Media Coverage of Iraq

If you would like to read a lengthy essay on the media's failings in its coverage of the war in Iraq, check out Karl's post at Protein Wisdom.

In the midst of the still-lingering controversy over the truthiness of The New Republic’s “Baghdad Diarist,” more than a few people suggested that war supporters, unable to discredit the real bad news coming from Iraq, targeted the Scott Thomas Beauchamp stories as a weak link. I cannot speak for everyone who supports the mission in Iraq, but I would submit that Beauchamp’s apparent fables and embellishments are not a “weak link” to be attacked, but simply an egregious example of the establishment media’s flawed coverage of the conflict. Accordingly, what follows is an over view of the establishment media coverage of the conflict in Iraq.

Though public opinion polls consistently show that Americans consider Iraq to be the most important issue facing the country, establishment media has slashed the resources and time devoted to Iraq. The number of embedded reporters plunged from somewhere between 570 and 750 when the invasion began in March 2003 to as few as nine by October 2006. The result was the rise of what journalists themselves call “hotel journalism” and “journalism by remote control.”

The post contains many links and quotes that leave no doubt as to which message the media in general wants the public to believe.

It is time to stop being informed by the blathering idiots that make up today's main stream media.

Another Battle in the War Between Public Education and Christians

The latest episode of educators trying to kick God out of School comes via Cassy Fiano from Liberty Counsel.

Denver, CO - Today, Liberty Counsel filed suit against Lewis Palmer School District on behalf of Erica Corder, a high school valedictorian who was forced to publicly apologize for sharing her Christian faith at graduation. Erica was one of fifteen valedictorians from the Lewis-Palmer High School class of 2006. For the past year, she has been the subject of criticism because the school continues to portray her as a student who engaged in improper conduct because she mentioned Jesus Christ during her speech.

Before graduation in May 2006, Principal Mark Brewer informed the valedictorians that they could choose one student to speak, or that all of them could deliver a 30-second graduation message. The students chose to have all fifteen valedictorians participate and chose a general topic for each speaker. Erica and one other student were chosen to give concluding messages. Each valedictorian orally presented a proposed speech to the principal before graduation.

During her 30-second message Erica spoke about her faith in Jesus Christ. Afterwards, she was escorted to see the assistant principal, who said she would not receive her diploma because of the speech she had given. Principal Brewer later indicated that her comments were "immature." He said that she could only receive her diploma if she apologized to the school community. Erica prepared a statement saying the message was her own and was not endorsed by the principal. Brewer insisted that she include the words: "I realize that, had I asked ahead of time, I would not have been allowed to say what I did." Erica complied because she feared the school would withhold her diploma. She was also afraid that the school would put disciplinary notes in her file and would generate negative publicity, which could prevent her from becoming a school teacher. Principal Brewer sent out Erica's message in an e-mail to the entire high school community. Soon after, Erica received her diploma.

Liberty Counsel sent a letter on behalf of Erica to the Lewis Palmer School District Board of Education, explaining that her First Amendment rights had been violated, and requested that the district apologize for the e-mail that Erica was forced to write and institute a written policy to ensure that no future constitutional violations occur. The school board has thus far taken no remedial steps. Meanwhile, Erica continues to be the subject of public criticism from school officials.

Mathew Staver, Founder of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University School of Law, commented: "Valedictorians have the right to express their religious viewpoints while at the graduation podium. School officials have no right to threaten young graduates that their diplomas will be withheld. The school district's action in forcing Erica Corder to write an e-mail apologizing to the community for exercising her right to free speech is shocking."

Perhaps I am missing the mark here, but could someone please explain to me how little Erica Corder has become so powerful that the mere mention of Jesus in her 30 second valedictorian address establishes a national religion?

I'm all ears. Anyone?

Double Standard at the Washington Post?

It is one of two things here. Either big media is afraid of rabid Muslim anger or it is in ideological lockstep with Islam. It is either afraid to offend those that might blow a gasket and start rioting (or suing) or it agrees with the underlying arguments forwarded that Islam is beyond the reach of criticism or parody.

The latest example comes to us from the Washington Post where editors have decided not to run a cartoon scheduled for August 26 that pokes fun at Islamists, despite having run a cartoon that poked fun at Jerry Falwell on August 19.

From FoxNews.com:

A popular comic strip that poked fun at the Rev. Jerry Falwell without incident one week ago was deemed too controversial to run over the weekend because this time it took a humorous swipe at Muslim fundamentalists.

The Washington Post and several other newspapers around the country did not run Sunday's installment of Berkeley Breathed's "Opus," in which the spiritual fad-seeking character Lola Granola appears in a headscarf and explains to her boyfriend, Steve, why she wants to become a radical Islamist.

Cartoon strip on Salon.

No rioting was reported at Liberty University last weekend and there was no one killed and no injuries. There was reportedly no property damage as the result of the demonstrations that did not take place. No American flags were burned, no effigies were torched and, to the best of my knowledge, nobody was sued. There were no signs paraded around town demanding death to all that insult Christians or Baptists.

It looks like the Washington Post may have dodged a bullet.

via Protein Wisdom

Soccer Ball Sensitivity

The US military has apologized to Muslims trapped in the dark ages for daring to distribute soccer balls to Afghanistani children who love the sport. The soccer balls were distributed, according to spokesman Captain Vanessa Bowman as a

"goodwill humanitarian aid mission ... for the enjoyment of Afghan children."

"We do regret any disturbances caused," she said.

The problem with these soccer balls, aside from the fact that anal retentive Muslims the world over go out of their way to find offense over anything that could be interpreted thusly, is that the balls contain on them numerous flags from many countries. The flag of one country represented, Saudi Arabia, contains the Islamic declaration of faith as well as the names of Allah and Mohammed.

Since soccer balls are kicked, and no good Muslim would ever approve of the kicking of Mohammed or Allah, offense was taken.

More at LGF.

I'm filing this one under "good grief."

Hypocrisy, Thy Name is John Edwards

From today's Patriot Post:

John Edwards has not yet been challenged by fellow Democrats on the presidential circuit about the $16 million he earned with Fortress Investment Group, a hedge fund invested in the dreaded sub-prime mortgage market. Like Edwards, all the Demos are busy using the sub-prime-lending crisis to again blame the rich for taking advantage of the poor. The fact that one of those so-called evil, rich profiteers is among them is too comical to ignore. But it doesn't stop Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama from calling for a society of shared responsibility. In their world, borrowers never make poor decisions; lenders are just "unsavory."

Edwards is once again stranded in hypocrisy-ville, having profited from a company that foreclosed on 34 homes in New Orleans. This is a particular embarrassment for Edwards, because New Orleans was where he launched his campaign---the capital city of the lesser of his two Americas. Caught in a pinch with reporters, Edwards publicly offered financial assistance to the people who have lost their homes; presumably from the $16 million in "dirty" money he made trying to "learn about poverty." It will be interesting to see just how many people come a-knockin' on his door.

Arizona Educators Protecting Students From Sketched Ray Gun

Up until about 30 minutes ago I considered Larry my friend.

Since the time he moved to my small home town in the 2nd grade Larry has been drawing elaborate sea battle scenes. Huge sailed ships with cannons blazing filled the sketches, pictured from every possible angle. I imagined many times during our school days together that the scenes depicted Oliver Perry along the Barbary Coast or in Lake Erie as he cleared it of invading British.

Now, come to find out, the jerk was just threatening to blow my head off.

You think you know a guy.

h/t Protein Wisdom

BBC News

Virginia's John Warner made a statement today in which he encouraged President Bush to get the attention of Iraqi President Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki by ordering a symbolic troop reduction in Iraq.

The wisdom behind any such pull-out can be debated (I think it would be dunderheaded) but his comments were directed toward a course of action that he feels would motivate the Iraqi government's ineffective leader.

So, what is the headline at BBC News in an article covering Warner's remarks?

Top Republican urges Iraq pullout

It isn't until one gets beyond the headline and begins to read the article that one discovers that Warner's dunderheaded comments weren't actually calling for a "redeployment" or "retreat" or "pullout" as the headline would like to persuade the reader.

An influential Republican senator has called for the withdrawal of some 5,000 US troops from Iraq by the year's end.

