Contrition, Apologies and Understanding

In "Tender Sensibilities" (below), I wrote about the disappointment in the Arab world with the Pope's lack of contrition for quotes that he had used about Islam having been spread by the sword which, incidentally, it clearly was. In the post I was roundly critical of their reaction and I'll not retract a word.

Islam has a long way to go before it can be generally accepted as the "religion of peace" that it professes to be and the key step is to reign in its bloodthirsty extremists.

That said, there seems to be disappointment in Israel , as well, with Benedict XVI:

Pope Benedict XVI on Monday paid tribute to the memory of six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust, pledging to work tirelessly to prevent such hatred from recurring in the hearts of mankind again.

But the pontiff's closely-watched speech at Jerusalem's Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial stopped short of an apology on behalf of the Catholic Church, producing palpable disappointment among those Israelis who had expected a historic address from the German-born pope on the first day of his visit here.

"I have come to stand in silence before the monument erected to honor the millions of Jews killed in the horrific tragedy of the Shoah," Benedict said in his speech.

"They lost their lives, but they will never lose their names. These are indelibly etched in the hearts of their loved ones, their surviving fellow prisoners, and all those determined never to allow such an atrocity to disgrace mankind again."

The solemn memorial service, which was held at the Holocaust Memorial's darkened Hall of Remembrance, was seen as the highlight of the pontiff's visit to the Jewish state, especially in light of the recent controversy over the pope's decision to revoke the excommunication of a bishop who denies the Holocaust.

"I reaffirm - like my predecessors - that the church is committed to praying and working tirelessly to ensure that hatred will never reign in the hearts of men
again," he said.

The English-language address by the pontiff, which was peppered with biblical quotations but which never referred to the Nazis and avoided all Holocaust-related issues of contention, was preceded by the pope's rekindling of the eternal flame in the chamber, which has a mosaic floor engraved with the names of 22 of the most infamous Nazi murder sites.

He also laid a wreath over a stone crypt containing the ashes of Holocaust victims.

"As we stand here in silence, their cry still echoes in our hearts. It is a cry raised against every act of injustice and violence. It is a perpetual reproach against the spilling of innocent blood," he said.

"I am deeply grateful to God and to you for the opportunity to stand here in silence: a silence to remember, a silence to pray, a silence to hope," he concluded.

All well and good, but there was still disappointment in the air:

The chairman of the Yad Vashem Council, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, who is a Holocaust survivor, expressed disappointment at the pope's speech, saying that "there certainly was no apology expressed here."

"Something was missing. There was no mention of the Germans or the Nazis who participated in the butchery, nor a word of regret," Lau said. "If not an apology, then an expression of remorse."

Yad Vashem chairman Avner Shalev said that the "certain restraint" in the formulation of the speech was a "missed opportunity."

"I did not expect an apology, but we expected more," he told The Jerusalem Post. "This is certainly no historic landmark."

"I had expected a historic speech from the German pope at the site which is a memorial altar for the victims of Nazi Germany," said Prof. Shevah Weiss, a former Yad Vashem chairman and Holocaust survivor. "And though the speech was moving - it wasn't that."

Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin - who was absent from all of the welcoming festivities other than the visit to Yad Vashem - said after the pope's speech that "everything that we feared came to fruition."

"I came to the memorial not only to hear historical descriptions or about the established fact of the Holocaust. I came as a Jew, hoping to hear an apology and a request for forgiveness from those who caused our tragedy, and among them, the Germans and the church. But to my sadness, I did not hear any such thing," he said.

"The visit to Yad Vashem does not constitute an expression of regret as such," added Rivlin. "The eyes of Jews across the world, and of the nation in Israel, were directed here, in anticipation of hearing honest communion - personal and determined - regarding the Holocaust of their people. And we heard nothing of the sort."

There were certainly some positive reactions at the end of the piece and I encourage you to read it all.

I am, and continue to be, a proud supporter of Israel and have a banner on my blog attesting to that fact. While I'm not Jewish, I grew up in a Jewish neighborhood, raised by parents from whom I never detected even a whiff of antisemitism. My mother used to say "it's good to live in a Jewish neighborhood; they're good people". I had as many Jewish friends as Christian, and as a Roman Catholic, I always felt an odd kinship to the Jews that I really cannot explain.

Having always had an interest in history, I came to know quite a lot about the Holocaust at an early age. Several years ago, I visited the Holocaust Museum in D.C., and the experience haunts me to this day.

No amount of apologies and professions of grief will ever undo this horrific chapter in human history. Those responsible, who are still alive, should be hunted down and hanged for their crimes, regardless of their age. Their modern ideological heirs should occupy no place at the table of civilized discourse and should be shunned as the vermin that they are. They are the enemies of humanity and should be treated accordingly. "Never Again" shows the innate frailty of words, but words are all we have.

I cannot imagine the horrors these Holocaust survivors experienced, but I am sure that their experiences hold considerable sway on their attitudes, as is to be expected. For that reason, I do not feel comfortable criticizing their disappointment or their perceptions regarding Benedict's remarks, and I won't.

What I can do is to hope that generations of Jews, present and future, will find a way to refrain from blaming all Germans and expecting constant apologies for atrocities of which individuals were clearly not a part. Benedict was clearly not a Nazi and had no interest in becoming one:

Following his fourteenth birthday in 1941, Ratzinger was enrolled in the Hitler Youth, as membership was required for all 14-year old German boys after December 1939,[6] but was an unenthusiastic member and refused to attend meetings.[7] His father was a bitter enemy of Nazism, believing it conflicted with the Catholic faith, according to biographer John L. Allen, Jr. In 1941, one of Ratzinger's cousins, a 14-year-old boy with Down syndrome, was taken away by the Nazi regime to a care center and killed there in secrecy during the Aktion T4 euthanasia campaign of Nazi eugenics.[8] In 1943 while still in seminary, he was drafted at age 16 into the German anti-aircraft corps. Ratzinger then trained in the German infantry, but a subsequent illness precluded him from the usual rigours of military duty. As the Allied front drew closer to his post in 1945, he deserted back to his family's home in Traunstein after his unit had ceased to exist, just as American troops established their headquarters in the Ratzinger household. As a German soldier, he was put in a POW camp but was released a few months later at the end of the War in summer 1945. He reentered the seminary, along with his brother Georg, in November of that year.

Pope Benedict XVI's portrayal as being insufficiently contrite, and in some quarters actually sympathetic to the Nazis is unfair and runs counter to the historical record. Were he, or members of his immediate family, sympathizers, I think personal apologies would be in order but, to this point, there has been no evidence to that effect presented. He, and his family were also victims of a totalitarian regime, though, obviously, to a far lesser extent than German and Eastern European Jews.

Yes, we must "never forget", for such evil ideologies are still alive today and the past has a way of rearing its ugly head when we least expect it. Vigilance is the key to preventing of a repeat of that past. On the other hand, indiscriminately using Germans in general, or the Pope in particular, as vessels for the anguish of the past, on the basis of their nationality alone, distracts us from the work we have ahead of us in eliminating the hate that created that anguish.

In deference to complaints about the Church itself, there was profound lack of recognition and action before and during the war on the part of the Church that is a matter of record. John Paul II addressed this matter, to his credit, and I wish that Benedict XVI had taken the opportunity to do the same. I do hope that Benedict will consider these criticisms and complaints and address them in an effort to bring these two great faiths to a higher level of trust and understanding.

Don't blame Obama, it's all Bush's fault!

Obama gameplan: Accept all of the credit, defer all of the blame to the previous administration.

