some of them did their work with professional integrity even though their hearts were on the antiwar side, trusting students to make their own political decisions. Some others not only served as ideologues to the anti-American mob organized under their patronage, but also agitated and incited students to leave classes for antiwar demonstrations.
This pointed out the major difference between my education in the Soviet Union and my education at SFSU. When I wanted to transfer credits from my Leningrad University degree to SFSU, I was told by the International Admissions Office that it couldn't be done, because as a professor of Marxist-Leninist philosophy, I had only gone through "indoctrination." I find this fascinating, because the difference between Leningrad University and SFSU is that my professors in Leningrad were forced to teach socialist propaganda for fear of brutal punishment; here a bunch of aged hippies, who put students through forced indoctrination instead of academic work, were materially rewarded for their radical activism.
Not only am I as amazed as Alice in the Socialist Wonderland of San Francisco State University, but I feel as though I need to attend a third university to receive a real education. At SFSU, I've merely had my second Marxist indoctrination."
Welcome home, sister. We're glad you're here.
The Stalinist administration at San Francisco State University tried to exile her from campus because she took exception to the pogroms--and I use those words carefully. They backed off after pressure was brought to bear.
Read about it here and here.
More of her top-notch work is found here and here.
An excerpt:
"Immediately before the war in Iraq, I watched two different kinds of professors at SFSU: both of them, naturally, antiwar. Some of them did their work with professional integrity even though their hearts were on the antiwar side, trusting students to make their own political decisions. Some others not only served as ideologues to the anti-American mob organized under their patronage, but also agitated and incited students to leave classes for antiwar demonstrations.
This pointed out the major difference between my education in the Soviet Union and my education at SFSU. When I wanted to transfer credits from my Leningrad University degree to SFSU, I was told by the International Admissions Office that it couldn't be done, because as a professor of Marxist-Leninist philosophy, I had only gone through "indoctrination." I find this fascinating, because the difference between Leningrad University and SFSU is that my professors in Leningrad were forced to teach socialist propaganda for fear of brutal punishment; here a bunch of aged hippies, who put students through forced indoctrination instead of academic work, were materially rewarded for their radical activism.
Not only am I as amazed as Alice in the Socialist Wonderland of San Francisco State University, but I feel as though I need to attend a third university to receive a real education. At SFSU, I've merely had my second Marxist indoctrination."
Welcome home, sister. We're glad you're here.
Veetnam Vamps
John Kerry attended an anti-war meeting in which the assasination of Senators was debated. He was against it and quit the organization in protest, the correct decision. Unfortunately, he can't take credit for it because for years he lied about being there. Now come the FBI records that put him at the scene. He's reduced to lying again, saying he doesn't recall (yeah, right) and blasting the Hoover-era FBI for spying. Uhhh, 'scuse me but wouldn't spying on a group that would seriously consider killing US senators be, uhh, THE FBI's JOB?
And forget 30-plus years ago...this is a candidate for President who, when caught in a tricky spot, resorts to lying through his teeth to you and me in real time. He doesn't remember the event that caused him to quit Vietnam Vets Against the War? Please.
Paul Beston writes in the Spectator:
"Kerry has little to fear from the Kansas City story. Even if there is a bombshell revelation yet to come, the story is already playing out on the familiar terrain of "gotcha" personal campaigning, devoid of genuine historical context. Kerry faces an opponent who has no desire to discuss Vietnam-era politics and a public that has long-since accepted the liberal narrative of Vietnam as a wrongful war. And he operates in a political culture in which a Democrat's sins are easily forgiven, if in fact they are viewed as sins in the first place."
"All of this is to be regretted, because the election of 2004 offered one of the last chances to have a meaningful national debate about the merits of the Vietnam War. Unless I was out of the room the last 30 years, I don't think we've had it yet. As an interested non-expert who grew up in Vietnam's aftermath, it seems to me that Vietnam in the context of the Cold War and Iraq in the context of the Terror War have many points of comparison."
"Chief among them is the concept of the Twilight Struggle against an implacable global adversary, where the rules of engagement cannot preclude elective interventions that are part of a long-term strategy. But the only discussion about Vietnam we tend to get is of the quagmire variety whenever an American soldier dies in Iraq; only then is the war in Iraq said to be "like Vietnam.""
"The Right lacks confidence in its Vietnam arguments and the Left has no moral authority, so the two sides have agreed to a silent truce on the matter. But it's not a truce that serves the interests of the country, any more than VVAW did then or John Kerry does now."
I think that's right. 'Nam was where the liberals decided that America was always wrong, always to blame, incapable of wielding power justly and in need of constraint by trans-national elites.
I was surprised to hear the late Rick Rescorla, a true hero, say we should have intervened on behalf of Gen. Giap at the very beginning, presumably so as to steer him away from Communist alignment. Kerry, of course, intervened on behalf of Gen. Giap at the end.
So much of what we "know" about the war is false, having been written by liberals. Tet was a victory, not a defeat. We were on the verge of winning when the campaign on the streets of America by John Kerry and co. finally guaranteed defeat. Even then, South Vietnam might have won with just some air-support and equipment, but many Democrats had decided not just that we should leave, but that the Communists should win.
I believe the war was worth fighting. And, worth fighting, worth winning. LBJ's dithering half-measures & "sending messages" doomed the effort from the start and gave the Left its opening.
Today's Democrats still see everything through those eyes. Osama is Ho Chi Minh. America is still wrong, still to blame, still incapable of wielding power justly and still in need of constraint by trans-national elites. The Ghosts of Vietnam still rule their night.
And for Kerry, it's also a personal metaphor. It was his first political issue...and he was on both sides of it, a way of life for him. While this latest revelation may not kill him, his veteran status won't help him either; when you've successfully run down service in that war, including your own, how do you then run on that service record?
The defeatist has defeated himself.
And forget 30-plus years ago...this is a candidate for President who, when caught in a tricky spot, resorts to lying through his teeth to you and me in real time. He doesn't remember the event that caused him to quit Vietnam Vets Against the War? Please.
Paul Beston writes in the Spectator:
"Kerry has little to fear from the Kansas City story. Even if there is a bombshell revelation yet to come, the story is already playing out on the familiar terrain of "gotcha" personal campaigning, devoid of genuine historical context. Kerry faces an opponent who has no desire to discuss Vietnam-era politics and a public that has long-since accepted the liberal narrative of Vietnam as a wrongful war. And he operates in a political culture in which a Democrat's sins are easily forgiven, if in fact they are viewed as sins in the first place."
"All of this is to be regretted, because the election of 2004 offered one of the last chances to have a meaningful national debate about the merits of the Vietnam War. Unless I was out of the room the last 30 years, I don't think we've had it yet. As an interested non-expert who grew up in Vietnam's aftermath, it seems to me that Vietnam in the context of the Cold War and Iraq in the context of the Terror War have many points of comparison."
"Chief among them is the concept of the Twilight Struggle against an implacable global adversary, where the rules of engagement cannot preclude elective interventions that are part of a long-term strategy. But the only discussion about Vietnam we tend to get is of the quagmire variety whenever an American soldier dies in Iraq; only then is the war in Iraq said to be "like Vietnam.""