Senator John Warner, former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the US needed to show that its commitment to Iraq was not open-ended.

Maybe this is just shoddy journalism or something more sinister. Who knows? It does seem to be business as usual at the BBC.

Thomas Sowell: "An Investment in Failure"

From Thomas Sowell's article in Real Clear Politics on the poverty and those that make a living off of it.

Progress in general seems to hold little interest for people who call themselves "progressives." What arouses them are denunciations of social failures and accusations of wrong-doing.

One wonders what they would do in heaven.

I'm guessing a class action lawsuit assuming, of course, that they could find a trial lawyer available to file it.

Uncle Sam Trying to Be Dad

After the bang-up job our government is doing on immigration, education, poverty, housing, crime and their war on drugs, I suppose it shouldn't be a surprise to me that many of the enlightened would want to try their hands at parenting their subject's children too.

Where once it was determined that men, blessed by freedom and the morals divined of faith, would and could best provide for themselves, now it is the collective that is often expected to do the heavy lifting. Not only have good people ceded their own personal responsibilities for their own lives and families, the government, led by social planners and activist judges, have actively pursued penetration into personal realms where they have no business.

One such realm is parenting.

Today we witness officials in Oregon aggressively pursuing lordship over children that do not belong to them. From KATU.com/AP

McMINNVILLE, Ore. (AP) - Two 13-year-old boys accused of slapping girls' bottoms and poking or cupping girls' breasts at school apologized on Monday as a judge dismissed charges against the two, ending a six-month case that drew national attention.

The charges triggered a debate over whether such behavior in school should be considered criminal.

Four girls listed as victims by the prosecutors had asked the judge to drop the charges against Cory Mashburn and Ryan Cornelison.

Yamhill County Judge John Collins did so on Monday, saying it was in the "interest of justice."

A number of young girls were in the courtroom during the hearing. They included at least some of the four who asked that the charges be dropped, attorneys said.

During the brief hearing, the two boys faced the girls and apologized.

"I never intended to hurt you in any way," Mashburn said.

Cornelison told the girls: "I hope we can still be friends."

The News-Register newspaper of McMinnville reported that a "civil compromise" reached by prosecutors and the defense called for both boys to apologize, to pay each of the four girls $250 and to complete a "boundaries education" program.

The "boundaries education" afforded me when I was a child was applied in sessions only a few seconds long by the palm of my Father's right hand. I can only remember four or five such sessions, always reserved for the worst of offenses, their purpose apparently to demonstrate to me that there are consequences for behaviors unbecoming (at least that is what I learned.)

We don't need a government that tries to do the work of parents, we need parents willing and able to fulfill the responsibility God gave to them. Most parents know this. I fear government does not.

h/t Michelle Malkin

EU Gets Tough For All Of 24 Hours

And here I thought that Barry Sanders had a great cut-back move.

Yesterday the European Union cut off funds aimed to buy fuel to be used to generate electricity in Gaza. It seemed they had tired of having their earmarked aid skimmed by terrorist officials and instead having it used for unintended purposes.

Today they said, 'oh, never mind.'

From AP/Yahoo News:

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - The European Union said Tuesday it will resume vital fuel aid to the Gaza Strip's electric company, bringing a measure of relief to Palestinians who have sweltered at home or choked on generator smoke during five days of power outages.

The EU had suspended payments for the fuel that powers major Gaza electricity generators on Sunday, suspecting the strip's Hamas rulers were pocketing electricity revenues. On Tuesday, the bloc announced that fuel shipments to the power plant would resume the following day.

Every penny that Hamas is forced to spend on vital goods and services is a penny that doesn't find its way into the pocket of a terrorist. I think we should let bloody Saudi money buy off disgruntled Hamas voters--a policy that the EU seemed to agree if only for 24 hours.

h/t LGF

Jimmy Carter and the Truth

John Hawkins at Right Wing News has included the text of a short interview he conducted recently with Robert Novak.

This exchange about our best ex-President jumped off the page:

John Hawkins: In your book, you really go out of your way to emphasize how often Jimmy Carter lied about things...

Robert Novak: (Laughs)

John Hawkins: Do you think that Carter's frequent lying and the fact that he seemed to get away with it, helped influence Bill Clinton to lie so often when he was President?

Robert Novak: Well, I think Bill Clinton was a minor league liar compared to Jimmy Carter. Carter would just lie for the sake of lying. He was absolutely incredible.

I put a lot of the cases in the book -- I couldn't put all of them in -- but my two favorite cases are in the book. I had written a column detailing nine separate lies by Carter and he told another reporter that I had apologized to him for it. That was just an absolute lie.

Then many years after his presidency, my late partner, Rowly Evans and I had a party celebrating the 25th anniversary of our column and we invited all the Presidents and ex-Presidents to send letters. Nixon didn't like us much, but he sent a nice letter. But, Carter told an aide that the last thing he would do was send any kind of greeting to those guys.

That year, in 1988, at the Democratic National Convention, there was a reception at the Carter Center in Atlanta and as my partner was going through the line -- I told my partner not to do it -- ...(and he said to Carter), "Mr. President, how come you didn't send us a message for our 25th anniversary?" He said, "Well Rowly, if I had known, I certainly would have sent it. It must have gotten lost in the mail."

Take the time to read the whole interview. It is quite interesting.

The Protest that Was (and one that wasn't)

The mayor of Brussels spoke loudly last week when he disallowed a protest to take place in the city to denounce shari'a law. The organized protest also planned to include a moment of silence for the victims of 9-11. The mayor objected to the protest because he didn't want to upset any Muslims that might be offended.

There are apparently some types of protests that can be officially allowed in Brussels. You know the type, the ones that try and blame America for the 9-11 attacks.

From the Brussels Journal:

A far-left group of anti-American conspiracy theorists, calling itself “United for Truth” (UfT), is going to demonstrate in Brussels on 9 September. The group will march from the North Station to the South (Midi) Station in protest against "George Bush’s involvement" with the 9/11/2001 terror attacks in New York and on the Pentagon.

It is clear that it isn't the upsetting of just anyone that has made the mayor so cautious but rather the upsetting of only Muslims that has him walking on eggshells.

The mayor might as well start paying his Muslim taxes--he has already surrendered his free will.

American Forces Attack Elderly Iraqi Woman's Home With Hand Thrown Bullets

They either think that we are really, really, really dumb, or they simply are. You be the judge.

This picture as it appeared on Yahoo Tuesday from Michelle Malkin:


With this caption:

An elderly Iraqi woman shows two bullets which she says hit her house following an early coalition forces raid in the predominantly Shiite Baghdad suburb of Sadr City.

Now, what could be wrong with that picture?

However, not to be out scooped by AFP/Yahoo News, Suitably Flip found an even more disturbing photo:


With this caption:

A Baghdad area puppy shows a hand grenade, recently tossed through the windows of this Sadr City animal shelter, killing dozens of adorable puppies and kittens and demolishing the building when it detonated.

Help me, milk comin' right out my nose!

A great roundup at the Malkin site with comments suggesting the rounds being displayed might very well even be out of service. In any case, whoever had to throw these bullets could sure use a better gun.

From the School of Unintended Consequences

"Orang-utans home destroyed for bio-diesel” and, as Protein Wisdom says:

Uh-oh. Now they gone and did it. Clint Eastwood is going to be, like, so pissed!

Wisconsin Takes a Stab at Socialist Health Care

You know the routine. Troubled teenagers traveling on the wrong road are ordered by parents or the court to visit a prison hoping the experience will "scare them straight." These "Scared Straight" programs have worked well on some would-be dregs to society.

The new twist is that Wisconsin is playing the part of the scarer while the rest of the states are the ones needing a good dose of reality and fear. According to John Stossel in Townhall, we need to pay pretty close attention to what transpires while we visit.

The Wall Street Journal editorial-page editors are upset that Wisconsin's state Senate passed "Healthy Wisconsin", which will give health insurance to every person in the state. Of course, the Journal editors are right in saying that the plan is "openly hostile to market incentives that contain costs" and that the "Cheesehead nation could expect to attract health-care free-riders while losing productive workers who leave for less-taxing climes."

