Thursday, November 30, 2006

power brokers

When the Purpose-Driven epidemic was going around our local churches, I had a vague suspicion it wasn't quite right, but didn't exactly know why. Now, Herescope has been painting a much clearer picture about what Rick Warren's purposes might be, and it's not pretty. From a recent post:
"Rick Warren was apparently quite unhappy with last week's press... about his recent foray into Syria as an American pastoral diplomat. For the first time he responded to criticism directly by issuing a statement to his Saddleback Family entitled MESSAGE THIS WEEKEND! that put forward the best "spin" on his recent controversial activities.

Rebutting the accuracy of Warren's statements was WorldNetDaily: "Rick Warren on Syria: 'A moderate country,' 11/26/06, and Sandy Simpson of Deception in the Church, "Rick Warren 'Explains' Himself," 11/25/06.

In Warren's letter defending of his recent activities, he denied several times that he was engaged in politics:
1. "But my visit [to Syria] was not political,…"

2. "Left or Right is irrelevant to me. I'm not a politician."

3. "Of course, you friends know my heart, my motivation, and my 26 year track record. What matters to me is not pleasure...possessions...prestige...politics...power.. or popularity. I couldn't care less about these things."
Perhaps Warren is naive about the political nature of an American evangelical leader of his stature hanging out with the internationalist big boys. Or perhaps he is being disingenuous. But in his letter to the Saddleback family he devoted an entire paragraph to outline some of his recent activities, which included:
"No matter where I've been invited to speak- to Congress, to the Davos World Economic Forum, at Harvard and Oxford and Cambridge, to the United Nations. to the Foreign Affairs Council…."
Obviously, these are politically-tinged events of the international variety. And this list is incomplete. An October 2005 Fortune magazine [ http://tinyurl.com/y84cgv] article by Marc Gunther, entitled "POWER PASTOR: Will Success Spoil Rick Warren - America's new superstar pastor wants to rebrand evangelical Christianity. He's got the management genius to do it. Here's where he's leading his troops," detailed a few of his other political-sounding endeavors, including:
"…[T]he Aspen Ideas Festival, the Young Presidents Organization, a Pew Foundation forum for religion writers, and the University of Judaism.… He has gone before the Council on Foreign Relations to pitch his newest idea: a breathtakingly ambitious project to mobilize American Christians to fight poverty, illiteracy, and AIDS in Africa."
Again, these are not all apolitical organizations.

---

...despite Warren's protests that he does not engage in politics, he has been actively working in the political realm to forge new political ties for evangelicals with the Democratic Party. For example, a news account from July 2006 entitled "Democrats attempt to close the faith-gap with the GOP" by A. B. Stoddard, describes Rick Warren's involvement with House Democratic Caucus Chairman James Clyburn (D-S.C.), a "minister’s son, handpicked by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to lead a new Faith Working Group as part of the party’s larger undertaking on values issues." Nancy Pelosi is now the Democratic Majority Leader in the U.S. House of Representatives. The article explained:
"Major players in the party — including Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Howard Dean — have held and attended conferences in the faith community and met with bishops and religious leaders including Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life, and Bishop T.D. Jakes, who runs a popular megachurch in Texas."
The article notes that these meetings were closed:
"The DNC’s interfaith program, known as Faith in Action, has employed staffers to reach out to the evangelical, Catholic, Muslim and Jewish faithful. The visits and conversations have been closed to press to foster candid, open discussions."
The purpose of such meetings? You guessed it! Politics!
"Democrats are hoping the groundwork they are laying will broaden the values debate and ultimately help them capture the new voters necessary to reclaim majorities nationwide and win the White House in 2008."

"Last month, when Democrats dominated a bipartisan event joining lawmakers, clergy and lay leaders to address poverty, at which Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) received national press for a rousing speech…."
(For more information on the Democratic Party's Faith Working Group see, for example, http://tinyurl.com/y54scm and http://tinyurl.com/y4xfmu.)

One astonishing feature of Rick Warren's foray into Democratic Party politics this past year was the inclusion of his public relations manager, A. Larry Ross, mentioned in the same July news account:
"In searching for that winning formula, A. Larry Ross, a public-relations executive representing the top Christian leaders in the country who accompanied Warren on his visit with Senate Democrats in February, offered up a public-relations adage.

"'The largest number of people focused on the smallest point of agreement gives you your greatest impact,' he said."
Pardon our incredulity over his proclaimed innocence in politics, but why would Rick Warren -- who tries to be everybody's image of the casual-pastor-next-door -- need to take his hired PR guy into secret meetings with him? Unless, of course, he anticipated problems with his "image" if this type of information about his political activities ever came out in the public."
The re-strengthening of Christian principles into our government is a noble goal, but I suspect that is not the goal of these PR-playing power salesmen. It looks more and more that the parties involved simply want to have a form of godliness but deny its power. The only way our country or any other will turn to Christian ideals is for Christ Himself to change the hearts and lives of those involved. Pray that for our leaders, and for all world leaders, including those who are enemies.

update: Maybe I was too quick to judge Mr. Warren. Maybe his cause is just. However, I stand by my conclusion that if America is to return to Christian values, it will not happen by church leaders selling out on those values.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

two quick links

21st century fire and ice

post-election new direction

epidemic

Forget West Nile or Bird Flu, Challies tells us about an sickness that circles the globe at the speed of light.

Here's just one of the symptoms:
(KDWB-FM 101.3's) host Dave Ryan... asked folks if they were willing to give up their baby for 24 hours in exchange for one of Sony's highly coveted (PS3) video game consoles. More than a dozen people called to offer up their kids, but only a few realized it was all just a gag.

"We got more calls than we could handle," said Ryan, who referred to the practical joke as a "social experiment." "They were lined up willing to turn their kids over to strangers for a... PlayStation."

"There were a lot of phone calls that we didn't even get to, and I would say three- quarters of them were serious," said LaTart.

People with babies of all ages - including a 2-day-old and a 1-week-old - made it on air. One of the more serious sounding calls came from a woman named "Katie," who agreed to give up her 1-month-old for three days. She wanted to sell the PS3 on eBay to make some extra money for the holidays...

After announcing that the contest was a prank, "Katie" called the station and asked "does that mean I don't get the PlayStation?" She was clearly more than willing to give up her child to get her hands on this year's top gift. It seemed to her a small price to pay for a Playstation.
Read the rest.

stifling of dissent, pt. 487432

Universities are quickly changing from places where "ideas may be freely exchanged" to places where "certain ideas are beyond the pale and thus must be crushed by the long arm of the censor."