High U.S. budget deficits not Obama's fault-Orszag

WASHINGTON, May 11 (Reuters) - High U.S. budget deficits are being driven by an economic crisis that President Barack Obama inherited, White House Budget Director Peter Orszag said on Monday.

Orszag, writing in a blog posting, also said that the administration's latest budget deficit estimates -- which were revised upward by $89 billion and $87 billion for this year and next, respectively -- reflect the latest data on tax receipts, federal bailouts and other government costs.

So, this is what passes for leadership in the context of the current administration? Were I Obama, I would disavow such statements and accept responsibility for my decisions and policies, but I'm not holding my breath.

Red Dawn

White House: Budget deficit to top $1.8 trillion

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Mirroring the unprecedented red ink flowing from America's deep recession, the deficit for the current budget year will rise by $89 billion to $1.84 trillion -- about four times the record set just last year.

The budget also reflects the costs incurred for the Wall Street bailout, President Barack Obama's economic stimulus bill, as well as a structural imbalance between what the government spends and what it takes in.

For the current fiscal year that ends on Sept. 30, the government would borrow 46 cents for every dollar it takes to run the government under the administration's plan. In one of the few positive signs, the actual 2009 deficit is likely to be $250 billion less than predicted because Congress is unlikely to provide another $250 billion in financial bailout money.

The developments come as the White House completes the official release of its $3.6 trillion budget for 2010, adding detail to some of its tax proposals and ideas for producing health care savings. The White House budget is a recommendation to Congress that represents Obama's fiscal and policy vision for the next decade.

The deficit quadruples in 2009, then will likely triple again in 2010?

I love the last sentence: "The White House budget is a recommendation to Congress that represents Obama's fiscal and policy vision for the next decade."

It seems less a vision than a nightmare.

Same old story: Provocateurs make demands; victims in the hotseat

Netanyahu meeting with Obama decides Mid-East’s future, says Abdullah

President Obama’s critical meeting with Binyamin Netanyahu next week has become the acid test for the Administration’s commitment to peace in the Middle East, King Abdullah of Jordan said yesterday.

The monarch does not conceal his feelings about the Israeli leader. He described their last encounter – 10 years ago when he had just come to the throne – as the “least pleasant” of his reign. But he, and President Mubarak of Egypt, are expected to meet the Israeli leader before his trip to Washington, where the future course of the region could be decided.

The King said that he was prepared to believe what Israelis have told him — that a right-wing Government in Israel is better able to deliver peace than the Left.

“All eyes will be looking to Washington,” he said. “If there are no clear signals and no clear directives to all of us, there will be a feeling that this is just another American Government that is going to let us all down.”

If Israel procrastinated on a two-state solution, or if there was no clear American vision on what should happen this year, the “tremendous credibility” that Mr Obama had built up in the Arab world would evaporate overnight.

And if peace negotiations were delayed, there would be another conflict between Arabs or Muslims and Israel in the next 12-18 months, with implications far beyond the Middle East.

“If the call is in May that this is not the right time or we are not interested, then the world is going to be sucked into another conflict in the Middle East,” the King said.

He broke off from his busy schedule hosting the Pope in Jordan to give his warning to The Times. He was the first Arab leader to call on President Obama in Washington two weeks ago, and is now leading the hectic Arab efforts to respond to the Administration’s determination to seek a comprehensive peace.

Once again, it's all up to the U.S. and Israel to give the Arabs what they want - or else.

Let's see, the Arabs will eventually recognize Israel's right to exist, allow Israelis entry into Arab countries and allow El Al Airlines to overfly Arab territory without being shot down. In return, all the Israelis have to do is give up even more of their territory than they already have and agree "to talk" about the future status of Jerusalem.

When do the Israelis stop allowing themselves to be blackmailed by dishonest Arab brokers and start dealing from a position of strength? I think the time is now and I would hope that Netanyahu's response to Obama's presentation of these Arab demands will be one word: ENOUGH!

Tender Sensibilities

Pope's address disappoints Muslim leaders

Jordanian clerics expressed disappointment that Pope Benedict XVI in an address to Muslim leaders on Saturday failed to offer a new apology for remarks seen as targeting Islam.

"We wanted him to clearly apologise," Sheikh Yusef Abu Hussein, mufti of the southern city of Karak, told AFP after the pope's address in Amman's huge Al-Hussein Mosque.

"What the pope said (in 2006) about the Prophet Mohammed is untrue. Islam did not spread through the power of sword. It's a religion of tolerance and faith," Hussein said.

It's always the same old tripe. Even in Jordan, which is supposed to be "moderate", in terms of Islam, there is the persistent and abject refusal to accept things as they are. This lies at the heart of the intransigence of Islam and explains the near impossibility of affecting any type of peace between them and the balance of the world.

I, as well as countless others, have written ad nauseum on this subject. The religion of "tolerance" of which Hussein speaks simply does not exist in history and continually claiming that it does cannot change the facts. Certainly Christianity, Judaism and all major religions have had their periods of violence, but all of them have confronted their past and adapted their faiths to conform to a more moderate present. Denial of history simply dooms one to continue the radical and blood soaked errors of the past, and that is where we find Islam today. One needn't look at the distant past for examples of radical Islamic violence, one need only look at yesterday's newspaper. One need only look at the daily operation of Islamic states to see intolerance, cruelty and gruesome murder directed at anyone with even mildly divergent views.

If anyone deserves an apology, it's the non-Islamic West, who have welcomed Muslims into their countries, exhibited religious tolerance and understanding toward them, only to be viciously attacked and murdered by fundamentalist Muslims who still believe in the Mohammedan practice of spreading Islam "by the sword".

Continuing to coddle and issue apologies simply begets more of the same. It is up to THEM to confront the violent factions in their midst and purge them. Until that happens, they will never be a religion of "tolerance"; they will continue to be a religion of codified violence and barbarity.

This isn't the first time I've said this and, alas, it won't be the last.

What the HELL is happening here?

Yes, this sounds like a parody from The Onion, or Scrappleface, but it's all too true - Barack Obama, Corporate Raider:

Chrysler’s fall may help Obama reshape GM

WASHINGTON - Fresh from pushing Chrysler into bankruptcy, President Obama and his economic team are hoping that the hard line they took last week gives them leverage to force huge changes in General Motors, a far larger and more complex company.

Officials say that, difficult as Mr. Obama’s decision was on Wednesday night to take all the risks of a Chrysler bankruptcy, the politics of reshaping G.M. will be far harder. Already a shadow of the company that once dominated the American landscape, G.M. will be forced to eliminate tens of thousands of additional jobs and close factories and dealerships nationwide.

In 100 days, he's gone from merely president to Gordon Gekko on steroids! Not only is this well outside the purview of the president, the naked power grab is frightening in the extreme. He's now running not only the country, but the financial sector and two of the three remaining auto manufacturers in the United States.

At this rate he'll be a version of Ernst Stavro Blofeld living on a fortified island, ruling the entire world by the end of the year. I hope the Brits still have James Bond on the payroll.

Jack Kemp, RIP

WASHINGTON — Jack Kemp, the ex-quarterback, congressman, one-time vice-presidential nominee and self-described "bleeding-heart conservative," died Saturday. He was 73.

Kemp died after a lengthy illness, according to spokeswoman Bona Park and Edwin J. Feulner, a longtime friend and former campaign adviser. Park said Kemp died at his home in Bethesda, Md., in the Washington suburbs.

