Sunday, December 17, 2006

Iran The Model ... not


Iran held a midterm election recently. YAWN. The structure of Iran clearly shows that there are no free choices of candidates for the people to vote for. The grand ayatollah, supreme leader, has control of the military and the courts. A Guardian Council selects the candidates who the electorate may choose between. They know this dictatorship is the only way for them to remain in power. Similar efforts are underway in other countries throughout the world to put the mullahs in charge. It is not just a problem for these countries. It is a big problem for Israel and its biggest supporter the USA.

There is a strategy these mullahs have adopted from a menace of the past Adolph Hitler. The strategy is to brainwash through propaganda the citizenry to believe that all of their problems and misfortunes and hardships are because of the JOOOOOOOOOS. Makes it easier to keep control when people are angry and blame somebody else for all their problems.

An Iraqi blogger has a good appraisal of this situation. The money quote from his blog entry “if dictatorship remained in power, political Islam would've kept growing stronger but if I accept it as a transitional element in an inevitable stage and allow it to practice governance then performance will be the judge and the decision of the people through elections will then decide who deserves the next chance.”

One inconvenient truth that all of the antiwar folks ignore is that while Saddam was not into Islamic extremism when he took power in 1978 he most definitely was into it after we defeated him in 1991. After that he had the Iraq’s flag changed to include Islam inscription. I hope we can succeed in Iraq to secure the country from the radical extremists who want to build another theocratic dictatorship like Iran in Iraq.

Friday, December 15, 2006

Remembering our fallen

This week I read accounts about red-haired lady from California , a young man from central Ohio , and another young man from Illinois . Their lives were cut short when a roadside bomb exploded near the truck they were riding in in Ramadi, Iraq on Wednesday 12/13/06. I have the utmost sympathy and prayers for the families and friends of these soldiers. I also have the utmost gratitude and appreciation for their service and sacrifice to the USA.

I don't know what happens next with respect to course change in Iraq. I hope and pray that President Bush will stand up and fight against the defeatists. Please Mr. President, don't let the ultimate sacrifice of soldiers like these be in vain.

My words on this subject are not so great. Michael Marks has written a poem that says it best for me at this time.

A Soldier's Christmas
By Michael Marks

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight;
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight;
The sparkling lights in the tree, I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep
In perfect contentment or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eye when it tickled my ear;
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near;
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold;
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light,
Then he sighed and he said "It's really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night.

"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line
That separates you from the darkest of times;
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.

"My Gramps died at 'Pearl' on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram' always remembers;
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam,
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

"I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile;"
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red white and blue ... an American flag.

"I can live through the cold and the being alone
Away from my family, my house and my home;
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.

"I can carry the weight of killing another
Or lay down my life with my sisters and brothers
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To insure for all time that this flag will not fall.

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."

"But isn't there something I can do, at the least
Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.

"For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

Michael Marks
December 7th, 2000

Monday, December 11, 2006

Jay Garner talks to Darth Vader in Iraq





So it's early Monday Morning and I am trying to get enough coffee drank to wake me up. I've C-SPAN turned on a few minutes before the Washington Journal program begins, and Brian Lamb is interviewing former Iraq administrator Jay Garner. The transcript of this interview can be found here
I hear Brian ask Jay

LAMB: What’s the Darth Vader story?

My eyebrows are raised as I turn to listen to this. I am not sure if I just heard Brian speaking about our Vice President or what.

GARNER: Darth Vader?

Malcolm MacPherson, who you may or may not know, Malcolm writes for ”Time,” and he’s written several books. He was over there, and I asked him one day, I said, ”Hey, you want to go with me?” And he said, ”Sure.”

So, we went down to Al Hillah. And in Al Hillah, I had a team down there under a retired brigadier general named Buck Walters, a great guy.

And so, we were down there looking at things, and Buck says, ”Hey, Jay. Before you go back, I need to take you to talk to Darth Vader, because he wants to talk to you.”

And I said, ”Who’s that?” And he said, ”Well, he’s a pretty powerful player we got here. He runs things, and I need you to talk to him.” I said, ”OK.”

I said, ”Why do you call him Darth Vader?” He said, ”You’ll understand that when you see him.”

So, we go to the mosque and walk in, and the lesser clerics bring us, and they bring us in the room to sit down. And then Darth Vader comes in.