I suspect that the censor is using his left arm...

Monday, November 27, 2006

promoting religion

Found via Viewpoint:
The professor, who was a nice man but not the most engaging teacher, made the point in passing that more people had died in the name of religion than anything else in the history of the world. It sort of woke up the room for one brief shining moment. The lefties in the class became engaged as they finally heard a claim being staked - something that was not milquetoast from their point of view. I looked around the room at some of my like-minded friends and we prepared to go to battle. But we overlooked one of our more quiet friends who usually sat in the back of the room and rarely made comments in class. To our amazement, he slowly raised his hand. When called upon he asked the following question, "What religion, exactly, were Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot working to advance?" And then he put his hand down, put his head down, and went back to reading whatever it was that he brought with him to pass the time. There was stunned silence in the room.
Viewpoint also links to some other promoters of false religion.

Friday, November 24, 2006

spacemonkey ripoff?

The network formerly noted for playing music videos just ran an ad for their ringtone rip-... er, service using a spacemonkey for a mascot. I think everybody's favorite spacemonkey should sue them...

expertise

Mactonex at Clientcopia says what many professional artists are thinking:
I start to wonder why a financial officer has any say whatsoever in the (design of the) cover? Why does she get to try and do my job? I wouldn't phone her up and say "Oh hi, I was just looking at the balance sheet, would you be able to change all the nines to sevens? It's just that I don't really like nine, and seven's my birthday." It just wouldn't happen, it's not my job. Design is my job, so why in an organisation with a supposed coherent design strategy does she get to decide?

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Thanksgiving

Psalm 107, NIV

1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say this—
those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,
3 those he gathered from the lands,
from east and west, from north and south.


4 Some wandered in desert wastelands,
finding no way to a city where they could settle.
5 They were hungry and thirsty,
and their lives ebbed away.
6 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
7 He led them by a straight way
to a city where they could settle.
8 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for men,
9 for he satisfies the thirsty
and fills the hungry with good things.


10 Some sat in darkness and the deepest gloom,
prisoners suffering in iron chains,
11 for they had rebelled against the words of God
and despised the counsel of the Most High.
12 So he subjected them to bitter labor;
they stumbled, and there was no one to help.
13 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress.
14 He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom
and broke away their chains.
15 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for men,
16 for he breaks down gates of bronze
and cuts through bars of iron.


17 Some became fools through their rebellious ways
and suffered affliction because of their iniquities.
18 They loathed all food
and drew near the gates of death.
19 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress.
20 He sent forth his word and healed them;
he rescued them from the grave.
21 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for men.
22 Let them sacrifice thank offerings
and tell of his works with songs of joy.


23 Others went out on the sea in ships;
they were merchants on the mighty waters.
24 They saw the works of the LORD,
his wonderful deeds in the deep.
25 For he spoke and stirred up a tempest
that lifted high the waves.
26 They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths;
in their peril their courage melted away.
27 They reeled and staggered like drunken men;
they were at their wits' end.
28 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
and he brought them out of their distress.
29 He stilled the storm to a whisper;
the waves of the sea were hushed.
30 They were glad when it grew calm,
and he guided them to their desired haven.
31 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for men.
32 Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people
and praise him in the council of the elders.


33 He turned rivers into a desert,
flowing springs into thirsty ground,
34 and fruitful land into a salt waste,
because of the wickedness of those who lived there.
35 He turned the desert into pools of water
and the parched ground into flowing springs;
36 there he brought the hungry to live,
and they founded a city where they could settle.
37 They sowed fields and planted vineyards
that yielded a fruitful harvest;
38 he blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased,
and he did not let their herds diminish.

39 Then their numbers decreased, and they were humbled
by oppression, calamity and sorrow;
40 he who pours contempt on nobles
made them wander in a trackless waste.
41 But he lifted the needy out of their affliction
and increased their families like flocks.
42 The upright see and rejoice,
but all the wicked shut their mouths.

43 Whoever is wise, let him heed these things
and consider the great love of the LORD.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Banned In Pakistan?

I suppose I should be flattered by this? It's a mirror of this blog in order to get around Pakistani censors.

And I wonder why Pakistan would want to ban this blog. I'm sure it has nothing to do with this...

or this...

or this...

or this...

or this...

or this...

or this...

or this...

or this...

or this...

or this...

or this...

or this...

or this...

or this...

or this...

or this...

or this...

or this...

or this...

or this...

or this...

or this...

or this...

or this...

or this...

or this...

or this...

or this...

and certainly not this...

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

pop morality

Just in case you were confused about what the standards for today's morality are, I've compiled a quick checklist:
but...
Hey, they gotta draw the line somewhere...

:P

two million reasons

...not to "go home"

malignant parasites

VDH asks of Islamofascism: "Who and what caused this foul apparition that has succeeded fascism, nazism, and communism as the world's next bane?":
There is wealth aplenty pouring into Iran and Iraq through oil that is sold at a high price in a world market whose sanctity is ultimately protected by the United States. So the poverty there of radical Islam is not material, but one of the soul.

There is a sick ingenuity of a sort that can disguise terrorists as state policemen in Baghdad to kidnap and torture the innocent, and outwit Humvees with land mines. The improvised explosive device, with help from Iran, gets ever more complex. And there is a great deal of mental energy, time, and money that went into making rockets and suicide belts or even the graphics on a bin Laden infomercial.

How odd that Iranians cannot design a car or computer, but can with the proper instruction manual spend millions of hours putting together Western-designed centrifuges, like the stamped lettered-parts of a build-it-your-self intricate model toy.

So again, the problem with the radicals in the Middle East is not the lack of capital or mental energy. Rather under the influence of Islamism and autocracy a deep-seeded cultural malady distorts human effort and creativity solely for destructive purposes.

Monday, November 20, 2006

ars pro ego

I'm no Beatles fan, but One Cosmos notes they got something right:
At some point in past 30 or 35 years, there was a definite shift in the attitude of most performers. Instead of being on stage in a respectful and subservient manner to please the audience, the audience was there to literally worship and glorify the artist.

Look at the Beatles. They ended each performance by literally bowing to the audience. One of the reasons they stopped performing in August of 1966 was that they could not deal with the bizarre idealization of the audience. For them, they were still innocent enough -- still the product of an earlier time -- to simply want to play their music to appreciative ears. All the other nonsense of “Beatlemania” was not just superfluous, but annoying and even disorienting, as it would be to any remotely emotionally healthy or even just minimally insightful person who realizes he is not worthy of such adulation, much less worship. It should be disturbing to the recipient, to say the least. (In Bob Dylan’s enjoyable autobiography, he devotes a chapter to the absolute nightmare of the idealization he received in the latter half of the 1960’s.)