Jack Kemp was his own man, a true intellectual and a great American patriot. We'll miss you, Jack. Rest in Peace.

What? They Have Pigs in Egypt?

Egypt's call to kill pigs amid flu scare ridiculed

Methinks She Doth Protest Too Much

From Drudge, comes this infuriating example of duplicity and rank hypocrisy.

April 16, 2009: Schakowsky: Tea parties 'despicable'

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) blasted "tea party" protests yesterday, labeling the activities "despicable" and shameful."

"The ‘tea parties’ being held today by groups of right-wing activists, and fueled by FOX News Channel, are an effort to mislead the public about the Obama economic plan that cuts taxes for 95 percent of Americans and creates 3.5 million jobs," Schakowsky said in a statement.

"It’s despicable that right-wing Republicans would attempt to cheapen a significant, honorable moment of American history with a shameful political stunt," she added. "Not a single American household or business will be taxed at a higher rate this year. Made to look like a grassroots uprising, this is an Obama bashing party promoted by corporate interests, as well as Republican lobbyists and politicians.”

August 18, 2005: Schakowsky's Husband Pleads Guilty to Bank Fraud

The husband of an Illinois congresswoman pleaded guilty Wednesday to tax violations and bank fraud for writing rubber checks and failing to collect withholding tax from an employee.

Robert Creamer, a political consultant married to four-term U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, could face four years in prison on the two felony counts when he is sentenced Dec. 21.

"In my heart, I know that these mistakes do not define or diminish this good man, or the good work that he has done over the last 40 years or that he will do in the future," Schakowsky, D-Ill., said after her husband's court hearing.

So, when a Democrat political consultant, married to a Democrat Member of Congress pleads guilty to tax violations, bank fraud and writing bad checks, it's a "mistake".

But when private, middle class citizens protest government taxation and wasteful spending by Congress and the President, it's somehow "despicable" and "shameful" in the eyes of that same Democrat Member of Congress.

Check. Got it.

So What Does Our Economic Future Look Like?

A picture us truly worth a thousand words, but read the words, too.

You people that voted for "Hope and Change" were suckers and the more time goes by the more that you're going to realize it.

Geez, It's Been a While!

Since my last post concerns my "Christmas List" and it's now April, it doesn't take an Obamessiah to figure out that it's been four months since my last post. My apologies.

The fact is that it's a long story that I simply will not bore you with because this blog is not about me; it's about all of us. In addition, having a life and a job that requires constant travel sometimes precludes one from one's avocations. Until I can find a way to make this thing pay, I'm afraid it will remain an avocation.

About that Christmas list. Though I tried to be as magnanimous as possible, I ended up with a bag of coal. President Obama seems to be turning out pretty much as I feared he would - though the tab is far greater than even I could imagine.

The ONLY bright spot is that he gave the OK to kill three (3) pirates. Though I don't think that he had much choice in the matter, I'll give him credit where credit is due since had he not, I would have been first in line with vociferous denunciation. Naturally, the highest praise should go to the SEALs that did the job and the officers and men of the USS Bainbridge who did the deed and to the entire US Navy for being, well, the US Navy.

So I guess the score for the first 3 months of the new administration is Obama: 3 pirates and US taxpayers: $14,000,000,000,000 deeper in debt.

I miss George W. Bush. Hell, I even miss Bill Clinton!

MY POLEMICAL CHRISTMAS LIST

Who’s been naughty and who’s been nice? I have made my list and checked it twice:

To President Bush: My gift to you is something that you’ll not get from many; a heartfelt “Thank you”. Thank you for doing whatever you have done to protect us from another horrific attack for more than 7 years. Though I have disagreed at times, thank you for following your core beliefs, rather than the polls; it’s been refreshing. Thank you for taking action to actually change the world rather than just talking about it; a free people in the center of the Middle-East will change the world as we know it and you have shown remarkable tenacity toward that end. Yours is not a failed presidency; I believe that history will prove it just the opposite. Thank you for being an honorable and decent man and for fighting the good fight. You were right on the central issue of our time and everything else simply pales in comparison.

To Barack Obama: You have spoken ad nauseum about Hope and Change, so that is my gift to you; my sincere hope that my worst fears will not be realized and that you, somehow, will change for the better. I did not vote for you and, if I had it to do again, I still would not. I simply do not believe in your political philosophy or your purported agenda and I never will. I hope that you will do what needs to be done and do nothing when doing nothing is the best option and I hope that you will have the wisdom to know the difference. I hope that the American people’s collective confidence in you will not be misplaced, for your success is inexorable tied to our own. Greatness is often bestowed upon ordinary people placed in extraordinary situations; I hope that you understand that and see crisis, not as an opportunity to be exploited, but the reason that you're there.

To Congress: A lump of coal - a small one. You have been uninspiring and unhelpful at best and irresponsible and destructive at worst. You have continued to spend OUR money like drunken sailors on liberty in an attempt at self-aggrandizement and buying off your constituents with shiny baubles. You have consistently failed police your members as they behaved like common criminals and, as a whole, you have sunk to new lows of corruption and greed. You are public servants, not members of the ruling class and your behavior as the latter is an embarrassment to those few honorable individuals that I hope are still among you. You have treated the American people with contempt and in the process have earned our scorn. Ponder your lump of coal and try to do better in the future with the knowledge that it’s unlikely you could do any worse.

To The American People: As a nation, we asked for Hope and Change but what we really need is a break. Whether it’s inept financial institutions or inept automobile manufacturers, we are always the ones that get the bill and the bill gets bigger by the day. Unfortunately, I don’t see that break coming any time soon and as for the Hope and Change, well, be careful what you wish for. We’ve just elected a new president who, in addition to the government Bailout du Jour, also has a long wish list for expanded government and a compliant Congress. Who’s going to get the bill for all of this? Hope and Change is expensive and we are about to find out just how expensive it is.

A Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Blagojevich, Obama and The Machine

So, here’s the story: a sitting Governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, literally attempts to sell (or auction, if you will) a United States Senate seat that has been vacated by the incoming President, Barack Obama. In recorded conversations, said Governor, in profanity laced statements, makes it crystal clear that there is a price to be paid for the Senate seat and that he will be the recipient.

The reckless and “in-your-face” nature of this type of corruption leaves one groping for superlatives; “blatant” and “brazen” simply do not seem up to the task.

As for Barack Obama, he has stated unequivocally that he had no conversations with Blagojevich and has called for his resignation. Perhaps they spoke, perhaps they didn’t. Though Obama served as an advisor and assisted Blagojevich in his campaign for Governor in 2002, to his credit, he appears to have distanced himself from Blagojevich shortly thereafter.

I find it difficult to believe that Obama would not have sought, at least from an intermediary, to offer input as to his own replacement, given the Senate is integral in his “change” (whatever that is) agenda. I find it impossible that someone, at least in Obama’s orbit, would not have had contact with Blagojevich on this important issue.

It should be remembered that Barack Obama is, at the very least, a product of the Chicago Political Machine. I’m not saying that Obama is necessarily corrupt, but the system in which he arose from “Community Organizer” to State Senator to U.S. Senator and now to the next President of the United States (in an extraordinarily short period of time) has, over generations, raised corruption to an art form. I can not believe that Mr. Obama’s meteoric rise to the Presidency happened without (at least) the express consent of “the Machine”.

Though Obama swam through the unsavory Chicago political sewer for his entire career, he has shown an amazing ability to come away with nary a whiff of its fetid odor.