"The Right lacks confidence in its Vietnam arguments and the Left has no moral authority, so the two sides have agreed to a silent truce on the matter. But it's not a truce that serves the interests of the country, any more than VVAW did then or John Kerry does now."
I think that's right. 'Nam was where the liberals decided that America was always wrong, always to blame, incapable of wielding power justly and in need of constraint by trans-national elites.
I was surprised to hear the late Rick Rescorla, a true hero, say we should have intervened on behalf of Gen. Giap at the very beginning, presumably so as to steer him away from Communist alignment. Kerry, of course, intervened on behalf of Gen. Giap at the end.
So much of what we "know" about the war is false, having been written by liberals. Tet was a victory, not a defeat. We were on the verge of winning when the campaign on the streets of America by John Kerry and co. finally guaranteed defeat. Even then, South Vietnam might have won with just some air-support and equipment, but many Democrats had decided not just that we should leave, but that the Communists should win.
I believe the war was worth fighting. And, worth fighting, worth winning. LBJ's dithering half-measures & "sending messages" doomed the effort from the start and gave the Left its opening.
Today's Democrats still see everything through those eyes. Osama is Ho Chi Minh. America is still wrong, still to blame, still incapable of wielding power justly and still in need of constraint by trans-national elites. The Ghosts of Vietnam still rule their night.
And for Kerry, it's also a personal metaphor. It was his first political issue...and he was on both sides of it, a way of life for him. While this latest revelation may not kill him, his veteran status won't help him either; when you've successfully run down service in that war, including your own, how do you then run on that service record?
The defeatist has defeated himself.
Apologize this
Richard Clarke:
"I welcome these hearings because of the opportunity that they provide to the American people to better understand why the tragedy of 9/11 happened, and what we must do to prevent a reoccurrence.
I also welcome the hearings because it is finally a forum where I can apologize to the loved ones of the victims of 9/11, to them who are here in the room, to those who are watching on television.
Your government failed you. Those entrusted with protecting you failed you. And I failed you. We tried hard, but that doesn't matter, because we failed. And for that failure, I would ask, once all the facts are out, for your understanding and for your forgiveness."
Would those be the "facts" you told us last year or the "facts" you're telling us now?
Spare me your insincere apology, Mr. Clarke. I want someone who will hunt down my enemies and kill them. And drag those societies into the 21st century. That is what President Bush is trying to do...and you are trying to undermine him in that effort with these crocodile tears. While selling a book. Richard Clarke as Paul Revere:
"The Redcoats are coming! The Redcoats are coming...that'll be $27.95, please!"
The failures to protect this country run deep. We were unprepared to fight half the wars we ever fought, starting with the Barbary pirates. We failed to eliminate Castro when he held international terrorism conferences. We rescued and funded Arafat--after Beirut! We failed in Iran. Why did we allow Khadafy to live after Lockerbie, let alone the earlier disco-bombings? Why didn't we finish the job in Desert Storm? The Clinton Administration was failure upon failure upon failure, starting with Mogadishu. The first World Trade Center bombing was just as serious as 9/11; they just happened to fail.
And in a republic, citizens have a duty to inform themselves and raise hell. We all need a look in the mirror. Hell, look at those two women who complained about Bush's 9/11 ads; the terrorists killed their family members--and they went to Afghanistan to hold the Talebans' hands! What kind of people are we producing?
And while Congress and the Media are asking the questions now, they have plenty to answer for themselves.
So apologize to the person next to you and I'll apologize to the person next to me and then, when we are all feeling really good about each other, let's get on with the business at hand.
By the way, the title of Mr. Clarke's book is 'Against All Enemies', meaning he'll protect the Constitution against all enemies, whether George W. Bush or Osama bin Laden. If he wants to apologize for something, that would be a good place to start.
Sorry bastard.
"I welcome these hearings because of the opportunity that they provide to the American people to better understand why the tragedy of 9/11 happened, and what we must do to prevent a reoccurrence.
I also welcome the hearings because it is finally a forum where I can apologize to the loved ones of the victims of 9/11, to them who are here in the room, to those who are watching on television.
Your government failed you. Those entrusted with protecting you failed you. And I failed you. We tried hard, but that doesn't matter, because we failed. And for that failure, I would ask, once all the facts are out, for your understanding and for your forgiveness."
Would those be the "facts" you told us last year or the "facts" you're telling us now?
Spare me your insincere apology, Mr. Clarke. I want someone who will hunt down my enemies and kill them. And drag those societies into the 21st century. That is what President Bush is trying to do...and you are trying to undermine him in that effort with these crocodile tears. While selling a book. Richard Clarke as Paul Revere:
"The Redcoats are coming! The Redcoats are coming...that'll be $27.95, please!"
The failures to protect this country run deep. We were unprepared to fight half the wars we ever fought, starting with the Barbary pirates. We failed to eliminate Castro when he held international terrorism conferences. We rescued and funded Arafat--after Beirut! We failed in Iran. Why did we allow Khadafy to live after Lockerbie, let alone the earlier disco-bombings? Why didn't we finish the job in Desert Storm? The Clinton Administration was failure upon failure upon failure, starting with Mogadishu. The first World Trade Center bombing was just as serious as 9/11; they just happened to fail.
And in a republic, citizens have a duty to inform themselves and raise hell. We all need a look in the mirror. Hell, look at those two women who complained about Bush's 9/11 ads; the terrorists killed their family members--and they went to Afghanistan to hold the Talebans' hands! What kind of people are we producing?
And while Congress and the Media are asking the questions now, they have plenty to answer for themselves.
So apologize to the person next to you and I'll apologize to the person next to me and then, when we are all feeling really good about each other, let's get on with the business at hand.
By the way, the title of Mr. Clarke's book is 'Against All Enemies', meaning he'll protect the Constitution against all enemies, whether George W. Bush or Osama bin Laden. If he wants to apologize for something, that would be a good place to start.
Sorry bastard.
Monday, March 22, 2004
It Lives!
Sorry 'bout the dearth of posts, but I've been taking advantage of a little-known provision of the last Farm Bill--the new Blog Subsidies program. The Gubmint pays me not to blog, so as not to flood the blog-market and reduce the per-word price that is paid to all bloggers. To sign up, dial 1-800-BLOATEDNANNYSTATE.
In the news, Israel has killed the spiritual leader of Hamas. This comes just a few days short of the anniversary of the death of Heinrich Himmler, who was, of course, the spiritual leader of the SS.
President Bill yesterday explained his inaction when a CIA drone spotted bin Laden:
"It was a tall bearded figure in a dress--I thought it was Janet Reno."
In the news, Israel has killed the spiritual leader of Hamas. This comes just a few days short of the anniversary of the death of Heinrich Himmler, who was, of course, the spiritual leader of the SS.
President Bill yesterday explained his inaction when a CIA drone spotted bin Laden:
"It was a tall bearded figure in a dress--I thought it was Janet Reno."