Now, this guy’s about the size of Shaquille O’Neal. I mean, he’s a huge man. He’s got his big, black turban on.

And he shakes my hand and just - a big old hand just wraps up around my hand. And he says, ”Please sit down.”

And so, I sat down, and he said, ”I’m glad you came to see me.” He said, ”Do you have any questions?” I said, ”Yes, sir, I do.”


I'm not going to put any more of the transcript out on this diary. I highly recommend that you read it for yourself. I am not going to call Jay a liar. Time magazine could call him out on it if he lied. What I really think though is that this Darth Vader said some of the best stuff that I have heard from anyone with respect to rebuilding Iraq. I wish that Jay had told President Bush about this meeting. The Darth Vader dude went off the deep end a little at the end. Still it is one awesome story.

Sunday, December 10, 2006

A Connecticutt Yankee in King Arthur’s Court

A Connecticutt Yankee in King Arthur’s Court

Lately I have been thinking a lot about where US Presidents come from. I refer to both their birthplace and their political philosophy. I used Google and came up with this site. It revealed to me that President George W. Bush is the only US President who was born in Connecticutt.

There are some especially here at RS that prefer to associate President Bush with Texas. There is a wish, a strong desire I also have for this cowboy CINC to lead the way the Texans lead here . Unfortunately, this President does not have the breeding and genes of those Texans. I will accept that living in Texas for so many years maybe some of this spirit could have rubbed off onto President Bush.

Connecticutt reminds me of a wonderful Mark Twain novel . This satire while a work of fiction is very much a reminder of the real problems that humanity faces. The novel reminds me of the similarities between the good intentions. One section of analysis of Mark Twain’s work that especially seems apropos to President Bush is this”

“Training v. Nature: A theme central to all of Twain's satires is the question of the power of training against an inherent human nature. On most levels, Hank Morgan believes that training and influence determine the good or bad outcome of a society; his project of civilization is based on the belief that he can train the English people to think and thus, live differently. But he is at a loss to explain why, despite training, people revert to foolish and destructive practices.. Even after giving them a new world of technological and economic improvement, Hank finds that this is insufficient to keep them from abandoning his system for the Church's favor.”

If you replace Hank Morgan with President George W. Bush, and English with Iraqi I think you have described the current circumstance that we have in Iraq.

I searched some more with Google about historical rankings of US Presidents . The number 1 is Abraham Lincoln, the only President born in Kentucky. Therefore being the only one from any particular state can sometimes work out quite well for us. Nobody knows the future, but if the 2008 election is between Obama and McCain we will have elected either the first President from Hawaii, (Obama), or the first president born in the Panama Canal zone, (McCain). There is still 2 years to go, and hopefully some better choices for the US between now and then.

Friday, August 18, 2006

A 9-10-01 State of Mind



In recent days when I surf the web at Lucianne or Red State I feel like the majority of the topics of discussion are 9-10-01 types of things. There is a lot of talk about Walmart and JonBenet Ramsey. There are new developments in Iran and Syria that I haven't seen enough disccusion about. On July 24, 2006 an article was published pooh-poohing people for being islamophobes. Thankfully today another article appeared, and it does an excellent job of 'fisking' the other article. One of the money quotes from the fisking article follows:

"Mr. Walker's essay belongs to that large and growing genre of fiction, the political fairytale. The aim of such works is not to put its readers to sleep, but to soothe them into acquiescence. This it does in two ways. First, it tells people what they want to hear--the threat of radical Islam is overstated by irresponsible purveyors of hysteria. Second, it flatters their moral vanity: you, Dear Reader, are a good liberal and know that there is no political problem that cannot be solved by good will and a willingness to negotiate and see the other chap's point of view.
But wait: What is the other chap's point of view? I have always admired this frank observation by Hussein Massawi, a former Hezbollah leader: "We are not fighting so that you will offer us something, We are fighting to eliminate you." Point noted. "

I hope that we do not get complacent and lose our focus on what is really important. It is an election year, and there will be all kinds of attempts by the msm to frame the news that we get in the hopes getting the election results the msm wants. Please let's not be lulled to sleep. Now, especially now we need to remain focussed.

Friday, August 04, 2006

Who Do You Trust?
















