Big Gov't Giveth and Big Gov't Taketh Away

Today's 'must read' is Walter Williams' piece on American despotism. So what does Big Gov't do when they need more tax revenue? Do what any self-respecting dictatorship would do: confiscate property and put it to 'better' use. Williams writes:

"Last week, Washington Post columnist George Will penned a column 'Despotism in New London' (Sept. 19, 2004). In it, he described how Connecticut's Supreme Court, by a 4-to-3 ruling, allowed the New London Development Corp. to use laws of eminent domain to condemn much of the city's Fort Trumbull neighborhood, near a $270 million Pfizer research facility, and lease it to luxury hotel, condominium and office building developers. New London, Conn., is hard up for tax revenues, and if the property is taken away from middle-class homeowners and transferred to wealthy interests, it will yield the city more tax revenue.

The Fifth Amendment is very clear about takings. It says, in part, 'nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.' The key phrase is public use. Public use means uses such as roads, bridges, military installations and public buildings. The Connecticut Supreme Court held that the only requirement for the taking of private property is that there be some public benefit. With that kind of reasoning, no one's private property is safe because what's a public benefit is subject to wide interpretation. "

Errant Judges and corrupt courts have to be held accountable. Citizens must be diligent to make sure that our most basic rights are upheld. What they can't pass on the ballot, they can, they do and they will pass by judicial fiat.

When America Loses, Does Kerry Win?

Christopher Hitchens, in his Slate piece today, echos what Rush Limbaugh has been saying for years. The democrats are in the dispicable position of hoping for American failure so Bush will look bad and Kerry would look good by comparison.

Kerry's campaign has been doing poorly from the git-go. It's really doing poorly now and unless he can whoop up on the President big time in the debates, it's curtains for the Senator. How can this be? How many ways and how often have we been told that Kerry is soooooo intellectual, and cowboy Bush is so hopelessly bereft of nuance, he is barely able to complete a sentence.

Why can't the super intelligent left put together a winning campaign? And how can a flunky like Bush even get up in the morning.....

What is going on in the democrat party is the same thing that is and has been going on in the 'mainstream' media. They've been left behind and they haven't figured it out yet. The train has left the station and they are still milling around the lobby bar jawing about the dunderheads in 'flyover country.' That this is happening to both of them at the same time is no surprise because they've been promiscuously involved for the last 50 years.

The DNC and the Old Media will not, and in fact, cannot admit what the real problem is. They will do what they have always done and that is blame everyone else for being unenlightened and dimwitted. They're unable to take responsibility for their own shortcomings, because we're the ones with shortcomings, not them!

O'Reilly...Still Undecided and Self Important

For weeks now, O'Reilly has been confirming his 'moderateness' by bragging about being 'undecided' and decrying 'Right-wing radio'. Tonite he did 60 Minutes, or maybe they did him!

For some reason, O'Reilly has a problem with Rush Limbaugh. Maybe it's because he thought he was going to take over talk radio when he strutted onto the scene soon after Rush went deaf. O'Reilly hasn't done that great on the radio. He insists on being in the middle and eschews 'Right Wing radio', which, in talk radio speak, is Rush Limbaugh. Last week Laura Ingraham rightly gave O'Reilly hell about the 'right-wing' comment, but I don't think it really 'took'. Tonite on 60 Minutes, O'Reilly said,

"I respect Limbaugh for basically making a success out of himself and putting on an entertaining program. But he's not a primary source of information, or shouldn't be," says O'Reilly. "He's an entertainer. I'm a journalist who provides a program that is entertaining."

Correction, Bill; Rush is a primary source of information as well as an entertainer and you're a journalist who has a radio program.

What You May Not Have Known About Allawi

Maybe you saw Prime Minister Allawi's 'thank you' speech last week. Great speech! How dare Kerry denigrate him! What I didn't hear from the big 3 (ABC NBC CNN) was the fact that Allawi barely survived an attack from a Saddam assassin team armed with axes while living in exile in Britain. His wife was murdered and he was left for dead. More information on him listed here at freedictionary.com. He's been around the block a few times and isn't a stranger to dangerous scenarios. He has quite a resume, but you probably haven't heard much about him.

The UN...What Is It Good For? (absolutely nothin')

The United Nations has way outlived its usefulness, that is, unless you are a western nation on the take (France, Germany et al) or third world dictator. Henry Lamb, a full time UN observer, makes his case in an excellent column which illustrates the total irrelevance of the U.N.:

"Secretary General, Kofi Annan, told the British press, that the U.S. war in Iraq is 'illegal.' He does not understand, or accept the fact that U.S. military action is made 'legal' by the U.S. Congress, not by anything the U.N. may do or say.
Had the U.N. effectively enforced any of its resolutions on Iraq, adopted since the first Gulf War, perhaps the U.S. would not have been forced into war. The U.N. has become completely ineffective.

How long has this bloated institution been discussing, debating, and delaying action to stop the slaughter of innocent people in Sudan by government agents? The same government, incidentally, that was chosen to sit on the U.N.'s Human Rights Commission in 2001, while the U.S. was kicked off the Commission."

Need an example of their inefficacy (or just plain lack of interest) in the war against Islamofacism?

Jihad and rape go hand in hand:

"Each of us was raped by between three and six men. � One woman refused to have sex with them, so they split her head into pieces with an axe in front of us.'
This happened in Darfur, from which Sudanese military personnel actually airlifted women to Khartoum to serve as sex slaves.

Meanwhile, Indira Dzetskelova, the mother of one of the child hostages in Beslan, Russia, reports that 'several 15-year-old girls were raped by terrorists.' Her daughter 'heard their terrible cries and screams when those monsters took them away.' This indicates that there are two things the massacre in Beslan has in common with the ongoing massacres in Darfur: both, no less than the 9-11 attacks, are examples of Islamic jihad terrorism, and both are characterized by rape."