Friday, March 19, 2004
He's right, naturally
"In short, it is the greatest absurdity to suppose it in the power of one, or any number of men, at the entering into society, to renounce their essential natural rights, or the means of preserving those rights; when the grand end of civil government, from the very nature of its institution, is for the support, protection, and defence of those very rights; the principal of which, as is before observed, are Life, Liberty, and Property. If men, through fear, fraud, or mistake, should in terms renounce or give up any essential natural right, the eternal law of reason and the grand end of society would absolutely vacate such renunciation. The right to freedom being the gift of God Almighty, it is not in the power of man to alienate this gift and voluntarily become a slave."--Samuel Adams, 'The Rights of the Colonists'.
Sunday, March 14, 2004
Remember '...or the terrorists win'?
WELL, THEY JUST WON.
al Qaeda just successfully toppled its first Western government. The voters of Spain have just removed a pro- U.S. tough-on-terror party and installed the soft-on-terror Socialists.
In a fit of national Stockholm Syndrome, the voters have just complied with their murderers demands. Nor will it be the last demand, either. Spain drove out their Muslim overlords some 500 years ago, and it is an article of faith among the train-bombers that this can never be allowed.
It is bad enough when Socialists come to power in ordinary times. Spaniards can probably say 'adios' to an economy that had been revived by tax-cuts, for example. But under these circumstances, the terrorists can only draw one conclusion; Western democracies can be rolled by strategically-timed attacks. Allies can be divided. Populaces can be bullied. Election outcomes can be altered. In short--Terrorism Works.
Its as if the cowardly townsfolk in "High Noon" have just fired their sheriff and hired one who promises not to upset the arriving outlaws. A European country is once again trying to appease the Unappeasable. How did that work out for you last time, anyway?
This tells me that other democracies--including America--had damn well better tighten up security preceding elections; Spanish capitulation has made them windows of opportunity.
Muchas gracias, dhimmigos.
al Qaeda just successfully toppled its first Western government. The voters of Spain have just removed a pro- U.S. tough-on-terror party and installed the soft-on-terror Socialists.
In a fit of national Stockholm Syndrome, the voters have just complied with their murderers demands. Nor will it be the last demand, either. Spain drove out their Muslim overlords some 500 years ago, and it is an article of faith among the train-bombers that this can never be allowed.
It is bad enough when Socialists come to power in ordinary times. Spaniards can probably say 'adios' to an economy that had been revived by tax-cuts, for example. But under these circumstances, the terrorists can only draw one conclusion; Western democracies can be rolled by strategically-timed attacks. Allies can be divided. Populaces can be bullied. Election outcomes can be altered. In short--Terrorism Works.
Its as if the cowardly townsfolk in "High Noon" have just fired their sheriff and hired one who promises not to upset the arriving outlaws. A European country is once again trying to appease the Unappeasable. How did that work out for you last time, anyway?
This tells me that other democracies--including America--had damn well better tighten up security preceding elections; Spanish capitulation has made them windows of opportunity.
Muchas gracias, dhimmigos.
Saturday, March 13, 2004
Laughing Matters
Houston, we have a problem.
And not just Bobby Brown.
And by 'we', I mean of course, you Democrats.
John Kerry is not funny. And not just 'not funny' or even unfunny; He's the Anti-Funny. When the chicken crosses the road, Kerry is the guy from the county Dept. of Road-kill who collects the carcass and sweeps up the feathers. His mouth is the Mysterious Burial Ground where elephant jokes go to die. When someone says "Knock, Knock?", Kerry says "Someone get the door; Dammit, who gave the servants a day off?". In French.
That will not wear well as the campaign continues. He was recently caught committing attempted humor on the stump, and, well, it wasn't pretty. In fact, it was ugly--the kind of ugly that causes people to divert their gaze, shift on the balls of their feet and nervously scan the room for quickest egress to the mini-bar.
Were I an an independent, or even a Democrat not yet driven away from the party by its radical, yet extreme fecklessness, I'd still have a hard time connecting to this cold fish candidate, this Brahmin bouillabaisse of haughty-cuisine humorlessness known as Senator Squidward.
For all his pathologies, Bill Clinton at least had a certain Burt Reynoldsian bonhommie; he was comfortable enough in his own skin--and often in those of the secretarial pool--to perfom the simple human act of telling a joke. Kerry is from the AlGore/Hillary/Red Guard School of State Comedy--when they hear the phrase "Comedy Central", they're excited by the word "Central".
According to Kerry's spokes-intern, Shirley U. Geste, "The Senator will season his remarks with a wide variety of quips and one-liners in an effort to reach out to the Humor-Impacted Community and to prove, once and for all, that George Bush is in league with the Klingons to destroy the world with asteroids." She added that Kerry was not a flip-flopper, merely "bi-factual". "Before coming to an opinion diametrically opposed to the one he held moments before, the Senator likes to reach out to all the diverse voices in his head," said Geste in all seriousness.
Even with Hollywood writing his jokes, I fully expect that by November, most people will have had enough of his passive/aggressive sanctimony, not to mention his stepping on his punchlines. An entire nation flees to the polls with their hands over their ears, pulling the lever for Bush just to make the itchy, bleeding, burning sensation go away forever.
But enough about Hillary. John Kerry is to humor what Yoko Ono is to music; its mortal enemy. By the last week before the election, every joke Kerry tells should be worth another percentage point for Bush.
Remember..."Ask not what comedy can do for you, but what comedy can do for your country."
And if not, well...there's always the Klingons.
And not just Bobby Brown.
And by 'we', I mean of course, you Democrats.
John Kerry is not funny. And not just 'not funny' or even unfunny; He's the Anti-Funny. When the chicken crosses the road, Kerry is the guy from the county Dept. of Road-kill who collects the carcass and sweeps up the feathers. His mouth is the Mysterious Burial Ground where elephant jokes go to die. When someone says "Knock, Knock?", Kerry says "Someone get the door; Dammit, who gave the servants a day off?". In French.
That will not wear well as the campaign continues. He was recently caught committing attempted humor on the stump, and, well, it wasn't pretty. In fact, it was ugly--the kind of ugly that causes people to divert their gaze, shift on the balls of their feet and nervously scan the room for quickest egress to the mini-bar.
Were I an an independent, or even a Democrat not yet driven away from the party by its radical, yet extreme fecklessness, I'd still have a hard time connecting to this cold fish candidate, this Brahmin bouillabaisse of haughty-cuisine humorlessness known as Senator Squidward.
For all his pathologies, Bill Clinton at least had a certain Burt Reynoldsian bonhommie; he was comfortable enough in his own skin--and often in those of the secretarial pool--to perfom the simple human act of telling a joke. Kerry is from the AlGore/Hillary/Red Guard School of State Comedy--when they hear the phrase "Comedy Central", they're excited by the word "Central".
According to Kerry's spokes-intern, Shirley U. Geste, "The Senator will season his remarks with a wide variety of quips and one-liners in an effort to reach out to the Humor-Impacted Community and to prove, once and for all, that George Bush is in league with the Klingons to destroy the world with asteroids." She added that Kerry was not a flip-flopper, merely "bi-factual". "Before coming to an opinion diametrically opposed to the one he held moments before, the Senator likes to reach out to all the diverse voices in his head," said Geste in all seriousness.