In addition, as the Journal put it, "Wow, is 'free' health care expensive. The plan would cost an estimated $15.2 billion, or $3 billion more than the state currently collects in all income, sales and corporate income taxes."

And, of course, down the road it will cost much more than that. Even the $15 billion is based on the usual Pollyannaish assumptions such as millions in savings "from putting more emphasis on primary care."

Which is exactly why Stossel is singing the Wisconsin fight song.

That's why America needs "Healthy Wisconsin." The fall of the Soviet Union deprived us of the biggest example of how socialism works. We need laboratories of failure to demonstrate what socialism is like. All we have now is Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea, the U.S. Post Office, and state motor-vehicle departments.

It's not enough. Wisconsin can show the other 49 states what "universal" coverage is like.

I feel bad for the people in Wisconsin. They already suffer from little job creation, and the Packers aren't winning, but it's better to experiment with one state than all of America.

This program will fail because socialism will always fail. It is going to make it more expensive for businesses to operate profitably in the state. Thus there will be the slow ebb of jobs to more business friendly areas. As the businesses leave, so will the jobs. As the jobs leave, so will many productive taxpayers following the jobs. Those that remain will have to shoulder an ever greater share of the burden. But, let us not forget that there will also be an influx of new residents to the state--those that are seeking lower costs in health care. It is a system that demands the productive leave at the same time that it invites those seeking to be pulled along for free. Its almost as if a maniacal Matt Millen designed the wretched beast from the ground up and slapped a Honolulu-blue Lion's jersey on its back--gosh, it sure looks good until it gets its teeth kicked in.

We can predict how the costs of the program will affect the pocketbooks of the average person and how this will affect the economy of Wisconsin. But, how will such a move affect the quality of health care?

Paul Belien, writing at the Brussels Journal, speaks of how socialized medicine affected his grandfather.

My grandfather's deafness was the side effect of an antibiotic that was given to him because of budgetary constraints in a system providing "free" health care. More expensive drugs and treatments with fewer side effects are set aside for younger patients. Political authorities, claiming to be the guardians of solidarity in society, deem it less desirable for a young person to be deaf than for an old one. Hence my grandfather, after having paid heavy wage-related contributions as a young man to fulfill his solidarity with the sick and elderly, had to pay the price of deafness to fulfill his solidarity with the young.

My good friend Stonehands moved to liberal Wisconsin several years ago. I hope he moves back to Michigan before he is ever forced to use that very same bad system he will be soon be forced to pay good money for.

Scottish Health Board Surrenders to Failed Bomber

Suppose you have actually won a battle. Suppose you were able to thwart an attack by an evil and demented person. Given the circumstances, how can you take this small victory and turn it into a defeat?

Ask the boards of health in Scotland.

DOCTORS and health workers have been banned from eating lunch at their desks - in case it offends their Muslim colleagues.

Health chiefs believe the sight of food will upset Muslim workers when they are celebrating the religious festival Ramadan.

The lunch trolley is also to be wheeled out of bounds as the 30-day fast begins next month.

But staff and politicians branded the move political correctness gone mad and warned that it was a step too far.

Bill Aitken, the Scottish Conservative justice spokesman, said: “This advice, well-meaning as it may be, is total nonsense.

“It is the sort of thing that can stir up resentment rather than result in good relations.”

The new guidance comes in the wake of the failed terror attacks on Glasgow and the death of suspect Kafeel Ahmed, 27.

Health chiefs in Lothian and Glasgow will give all employees time off to pray and to celebrate Eid, which marks the end of Ramadan.

But Greater Glasgow and Clyde as well as Lothian NHS boards also issued the advice, warning workers not to take working lunches, and said all vending machines should be removed from areas where Muslims work.

One senior consultant said: “What next? Are we going to have advice on how to deal with Catholics during Lent?

“This kind of thing does more harm than good.”

It is time for people of the free world to start acting as if they are free instead of pandering to the murderous tantrums of immature bullies.

Why do the evil Islamists blow shit up, set people afire and cut off heads? It is to get people to do exactly the sort of things that the health board is doing here--to get others to bend to their will.

Good job Scotland. Your ancestors would be so proud.

h/t LGF.

John Edwards Gives To Charity

John Edwards was in a quandary. For months he had been bashing Rupert Murdoch and News Corp. with the same zeal that Michael Moore uses to attack the last raspberry filled Krispy Kreme at the dessert table.

Then, when questioned about a comfy book deal including a $500,000 advance that he signed with Murdoch's own HarperCollins, he responded that "every dime" of the money went to charity.

But, what of the $300,000 book expense budget also included in the deal?

It appears that those particular dimes might be considered off budget.

From Michelle Malkin.

Michigan's First Spouse Is Burning Tax Dollars While State Awash in Debt

The State of Michigan is awash in debt--estimated at being somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.8 billion this year. Our Governor has traveled far and wide pushing for a package of cuts in spending and tax increases to bridge the gap. Michigan must, as required by the constitution, operate with a balanced budget.

There has been much gnashing of teeth and wringing of hands. Heads have been scratched and many pencils have been sharpened. In the end we have been assured by the Governor that all possible cuts have been made--any further cuts will result in the loss of essential services.

Then, I read this article by former State Rep. Leon Drolet in Right Michigan:

Michigan is actually leading the nation in job growth in one small niche: The number of people employed on the staff of the gubernatorial "first spouse" has never been higher. Michigan Taxpayer Alliance research has revealed that Michigan's First Gentleman Dan Granholm Mulhern has the third largest staff of any first spouse in the nation. Only California and Ohio provides their governor's wives with more assistants - five and four staffers respectively.

Jennifer Granholm's husband Dan Mulhern has three paid staffers, at least one of whom reportedly receives a very generous $115,000 salary and benefits package. In a state with a population more than twice Michigan's, New York First Lady Silda Wall Spitzer ekes by with just two staffers. The spouse of the governor of Illinois has one staffer, as do those of Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa and Minnesota. The national average is 1.2 state employees per first spouse, brought down a bit by the fact that a few governors are single or divorced.

In Michigan, working for the governor's spouse has become a growth industry. Former First Lady Michelle Engler had only one staffer for most of the 12 years her husband held office, according to John Truscott, who was Gov. John Engler's spokesman.

Some have questioned why Michigan's First Gentleman needs a larger staff than the first spouses of New York or Illinois. Mr. Mulhern has described his staff as dedicated, hard-working state employees who bring value to Michigan taxpayers, but the public has no solid information about what those staffers do, or how residents benefit from this expenditure of their tax dollars.

I think we can see how serious the Governor is about making cuts. If she cannot make the easy choices when it comes to cutting costs, how will she ever make the tough ones?

Preventing Muslim Anger is as Easy as Limiting Free Speech

In what has to be one of the most obvious examples of cowering before Muslims that I am aware of, the Mayor of Brussels has banned a demonstration planned for September 11 in which there was to be a "moment of silence" in recognition of the victims of the Islamic murderers on that fateful day.

Why would such an event be canceled? Well, we wouldn't want to upset any Muslims--when they get mad they could hurt somebody.

If we ever become so fearful that we cannot protest murder out of fear of the murderers, how much freedom will we have? That Socialist utopia that is Brussels has the answer.

From Little Green Footballs.

Enjoy Andy McKee

Ban the Koran?

From the Telegraph today via Dhimmi Watch:

The Koran should be banned as a “fascist book” alongside Mein Kampf because it urges Muslims to kill non-believers, says Dutch populist MP Geert Wilders.

The leader of the far-right Freedom Party, which holds nine of the Dutch parliament's 150 seats has called for the ban after an alleged Islam inspired attack on a Labour councillor who had renounced the Muslim faith.

Mr Wilders claims that the Koran “calls on Muslims to oppress, persecute or kill Christians, Jews, dissidents and non-believers, to beat and rape women and to establish an Islamic state by force”.

"Ban this wretched book like Mein Kampf is banned!,” he wrote in yesterday's De Volkskrant newspaper.

The response was fast an furious.

Els Lucas, a Dutch lawyer, has filed a compliant to the country's prosecutor demanding action against Mr Wilders for “insulting a section of the community”.

"I think he has gone too far and it is unseemly that a member of parliament expresses himself like this,” she said.