Isn't 'peacekeeping' their purpose? Aren't they supposed to quell these pesky squabbles? The UN is an effete, emasculated body that has proved its uselessness time after time and needs to be relieved of our financial support.

Old Media Doesn't Die, It Just Fades Away

A quintessential opinion piece explaining the fall of a bankrupt generation by Victor Davis Hanson is required weekend reading.

Commentators have envisioned Rather's fall as symbolic of a "paradigm shift" and the "end of the era" — an event that has crystallized the much larger and ongoing demise of the old establishment media. Allegories from the French Revolution and the emperor without any clothes to the curtain scene in The Wizard of Oz have been evoked to illustrate Rather's dilemma and the hypocrisy of all that went before. We have come a long way since the 1960s: The once-revolutionary pigs taking over the manor are now bloated and strutting on two legs as they feast on silver inside the farmhouse.

First CBS went into denial; then it tried to smear its critics; next it emulated the Nixonian two-step; and finally it stonewalled altogether, hoping that the 24-hour news buzz would fade before it ultimately did. Meanwhile, more and more Americans yawn and have already switched the channel to cable news. We keep waiting for Mike Wallace on Sunday's 60 Minutes to stare down Dan Rather on the set of Tuesday's 60 Minutes, sticking his mike in Dan's face, springing on him a long list of his previously unknown sins, capped off with the zoom shot on a fidgety, sweating Rather, as the tick, tick, tick fades into a primetime commercial.

Another article essential to understanding the on going Rathergate debacle is in The American Thinker . It's a comprehensive timeline of events leading up to the scandal.

When you've finished the above piece from The Thinker, go the most current sequel, also at The American Thinker . They're on top of it

The Crux of the Culture War

What's the difference between leftist thinking and rightist thinking? In his September 21 column, Dennis Prager makes some brilliant observations which differentiate between the two ideologies. He makes it clear why Europe and America are at philosophical odds and why the division between left and right in this country is so stark.

One of the most important of these differences is their attitudes toward law. Generally speaking, the Left and the secularists venerate, if not worship, law. They put their faith in law -- both national and international. Law is the supreme good. For most on the Left, "Is it legal?" is usually the question that determines whether an action is right or wrong.

Take the war in Iraq. The chief leftist argument against the war -- before it began, not later when no weapons of mass destruction were found -- was that without U.N. sanction, attacking Iraq violated international law.

Whatever their feelings about George W. Bush or about attacking Iraq, for most of those on the Left, the rightness or wrongness of toppling Saddam Hussein's regime was determined by its legality (i.e., whether it was authorized by the U.N. Security Council). On the other hand, for those who supported attacking Iraq, whether the war was deemed legal played no role in their assessment of its rightness or wrongness.
To those who supported removing Saddam Hussein by force, if the United Nations did not authorize it, it was a reflection on the morality of the United Nations, not the morality of the war.

International law thus provides a clear example of the Left-Right divide. To the Left, an international action is right if nations such as China, Russia, France and Syria vote for it, and wrong if they vote against it. To the Right and to the religious, an action is good (or bad) irrespective of the votes of the world's nations. They judge it by a code of morality higher than international law.

To those on the Right, international law is often antithetical to our moral code, which, generally speaking for the majority of Americans (past and present...hopefully future), is Judeo-Christian based. Frankly, we don't care what immoral third and fourth world dictators think or care about our actions or system of beliefs. But to the left, morality is relative, and should be secular in nature. Legality is what matters most to the left. Not laws written by God, but laws written by secular judges and, better yet, by international Non Government Organizations (NGO's).

To the Left, legality matters most, while to the Right, legality matters far less than morality. To the Right and to the religious, the law, when it is doing its job, is only a vehicle to morality, never a moral end in itself. Even the Left has to acknowledge this. When Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Ala., bus in 1955, she violated the law. Therefore, anyone who thinks she did the right thing is acknowledging that law must be subservient to morality. Why, then, must the overthrowing of Saddam Hussein be subject to international law as determined by Communist China, neo-KGB Russia, amoral France and the thugs who rule Syria?

The answer is to be found in the Left's substitution of legal for moral.

And why is the Left so enamored of law?

First, the Left, which is largely secular, regards morality not as absolute, but as relative. This inevitably leads to moral confusion, and no one likes to be morally confused. So instead of moral absolutes, the Left holds legal absolutes. "Legal" for the Left is what "moral" is for the Right. The religious have a belief in God-based moral law, and the Left believes in man-made law as the moral law.

Second, whereas they cannot change God's laws, those on the Left can and do make many of society's laws.
In fact, the Left is intoxicated with law-making. It gives them the power to mold society just as Judeo-Christian values did in the past. Unless one understands that leftist ideals function as a religion, one cannot understand the Left.

Laws are the Left's vehicles to earthly salvation. Virtually all human problems have a legal solution. Some men harass women? Pass laws banning virtually every flirtatious action a man might engage in vis a vis a woman. Flood legislatures with laws preventing the creation of a "hostile work environment." Whereas the religious world has always worked to teach men how to act toward women, the secular world, lacking these religious values, passes laws to control men.

In fact, since it lacks the self-control apparatus that is a major part of religion, the Left passes more and more laws to control people. That is why there is a direct link between the decline in Judeo-Christian religion and the increase in governmental laws controlling human behavior.

The result of Leftist ideology is the vast number of laws which result in impinging our freedoms. That so many laws and rules are being passed with the so-called 'Right thinking' republicans in control of the Whitehouse and Congress, how many MORE controlling laws would be passed if the Leftists got in power?