Even with Hollywood writing his jokes, I fully expect that by November, most people will have had enough of his passive/aggressive sanctimony, not to mention his stepping on his punchlines. An entire nation flees to the polls with their hands over their ears, pulling the lever for Bush just to make the itchy, bleeding, burning sensation go away forever.
But enough about Hillary. John Kerry is to humor what Yoko Ono is to music; its mortal enemy. By the last week before the election, every joke Kerry tells should be worth another percentage point for Bush.
Remember..."Ask not what comedy can do for you, but what comedy can do for your country."
And if not, well...there's always the Klingons.
Friday, March 12, 2004
Say what you like about the Trojans
I DO.
Some good reads:
AZNAR KNEW! by David Carr.
"When Johnny Ramone tells you something is uncool, well, it is." Rock on, brother.
This one made me laugh out loud:
"Canadians and Americans are a lot more foreign to each other than they were back in 1927, when His Royal Highness and the Vice-President cut the ribbon. One of the most telling differences is not socialized medicine or gun control but the thickness of our respective skins. When Mr Hume calls Americans fascists, nobody in America cares because nobody notices. When Conan O’Brien’s hand-puppet sidekick Triumph the Insult Comic Dog goes to Quebec’s Winter Carnival and insults Quebecers, questions are raised in Parliament and the dog is denounced as “hateful” and “racist”."
"He’s not a real dog, of course. He’s a hand puppet. The sight of a G7 nation locked in mortal combat with a hand puppet is somewhat bewildering. Especially when the hand puppet’s foray into Quebec is an all-expenses-paid trip funded by Canadian taxpayers. The Governments of Canada and Ontario gave Conan and the dog a million bucks to come to Toronto to boost tourism post-SARS. Say what you like about the Trojans but when they wheeled that big wooden horse inside the gates at least they hadn’t wired the Greeks a cool million for it." Guess who...?
Clayton Cramer has an interesting history of marriage licenses.
Speaking of, I've issued myself a free-lance gynecologist's license. Sure, I don't meet any of the qualifications...but I was born gynecologically. Come to think of it, I was also born nude and wanting to suckle. So if you see a naked middle-aged man downtown, grabbing womens' breasts and offering free pelvic exams, remember...it's all about my civil rights.
Some good reads:
AZNAR KNEW! by David Carr.
"When Johnny Ramone tells you something is uncool, well, it is." Rock on, brother.
This one made me laugh out loud:
"Canadians and Americans are a lot more foreign to each other than they were back in 1927, when His Royal Highness and the Vice-President cut the ribbon. One of the most telling differences is not socialized medicine or gun control but the thickness of our respective skins. When Mr Hume calls Americans fascists, nobody in America cares because nobody notices. When Conan O’Brien’s hand-puppet sidekick Triumph the Insult Comic Dog goes to Quebec’s Winter Carnival and insults Quebecers, questions are raised in Parliament and the dog is denounced as “hateful” and “racist”."
"He’s not a real dog, of course. He’s a hand puppet. The sight of a G7 nation locked in mortal combat with a hand puppet is somewhat bewildering. Especially when the hand puppet’s foray into Quebec is an all-expenses-paid trip funded by Canadian taxpayers. The Governments of Canada and Ontario gave Conan and the dog a million bucks to come to Toronto to boost tourism post-SARS. Say what you like about the Trojans but when they wheeled that big wooden horse inside the gates at least they hadn’t wired the Greeks a cool million for it." Guess who...?
Clayton Cramer has an interesting history of marriage licenses.
Speaking of, I've issued myself a free-lance gynecologist's license. Sure, I don't meet any of the qualifications...but I was born gynecologically. Come to think of it, I was also born nude and wanting to suckle. So if you see a naked middle-aged man downtown, grabbing womens' breasts and offering free pelvic exams, remember...it's all about my civil rights.
His Fraudulencey
John Kerry, Oct.'03: "This president has done it wrong every step of the way. He promised that he would have a real coalition. He has a fraudulent coalition."
al Qaida, Oct.'03: "Let the unjust ones know that we maintain our right to reply, at the appropriate time and place, to all the states that are taking part in this unjust war, particularly Britain, Spain, Australia, Poland, Japan, and Italy."
How bad is it when our certifiably insane enemy has a better grasp of who our allies are than does a presidential candidate?
al Qaida, Oct.'03: "Let the unjust ones know that we maintain our right to reply, at the appropriate time and place, to all the states that are taking part in this unjust war, particularly Britain, Spain, Australia, Poland, Japan, and Italy."
How bad is it when our certifiably insane enemy has a better grasp of who our allies are than does a presidential candidate?
3/11
Tuesday, March 09, 2004
State Funny Farm
LIKE A BAD NEIGHBOR
"Last week, for example, the government of Nova Scotia announced that it wished to clamp down on newspaper and broadcast usage of words such as "fruitcake", "nutcase", "madman", "kooky", etc, as these terms are hurtful to the mentally ill. To that end, it was offering cash rewards to citizens who reported sightings of these terms in the media. Whatever "hurt" these words do the mentally ill is less than that done to society by a state that polices your vocabulary. So I would urge any Nova Scotian reporters, disc jockeys, weather girls, etc, who read the Telegraph to use these expressions as often as possible - "You'd have to be a nutcase to go out in this weather", etc - and then get their relatives to bankrupt the government's cash-reward budget."...
"... I'm a conservative, and I don't need any qualifying adjectives. My objection isn't to the deficit, it's to the big wasteful government programmes that lead to the deficit. If the Dems wanted to balance the budget by cutting the spending, I'd be the first to dance up and down shaking my pom-poms. But they don't. They want to balance the budget by raising taxes, which is no help either way. I think deficits are morally neutral. If I go to the bank and ask them for a loan to buy a house, they'll look kindly on me. If I ask for a loan because I fancy a three-in-a-bed sex romp with two high-class hookers, they'll suggest I wait till I get my Christmas bonus. The portion of the deficit caused by Iraqi reconstruction is analogous to the house loan. Most of the rest - Bush's prescription drug plan for pampered seniors, the mohair subsidy, funding for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland - is analogous to the hooker blow-out. This spending has no plausible claim on the Federal Treasury: it would be objectionable even if Bill Gates personally wrote a cheque to cover the entire deficit. It's the expansion of the state that's wrong. The funding of it is secondary."
Yeah. Steyn.
"Last week, for example, the government of Nova Scotia announced that it wished to clamp down on newspaper and broadcast usage of words such as "fruitcake", "nutcase", "madman", "kooky", etc, as these terms are hurtful to the mentally ill. To that end, it was offering cash rewards to citizens who reported sightings of these terms in the media. Whatever "hurt" these words do the mentally ill is less than that done to society by a state that polices your vocabulary. So I would urge any Nova Scotian reporters, disc jockeys, weather girls, etc, who read the Telegraph to use these expressions as often as possible - "You'd have to be a nutcase to go out in this weather", etc - and then get their relatives to bankrupt the government's cash-reward budget."...