The offence is punishable with a maximum sentence of two years in prison and a fine of up to £11,300.

I do not think that Wilders is completely serious when he suggests banning the Koran. I do think that he wants to highlight the violence and subjugation mongering that is promoted within the texts.

Rather than keeping Muslims from reading the book (which he knows he cannot do) I think he is likely trying to get sleepy Dutch non-Muslims to read it. Would there be a better way for Wilders to prove his point?

The Moral Conundrum Over Palestine

A question asked by Joseph Puder in his article today at FrontPageMag:

why in almost 60 years did neither Egypt, Lebanon, nor Syria for instance provide citizenship for those Palestinians in refugee camps, and why weren’t they absorbed by their fellow Arabs-Muslims in these countries who speak the same language, worship in the same mosques, and follow the same traditions?

Play's Authors Point out that Christians are More Dangerous that Muslim Extremists

Oh, those non-Christians, having to live under that fearful cloud created by those violent and oppressive Christ-minions. You should be heartened to know that some brave souls are fighting back against the savage believers with a new play, Cash in Christ, being unveiled at the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival. From the Independent:

The show – pitched as "putting the fun into fundamentalism" – features fundraising evangelical preacher Fanny Comfort and her husband Bob singing songs such as "Christian Rock (Is Cool)" with lines about "guitars exploding like a bomb".

The writers said that, while there is public discussion about the dangers of radical Islamic groups, the influence of the Christian far right is underestimated. "I've been very sensitive to extremists in other religions, particularly Islam, being demonised."

Yes, we are certainly all sensitive to the demonization of Islamic fundamentalists that, in the first four days of August have already murdered 249 people and injured at least 310 others in at least 34 separate attacks within eitht countries--all for the glorification of their God. We wouldn't want these people being demonized!

Continues Van Badham, co-writer of the play:

"I find the Christian right groups that are enormously powerful in our own culture a larger numerical threat than extreme Islam. They are somehow removed from public criticism, and that is one of the reasons we did the show.

"Bush is from the religious right and he has the bomb; that terrifies me far more than the potential of other extremists to get their hands on nuclear weapons. In the religious right it is the self-appointed moral majority that sets its own rules, and anybody opposing them is labelled unpatriotic and shouted down."

With all the false labeling and shouting down, it is curious that Badham was able to utter these words of enlightenment.

Badham said the Wisepart/Jews and Communists co-production is entirely fictitious, but reflects wider political concerns. "It terrifies me that a few religious groups were able to cause a furore around Jerry Springer – The Opera in Britain. What I find frightening about the war in Iraq is that Bush and the people around him speak about it as if it's the crusades again."

What pure unadulterated bullshit. The only persons saying that Iraq is a crusade are people like Badham that want to link Iraq to the Crusades. Where I come from, in religiously oppressive America, people are bending over backwards to avoid any such comparison--particularly those in government that have stated for years that this is not a war with Islam and that Islam is a religion of peace.

She said that although people they met at church services were kind, she felt their attitudes might foster religious intolerance. "The propaganda is intense. We have been going to these megachurches to be told: 'Christianity is not a religion. It is the work of God to rescue all of humanity.' So everybody else can basically get stuffed."

So, despite three months of kindness and the fact that no one measured shoe sizes for a bomb-fitting, the Badham argument boils down to her fear that Christians believe that God wants to rescue humanity? No wonder she is scared to death.

Gary Clarke, pastor at Hillsong Church, London, said he wouldn't apologise, but that he might well laugh. "If you can't laugh at yourself then things have probably become far too serious, and keeping a good sense of humour about things is one of the most important components in having healthy conversations with people from all walks of life," he said.

I seem to remember a different response from the Muslims that objected to the Mohammed cartoons. Remember those "Behead those who mock Islam signs"?

I'm a "free expression" sort of guy, so I'm not going to sweat the opinions of misguided artists that think that the corner preacher is more evil than the car-bombing Islamic fascist. I'm with pastor Clarke when he says that you have to be willing to laugh at yourself. Still, I think it is this core belief that we Christians have that makes us the target of parody--our willingness to accept the comedy being aimed at us. We don't threaten murder whenever our pride gets a little stab.

Which makes me wonder if Badham's next play will tease Mohammed or the local cleric.

h/t to Brussels Journal

Tolerance Means No Line In the Sand

What occurred in Srebrenica may well have occurred only because of tolerance. How could tolerance be so cruelly indifferent?

From George Handlery at the Brussels Journal:

On June 12 1995, Bosnian Serbs acting for Belgrade captured the Muslim town Srebrenica and massacred seven thousand male captives. “Blue Helmets” protected the town and a safe-zone close to it sheltering the claimants

Now Numira Subasic having lost 22 family members wants justice for herself and other abused women. That government has already been investigated the case and the conclusions cost a Minister his job.

How could a town, directly under the protection of UN troops be slaughtered?

The Dutch UN soldiers were disinterested and incompetent, intimidated as well as mainly concerned with their own survival. Indeed, the Unprofor’s Dutch were unprepared or, put facetiously; they did not anticipate encountering brutality while they also believed virtue could be served risk-free.

These attitudes taken from a PC-inspired book of myths inspired the inappropriate decisions made under the pressure of 15 hostages held by the Serbs. One mistake was that to avoid “provoking” the easily aggravated by appearing to be too martial. In addition, to signal good will, presumably in the interest of keeping “channels open” for a “dialogue”, the positions before Srebrenica were surrendered. Once the Serbs reached the camp on July 12 and asked to inspect it, the Dutch, presumably to “create confidence”, piled up their arms and admitted the Serbs. Thereafter, lacking the means to resist, they ignored the ensuing marauding. Survivors claim that some Dutch did not even surrender under duress but that they accompanied the Serbs voluntarily. (A famous photo shows the Dutch and the Serbs toasting each other.)

According to survivors, the tolerant Dutch entrusted to protect the refugees feared the Serbs and so became accessories to their crime. Therefore, they did nothing when soldiers led women out of their compound to rape them. A survivor claims that a “Dutch Bat” trooper listened to his walkman while, close to him, a woman was raped. One witness alleges that a ten-year-old was placed in his mother’s lap and then decapitated. In another case, a protector was present when the mother of a crying child was ordered to make it stop. The woman failed. Therefore, the trooper cut the throat of the infant. This writer knows a Moslem rape victim whose child cried when it happened. Thereupon the Serbs urinated on the small girl.

Tolerance, which used to mean not beating the stuffing out of someone for who they were or what they believed, has slowly devolved into a clawless animal that not only will not beat up adversaries, but will neither protect the weak, fight evil, nor make judgments of any kind. Tolerance will not allow the drawing of lines in the sand. While a lineless playground may mean a black eye or swollen lip, on the stage of geopolitics no line can mean 7,000 quickly dead.

An unwelcome conclusion for America and Europe emerges. Giving in to aggression might evade a fight initially. However, it will not avoid the risk of ultimate slaughter. Europe’s vulnerability derives from its state of mind, which imperils it and its US ally. The preferred approach of the “progressive humanitarians” of both continents will not even restrain a pre-teen gang. The case presented – the danger, the response and the outcome – suggests that a revision of the approach to global politics is called for. It should conform to the rules the bad guys set and abandon the illusions of an ideal world. Iran, Iraq, Korea, but also Russia and China have a message. It counsels that, a reality-corrected change in the assumptions that determine the assessment of antagonists and the means used to respond to them is imperative.

Did "never again"--when it was uttered in response to WW2 atrocities--mean we would never allow something like this to ever occur again, or did it mean that "never again" would we allow something like this to occur without good documentation?

A vast majority of the world stood firm at one time and adopted the former meaning. The tolerant crowd of today has a pen and paper handy.

Youtube Debate Analyzed by Coulter

In today's essay at Townhall.com analyzing the recent Democrat debate on Youtube, Ann Coulter provides the quote of the week:

Not counting talking snowmen, the main difference in the YouTube debate audience and the audience for the earlier CNN Democratic debate is that the YouTube debate had 173,000 fewer viewers in the 18-49 demographic. So it was provably not young and, on the basis of casual observation, definitely not hip.