Yes, perhaps Mr. Obama was blissfully unaware of the system around him, even as it was consistently promoting and advancing his career. After all, he says he was unaware of the hateful, racist rhetoric that spewed from the mouth of his “spiritual mentor” of 20 years, Reverend Wright. He also seemed unaware that one of his early benefactors, Bill Ayers, was an avowed Communist and legendary domestic terrorist.

Rather I think that Obama has used the system and those around him to his own advantage in the furtherance of his career. When someone who has helped him in the past gets in the way of his current ambition, or proves to be a personal embarrassment, he jettisons them without a second thought. Personal loyalty does not seem to be one of Mr. Obama's virtues.

There is no direct evidence of corruption on Obama’s part in this Blagojevich affair, at least not at this time. There is, however, evidence that Barack Obama is a coldly calculating and cynical politician to whom ends clearly justify means. There is, admittedly, a lot of that characteristic in all politicians but Mr. Obama seems to have considerably more than most.

Reid: We won't smell the tourists anymore

How charming:

The Capitol Visitors Center, which opened this morning, may have tripled its original budget and fallen years behind schedule, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid found a silver lining for members of Congress: tourists won't offend them with their B.O. anymore.

"My staff tells me not to say this, but I'm going to say it anyway," said Reid in his remarks. "In the summer because of the heat and high humidity, you could literally smell the tourists coming into the Capitol. It may be descriptive but it's true."

Maybe he should have taken he staff's advice on that one.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Thanksgiving is a particularly American holiday and in so many ways, it defines and encourages us to remember who we are as well our purpose and place in history.

We all have personal reasons to be thankful (as do I) regardless as to how many tribulations we have endured during the preceding 12 months and we can contemplate those with our families and loved ones.

I think it better, here, to focus on our collective fortunes and blessings as Americans. Please feel free to add your own.

On this Thanksgiving Day, 2008:

I give thanks to our founders, who envisioned this country more than two centuries ago and for those who gave their lives to establish it.

I give thanks to the men and women who today, and since our nation’s founding, have given their all for the preservation of our liberty and to bestow liberty upon, and to preserve the liberty of, people around the world.

I give thanks to live in a nation of plenty, where obesity is a problem and starvation is not; this is truly an exception in the history of mankind.

I give thanks for forums such as this, where I can freely express my opinions without fear of retribution.

I give thanks that I live in a nation where immigration is a problem and emigration is not.

I give thanks that we have just elected a new president in an election unmarred by violence and, though nearly half of the people voted against him, he will take power on January 20 and that transition will take place with the full cooperation of the outgoing president.

We are all truly blessed to live in a country such as this; so long as we continue to recognize and recognize its virtues, it will continue to be the “last, best hope of mankind”.

Happy Thanksgiving, to all.

Premature Elevation?

What, exactly, is the "Office of the President Elect"? Well, it appears that there is no such thing.

After being widely criticized for use of a "faux Presidential Seal" earlier in the campaign it would seem that he would have curbed his appetite for affectation.

Alas, that would not seem to be the case.

Dire Predictions for USA from Russian Analyst

From Drudge comes this interesting theory:

A leading Russian political analyst has said the economic turmoil in the United States has confirmed his long-held view that the country is heading for collapse, and will divide into separate parts.

While we do have some serious problems here, I think he fails to factor in that we are united by choice, not by coercion, invasion and tyranny, as was the case with the USSR (the model he's obviously using). While we have regionalism, our Americanism comes first. The Great Depression probably strengthened our unity, so his use of economic upheaval as an impetus for dividing the country shows some basic ignorance as to what we are about.

Russia is dialing up the Cold War rhetoric, complete with sabre-rattling and war-game playing with the usual suspects. There are some serious challenges ahead as everything old becomes new again; Russia, China and Venezuela - the new Cuba. These are perilous times, with a young, inexperienced incoming president.

On Inauguration Day, Obama needs to convince the world that he knows how to use the big stick and that he's willing to do so, we already know he can speak softly.

Then there's this little tidbit from the same piece on Drudge:

He even suggested that "we could claim Alaska - it was only granted on lease, after all." Panarin, 60, is a professor at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and has authored several books on information warfare.

Whoa there buddy, you might want to read the facts on Sarah Palin before you even think about messin' with Alaska!

Also, I hope someone at NSA has read those books on "information warfare"........

Instalanche!

Thanks for the link, Glenn! I hope some of you folks come back again, you're always welcome.

Terrorists vs. Pirates: Who are the Good Guys?

Islamist Fighters Threaten to Attack Pirates in Clash Over Hijacked Supertanker

MOGADISHU — Islamist fighters threatened to attack Somali pirates Sunday in an effort to rescue a Saudi oil supertanker carrying $100 million worth of crude oil that was hijacked last week, the Agence France-Presse reported.

This creates quite a dilemma; who am I supposed to be for in this battle? On one hand you have Islamist terrorists, who kill innocents in the name of their religion. On the other hand, you have pirates who are simply in it for the money.

Of course, in the eyes of the terrorists, it's a clear-cut case:

Piracy, which is a capital offense under Islam, has reportedly angered the Shehab, a militant Islamist group that controls much of southern and central Somalia and rejects an internationally-backed peace process.

Ah, I see. Piracy is a capital offense under Islam (like being a Jew, or a Christian, or just about anything but a Muslim), but the continued senseless slaughter and maiming of innocents in the name of Islam is actually a virtue!

I think in this particular fight, I'll have to go with the pirates; their motivation, no matter how vile and criminal, is at least something that I can understand.

Let justice be delivered to the pirates by someone who actually has a grasp on the concept.

Victory in Iraq Day, November 22, 2008

Today, November 22, 2008, has been acclaimed "Victory in Iraq Day" by a number of bloggers and I hereby add my voice to this acclamation.

(A banner (to the right) will remain to commemorate this day and it will also take you to the website explaining this acclamation.)

On a personal note, I must add that this is also my mother's birthday. Though she departed more than 25 years ago, she was a World War II veteran, I am sure that she would be proud that her birthday would coincide with such a symbolic milestone in the history of our country. In her own time, she also made a significant contribution toward the liberation of the world from tyranny. Happy birthday, Mom and thanks for everything.

Coincidentally, this is also the 45th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy; a day that I remember well, even though I was but a child at the time. President Kennedy has been shown, by history, to have been many things, but first he was a patriot who believed the role of the United States was to ensure liberty throughout the world. I offer his own stirring words as testament:

Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans--born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage--and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

We have paid the price, borne the burden and now, let us take a moment to enjoy our success in assuring the survival and success of liberty in Iraq - and to thank those who made it possible.

May God bless all who have paid the ultimate price for this success and may God continue to bless the United States of America.

Mitch McConnell: A Shameful Republican Senator

Democrats certainly don't have a monopoly on pompous asses. This particular ass is a Senator from my state - a Senator that (alas) I just voted for. That's a mistake I'll not make again.

Had I wanted a Senator that would use President Bush as a "whipping boy" I would have voted for a Democrat.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top Republican said on Friday that Democratic U.S. President-elect Barack Obama is "off to a good start" and indicated he was pleased to see President George W. Bush get ready to leave.

"Our members, in one way, are kind of relieved by the departure of an administration that became unpopular and made it very difficult for us to compete," Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell told reporters on Capitol Hill.

So what's the point of this, Mitch? Trying to suck up to the new administration in the hope that they'll like you and make life easier for you up there in the Country Club we call the U.S. Senate? Since a lot of your old buddies got thrown out, are you trying to make some new friends, or are you just welcoming your new overlords?