But today, as I said, the situation is entirely reversed, and entertainment has literally become a form of substitute religion, in which sick celebrities comfortably take on the role of idealized demigod instead of shrugging it off with embarrassment. People now want to become ”artists” not for the joy and privilege of creativity in the service of transcendent beauty -- which is its own reward -- but simply for fame, which is nothing more than a collective pathology that glorifies narcissism (and is the death of art, needless to say).

Remember, the narcissist cannot be a narcissist without a community to mirror his grandiosity. In a culture that was not already deeply sick, we wouldn’t know the names “Paris Hilton” or “Britney Spears” or even “Katie Couric” (to pick a supposedly “respectable” name out of thin air; it could be most anyone with great celebrity but no talent). If I could ask them one question, I suppose it would be, “why are you not constantly embarrassed?” Either that, or, if they were slightly more self-aware, “how do you conceal your contempt for the idiots responsible for making a talentless person such as yourself so wealthy and powerful?” I mean, what kind of ignoramus watches CBS News to inform themselves about the world? Don’t people at CBS or Time magazine know that their success depends upon legions of dolts? I’m sure some of the more cynical executives must, but cynicism is just another variation on narcissism.

Friday, November 17, 2006

ssssss beeeer

remember the tv ads with the frogs that liked budweiser? looks like rattlesnakes prefer coors

one hill, one marine

The story of Mitchell Paige is a must-read for all real Americans.

atheistic morality

Viewpoint proves the term "atheistic morality" an utter oxymoron:
Skeptics maintain that there are universal moral principles that exist independently of God which we can use to evaluate what Christians believe about right and wrong, but they don't say what these principles are. What exactly are they and are they really independent of God?

Presumably, one such principle is that cruelty is morally wrong, but, if so, why is it? What is it about cruelty that makes it wrong? Is it that it hurts people? Why is hurting people wrong? Is hurting people wrong because I wouldn't want someone to hurt me? Of course I wouldn't want to be hurt, but that's no reason why I should not hurt someone else if I can.

Perhaps our skeptic friends would reply that we shouldn't hurt others because if we get caught we'd be punished. Quite so, but then this is a prudential, not a moral, reason why I shouldn't be cruel. If I could be cruel and get away with it there would be nothing immoral about doing so.

The problem for the atheist is that there can be no moral obligation apart from something or someone who has the authority and power to impose that obligation, but the atheistic materialist denies the existence of any such entity, and instead, like a magician finding a coin behind a child's ear, seems to simply pull moral obligation out of thin air.

They may deny this and point out that the consensus among humans is that cruelty is wrong, and therefore it must be, but even if they could know what the consensus is, since when is right and wrong established by whatever the majority believes? What if the majority of people held that atheism is wrong (which it does)? Would Dennett and Dawkins abandon their atheism and bow to that consensus?

Perhaps they would insist that cruelty is wrong because it stifles human fluorishing, but why is that a reason for it to be wrong? Where in the vast reaches of the cosmos do they find the principle that we are obligated to enhance the well-being of others? What reason can they give me why I should not instead adopt the principle that I should enhance my own well-being at the expense of that of others? What makes that principle less moral than the alternative? Is it just that people don't like it as much?

The fact of the matter is that when an atheist starts talking about universal moral principles to which we should all adhere it's about as meaningful as a politician making a campaign speech. Such principles can only exist if there is a universal mind which weaves them into the fabric of creation. If no such mind exists then neither does moral obligation. Morality becomes a matter purely of one's own tastes, preferences, and biases. Moral disputes are like disputes about whether anchovies on a pizza are better than sausage.

When Dawkins, Dennett, and Harris declaim about the moral horror of killing innocents in a holy war they are saying nothing more than that they don't like killing innocents, just like they don't care for anchovies on their pizza. That's nice, but it's a far distance from telling us why killing anyone is actually wrong. This they don't do, because, quite simply, on the assumption of atheism, they can't.

this isn't your father's scientology

Vox Popoli notes:
It's interesting how arrogant scientists can be despite the fact that so much of our understanding of how the world works is based on their reasonable conjectures, never mind how much past reasonable conjecture is now known to be wrong...

Much "science" is increasingly less concerned with empirical evidence and rather more devoted to ontological speculation. Now, there's nothing wrong with such speculation and certainly it's possible for it to somehow advance human knowledge. But to call it science is a misnomer; Richard Dawkins openly admits here that he has no more evidence for his hypothetical founding "Replicator" than he has for God. In this particular example, he is writing as a science-ist, not a scientist.

But don't let that vital distinction slow you down when you're criticizing those ignorant of the latest developments in scientific ontology... or should I say... scientology?

Thursday, November 16, 2006

now more than ever

question
authority

fast food

Dustbury predicts some shakeups:
  • Taco Bell purchased by AT&T
  • Sonic Drive-In moves headquarters from Oklahoma City to Seattle
  • Federal Trade Commission rules that Long John Silver's is "not all that long"
  • Carl's III spun off
  • Union fails to organize Cheesecake Factory, dessert cart subsequently outsourced
  • Burger King outed, was a queen all along
  • New European Union rules prohibit Olive Garden from describing itself as "Italian"
  • Chuck E. Cheese moves upscale, will now be known as Charles Edward Wensleydale
  • Popeye's Chicken adds spinach to menu after nasty note from King Features Syndicate
  • Donald Trump buys McDonald's, restaurants to be rebranded "The Donald's," new slogan: "I Deserve a Tax Break Today"
...and I wonder if the controversy over gay managers will split up Church's Chicken.

think globally

kofi vs. global warming - via guns'n'butter:
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said today that global warming was as great a threat to civilization as weapons of mass destruction, and therefore it deserved an equally serious response from the world community.

"Global climate change must take its place alongside those threats -- conflict, poverty, the proliferation of deadly weapons -- that have traditionally monopolized first-order political attention. And by first-order political attention, I mean complete and utter inaction by the world community," Annan said.

"The United Nations must treat global warming exactly as we have treated the threats from genocidal regimes, kleptocracies that starve their own people, and the worldwide proliferation of weapons of mass destruction at the hands of terrorist organizations and rogue states. We must vigorously denounce it, preferably with a haughty twirl of the index finger and a carefully practiced expression of deep concern, before heading back to our hotel rooms to order pizza and hookers and otherwise enjoy all of New York City's wonderful amenities at the expense of our respective nations' unsuspecting taxpayers."