Prager concludes his piece:

Of course, the more laws that are passed, the less liberty society enjoys. But to the Left, which elevates any number of values above liberty -- e.g., compassion, equality, fairness -- this presents little problem.

All this helps to explain the Left's preoccupation with controlling courts; passing laws; producing, enriching and empowering lawyers; filing lawsuits; and naming judges. Laws and the makers of laws will produce heaven on earth.

And that's one reason the Left hates the America represented by George W. Bush. This country under this president says morality is higher than man-made law. To the Left, that, not Saddam Hussein's torture and rape rooms, must be fought.

Will the Old Media Cover This?

Ed Morrisey Jr., the man who swore Bush into the Air Guard is finally speaking out. Hopefully someone will link this to Dan Rather. According to Morrisey:

"Bush and the others were flying several flights day or night over the Gulf of Mexico to identify the unknown,'' he said. The Cold War was a nervous time. You never knew. There were other things going on equally important to the country, and the Air National Guard had a primary role in it.''

Morrisey said the commander he worked for at the unit in Texas was sent there to rebuild the image of the unit. There were only two to four pilot training slots given to them per year, he said. Individuals questioned by an evaluation board and then chosen by the commander had to be the best.

Bush was selected and he turned out just fine,'' he said.
According to Morrisey, after Bush began working as a fighter pilot, he became regarded as one of the best pilots there. Unit commander Col. Maurice Udell considered Bush to be one of his top five pilots, Morrisey said.

The kid did good,'' he said.
Each pilot had to perform alert duty where they patrolled for unidentified aircraft during the threat of the Cold War, Morrisey said.

Bush Jr. did good for us,'' Morrisey said. ``He pulled alert and he did it all.''

Essential Reading

Hugh Hewitt writes the fantasy speech Les Moonves should be making ASAP before CBS tanks into negative figures. Hewitt penned speeches for President Nixon and has an idea of what is and what should be going on at Blackrock. Check out his Ghosting for Les piece.

Another 'must read' is Victor Davis Hanson's Opinion Journal piece on the irrelevancy of the UN. Their time is up and they need to be escorted out of this country. That'll never happen unless a grassroots movement starts applying pressure to Congress. Start applying!

Yet, Another Embarrassing Televangelist, Ahem!

Just as the peace loving world awaits a massive demonstration of apology from embarrassed and ashamed Muslims for the atrocious and vial islamofascist murderous pigs who savagely slaughter innocents in Iraq, so do I await the apology and disassociation of Christians for embarrassing comments from televangelist Jimmy Swaggert. As a practicing Christian, I disassociate myself, (although I have never been associated with him or his ministry) from Jimmy Swaggert and any other embarassing televangelist (and they are many) who does more harm than good to the name of Christianity.

In his latest bout with controversy, Swaggert threatens to kill gay men if any of them should ever look at him with 'lust in their eyes' (my phraseology). Sorry, this is not what Christianity is all about! Shame on you, Jimmy Swaggert for possibly offending those who may have otherwise turned to Christ, but are now utterly turned off by your bafoonery and lack of compassion!

If I were the devil, I would portray so-called ministers of Christ as glitzy, hypocritical televangelists with an air of reliosity so that the world would look upon Christianity with contempt. I would say the devil has a pretty large tour de force! Please....pay no attention to them!

How We Can Find the Islamocowards

We have the technology. The military has been using GPS technology to locate downed pilots for a number of years. When will they go a step further and use an implanted version of this tracking device? Surely branches of the Special Services are quietly taking advantage of this technology. Applied Digital Solutions, a pioneer in implanted tracking devices, has been marketing this device for pets and various other purposes:

Applied Digital develops innovative security products for consumer, commercial, and government sectors worldwide. Our unique and often proprietary products provide security for people, animals, the food supply, government/military arena, and commercial assets. Included in this diversified product line are RFID applications, end-to-end food safety systems, GPS/Satellite communications, and telecomm and security infrastructure, positioning Applied Digital as the leader of Security Through Innovation.

I would think that the private contractors in Iraq, who are subject to kidnapping, would be jumping on this technology faster than you can say islamofascist pigs. If a would-be kidnap victim had such an implant, he could be located in mere seconds, just like LoJack or Onstar can find a stolen car. Kidnap victims could be turned into informants by telecommunicating their whereabouts via satellite. Not that we need to be hearing about this nor should we advertise the possibility, but it seems like the most logical tactic at hand if all other technology has failed.

The pros and cons of this technology have been discussed especially in religious circles and I'm fully aware of the fears extant, be they Orwellian or eschatalogical. Still, pragmatically speaking, this may be the time and place for this inevitable technology to be effectively utilized.

A Few Observations in No Particular Order

Foreign election observers arrived today to make sure that everything will be on the up and up come election day. Sadly, they were invited by the State Department and this is a dangerous precident. This says to the world that we actually recognize bogus international groups such as this one. So what authority do they have and by whom do they have it? To whom do they report? What if the voters don't want them at the polls? What if the local authorities don't want them around? Who is paying for this fiasco? Let's see....40 some odd days till the election; freedom to travel hither and yon, all expenses paid for how many people? And why are they even needed when we have our very own former President Carter who has vast experience monitoring foreign elections?
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There was another brutal beheading today somewhere in or near Baghdad and he was an American. The body was found near a mosque. I'm wondering why that mosque is still standing. Surely we have geo-syncronous satelites exposing every square inch of Iraq, drones flying everywhere and intel on the ground...why can't these hooded philistines be found. There needs to be a covert quid pro quo taking place when these atrocities occur. When these hooded Islamodogs brutally murder innocents, their Islamofascist associates need to meet a similar fate. Covertly! Word will get around. We cannot tolerate these continual 'beheadings'. Quick vengence has to be exacted from these bastards!
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Fox News, and ONLY Fox new is uncovering the Oil-for-Food mother of all scandals. Authority, credibility and future funding need to be tossed out the window over this egregious international conspiracy to defraud the Iraqi people. Worse, American blood was, and IS being spilled thanks to our co-conspirator 'friends' in Europe and the UN. The UN should NOT be welcome in America and Americans should not give one more dollar to this corrupt band of hoodlums.
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Anyone still watching CBS News? What, to find out when Dan is going to crash and burn? Surely not as a credible news source! Kudos to Mr. Rather for apologizing, but he needs to apologize to President Bush and maybe to the stockholders of CBS.
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Is Bill O'Reilly still undecided?
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Has anybody heard from Sandy Berger lately?
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Why aren't the Clintons campaigning for Kerry? They must be really sad that their guy is doing so poorly!