Whatever your reasons, your statement was shameful, cheap and wholly undeserved. Showing some initial magnanimity toward the incoming administration is laudable, throwing your President under the bus in the process is unacceptable.

Hey Mitch, have you noticed that the approval rating for Congress is 18%? The fact is that YOU and the rest of the Congressional Republicans screwed up so badly that YOU lost BOTH houses of Congress in 2006, but it seems you have conveniently forgotten that. President Bush didn't make it difficult for you to compete; YOU made it difficult for YOU to compete.

It's YOU and your colleagues who have saddled us with Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and now Barack Obama.

President Bush is a good man and a good President who put his country's good above his own - it's called character and leadership, qualities that YOU seemingly lack. The sad truth is that he led and YOU and the Republicans in Congress failed to follow. Maybe if YOU and the rest of the Congressional Republicans had shown some backbone and stood up for your President, we may not be in the situation in which we currently find ourselves.

You and your ilk are not even men enough to take responsibility for your obvious failure, so you've chosen to hang that failure around your President's neck like an albatross and give him the toe of your boot as thanks for his service.

I'm sure you and Harry Reid will get along just fine, you have different letters behind your names but you're both weasels.

Obama's not The Messiah? NOW you tell me!

For those of you who don't have the time, the stomach or any interest in reading Time Magazine (me, on all counts), this is the actual cover from the recent issue. There simply is no objectivity left in the traditional media. None. It's simply an American version of Pravda.

Anyway, to the subject at hand. Jonah Goldberg, in his own inimitable fashion, explains that expectations are being reduced:

In an attempt to dial down expectations for his administration, President-elect Barack Obama’s supporters have dropped much of the “messiah” talk.

No more talk of him being The One (Oprah), or a Jedi Knight (George Lucas), or a “Lightworker” (the San Francisco Chronicle), or a “quantum leap in American consciousness” (Deepak Chopra). Instead we have more humble and circumspect conversation about the man. Now he’s merely Abraham Lincoln and FDR and Martin Luther King, combined.

It’s a step down from divine redeemer, but you have to start somewhere.

Is he Abraham Lincoln?

According to the various Obama-as-Lincoln narratives, including those from the president-elect himself, Obama is a new Lincoln because he is a “uniter.” In several of his most famous speeches, Obama insinuates that he wants to bring the country together the way Honest Abe did. Newsweek and others tout his fondness for Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book Team of Rivals, in which Goodwin argues that Lincoln displayed his political genius by inviting adversaries into his Cabinet.

There are real problems with this model; it didn’t work too well for Lincoln. Moreover, who looks at how Lincoln staffed his Cabinet as the defining feature of his presidency? Saying Obama is the next Lincoln because the two men share staffing styles is like saying George Bush is Thomas Jefferson because they both liked chicken soup. If I wear a pointy hat, can I call myself John Paul II?

Lincoln was Lincoln because he fought and won the Civil War and freed the slaves. News flash: That ain’t what America is like today — and thank God for it.

I think Lincoln was just about the greatest president in American history, but I sure don’t want to need another Lincoln. Six hundred thousand Americans died at the hands of other Americans during Lincoln’s presidency. Lincoln unified the country at gunpoint and curtailed civil liberties in a way that makes President Bush look like an ACLU zealot. The partisan success of the GOP in the aftermath of the war Obama thinks so highly of was forged in blood.

OK, how about (God forbid) FDR?

Likewise with FDR. Listening to liberals gush over a “new New Deal” and Obama’s call for us to emulate the “Greatest Generation,” you’d think they want another Great Depression and World War.

Indeed, liberals have long idolized the 1930s as a decade of great unity. It wasn’t. The 1930s was a miserable decade of poverty, domestic unrest, labor strife, violations of civil liberties and widespread fear. If liberals really loved peace, prosperity and national cohesion, they’d remember the 1920s or 1950s more fondly. And yet they don’t. Why? Because liberals didn’t get to impose their schemes and dreams on the country in those decades. Behind all the talk of unity and bipartisanship and shared sacrifice lies an uglier ambition: power. The audacity of hope behind all this Lincoln-FDR-Obama blather is the dream of riding roughshod over the opposition, of having their way, of total victory.

The Chinese curse and cliche “may you live in interesting times” is on point. Liberals (and a few conservatives as well, alas) seem desperate to live in interesting times. Not me.

You know what I hope? I hope Obama is another Coolidge or Eisenhower. But I’m not holding my breath.

There's simply not much more to be said is there? Actually there is. The one bright spot in these "interesting" times is that there are great blogging opportunities in store for the future.

I, for one intend to seize those opprotunities.

Maybe it could be one of those annoying, hard plastic "Clamshell" packs that are really hard to open........

Obama Team Said to Explore 'Prepack' Auto Bankruptcy

Nov. 21 (Bloomberg) -- President-Elect Barack Obama's transition team is exploring a swift, prepackaged bankruptcy for automakers as a possible solution to the industry's financial crisis, according to a person familiar with the matter.

A representative of Obama's team has already contacted at least one bankruptcy-law firm to say that Daniel Tarullo, a professor at Georgetown University's law school who heads Obama's economic policy working group, would call to discuss the workings of a so-called prepack, according to this person.

U.S. lawmakers yesterday delayed until December a vote on whether to give General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC a $25 billion bailout. GM today said it would idle production at four plants an extra week and return some corporate jets to conserve cash.

Automakers could use a judge-supervised bankruptcy to reduce debt and reject expensive contracts. "It creates the environment to deal with GM's problems but limits government financial commitment,'' said bankruptcy lawyer Mark Bane of Ropes & Gray in New York.

Bankruptcy is just one option being examined. Obama told CBS News's "60 Minutes'' on Nov. 16 that government aid to automakers might come in the form of a "bridge loan,'' advanced if the industry could draw up plan to make itself "sustainable.'' The president-elect earlier urged Congress to approve as much as $50 billion to save automakers, using the model of Chrysler's bailout in 1979.

Oh my! They're going to have to "return some corporate jets to conserve cash"! What unabashed arrogance, particularly given that they actually had the temerity to fly to Washington in those very jets to fly to Washington to beg for financial help .

Actually, a provisional "bridge loan" based upon an actual plan provided by the industry is more palatable than bailing them out; the Chrysler loan in 1979 actually did work - for a while.

I'm still adopting a "wait and see"attitude because even though the Chrysler plan worked nearly 30 years ago, Chrysler is trouble again and again they are looking to the government for help; this time, they're joined by GM and Ford.

Propping up a corpse doesn't make it any less dead and this this whole thing has a very peculiar smell. It seems that everyone feels we should "do something" when maybe "doing nothing" may be the best long-term solution - for everyone.

Chrysler, GM and Ford: Should They Be Saved?

They should have saved themselves long ago and, since they didn't, they certainly don't deserve to be bailed out at the expense of the U.S. taxpayer. There are two villains in this sad tale and they are equally responsible: the UAW and the companies in question.

The Magic Pinata. For decades, the UAW has treated their employers like a "magic pinata" that they whack during every contract negotiation for the purpose of extracting goodies. The pinata, in hopes of not breaking entirely, releases some goodies in exchange for the UAW's cessation of the whacking. The "goodies" have been increased wages and benefits and, over time, more job security. The periodic whacking has been enormously successful as employees at all of these companies have become the highest paid and most secure automobile manufacturing employees in the world, far out stripping the Japanese and the Germans (whose companies, incidentally are actually making money). Now, we find that those whackings have, over time, left the collective pinata empty. The unions, just as any other Socialist entity, had no foresight and no conception of the source of their largess and now they have to face the fact that there never was a "magic pinata" after all. Pardon me if I cannot muster any empathy for them or their plight.