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

goes without sayings

maxims for muslims:
“Sticks and stones will break your bones if your words should ever humiliate me.”

“If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try to blame the Jews.”

“A penny saved will help finance a martyrdom operation.”

“There's something rotten in Denmark. Free speech.”

“Give a Palestinian a fish, and he'll eat for a day. Give him refugee camps and UN handouts, and he'll steal your fish forever.”

“A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Period.”

“One picture is worth a thousand riots.”

“The race doesn't always go the swift, but to the sneaky and duplicitous.”

“Good fences make it more difficult to kill your neighbors.”

“If it's broke, we have no idea how to fix it.”

“If you can't beat 'em, at least try to kill and maim as many of their children as possible.”

“If you can't say anything nice, (you could be the next) President of Iran.”

“It's not whether you win or lose, it's how much meaningless suffering you can inflict.”

“Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, the wretched refuse of your teeming deserts. They will make excellent suicide bombers.”
and morons:
“Ask not what your country can do for you. Instead, pack the Supreme Court with activist judges and make it an entitlement.”

“It's not how you play the game, so long as no one wins or loses and gets their feelings hurt.”

“A fool and someone else's money can solve any societal problem.”

“If life gives you lemons, file a class action suit against Sunkist.”

“A person is known by the company he boycotts.”

“When the going gets tough, the tough start leaking.”

“Beggars can't be choosers. Rather, they're now called ‘homeless.’”

“Boys will be boys, at least until government provides subsidized ritalin for every last one of them.”

“Regardless of your background, any American who really works hard at it can still be a victim.”

youth cult

One Cosmos (again):
Life is growth. Or to put it in the negative, nothing grows but life. Everything else is merely a mechanical process... If you are not growing, you are not just dying, you are already dead. And this is why the Oprah-esque books on aging are not really about youth worship but death worship. It is why the stretched and botoxed Nancy Pelosi looks less like the innocently beautiful young woman of her imagination than a surprised corpse.

tv & movie reality additions

I ran across a new list that has some additions for an old list I had compiled and expanded:
  • TV detectives can solve any case in under an hour. Movie detectives can only solve a case after they have been suspended from duty.
  • Once applied, lipstick will never rub off - even while scuba diving.
  • One single match can produce enough light to illuminate a football stadium.
  • Most musical instruments (especially wind instruments and accordions) can be played without moving your fingers.
  • On a police stake-out, the action will never start until food is being consumed and scalding hot coffees are perched precariously on the dashboard.
  • All single women own a cat.
  • Creepy music or satanic chanting coming from a graveyard should always be investigated, preferably at midnight by high school seniors.
  • A disconnected phone call can often be restored by frantically beating the cradle and saying "Hello? Hello?" repeatedly.
  • When you turn out the light to go to bed, everything in your room will still be visible, just slightly bluish.
  • Anyone can land a 747 as long as there is one person (preferably an irritable chain-smoker) in the control tower to talk you down.
  • All teen house parties have one of every stereotypical subculture present - even people who aren't liked and would never get invited to parties.
  • Stallone's Law: One man shooting at 20 men has a better chance of killing them all than 20 men firing at one man.

it's a start

Miss O'Hara says that (for once) there's something worth watching on CNN:
(Anti-US-and-Israel propaganda by alJazeera, etc.) is what we face, and it is what the media has been criminally negligent in very studiously not reporting. On his CNN Headline News show tonight - 7 and 9 PM central, and sometimes again at midnight or 1AM. Please watch. There is so much we are not seeing or hearing unless we go to the right sources, and who has the time?

We are fighting a great evil. We are in greater danger than we were in the 1940s, because we refuse to hear. When we do, we are too polite, too kind. They tell us they will nuke Israel, that the Islamic flag will fly over the White House, that the unbeliever's forehead will be branded with shame. They are telling us what they are GOING to do. This is not a bluff, America. When will we rise up in our own defense? When will we understand?

And, quite frankly, when will the "moderate Muslims" show up and fight with us? Because they will be slaughtered by the fascists, too. It's about 10% of Islam who is extreme. But that's a lot of people. As in a few ticks over a million of them. And when they're done killing me, and the Jews, and the Catholics, and the atheists, and everyone in Hollywood - they'll kill the "moderate Muslims" because they are not Muslim enough. Oh, yes they will. Either help out those fighting the extremists or stop your whining about "The nice Muslims are being hurt by this, too!"

reruns

tv: ok.

history: not so much...

Monday, November 13, 2006

perish, the thought

what?!? appeasement doesn't work?!? inconceivable!!!
Now that it "perceives" America as emasculated (due to the Democrats' election), Al Qaeda appears to be moving very agressively to initiate new attacks against the West--while it perceives the Bush Administration to be "helpless" to do anything in response.

Whether America--or Bush--is indeed impotent to respond to a 9/11 type attack is immaterial to this point; because all that is required is for AQ to believe we will do nothing. Perception is everything. Before the elections I warned repeatedly that the elections of Democrats would embolden Islamists everywhere to step up their violence. Now, as AJ Strata has been reporting for the last several days, predictions about the elections sparking new boldness in our enemies seem to have credence. Stay tuned...

First we have India renewing its security clamp down at their airports after the FBI issued warnings that Al Qaeda is planning on highjacking US planes for a 2nd 9-11.

“We sounded an alert after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) forwarded an email that spoke of the possibility of an al-Qaeda attempt to hijack US-bound flights from India,” a home ministry official said.

The official, who did not wanted to be named, said the email written by an “unknown entity” appeared to have originated from India and was received by the FBI Saturday at its headquarters in the US.

On top of this new concern is word out regarding Al Qaeda plans to topple the democratically elected government in Lebanon. This is in addition to word that Al Qaeda plans to attack Europe around the Christmas and New Year holidays. And we all know about the mobilization of Al Qaeda in Iraq - to send these kinds of signals to Pelosi and Reid. If this trend continues, the election of the Democrats will have been seen as one of the biggest political blunders in modern history. The Democrats emboldned the terrorists with their unrelenting calls to surrender Iraq. And now they have to make good on their commitments to Al Qaeda - at least that is what Al Qaeda believes. I wonder if we would be here, with this problem, if the liberal media and dems (and impatient Reps) has stood by Bush on this one issue and declared no option but success in Iraq. My guess is Al Qaeda would have given up the ghost by now. But we will never know for sure.

publisher parish

hmm...