"... I'm a conservative, and I don't need any qualifying adjectives. My objection isn't to the deficit, it's to the big wasteful government programmes that lead to the deficit. If the Dems wanted to balance the budget by cutting the spending, I'd be the first to dance up and down shaking my pom-poms. But they don't. They want to balance the budget by raising taxes, which is no help either way. I think deficits are morally neutral. If I go to the bank and ask them for a loan to buy a house, they'll look kindly on me. If I ask for a loan because I fancy a three-in-a-bed sex romp with two high-class hookers, they'll suggest I wait till I get my Christmas bonus. The portion of the deficit caused by Iraqi reconstruction is analogous to the house loan. Most of the rest - Bush's prescription drug plan for pampered seniors, the mohair subsidy, funding for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland - is analogous to the hooker blow-out. This spending has no plausible claim on the Federal Treasury: it would be objectionable even if Bill Gates personally wrote a cheque to cover the entire deficit. It's the expansion of the state that's wrong. The funding of it is secondary."
Yeah. Steyn.
Cosmic Justice
IS NEITHER 'COSMIC' NOR 'JUSTICE'. DISCUSS:
"Ironically, the quest for greater economic and social equality is promoted through a far greater inequality of political power. If rules cannot produce cosmic justice, only raw power is left as the way to produce the kinds of results being sought. In a democracy, where power must gain public acquiescence, not only must the rule of law be violated or circumvented, so must the rule of truth. However noble the vision of cosmic justice, arbitrary power and shameless lies are the only paths that even seem to lead in its direction. As noted at the outset, the devastating costs and social dangers which go with these attempts to achieve the impossible should be taken into account."
But if there were such a thing as cosmic justice, Thomas Sowell would be the next President of the United States.
"Ironically, the quest for greater economic and social equality is promoted through a far greater inequality of political power. If rules cannot produce cosmic justice, only raw power is left as the way to produce the kinds of results being sought. In a democracy, where power must gain public acquiescence, not only must the rule of law be violated or circumvented, so must the rule of truth. However noble the vision of cosmic justice, arbitrary power and shameless lies are the only paths that even seem to lead in its direction. As noted at the outset, the devastating costs and social dangers which go with these attempts to achieve the impossible should be taken into account."
But if there were such a thing as cosmic justice, Thomas Sowell would be the next President of the United States.
Monday, March 08, 2004
Blogging Around
Grim reads Kerry the Logan Act. Is that like transporting an intern across continental lines for electoral purposes?
John Hawkins posts an excerpt from the TIME interview with Kerry. Here's the Reader's Dowdgest version:
"If I had been the President, I might have...but not...It might have...only because...if we had...we might...scorn of the world...rushed to war...I didn't say that...I can't tell you...It's possible. It's not a certainty, but it's possible. I'm not going to tell you...But I can tell you this: I would have asked a lot of questions...I said it as clearly as you can...I suggested...No, I think you can still--wait, no. You can't--that's not a fair question...that may make it worth it, but that doesn't mean...You have to have that distinction." Ah; the Elliptical Nuance of Being John Kerry.
It looks like the Administration politicized intelligence to justify their costly invasion:
From the NewsMax Insider Report: "When a senior CIA officer reported in 1993 that Aristide was mad, the White House asked CIA chief James Woolsey to fire the analyst who gave the briefing. Woolsey refused, but we hear that the CIA analyst was exiled to the CIA Center for the Study of Intelligence, where he remained until he retired a few years ago. Inside sources say CIA officers stood by the agency's assessment of Aristide, but meanwhile the Clinton administration restored Aristide to power."
Here's the guy Kerry calls "Father" Aristide--and says he would have already sent in the Marines to save: "...when Aristide was president of Haiti he encouraged the "necklacing" of his political opponents, the practice of lighting gasoline-laden tires placed around the victim's neck. Aristide said of necklacing: "What a beautiful tool, what a beautiful instrument, what a beautiful device, it's beautiful, yes, it's beautiful, it's cute, it's pretty, it has a good smell. Wherever you go you want to inhale it."
Venezuela is in turmoil, near revolution. Chavez is murdering and torturing opponents, suspending gun-rights, trying to cancel elections and threatening war with the U.S. All you lefties who accuse Ashcroft of running a police state should take off your chic little Che berets, your little red Che t-shirts, your little red Che thong underwear and your tiny little red Che condoms and go see what a REAL police state looks like. As always, Devil's Excrement.
John Hawkins posts an excerpt from the TIME interview with Kerry. Here's the Reader's Dowdgest version:
"If I had been the President, I might have...but not...It might have...only because...if we had...we might...scorn of the world...rushed to war...I didn't say that...I can't tell you...It's possible. It's not a certainty, but it's possible. I'm not going to tell you...But I can tell you this: I would have asked a lot of questions...I said it as clearly as you can...I suggested...No, I think you can still--wait, no. You can't--that's not a fair question...that may make it worth it, but that doesn't mean...You have to have that distinction." Ah; the Elliptical Nuance of Being John Kerry.
It looks like the Administration politicized intelligence to justify their costly invasion:
From the NewsMax Insider Report: "When a senior CIA officer reported in 1993 that Aristide was mad, the White House asked CIA chief James Woolsey to fire the analyst who gave the briefing. Woolsey refused, but we hear that the CIA analyst was exiled to the CIA Center for the Study of Intelligence, where he remained until he retired a few years ago. Inside sources say CIA officers stood by the agency's assessment of Aristide, but meanwhile the Clinton administration restored Aristide to power."
Here's the guy Kerry calls "Father" Aristide--and says he would have already sent in the Marines to save: "...when Aristide was president of Haiti he encouraged the "necklacing" of his political opponents, the practice of lighting gasoline-laden tires placed around the victim's neck. Aristide said of necklacing: "What a beautiful tool, what a beautiful instrument, what a beautiful device, it's beautiful, yes, it's beautiful, it's cute, it's pretty, it has a good smell. Wherever you go you want to inhale it."
Venezuela is in turmoil, near revolution. Chavez is murdering and torturing opponents, suspending gun-rights, trying to cancel elections and threatening war with the U.S. All you lefties who accuse Ashcroft of running a police state should take off your chic little Che berets, your little red Che t-shirts, your little red Che thong underwear and your tiny little red Che condoms and go see what a REAL police state looks like. As always, Devil's Excrement.
Sunday, March 07, 2004
Silence Sprang
HOW 'BOUT THE SILENCE OF THE LITTLE CHILDREN?
Some of those pesky--yet noble!--brown people have actually taken offense at being considered less valuable than eagle eggs by Western tree-worshippers. Imagine that!
From Common Sense & Wonder:
"African health campaigners have accused western countries of deliberately ignoring an effective weapon against malaria."
"They say the chemical DDT could help fight the disease, which kills about a million people each year - 90% of them in Africa."
"...according to Richard Tren, Executive Director of the pressure group Africa Fighting Malaria, the western donors on which they depend will not help them."