Halliburton Finally Responds

After years of putting up with the verbal abuse of the left, Halliburton, on Friday, finally responded to John Kerry's attack on Vice President Dick Cheney and his ties to the 'eeeeeeeeviiilllll' oil related corporation.

'It's tragic that apparently Halliburton's efforts on the warfront are so poorly understood by Senator Kerry on the home front,' Halliburton said in a statement.
'Senator Kerry quotes from a reality television show, but Halliburton's reality in Iraq is real,' the firm's spokesman said. 'We question how the Kerry campaign can talk about creating jobs at the same time it talks about eliminating thousands of jobs for Americans," Halliburton said, noting that it currently has 30,000 workers in Iraq combat zones, including over 15,000 Americans.'

Let's see, now...Halliburton is HOW big? And it is worth HOW much? And it has lost HOW many people in Iraq? And this is the best comeback they could throw at Kerry?

(Note to self: when I become the CEO of a multi-national, multi-billion dollar corporation, remember to start a fund, if legal, to be used to expose, defunct, examine, investigate, (and when necessary) undermine useful idiots who have deeply wormed their way into the political structure. If this is not legal, then create an untraceable offshore slush fund to take care of such matters).

Hasn't Halliburton been a little too restrained in its response to the partisan players who wish to perpetually portray Halliburtion (and any oil-related business) as egregious republican meanies whose only goal is to rob the working poor and pollute the ecosystem while enriching Bush and Cheney?

Time for Halliburton and Big Business (and small businsess for that matter) to start fighting back and let the people know just how the cow eats the cabbage. The commie pinko leftists have never liked business, so why should Kerry? (Not to change the subject dramatically, but Kerry's campaign has picked up some appropriate bedfellows).

Business needs to take an energetic stand against the relentless attacks from the left to counter the 'evil and corrupt' image that has been foisted on it by the media elites, academia and the Hollywood entertainment complex. It's a tall task! The enemies of business are formidable. But like the war against Islamofascism, business (free enterprise/capitalism) can't afford to lose the battle against the socialistic leftists who have taken over the democrat party.

Americans and Jews: Most Hated?

Americans wonder why so many countries (even our 'allies') hate us. What have we done that has so angered the world? Haven't we come to the aid of the weak, the hungry, the oppressed, the endangered, the diseased and the traumatized time after time after time? How could anyone with a record of good deeds like ours come under such scurrilous scrutiny by the international community? And what have the Jews done to merit the persecution they have suffered for millennia?

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach offers an answer to the question of why America and the Jews are so hated. It may be an illuminating piece for those who are in a quandry as to why such hate exists.

It will almost certainly anger those who are already disdainful of America, Israel and our Judeao-Christian commonality.

Credit Where Credit is Due

Vindication is imminent for the giddy inhabitants of Blogville this week and what a sweet victory it is and will continue to be, even for fledgling newbies such as me. Afterall, we're here because of our passion for information, news, politics and media affairs. Our years of critical frustration watching the antics of the elite media are finally apexing in their virtual implosion. Can you say 'poetic justice?' O 'they're not going to disappear any time soon; they are just going to become less relevant and less influential. How could this have happened to the once powerful and monopolistic media elites?

Talk radio!

I'm a youthful '50 something' guy who has been listening to talk radio since I was kid and 40 years ago there weren't many conservative talk show hosts. Larry King was the biggest thing in national talk radio 30 years ago. Jim Bohanan and Michael Jackson (not that one) were out there and I always enjoyed them but they didn't typify my personal political views. Still, they were an alternative source of information apart from the mainstream.

With the Reagan Revolution came a new wave of local conservative radio talkers. Atlanta had Neal Boortz (still there) and Barry Young (who did a stint in Dallas in the 80's and is now in Phoenix). Dallas had Kevin McCarthy, (who is still on the air and has become a Dallas radio icon). In the late 80's Dallas radio welcomed David Gold, 'the voice of reason' (who has a weekend show in San Francisco and a daily show in Dallas). It was David Gold who set the stage, in Dallas, anyway, for Rush Limbaugh.

My point is this: long before Rush Limbaugh came on the national scene in 1988, conservative talk radio was well established across the country and when Rush did come on, he became an unprecidented hit with like thinkers...conservatives who had never had a national spokesman who actually thought like they did. Not only did Rush challenge the liberal left with reasoned arguments, he actually got in their face and laughed at their policies . How DARE he!!!

Rush's record breaking success spawned more national shows; Liddy, Boortz, Beck, Hewitt, Ingraham, Gallagher, Savage, Prager, Reagan, Hannity and others, plus the countless local conservatives who have flourished.

It was talk radio, during these past 20 years or so, that set the stage for the efficacy of the internet. Talk radio was one of the first venues on a national scale where likeminds in a steadily growing movement could come together and discuss the free exchange of ideas.

Then came the internet and patriarch Drudge and matriarch, Lucianne, and they begat and begat, setting the pace, doing yeoman's duty.