...

it's been a while...

...

maybe i ought to post something...

...

...

...

i got nothing...

...

i'll be back when i do...

...

update: here's a couple of hopeful signs from the times.

Saturday, November 11, 2006

oops he did it again

(i'm keeping this top-posted for a while - check below for new posts)

fake but accurate



update: powerline found a similar concept

rare sight

but not rare enough:
Germany has the lowest birthrate in Europe, with an average of 1.36 children per woman. Despite government incentives to encourage larger families, the population is dropping rapidly and that trend will continue, with an expected loss of as much as 12 million by 2050. That would mean about a 15 percent drop from the country’s current population of 82.4 million
It’s a rare event when you actually get to see a civilization commit suicide. I don’t think anything quite this dramatic has happened since the collapse of the Roman Empire – at least not since the first Moslem expansion. At least the first time, the barbarians and the Moslems had to fight for the ruins of the old Empire. This time, the Europeans just seem to be handing them the keys to the city. Do they really think they’ll be allowed to coexist? Have they forgotten that North Africa, the Middle East, and the Arabian Peninsula used to be Christian and part of the Hellenic world?

By the way, just in terms of their retirement system, how long do they expect young Moslems, with big families to feed, will be willing to pay the social security bill for a bunch of old, self-indulgent atheists?

like night and day

two people i would never have expected to share a stage: woody allen and billy graham - in a two part video clip from what looks like the late 60s or early 70s.

Friday, November 10, 2006

proof of msm bias

Texas Rainmaker notes two headlines:
Afghanistan on November 6, 2006 - the day before the election:
Poverty, anger with government fueling Taliban support in Afghanistan

Many in Kandahar say their confidence in the government is falling, and some say that is helping fuel support for the Taliban.
Afghanistan on November 9, 2006 - two days after the election
Poll: Afghans express confidence in country’s direction, security

Despite a raging pro-Taliban insurgency, the people of Afghanistan say they are optimistic about the future, satisfied with their young democracy and rank security low on their list of everyday concerns, according to a survey out today.
and asks a few questions:
1. If Diebold was rigging elections for Bush, how did Democrats win this week?

2. If the electronic voting machines in place for election day compromised the integrity of the election, why aren’t you still complaining about such an important issue?

3. If voter fraud and disenfranchisement of particular groups is so widespread, why are you or the MSM not talking about it anymore?

4. If Republicans stole the elections in 2000 and 2004, why didnt they steal this one?

5. If Bush = Hitler, why did he let Democrats win both Houses of Congress?

6. Now that the “world loves us” that should end the threat of terrorism, right?

7. If Bush is a Fascist, how did 79 million people find their way to voting booths this week?

8. Since corruption was the key issue according to exit polls, will you address it?

9. How does a 33-seat margin in the House and a 1-seat majority in the Senate equal a mandate, when a 31-seat margin in the House and 11-seat majority in the Senate, combined with having the White House, was not?

see what you've done?

(not my readership, but the voting population in general)

even reuters admits alQaeda was encouraged by election results:
(Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, a.k.a. Abu Ayyub al-Masri) The leader of Iraq's al Qaeda wing on Friday gloated over forcing outgoing U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to flee the Iraqi battlefield and said his group would not rest until it blew up the White House.

"I swear by (Allah) we shall not rest from jihad until we ... blow up the filthiest house known as the White House," he said.

The Democrats' victory at U.S. Congressional elections on Tuesday were a step in the right direction, the speaker said.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

this is a song of hope

didn't think there was anything going to brighten this dark day after the election, but one cosmos just did.

some key quotes:
For while we all know that the illiterate cannot read, that doesn't mean the literate can. We should never confuse knowing psychology, or history, or religion, with understanding it. Most any ignoramus can be trained to become a university professor. Which is not to say that all professors are idiots, but that all idiots are ignorant of their ignorance and therefore halfway to tenure.

---

...conservatism is a form of philosophical realism that appreciates that there is a source of truth higher than, and independent of, human beings -- an antecedent reality that can be perceived only by the awakened intellect, not the senses.

But for the postmodern barbarians of horizontal progressivism, the apparent exhausts the Real, which is why it is so fruitless to argue with its adherents. It is literally like arguing over the merits of Beethoven’s late string quartets with a dog, except that the worst dog nevertheless retains a noble instinct for adoration of its spiritual better, even if it cannot articulate the reasons for doing so.

---

...Thus, conservatism is progressive to the core, except that progress is measured in terms of fidelity to this divine-human template. In fact, this is the only meaningful definition of progress, because you cannot judge how well a thing is working in the absence of the goal it is trying to achieve.

What currently goes by the name of “progressivism” is a diabolical doctrine that defines vertical progress out of existence. It abolishes the real world of transcendent essences and measures progress in wholly horizontal terms, in relationship to that most fleeting, transient, and ungovernable of human modalities, desire. Thus, to the extent that there is a gap between the world and my wishes -- the way it is and the way I want it to be -- there is a frustrating lack of progress.

As such, the need for horizontal progress is infinite, in conformity with the combustible mixture of envy and imagination in the passive and somnolent Exterior Man. This in turn leads to the state of permanent rebellion, because the horizontal world can never satisfy the hungry ghosts of envy and entitlement, for in the absence of gratitude, all of the goods in our life cannot be assimilated...

Horizontal progress cannot be infinite for the simple reason that progress cannot be infinite. Rather, progress can only be measured in terms of an absolute standard that lies outside space and time. The “false infinite” of flatland progressivism is not conditioned from top to bottom, so there can be no higher or lower. Rather, there is only low and lower, until man sinks beneath himself over the horizon of linear history.

But for vertical man, to paraphrase Thoreau, his life is rich in proportion to the number of things he can do without. Our lives are defined not as what we have but who we are, but not in its horizontal sense.
plus, Rumsfeld's replacement is Texas A&M's president, who is quoted as saying:
“Were we to become a top ten university and lose that spirit, those traditions, our culture, we would be nothing more than another giant education factory. A big brain with no heart. H***, we might as well be in Austin.”
Whoop!

i lost on jeopardy

or maybe it was monopoly...

this time will be the last time

as much as i'd like to agree with eject^3, a full plate of cold fury is much more appealing right now.

i saw the news today, oh boy

Two of today's AP headlines at Yahoo! News: Top Stories read:
  • Democrats sweep into power in House
  • Hamas chief: Truce with Israel is over
coincidence?

and in related news:
  • 9-11-2001: Islamists cheer as airliners destroy WTC
  • 11-8-2006: Islamists cheer as Democrats take over US Congress
coincidence?