As usual, the audience consisted mostly of public schoolteachers. According to CNN, the highest reading achieved on the CNN feelings-knob was for Richardson talking about public schoolteachers. (Some in the audience said they hadn't been that excited since the last time they had sex with an underage student.)

A Changing Party (And Not For the Good)

Support for Republicans and overall identification with the party has diminished in recent years, and the war or terror has undeniably been a major part of this development. However, there are a large number of conservatives pulling back from the GOP because the party is no longer willing to rein in the bloated programs of bureaucracy or to fight political corruption. I count myself among that second group.

The latest chapter in this sad saga is addressed by John Hinderaker at Powerline Blog.

The "ethics reform bill" now making its way through Congress marks the end, for now at least, of any serious effort to reform the earmark process. This is a sad thing for the Republican Party. Through all of modern history, up until the last two or three years, the Republicans were the party of clean government. It was the Democrats who were associated with bribes, corruption, machine politics, and so on. The idea that the current Republican leaders in Congress--I am thinking especially of Mitch McConnell--are willing to throw away this heritage, and join with the Democrats in suppressing any serious effort at reform--is profoundly depressing.

Read the rest. Cry in pillow.

Michael J Totten's: Baghdad Raid Night

Michael J. Totten's latest dispatch from Iraq is up at his Middle East Journal.

Everywhere in Baghdad is dangerous – even the Green Zone – but danger is relative. Not every place in the Red Zone is the same shade of crimson. The 82nd Airborne company I embedded with hasn’t suffered a single casualty since they arrived in Iraq in January even though they patrol their part of the city – the neighborhood of Graya’at, just north of the Adhamiyah wall – 24 hours a day. I comforted myself with the idea that if I’m the first to be shot here, God apparently hates me.

“Stay close to me,” said Sergeant Ojeda as he plugged his mouth with tobacco. “In the dark just look for the short guy. And call me Eddie.”

The military intelligence officers at Coalition Outpost War Eagle knew the target was somewhere in their area, but they didn’t know precisely where or for how long. My unit’s job was to go out and patrol the neighborhood known as Tunis until they could pinpoint his exact location.

As always, an interesting read.

h/t to Little Green Footballs

Good News Equals Bad News

There isn't much point debating any longer whether or not positive events in Iraq will actually be considered positive events by many in the Democrat Party. House Majority Whip, James Clyburn of South Carolina, laments that a good report from General Petraeus in September could be a "real big problem for us."

Stories at Little Green Footballs and PowerLine.

Felonious Butt-Patting

This ought to keep prepubescent lads in line. From The Oregonian.

The two boys tore down the hall of Patton Middle School after lunch, swatting the bottoms of girls as they ran -- what some kids later said was a common form of greeting.

But bottom-slapping is against policy in McMinnville Public Schools. So a teacher's aide sent the gawky seventh-graders to the office, where the vice principal and a police officer stationed at the school soon interrogated them.

After hours of interviews with students the day of the February incident, the officer read the boys their Miranda rights and hauled them off in handcuffs to juvenile jail, where they spent the next five days.

Now, Cory Mashburn and Ryan Cornelison, both 13, face the prospect of 10 years in juvenile detention and a lifetime on the sex offender registry in a case that poses a fundamental question: When is horseplay a crime?

Bradley Berry, the McMinnville district attorney, said his office "aggressively" pursues sex crimes that involve children. "These cases are devastating to children," he said. "They are life-altering cases."

As soon as we start saying that a smack on the butt is sexual predation, which is essentially what the district attorney is doing, we are cheapening the term to the point of being meaningless. Who can look at a sex offenders list seriously if butt patters of the 13 year old variety are included along side the serial rapists?

None of us have anything to gain by this, least of all, those carrying the around the term for life.

Great commentary from Darleen Click at Protein Wisdom.

Acts That Can Get You Thrown In Jail

Murder, assault, battery, theft, embezzlement, rape, mayhem and arson are all among the serious offenses which could get you arrested and tossed into jail.

Among the new activities to be added to this serious list of all-to-serious crimes is the act of throwing a very serious book into the toilet. Seriously. Little Green Footballs has the story.

NEW YORK (AP) _ A 23-year-old man was arrested Friday on hate-crime charges after he threw a Quran in a toilet at Pace University on two separate occasions, police said.

Stanislav Shmulevich of Brooklyn was arrested on charges of criminal mischief and aggravated harassment, both hate crimes, police said. It was unclear if he was a student at the school. A message left at the Shmulevich home was not immediately returned.

The whole story is at Newsday.

If I buy a book or it is given to me, it becomes mine. I can do with it what I want. If that makes me a jerk, so be it. Does that make me a criminal?

Just asking.

Adventures in Bachelor Cooking: Volume 1

A good mason could build a house out of unfortunate Chicken and Dumplings--provided, of course, it could be removed from the pan in one solid brick.

What is Good for the Gander May Not Be So Good for the Other Gander

Clearly upset that Right Rev Anthony Priddis of the Church of England had dallied into territory in which he had no business dallying, jilted employee wannabe, John Reaney who had sought to work as the diocesan youth officer, sued the Church--and won. Damages have not been determined.

Reaney, who is a practicing homosexual, was denied employment by Rev Priddis because, according to Praddis, Reaney was involved in a sexual relationship outside of marriage. Reaney contends he was denied the job because of his sexual orientation. From the Daily Mail:

A tribunal heard that John Reaney was turned down for a youth worker's post after the Bishop of Hereford quizzed him for two hours about a previous gay relationship.

The 42-year-old said the "humiliating" interview with the Right Rev Anthony Priddis left him in tears.

The panel ruled that the Hereford Diocesan Board of Finance, representing the bishop, had unlawfully blocked the lay appointment on the grounds of sexuality.

The case has implications for other religious groups because it was the first test of their legal duty under anti-discrimination laws brought in in 2003.

Equality rules bar bias against workers on grounds of sexual orientation.

Religious groups were given an exemption to allow them to turn down gay candidates for clerical posts and traditionalists argue the exemption should apply to lay appointments too.

Mr Reaney, from Colwyn Bay, North Wales, hailed the ruling as a significant victory in equality for gay and lesbian Christians.

Quick to defend Reaney was Terry Sanderson, of the National Secular Society:

"'The Bishop of Hereford should hang his head in shame.

"His church must learn that denying people jobs on the ground of their sexuality is no longer acceptable."

Oddly enough, even the National Secular Society will not accept membership unless individuals meet the following criteria (among others):

You must agree to our General Principles when you join.

Among those general principles include an absolute separation of Church and State, unless, apparently, it is the state that is wanting to sit in the back seat of a minister's car.

Here we have one organization (the church) being punished by a second organization (the state) and this punishment is being applauded by a third group (NSS) when it seems the Rev Priddis is only attempting to restrict his church's leadership positions to employees that actually agree with the church doctrine.

An irony when you consider the law that is being enforced is being applauded by many who would deny the church the same restrictions they demand for themselves, by using means that they denounce.

From the Brussels Journal with a tip to Atlanticist911 in the comments.

The Iraq Wall

It wasn't long ago that opponents to the war in Iraq were pointing to just one more dubious plan of Bush and the Imperialists. In the Guardian from April 21:

The US military is building a three-mile concrete wall in the centre of Baghdad along the most murderous faultline between Sunni and Shia Muslims.

The wall, which recognises the reality of the hardening sectarian divide in Baghdad, is a central part of George Bush's final push to pacify the capital. Work began on April 10 under cover of darkness and is due for completion by the end of the month.

The highly symbolic wall has evoked comparisons to the barriers dividing Protestants and Catholics in Belfast and Israelis and Palestinians along the length of the West Bank.

Captain Scott McLearn, who is based at Camp Victory, the US base on the outskirts of Baghdad, said Shias "are coming in and hitting Sunnis, and Sunnis are retaliating across the street".

Although Baghdad is full of barriers and checkpoints, particularly round the Green Zone where the US and British are based along with the Iraq government, this is the first time a wall has been built along sectarian lines.

Its construction comes as the security situation appears to be deteriorating despite the recent US troop "surge". This week a bombing at the Sadriya market in the city killed 140 people - the deadliest in the capital since the 2003 invasion.