The Profit Motive. The companies in question seemingly have lost touch with THE basic premise of business; the profit motive. They continued to sell cars at a loss, thinking, apparently, that they could "make it up on volume". This is insanity, squared. The graph below, from a "Corner" post by Jim Manzi, sums up very clearly the automakers' current situation (click on graph to enlarge).







The sad truth is that even if these automakers were intending to invest the profits from the millions of SUVs they have been foisting upon the American public for the past few years into into research and development, there never were any profits to invest!

Both the UAW and The Automakers have lived in a fantasy world for far too long. Each has forgotten the basic rules of the game and each has operated under the notion that they are "too big to fail". They are not.

It's time for both of these dinosaurs to either develop into viable and productive inhabitants of the 21st Century, or sink into the tar pit of history. They have the option of taking Chapter 11 bankruptcy which will force both the UAW and The Automakers to either embrace a workable business model and cooperate in the interest of their common survival, or die.

If they reorganize into a viable and profitable enterprise, they will be a shining example of what can be accomplished with common sense, common purpose and the true miracle of capitalism. If they choose death, let them be a cautionary tale about the pitfalls of excess. Either way we, as Americans, win.

UPDATE: While not in the same words, it appears that Mitt Romney has a similar stance.

New STAR TREK Movie Trailer

Enough with the politics for the time being - there's more to life than Barack Obama.

Actually, it looks like it could be pretty good. Here's an article from the UK on the movie that will be opening in May.

Did "The Surge" Work?

From everything that I'm seeing these days, it did. In fact, Iraq is looking more like a complete success than "the quagmire" that we have been led to believe.

Will Obama seize defeat from the jaws of victory in order to keep his promise to The Left to immediately end the war, or will he put his country's interests ahead of his own? If he stays to see this thing won, will he give credit to Gerge W. Bush for his fortitude? I think we will be learning much about the character of Barack Obama very early.

BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA

The 44th President of the United States

In the interest of fair play, I will begin this new chapter in our collective history with a healthy dose of magnanimity; a quality that has been in short supply among the Left, particularly the media, during the nearly 8 years of the Bush Administration. I would also add that the degree of hatred toward President Bush was tawdry, shameful and wholly undeserved. This was a good man who put his country's best interests ahead of his personal popularity and paid a terrible price. He has kept us safe for 7 years and changed the face if the Middle East for the better - a feat that even the most optimistic among us doubted was even possible. I believe that history will judge him well, providing that history is not written by the small -minded and short sighted verbal snipers that have come to define "journalism" in contemporary America.

First, I want to say that I think that it's a positive development that Americans have elected a black man, African-American (or whatever is the currently acceptable description) as President of the United States. I think that it proves that America as "an inherently racist society" is a not only a myth, but a destructive slur against our great country.

Speaking of slurs, the title of this post is Mr. Obama's full name. If you consider it a slur, you should get over it - it's his legal name. From the beginning, Obama has overtly used his ethnicity and somewhat exotic Kenyan roots as a selling point. He has been surrounded by a mystique and, in my opinion, that mystique has been central to his appeal in the eyes of his supporters. Had he been "Jerome Wilson" from Cleveland, would he be where he is today? My guess would be no. In short, if you want the mystique, it's all or nothing.

On the subject of mystique, I also have to say that the weird imagery and messianic overtones that have been a large part of the Obama campaign, still creep me out, even more so now that he's been elected. I believe the site that I just linked to is satire, and it's a good source for all things "ObamaMessiah". Explore it, it will scare the crap out of you.

At any rate, Americans have buried an ugly chapter in our history and that fact, alone, should be a source of pride for all of us - the weirdness not withstanding.

That said, I wish that the subject of this historic milestone had been someone other that an crypto-socialist product of the famously corrupt Chicago Political Machine. I wish our selection had not not been someone who believes that dialogue with monsters will curb their monstrous deeds - that's dangerous naivete'. I wish our selection had been someone who had a passion for capitalism as a centerpiece of American exceptionalism, rather than a just a necessary means to finance The State. I wish that we had elected someone who sees Iraq as a worthy mission to be completed rather than a mistake to be corrected. I wish that it had been someone that projected strength and continuity, rather than weakness and seemingly yet-to-be-defined "change". I wish that our new President would have been elected based upon "the content of his character rather than the color of his skin". I wish that the new Leader of the Free World would have been someone who sees "hope" as the very definition of America, rather than a vague (and may I add, vacuous) political slogan.

Alas, in judging Barack Obama by his own words, we have not done any of the above. I believe that we have elected the wrong man and, in the interest of my country, my fondest wish is that I will be proven wrong. Heretofore, I have judged Barack Obama on his words. Henceforth, I will judge him on his deeds. I'll not indulge in the naked hatred that the left has heaped upon George W. Bush for the past 8 years; we, as conservatives, are better than that. I'll not utter the words "he's not MY President" as I have so often heard of George W. Bush. Barack Obama, for better or worse, was elected by the American people and therefore he IS my President. He is NOT my messiah.

The Office of President of the United States, and history, have a way of bestowing greatness upon seemingly mediocre men. I hope that will be the case with Mr. Obama. In a dangerous world, his fate is inexorably tied to all of our fates, so I, as should we all, wish him well.

Make no mistake though, I consider myself a member of the "loyal opposition", though my opposition will not be reflexive as has been the case for the past 8 years - "Obama Derangement Syndrome" should not be a response to "Bush Derangement Syndrome". If I believe his decisions are sound, I will note them. If I believe him to be in error, I will shout it from the rooftops because the margin for error in this job is slim. This is the Big Leagues; it's not "community organizing" or being 1% of the Senate.

As for what the future holds, we shall see. Let the games begin. I might also admonish Mr. Obama that God is jealous and I think He may not take kindly to Messianic pretenders.

Obama as the Messiah

"We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."- Obama, Super Tuesday

The more I see and hear of Barack Hussein Obama, the more he creeps me out. The adulation and the unabashed worship of and gushing about this somewhat unaccomplished first term Senator make the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. I will be writing more on the Obama phenomenon, but I just read an interesting stream of consciousness from Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism blog on Obama that I would like to bring to your attention.

Here is another website called "Is Barack Obama the Messiah?". There is serious weirdness afoot.

Like I said, much more will follow on this subject. Much more.

Retired Teacher Reveals He Was Illiterate Until Age 48

Well, I guess this explains a lot.

Female Muslim medics 'disobey hygiene rules'

(via Corner)

As still another piece of evidence that Islam is incompatible, by its own choice, with modernity comes this:

Muslim medical students are refusing to obey hygiene rules brought in to stop the spread of deadly superbugs, because they say it is against their religion.

Universities and NHS trusts fear many more will refuse to co-operate with new Department of Health guidance, introduced this month, which stipulates that all doctors must be "bare below the elbow".

The measure is deemed necessary to stop the spread of infections such as MRSA and Clostridium difficile, which have killed hundreds.

Minutes of a clinical academics' meeting at Liverpool University revealed that female Muslim students at Alder Hey children's hospital had objected to rolling up their sleeves to wear gowns.

Similar concerns have been raised at Leicester University. Minutes from a medical school committee said that "a number of Muslim females had difficulty in complying with the procedures to roll up sleeves to the elbow for appropriate
handwashing".

Sheffield University also reported a case of a Muslim medic who refused to "scrub" as this left her forearms exposed.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


But the Islamic Medical Association insisted that covering all the body in public, except the face and hands, was a basic tenet of Islam.