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

in the suitcase on the left

The lunatic is on the grass.
The lunatic is on the grass.
Remembering games and daisy chains and laughs.
Got to keep the loonies on the path.

The lunatic is in the hall.
The lunatics are in my hall.
The paper holds their folded faces to the floor
And every day the paper boy brings more.
pardon me, i have to vomit.

repeatedly...

p.s. maybe when the troops come home, they can do a little house-cleaning...

hmm

the same restaurant that earlier served me the worst collard greens i ever had just served me the best lima beans i ever had. go figure...

that ain't book larnin!

In a recent interview, Kinky Friedman told Tucker Carlson that he had learned a lot from Willie Nelson. Shall I assume that includes tax evasion, pot smoking, and bankruptcy?

scrappleface convinced me

cut-and-run may be the best policy after all ;)
As Americans went to the polls this morning, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, announced that if Democrats don’t achieve a “clear, immediate, overwhelming victory” in the House and the Senate, she will lead them in a “responsible redeployment” from Congress.

“We don’t want to get tied up here for years in a sectarian battle that we can’t win,” Rep. Pelosi said. “Either we get what we want now, or we cut our losses and return to our home states.”
eject^3 does some good convincing too

helpful begging hints

As a follow-up to my previous post of helpful telemarketing hints, here are some helpful begging hints (inspired by the less-than-utterly-pleasant events of this evening):

1. You are less likely to succeed in begging from a person who is in the middle of changing a flat tire.
2. Note that the tire iron that the person is currently using to change the tire could easily be used to alter your state of health and/or life. Remember:
  • It is only their goodwill and lack of fear that prevents such alterations from occuring.
  • Make your request in a manner that does not tax those inclinations.
  • Continuing to beg after the person has given you money and returned to their task of changing the aforementioned flat tire is not the wisest choice under such circumstances.
3. You are less likely to succeed in begging if the only intelligible words from your mouth are "know what i'm sayin?".
4. Consider yourself extremely fortunate for any change received under such circumstances, perhaps even to the point of thanking the person for their donation to your self-destructive cause.

p.s. In retrospect, it is possible that the beggar who inspired this post did in fact thank me, insofar as the phrase "hnnnm ftdin yrchaah" may be interpreted as "thanks".

Monday, November 06, 2006

yet more reasons to vote republican

found at sharp knife, via several links:

If a conservative stays home on Election Day, he is objectively voting for liberal Democrats. He is hampering the efforts of those who agree with him, however imperfectly. He is automatically helping those whose policies he claims to detest. He is not remaining outside the contest nor "sending a message".

He is, in fact, championing those who would see his country defeated, his Constitution rended, his liberties ended, his children stolen and his property plundered. One way or another, you're GOING to vote.

The entire thrust of Western political systems have been based on the struggle to empower the individual and recognize the individual's right--and duty--to have a say in his own governance. And on one appointed day, every other year, the individual has a vote that is the equal of any. Yet now we're told that this individual should sit mute in hopes of somehow gaining influence in the future?

In a representative democracy, if you do not present yourself, how can you possibly hope to be re-"presented"?

And did you ever notice how it is only conservatives who are told not to participate? Democrats like voting so much that they sometimes do it two or three times. Indeed, when it is suggested that voters present an ID, we're told that Jim Crow is being re-imposed. And even now, while you're contemplating abandoning your franchise, Democrats are working to extend voting rights to criminals and even foreign citizens.

There are some people who won't get to vote this year. Some of them had to choose between jumping from the top floors of the World Trade Center or dying where they stood. Others, like Spec. Casey Sheehan or Petty Officer Second Class Michael A. Monsoor won't be voting this year...because they already voted with their very lives.

They voted for you, by the way.

They gave their lives to preserve our rights and in an effort to extend these rights to others. Do we honor them by abdicating our duty? By staying at home? By giving power to those who ban ROTC and military recruiters from campuses--while welcoming cop-killers, professional perverts, even terrorists and dictators to those same Democrat-run campuses?

No. Never. Never, never, never, never.

Terrorists also want you to remain at home on Election Day. They are laboring mightily to maximize the number of American combat deaths in hopes of demoralizing you. They realize we're having an election, and they know what the stakes are.

Democrats may not support the terrorists...but terrorists are supporting the Democrats--and openly so.

Think about that.

But think about it while you're standing in the polling booth, voting on Nov. 7th.

top seven mish-mash quotes

though most of them are funny, i hesitate to link to the rest, due to the (hopefully false) appearance of homicidal advocacy... 8^O>
"My circumference is 708 cheerios."

"Circuit analysis is much easier in communist countries because all resistors have been removed."

"Al Gore's transformation from abysmal failure to overweight bearded man is an inspiration to all Americans."

"I've played enough Blizzard games to realize that right now mother nature is engaging in the practice of "leveling" her hurricane... going around, picking off cows and trees and whatnot to increase its experience. The time to strike is now. By the time she gets it to category 7 it will be casting necromancy on other tropical storms and we will all be doomed by a bunch of zombie hurricanes."

"I think I would name my kids Snap, Crackle, and Pop. Inducing irreperable psychological damage in our young is a proud tradition in my family which I would hate to be the first one to renege on."

"Only a chupacabra deals in absolutes."

"I just had a great idea... Wiki-surgery! Instead of having an accredited professional perform surgery, you just have a bunch of random people who claim to know about surgery come and perform a bunch of minor incisions, nerve connections, etc., until the majority agrees that the surgery has been satisfactorily completed. (in the case of a revert-war... more anaesthesia?)"

In the footsteps of Reagan

Miss O'Hara:
I do not have trust in the Democratic party to defend America and her citizens. I do have that faith in the GOP - rockheaded as they may be, they understand far better what we face. The left won't even admit it - when they aren't welcoming it.

The left has done nothing in the face of terrorism but show its cowardice and cringing, masked by 'tolerance' and 'understanding'. They want to leave Iraq. They see no reason to tap the phones of suspected terrorists. They don't think our military is capable of winning the war, of protecting us.