Then came Fox News.

The 'alternative media' is now the New Media and the once invincible, monopolistic 'Mainstream Media' has become the Old Media. Things in the media will never be the same as they once were. Thanks to Talk Radio.

Hugh Hewitt on "The Blogosphere"

Hugh Hewitt brings attention to the blogs making a marked difference in the marginalization of the old media:

Monday, September 13, 2004
Posted at 5:40 PM, Pacific

New posts of importance on the CBS melt-down at RatherBiased, Betsy'sPage, Aaron's Rantburg, Blackfive, RedState, CommandPost, Powerline, LGF, KerrySpot, Instapundit, and many others.

The most ominousof these posts, though, has to be from Pick and Choose, a new blog. Why "most ominous?" Because it is a new blog. Self-selected reinforcements are rushing to the front. They have talent. They have opinions. And they do have small audiences that will grow based upon their talent. CBS is static, constrained by budgets, hampered by quasi-tenured staffs and old hiring practices. Looking over their collective shoulders back at the suits, wondering if they are about to get thrown under the bus, this uncertain army of agenda journalists, exposed and suddenly under assault, look more and more like the Orcs when Theoden came over the hill in LOTR III.

About Hugh Hewitt

We Hardly Watched Ye!

I can't even remember the last time I watched the Network News (ie ABC/NBC/CBS). They lost me years ago. The closest thing I get to hearing the Network News is when Peter Jennings does the ABC radio top of the hour news at 4pm (CDT) (probably as a tease for his TV newscast). Years ago I religiously watched Nightline with Ted Koppel, but he became irrelevant to me probably about 8 years ago or so.

Long before the internet became popular, I relied on AM radio for my hourly news and information fix and I frequented Newstands and the local library to keep updated on as many periodicals as possible for more in depth material.

It's my opinion and apparently the opinion of many others, that TV Network News Departments have been in their death throes for years now. They have all but died and the fatal wounds are becoming gangrenous.

Doug Powers, a freelance writer, did a delightful little piece today eulogizing the Network News. Here are a couple of the great lines:

We'll miss Network News. With no more of Rather's "Texanisms," we'll be, as Dan may say, "as frustrated as a perverted farmhand with an electric cow milker during a power outage."

We'll miss laughing as Tom Brokaw attempts to say "The liberation of Sulaimany left locals leery of large lethal landmines." We may also long for the good old days, when Peter Jennings delivered lines with snobbish enunciations that gave Network News a lofty air of rude superiority over viewers, as if it were in the Hamptons dealing with panhandlers.

Heart warming piece...Check it out.

CBS, in all its incredulity, will continue to slide as all fingers point to fraud in the matter of the documents Rather still claims are real, but arrogance and agenda makes it impossible for them admit error.

Now would be an excellent time for Bernard Goldberg to hit the circuit once again to plug his best selling books, Bias and Arrogance. He should re-release them. They are probably more pertinent now than ever and were no doubt, prophetic.

Another Embarrassing Televangelist

I'm not going to stand in judgment of Paul Crouch who is being accused of covering up a sexual encounter with a former employee, but even if he is totally innocent of the charges brought against him, he and his wife, Jan, are still an embarrassment to me and many other Christians.

I've been embarrassed by Paul and Jan Crouch since the first time I ever saw their gaudy, gilded, 18oo's style bordello TV soundstage. And what's the deal with Jan's pink hair? I'm also embarrassed that so many people find them to be inspiring enough to send them millions of dollars each year. I don't get it! Why not send your money to the local orphanage or how about helping out some widows in your local community. Get real Christians! These glitzy charlatans are about as Christlike as the Pharisees of Christ's era who lived to be praised by men...O' sure, they were religious! But religion is nothing if it is antithetical to the teachings of Jesus. It's time to wake up, Christians!

Benny Hinn is also an embarrassment. I spend so much time trying to figure out the beginning and the end of his hair that I never hear his message. And why is he always knocking people over? Christ healed hundreds, if not thousands of people and didn't knock ANYone down!

Robert Tilton, yet, another, obnoxious televangelist, although very embarrassing, is extremely entertaining to watch, especially when you turn the volume all the way down and imagine him having severe flatulence.

The number of people who have been turned off to Christianity by these high dollar entertainers must be incalculable. How unfortunate!

Televangelists come and go, and real Christianity is almost always better served when they just go away.

Islamofascist Jihad in Chaos?

Is the international Islamofascist Jihad beginning to implode or are the terrorists more united and more powerful than ever? An objective in depth investigative look at the realities of their 'organization' (or lack of) is something we're not likely to see anytime soon in the once mainstream media. Mansoor Ijaz, a Moslem and Chairman of Crescent Investment Management in New York, poses in Friday's edition of National Review Online that the Jihad is falling apart:

...the fact remains that they have not been able to execute a spectacular strike in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

Osama bin Laden's global vision — of jihadists crawling from the cracks in every enemy state to strike out at infidels with weapons of mass destruction — is drowning in a swamp of confusion among senior jihadists debating who to attack next, how to do it, and for whose benefit. In short, global jihad has turned on itself, and is being destroyed from within — one botched and more wretched attack at a time.

This is largely a function of the sacrifices made by our fallen heroes — the men and women of the U.S. armed forces, and their Coalition colleagues — in the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. Their courage and valor in conflict zones has battered the very thesis — that the enemy is too corrupt of mind, too decadent in spirit, and too weak of body to sustain the battle to victory — on which bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, have sent thousands of "martyrs" to their deaths.