""The reason that DDT's not used in the US and Europe is because they don't have malaria," he says."
""They did use DDT, and they got rid of malaria. Not a single donor agency will support the use of DDT or any other insecticide in indoor residual spraying.""
No, but we do have West Nile. When our death toll gets high enough, we'll resume spraying. Or maybe not; it mostly kills old people and, heck, let's face it; they're pesky, too. Also noble. The combination is a real killer.
Evil Genius George Bush has found a way to get the dirt-dhimmis to change their minds; unfortunately, by agreeing with them.
Denis Boyles:
"The BBC seems to have awakened to the fact that banning DDT does nothing much to help the environment but it does cost thousands of lives every day. The epiphany behind this long overdue about-face? George W. Bush's braindead endorsement of the global ban on the insecticide.
... the radio broadcast featured Bush explaining at length all the gibberish that has followed this topic since it first emerged from the polluted science of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. If Bush is for it, the Beeb's agin' it, no matter what, apparently."
Carson Lied, People Died.
Some of those pesky--yet noble!--brown people have actually taken offense at being considered less valuable than eagle eggs by Western tree-worshippers. Imagine that!
From Common Sense & Wonder:
"African health campaigners have accused western countries of deliberately ignoring an effective weapon against malaria."
"They say the chemical DDT could help fight the disease, which kills about a million people each year - 90% of them in Africa."
"...according to Richard Tren, Executive Director of the pressure group Africa Fighting Malaria, the western donors on which they depend will not help them."
""The reason that DDT's not used in the US and Europe is because they don't have malaria," he says."
""They did use DDT, and they got rid of malaria. Not a single donor agency will support the use of DDT or any other insecticide in indoor residual spraying.""
No, but we do have West Nile. When our death toll gets high enough, we'll resume spraying. Or maybe not; it mostly kills old people and, heck, let's face it; they're pesky, too. Also noble. The combination is a real killer.
Evil Genius George Bush has found a way to get the dirt-dhimmis to change their minds; unfortunately, by agreeing with them.
Denis Boyles:
"The BBC seems to have awakened to the fact that banning DDT does nothing much to help the environment but it does cost thousands of lives every day. The epiphany behind this long overdue about-face? George W. Bush's braindead endorsement of the global ban on the insecticide.
... the radio broadcast featured Bush explaining at length all the gibberish that has followed this topic since it first emerged from the polluted science of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. If Bush is for it, the Beeb's agin' it, no matter what, apparently."
Carson Lied, People Died.
Remembrance and Forgetfulness
Lee Harris:
"Forgetfulness occurs when those who have been long inured to civilized order can no longer remember a time in which they had to wonder whether their crops would grow to maturity without being stolen or their children sold into slavery by a victorious foe. . . . They forget that in time of danger, in the face of the Enemy, they must trust and confide in each other, or perish.
They forget, in short, that there has ever been a category of human experience called the Enemy. And that, before 9/11, was what had happened to us. The very concept of the Enemy had been banished from our moral and political vocabulary. An enemy was just a friend we hadn't done enough for -- yet. Or perhaps there had been a misunderstanding, or an oversight on our part -- something that we could correct.
And this means that that our first task is that we must try to grasp what the concept of the Enemy really means.
The Enemy is someone who is willing to die in order to kill you. And while it is true that the Enemy always hates us for a reason -- it is his reason, and not ours."
(via Instapundit)
"Forgetfulness occurs when those who have been long inured to civilized order can no longer remember a time in which they had to wonder whether their crops would grow to maturity without being stolen or their children sold into slavery by a victorious foe. . . . They forget that in time of danger, in the face of the Enemy, they must trust and confide in each other, or perish.
They forget, in short, that there has ever been a category of human experience called the Enemy. And that, before 9/11, was what had happened to us. The very concept of the Enemy had been banished from our moral and political vocabulary. An enemy was just a friend we hadn't done enough for -- yet. Or perhaps there had been a misunderstanding, or an oversight on our part -- something that we could correct.
And this means that that our first task is that we must try to grasp what the concept of the Enemy really means.
The Enemy is someone who is willing to die in order to kill you. And while it is true that the Enemy always hates us for a reason -- it is his reason, and not ours."
(via Instapundit)
Saturday, March 06, 2004
Just Askin', is all
HOW IS IT...
...the same people who lectured us for decades that "Marriage is just a piece of paper" now say "Marriage is just a piece of paper...and gays can't possibly live another day without it!"?
...that Ozzie & Harriet were shallow frauds, living a lie in quiet suburban desperation...but if Eddie Haskell proposes to Lumpy Rutherford, it's all about love, dignity and affirmation?
...the same crowd who blame President Bush for failing to capture Usama also claim that Bush is secretly holding him?
...John Kerry says he warned us of a terror attack...but not one newspaper prints "KERRY KNEW!"?
...the New York Times keeps telling us 'labels don't matter...yet artificially labels sections of the Times as "news" and "editorials"?
...Kerry called American troops 'war-criminals'...a name he never calls the prison guards who tortured our POWs?
...Kerry's old speeches were played by those Vietnamese prison guards to demoralize prisoners ...and three decades later, Communists in North Korea are still able to play his current speeches to an imprisoned nation...to the same effect?
...the same politicians who support mass-transit, teacher's unions and gun control...have armed bodyguards drive their own kids to private schools in limos?
...Democrat Senators grill Republican nominees about imposing their private morality, question whether they can enforce laws with which they might disagree, and demand they follow precedent...yet are silent as Democrat judges & officials impose their morality, fail to enforce law and overturn centuries of precedent?
...that Kerry says "I'm against gay marriage. Everybody knows that,"...but still gets invited to--and attends--a gay 'wedding'?
...CNN calls 5.6% unemployment "low" when Clinton is running for re-election...but "high" when Bush runs for re-election?
...the homeless magically re-appear in the media when a Republican takes office...were they all staying at Alec Baldwin's house in France?
...Cuba is called "the worker's paradise" for its schools and hospitals...but America, with schools, hospitals AND elections, is a "police state"?
...Bill and HILLARY!'04 are the 'Smartest People in the World(tm)', but they didn't think up the phrase "wardrobe malfunction" to describe 8 years of Bill's pants around his ankles?
...the same people who lectured us for decades that "Marriage is just a piece of paper" now say "Marriage is just a piece of paper...and gays can't possibly live another day without it!"?
...that Ozzie & Harriet were shallow frauds, living a lie in quiet suburban desperation...but if Eddie Haskell proposes to Lumpy Rutherford, it's all about love, dignity and affirmation?
...the same crowd who blame President Bush for failing to capture Usama also claim that Bush is secretly holding him?
...John Kerry says he warned us of a terror attack...but not one newspaper prints "KERRY KNEW!"?
...the New York Times keeps telling us 'labels don't matter...yet artificially labels sections of the Times as "news" and "editorials"?
...Kerry called American troops 'war-criminals'...a name he never calls the prison guards who tortured our POWs?
...Kerry's old speeches were played by those Vietnamese prison guards to demoralize prisoners ...and three decades later, Communists in North Korea are still able to play his current speeches to an imprisoned nation...to the same effect?