"No practising Muslim woman - doctor, medical student, nurse or patient - should be forced to bare her arms below the elbow," it said.

Dr Majid Katme, the association spokesman, said: "Exposed arms can pick up germs and there is a lot of evidence to suggest skin is safer to the patient if covered. One idea might be to produce long, sterile, disposable gloves which go up to the elbows."

Tolerance of this type of foolishness must simply come to an end. If Muslims cannot function in the modern world then they should leave it and go back to the medieval hellholes from which they came. There is a reason that Muslim countries are socially, technologically and culturally stunted; Islam is a retarding agent and will continue to be as long as its backward precepts are left unchallenged.

Pelosi calls Iraq a 'failure'

(HT Roger Simon)

If the Democrats are not completely embarassed by Nancy Pelosi by this point, I can only assume that they are beyond shame. Roger Simon indicates that she's stupid, but I think he may be too kind. I think she's simply lost all sight of "duty to country"; now it's all about "duty to party".

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said twice Sunday that Iraq “is a failure,” adding that President Bush’s troop surge has “not produced the desired effect.”

"The purpose of the surge was to create a secure time for the government of Iraq to make the political change to bring reconciliation to Iraq,” Pelosi said on CNN’s “Late Edition.” “They have not done that.”

The speaker hastened to add: “The troops have succeeded, God bless them.”

I like the way she threw a bone to the troops, as an obvious afterthought. She's an absolute disgrace to her country and to her office. Along with far too many members of her party, she has chosen to put electoral politics above the good of her nation. There are any number of terms that can be applied to that type of action, many would be considered overwrought and inflammatory. Instead, I'll just say that she is beneath contempt and wholly unfit to be Speaker of the House.

Holy Toledo! Mayor Asks Marines to Leave

In a display of anti-military sentiment and sheer political tone-deafness Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner asked the Marines, who were scheduled for exercises days in advance, to leave immediately.

A company of Marine Corps Reservists received a cold send-off from downtown Toledo yesterday by order of Mayor Carty Finkbeiner.

The 200 members of Company A, 1st Battalion, 24th Marines, based in Grand Rapids, Mich., planned to spend their weekend engaged in urban patrol exercises on the streets of downtown as well as inside the mostly vacant Madison Building, 607 Madison Ave.

Toledo police knew days in advance about their plans for a three-day exercise. Yet somehow the memo never made it to Mayor Finkbeiner, who ordered the Marines out yesterday afternoon just minutes before their buses were to arrive.

"The mayor asked them to leave because they frighten people," said Brian Schwartz, the mayor's spokesman.

"He did not want them practicing and drilling in a highly visible area."

I have no doubt that the repercussions from this incredible act of stupidity will be swift and sure. The Blogosphere is awash in this story and Carty Finkbeiner's name is, even as we speak, becoming mud. As Toledo is not Berkeley, I am sure that the good citizens will make this putz pay dearly.

Fractured

I am proud that Republicans are a party of principle; a diverse group to which ideology is paramount. I wonder though, if this is harmful helpful to the cause.

At some point, we will have to come together and do what's best for America. At some point, we have to concentrate on what unites us, rather than ewhat divides us. The sooner we get to that point, the better chance we will have.

Fred Thompson Backs McCain

While this is not necessarily earth-shattering news (who else would he support?), the fact that he's doing so publically shows he's doing his part to heal the GOP - a party in dire need of healing:

Fred Thompson, the one-time Republican presidential candidate, endorsed Sen. John McCain Friday, calling on the party to "close ranks" behind the presumed nominee.

"This is no longer about past preferences or differences. It is about what is best for our country and for me that means that Republican should close ranks behind John McCain," Thompson said in a statement reported by the Associated Press.

Thompson's endorsement was expected. The two men were colleagues for years in the Senate and shared what associates called a friendship. But while he was in the race, Thompson had bristled at the idea that he was going to drop out and endorse McCain.

The endorsement now may help McCain to coalesce the factions of the party
around him. Thompson, who represented Tennessee in the Senate for eight years,
is thought of well in the South, an area that McCain has not done well in.

Thompson as VP? Could be; it would certainly go a long way in mollifying conservatives. At the very least, I would like to see Fred in a highly visable position in a McCain administration (as I would Giuliani) - should that come about.

I also think that McCain needs to reach out to Romney in order to show some magnanimity and show that he is also willing to do what it takes for the good of his party. This personal enmity he has for Romney hinders his cause and validates the concerns as to his temperament.

Music cannot change the world, says Neil Young

You mean nobody listens to the political rantings of drug-addled rock stars any more? Maybe things aren't as bleak as I though they were!

It's funny though, he says it like it's a bad thing....

Global COOLING?

In news that is sure to stun Nobel Prize winning climatologist Al Gore (he's not really a climatologist, but he does stay at Holiday Inn Express), the earth may well be headed for a period of global cooling:

Back in 1991, before Al Gore first shouted that the Earth was in the balance, the Danish Meteorological Institute released a study using data that went back centuries that showed that global temperatures closely tracked solar cycles.

To many, those data were convincing. Now, Canadian scientists are seeking additional funding for more and better "eyes" with which to observe our sun, which has a bigger impact on Earth's climate than all the tailpipes and smokestacks on our planet combined.

And they're worried about global cooling, not warming.

Oh well, Al Gore is in good company; the guy who developed lobotomies won a Nobel Prize as well. While I'm not a climatologist, the sun having an enormous impact on the Earth's weather patterns seems like a no-brainer to me. Then again, I've been staying at Wingate Inn quite a bit lately.

An American First, a Conservative Second

John McCain is not the likely Republican nominee; he is the Republican nominee. The time is now for the supporters of all of the previous candidates to get behind McCain and start thinking about your country rather than your ideological purity. In short, get over it.

The howling from conservative ranks has been deafening. Many are indicating that they will “never vote for McCain” and will sit out the election. I am sure that the Democrat nominee is counting on them doing just that and will be deeply grateful for their support – even if the support is passive. Make no mistake, regardless of intention that will be the outcome of such an electoral boycott. Go ahead, make their day.

To those who will take this course I ask: is your ideology so important to you that you would sacrifice your country on its behalf? I would expect this from a liberal, I would not expect it from a conservative.

McCain wasn’t my first choice, in fact, he wasn’t even close. I have serious problems with any number of his positions over the years, his temperament and his propensity to poke his fellow Republicans in the eye and the particular (and peculiar) glee that he seemed to take in doing it.

I have long noted that, for me, the winning of Iraq and the larger war was the main issue and I must say that my position on that has not changed. Well, as they say, be careful what you wish for. I believe that John McCain is right on that issue and I have no reason to believe that he will not deliver as president. He was a vocal critic of Rumsfeld and the previous strategy in Iraq, but our current level of success may well indicate that he was correct in doing so. While I still have enormous respect for Don Rumsfeld, he would be the first to admit that he is not infallible. The point is that we are now winning and McCain, for all of his faults, was a major proponent of our current successful strategy.

Again, on any number of other issues, I have enormous apprehension as to a McCain presidency. He does have an 82.3% rating from the American Conservative Union, which should dispel the charges that he’s a liberal. Unfortunately, those issues on which he has strayed from conservatism have been very high profile and sensitive, particularly immigration and campaign finance. As it is a key component of our national security, I am deeply concerned about his position on immigration, but I am concerned about Bush’s as well. Still, without a vigorous prosecution of the war in Iraq and the wider war on Islamic fundamentalism, many of these issues become rather moot.