Concerning the obscene atrocities in Russia last week, Ijaz says the following:

The massacre of innocent children at Beslan, where terrorists turned guns on each other to coerce obedience to the plan, demonstrated the very failure of extremist Islam's ideology to inspire — and how the hideousness of their actions could sow doubt in even the most criminally hardened minds. When even the terrorists are at a loss to see how killing over 150 schoolchildren can help their cause, you know they have a problem. Most Chechens have now turned away from the very radicals who seek to free them because they see the horrific lengths to which the extremists will go, and realize that they too could be the targets of the assassins.

Like him or not, Vladimir Putin's resolve to stare down Beslan's terrorists — about whom he understood nothing — will (if by accident) be seen one day as a turning point in the war against extremism, because the depravity of Beslan's architects has turned the silent majority in the Muslim world on its ear. Editors, political leaders, and mullahs from Jeddah to Istanbul to Jakarta are decrying the insanity of the Beslan murders. And they are beginning to realize that always blaming others for their woes won't help elevate their disaffected people or spread the word of their failed vision any faster or better.

Of course it's much too early to even hint at victory over radical Islamofascism. This is a war that could last more than a generation, but it's a war that will not be over until one side is utterly defeated. Our steadfast message to the radical Islamofascists, in word and deed, wherever they may be, must be that we will relentlessly pursue and destroy them until they are defeated.

Quote of the Week

Would it be premature for those of us in the pajamas brigade to declare that Dan Rather is wearing no clothes?

Power Line: "Posted by The Big Trunk at 09:28 AM | Permalink | TrackBack"

Finally, An Apology!

On the day before the third anniversary of the terrorist's attack on the World Trade Center, a grassroots Muslim group has taken it upon themselves to apologize to us and the world for the atrocities committed in the 'name of Allah.'

Kudos to them for having the courage to do this. This is a start. This group and many more like them need to rise up and vociferously condemn Islamofascism and root out sympathizers and supporters who may be in their midst.

It's No Longer about Kerry

The Kerry campaign has changed since the conventions. I think it must be common knowledge among insiders, and even to many casual observers, that Kerry has to go through the motions from here on out, but that his chances of ever beating Bush are about as remote as a conjugal visit between Bill and Hillary while Bill recuperates in the hospital...or ever for that matter. It's just not going to happen.

Is there any doubt that the Clintons are in control of the DNC? And since the 'leaked' phone call from Bill to Kerry from the hospital, publicly advising Kerry to backoff the Vietnam talk, and having restaffed Kerry's campaign with the likes of Carville and Bugala et al, they now run Kerry's campaign.

If the Clintons and their operatives are running Kerry's campaign shouldn't we ask what the Clintons want to happen in this election cycle? Does anyone believe that the Clintons actually want Kerry to beat Bush and then run as an incumbent in '08? That's Hillary's year to be anointed! She's not going to compete with an incumbent democrat in'08, therefore they will do whatever they have to do to insure that no democrat will be elected in '04! It's as simple as that!

All that being the case, what is the purpose of sending the attack dogs, Carville and Begala (make that attack serpent and attack dog), out there spewing vituperatives and vitriol, castigating the evil George W. Bush for being the meany that he is? Rational people don't have to wonder if these guys produce favorable numbers for Kerry...they just don't. So what's the purpose?

This stage of Kerry's campaign, from here all the way to the election, serves only one purpose and that is to stir up hate and distrust for anyone having anything to do with Bush. That includes ANY and EVERY republican. It's nothing less than manipulating the leftist mob mentality in order to grease the skids to prepare for the Hillary '08 campaign, which has already begun. We saw that same manipulation in FL. and they will continue to exploit the mythical 'stolen election' fable. We'll see more of this. It's all they've got. They have to do this because they can't run on what they stand for. Nor can Hillary. When you can't run on your merits, you have to demean your opponent, your opponent's party and everyone IN that party. The demeaning has been going on for sometime, but now the experts, Carville and Begala are in charge of demeaning, and they really seem to enjoy it. It's going to get really ugly and because they have sold their souls to vile hatred, it will be extremely difficult for them to regroup and change their tactics. As this tactic fails they will become more and more desperate. We have not yet seen the depths of their desperation.

A Political Primer

"Everything you ever needed to know you learned in Kindergarten...." or something like that, goes the book title. What they don't teach in Political Science 101, they did teach in Kindergarten and it is this; "when you point your finger at someone there are three more fingers pointing back at you." This infantile home spun proverb is evidenced daily when watching the presidential campaign. If I was Bill O'Reilly, I'd say that both parties are equally guilty of this, but I'm not and they aren't. It's the dems who have perfected this particular brand of finger pointing. And yes, it seems that whatever supposed evil they point to in the Bush camp, the dems turn out to be guilty of far worse indescretions. Could it be a ruse to deflect attention. Hmmmmm!

The most recent incident involves the Divine Ms. M's intolerant comments about the venerable MaHa Rushie which she made on the Cooper Anderson show. The following is excerpted from Rush's show today:

But I want you to listen to something that happened on CNN last night on Cooper Anderson's show, the formidable Bette Midler, well known political analyst, was a guest and had this to say.

MIDLER: I do. I talk about Rush.

COOPER: You listen to Rush Limbaugh?

MIDLER: I can't listen to Rush Limbaugh. He makes you tear your hair out. He's not even American.

COOPER: (Laughing) He's not American?

MIDLER: It's so un-American to behave that way. I just think it's un-American--

COOPER: Uh-huh.

MIDLER: There's a level below which you cannot sink, and he's just sunk. I'm sorry.

COOPER: (Laughing)

RUSH: That's another testimonial from someone who doesn't listen to this program. But who is it that challenges other people's patriotism? Here you have Bette Midler all over me as "un-American." They actually say it; we don't. They accuse us of accusing them of being unpatriotic or un-American, and they're the ones that actually go out and say it. I thought it was just cool. Also, my friends, other fireworks out there. Well, you know, when well-noted, well-known political analysts like Bette Midler, -- Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy from Company B babe -- when they're out there challenging your Americanism, you have to take that seriously, folks.