In Michael J. Totten's Middle East Journal today, we see that perhaps the wall, which caused so many heads to explode in anger, was a little less oppressive than presented to us by the Guardian. From "In the Wake of the Surge" we see a bit of a different perspective on the wall.

The area of Baghdad just to the south of us, which the locals think of as downtown Adhamiyah, is surrounded by a wall recently built by the Army. It is not like the wall that divides Israel from the West Bank. Pedestrians can cross it at will. Only the roads are blocked off. Vehicles are routed through two very strict checkpoints. Weapons transporters and car bombers can’t get in or out.

The area inside the wall is mostly Sunni. The areas outside the wall are mostly Shia. Violence has been drastically reduced on both sides because Sunni militias – including Al Qaeda – are kept in, and Shia militias – including Moqtada al Sadr’s Mahdi Army, are kept out.

Perhaps I am unduly ignorant of all things Iraq, but I do at least attempt to read what is going on in our war there. It wasn't until this evening that I discovered that the Guardian was misrepresenting The Wall and that the impression it left me with was inaccurate. What else have they misrepresented?

h/t to Little Green Footballs.

Boortz Radio Takedown of Muslim Apologist

Thanks to Jihad Watch via The Religion of Peace.

An Open Letter To Michigan Senators Stabenow and Levin

I was very upset to see that you voted against the John Doe Amendment.

Call the vote what you like or justify it in any way that you can, but this vote is one that commands that we citizens sit back and wait for imminent danger before reporting any suspicious circumstances or fear being sued. Common sense should dictate to you and others in the Senate that this is inviting disaster.

We now have a diligent public. If it weren't for that, Richard Reid would have taken his aircraft out of the sky. We know that terrorists have made "dry runs" to test not only security on the ground, but the dilligence of fellow passengers in the air.

A dry run, by definition, is not supposed to be the real thing...it is a test. Yet, with your unreasoned vote, you tell the citizens of your state to wait until the terrorist is actually lighting the fuse on his shoe before trying to stop him. Otherwise, we can be sued.

I think you have failed to think this through completely or you are so terrified of CAIR that you would rather stand up on the side of bullies--simply because that is the easy thing to do.

Fortunately for you and the rest of our cowering lawmakers, citizens of this country will continue to remain dilligent. If I ever encounter a situation where I feel threatened by an Imam shouting "Allah Akhbar" and running up and down the aisle of my airplane, that guy is going down.

If and when I get sued for it I will send you the legal bill.

New Logo and Colors for Team Episcopalia?

Many individuals and congregations are leaving the Episcopal Church USA.

The trend troubles church leadership and many high level discussions have taken place to help find possible solutions to the problem. Perhaps the best idea thus far belongs to the President and executive director of the Alliance for Christian Media, Rev. Canon Louis C. Schueddig.

Our new line of merchandise, or logo wear, I believe, is very important to the revitalization and growth of the church.

From Christopher Johnson at the Midwest Conservative Journal:

Some quotes should never be commented upon. They should be left alone so that everyone can freely contemplate their awe-inspiring grandeur.

I'm certain that the Rev. Vicky Gene Robinson is working diligently on a solution to the problem.

Rep. Mark Meadows Tackles Michigan Shitter Crisis

Never in the history of our great state of Michigan has a legislator worked so feverishly in the pursuit of its citizens' welfare. Rep. Mark Meadows has offered up legislation that, if passed by our benevolent leaders, could double or triple the number of toilets at Michigan construction sites.

An image copy of his memorandum is located at Right Michigan.

The text of said memo:

To: House Colleagues
From: Representative Mark Meadows
Date: July 19, 2007
Re: Co-sponsorship Opportunity

Tomorrow July 19th, I will have a blueback on my desk (seat #80) for co-sponsorship. The bill will amend the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Act to make a general contractor provide no less than 1 toilet for each 10 employees on any construction, renovation, or demolition of any improvement to real property in Michigan.

The new legislation would require general contractors to provide employees with operational and sanitary toilets as well as hand soap and disinfecting agents in order to receive a permit for construction. Exceptions do apply when residential toilets are made available to employees on residential or commercial property by the owner or tenant.

I welcome your co-sponsorship on this bill.

Of course, the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration already has toilet rules on the books, but those levels are apparently not enough for the burgeoning bowels (or apparent ego) of Rep. Meadows.

In case no one has noticed, Michigan is one of the nation's leaders when it comes to unemployment, business flight, one-way U-Haul rentals, and government regulations. So, while Mr. Meadows will undoubtedly attack those problems when the time comes, first things must be addressed first!

UPDATE

A question from coachlon:

How can a common citizen become a co-sponsor of a bill? I'd like my name attached to that puppy!

How Long Harry?

Nothing says dedication quite like long hours and hard toil. So, when Harry Reid demanded that the US. Senate take part in a rare, around-the-clock debate on the Iraq war on Tuesday night and into Wednesday, Senate workers took quick action and moved a number of roll-away beds inside the Capital.

"I think that the American people deserve what we're doing and that is focusing attention every minute of the day on what is going wrong in Iraq," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told reporters on Monday in unveiling the rare marathon work day.

Reid said the Senate will stay in session all night Tuesday and into Wednesday to debate war policy and a Democratic plan requiring the pull-out of all U.S. combat troops from Iraq by the end of April 2008.

Harry Reid, who is no more likely to turn his back on a publicity stunt than he is an under-the-table family enrichment project, will keep his bodies (both the failing one that God gave him and the failing one that the voters gave the Republic) upright and on center stage until he deems everyone has stopped watching (or until that cobb salad with martini chaser starts to act up.) I wonder how long this marathon session will actually last given that into Wednesday might actually mean one tick past midnight.

So, what are the cots for? How does a gaggle of old dudes snoring away under the covers in the Capitol Building actually represent "focusing attention every minute of the day on what is going wrong in Iraq" even if some other pontificating yokel is actually standing behind the podium?

The word all-nighter used to actually mean something. It seems the politicians have even screwed that up.

New Edwards' Policy Initiative

The well washed and shorn John Edwards has a new policy initiative designed to boost his sagging campaign. Reported in The Onion.

According to Edwards, his plan is composed of three steps. Everyday bad things, such as curse words and splinters, would be eradicated during his first six months in office. Next, very bad things, including child abduction, soil erosion, and resurgent diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis, would be ended by the the end of 2009. Finally, extremely bad things—plights such as genocide, species extinction, and virtually every form of cancer—would take a full two years to wipe out.

h/t to Conservative Grapevine

Keith Ellison

So, Democrats in Congress and elsewhere are worried about the image that President Bush has given the U.S. on the world stage?

I wonder how this blathering speech by Keith Ellison, as reported by the Telegraph in the UK, makes America look to the semi-lucid across the pond:

America's first Muslim congressman has provoked outrage by apparently comparing President George W Bush to Adolf Hitler and hinting that he might have been responsible for the September 11 attacks.

Addressing a gathering of atheists in his home state of Minnesota, Keith Ellison, a Democrat, compared the 9/11 atrocities to the destruction of the Reichstag, the German parliament, in 1933. This was probably burned down by the Nazis in order to justify Hitler's later seizure of emergency powers.

"It's almost like the Reichstag fire, kind of reminds me of that," Mr Ellison said. "After the Reichstag was burned, they blamed the Communists for it, and it put the leader [Hitler] of that country in a position where he could basically have authority to do whatever he wanted."

And this sort of crap is supposed to help our international complexion?

I have a message for you Keith, in case you missed the newsreels, the scientific findings, the results of countless studies, the claims of responsibility, and our recent history with certain members of a large religious cult: Islamic terrorists are responsible.

For any Muslim to paint Bush with a Hitler brush is the most bitter or ironies for Mein Kampf, Hitler's autobiography, is a best seller in much of the Muslim world.

h/t to Enter Stage Right

Hearing on Jewish Refugees to be Held in Congress

In a an ostensible effort to get Keith Ellison's head to blow right the hell up, the US Congress will be holding hearings next week to discuss the nearly one million Jewish refugees that were created by the Arab-Israeli conflict.