The people who are supporting the nominee Ned Lamont have made their feelings known with the pictures. Am I the only person who thinks that this is way outside the bound of decency? I do not live in Connecticutt. I do not have a dog in this fight. If the people of Connecticutt truly approve of the demonizing that is done to their Senator, then I am speechless. I do not know what I can say.

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Bodyguard of Lies



BODYGUARD OF LIES

The recent front page stories of the NY Times, LA Times, Wall St Journal remind me of this book that I read a while back. The author published this book in 1975, 30 years after WWII. It is a very fine book, and I hightly recommend it. However, it would have been terrible if it had been written in 1944. That is my outrage with today's crop of news journalists. Today the newspapers in the USA do not have an ounce of respect for the US government. They are more interested in high-5 ing each other about their Pulitzer prizes than they are in showing any respect for the country that they live in that affords them the opportunities and benefits that they so richly do NOT deserve. If somebody writes an article or a book 30 years after the war with the jihadists is over that describes the deceptions etc, then I do not have any problem with that writer whatsoever. However if that writer is putting his article in a newspaper while we are still fighting then I have a lot of problems with that. I do not have a solution in mind that I think is really going to change anything. I do not expect these newspapers to shame themselves into showing any respect. I do not expect to see the US government come down on these newspapers like a ton of bricks. I do have a faint glimmer of hope that the patriots in the USA who still have respect for this country will simply stop advertising in these papers and buying these papers. If the financial markets come down on these newspapers like a ton of bricks, then that will be more effective than any nonbinding resolution from the Congress or statement from the White House.

Sunday, May 21, 2006

President Reagan's unfinished business



President Reagan's unfinished business

I highly recommend reading this article of a speech President Reagan gave after he had left office. Almost 15 years later it is just as accurate if not even more so than when he delivered it. Everyone likes to talk about term limits or abolishing the Electoral College. Some people like to talk about new campaign finance reform regulations. All of this talk is a smokescreen pile of hooey. What we really need is a Constitutional amendment that calls for the U.S. Congress to balanced budget spending limits. What we need is a BRAC like program to take politics out of the equation and create Congressional districts from computer models that reflect populations. Don't allow the computer models to take party affiliation, religious affiliation, or ethnic affiliation into consideration. Just make the districts equal to groups of people who live next to each other. President Reagan is my personal hero and most favorite President. It is very unfortunate for the USA that he was not able to live to see the changes made. Sadly I do not see anyone in the current crop of politicians to grab this baton and run with it.

Saturday, April 15, 2006

My Vote Counts







My Vote Counts

Well, it’s time for mid term elections again. Once again I feel like Charlie Brown preparing to kick the ball that Lucy is holding in place. I can rationalize my vote decision and once again fall flat on my back when the “Lucy” politician pulls the ball back. Or I can vote for the outsider. I read all kinds of article where people opine that we need to vote for the lesser of 2 evils. I understand what they are selling, and I am not buying it anymore. I don’t claim to be the sharpest tool on the shelf, but I have found a pretty good road map here. These are bought and paid for by Soros. I do not vote for them. I also look at this , this , this , this , and this site for information about any additional politicians who are not listed on the first web site. I hope that I can be a better person than my liberal acquaintances if the conservatives are removed from power. I do not understand a mindset that puts party politics ahead of love of country. There are liberals who simply are opposed to everything that conservatives do. There is not even a consideration about what is being done. All of the energy and hate is just about who is doing it. For that reason I do not want to whine about any hypocrisy. If they do think and act in a matter that is a benefit to my country while their guy is in power, then I am OK with that type of hypocrisy. Happy Easter and God Bless America.

Saturday, April 01, 2006

Immigration or 'Wetback Go Home'





Immigration or Wetbacks Go Home

Let’s talk about it already. Lately there is so much hyperventilating and bloviating on this topic. If we could bottle up the bilge and bile we would solve our energy problems. Let me try to sort out the truth and the bullshit.

1. The problem with these people is a national security problem worse than what happened on September 11, 2001.

This is bullshit. These people are not coming to the United States because they are terrorists. The terrorists do not come from this sociological set of folks. These people are just looking to live a better life.

2. The problem with these people is a national economy problem. Our economy depends on these people doing jobs for less money than anybody. We can’t afford to lose the cheap labor.