So who is it that claims they are called 'unpatriotic' and 'unAmerican'? Yes, the left squeals and whines that tune routinely. This is just one teeny tiny example of what the dems do daily...No, hourly in their effete little effort to ridicule their opponents when they have no substantive argument to counter whatever issue they are attempting to articulate. Someone should compile a list of what they accuse and what they actually do. It would be startling. It would also be ignored.

It's maddening to watch and listen day in and day out to their tomfoolery, but it is also very instructive. It can even be an emboldening factor when the opposition is reduced to name calling because even they know that THAT is all they've got!

Sanitizing the Killers

Media coverage of international Islamo-fascists is inexcusable. Why do they seemingly take up for murderous radical Muslims while in the recent past vindictively skewered certain domestic Christian sects whose worst crime was merely being strange? Remember David Koresh and the Branch Davidians? Remember how they were continually demonized? The poorly constructed buildings were always referred to ominously as their 'compound'. In the case of the Davidians, it wasn't just the media who marginalized them, virtually everyone did (starting with Generalisimo Reno on down). What a contrast when you compare how people treat the Islamo-fascist terrorists.

In her column today, Michelle Malkin makes some 'it's about time' observations:

How many times have you picked up a newspaper and read about terrorist attacks perpetrated not by Muslim terrorists, but by generic "militants" or "guerrillas" or "rebels" or, as Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes noted the Pakistan Times called them, "activists"?

Contrast the media whitewashing of our Islamofascist enemies with the press coverage of the Waco, Texas, siege in 1993 -- which constantly reminded us that David Koresh and his Branch Davidian followers were members of a "peculiar religious sect" (New York Times, March 3, 1993) and "a group of religious zealots with a known propensity for violence" (Washington Post, March 2, 1993) who were steeped in a "culture of Christian extremism" (San Francisco Chronicle, April 20, 1993).

A Nexis search of the terms "Branch Davidian" and "religious" and "cult" in The New York Times for the year 1993 yielded 151 hits. The vast majority of these references were in headlines and news articles, as opposed to editorials, letters or book reviews. A Nexis search of the terms "al Qaeda" and "religious" and "cult" in The New York Times for the year 2004 yielded just one article -- a magazine piece in March.

Ms. Malkin, then continues to delineate the many terroristic atrocities that radical Muslims have perpetrated in the name of 'Allah'. It's a must read for all!

The 'uneven' coverage is more than just a little disconcerting. Surely it can't be blamed entirely on so-called political correctness. Maybe the PC movement came about to cover-up mainstream bias.....but that's a whole different topic.

Muslims Take to the Streets in Protest

As satirically reported by Neal Boortz:

Muslims took to the streets around the world today to march in protest of the recent wave of violence perpetrated in Russia by Islamic radicals. 'We condemn any person, especially a Muslim, who would shoot a fleeing child in the back.' said one of the protestors. 'These pigs are murderers, not Muslims. They shame Allah rather than honor him.'
Estimates of the numbers of Muslims marching worldwide to protest violent acts in the name of Islam numbered in the hundreds of thousands, perhaps the millions.

Didn't see that story? Neither did I nor did anyone else for that matter because the adherants to the 'religion of peace' have so far refused to stand in solidarity against savage acts of terrorism. Have there even been isolated protests against terrorism by Muslims? I'm not aware of any.

Almost as equally discordant is the manner in which the once mainstream media is reporting and referring to the atrocity in Southern Russia. Some Western critics of Putin are suggesting he have 'talks' with the 'rebels' (terrorists). So, what is there to 'talk' about? Should we be having 'talks' with Bin Laden?

Some refer to them separatists. What does that say about those who can't bring themselves to call Islamo-fascists just that? Even the term 'terrorist' reeks of political correctness. Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all the terrorists have been radical Islams ie Islamo-fascists.

Dennis Prager has an excellent column today which poses serious questions to the Moslem community about their unresponiveness to such evil acts of terror. He poses an embarrassing question to the left, as well, wondering why they can't acknowledge evil for what it is. Evil? Wouldn't that imply the existance of God?

Labor Day...Bah Humbug!!!!

So, it's Labor Day. We honor labor by taking the day off? What's with that? Are we honoring labor or are we honoring labor unions? I'm a staunch capitalist and not a fan of union thugs, er, a, labor unions. When you are a union member, you are not an individual, you are a part of the 'greater group'. You give up your individuality for the 'greater good'. Like so many other left-wing special interest groups, individual rights take a backseat to 'group rights'.

If you are an energetic, hard working, ambitious individual who wants to excel at your job and be the very best you can be, and you happen to be a member of a union, watch out! Don't you know that you are making the rest of the grunts look bad? If you don't shape up and fit in REAL SOON, then you may not have a future in your current position.

Unions and individuality are like oil and water. Comply to the way things work or get the hell out. Individuals who seek to make a difference need not apply!

There was a time and place when unions were needed. Working conditions in the late 1800's and early 1900's were abysmal. Unions were formed for the laborers and some needed changes took place. That was a good thing.

Early on, unions became an ipso facto mafioso operation (no offense to my mafioso friends!).

Thankfully, in recent years, unions in many sectors have become more and more impotent, especially in right to work states, which are the bane of labor unions. But they maintain massive power in Gov't funded institutions such as the field of education. Any wonder why our education system sucks big time? If you're a lousy teacher, don't worry, the union will go to bat for you. And if you are a truly exceptional teacher, you're going to get paid the same as the lousy teacher because, remember, you are not an individual, you are a proud member of the union!