...the same politicians who support mass-transit, teacher's unions and gun control...have armed bodyguards drive their own kids to private schools in limos?
...Democrat Senators grill Republican nominees about imposing their private morality, question whether they can enforce laws with which they might disagree, and demand they follow precedent...yet are silent as Democrat judges & officials impose their morality, fail to enforce law and overturn centuries of precedent?
...that Kerry says "I'm against gay marriage. Everybody knows that,"...but still gets invited to--and attends--a gay 'wedding'?
...CNN calls 5.6% unemployment "low" when Clinton is running for re-election...but "high" when Bush runs for re-election?
...the homeless magically re-appear in the media when a Republican takes office...were they all staying at Alec Baldwin's house in France?
...Cuba is called "the worker's paradise" for its schools and hospitals...but America, with schools, hospitals AND elections, is a "police state"?
...Bill and HILLARY!'04 are the 'Smartest People in the World(tm)', but they didn't think up the phrase "wardrobe malfunction" to describe 8 years of Bill's pants around his ankles?
The Janus De-Funder
ATTN.: KARL ROVE
Mark Steyn has an entertaining and informative list of "THE JOHN KERRY CANCELED WEAPONS SYSTEM OF THE DAY--Thrilling tales of America?s fighting men and women in action using stuff Senator Kerry didn't want them to have!"
Here's an interesting one about Kerry's principled stance on the Trident submarine:
"Twenty years on, their role is changing. But what does Senator Kerry think? Why not ask Paul F. Walker? At the height of the Cold War, it was Mr. Walker who decided what John Kerry thought about the sub:"
(The Boston Globe June 19th 2003) "The nuclear freeze was a defining issue across the country for liberal Democrats, who were about to be flattened a second time at the polls by the steamroller of Reagan's conservatism. In Massachusetts, the activists were a key bloc, ardently courted by Kerry and [US Representative James M] Shannon, "the liberal twins," as the other two Democrats in the primary field called them."
"Shannon had outscored Kerry, 100 to 94, on the questionnaire of the group, known as Freeze Voter '84, which favored canceling funds for a slew of major weapons systems."
"Then a strange thing happened. Paul F. Walker, Shannon's most prominent backer on the group's executive committee, graded the answers and laid out for Kerry campaign manager Paul L. Rosenberg both the flaws in Kerry's responses and what the "correct" answers should be."
""Walker was confused about your answer" on funding the Trident submarine, Rosenberg wrote in an internal memo to Kerry, who had originally hedged in his opposition to funding new subs."
""It is critically important that we get a 100 percent rating," Rosenberg wrote, in a memo that has not previously been made public. "You should explain how your position was misinterpreted so that he will correct the rating before it is distributed to the board tomorrow evening.""
"Walker "is favorably disposed to change the grading because 'he knows of your strong support for the freeze and knows this is what you must have meant,' " Rosenberg concluded."
"Kerry revised his answers, tied Shannon with a perfect score, and at the activists' meeting in late June denied Shannon the 60 percent majority he needed to secure the endorsement for himself. Instead, Shannon and Kerry shared the group's stamp of approval in the primary field that also included then-secretary of state Michael J. Connolly and former House speaker David M. Bartley."
"Kerry today says he does not recall the amendments to his Freeze Voter '84 questionnaire. When they were publicized at the time, Kerry said he mistakenly believed new Tridents would be needed as replacements for older subs."
""I wasn't trying to be on both sides of it," Kerry said."
UPDATE: Let's play "You Write the Punchline!"--here's how the pros do it:
"I wasn't trying to be on both sides of it," Kerry said."
Steyn: "He wasn't trying to be on both sides. It seems to come naturally to him."
Will: "Did you have a third position?"
Jacoby:(about Kerry's flip-flopping on Israel's fence) "This may be the first time that a politician has literally come down on both sides of the fence."
Oh, that's fun. Here are some other samples:
"I wasn't trying to be on both sides of it," Kerry said, "but I simply can no longer stop myself."
"I wasn't trying to be on both sides of it," Kerry said. "I did, however, support replacing the older subs with Ted Kennedy's Oldsmobile."
"I wasn't trying to be on both sides of it," Kerry said. "As I once told my song-writing partner, John Lennon, 'we all live in a yellow submarine'. Did I mention I served in the Beatles?"
You try...
Mark Steyn has an entertaining and informative list of "THE JOHN KERRY CANCELED WEAPONS SYSTEM OF THE DAY--Thrilling tales of America?s fighting men and women in action using stuff Senator Kerry didn't want them to have!"
Here's an interesting one about Kerry's principled stance on the Trident submarine:
"Twenty years on, their role is changing. But what does Senator Kerry think? Why not ask Paul F. Walker? At the height of the Cold War, it was Mr. Walker who decided what John Kerry thought about the sub:"
(The Boston Globe June 19th 2003) "The nuclear freeze was a defining issue across the country for liberal Democrats, who were about to be flattened a second time at the polls by the steamroller of Reagan's conservatism. In Massachusetts, the activists were a key bloc, ardently courted by Kerry and [US Representative James M] Shannon, "the liberal twins," as the other two Democrats in the primary field called them."
"Shannon had outscored Kerry, 100 to 94, on the questionnaire of the group, known as Freeze Voter '84, which favored canceling funds for a slew of major weapons systems."
"Then a strange thing happened. Paul F. Walker, Shannon's most prominent backer on the group's executive committee, graded the answers and laid out for Kerry campaign manager Paul L. Rosenberg both the flaws in Kerry's responses and what the "correct" answers should be."
""Walker was confused about your answer" on funding the Trident submarine, Rosenberg wrote in an internal memo to Kerry, who had originally hedged in his opposition to funding new subs."
""It is critically important that we get a 100 percent rating," Rosenberg wrote, in a memo that has not previously been made public. "You should explain how your position was misinterpreted so that he will correct the rating before it is distributed to the board tomorrow evening.""
"Walker "is favorably disposed to change the grading because 'he knows of your strong support for the freeze and knows this is what you must have meant,' " Rosenberg concluded."
"Kerry revised his answers, tied Shannon with a perfect score, and at the activists' meeting in late June denied Shannon the 60 percent majority he needed to secure the endorsement for himself. Instead, Shannon and Kerry shared the group's stamp of approval in the primary field that also included then-secretary of state Michael J. Connolly and former House speaker David M. Bartley."
"Kerry today says he does not recall the amendments to his Freeze Voter '84 questionnaire. When they were publicized at the time, Kerry said he mistakenly believed new Tridents would be needed as replacements for older subs."
""I wasn't trying to be on both sides of it," Kerry said."
UPDATE: Let's play "You Write the Punchline!"--here's how the pros do it:
"I wasn't trying to be on both sides of it," Kerry said."
Steyn: "He wasn't trying to be on both sides. It seems to come naturally to him."
Will: "Did you have a third position?"
Jacoby:(about Kerry's flip-flopping on Israel's fence) "This may be the first time that a politician has literally come down on both sides of the fence."