From the Israel National News

(IsraelNN.com) The Congressional Human Rights Caucus (CHRC) of the US legislature is set to hold a first-of-its-kind hearing next week on the hundreds of thousands of Jews who were forced to flee their homes in Arab countries as a result of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The July 19 hearing in Washington, D.C., under the heading "Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries: Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation," is to be hosted by the CHRC in conjunction with B'nai Brith International and Justice for Jews from Arab Countries. It will be the first time that the US Congress will hear testimony on the issue of Jewish refugees from Arab countries.

In what has to be one of the world's most glaring example of hypocrisy, Arabs, Muslims and other Jew-hating liberals have screamed for years over the Arab refugee problem that was largely created by Arabs (by leaving the state of Israel prior to the 1948 invasion, though they planned to return once the Jews were annihilated,) and then exacerbated by the surrounding Arab states when they refused to repatriate the fleeing Arab masses when their beloved armies got their butts kicked--instead forcing them to live in refugee camps for public relations purposes.

Little mention was ever made of all the Jews that were kicked out of Transjordan upon the splitting up of the Palestine Mandate,or of the many other thousands of Jews that have been kicked out of Arab and Muslim dominated lands since. Of course, Israel did what Arab countries have failed to do, and adopted their own people back into their homeland without a quibble.

As far as I'm concerned this hearing is long past due. Hopefully at least one person from the press will be able to tear himself from whatever protests the gentlemen from CAIR will be able to organize, long enough to write a paragraph or two about the hearing. After all, there should be plenty of journalists left to cover Keith Ellison's response (if his head has been duct taped back together) before he ventures to the fiery podium.

Thanks to Robert Spencer at Dhimmi Watch.

Can't Get Enough of Islamic Rage Boy?

Load up on Islamic Rage Boy gear!


I find it very satisfying that someone is actually profiting from this cretin's emotional instability. As everyone knows, way too many people have already suffered too much from his ilk.

h/t - Jules Crittenden

"It's the Ideology, Stupid!"

An excerpt from an essay today, "It's the Ideology, Stupid!" in Islam-Watch by Warner MacKenzie:

The West’s propensity for ignorance is nothing short of astounding when one considers that, in this first decade of the 21st century, a veritable gold mine of information, on any topic, is available at one’s fingertips via the internet. Never before have books on the subject of Islamic history and terrorism been so prolific, yet the same old dangerously erroneous opinions on the causes of Islamic violence remain as popular, uninformed and widespread as ever.

Seemingly unwilling to make the effort to research the true causes of modern Islamist violence, many in the West, including the media, are ever ready to proffer an autoethnophobic (cultural self-loathing) root-cause as to how “We Westerners must have, somehow, caused the problem and therefore deserve what we are getting”. The apologists, propagandists and appeasers continue to confidently promote the view that Islamic terrorism is born of, and nurtured by, poverty, social marginalisation, and Islamophobic bigotry. A raft of other exculpatory justifications for the current global violence is put forward with the one common theme that, in one way or another, the West is to blame and its chickens are simply coming home to roost. So when the recent revelation emerged that a number of medical professionals were involved in two failed terrorist attacks in Britain, the naively deluded went into a confused tailspin, scratching their, cognitively dissonant heads. Their beloved paradigm of the disempowered, impoverished and alienated Muslim now had more holes than a lace tablecloth. No doubt they are busily readjusting their theories to explain how these privileged, intelligent, middle-class professionals could be driven to their wits-end, and forced to lash out with such blind destructive fury at the “evil” West.

Found via The Religion of Peace.

Incoherence of Many on the Episcopal Left

Wow. Some things I find are just beyond my capability to understand.

Enter the Dr. Rev. Ann Holmes Redding, an Episcopal priest and practicing Muslim. From the Episcopal Voice on Page 9, an article by Norah M. Joslyn that focuses on the Rev. Redding and her enlightenment.

After an introduction to a Muslim prayer practice early in 2006, Redding knew she had been wrestling with a call to Islam. She approached a Muslim woman and told her so, and the woman replied, "Christianity has been good to you and you to it, and you don't have to choose." That made all the difference in Redding's choice to practice Islam.

And the change has been, apparently, good for Redding's complexion.

People have seen a transformation in Redding. The words she has heard are, "you just glow." She says it's as if someone took the shade off her and everything is illuminated.

Andrew Plus comments on the furor while Greg Griffith, at Stand Firm, says that the Plus essay offers us, if nothing else,

a glimpse into the profound incoherence of many on the Episcopal left.

Found via Midwestern Conservative Journal.

Midwest Conservative Journal

It appears that the world of Christianity has crashed headlong into the world of, er, Christianity.

Christopher Johnson at the Midwest Conservative Journal makes note of a recent dustup between the Rev. Elizabeth Keaton and the Rev. Anne Kennedy.

The Rev. Keaton is an avowed feminist lesbian of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark, while the Rev. Kennedy is a (gasp!) mother of young children (and of more conservative bent.)

It all began in a post on Rev. Keaton's blog that among other things, jabbed Rev. Kennedy thusly:

There is one woman, an Episcopal priest married to an Episcopal priest, whose writing sometimes flat out scares the BeJesus out of me. She is pregnant with their fourth child, the youngest of whom is not yet one year old. They are using "Natural Family Planning" - letting "God decide" on how many children they will be blessed with and resigning themselves to gladly take whatever God gives them, giving God the praise and glory.

She gets lots of support from women who have made similar choices, all giddy with what they describe as Christian love and the Holy Ghost. Everyone seems positively ecstatic about this new pregnancy while this poor woman writes about how she doesn’t have the energy to clean her house or herself or her children whom, she muses with mild curiosity, might get their feet cut on the cereal bowl one of them smashed this morning which she simply hasn’t had the inclination to clean up.

The women commenting on this have nothing but giddy high praise for her. I can only read so much before I have to reach for some dry crackers. Apparently, you can experience "morning sickness" by proxy.

Umm . . .Can you say, "Irresponsible?"

Okay, then. How about "Madness"?

Don’t believe me? Think I’m overstating my case? Well, after reading a few of her entries, I have seriously considered calling the local authorities.

I swear to God, one of these days you are going to read about this woman loading herself and her six kids in her mini van and driving them all into a nearby lake. Or, drowning them, one by one, in the bathtub and then lining their lifeless little bodies in a perfect row on their perfectly made beds in their perfect suburban home.

Much of the original post above has been edited to tidy up the controversy, and Rev. Keaton defends herself by noting that Kennedy's name was not mentioned (though the blog reference left no doubt.)

An interesting read.

Lebanon Invaded: Yawns Deafening

If Israel had crossed into Lebanon and had set up defensive positions, the world would be up in arms over the Jewish aggression. The UN would quickly fire off new resolutions denouncing the incursion. The Arab League would threaten military action. Hezbollah would begin to shoot rockets as Hamas and Fatah would begin to rattle their sabers. George Bush and Condi Rice would wag fingers and twist arms. (I'll bet even Muslim Rage Boy would throw a fit.)

But, since the invasion has been orchestrated by Syria, never mind.

Michael J. Totten's story at his Middle East Journal.

Thanks to LGF.

A Benefit to the Democrat Congress

A quote from Jacob Sullum found in today's Patriot Post.

"I suspect the president's decision to stand up for fiscal responsibility by threatening to reject appropriation bills he considers too extravagant has something to do with the fact that his party no longer controls Congress... The Democrats say Bush's new interest in controlling spending is just a pose, that the amount of money involved is trivial. But for a president who has surpassed Lyndon Johnson in discretionary spending, who championed a huge expansion of Medicare, and who has vetoed only two bills in six-and-a-half years, even pretending to care about fiscal restraint is an improvement." ---Jacob Sullum

Amen.

Hamas Thanks US For Buying Them Weapons

Any aid given to rabidly anti-Israel political entities such as Hamas and Fatah is stupid, regardless of the earmarked purpose for the moneey. That includes food, medicine, clothing, housing and garbage collection.

As these vermin have shown in the past, they will skim any money they receive and will funnel the skimmings toward the further militarizing and terrorizing of Gaza, the West Bank and Israel.

Debbie Schlussel sums it up nicely in "Shukran [Thanks], America, For Buying Us Weapons!"