There is some truth in that the problem is about the economy instead of national security. However, there can be an immigration plan implemented to allow people to legally immigrate to America. If businesses can implement plans to safeguard bank accounts for people, then I am sure the businesses can implement plans to safeguard jobs for people.

3: The problem with these people is that we need to build a wall on the border to keep them out. We need to put a gate in this wall to allow guest workers to pass through it.

This is bullshit. Building a wall is one gigantic waste of taxpayer money. A wall will not stop people. Requiring employers to safeguard jobs will stop people. If they can not make any more money until they are documented then it will slow down the number of people sneaking into the country. I don’t like the idea of guest worker because of the problems it causes with loyalty and patriotism. Let’s say they don’t want to immigrate to America because they are still loyal and patriotic to their country. Fine. Stay home and make your country a better country. If there is one thing this country does not need it is any more people living here that have no loyalty or patriotic national pride for the USA.

4. The problem with these people is that there are already over 11 million of them that are in the USA. We can not round up this many people and deport them.

This is true, but so what!! We don’t need to hunt them down, round them up, and ship them out of here. They got here and they will find a way out of here. We have history of ‘Trail of Tears’ marches that we absolutely do not need to repeat.

These are my opinions. I love immigrants. I want my country to run an immigration program like an efficient business. Right now this country runs the immigration program horribly. Then we have “reformers” politicians that want to make every person who tries to get a legal immigration visa feel like a chump. America, we can do better.

Saturday, March 11, 2006

Madrassa USA

Madrassa USA

It’s getting real interesting lately in the news. There is a lot of hate speech against President Bush. I wonder if anyone sees the irony of haters using the same tactics to promote their hatred that arabs use in their madrassas.
Here is a report about an arab madrassa in Virginia. Islamic Saudi Academy is located in Fairfax County's old Mt. Vernon High School, named for George Washington's home but now owned by Saudis. The Washington Post recently reported on ISA. Although reporters were not allowed to attend classes they did manage to interview some students. Several students of different ages, all of whom asked not to be identified, said that in Islamic studies, they are taught that it is better to shun and even to dislike Christians, Jews and Shiite Muslims.
Some teachers "focus more on hatred" said one teenager, who recited by memory the signs of the coming Day of Judgment [when Jesus will return to lead Muslims in killing all Jews, according to Islam]. "They teach students that whatever is kuffar [non-Muslim], it is okay for you" to hurt or steal from that person.
Here is a report about a public high school in Colorada. Controversy over a high school teacher's comparison of President Bush to Adolf Hitler erupted into a day of turmoil Thursday — with a student protest, a threatened lawsuit and dueling talk shows.
At the center of the storm was Overland High School teacher Jay Bennish, whose lecture in a world geography class last month also included harsh words about capitalism, U.S. foreign policy and the invasion of Iraq.

Let me paraphrase… Several Colorado student, all of whom asked not to be identified, said that in high school teacher Bennish’s classroom, they are taught that it is better to shun and even to dislike Republicans.

Jay Bennish “focuses more on hatred” said Sean Allen, who tape recorded the teacher’s rant about the President State of the Union speech. He teaches students that whatever is Republican, it is okay for you to hurt or steal from that person.

Teach! Don’t Preach! or Free Speech!

I hope that enough wise people in the USA listen and read carefully news as we get more and more wrapped up in upcoming elections for 2006 and 2008.

Sunday, February 26, 2006

The world is a global village


The world is a global village

It is interesting to read news articles from around the world, and discover similar patterns of human behavior by different countries, cultures, and societies. For example, in September of 2005 a newspaper in Denmark published cartoons that muslims think are offensive. In October of 2005 a US board approved a business deal that involved US port terminal management by a British company selling their business to a United Arab Emirate company. The interesting similarity is that in both of these cases widespread protests and hysteria did not happen for 4 or 5 months! I think politics are the engine that drives and manufacture all of this protest and hysteria.

I have read news analysis that suggests Osama Bin Laden became incensed when McDonald’s brought their restaurant franchise to Saudi Arabia. There are a lot of news articles where US politicians are incensed about foreigners from arab countries doing business in the USA. And the difference in Bin Laden and Hillary Clinton is……..