The simple fact is that long ago, the left gave up on America. They disbelieved that any good could come of us, of freedom, of liberty. They disbelieve that we are intelligent enough to manage our own lives and make our own decisions. And they disbelieve that there is something worse than America in the world - in my mind, their greatest crime: it encourages them to set themselves against us and work with our enemies. How else to explain their adoration of Castro, their affection for Chavez and Achmadinejad and Saddam Hussein? To them, America is the greatest evil, and must be destroyed. It's a horrible affliction, a leprosy of the mind and spirit. Voting for them, and not voting at all, puts them in office - is this what you want? To inflict this upon our great, benevolent nation?

I am not talking about your average Democrat, the woman in the next cubicle, the doctor giving your child a flu shot or the man in the next welding bay. Those people, more often than not, still do love America. I know many of them. And they've no relationship whatsoever to Pelosi, Conyers, Kennedy, Kucinich, Kerry, Rangel...you know of whom I speak.

There's another reason I think the GOP has to be given another chance - a reason aside from the fact that they've proven themselves to be understanding about the current situation. It's that within most of them, I think the Reaganesque feeling is still there. It might be latent, or it might be obvious. But they, unlike the left, are capable of being awakened into decisive action instead of eternal positioning and politicking, if they've not already been startled into realization. In the meantime, the left is being purely negligent in their duty to provide, first and foremost, for the protection of America and her people.

If - when? - America is next attacked, the conservatives and GOP are going to be the ones demanding and working for defense and justice. The left will demand negotiation, understanding, and acquiesence - and not out of kindness, but out of craven cowardice and a lack of true strength in their beings. The left talks a fine game, but when it comes down to blood, sweat, and steel, they cannot be found on the battlefield, but cringing and begging for mercy, giving ground rather than standing on it until the last breath escapes in order to defend it. They have no faith in America. They are more akin to our enemies than they are to us.

Is that the face we wish to present to our enemies? Should the left win Tuesday, that is the face the world will see Wednesday morning.
She continues, then links to this lengthy proof defending our president's actions.

Sunday, November 05, 2006

"imagine"

Scrappleface's vision is much more obtainable than Lennon's (or Lenin's) ever was:
Experts concede that while the government is hobbled by the handicap of human nature, it could still do some good if it had some checks and balances, limited power, rule by law instead of men, and if it were all superintended by some authority higher than mankind.

“If we could draft a document that would specify those constraints,” said one Congressional scholar, “Then we’d have the foundation for the greatest nation on earth.”

that about wraps it up for this kerry person

House of Eratosthenes:
Like an ocean liner doing a hairpin-turn, barrel roll and loop-the-loop in rapid succession, the left-wing has come up with some last-minute election season talking points to deflect this. They are to be commended for this agility, but the product is lackluster and betrays the haphazard, panicky construction. The product is flimsy. Here’s the essence of it.
"Senator Kerry didn’t say it –"
Ugh…I’ll pause here to note that if I were in that room with Democratic credentials and a desire to see the Democratic party succeed on Tuesday, I would have pulled the emergency cord. I mean, we’re one sentence into this mini-platform, and right out of the chute the facts are on one side and Democrats are on the other. Like they can’t help themselves. At step one, they’re investing everything on the premise you can’t, or won’t, get ahold of a clip and simply play it back. That’s their keystone premise…here in the Age Of YouTube.

Continuing...
"Senator Kerry didn’t say it. But if he did, everybody knows he’s right. Everybody thinks what he said…which, really, he didn’t say. Senator Kerry doesn’t believe what you think he said, which he didn’t actually say, because he’s very well educated and he’s one of those troops, so it’s patently silly to think for a minute Kerry would say this thing, that he didn’t really say, which everybody knows to be true anyway. Kerry is right about this thing he didn’t really say. Everyone agrees. And he doesn’t."
Now, as I noted yesterday, Senator Kerry did say it and from watching the entire 15-minute speech it’s clear he meant exactly what he said. True, a snarky snippet about President Bush’s educational credentials would have fit in better with his “Fozzie Bear” Vaudeville routine, and if you artificially stick in a couple of words this would make his punchline fit in better. But there’s no evidence that this would be an accurate rendering of what he meant, in letter or in spirit — certainly not in spirit. Senator Kerry doesn’t act anything like a speaker who meant to say something substantially different. There’s no “Omigosh I flubbed up that line” expression, no backtracking, nothing of the like. He meant to deliver a punchline, he delivered it, and the crowd ate it up.
(emphases mine)

Saturday, November 04, 2006

let's review

Once again, VDH puts the smackdown on those "nattering nabobs of negativity". After this intro, go read the rest:
What is written (by the MSM) about Iraq now is exclusively acrimonious. The narrative is the suicide bomber and IED, never how many terrorists we have killed, how many Iraqis have been given a chance for something different than the old nightmare, or how a consensual government has withstood enemies on nearly every front.

Long forgotten is the inspired campaign that removed a vicious dictator in three weeks. Nor is much credit given to the idealistic efforts to foster democracy rather than just ignoring the chaos that follows war — as we did after the Soviets were defeated in Afghanistan, or following our precipitous departure from Lebanon and Somalia. And we do not appreciate anymore that Syria was forced to vacate Lebanon; that Libya gave up its WMD arsenal; that Pakistan came clean about Dr. Khan; and that there have been the faint beginnings of local elections in the Gulf monarchies.

Yes, the Middle East is “unstable,” but for the first time in memory, the usual killing, genocide, and terrorism are occurring in a scenario that offers some chance at something better. Long before we arrived in Iraq, the Assads were murdering thousands in Hama, the Husseins were gassing Kurds, and the Lebanese militias were murdering civilians. The violence is not what has changed, but rather the notion that the United States can do nothing about it; the U.S. has shown itself willing to risk much to support freedom in place of tyranny or theocracy in the region.

Instead of recalling any of this, Iraq is seen only in the hindsight of who did what wrong and when. All the great good we accomplished and the high ideals we embraced are drowned out by the present violent insurgency and the sensationalized effort to turn the mayhem into an American Antietam or Yalu River. Blame is never allotted to al Qaeda, the Sadr thugs, or the ex-Baathists, only to the United States, who should have, could have, or would have done better in stopping them, had its leadership read a particular article, fired a certain person, listened to an exceptional general, or studied a key position paper.

Friday, November 03, 2006

WMDs?

Now the NY Times admits that in 2002, Saddam was on the verge of having nuclear weapons:
Among the dozens of documents in English were Iraqi reports written in the 1990’s and in 2002 for United Nations inspectors in charge of making sure Iraq abandoned its unconventional arms programs after the Persian Gulf war. Experts say that at the time, Mr. Hussein’s scientists were on the verge of building an atom bomb, as little as a year away.