In case you are one of the American taxpayers who doesn't mind the gazillions in foreign aid that you are paying to Rival Palestinian Terrorists, Inc. er . . . the "Palestinian Authority," perhaps this little shukran (Arabic for "thank you") from HAMAS founder and chief Dr. Mahmoud Zahar (yup, a Medical Doctor) might change your mind.

Disgusting.

Iowahawk Reports from the UK

IowaHawk reports today on the British response to recent bombing attempts in the UK:

London - British public safety officials today increased the national alert level to "Quite Elevated Indeed" -- the highest category possible -- and appealed to UK citizens to "keep a sharp lookout for diverse people engaged in activities."

"We ask the public to report any behaviors by various people that may or may not be of a suspicious nature," said Lt. Clive Jameson of the Metropolitan Police Service. "We further ask the public to be especially vigilant for activities of broad stratas of people who may be from countries of some sort, especially those within the eastern and/or western hemisphere."

The elevated alert levels come on the heels of a week when London and Glasgow narrowly escaped potential events that intelligence experts say may have been related to diverse groups of people doing things. Initially police had specifically asked the public for information relating to doctors driving automobiles, but that initial warning brought angry denunciations from the British Medical Association and the UK Automobile Association.

more here.

Very funny and all too true.

Thanks to Protein Wisdom and Little Green Footballs.

Summer Fun at Camp Gaza!

It is summer time and time for fun and sun, even in Palestine!

But, what ever happened to those good old fashioned arts and crafts workshops?

Some Palestinian parents in the Gaza Strip are up in arms over Hamas summer camps which are being used to train children on the use of weapons and other military equipment.

The families on Tuesday also accused Hamas of inciting their children against Israel and Fatah. Some of the families decided to pull their children out of the camps after discovering the goals of the camp. Most of the children who are participating in the current Hamas summer camps are between the ages of eight and 17.

Of course, Fatah, when running their own summer camps, would never have thought of doing such things.

In the past, Fatah also used summer camps for teaching schoolchildren how to use weapons and for inciting against Israel and the US.

From the Jerusalem Post via Jihad Watch.

The More Responsible Gore

The good news is that Al Gore III, while speeding at more than 100 miles per hour in the possession of marijuana, Xanax, Valium, Vicodin and Adderall, was responsibly doing so while driving a Toyota Prius.

So, at least his carbon footprint was smaller than had he been speeding in, say, his father's private jet.

Gore III now lives in Los Angeles and is an associate publisher of GOOD, a magazine about philanthropy aimed at young people.

One can only assume that the medications in his possession were to be distributed, free of charge, to those with serious needs, man.

FoxNews via coachlon.

Enjoy Antoine Dufour

Our Lives, Our Fortune, Our Sacred Honor -- Mark Alexander

From Mark Alexander at the Patriot Post, these words of reflection on what that great document, written so many years ago, meant to those that signed it.

Our nation began with these stirring words in the Declaration of Independence: “When in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.” Now, 231 years later, they still ring true.

We may envision the Founders as rash, rowdy rebels. Not so. Already accomplished in fields of endeavor, they were settled in character and reputation. They deemed their decision necessary, and their first thought was of “a decent respect to the opinions of mankind.” They were men of purpose and principle, who well understood the peril of choosing to declare independence from Great Britain. Dr. Benjamin Rush wrote to John Adams, “Do you recollect the pensive and awful silence which pervaded the House when we were called up, one after another, to the table of the President of Congress to subscribe to what was believed by many at that time to be our death warrants?”

The Founders reasoned that the colonials were compelled to the separation, outlining a detailed list of particulars describing the King of Great Britain’s “long train of abuses and usurpations” that could end only in an intended “absolute despotism” and “establishment of absolute tyranny over these states.” They appealed that the free citizens they represented therefore had both a right and a duty “to alter their former systems of government” and “to provide new guards for their future security.”

Continue reading here.

July 4 -- The Foundation of our Celebration

The Declaration of Independence
In Congress, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

This Blog

As I'm certain my former reader has noticed, I've been absent for some time. My time was spent on various perplexities and inconveniences. I am back with whatever fervor I can muster.

My absense was occasioned (indeed replete) with major events many of which are on the topics that I typically like to brood over. The mid-term elections, the immigration bill, the continuing stuggles of the auto industry, union labor, Iraq, Iran, etc. Do we even need to discuss the state of Michigan where big-labor and its Democrat enablers that have turned us into the economic laughingstock of the nation?

For those of you that have happened to venture here, I am a non-apologetic conservative with roots within the foundation of Conservatism, or (gasp) true liberalism. I am not going to embrace George Bush when he screws up, but will be happy to yield to his occasional wisdom when he gets one right. I voted for Bush in two election. I believe those were the proper votes because I believe George W. Bush is correct on the most important issue of our age--Islamic terrorism. I also support the President's position on the issue of taxes (lower), judges (constructionist), abortion (state-sponsored murder)and stem cells (adult vs. embryonic.) I respectibly believe Mr. Bush is wrong on immigration, his embrace of big government and the expansion of it, and his unyielding loyalty to those around him who have served him less than admirably. (I want to get one of those "Karl Rove is a Weenie" bumper stickers.)

I think that conservatives had a great opportunity to set the course for the next century when they wrested control of the house and senate from the Democrats in the 90s. They began their tunure with a bang and enacted economic and social policies that created an economic boom, a balanced budget, and a hope for tomorrow. Yet they squandered that opportunity when they yielded their vision to the narcotics of money and power. (Trent Lott and Tom DeLay are top-listed on that debacle.)

So, agree with me or criticize me, I can discourse with anyone. The words idiot and moron are pretty cheap on the blogosphere, though I do prefer moron. I will delete comments for thread-jacking or excessive trolling.

Going forward I want to make the blog more egocentric. "Ha!" says my reader, "it has always been about you!" In response I have to say that my blog has gotten too serious and has not been an accurate reflection of me. I will continue to lob political bombs when I see fit, but I will also be interjecting the occasional baseball post, fire Matt Millen posts, posts concerning the CMU Chippewas and Michigan Wolverines, the Red Wings (Scott Bertuzzi is a friggen traitor), and whatever else meets my fancy.

As I reach the end of this post I remind Mom to wake up and turn the computer off.

Hillary Responds to the Libby Commutation

From CNN.com:

“Today’s decision is yet another example that this Administration simply considers itself above the law. This case arose from the Administration’s politicization of national security intelligence and its efforts to punish those who spoke out against its policies. Four years into the Iraq war, Americans are still living with the consequences of this White House’s efforts to quell dissent. This commutation sends the clear signal that in this Administration, cronyism and ideology trump competence and justice.”

Hmmm. Apparently Ms. Clinton has forgotten the 140 pardons her husband granted on his final day in office.

As an afterthought, what is the name of that prison Sandy Burger is sitting in right now? I remember no such reaction from Hillary when Sandy walked.

Gordon Brown Closes Eyes, Plugs Ears, Opens Mouth and Buries Head (in that order)

Coming out of the UK today, new British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has made it plainly clear where he stands in the debate on Islamic terrorism.

From the Daily Express:

Gordon Brown has banned ministers from using the word “Muslim” in ­connection with the ­terrorism crisis.

The Prime Minister has also instructed his team – including new Home Secretary Jacqui Smith – that the phrase “war on ­terror” is to be dropped.

The shake-up is part of a fresh attempt to improve community relations and avoid offending Muslims, adopting a more “consensual” tone than existed under Tony Blair.

However, the change provoked claims last night that ministers are indulging in yet more political correctness.

Apparently the first item on the Brown's to do list is to ignore the common bond of the terrorists--a rather novel approach to both law enforcement and international warfare.

Secondly, Gordon feels a need to coddle the Muslim community while arguably releasing it from any responsibilty it might feel toward cleaning up the mess. I have blown many a gasket these past few years over the vast majority of Muslims who bite their tongues while witnessing the hijacking of their peaceful religion, and Brown's chosen path here will do nothing to change that.

Finally, I suppose, Brown will jettison any other terms that might offend certain identity groups such as "football hooligans." Those polo players can be one tough lot and it wouldn't be fair to saddle soccer fans with all the bad publicity.

Thanks to The Religion of Peace.