I do not agree with my president on everything. I hope that the road he has been leading us down, ie bringing democracy to the arab world, does not lead us off of a cliff. I worry that Mark Steyn is right, and we will have a new world global village that is muslim. Time will tell.

Saturday, January 07, 2006

Not Seeing the Forest for the Trees





Mark Steyn
for one makes a very compelling analysis how 'Stuck on Stupid' western liberal progressive people have become. Here are just a couple of excerpts...
"There are many trouble spots around the world, but as a general rule, it's easy to make an educated guess at one of the participants: Muslims vs. Jews in "Palestine," Muslims vs. Hindus in Kashmir, Muslims vs. Christians in Africa, Muslims vs. Buddhists in Thailand, Muslims vs. Russians in the Caucasus, Muslims vs. backpacking tourists in Bali. Like the environmentalists, these guys think globally but act locally."

"
The jihad has held out a long time against very tough enemies. If you're not shy about taking on the Israelis, the Russians, the Indians and the Nigerians, why wouldn't you fancy your chances against the Belgians and Danes and New Zealanders?

"So the jihadists are for the most part doing no more than giving us a prod in the rear as we sleepwalk to the cliff. When I say "sleepwalk," it's not because we're a blasé culture. On the contrary, one of the clearest signs of our decline is the way we expend so much energy worrying about the wrong things. If you've read Jared Diamond's bestselling book "Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed," you'll know it goes into a lot of detail about Easter Island going belly up because they chopped down all their trees. Apparently that's why they're not a G-8 member or on the U.N. Security Council. Same with the Greenlanders and the Mayans and Diamond's other curious choices of "societies." Indeed, as the author sees it, pretty much every society collapses because it chops down its trees.

Poor old Diamond can't see the forest because of his obsession with the trees. (Russia's collapsing even as it's undergoing reforestation.) One way "societies choose to fail or succeed" is by choosing what to worry about."

Jonah Goldberg
for another example of how 'Stuck on Stupid' the US political wonks have become. Please God, save America from all of the misguided reformers. Here is an excerpt...

"There’s an ancient cliché in Washington that the real crime isn’t what’s illegal but what’s legal. Campaign-finance “reform” is usually the most fertile soil for this cliché. Politicians complain that focusing on enforcement of existing laws misses the “big picture.” The whole “system” is corrupt.

And they are largely correct. Not just on campaign finance, but in terms of corporate involvement in politics across the board. The problem is that liberals and others wearing the “reformer” label consistently offer the wrong remedy for the right diagnosis. They want more regulation, more oversight, more government. This has it backwards.

If you think someone is hugging you too hard, what do you do? You push him away. You don’t hug him back. And yet, it is considered the height of enlightened policymaking to say that, in answer to corporate America’s bear hug, Washington should hug back twice as hard.

If you want to know why business takes such an interest in Washington, the answer can be found in your low-flow toilet, in the warning labels adorning your cars, in your 8 zillion page tax returns. It can be found while you wait on hold trying to get a human to answer your questions about your health insurance. And the answer is most certainly somewhere in your box of cereal, made with grains subsidized by Uncle Sam and coated in sugar that has no business being grown in the United States of America. Corporations meddle in Washington because Washington meddles with them.

It is simply naive to believe that a businessman will have no interest in politics when politicians have taken a great interest in him. And it is grotesquely unfair to assume that businesspeople are corrupt simply because they want to support politicians less inclined to hurt them.

Microsoft CEO Bill Gates used to brag that he barely spent a dime on lobbying — “I live in the other Washington,” he liked to say. But the very moment that government — federal and state — tried to tear apart his company, Gates abandoned his view that the New Economy could ignore the Old Politics. Now D.C. is awash in Microsoft lobbyists. Wal-Mart is only now learning the same lesson. If you don’t get in the game, you might be regulated out of it.

Of course, not all businesses that support politicians of either party are doing it out of self-protection. Some are merely rent-seeking opportunists. Some are both. Sugar growers, for example, have ripped off taxpayers and consumers to the tune of billions. If government stopped protecting the industry from competition, it would mostly disappear and stop gouging us at the same time.

Liberals think Republicans are living up to their principles when they get cozy with fat cats. The reality is that Republicans betray their principles when they give fat cats a reason to come to Washington to begin with."