Ever wonder why the postal workers are never in a big hurry? (I will make a huge exception here for some of the neighborhood mail carriers, who like my regular carrier busts her butt daily...) From what I understand, it's virtually impossible to get fired from the Post Office for being a lousy employee...why? The labor union.

Labor Day? Puhleeeaaaase! I make it a point to work every Labor Day because I really do honor the hard working people of America. How better to honor them than by working? They/we are the ones who make this economy work. It's not the special interest union thugs who contribute to society. It's the hard working, rugged individuals (some of whom, unfortunately, happen to be caught up in the union folderol) who make this country work. Keep working hard, America and tell your local union thug you want no part of him and his corrupt institutional collectivism.

Happy Labor Day!

Trouble in Paradise

That utopian template of the annointed elites is crumbling. The vaunted France and Germany (ergo, all of Europe) whom the US altruistically saved in two, going on three, world wars is reaching a crisis point. Nevermind that the leftists in America continually point to the 'nuanced' Europeans as our role models. Europe in general and France and Germany specifically, are held in high esteem by progressive socialists who pray (to whomever secularists pray) that the US could be more 'at one' with Europe. How wonderful it would be if only we could be more like them.

Just as those who want national socialized health care in this country are blind to the problems of British or Canadian health care, so are they blind to the crippling problems that socialism has wrought on Europe; outrageous taxation, ridiculously high unemployment, substandard housing, a middle class that more resembles our 'poor,' small cars (the libs love those!), unreal gas prices and probably the scariest, (but least likely to be addressed problem), an ever growing Moslem population that at some point is going to overtake Europe as we know it. Just what kind of rationale does it take to deduce that Europe should be our national role model??

One of the most illuminating pieces I've come across on the subject of Europe's decline is an expatriate's lament written by Nidra Pollar, an American who moved to Paris 30 years ago and has come to see the light. It's a must read! Please check it out.

I'm at a loss as to why so many look to failing nations as their role models. What is that about, anyway?

Dress Rehearsal for the Fat Lady

Kerry is toast. His campaign is hopelessly clueless. Clueless in that it is relying on the way things used to be. The left used to be able to count on the 'mainstream' media to fight its battles. Kerry hasn't learned that the old media isn't as powerful as they once were, and they are losing their once monopolistic influence daily. His battle plan is effete, dated and ineffective. It's a new age. There's a new zeitgeist He hasn't a chance against the nouveau 'swarming' techniques of the adept Bush campaign.

"Swarming is a seemingly amorphous but carefully structured, coordinated way to strike from all directions at a particular point or points, by means of a sustainable 'pulsing' of force and/or fire, close-in as well as from stand-off positions. It will work best -- perhaps it will only work -- if it is designed mainly around the deployment of myriad small, dispersed, networked maneuver units. The aim is to coalesce rapidly and stealthily on a target, attack it, then dissever and redisperse, immediately ready to recombine for a new pulse. Unlike previous military practice, battle management is now mainly about 'command and decontrol,' as networked units all over the field of battle (or business, or activism, or terror and crime) coordinate and strike the adversary in fluid, flexible, nonlinear ways."

According to Hugh Hewitt's September 2nd blog:

While Bush-Cheney 2004 is not coordinating with Swift Boat Vets for Truth, is not sending out talking points to the talkers on radio row, is not hard-wired into Brit Hume's head, and most certainly does not run the center-right of the blogosphere, all of these forces are swarming around Kerry and delivering many serious blows to his credibility and his strategic plan. They are "inside the Kerry campaign's OODA loop," and the result is paralysis and recrimination within Kerry's staff.

Kerry was in serious trouble long before the collosally successful Republican Convention, but the convention will be the event that officially marks Kerry's demise as a serious presidential contender. His sophomoric little midnight rally right after the convention was just the final nail in his campaign coffin. There will be many more nails, to be sure...but they will be superfluous, because his campaign is already doomed. It's all over but the shouting and there will be a whole lotta shouting from here on out!

Misguided Quote of the Day

"Even Dan Rather of CBS News, whom conservatives have been persecuting for years as being "liberal," was taken with Schwarzenegger's very combative speech, saying he "slapped Kerry around like a hockey puck."
-Tom Shales, Washington Post
(Gov. Schwarzenegger never mentioned Kerry in his speech)

Note to Dan Rather...Watch/listen to whatever before commenting on it!

Meltdown?

This is the third day of the Republican Convention in NYC and guess who's having serious credibility problems? In fact maybe even hemorrhaging from a figurative head wound. Yes, Kerry, to be sure, but that's not exactly who I'm referring to here. It's the Old Media, which loves to refer to itself as the mainstream media as if they were really mainstream. They may have been mainstream in the past, but probably because they used to be the only game in town. That was then, this is now and we may be seeing a media meltdown equal to that of the once respectable democrat party.

Last nite's ratings are in and according to Drudge, Fox wins big!

FOXNEWS BEATS BROADCAST NETWORKS FOR TUESDAY NIGHT COVERAGE OF CONVENTION -- HISTORIC UNPRECEDENTED NUMBERS FOR CABLE

10-11PM

FOXNEWS -- 5.2 MILLION
NBC -- 5.1 MILLION
CBS -- 4.4 MILLION
ABC -- 4.3 MILLION
MSNBC -- 1.6 MILLION
CNN -- 1.5 MILLION


FOXNEWS peak came during Laura Bush's speech with 5,216,000 viewers... [5,124,000 during Schwarzenegger]

It's not just the television networks. The print media has been losing credibility (measured in circulation and revenues) for years. Why the ignominious downfall for the aged elite media? They weren't able to deal with competition in the free market of ideas now available online, on cable and on AM radio. Their subtle left-leaning bias is no longer subtle and, more often than not they are openly backing Kerry, who, too, is losing popularity faster than you can say Jungle Boat Ride.