The fact is, the next president will be John McCain, Clinton v2.0 or (shudder) Barack Hussein Obama. The gulf between McCain and either of the Democrat candidates is enormous, regardless of what his critics might say. If you feel that your principles are so sacrosanct that you feel forced to hand the White House over to Hillary or Obama, it’s your right to do so.

As for me, I will support McCain with all of his faults. I will set my philosophical differences aside and do so for the good of my country. I will do so secure in the knowledge that I am doing the best I can do, given the choices available.

Should you be of the mind to “sit this one out”, I only ask that you consider the consequences of your inaction. I ask you to put your country first.

Three (3!) Terrorists Were Waterboarded

Unbelievable. All of this hand-wringing and national soul searching was over this technique being used on a grand total of 3 terrorists?

At the same hearing, CIA Director Michael Hayden publicly confirmed for the first time the names of three suspected al-Qaida terrorists who were subjected to a particularly harsh interrogation technique known as waterboarding, and why.

“We used it against these three detainees because of the circumstances at the time,” Hayden said. “There was the belief that additional catastrophic attacks against the homeland were inevitable. And we had limited knowledge about al-Qaida and its workings. Those two realities have changed.”

Hayden said that Khalid Sheik Mohammed — the purported mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States — and Abu Zubayda and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri were subject to the harsh interrogations in 2002 and 2003. Waterboarding is an interrogation technique that critics call torture.

Waterboarding induces a feeling of imminent drowning with the restrained subject’s mouth covered and water poured over his face.

“Waterboarding taken to its extreme, could be death, you could drown someone,” McConnell acknowledged. He said waterboarding remains a technique in the CIA’s arsenal, but it would require the consent of the president and legal approval of the attorney general.

From the coverage this has received, you would think that it was something that was being used as a general rule, on at least hundreds.......but 3?

If we don't have the stomach for something as reletively benign as this, we simply do not have a chance against the barbarians.

Chelsea Clinton: "You're not voting for the Clintons. You're voting for my mother"

Oh yeah, that eases my mind. Thanks for clearing that up for me, Chelsea.

"She makes the best applesauce. She reads to me still when I don't feel well. I've never doubted that I'm the most important person in the world to her."

Well there you have it! What more do we need in a President?

Is the GOP the REAL Party of Diversity?

What is a political party about, if not about political philosophy? It's not about gender, it's not about race, as neither of these factors is relevant, nor should they be. Since I can remember, the Democrats have talked about their "big tent" where all were welcome as they portayed themselves as the "party of diversity", but I find that portayal increasingly suspect, and their tent becomes smaller by the day. If you want to talk about ideological diversity in the Democrat party, talk to Joe Leiberman.

From where we find ourselves at this point, it would appear that the "big tent" that the Republican Party has sought for so long has indeed been pitched and diversity abounds. One need only to look at the Republican hopefuls in the 2008 Presidential race to see a wildly divergent field of candidates in terms of philosophy:

John McCain: A foreign policy hawk whose commitment to the military is unquestioned. On the flip-side however, he also has a history of pandering to the left on domestic and social issues which has infuriated conservative purists. His commitment to fiscal conservatism seems questionable as do many of his stands on domestic issues. Lack of executive experience is a minus.

Mitt Romney: The clear candidate of fiscal conservatives, whose business acumen is unquestioned. While there has been some questions regarding his stance on some social issues in the past, his foreign policy stands have seemed well in line with those who see foreign policy as a paramount concern. Domestically, he seems to be, at the very least, center-right. Good executive experience in both the private and public sector is a big plus.

Mike Huckabee: The social conservative candidate who is a favorite among the evangelical crowd , who seem to be his main constituency. He's a foreign policy neophyte, and his domestic policy seems questionable, at best. While being governor of Arkansas does qualify as executive experience, the fact that it was Arkansas is a mitigating factor.

Ron Paul who is technically still in the race is little more than a curiosity, whose main contribution to the debate has been comic relief.

Fred Thompson, who was probably the clear all-around conservative in the race, has, unfortunately dropped out. His mature and common sense views will be sorely missed as the selection process moves forward, but he and his campaign never seemed very determined and that was unfortunate.

Rudy Giuliani, who has also dropped out, was an interesting contradiction: a foreign policy hawk, a fiscal conservative with centrist domestic views and rather liberal social views. I liked Rudy and I think that he may well have been able to unite manyof the main factions of the Republican Party and would have have had pretty broad appeal in the general election.

This is a pretty varied field of individuals, philosophically speaking, with no one candidate being the embodiment of all the needs of all Republicans. The debate has been vibrant, indeed even hostile at times, but such is the nature of intra-party politics. Most importantly, the debate has been centered on policy and political philosophy, which is, and should be, the nature of politics in general.

In contrast, among the Democrats we have the following field of contenders:

Hillary Clinton: Could become the first woman to be nominated by a major party for the office of President who is a foreign policy dove, but has dabbled in periods of hawkish platitudes when it suited her ends. She's fiscally, domestically and socially liberal. She's an unreconstructed 60s-type leftist who believes in the power of the state in all matters and whose basic views have not changed in more than 40 years. Her role while her husband was president was to pull him to the left, while his better instincts (to his credit) pulled him to the right. During that time, her claim to fame was the design of a top-down government takover of the nation's health care system which, thankfully, failed miserably. She was elected to the US Senate as her first elective office, almost exclusively due to her last name. Save the health care debacle, she has no executive experience and her claim to the highest office in this country seems to rest upon the fact that she's a woman, and her husband was president for 8 years.

Barack Obama: Could become the first black to be nominated by a major party as a candidate for President of the United States. He's been a US Senator for 3 years and previously was an Illinois State Senator. Obama is, admittedly a great speaker who has chosen "change' as is campaign slogan, but offers few clues as to what that change might be. He speaks in flowery oratory which is rooted in little substance. He was recently named the most liberal member of the US Senate for 2007 by the National Journal. He has been a consistent opponent of the Iraq war and favors withdrawl - a position that he has consistently maintained. Obama has no executive experience, few concrete ideas but has garnered the support of such bastions of liberalism as Ted Kennedy. He has captured the imagination of many on the left, presumably because imagination is a key component in understanding why he is a candidate in the first place. Oh, did I mention he was black?

Yes, there was also John Edwards who has recently pulled out of the race. Edwards was always a bit of an empty suit who was never a serious contender.

The Democrats seem intent on 2008 being the year of identity politics as they pin their hopes on either the leftist woman, or the leftist black man. Where does a moderate or conservative Democrat go? There is actually a place for liberal Republicans, such as Giuliani, in the Republican Party, is there a place for conservative Democrats in the Democrat party? If so, where are they in the field of contenders? The Left rejoices in the idea of diversity, as long as the diverse identities are philosphically monolithic. While the Republicans are debating a variety of policies and ideas, the Democrats seem to be mired in gender and race.

From my perspective, the party of "diversity" is, and continues to be the Republicans - for better or worse.

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR......

At the time of this writing, John McCain seems to be the clear frontrunner for the Republican nomination. While the race is far from over, it's clear that the nominee will be either McCain or Romney and McCain does seem to be in the driver's seat.

I've often said that the narrow war (Iraq) as well as the broader war (the war on Islamism in general) is the defining issue of our time and is, quite simply, the single most important issue in this race. I believe that John McCain will prosecute the war on both fronts and will do so admirably.

Alas, I disagree with him on practically every other issue.

Like I said, be careful what you wish for.