European diplomats said this week that some of those nuclear documents on the Web site were identical to the ones presented to the United Nations Security Council in late 2002, as America got ready to invade Iraq. But unlike those on the Web site, the papers given to the Security Council had been extensively edited, to remove sensitive information on unconventional arms.
That appears to indicate that by invading in 2003, we followed the best intelligence of the UN inspectors to head off the development of an Iraqi nuke. This intelligence put Saddam far ahead of Iran in the nuclear pursuit, and made it much more urgent to take some definitive action against Saddam before he could build and deploy it. And bear in mind that this intelligence came from the UN, and not from the United States...

What other highlights has the Times now authenticated? We have plenty:
  • 2001 IIS memo directing its agents to test mass grave sites in southern Iraq for radiation, and to use "trusted news agencies" to leak rumors about the lack of credibility of Coalition reporting on the subject. They specify CNN.
  • The Blessed July operation, in which Saddam's sons planned a series of assassinations in London, Iran, and southern Iraq
  • Saddam's early contacts with Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda from 1994-7
  • UNMOVIC knew of a renewed effort to make ricin from castor beans in 2002, but never reported it
  • The continued development of delivery mechanisms for biological and chemical weapons by the notorious "Dr. Germ" in 2002
Actually, we have much, much more. All of these documents underscore the threat posed by Saddam Hussein and show that his regime continued their work on banned weapons programs. We have made this case over and over again, but some people refused to believe the documents were genuine. Now we have no less of an authority than the New York Times to verify that the IIS documentation is not only genuine, but presents a powerful argument for the military action to remove Saddam from power.
TKS adds:
I think the Times editors are counting on this being spun as a "Boy, did Bush screw up" meme; the problem is, to do it, they have to knock down the "there was no threat in Iraq" meme, once and for all. Because obviously, Saddam could have sold this information to anybody, any other state, or any well-funded terrorist group that had publicly pledged to kill millions of Americans and had expressed interest in nuclear arms. You know, like, oh... al-Qaeda.

The New York Times just tore the heart out of the antiwar argument, and they are apparently completely oblivous to it.

The antiwar crowd is going to have to argue that the information somehow wasn't dangerous in the hands of Saddam Hussein, but was dangerous posted on the Internet. It doesn't work. It can't be both no threat to America and yet also somehow a threat to America once it's in the hands of Iran. Game, set, and match.
Unfortunately, TKS underestimates the capacity of loony leftists to talk out of both sides of their mouths simultaneously.

Thursday, November 02, 2006

more reasons to vote republican

to annoy the jihadis:
Everybody has an opinion about next Tuesday's midterm congressional election in the U.S. – including senior terrorist leaders interviewed by WND who say they hope Americans sweep the Democrats into power because of the party's position on withdrawing from Iraq, a move, as they see it, that ensures victory for the worldwide Islamic resistance.

The terrorists told WorldNetDaily an electoral win for the Democrats would prove to them Americans are "tired."

They rejected statements from some prominent Democrats in the U.S. that a withdrawal from Iraq would end the insurgency, explaining an evacuation would prove resistance works and would compel jihadists to continue fighting until America is destroyed.

They said a withdrawal would also embolden their own terror groups to enhance "resistance" against Israel.

"Of course Americans should vote Democrat," Jihad Jaara, a senior member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group and the infamous leader of the 2002 siege of Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, told WND.

"This is why American Muslims will support the Democrats, because there is an atmosphere in America that encourages those who want to withdraw from Iraq. It is time that the American people support those who want to take them out of this Iraqi mud," said Jaara, speaking to WND from exile in Ireland, where he was sent as part of an internationally brokered deal that ended the church siege...

Many Democratic politicians and some from the Republican Party have stated a withdrawal from Iraq would end the insurgency there.

In a recent interview with CBS's "60 Minutes," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, stated, "The jihadists (are) in Iraq. But that doesn't mean we stay there. They'll stay there as long as we're there."

Pelosi would become House speaker if the Democrats win the majority of seats in next week's elections.

WND read Pelosi's remarks to the terror leaders, who unanimously rejected her contention an American withdrawal would end the insurgency.

Islamic Jihad's Saadi, laughing, stated, "There is no chance that the resistance will stop."

He said an American withdrawal from Iraq would "prove the resistance is the most important tool and that this tool works. The victory of the Iraqi revolution will mark an important step in the history of the region and in the attitude regarding the United States."

Jihad Jaara said an American withdrawal would "mark the beginning of the collapse of this tyrant empire (America)."

"Therefore, a victory in Iraq would be a greater defeat for America than in Vietnam."

Jaara said vacating Iraq would also "reinforce Palestinian resistance organizations, especially from the moral point of view. But we also learn from these (insurgency) movements militarily. We look and learn from them."

Hamas' Abu Abdullah argued a withdrawal from Iraq would "convince those among the Palestinians who still have doubts in the efficiency of the resistance."

"The victory of the resistance in Iraq would prove once more that when the will and the faith are applied victory is not only a slogan. We saw that in Lebanon (during Israel's confrontation against Hezbollah there in July and August); we saw it in Gaza (after Israel withdrew from the territory last summer) and we will see it everywhere there is occupation," Abdullah said.

While the terror leaders each independently urged American citizens to vote for Democratic candidates, not all believed the Democrats would actually carry out a withdrawal from Iraq.

Saadi stated, "Unfortunately I think those who are speaking about a withdrawal will not do so when they are in power and these promises will remain electoral slogans. It is not enough to withdraw from Iraq. They must withdraw from Afghanistan and from every Arab and Muslim land they occupy or have bases."

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

apology

Statement of Hatless in Hattiesburg

As part of the pajamas media, I want to make it clear to anyone in yankeeland and to their life partners: my earlier post at John Kerry's expense was not about, and never intended to refer to any of you other bean-eaters.

I sincerely regret that you were too stupid to understand I was implying anything negative about the drunken gigolos who represent you, and I personally apologize to any alcoholics, male escorts, horse-faced fops, walruses, or botched botox experiments who were offended.

It is clear the Dhimmicrat Party would rather talk about anything but their miserable failures in governance. I don’t want my verbal slip to be a diversion from the real issues. I will continue to fight to provide real security for our country, and a winning strategy for our troops, unlike the loudmouth cut-and-run weasels you blue-staters keep electing.

ten more reasons

to vote republican.

halloween aftermath

he's created a monstaaahh!

“You know, intelligence, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck as a Du.Mass senator.”