Oh, that's fun. Here are some other samples:
"I wasn't trying to be on both sides of it," Kerry said, "but I simply can no longer stop myself."
"I wasn't trying to be on both sides of it," Kerry said. "I did, however, support replacing the older subs with Ted Kennedy's Oldsmobile."
"I wasn't trying to be on both sides of it," Kerry said. "As I once told my song-writing partner, John Lennon, 'we all live in a yellow submarine'. Did I mention I served in the Beatles?"
You try...
Friday, March 05, 2004
And The Truth Shall Make You Deceived?
Debra Saunders asked Sen. Jean-Pierre Kerrieux how he could possibly claim President Bush 'misled' him into voting for the 'Use of Force' Resolution:
"Kerry's answer was that Washington insiders believed that Bush didn't mean what he said. "I think that you had a hard-line group; Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz and probably Cheney. But when Brent Scowcroft and Jim Baker weighed in, very publicly in op-eds in the New York Times and the Post, the chatter around Washington and Powell in particular, who was very much of a different school of thought, was really that the president hadn't made up his mind. He was looking for an out. That's what a lot of people thought.""
"What about what Bush said to the U.N.? That was "rhetorical," Kerry answered. And "a whole bunch of very smart legitimate people" not running for president thought as he did. "So most people, actually on the inside, really felt that (Bush) himself was looking for the way out to sort of satisfy Cheney, satisfy Wolfowitz, but not get stuck." Kerry continued, "The fact that he jumped and went the other way, I think, shocked them and shocked us.""
This party is so Clintonized that they can't conceive that a president might actually mean what he says. And Kerry is so disconnected from reality, he looks to New York Times' editorials to tell him what Bush really means!
This crowd believes whatever President Khatami says. They nod their heads and mindlessly parrot outrageous claims made by President Aristide. They hang on every word that President Castro vomits up, as if it were Revealed Truth.
John Kerry accepted the word of Vietnamese President Le Duc Anh that Vietnam held no POWs.
Why is it Democrats will accept the word of any president anywhere anytime...except the word of an American president?
When President Bush said "Saddam Hussein has defied the United Nations 16 times. Not once, not twice -- 16 times he has defied the U.N....And enough is enough!'', John Kerry thought President Bush wasn't serious. "Why, he couldn't possibly mean it; I read it in the Times!"
In these most serious of times, it's Mr. Kerry who isn't serious.
"Kerry's answer was that Washington insiders believed that Bush didn't mean what he said. "I think that you had a hard-line group; Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz and probably Cheney. But when Brent Scowcroft and Jim Baker weighed in, very publicly in op-eds in the New York Times and the Post, the chatter around Washington and Powell in particular, who was very much of a different school of thought, was really that the president hadn't made up his mind. He was looking for an out. That's what a lot of people thought.""
"What about what Bush said to the U.N.? That was "rhetorical," Kerry answered. And "a whole bunch of very smart legitimate people" not running for president thought as he did. "So most people, actually on the inside, really felt that (Bush) himself was looking for the way out to sort of satisfy Cheney, satisfy Wolfowitz, but not get stuck." Kerry continued, "The fact that he jumped and went the other way, I think, shocked them and shocked us.""
This party is so Clintonized that they can't conceive that a president might actually mean what he says. And Kerry is so disconnected from reality, he looks to New York Times' editorials to tell him what Bush really means!
This crowd believes whatever President Khatami says. They nod their heads and mindlessly parrot outrageous claims made by President Aristide. They hang on every word that President Castro vomits up, as if it were Revealed Truth.
John Kerry accepted the word of Vietnamese President Le Duc Anh that Vietnam held no POWs.
Why is it Democrats will accept the word of any president anywhere anytime...except the word of an American president?
When President Bush said "Saddam Hussein has defied the United Nations 16 times. Not once, not twice -- 16 times he has defied the U.N....And enough is enough!'', John Kerry thought President Bush wasn't serious. "Why, he couldn't possibly mean it; I read it in the Times!"
In these most serious of times, it's Mr. Kerry who isn't serious.
Thursday, March 04, 2004
Meme du Jour
The New York Daily News went hunting for some 9/11 family-members to be 'outraged' at President Bush's re-election ads. But did they refuse to print the statements of families who liked the commercials? Or did they even seek their comments?
Aren't they are doing exactly what they accuse Bush of...politicizing the 9/11-attacks for political gain? And to sell newspapers?
Katy Couric picked up the theme later--yet her network uses 9/11 images in promos. Her network also decided to downplay the images on the anniversaries, lest it whip the masses into a war-mongering frenzy. Again; politics & money.
The Fire-Fighters Union, who have endorsed Kerry because he supports their economic interests, also objected. More money & politics. And their candidate, John Kerry has been using Vietnam footage in his ads. What's the difference? If he's proud of both his war and anti-war service, he is free to run clips of both of them.
As much as I appreciate the sacrifice of those firemen, the union does not own 9/11. And the families are of mixed political opinions just like everyone else. While they have my sympathies for their personal losses, the President--OUR President, has every right to point out his role in response to this national event.
The real question is: Who learned the lessons of Sept. 11?
As far as presidential politics go, there is only one correct answer.
Aren't they are doing exactly what they accuse Bush of...politicizing the 9/11-attacks for political gain? And to sell newspapers?
Katy Couric picked up the theme later--yet her network uses 9/11 images in promos. Her network also decided to downplay the images on the anniversaries, lest it whip the masses into a war-mongering frenzy. Again; politics & money.
The Fire-Fighters Union, who have endorsed Kerry because he supports their economic interests, also objected. More money & politics. And their candidate, John Kerry has been using Vietnam footage in his ads. What's the difference? If he's proud of both his war and anti-war service, he is free to run clips of both of them.
As much as I appreciate the sacrifice of those firemen, the union does not own 9/11. And the families are of mixed political opinions just like everyone else. While they have my sympathies for their personal losses, the President--OUR President, has every right to point out his role in response to this national event.
The real question is: Who learned the lessons of Sept. 11?
As far as presidential politics go, there is only one correct answer.
So I'm listening to the radio
to see if they are going to repeat the Moby-ist meme from last week's elections. The networks, every hour, all day long, quoted different 'life-long Republicans' who had 'voted for Bush', but who were now voting Democrat. I don't doubt that such people exist, but to present them as typical, all day long, on all the networks, is propagandism.
Alas, the networks yesterday had moved on to the Kerry 'historic victory' theme. *Yawwwwn*.
Although I did hear a CBS report on the 74,000 young girls in Britain who had recieved female circumcisions...but never using the words "North African" "Muslim" or "Immigrants". One would have thought it was a British tradition like fox-hunting or having a stout in the pub.
Coloring the News, indeed.
Alas, the networks yesterday had moved on to the Kerry 'historic victory' theme. *Yawwwwn*.
Although I did hear a CBS report on the 74,000 young girls in Britain who had recieved female circumcisions...but never using the words "North African" "Muslim" or "Immigrants". One would have thought it was a British tradition like fox-hunting or having a stout in the pub.
Coloring the News, indeed.
